Chapter 669: Outbreak of War

"I heard Wang Tianfeng was transferred away, and Chen Gongshu, who assassinated Wang Zhaoming in Hanoi, was transferred over. You are with Chen Gongshu from now on?"

This was the third day after the cocktail party, and Wang Yan was asking Yu Manli, who was sitting opposite him eating.

"Your news is so well-informed? You can even know about the internal transfers of the Military Statistics Bureau?"

Wang Yan laughed and shook his head: "Ever since Wang Tianfeng sent you to my bed, you've been considered wasted. Aside from being convenient as a mouthpiece between me and the Military Statistics Bureau, the rest is just handling matters for my worker's children's school, using the money I give you to enjoy the prosperity of the Shanghai Bund, going to study societies, and doing some progressive things. Can you still shoot a gun now? Is your aim accurate? Can you still fight? Can you kill with one blow? I said, don't let the glitz of the Shanghai Bund confuse your eyes; you didn't listen, and you don't even use your brains anymore?

You've met Mao Qiwu; the two of us have some decent private friendship, and Zheng Jiemin and I also have some friendship; these are the leaders of your Military Statistics Bureau's upper echelon. Tian Biao, who was by Wang Tianfeng's side before and responsible for contacting me, was transferred back to the Chongqing headquarters to work in the logistics department of the Second Division because of the previous joint prison-robbing operation with the Red Party and the assassination of Zhang Xiaolin, which earned him a promotion to major; this is considered middle management.

Most importantly, the Military Statistics Bureau's actions in the Shanghai Bund require the cooperation of the Green Gang. Although I am a mascot with a name, it doesn't mean I let Dai Yunong and Du Yong manipulate me. Previously, because of the Red Party matter, the Special High Police were so angry they had nowhere to vent and captured three people; you know about this. Now they listen to me; you say, what matter is it that I don't know?"

Wang Yan was injured when rescuing Song Xiwen before, so he used Master Zhao, who told fortunes, as a cover, so he really opened a primary school for workers' children, and opened twelve of them in one breath. All the industries he controlled, including Yonghua Industry, instant noodle factories, beverage factories, Qinglian Bank, rickshaw companies, restaurants, hotels, casinos, and even Green Gang members, etc. —everyone, as long as they worked in Shanghai, could send their children to read for four years of primary school, which was considered eliminating illiteracy.

Before, Yu Manli was a Chinese teacher at the Catholic Church Primary School, idle all day without any serious business. Aside from those few classes, the rest was participating in study societies, or going out to consume with the rich young lady friends she made, so Wang Yan handed the school matters to her. These twelve schools were basically built by Yu Manli single-handedly. Finding places, recruiting teachers, ordering desks and chairs, setting up the courses, and all sorts of messy things were all done by her.

Of course, she didn't do it by herself; study societies couldn't be participated in for nothing, and progress couldn't be made for nothing, so she found many young intellectuals to participate. So the composition of those teachers could be imagined.

This wasn't entirely because of Yu Manli; she naturally subjectively wanted to stuff people under Wang Yan's hand; after all, in the entire Shanghai Bund, Wang Yan's side was the safest. But on the other hand, it was also Wang Yan taking the initiative to report his plan to the leadership; the teachers of the twelve schools didn't have that much work on weekdays, which was a very good cover identity behind enemy lines. The leadership even let him open a junior high and high school; those students were the main force of patriotism.

It was also in preparation, just a one-stop shop. Primary school, junior high, and high school would be studied at his worker's children's school, and after university, they could go directly to Datong for further studies. Money wasn't a problem; he was very wealthy now; after all, the prices in the Soviet Area had been suppressed...

Yu Manli curled her lips and said: "Wang Tianfeng didn't say, only said there was a new superior, but didn't make it clear to me who it was. Only let me pay attention to the previously agreed secret signal, and then the new superior would come to contact me."

As her voice fell, Wang Yan understood; Wang Tianfeng had handed Yu Manli's relationship to Ming Lou.

