In early April of the 32nd year of the Republic of China (1943), Myanmar's grain market finally collapsed.
Although Japan is trying to control the scale of the grain selling to avoid causing panic in the entire market, if hundreds of millions of dollars of funds are to be evacuated in just a few days, how can this move be so small? Just when Siam grain merchants are selling grain
On the same day, American and British grain merchants led by Jack and others discovered it, which immediately triggered panic selling in the entire market.
In just three days, Myanmar's food prices fell like a roller coaster, and soon fell below the original price of 2 cents.
By April 10, the price of grain in Myanmar had dropped to 1 cent per 5 kilograms. At this time, most of the grain dealers had sold all the grain they had hoarded, and they had already repaid bank loans and loans.
The loan sharks we owe are huge, not to mention that with a market as small as Myanmar, trying to sell nearly 50 billion kilograms of grain is simply wishful thinking.
From the beginning, these grain merchants came here because of the severe drought in southwest China. Now Japanese experts have made it clear that there is no possibility of a severe drought in southwest China in the first half of this year, so what is the point of hoarding this batch of grain?
?Could it be that high interest rates were provided to Nanyang Bank, Du Yuesheng and others in vain?
At this time, hundreds of grain merchants gathered in Myanmar were really about to jump off the building, including the Siamese grain merchants controlled by the Japanese.
Due to time constraints and the small size of Myanmar's plates, the Siamese grain merchants controlled by the Japanese had no chance to escape. Lieutenant General Anda's estimate was still too optimistic. In fact, the Japanese government benefited from this speculation.
The funds withdrawn from the market were only less than a few hundred thousand US dollars, and I could only buy back two kilograms of gold at most.
At this time, the Expeditionary Force Headquarters became lively, and it was truly a bustle.
The truth is obvious. Myanmar has only so many people, more than half of whom are Chinese immigrants, and more than one million are expeditionary officers and soldiers. The amount of food consumed by this huge group is quite staggering, so grain merchants from all over the world are working hard.
I beg grandpa and grandma, and beg the Chinese Expeditionary Force to eat the food they have hoarded.
In order to persuade the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, Yue Weihan, grain merchants from various countries used all kinds of tricks. Not only did they learn the Chinese way of inviting people to eat and drink, they even went to great lengths to find all kinds of beauties from all over the world, hoping to join Yue Weihan.
So, no matter what, who gave Yue Weihan the reputation of being a "lascivious" person?
However, these grain merchants are not the only ones who have frequently visited Yue Weihan in recent years.
Reporters from Western media such as Avril also came forward, hoping that the Chinese Expeditionary Force would lend a helping hand.
Stilwell also expressed euphemistically that if Yue Weihan could stabilize Burma's grain market, it would help improve the international influence and status of the Chinese government and the Chinese Expeditionary Force. Even Churchill, who was far away across the ocean, sent a telegram.
I hope Yue Weihan can focus on the overall situation of the World Anti-Fascist Alliance and not go too far.
Churchill's words were a bit threatening. The British still can't adapt to their new role. This is human nature. After all, the British have been the world hegemon for nearly two centuries. Although they are already declining at this time, they can't speak.
It worked, but it was difficult to change his arrogant tone.
In addition to Western media and political dignitaries, Chinese compatriots also came to visit.
The most famous one is the former Shanghai gangster Du Yuesheng. To be honest, Yue Weihan doesn't have any good impression of Du Yuesheng and other gangsters of the Green Gang. In Yue Weihan's view, the underworld is the underworld. No matter how loyal and patriotic it is,
, that is also the underworld, and it is absolutely on the opposite side of the officers and soldiers.
However, Du Yuesheng is Zhao Youting's master after all, so he still has to give him face.
Du Yuesheng tactfully mentioned to Yue Weihan that although the Americans had not done any bad things to China, the British had done many bad things over the past hundred years, not to mention the two Opium Wars, and organized the Eight-Nation Allied Forces to burn the Old Summer Palace to China.
The losses caused are simply astronomical, so don't worry about the life and death of the British.
Of course, this is just a high-sounding statement, Du Yuesheng's original intention is still to get high interest rates from loan sharks.
As long as the Chinese Expeditionary Force does not take action, Du Yuesheng can swallow up all the British grain merchants who lent him usury loans, including their skins and meat. Moreover, this is Myanmar, and there is no need to worry about interference from the patrol house of the Ministry of Industry and Concession Bureau like in Shanghai. In Myanmar,
Although the wild land is not as prosperous as Shanghai, the advantage is that the Chinese are in charge of it.
Yue Weihan's original intention was to raise enough grain at zero cost to survive the famine in the Southwest, but there was still some room for maneuver in the specific operation. If Yue Weihan's hands were wider, grain merchants from various countries would still have a way to survive.
