Chapter 5

Our Eighth Route Army troops aren't lacking weapons and equipment, right? Earlier, when I ate with comrades in the mess hall, I often heard them talk about the base's arsenal. Although I haven't been there myself, I've heard that most arsenals can only reload cartridges; even though the Huangya Dong Arsenal has the technology to produce weapons and ammunition, its output is really low due to lack of raw materials.

From August 1940 to 1945, a total of 9,000 Type 81 rifles were produced.

When Zhang Qian said this, the three senior commanders had solemn expressions; they were aware of these issues. Indeed, on Chinese soil there were arsenals whose capability matched that of European powers; the Taiyuan, Fengtian, Jinling, and Hanyang arsenals perhaps lacked innovative ability, but their imitation capability was evident to all. The Type 20 82mm mortar had glorious achievements, earning merit in the War of Resistance against Japan.

"You little brat, you probably don't know, but recently the Japanese Independent Mixed 2nd Brigade invaded our Jinchaji Military Region; under the stubborn resistance of our base's military and civilians, the brigade commander Abe Norihide was blown away by a single shot from the artillery of the 1st Sub-district of our Jinchaji Military Region—how satisfying! At that time, the artilleryman used the Type 20 82mm mortar made by the Jinling Arsenal. This mortar is a copy of a French one; everyone knows you, Zhang Qian, have great abilities, and France is your forte—do you have this item among the weapons and equipment you just mentioned?"

When mentioning what happened last month, the senior commanders became even more interested in the weapons and equipment Zhang Qian spoke of; some, unable to contain themselves, asked.

"Ah, I've disappointed the senior commanders; the French Brandt 1927/31 81mm mortar remains their main weapon system, which I currently cannot obtain. Moreover, don't forget that France is currently at war. The weapons I managed to acquire this time are only rifles and light machine guns."

Next, Zhang Qian stated the names and quantities of these two weapons; for the senior commanders who had long used internationally branded weapons on the battlefield, it was natural that they were very familiar with these two renowned firearms.

"Ah, I also wanted to bring back something better, but the current European situation is really terrible. In just 27 days, Poland ceased to exist—that was a defensive line formed by nearly six army groups, about 800,000 troops."

After hearing Zhang Qian's words, the division commander, heavy-hearted, said: "I've heard the Germans call that tactic blitzkrieg; they use six armored divisions, four light armored divisions, and four motorized divisions as the main striking force, then fully exploit the speed advantage of aircraft and tanks to defeat the enemy with a sudden strike. First, they use aircraft to violently bomb the enemy's important strategic facilities' communication centers, destroying the enemy's aircraft on the airfields to gain air supremacy and paralyze the enemy's command system. To be frank, such a sudden threat will sap the morale of any nation's soldiers, causing them to collapse immediately under the first heavy blow."

"Yes, in this war the Poles suffered 66,000 killed, 210,000 wounded, and 694,000 captured, while the Germans sustained only about 30,000 casualties—an unimaginable casualty ratio. Are those Aryans all monsters?"

"Little Zhang, you've just returned from Europe; you surely know the situation there better than we do. What do you think the future course will be for Europe? What will happen after Britain and France declare war on Germany?"

Although the European theater is far enough away, as soldiers nobody would be indifferent to such a major matter; the senior commanders began to ask Zhang Qian for details, after all, prior to this he could be considered a party involved.

"The Germans' ambition has long been as obvious as Sima Zhao's heart known to all. As early as 1936, that mad orator began probing. In 1938 he annexed Austria, and this March he occupied Czechoslovakia. The Munich Agreement—truly laughable; the methods of the British and French have never improved."

Upon mentioning the Munich Agreement, the faces of the three senior commanders darkened; although this agreement had nothing to do with China,

but the methods of the British and French remained disgusting, reminding them of some unpleasant things.

"That mad orator won't stop; his goals will only grow larger, and he surely has some agreement with that northern figure; otherwise Poland wouldn't have been caught in a pincer at that time."

When the north was mentioned, the senior commanders fell silent, after all this truly concerned them; they kept analyzing what Zhang Qian had just said. Then the commander-in-chief suddenly said: "Little Zhang, let's set aside emotions first; I feel your words just now show no confidence in Britain and France, and what do you mean by saying you can't obtain them temporarily—are there any future opportunities?"

"Senior commander, you too studied in Germany, so you understand the situation there. I am certain that Germany and the Anglo-French will inevitably go to war. As for what I just said about not being able to obtain them temporarily, it's because I dare to assert that in the future Britain and France will surely be defeated. For now I can only procure these outdated, old, unusable weapons, but if France were defeated, then the covert channels I have left could be activated."

Seeing Zhang Qian's confident appearance, the senior commanders were greatly surprised, after all France in their minds was not a weak nation. During WWI, it was an important period of development for French national strength; after the war it rapidly grew its national and military power, earning the reputation of "Europe's foremost land power." The deputy chief of staff asked: "How can you be so certain France will be defeated? This assumption is utterly unreasonable."

"In World War I, France lost 1.5 million killed and 4 million casualties—equivalent to wiping out an entire generation for a country of only 40 million people! Moreover, its most economically developed north became the main battlefield and was reduced to ruins. Did they really win? The French now basically have no fighting spirit; regardless of the reason, the Germans have risen, so what do the French rely on to fight? That laughable Maginot Line?"

Having said that, Zhang Qian took out a map of Europe and began to draw a campaign situation map on it.

"That so-called defensive line, constructed since 1928 and still not completed, the French only considered border issues, but never thought about what to do if the Germans went around it. Since the Germans can invade Poland, why wouldn't they first attack Belgium? I don't think Belgium could hold out long against Poland. Once the Maginot Line is lost, the French will become lambs awaiting slaughter, heading westward only to be driven into the sea."

Zhang Qian picked up his cup, took a sip, and looked somewhat excitedly at the three people on the heated kang.

Bosses, that is the time for us to reap. The French's scientific achievements, the French's weapons, the French's blueprints—my covert network will spare no effort to bring them all back. For this day they have lain hidden too long; it's time to repay blood debt with blood.