Wang Tianfeng valued value the most; he believed Ming Lou's value was greater than his when he was alive, so he died. He believed Yu Manli's relationship had value when handed to Ming Lou, so he gave it.

Seeing Wang Yan just nod and not speak again, she asked curiously: "Do you know any other news related to the Military Statistics Bureau? Tell me and let me listen? From the time I joined the Military Statistics Bureau, it was training, and after training, I was sent to you. I only know the Military Statistics Bureau is called the Military Statistics Bureau; I don't even know where the front door opens..."

This sounded a bit pitiful, especially when matched with her big, expectant eyes. But this was the normal state for underground workers, especially those with single-line contact like her, who didn't know any extra intelligence.

The situation on the Red Party side was also like this; many people struggled for national liberation and the great ideal of communism all their lives. They were lonely and no one understood them; they had no place to speak their hearts. They always talked about how the "organization" was when meeting with comrades, but they had never seen the organization. The hope they struggled for was in Yan'an, but the vast majority of them had never been to Yan'an in their lives. They were developed in various situations and fought in various environments.

They danced on the tip of a knife, not knowing whether tomorrow or an accident would come first. But Yan'an had thousands of appearances in their hearts.

"Then let me tell you something interesting. Have you heard of Wu Qiren?"

Wang Yan looked at Yu Manli, who had curiosity written all over her eyes and shook her head in ignorance, and said: "It's alright, no need to be depressed; you are a small soldier selling your life in the front, it's good enough that you know Chiang Kai-shek and Dai Yunong. Wu Qiren is a member of the Nationalist Party's Central Committee and has also served as the Deputy Minister of the Central Organization Department; he is an absolute high-level official of your Nationalist Party. According to rank and status, he is a head higher than the Military Statistics Bureau's Dai Yunong. Affected by Wang Zhaoming's treason and his intention to establish a puppet Nationalist government with the Japanese, and even openly convening the Sixth Congress of the Nationalist Party, Chiang Kai-shek sent Wu Qiren to work in Shanghai.

He serves as a standing committee member and secretary-general of the Shanghai Unification Committee, supervising party affairs in the southeastern provinces and cities. Let's not mention the supervision of the southeast; just speaking of Shanghai city and land, this Wu Qiren is fully responsible for Shanghai's party, government, military, and group affairs, revitalizing party affairs and underground work, and presiding over underground anti-Japanese activities. That is to say, he is the number one person in charge of the Nationalist Party in Shanghai. He can control the Military Statistics Bureau and the Central Statistics Bureau's Shanghai stations and can mobilize the Loyalty and Patriotism Salvation Army around Shanghai. According to the Manchu saying, that is an imperial envoy."

Yu Manli didn't understand: "Such a big figure, what does it have to do with you?"

"I just said, the Military Statistics Bureau needs the cooperation of the Green Gang to do things in the Shanghai Bund. You think Wu Qiren, this secretary of the Shanghai Unification Committee, doesn't need the help of the Green Gang? But he didn't find me; after all, I don't have any friendship with him. He just had someone send me a letter, roughly writing the reason, which is considered giving face to pay respects to the dock and saying hello, letting me be sensible in the future and not ruin their actions. Then he didn't find me; who do you think he could find?"

..."Du Yong?"

Yu Manli pondered for a moment and said Du Yong's name. She didn't know anything else, but the situation in Shanghai was very clear; she understood the Green Gang head sleeping in the same bed even better. In the current Shanghai Bund, aside from the two parties, the Japanese, and the foreigners, there was recently the Wang puppet group; no one could stroke Wang Yan's tiger whiskers. Only Du Yong, who fled to Hong Kong, was fighting with Wang Yan for the authority of the Green Gang. Or to put it another way, Wang Yan was challenging the authority of Du Yong, a Green Gang head who had been famous for a long time, and was even making Du Yong want to die.