, if Yue Weihan's hand is tighter, then they will wait to lose their fortune and their family will be destroyed.
It can be said that the life and death of grain merchants in various countries depended on Yue Weihan's thoughts.
In the end, it was Mr. Rong Desheng who suggested to Yue Weihan that he should keep a line in everything and make things convenient for others. Yue Weihan let the grain merchants from various countries go and ate them all at a low price of 1 cent and 5 kilograms.
The nearly 100 million U.S. dollars gained from this grain speculation were all converted into grain, totaling more than 49 billion jins.
In this way, the Chinese Expeditionary Force got nearly 50 billion kilograms of grain without spending a penny.
In other words, grain merchants from various countries contributed nearly 50 billion kilograms of grain to the expeditionary force in vain. In this way, these grain merchants still have to be grateful to Yue Weihan. Even British Prime Minister Churchill said to his trusted officials in private that Yue Weihan was a
He is an international friend with high moral standards and a good friend of the British.
The food speculation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma finally came to an end, and the results were not bad. However, the Japanese Central China Front Army's Southwest Campaign plan to destroy the National Government was not affected at all. Okamura Neiji ignored the determination of the Japanese base camp.
Opposition, preparations for this general battle are still intensive.
Since the Japanese army did a very good job of keeping secrets, and the Central China Front Army and the Southern Army belonged to two different strategic groups, Nanzuo Yunzi did not get the news at all in advance, and Yue Weihan naturally did not know about it until the time entered early May.
, the Japanese troops in Central China began to mobilize frequently, and the New Fourth Army discovered the anomaly and urgently reported it to Yan'an.
Nanjing, Central China Front Army Headquarters.
Lieutenant General Nemoto Hiroshi, chief of staff of the Central China Front, was standing in front of the map to introduce the latest troop deployment to Okamura Neiji: "Your Excellency, Commander, as of this morning, the main force of the Third Army's 9 field divisions and 5 independent mixed brigades have been deployed.
The front lines of Yichang and Xiangpan have been secretly assembled, and the main 7 field divisions and 4 independent mixed brigades of the Fifth Army have been assembled along the lines of Huaihua and Hengyang."
In Okamura Neiji's plan, the main force of the Third Army will be commanded by him personally, and will march directly to Chongqing along the Yangtze River. At the same time, a partial division will be sent from the north to attack Hanzhong, cutting off the Nationalist Government's retreat route to the northwest, while the Fifth Army will
Commanded by the powerful Japanese general Naosaburo Okabe, they invaded Guizhou from western Hunan and cut off the Nationalist Government's retreat route into Burma as quickly as possible.
The three armies attacked almost at the same time. At that time, the National Government would have no choice but to wait for help and escape from Kangzang.
If the Nationalist Government insists on defending, it will be defending to the death. If it is defeated and flees Kangzang, it will be completely reduced to a local government such as the Yan'an Border Region and the Sichuan-Shaanxi Appeasement Office. Its weight and appeal are simply not enough to compete with Wang Jingwei's Nanjing government.
If they can't compete with each other, the National Government will be officially destroyed legally.
"Yo Xi." Okamura Neji said happily, "Nemoto-kun, your work is excellent, and the Chinese people didn't notice it at all!"
"Hai." Nemotohiro suddenly lowered his head and said, "It is an honor for an Imperial soldier to be loyal to the Empire and serve His Majesty the Emperor!"
Okamura Neiji thought for a moment and then said: "Nemoto-kun, how are the troops of the Tenth Army and the Imperial Alliance Army deployed?"
"Most of the ministries have already entered their designated positions." Nemotobo suddenly lowered his head and said, "As long as the Commander gives the order, we can launch an attack on the six major bases of the New Fourth Army of China at the same time. Although this attack is not powerful, it has an extremely wide scope.
It is enough to make it difficult for China's New Fourth Army to take care of both the head and tail."
"Yo Xi." Okamura Neiji nodded happily, and then said, "Nemoto-kun, I will fly to Wuhan this afternoon, and I will leave Nanjing to you."
"Hai." Nembo suddenly lowered his head.
Rangoon, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.
When Yue Weihan strode into the small conference room, Stilwell and Mr. Deng were puffing away in their seats. Wei Lihuang, Mr. Zuo and Huang Jie were standing by the window discussing something in a low voice. Seeing Yue Weihan come in, Stilwell
Wei and Deng Gong quickly stood up, and Wei Lihuang and the other three people also walked to the conference table.
The atmosphere in the conference room was a bit solemn, which Yue Weihan had clearly felt.
Yue Weihan's eyes immediately fell on Deng Gong's face and asked: "Old Deng, what's going on?"
