Chapter 56: Shinozuka's Apprehension II

Afternoon of October 26, 1938, First Army Headquarters of the Japanese Army in Taiyuan

"Lord Commander, according to the intelligence currently compiled, that is indeed the case." As he spoke, Hideyoshi Kusayama placed a dossier concerning Wang Yue in front of Yoshio Shinozuka. He could empathize quite well with Shinozuka's present feelings; anyone receiving such news would naturally be astonished. He felt the Lord Commander was already handling it admirably, as his own reaction shortly before had been far more unsightly.

"Given so much time, why hasn't the intelligence agency made a move? Even if the Yamazaki Detachment dares not venture into the mountains, they should at least resort to assassination, shouldn't they?" A sneer hung at the corner of Shinozuka's mouth as he spoke. He had always held the Japanese intelligence apparatus in contempt—to put it bluntly, they were utterly despicable. Without the army to back them up, they would have been thoroughly eradicated by others.

"Two reasons, sir. First, up until now, the intelligence agency has failed to infiltrate the inner circle around this Wang Yue, making assassination naturally impossible. That is understandable, after all; this Provisional 2nd Division rose to prominence far too swiftly, leaving simply no time for advance deployment. Second, the intelligence agency has been attempting to persuade Wang Yue to surrender. Wang Yue's elder brother resides in Manchuria and serves as an official in Manchukuo, and their ancestral home is also in Manchuria. Moreover, in recent years, they suffered suppression from that figure in the Northeast Army. The South Manchuria Railway Investigation Department believes the probability of inducing his surrender is extremely high, which is why they have been continuously preparing for this matter." Kusayama detailed the intelligence he had gathered alongside his personal judgment. Naturally, he could not know the underlying reasons why all Japanese intelligence branches had suffered repeated setbacks. While the Railway Investigation Department certainly desired to coerce a surrender, other intelligence branches were by no means willing to grant them face—to say nothing else, even the Navy branch was beyond the influence of the Railway Investigation Department.

"To think this Wang Yue is actually Mr. Wang's son; what a genuine pity." Shinozuka could not help but sigh with emotion, though precisely what he found lamentable remained unsaid.

"The task currently assigned to the Yamazaki Detachment is to blockade the stationing area of the Provisional 2nd Division, compress their living space, control the flow of supplies to create hardships, and pave the way for the subsequent surrender negotiations with the Provisional 2nd Division. Compared to those chaotic puppet troops, this division still possesses a certain degree of combat effectiveness, making it worth spending some time and resources on," Kusayama continued his report.

"Inform Ichiro Hirata that the headquarters will not interfere with their operations, but Yangquan County and the Yangquan Railway Station must absolutely not be lost!" Shinozuka nodded. He had lost the willingness to concern himself with the Yamazaki Detachment; as long as the Peiping-Hankou Railway and the Japanese enterprises in Yangquan could be secured, that would suffice. After all, the production of coal, coke, and iron ingots there required strict guarantees.

"Please rest assured, Lord Commander. Ichiro Hirata knows discretion far better than Haruhira Yamazaki and will certainly not jeopardize the major objective for minor gains. We can see this clearly from his actions in Heyuan County. To compensate for the shortage of local garrison troops in Yangquan, he even transferred his old subordinate Li Fugui and the Heyuan County Peace Preservation Corps to Yangquan County to execute a troop rotation with the local Peace Preservation Corps." Kusayama put in a few good words for Hirata, who managed to meet the standards of his own discerning eyes as chief of staff.

"Yoshi. Executing a troop rotation with the Peace Preservation Corps is an excellent move. It can effectively prevent these corps from growing too powerful and makes them much easier to control. Tell Hirata that as long as he works diligently, none of our efforts will go unnoticed." Shinozuka was far more intrigued by the rotation of the Peace Preservation Corps. Recently, the corps had grown excessively powerful in many areas, making the Imperial Army appear as though they were merely bolstering these local armed factions.

"Sir, actually, it is also necessary to conduct irregular adjustments for garrison units and gendarmerie detachments in various regions. As you know, the family backgrounds of some junior officers are not particularly prominent," Kusayama said after a moment of hesitation. Although the Japanese invaders had seemingly reached the threshold of a developed nation, the daily lives of their domestic populace were comparable to those in China—if not worse. Upon arriving in China, they naturally fought desperately to plunder wealth and goods to send back home to subsidize their families.

Anyone who read the memoirs of old Japanese soldiers would discover that the invaders of this period looted everything. You might think they merely plundered silk, but in reality, they seized homespun cloth and old garments just as readily. You might assume military requisitioning of grain was limited to fine rice and white flour, but frontline units actually ate whatever they could lay their hands on, even stealing the black beans meant for livestock to take back and eat. When they finished eating, they would even use small wooden sticks to pick scraps out of one another's teeth.

As for valuables, they demanded everything. Gold, jewelry, gemstones, silver dollars, and silver scraps were to be expected, and even paper currency was acceptable. But copper coins and small copper utensils—wasn't that going a bit too far? There were soldiers who mailed looted gongs, copper basins, and copper tobacco pipes right back to the homeland.

And if you thought that was the end of it, soldiers would occasionally mail back strips of cured meat, sausages, or even coarse grains and dried vegetables, because their families back home similarly suffered from long-term starvation. Under the exploitation of the capitalists, they could not even afford to eat ordinary fish in any quantity.

"Kusayama-kun, I understand your meaning, but how easily said than done? Long before the war broke out, the spoils of the occupied territories had already been carved up, and the commanders of many local garrison units were manipulated by relevant interest groups. If the two of us arrive here as newcomers and act so radically, do you believe that tomorrow the 'enemy' could break into Taiyuan City and capture our headquarters?" Shinozuka shook his head gently, his face filled with bitterness. It was not that his predecessor had left him a complete mess; in reality, the situation was identical everywhere, and in some places even worse than Shanxi Province.

"Sir, I am genuinely concerned that the tax revenues in the occupied territories cannot be collected. With so many troops under our command, we must possess the capability to resolve supply issues locally. Just like this time, we were caught completely off guard. A series of combat operations by my First Army have been affected; because we failed to weaken the opponent before the arrival of winter, the difficulty of subsequent military operations will increase, and we may even incur greater losses. The Battle of Jiangxi is indeed on the verge of victory, but you are well aware that the Empire's material reserves have been completely depleted, and our domestic production capacity is simply insufficient to sustain the demands of such a massive army." Kusayama was deeply anxious. He was genuinely terrified by these developments; if the opponent possessed even slightly better intelligence capabilities, a stunning counterattack and reversal in Shanxi Province would not have been impossible.

"Take it step by step, starting from aspects within our control. First, ascertain the equipment and workers of the Taiyuan Arsenal, and prioritize resolving the production of Arisaka rifle ammunition. No matter the quantity, solving even a portion is better than nothing." After pondering for a moment, Shinozuka decided that changes had to be made.