Wang Yan drank and ate, nodding with a smile: "Finally smart for once; it is Du Yong. This Wu Qiren had old ties with Du Yong in his early years, and their private friendship was very good. This time, being transferred to Shanghai, he was exactly trying to borrow the power of this old friend. It is also because of this that Du Yong became a standing committee member of this committee, and your Director Dai is also a standing committee member. So, my trouble has come again. The previous People's Action Committee was useless; this time, getting a Nationalist Party bigwig to stand for them, although it was a coincidence due to the situation, it has to be said that this old kid Du Yong has good luck..."

"Isn't that still trouble you brought on yourself." Yu Manli smiled: "If you didn't want to integrate the Green Gang, then you wouldn't have a conflict with Du Yong. Now it's you wanting to seize Du Yong's power, and he refuses to let go; isn't that just stuck here."

"Life is like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you retreat. If there is an opportunity, you must grasp it. You have to know that people like me have no way back. If I retreat, what will the tens of thousands of workers under me eat and drink? And those people under me, each one of them wants lives. If I retreat, they can't eat, you say what should I do?

By that time, the first ones to want my life would be these people. And the Japanese, and the Wang Zhaoming side; if I lose my power, do you think they will let me go? By the time I reach this level, it's not a matter of whether I want to or not; too many people and too many things are pushing me from behind. I can't stop even if I want to.

This old kid Du Yong is different; he has already run away to Hong Kong; he might as well retire gracefully and live out his old age comfortably, how good would that be? He would still have a good reputation; after all, he is considered anti-Japanese and has contributed to the country and the nation. Unlike me, who will be cursed by future generations. But people, there is never a time when they are satisfied. He is reluctant to give up power and even wants to continue to rise; that is his fault. An old senior not giving way to young people and leaving opportunities—isn't that just something I have to take myself?"

"Saying it as if you are so correct. Does Du Yong not have people pushing him from behind? Don't listen to your mouth full of big principles; you are used to putting problems on others. I have finally understood; people, saying others are not good or not capable, when it comes to themselves, it's still others who are not good or not capable."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile: "Well said, I really wronged you. With this realization, you won't be too bad in the future."

"About to become a slave of a subjugated nation, Wang Zhaoming, such a big figure, has defected to the Japanese; whether it's bad or not, what else can happen? Just live one day at a time..."

Wang Yan shook his head and didn't say anything; he knew Yu Manli was just saying it. If she really had no faith, why would the Red Party develop her? Although she was indeed a person by his side, if Yu Manli herself wasn't capable, the Red Party wouldn't want just anyone...

Wu Qiren's arrival indeed added some trouble for Wang Yan. The Qinglian, which had been quiet for a long time, became restless again; of course, aside from the three people he rescued, they were lucky to be alive and didn't have half a say.

He didn't take action against those people in Qinglian, not because he couldn't. It was just because he actually didn't want to really unify the Green Gang, so he didn't move. Otherwise, he, a heartless big animal, how could he indulge those people's bad habits?

A unified Green Gang is different from a scattered Green Gang. If he really unified it, what would he say to the Japanese? What about the two parties? If he didn't do things, they wouldn't let him go; if he did things, they still wouldn't let him go. Because to do things, one must have a bias; which side would he lean toward?

Now the Qinglian is not unified; that bunch of people, although they don't have much ability or courage, at least they are doing anti-Japanese things and providing help to anti-Japanese people.

He couldn't help on the surface, but he couldn't drag his feet behind the scenes either.

Then why did he keep tossing and turning? Making Du Yong lose hair from worry and unable to sleep?

Because what he wanted was the right to speak; he wanted his words to be heard, and it was even more to pave the way for the future. Now there is no way to unify, which doesn't mean it can't be unified in the future. When the little Japanese are driven away, it will be time for Wang Mou to come out. The struggle hasn't stopped; he must have a higher position and do more things. He is secretly infiltrating other people's forces behind the scenes; this is a long-term action, preparing for future trouble.

So this time, the restlessness of Qinglian caused by Wu Qiren's arrival was ignored by him. After all, Wu Qiren had already greeted him first, his status was indeed high, and the words in the letter were very polite, so it didn't matter if he retreated on the surface. But he still held power in Qinglian; those three families were one aspect, and Liu Yitong was still there. He spoke as the mascot of Qinglian, and there were people who listened; his opinion had to be considered, which was enough.

