Chapter 18: A Sudden Spark of Inspiration

  At night in Tianjin, in Caijia Garden where Chu Kua's residence was located, Ouyang Yun was writing hastily in the study.

  Chu's uncle and nephew were pulled away by Chen Shaohua to drink, the host was Ma Lao of Ma Ji Old Goods Company. Chen Shaohua originally wanted to pull Ou Yang Yun along, but he refused with the excuse that he needed to prepare for tomorrow's repairs. However, his real reason for staying behind was to take some time to carefully plan what he had to do recently.

  The protagonist of the crossing is always a troublemaker. He hasn't even adapted to the current era, and one unexpected event after another has occurred. To count carefully, he has done quite a few things recently, but thinking carefully, none of them have affected the overall situation. The 51st Army's actions had a great impact on him. Originally, he thought that as an old Jiang's quasi-direct system and from the Northeastern Army, their equipment and personnel quality should be good, but after contact, they found it wasn't so. Letting them bully ordinary people is definitely not a problem, qualified bandits. However, when facing Japanese devils, they are probably going to be bullied instead. (On this point, he wronged Yu Xuezhong and the 51st Army. Historically, the 51st Army was very powerful, which is also one of the reasons why Yu Xuezhong dared to confront the Japanese in Tianjin and Hebei for a long time. Moreover, the 51st Army came from the Northeastern Army and bore the shame of "January 28th", with the vast majority of officers and soldiers having deep-seated hatred towards the Japanese. As for Chen Shaohua and his ilk, they were exceptions in the 51st Army, but this phenomenon was extremely common in any other Nationalist army - these people had a common characteristic: they could fight battles and also embezzle, achieving both fame and fortune, which is also a major feature of Nationalist military officers.)

  He Yingqin has already begun negotiations with the Japanese, and the He-Umezu Agreement was signed at some point. As a result, the 29th Army will enter Beiping. The equipment of the 29th Army is definitely not as good as that of the 51st Army, but because the soldiers have experienced hardships and have the pride accumulated from the Great Victory of Xifengkou, their cohesion and combat effectiveness are relatively stronger than those of the 51st Army. Fortunately, there are many famous anti-Japanese generals in the army, seemingly a large number of them.

  Placing the treasure on the 29th Army is a good choice. The problem now is, how can he smoothly get close to Song Zheyuan?

  Perhaps penicillin is a good opener - this antibiotic is too important for the military, if it can be mass-produced, it means a lot of gold.

  Ouyang Yun opened his handheld computer and took another look at the gift that General Chen had given him, gradually forming an idea. Then, he found a pen and paper, hid some important data, and copied out a paper in the format of a thesis titled "The Efficacy and Mass Production Method of Penicillin". After finishing copying, he looked at it with satisfaction, and then searched on the computer again, copying out another paper titled "Design and Processing Techniques for Multi-Purpose Vehicles".

  The so-called multi-purpose vehicle is actually a cross-country vehicle, with a loud name called Jeep. The English name is GENERAL PURPOSE. Because its pronunciation and the call of a small bird in flight in the comic image created by American cartoonist E.C. Segar in 1937 are very similar, "JEEP JEEP", so American soldiers call this car "JEEP". In history, the jeep was born at the end of 1940, which was listed by the US Army as a condition for bidding to major automobile manufacturers to meet the needs of war.

  The original design for the Jeep came from the talented engineer Karl Probst at the Bantam Car Company, then modified by Ford and Willys, resulting in the MB model.

  In June 1944, the Jeep crossed the Atlantic with American troops to participate in World War II. When the Allies landed in Normandy, all commanders' vehicles were Jeeps, and the Jeep became famous from then on.

  However, with Ouyang Yun's sudden appearance, this honor of the US military will become a true history.

  Translators are always shameless, and the most shameless ones are those who plagiarize with impunity. The true inventors in history spent countless efforts to design something, but translators can easily claim it as their own patent.

  Ouyang Yun, as a special forces soldier, drove mostly off-road vehicles when going out on missions, so he had a special feeling for off-road vehicles. This was also the reason why he chose Jeep among many cars of the same era.

