Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 140 New Target: Japanese Warehouse

After hearing what Zhang Wenwu said, Wu Jincheng became unwilling, so he started a heated discussion with Zhang Wenwu. An hour later, the two sides reached an agreement. For every troop Wu Jincheng successfully introduced, Zhang Wenwu would give him thirty dollars, but Wu Jincheng needed to grant Zhang Wenwu one hundred rifles, two light machine guns, and twenty boxes of grenades for each transaction. In addition, if Zhang Wenwu needed food, he could get it from him at any time without any additional charge.

Just as Zhang Wenwu expected, not every commander of a troop was unwilling to give up his troops. After Wu Jincheng returned to the office at the military station, he began to talk to the commanders of those miscellaneous troops according to the current situation of each troop. He explained the solution proposed by Zhang Wenwu to them in detail and told them clearly that they did not need to give him an immediate answer and could go back and think about it carefully.

On the second day, a commander of a troop from Guizhou Province came to Wu Jincheng. He was willing to discuss the specific details with Zhang Wenwu. He had been thinking about it all night. His troops were now in such a state. He didn't know how long he would have to wait for replenishment from the military depot. You know, even the Central Army's troops could not be fully replenished, let alone his own ragtag group of ragtag troops. Instead of wasting time like this, it would be better for him to take the compensation money and return to his hometown to recruit new soldiers. In a year or two, he could lead the troops to fight the Japanese again, which was much better than waiting at the military depot.

"Deputy Director Zhang, this is Brigade Commander Hou of the Third Brigade of Guizhou Province. He is interested in the incorporation plan you proposed and wants to discuss it with you in detail. I took the liberty of bringing him here to talk to you. Sorry to bother you." Wu Jincheng introduced Zhang Wenwu with a smile.

"Hello, Brigade Commander Hou. I'm Zhang Wenwu, deputy director of the Quartermaster Department of the 102nd Division of the th Army. I'm also the person in charge of recruiting soldiers for the army." Zhang Wenwu also politely saluted and introduced himself. After all, he was a brigade commander, so he had to give him enough face.

"Thank you, Deputy Director Zhang. I came here just to ask you what arrangements will be made for the brothers in my department in the future." Brigade Commander Hou simply returned the greeting and directly asked the question that concerned him. He felt that at this point, there was no need to be polite.

"Please rest assured, Brigade Commander Hou. The brothers in your unit will be arranged to supplement the various units of my 18th Army. Our 18th Army will not treat these brothers unfairly." Zhang Wenwu had a good impression of Brigade Commander Hou. At least he still valued his remaining subordinates.

"Well, if my brothers can be added to the Central Army's direct troops, I will feel more at ease." Brigade Commander Hou nodded, and then he began to talk to Zhang Wenwu about the compensation amount.

Half an hour later, Zhang Wenwu and Brigade Commander Hou had reached an agreement on the terms. The 562 remnants of the Third Brigade of Guizhou Province were collectively handed over to Zhang Wenwu. Brigade Commander Hou received a notice issued by the military station to return home and recruit new soldiers, as well as 500 yuan from Zhang Wenwu. He waited for the brigade commander to bring the troops over and the transaction was completed in person.

Zhang Wenwu asked the cook to quickly cook more porridge so that when the reinforcements arrived, they could have more to eat. He had a feeling that he would be very busy in the next two days, and the recruiting station would welcome the arrival of various troops.

Zhang Wenwu had also made up his mind. He would send the troops with better quality back to the 102nd Division, and the supplementary troops with inferior quality would be sent to the headquarters of the th Army. After all, the casualties of various units of the th Army were very heavy. He had to find a way to supplement some personnel for the th Army. Of course, he had to ask Commander Luo for money. This matter was really too expensive. Since each unit had benefited, they should also be given some hard work pay.

Li Shangping was called to the temporary camp by Zhang Wenwu again. When he heard that Zhang Wenwu was going to send the Guizhou Province troops in front of him back to the military headquarters, he was still very happy. He knew how great the losses of the previous troops were. A unit like the 11th Division now has less than three regiments of troops, and this is after reinforcement. If the reinforcements are not counted, it would be really embarrassing. The 11th Division has suffered all casualties, and the number of people exceeded a little.

"Wenwu, this reinforcement force has solved a big problem for Commander Luo. Now all the troops below are looking for Commander Luo and Chief of Staff Liu at the military headquarters to ask for additional troops. Now Commander Luo can finally breathe a sigh of relief." Li Shangping said excitedly, but when he saw Zhang Wenwu's expression, he immediately felt something was wrong.

"Li Shangping, when you return to the military headquarters this time, you must talk to Commander Luo and Chief of Staff Liu. Right now, the military stations are full of troops that need to recruit personnel. It's too difficult for me to recruit soldiers here, and I need the support of the military headquarters." Zhang Wenwu said as he took a puff of his cigarette with a worried look on his face.

Li Shangping also knew that Zhang Wenwu was under great pressure to recruit soldiers, so he nodded and said, "Wenwu, don't worry. If you have any requests, just let me know. I will report to Commander Luo. With your contributions, any request is not excessive."