Compared to Wang Zhaoming and Zhou Fuhai, this bit of Qinglian's business was not worth mentioning at all.

September 1st, this day was not a good day.

On this day, Wang Zhaoming issued a circular telegram, "Circular Telegram to All Comrades at Home and Abroad."

This telegram stated, "Summarizing the declaration, without eradicating the Red disaster, there is no way to maintain domestic peace; without cooperating with Japan, there is no way to maintain the peace of East Asia; without enhancing friendship with various countries, there is no way to maintain the peace of East Asia... There is only one relatively simple and feasible method: if the armed comrades on the front line can reveal the advocacy of peace, anti-communism, and nation-building, then they can preserve their original military strength and the land they haven't lost, and externally echo our peace movement, and internally promote the decline of dictatorial forces and communist forces; for the speed of effect, there is nothing better than this."

The intent was written simply and clearly: "Root out the Red scourge" meant attacking the Red Party, and "Cooperate with Japan" meant being willing to act as a Japanese puppet. His "relatively simple and feasible method" was to win over the soldiers fighting the Japanese on the front lines as well as personnel from the other two parties, turning them to his command so that everyone could join the Japanese to wipe out Chongqing and destroy Yan'an.

Of course, no one believed it; this was all for fools to see...

It was also on this day, at 4:40 in the morning, the German Air Force bombed Polish towns, and at 4:45, the German Army invaded Poland from the north, south, and west directions.

Germany mobilized 58 divisions, 2,800 tanks, 2,000 aircraft, and 6,000 artillery pieces to launch the war against Poland. Likewise, this turned a new page in world history, recording this insatiable greed and ambition, harboring countless wailing, wronged souls...

September 3rd, because mediation failed, Falanxi, Britain, and the British Commonwealth countries formally declared war on Germany!

Regarding the outbreak time of the Second World War, experts and scholars have never had a unified conclusion. Some think it was the German blitzkrieg on Poland on September 1, 1939; some think it was the comprehensive Sino-Japanese war on July 7, 1937; and some think it was the Japanese invasion of China's Northeast on September 18, 1931.

Undoubtedly, the start of the Second World War as perceived by the Chinese is mostly on September 18, 1931. However, in the movie "The Hundred Regiments Offensive," there is a more explicit conclusion on this.

In the movie, there is a dialogue between the Bald One and Lin Sen.

Lin: When did we start resisting Japan?

Jiang: The 26th year of the Republic of China, but if calculated from 918, we have already fought for a full ten years.

Lin: It was the 21st year of the Guangxu reign; that year, the Qing court ceded Taiwan to Japan; that year, the old man participated in the anti-Japanese army in Taiwan; the Chinese Lin Sen's resistance to Japan started at that time! This war, I have already fought for a full forty-five years!

The 21st year of the Guangxu reign was 1895 in the Western calendar. In this year, because of the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, the Manchu Qing signed the humiliating "Treaty of Shimonoseki," ceding Taiwan Island and its affiliated islands, the Penghu Islands, and the Liaodong Peninsula to Japan.

Wang Yan extremely agreed with this statement.

But no matter what, the war that affected the world and caused tens of millions of people to lose their lives had begun...

Xue Lihua Road, Central Police Station, in Aige's office, this foreign devil was still the same, smoking a cigar and drinking, looking lazy.

Wang Yan asked: "Your country has already declared war on Germany; you don't seem worried?"

"What is there to worry about? As a defeated country, I don't believe Germany will be Falanxi's opponent. Moreover, Falanxi has the British alliance, and America is also intervening; how could Germany be rampant? Moreover, declaring war is declaring war, and a large-scale war hasn't really started. Wang, you know, sometimes declaring war is just a kind of intimidation. Just like this gun, declaring war, it's loaded, and the bullet is ready at any time. It just depends on how Germany chooses."

Truly a proud and arrogant French gentleman...