  Ouyang Yun was busy for more than two hours and finally completed the task of plagiarism. He stood up, stretched his waist, lit a cigarette, walked into the courtyard, and thought to himself: Why haven't Old Chu and Little Chu come back yet? They must have been kept overnight by some Qing dynasty courtesan after getting drunk on flower wine.

  Tonight, there is no moonlight, and the only light in the Cai Garden comes from many lanterns. The sound of insects chirping, flowers and trees, and artificial hills, several patrol teams are walking back and forth, guarding a not-so-small courtyard, where the central command of the 51st Army should be located. A large military map, numerous telephones, a ticking telegraph machine, busy staff officers rushing to and fro, and a commander deep in thought in front of the map - a series of images flashed through Ouyang Yun's mind, the residual image of a certain movie sparked his curiosity, he couldn't help but sneak over quietly.

  Hiding behind a fake mountain in the courtyard, he was calculating the possible time gap of the three patrol teams when a loud footsteps came from the small path paved with gravel beside the fake mountain, and two military officers walked together.

  "...This is treason! If all our troops withdraw from Hebei Province, isn't that equivalent to handing over the entire North China to the Japanese?"

  "He Yinquan's brain is flooded."

  "Damn it! This soldier is really a good-for-nothing."

  ……

  The conversation between the two officers shocked Ouyang Yun: Had the He Mei Agreement been signed? He waited until the two men walked away, then he quickly turned around and returned to Chu Kuo's small courtyard. Back in the study, he opened his computer and carefully examined the situation before and after the signing of the He Mei Agreement, becoming somewhat impatient.

  Historically, after the signing of the Hebei-Meng Agreement, as the Nationalist Army's 51st Corps, Second Division, 25th Division and Third Garrison Brigade withdrew from Hebei one after another, the Pingjin area became a vacuum zone. At this time, some clownish traitors, supported by the Japanese, came out with Hanjian Bai Jianwu, Shi You San, Pan Yu Gui and others as their leaders, gathered thousands of hooligans and bandits in Wanping, raised the flag of autonomy and openly marched towards Beiping. This incident caused a stir throughout the country, and then, the Beiping Military Council, which had no troops in hand, was forced to ask the 29th Corps to come and rescue them under the support of Xiao Zhenyin.

  It's ironic that at this time, the commander of the 29th Army, Song Zheyuan, was dismissed as the chairman of the Chahar Provincial Government due to the "Zhangbei Incident" and was in conflict with Old Chiang. Before leaving Chahar, he publicly criticized Old Chiang at Zhangjiakou Railway Station: "Whoever still believes that Chiang will resist Japan is a fool!"

  The "Zhangbei Incident" was actually a plot concocted by the Japanese spy chief, Tōyama Eisuke. His true intention was to implement the so-called "North China Autonomous Movement". Song's attitude was seen and welcomed by the Japanese, who immediately sent many big and small traitors to persuade him to surrender to Japan as soon as he arrived in Tianjin. Song, due to his extreme disappointment with the National Government and Chiang Kai-shek, had the idea of giving up and even thought about surrendering to Japan. Fortunately, just as he was wavering, Xiao Zhenying called to invite the 29th Army to rush to Beiping to rescue the situation. Song, who did not want to be a traitor in his heart, was overjoyed when he received the call, knocked over the tea table, and immediately ordered Feng Zhian's 37th Division to hurry to Beiping. The 37th Division made a great effort, departing from Zhangjiakou in the morning, rushing 120 kilometers, and arriving at the Weixi military camp in Beiping in the afternoon. Bai Jianwu, Shi Yousan, Pan Yonggui, and others did not dare to be enemies of the regular army, seeing that the situation was not good, they could only flee back to Tianjin in disarray.

  Ouyang Yun is anxious because he has not yet thought of a reason to approach Song. He does not worry that Song will surrender to Japan, nor does he worry that the Japanese will propose more outrageous conditions. After all, the so-called Huabei Garrison Army of the Japanese military currently only has this many troops; without the puppet army, it would be impossible for them to control Chahar and Shanxi provinces in a short period of time.

