Chapter 61: Preparations

  The next morning, Gao Yang woke up in a good mood, washed and went out to eat breakfast on the street before returning to his apartment.

  Gao Yang sat on the sofa thinking that Zheng Xiujing would only be off work after 2 pm, what to do during this time? After watching TV for a while, Gao Yang, who was bored, started the time-space shuttle and arrived in Nanjing in 1925.

  As soon as the door opened, a bio-warrior guarding outside came forward and reported, "Yang Dong has been waiting for the supervisor since last night." "Huh?" Gao Yang's heart was slightly startled, something is up.

  He hastily stepped into the living room, only to see a thick fog of smoke inside. The ashtray was filled with cigarette butts. Yang Dong, who had not slept all night, was pacing back and forth in the living room with red eyes. Seeing Gao Yang enter, his eyes lit up and he hurriedly came forward, calling out "Director."

  Gao Yang sat down on the chair and looked at Yang Dong, who was anxious, and asked in a low voice, "What happened? Tell me." Yang Dong walked to Gao Yang's side and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "Commander, my mole in the Zhejiang army sent me intelligence. The Zhejiang army has been secretly gathering troops recently, with the gathering points being Yixing, Wuxi, and Jiangyin. Furthermore, he reported that the Zhejiang army recently received a large batch of Japanese military supplies, and he personally saw several Type 7 150mm heavy cannons being unloaded from ships! Finally, he said that when he was drinking with their regimental commander, he heard him say that Lu Xiaojia is not a good person, and only gave him 200,000 taels after receiving so much money from the Japanese!"

  Yang Dong said in one breath, paused and continued: "Commander, after receiving the intelligence, I immediately dispatched intelligence personnel to investigate. They reported that the main force of the Zhejiang army is indeed gathering at the border with our army! I think the Zhejiang army has received support from the Japanese and is preparing to attack our army!"

  Gao Yang sat quietly and listened to him finish, rubbed his eyebrows lightly and smiled at Yang Dong, saying "You've worked hard, go back and rest first, I'll handle this matter." Yang Dong nodded slightly and bowed slightly before retreating.

  Gao Yang sat quietly in the chair, his face calm and unruffled, but inside he was extremely angry. "That bastard Lu Xiao Jia, and those Japanese people, they're killing me!" Gao Yang gritted his teeth and said.

  "This thing shouldn't be so simple." The voice of the origin sounded. "En, I know! Now go to Magic City, I need to know the Japanese plan." Gao Yang regained his calm and stood up saying.

  The Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, Kōtetsu Yuka and Tsuchiya Genji were having lunch together. With a serious face, Kōtetsu Yuka put down his chopsticks, picked up his wine cup and drank it all at once "Ah-" He smacked his lips and said to Tsuchiya Genji across from him "Tsuchiya-san, I'm counting on you to take care of the matter with Kōyō."

  Tsuchihashi Kenji raised his wine glass and took a sip, smiling lightly as he said, "Kō Tengun, this matter is still in the planning stages, it's not time to celebrate yet." "Hehe, Tsuchihashi-san's plan is perfect, this time we'll definitely be able to thoroughly defeat that damned Kōyō!" Kō Tengun had a belly full of anger towards Kōyō. The death of ōishi Shinzō had gotten Kō Tengun severely scolded by the higher-ups, and if it weren't for his connections in the country helping him smooth things over, he would have been transferred back to the country and sent off to some unknown corner a long time ago.

  This operation was entirely carried out by Tofeiwara Kenji, a high-ranking spy who was praised by Sakai Riichiro as the future star of Japan's intelligence community and whose talent is not inferior to Oishi Shinzo. Taketori Yoshika was just an assistant.

  Tsuchihashi Kenji narrowed his eyes and said, "Things are not that simple! Wu Peifu of Luoyang has clearly rejected our good intentions. As for the northern warlord Zhang Zuolin, he is cunning like a fox, with a mouthful of sweet talk, but if Lu Xiaojia's attack doesn't go well, that old fox will definitely not take action. However, there are some underlings who are eager to move and can be utilized." He downed the wine in his cup, put it down, and continued with a slightly drunken expression, "Now only Sun Chuanfang has actively responded, but the only ones who can take charge are the Zhejiang army, yet not everyone in the Zhejiang army is willing to make an effort."

  Kōtengū had both hands propped on the dining table, his face stern as he gazed at Tsuchihara Kenji and said in a low voice, "Tsuchihara-san, the war against Kōyō hasn't even started yet, but the Empire has already spent over 3 million yen. This doesn't even include ammunition! If we can't seize Kōyō's wealth this time, the Empire's massive investment will..."

  Tsuchihashi Kenji stretched out his hand to stop Kōtō Yūka's words and said with a cold face, "Kōtō-san, I am a military man! The only thing I need to do is complete the tasks assigned by the Emperor and the Ministry of War! As for how much money was spent, that's not something I should be concerned about!" After pausing for a moment, he softened his tone and continued, "Kōtō-san, there is no return without investment! The more we invest, the greater the returns will be when things are accomplished! The Empire needs Kōyō's wealth, and we must complete this task for the Empire. Let us raise our glasses together to toast the success of the plan!"

  At this time, in the building of SC Trading Company on Avenue Joffre in the French Concession, "Bang" - Gao Yang slammed his wine glass heavily on the tea table. "Bastard, how dare you shift your attention to me!" Enraged Gao Yang took several deep breaths before calming down.

  Half a cigarette later, Gao Yang lit another one and said in a low voice, "Yuandian, if it weren't for you, I would have been out of the game this time." Yuandian didn't say anything, and Gao Yang sat quietly. After a while, Gao Yang extinguished his cigarette and walked to the window, looking at the scenery outside with a cold expression. In a low voice, he said, "If you want to fight, then let's fight!" His deep and determined tone was evident in his words.