However, Aige was right about one thing: declaring war was declaring war, and the war hadn't really started yet. The British and French allied forces didn't fight at all; it belonged to "thunder loud, rain small," scaring Germany for fun. They thought they were numerous, and Germany should be afraid, and normally should retreat a bit. At worst, they should stop after fighting Poland. But they didn't expect that the art student driving the German tank was determined to take back everything lost in World War I, and wanted even more. He wasn't afraid of them being numerous; he was going to overturn them.

What Aige didn't know was that the Falanxi he was proud of wasn't firm at all. Counting from the declaration of war, it did hold on for a long time. But that was because Germany hadn't reached there yet. Germany really started attacking Falanxi, and the great Falanxi only held on for forty-some days and it was over...

What could Wang Yan say? He could only nod with a smile: "You are right, then I wish the great Falanxi victory."

Aige laughed and didn't care. Actually, he wasn't afraid of Falanxi going to war, because his family still had some ability. Winning was good, and losing wouldn't have much impact on his family; it was just like the Japanese using Chinese to control Chinese now; at that time, Germany would also use French to control French.

He shook his head and sighed: "Now it seems that Mitchell made the wrong choice. He finally managed to operate back to Falanxi to retire, but now the European situation is tense, and a major war could break out at any time; he should regret it now, right?"

"Apologies, Aige, I have to interrupt you." Wang Yan sighed, a bit regretfully: "You shouldn't be considering Mitchell's affairs now, but should be considering our business. Now that Europe is at war, the impact on prices is huge. If Europe raises prices, and then it's transported to China by sea, the price will definitely be even higher; how can my poor compatriots who have been battered by the flames of war afford it? You are likely to lose money."

Aige frowned: "Why is it 'you,' and not 'us'?"

"I'll just earn a little less. You are clear that the instant noodles and beverages I spent half a year researching have good sales. And I am also cooperating with the Japanese to sell their goods to the Nationalist-controlled areas and the Soviet Area. In addition, there is the penicillin researched by the Red Party that I am selling on their behalf, which is in short supply. I heard that Pfizer in the United States is cracking and researching it, but I haven't heard any movement yet. If a major war breaks out in Europe, the price of penicillin will definitely skyrocket again; by then, I might make a fortune."

"Oh, damn it." Aige looked like he was about to die, sprawled on the sofa, looking miserable: "You make money, I lose money, I feel so uncomfortable. Wang, we are the best friends; you have a way, right?"

"There's no particularly good way; aside from sharing some penicillin shares with you, what else can I do?"

"That's good, that's good. Wang, in the future, you'd better say your plans together, otherwise my heart won't be able to bear it, and you'll lose such a good friend as me."

Wang Yan laughed. Aige was a good person, but he was a foreign devil after all; if it weren't for these and those reasons, would Wang Yan send them money? Just kidding; according to his character, not robbing these foreign devils was already his mercy. Of course, he would still make friends with foreign devils, which didn't delay anything. Just like now, they were friends, which didn't delay him from sending money; wasn't it Aige who was robbing his money?

He drank the wine in his glass, stood up, and said: "Alright, you enjoy your life; I just came to see if you were still okay; I have things to do, leaving first."

"What things, busy so early?"

Actually, it was already 8:30 now, proper working time, only they weren't people who worked...

Wang Yan said helplessly: "What else could it be? Naturally, it's Wang Zhaoming's side. The Japanese supported them in forming a government; you say, can I run away? Recently, this bunch of people has been looking for me every day; if I don't go, it won't work; otherwise, not to mention them, even the Japanese side won't be able to justify it. Today is organized by the Economic Division; they found a talent who returned from abroad to serve as the Division Chief; this person is also my neighbor. Now that he has just taken office, he invited the merchants of the Shanghai Bund to meet and discuss the future of Shanghai's economy. As the richest man in the Shanghai Bund, if I'm missing, that meeting can't even be opened. Leaving, still have to drive for a while."

"It was better before; look at you now, looking for trouble yourself..."

Aige muttered and drank by himself, but his mind was thinking about making money; that was his life... ===== CHAPTER 670 =====