  He paced back and forth in the study, after more than a dozen minutes, the computer screen saver automatically turned on, General Chen's smiling face appeared: "Ouyang, what are you daydreaming about..."

  He smiled wryly and muttered to himself: "General, you've made a big joke, don't you know? Ah, Song Zheyuan, the July 7th Incident, Lugou Bridge, Nanwan, the Student Army..." As soon as he mentioned the Student Army, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he repeated it again: "The Student Army!" His eyes gradually brightened. Then, he slapped the table and laughed: "How could I not have thought of this? Isn't the 25th Division's student training class going to be disbanded? Then we can reorganize them ourselves, take them to Beiping, block the path of Stone Shiyuan and other Han traitors...and then invite the 29th Army to garrison..."

  A complete and bold plan was born in his mind, he jumped up excitedly.

  That night after Chu Tian Ge returned, the two of them squeezed onto one bed and started talking through the night.

  "Tian Ge, have you found out about the Blue Clothes Society?"

  "I asked my uncle and he said that your Blue Shirt Society and Zeng Jie's are two different things."

  What's with the blue-clad sect? Ouyang Yun was shocked, thinking how did this leak out, could it be that Bai Liu Su has already woken up? In that case, the batch of gold in the Ghost Mansion is in danger.

  "Big brother doesn't even know this, aren't you from the Blue Shirt Society? It's hilarious to think about it, outside they don't know how it was spread, and they actually said I'm also a member of the Blue Shirt Society."

  Ouyang Yun's mind was a bit muddled. If Bai Li Su really revealed his identity as a special agent of the Blue Clothes Society, then the official Blue Clothes Society would definitely expose his true identity to shirk responsibility. Moreover, Bai Li Su wouldn't say that Chu Tian Ge was from the Blue Clothes Society either.

  But he didn't expect that the ones who spread the news about the Blue Shirt Society were actually Japanese.

  Chu Tian Ge didn't realize he was deep in thought, and continued to say: "Your Blue Shirt Society belongs to a separate organization, equivalent to Germany's 'Black Shirt Party', led by He Zhonghan, directly responsible to Chiang Kai-shek; Zeng Che's Blue Shirt Society is just an alias, the official name is the Chinese National Revival Society..."

  Ouyang Yun finally came to his senses and decided not to waste his mind on this unimportant matter. Since Zeng Che and Bai Liusu had nothing to do with each other, as long as he kept a safe distance, everything would be fine. As for the treasure, he might as well consider it a voided lottery ticket. He let out a sigh of relief and said, "So that's how it is - Tian Ge, have you thought about what you're going to do from now on?"

  "Finish reading university first, then follow big brother to fight against the devils."

  Ouyang Yun smiled: "Are you sure I'll fight against the devils?"

  Chu Tian Ge didn't realize he was joking and suddenly sat up, shouting: "What? You're not going to fight the devils?"

  "Keep your voice down! I'm teasing you, you little brat, how can you be so gullible? Can't tell what's true or false?"

  "Haha, big brother, to be honest, following you these days has been really great - a man should be willing to kill, and travel thousands of miles without hesitation - this saying is really too good - I say, why don't we just grab our machine guns and storm the concession territory!"

  This time, it was Ou Yang Yun's turn to sit up nervously, rubbing his forehead and saying: "You little scoundrel, aren't you drunk? Are you tired of living or something? If that's really the case, I reckon we'll be killed before we even reach the border. In a war between two countries, covert operations like assassinations have limited effect; in the end, it's national power and military strength that decide victory or defeat. Dammit, I think I've told you this before!"

  Chu Tian Ge has been indoctrinated with these principles recently, stroking his chin and saying: "That's what they say, but national power and military strength are controlled by the big shots. What can two small fries like us do?"

  Ouyang Yun was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing and said: "Good kid, you're not stupid after all. You actually thought of this - that's what happened."

  Chu Tian Ge said with some resentment: "After all, I'm also a university student..."

  "Haha, Tiangē, originally there was a big matter that I didn't dare entrust to you, now I can rest assured."

  "Something big?" Chu Tian Ge came back to life: "Big brother, are you still thinking of being a ticket scalper?"

  "Not killing, but more difficult than killing, listen carefully..."