  The residence of the Nanjing Inspector General, immediately after lunch, the high-ranking military officers under Gao Yang received a notice to gather here for a meeting.

  The guards standing at the gate watched one after another high-ranking officer's car enter the mansion, their serious expressions couldn't help but slightly change, something big was about to happen! The last time it was like this was when the Northern Army marched south, the atmosphere became tense.

  In the conference room, all the officers sat quietly with their backs straight, hands on their knees and a serious face. The troops under Gao Yang were almost entirely established according to the standards of the German Army, and most of the officers were retired former German Army soldiers who also inherited the strict style of the German Army. It was almost impossible for something like the Zhejiang Army's loud arguments in the conference room to happen! On the first night after new recruits entered the training camp, they learned military rules!

  Soon, Gao Yang, with a cold face, walked into the conference room accompanied by Wekes. Everyone stood up, saluted and sat down.

  Gao Yang sat in the main seat with a cold face, his eyes scanning the faces of his subordinates without saying a word. Wei Ke stood up, picked up the document and read it out loud: "Order! The 1st and 2nd battalions of the 19th Army's 1st Division will be stationed in Lianyungang, the 3rd to 9th battalions will be stationed in Xuzhou. The 10th battalion will be stationed in Bozhou, the 11th battalion in Bengbu, the 12th battalion in Anqing, and the 13th, 14th and 15th battalions will be stationed in various parts of southern Anhui."

  "Weixun paused, swept a glance at the officers present and continued to say: "The 6th Division of the Army, the 8th Regiment, the 9th Regiment, and the 11th Regiment will be stationed in Jiangbei from Yangzhou to Nantong. The 7th Regiment and the 12th Regiment will arrive in Yixing and station there. All other regiments will assemble urgently on the outskirts of Nanjing. Immediately requisition all railcars on the Ninghu line to transport artillery troops and war materials to the Jiangyin front line. The Military Police Corps will immediately set out to control the highways between Nanjing and Jiangyin, ensuring smooth passage for military convoys. The Air Force will move its base to the frontline airport in Changzhou. All vessels of the Yangtze River Fleet will assemble in Nanjing immediately. Above!"

  Gao Yang clasped his hands together, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table. After Wekes sat down, he said faintly, "There is clear intelligence showing that the Zhejiang army, in collaboration with Sun Chuanfang and others, intends to attack our forces. I have decided to strike first! Since the uprising in Feng County, this has been the greatest challenge I've faced! Now, it's time for you all."

  All the officers present stood up and shouted "I am willing to die for the governor!" Gao Yang leaned back in his chair, a faint smile on his face as he swept his gaze over his subordinates, chuckling and saying "Go."

  After everyone left, Gao Yang lit a cigarette and looked at the remaining Wekes, saying in a low voice "Your battle plan..." Wekes replied "The latest by tomorrow morning, the battle plan will be presented to the superior officer."

  "Ah." Gao Yang responded lightly, looking at Wekes without leaving, and asked somewhat puzzled, "What's the matter?" Wekes said seriously, "Sir, I hope to requisition Colonel Brant from the Army Officer Academy. He is an excellent staff officer."

  Gaoyang gently stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and said "Alright." After Weikes left, Gaoyang quietly smoked and whispered "Military Academy."

  Zhang Xinghai has been at the Army Officer Academy for several months. Because he had studied at Baoding Military School before, his foundation was solid, so his grades were always among the top in the academy, and he was highly appreciated by Colonel Brandt. In addition to his age and rich social life experience, Zhang Xinghai quickly became the leader of this class of students.

  Because the college adopted a closed management system, the students basically knew nothing about external things. After dinner and playing basketball, Zhang Xinghai and his classmates went to take a bath together. While showering, a student who was slightly thin and had a Hakka accent asked Zhang Xinghai, "Xinghai brother, I have something that I don't understand and want to ask you."

  Zhang Xinghai smiled and said, "What's up? Speak." The student asked, "Xinghai brother, this afternoon our department's instructor talked to me and said they were preparing to send me to the 19th Regiment of the 6th Division for a period of internship. I was puzzled, how could the 6th Division have a 19th Regiment? Brother Xinghai, you used to be in the 6th Division, what's going on?"

  Zhang Xinghai smiled and patted his shoulder, saying "Huang Xin, you're doing great. I know about the internship, only those who rank in the top 50 can go to the company for an internship, your grades are not bad."

  He paused and continued, "This matter should be discussed from the time the inspector general started his army. You all know how good the treatment was when working under the inspector general, so I won't say more about it. Since the inspector general started his army, he has been continuously recruiting soldiers, and many people came to sign up. Even after careful selection, there were still at least tens of thousands of new recruits, but the northern capital only gave the inspector general two divisions' worth of troops. What should be done with so many soldiers? At that time, Colonel Wekes, the chief of staff, proposed a plan - to establish a supplementary regiment! Internally, we built them up one by one in order, and externally, they were all called supplementary regiments. Anyway, when I came to school, the 6th Division had already reached the 21st Regiment, and the 19th Division was also like this, only not as many as the 6th Division. Their new recruits were also leftovers from the 6th Division. You little kid going to the 6th Division for practice is a great opportunity!"

  "Ah, Chief of Staff Weixi thought it was good, this is indeed 'openly repairing the path while secretly crossing to Chencang'." Huang Xinyi had an expression of sudden realization.

  Zhang Xinghai burst out laughing and said "No wonder you kid's grades are so good, your brain is really clever, you understand it all at once."

  Thank you all for your support, thank you to those who have rewarded me, thanks everyone.