When Zhang Wenwu heard what Li Shangping said, he immediately said, "Money, ask Commander Luo to get me some more money. My troops are spending too much, and now I don't have a penny left."

Li Shangping understood, but he also knew the method Zhang Wenwu used to recruit soldiers, which was indeed very expensive, so he nodded and promised Zhang Wenwu that he would report his request to Commander Luo.

After Zhang Wenwu saw Li Shangping off, he sat in the tent smoking a cigarette with a relaxed look on his face. Cao Huaguo and Li Houcai also sat on the ammunition box to rest. This was a rare rest time for them.

"Houcai, the spinning mill where you used to work as an accountant in Shanghai, was it owned by Japanese?" Zhang Wenwu asked this question out of the blue while looking at the heavy rain outside the tent.

After hearing Zhang Wenwu's question, Li Houcai moved the ammunition box to Zhang Wenwu's side, sat down and said, "Yes, Deputy Director Zhang, the spinning mill I used to work in Shanghai was acquired by a Japanese trading company. Later, because the wages were reduced too much, everyone went on strike. Unexpectedly, the Japanese fired everyone." Although he didn't know why Zhang Wenwu asked him this, he still told him everything truthfully.

"If you are the accountant, you should know where the warehouse of the spinning mill is." Zhang Wenwu continued to ask while looking at the heavy rain outside.

"Yes, I know. I know all the warehouses. After all, we need to record the things in the warehouses and keep the accounts well. Deputy Director Zhang, what are you doing..." Li Houcai was not clear about Zhang Wenwu's thoughts and looked at Zhang Wenwu with some confusion.

Although Zhang Wenwu is not short of money yet, he knows that he needs to get more money. At the current rate of spending, the little capital of his Quartermaster Department will not be spent for long. He is thinking about where he can get the money quickly. Just now, he suddenly remembered that Li Houcai used to work in a spinning mill in Shanghai, and it was a spinning mill acquired by the Japanese. He definitely cannot let it go.

As for the Japanese trading company, it is a private commercial company and according to international agreements, it should be protected in wartime. He doesn't care about any international agreements at all. As long as it belongs to Japanese, he must take it away and use it on the Chinese soldiers. That is the most important thing.

"Houcai, where are all the warehouses? Are there any in the suburbs of Shanghai? What's inside them?" Zhang Wenwu asked three questions in a row.

Li Houcai nodded and said, "Yes, the spinning mill is quite large. There is a large warehouse in the suburbs of Shanghai, and there is also a warehouse at the dock in the Japanese Concession. As for what is in the warehouse, it is hard to say. Sometimes it contains spindles, sometimes cotton, and sometimes other cloth or something." He felt as if he had guessed what his superior was thinking.

"Well, is the warehouse far from Nanxiang?" Zhang Wenwu continued to ask.

"It's about two hours' drive from Nanxiang, Deputy Director Zhang, what do you want to do?" Li Houcai was basically certain of his guess at this point. Deputy Director Zhang was indeed planning to seize the warehouse of the Japanese trading company, but Li Houcai didn't care much about it. He had been a bandit before, and what's more, they were robbing Japanese people's things, and it was the Japanese trading company that withheld his salary and fired him. The feeling of revenge was really good.

"Fuck him, Li Houcai, go back to the division headquarters. If Wang Mazi is still alive, go talk to Chief of Staff Zhao and tell him that I need Wang Mazi to bring at least a company of brothers to help, and you want Wang Mazi to bring some good hands." Zhang Wenwu had made up his mind. He couldn't wait to do this. Asking Wang Mazi to bring some people over was purely a matter of professional matching. They were all veterans in robbery, and they were professionals doing professional things.

After hearing Zhang Wenwu's order, Li Houcai also became excited. He immediately put on a straw raincoat and walked towards the division headquarters.

"Deputy Director Zhang, we don't have that many trucks, and we can't move the good things in the warehouse back." Cao Huaguo also understood Zhang Wenwu's thoughts, so he quickly reminded him.

Zhang Wenwu looked at Cao Huaguo with appreciation. He felt that the fact that Cao Huaguo could think of this showed that he had integrated into his quartermaster department and had begun to think about problems for him with all his heart.

"Well, yes, it's good that you thought of this. As for transportation, I have also thought about it. Generally, warehouses are built in places with convenient transportation. Since the Japanese trading company has a warehouse in the suburbs, it must have taken the transportation conditions into consideration. This warehouse must be near a railway or a dock, so that it is convenient for them to load and unload goods. At present, the railway from Nanxiang to Shanghai has been suspended, but this section of the railway has only been suspended and not blown up. We can use the railway to transport the goods back. As for trains and wagons, of course we have to borrow them from the military depot. Taking advantage of the good weather and the heavy rain, Japanese planes cannot take off, which is convenient for us to do this."

When Cao Huaguo heard that Zhang Wenwu had already considered all the issues, he immediately got ready to perform well in this operation.