69novels Chapter 278 Mo Huixin's Account Book
Chapter 278 Mo Huixin's Account Book
[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System]
Current funds: £6,543,876
[Daily Increase in Funds]: £3 per second (continuously soaring)
[Current troop strength]: First Army (commanded by Shen Li, including five German-equipped infantry divisions, two armored divisions, and the First Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade), Second Army (commanded by He Maofeng, including an independent motorized infantry division, the Twelfth Division, the Second Independent Heavy Artillery Brigade, an independent armored brigade, and two Central Army reorganized independent mixed brigades), and naval and air force construction units.
[System Notification]: Logistics and combat readiness supplies have been allocated, high-quality sulfonamide anti-infective drugs are in full production, and large numbers of European engineers and machine tools are being continuously transported to East China. The war potential is being released exponentially.
The Yellow River flows mightily, and the old course railway bridge is faintly visible in the thick fog at dawn.
However, on this day, the banks of the Jinpu Railway were filled with the pungent smell of blood.
When the first rays of dawn pierced through the thick fog and shone on the massive steel bridge, the farmers in the nearby southern Shandong province stared in horror.
On the steel beams on both sides of the iron bridge, more than a dozen mangled corpses were hanging side by side.
Their chests were covered with large wooden plaques written in black ink:
"Anyone who spyes on military intelligence or plots to bomb the bridge shall be executed on the spot. — Chen Family Army Military Police Headquarters"
A morning breeze blew by, and the corpses swayed slightly in mid-air. In those pairs of unseeing eyes, endless terror still lingered.
This brief, covert battle that broke out in the dead of night didn't even cause a ripple in the rear.
The Kwantung Army's intelligence agency, in conjunction with Doihara's informant, thought they had secretly reached the railway bridge over the old course of the Yellow River, preparing to plant a full 500 kilograms of German-made high explosives.
However, they had no idea that from the moment they stepped into Shandong, they had been constantly monitored by secret agents deployed by the Military Intelligence Bureau.
At three o'clock in the morning, in the shadows of the bushes and bridge piers on both sides of the iron bridge, Chen Jiajun's military police guard company had already set up several MG34 general-purpose machine guns.
Just as the agents took out the detonators and fuses, a torrential downpour of metal instantly engulfed them.
These dozen or so Japanese agents and Nanjing spies, who didn't even have time to fire a shot, were all wiped out in less than three minutes, and even the explosives were carried untouched into Chen's army's armory.
"Besides, besides—"
Amidst the deep whistle of the train, an armored train clad in gray-black special steel armor and armed with several MG34 machine guns slowly crossed the iron bridge.
Inside the car, Chen Zijun merely glanced indifferently at the corpse hanging high outside, his expression remaining completely unchanged.
"Young Master, all the hidden agents planted by Dai Zhijian in Jinling have been eliminated."
Mo Lanzhi sat opposite her and handed her a peeled, warm egg, her cool voice carrying a faint smile.
"Those Japanese spies were pretty tough; they even crushed the poison before they died. But their supplier has been identified as a manager of a foreign firm in the Japanese concession in Tianjin."
"If he dies, hang him up so that Principal Chang can see clearly, and also let the Japanese devils know that the railways in North China are now under the Chen family's control."
Chen Zijun took the egg and calmly took a bite.
"We didn't bother them, but they came to us first. Since they're in such a hurry to be reborn, let's be generous and grant their wish."
The armored train roared all the way and safely arrived at the Jining headquarters before sunset.
After leaving the platform of the military camp, Chen Zijun did not inspect the First Army Defense Zone, which had just completed its assembly. Instead, he led Shen Li and Mo Lanzhi into the deep courtyard behind the military camp.
This is the logistics hub of Chen Jiajun's army, and also the temporary wartime dispatch center established here by the Southeast Central Bank.
After passing through three heavily armed guard posts, Chen Zijun, accompanied by Mo Huixin, arrived at a sturdy tunnel beneath the camp, originally built by former Shandong warlords.
Today, this place has been thoroughly reinforced by the engineering battalion of Chen Jiajun using I-beams and thick reinforced concrete, and has been transformed into a temporary vault for the Southeast Central Bank in southern Shandong.
Deep inside the tunnel, a multi-tooth rotary dial security door, weighing several tons and specially made by Jiangnan Heavy Industry, gleamed with a cold luster under the incandescent light.
On either side of the iron gate, eight black-clad guards, armed with German-made MP18 submachine guns, stood like statues, their wary eyes scrutinizing everyone who approached.
"Young master, this is our wartime funding pool in the north."
Mo Huixin linked arms with Chen Zijun, her warm, delicate fragrance spreading through the dry tunnel.
As the two supervisors turned the huge metal wheel, the security door slowly slid open to the sides amidst a heavy clanging of metal gears.
The light from the incandescent bulb instantly refracted into a breathtaking golden halo.
Inside the huge underground warehouse, hundreds of iron and wooden crates were neatly stacked on the ceiling.
One row of boxes was open, inside which were stacks of standard gold bars that gleamed under the light, as well as stacks of pound sterling drafts and promissory notes from the Southeast Central Bank, all tightly bound in kraft paper.
"A few days ago, British and French trading companies, together with HSBC and the Yokohama Specie Bank of Japan, attempted to dump large quantities of our Southeast Bank notes on the market to create financial panic and force our currency to depreciate."
Mo Huixin walked to a box of gold bars, her fair fingertips gently tracing the cool metal surface, her beautiful eyes sparkling with the wisdom of an iron-fisted financial queen.
"They assumed that we were mobilizing a large army for a northern expedition and that our foreign exchange and cash reserves must be tight."
"But I directly mobilized my inside contacts at HSBC and Citibank, using this batch of real gold and silver locked in the warehouse to be fully absorbed in hard currency at the Wangping Street exchange!"
"Not only that, I also used short-selling agreements to force them to liquidate their physical gold holdings. They simply didn't have that many physical gold bars, so they had to buy back the promissory notes from us at a high price before the settlement period to close their positions."
"In just one day, those foreign banks lost nearly £800,000. This morning, their head office managers were as anxious as ants on a hot plate, and they obediently came to apologize and beg to resume normal exchange with us."
"Sister Huixin's 'overcoming skill with force' tactic was brilliant."
Chen Zijun smiled and put his arm around her slender waist, his tone full of admiration.
"President Chiang Kai-shek fought wars by borrowing money from foreigners at exorbitant interest rates, even pledging customs duties to the great powers; while we fight wars, we have the financial institutions of the entire five southeastern provinces backing us up. How can they possibly fight us?"
Mo Huixin smiled, placed a thick, exquisitely crafted account book into Chen Zijun's hand, and said softly:
"Young Master, look. Our Southeast Central Bank's gold and foreign exchange reserves have reached a terrifying scale of 51.8 million pounds."
"This doesn't even include the part you control privately."
"With this money, not to mention the Northern Expedition to Beijing and Tianjin, even if you wanted to buy up all the defense zones of all the miscellaneous armies in North China, along with all the men and guns, we would have more than enough silver."
"Thank you for your hard work, Sister Huixin. Without you overseeing the treasury, my 300,000 troops probably wouldn't have been able to even leave Shandong."
Chen Zijun looked at the faint trace of weariness deep in the corner of her eyes and tenderly kissed her forehead.
"I don't feel tired as long as I can help you, young master," Mo Huixin said softly, leaning against his chest.