Deng Gong put the cigarette butt into the ashtray and stubbed it out, then said in a solemn tone: "Zhongshu, Yan'an has just sent an urgent message to General Ye Ting. The New Fourth Army has discovered frequent movements of Japanese troops in central China. Although the news has not been confirmed,
The information reflected from various aspects is also very messy, but the facts are basically clear, and the Japanese army will make big moves!"
"Hmm? The Japanese army in Central China will make a big move?" Yue Weihan asked subconsciously, "What kind of move will it be?"
"It's difficult to judge for the time being." Mr. Zuo shook his head and said thoughtfully, "Judging from the force allocation of the four major strategic groups of the Japanese army, the Central China Front Army has only 500,000 people, which is the strategic group with the smallest strength. It is said that it is possible to take the initiative to attack
He doesn’t have much personality, but Okamura Neji, an old devil, knows how to use soldiers well, but he cannot be judged by common sense."
"Is it possible that Okamura Neiji wants to go south to Guangxi and cooperate with the southern army to attack Myanmar?" Huang Jie said suddenly.
"This is impossible." Yue Weihan said flatly, "If they want to bite us, the Japanese army still lacks good teeth, and Okamura Neji is not that stupid."
"I judge that Okamura Neji is likely to go up the river to attack Chongqing." Deng Gong's voice suddenly sounded, and the expressions of Wei Lihuang and Huang Jie changed immediately. Yue Weihan was frightened but also admired Deng Gong.
He was not a pure political cadre. In his early years in Baise, Guangxi, Deng Gong also led an armed uprising and could be regarded as a military cadre.
"Attack Chongqing? Can't?" Stilwell was the first to raise objections. "Although the National Government in Chongqing is extremely corrupt, Huami still has nearly 2 million armed forces in his hands. How can such a huge armed force be used?"
Is it possible for a mere 500,000 Japanese troops to deal with it? Not to mention that it is impossible for all the 500,000 Central Chinese Japanese troops to be mobilized to the front line. It would be good to have 400,000."
"General Stilwell, I'm afraid you don't quite understand the dilemma the Central Army is facing right now." General Wei Lihuang sighed and said in a solemn tone, "Although the Central Army still has 2 million men, it is short of food and pay.
If there is a lack of ammunition, the generals will not be willing to fight to the death, and the soldiers will not have the intention to serve the country. If we really want to fight, we may be worried about collapse at the first touch."
Huang Jie hesitated for a moment and said to Yue Weihan: "General, how about we transfer the 1st Group Army back to Chongqing?"
The 1st Group Army of the Expeditionary Force was reorganized from Song Xilian's 11th Group Army. Huang Jie was also a commander under the 11th Group Army before he was promoted to the Expeditionary Force Headquarters. The 11th Group Army was originally a direct unit of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek. Huang Jie was very loyal to Chairman Chiang Kai-shek.
He is definitely loyal. In the past, Huang Jie took his troops back home without saying a word, but now he can't.
Ever since Yue Weihan established a class of mainland generals, the Huangpu generals have lost absolute control over their troops.
After the political commissar sent by the CCP from Yan'an took office, the Huangpu generals' control over the troops was greatly weakened. Now it is no longer possible to bring back a whole group of troops, let alone a whole group of troops. It involves
Regarding troop mobilization and military operations, although the political commissar does not have the right to make decisions, he does have the right to know!
Under such circumstances, how could you possibly pull the troops away without telling the political commissar?
You can't launch a surprise attack to kill or imprison all the political commissars of units at all levels, right? If anyone really wants to do this, the plainclothes from the operations department or the top soldiers from the special operations division will definitely be there before he can do it.
The CCP is notorious for its infiltration ability. Who dares to say that there are no underground CCP members lurking around?
"No, the First Army cannot return home!" Stilwell rejected Huang Jie's proposal without hesitation.
After a pause, Stilwell added: "The 1st Army can return home, but it must leave behind all its fine weapons and equipment before returning home, and it is not allowed to take away a single bullet!"
When Huang Jie heard this, he rolled his eyes and asked the 1st Army to go back with bare hands? It's a shame that this old American man could say it.
However, the feud between Stilwell and Chairman Chiang had been going on for a long time. It was already known to everyone that Stilwell could not stand the various behaviors of Chairman Chiang and the Nationalist Government. Unless the Allied Forces Headquarters
Remove Stilwell from his position as Chief of Staff of the Southeast Asia Theater. Otherwise, the Chinese Expeditionary Force will really have no chance of returning home with equipment.
Even if Yue Weihan agreed, Stilwell had veto power.
Yue Weihan was also caught in a dilemma. Chairman Chiang and the Nationalist Government were destined to withdraw from the stage of history, but they should not die at the hands of the Japanese army and the old devil like Okamura Neiji. Moreover, if the Nationalist Government perished at this time,
It would only bring harm but no good to the entire Chinese War of Resistance. But what makes things difficult is that Stilwell firmly opposed the expeditionary force returning to China to help in the war!