Chapter 62 The Predicament of the Sichuan Army

November 1, 1938, Jiangcheng Temporary 2nd Division Office

"Commander, the Green Gang is very interested in the batch of contraband we are holding, but they are only willing to pay slightly over one silver dollar per ounce, totaling 1.2 million US dollars. However, Mr. Du is willing to pay in cash." Upon hearing about contraband, Milong's eyes lit up. Contraband truly never lacked buyers; affected by the war, Indian opium, Shanxi opium, Manchurian opium, and Korean opium were temporarily unable to be imported, causing tight supplies in many regions. Otherwise, it would not have alerted the distant Mr. Du in Hong Kong.

"1.2 million US dollars, over three million silver dollars—that is certainly showing enough sincerity. Be careful during the transaction, and make sure we don't get double-crossed by the underworld." Wang Yue nodded. Keeping this stuff for personal use had little value, and even if he wanted morphine, he could simply go somewhere and seize it. Where could self-refining compare to looting? Didn't they see that even lead azide was no longer worth producing themselves?

"The Old Russians have a squad of White Guard veterans, all old hands from the Northeast Army. I'll bring them along; they'll definitely be able to intimidate those Green Gang fellows." Milong patted his chest in assurance. He had his own seniority and a master in the underworld; anyone wanting to double-cross him would have to weigh the consequences carefully. Otherwise, how could he have survived mingling in the black market for years?

"Make sure their channels are properly maintained. We don't have our own intelligence organization, and we'll need these people on many occasions." Wang Yue remained somewhat uneasy. According to the original owner's memories, Milong was the type most fond of double-crossing the underworld. Back in the Northeast, he had even buried Japanese rōnin; mere gangsters were certainly nothing to be afraid of.

"Commander, quite a few of them have turned traitor, you know. It's rumored that even some tycoons in Shanghai have defected to the enemy." Milong lowered his voice to remind him. The composition of the Green Gang was complex, and its members varied widely in quality. While one couldn't say they were completely untrustworthy, it was true that they were prone to trouble.

"It's fine. Using them to handle certain matters is good enough; it's not like we're actually swearing blood oaths with them." Wang Yue smiled. The Green Gang was destined to be nothing more than cannon fodder. If others could use them as cannon fodder, why couldn't he? There was no need to constantly mouth righteousness about how heroes always came from humble slaughterers. Among that bunch of hoodlums, executing all ten might result in some injustices, but executing nine out of ten would definitely leave a few fish slipping through the net.

Milong contacted the representative of the Sichuan Army's 123rd Division, and that very day they finalized a transaction with a total value of 800,000 silver dollars, which included:

Forty Hanyang-made 57mm mountain guns, at a unit price of 8,000 silver dollars, totaling 320,000 silver dollars.
Two thousand 57mm high-explosive shrapnel shells (complimentary).
Twenty Skoda M1915 37mm infantry guns, at a unit price of 1,000 silver dollars, totaling 20,000 silver dollars.
Two thousand 37mm high-explosive shells (complimentary).
Twelve Maxim M1910 heavy machine guns, at a unit price of 1,600 silver dollars, totaling 19,200 silver dollars.
Two hundred and one 7.92mm Chauchat light machine guns, at a unit price of 500 silver dollars, totaling 100,500 silver dollars.

Five hundred and seventy-one Liaoning Type 13 rifles, at a unit price of 55 silver dollars, totaling 31,405 silver dollars.
One thousand six hundred and seventy-six Mauser Model 1871 rifles (second-hand), at a unit price of 40 silver dollars, totaling 67,040 silver dollars.
Seven hundred and fifty-one Mosin-Nagant Model 1891 rifles, at a unit price of 60 silver dollars, totaling 45,060 silver dollars.
One hundred thousand rounds of 7.62mm rifle ammunition, at a unit price of 600 silver dollars per ten thousand, totaling 6,000 silver dollars.
Twelve hundred Year 1 Type 6.8mm rifles, at a unit price of 50 silver dollars, totaling 60,000 silver dollars.
One hundred thousand rounds of 6.8mm rifle ammunition, at a unit price of 600 silver dollars per ten thousand, totaling 6,000 silver dollars.
Two thousand serviceably usable Hanyang-made rifles, at a unit price of 45 silver dollars, totaling 90,000 silver dollars.
One hundred Hanyang-made C96 "Broomhandle" pistols, at a unit price of 50 silver dollars, totaling 5,000 silver dollars.
Eight Browning M1900 pistols, at a unit price of 80 silver dollars, totaling 640 silver dollars.
Two thousand one hundred and fifty-five MK2 steel helmets, at a unit price of 20 silver dollars, totaling 43,100 silver dollars.
Three thousand sets of Type 24 military uniforms, at a unit price of 5 silver dollars, totaling 15,000 silver dollars.
Twenty thousand Gong-type grenades, at a unit price of 1.2 silver dollars, totaling 24,000 silver dollars.
Grand total: 852,945 silver dollars.

Compared to the current black market prices in Jiangcheng, this price was undoubtedly artificially high, but compared to pre-war prices, it was roughly comparable. The most crucial point was that the 123rd Division did not need to fork out genuine gold and silver; paying off 800,000 silver dollars through five years of land rent was by no means a low price. After all, crop yields from the land were extremely unstable. Over the past two years, Nanbu County had suffered a severe famine, making it almost impossible to collect land rent. Coupled with the civil wars of the previous few years, the land in Nanbu County produced virtually no output; otherwise, they would not have been so eager to offload it all at once.

Now that the weapons were in hand, the land still belonged to Li Weiru, and selling it out a few years later when times improved would yield the same result. Therefore, they readily agreed to the other party's requests to resolve the land tax issue and to secure the official commission for the commander of the Nanbu County Security Regiment. Never mind that county magistrates were currently appointed by the provincial government; the ones who actually called the shots in Nanbu County were still these military strongmen.

Moreover, among this batch of weapons, the portion that needed to be handed over to the 41st Army's Rear Detachment was also reimbursed. To put it modestly, fifty thousand silver dollars was still guaranteed. Especially the artillery—even the Skoda M1915 37mm infantry guns were considered high-end goods to them. When Commander Liu was around, they could still manufacture some mortars themselves, but now they could only cobble together single-shot homemade pieces and reload spent cartridges. As for proper firearms, they couldn't even dare to dream about them.

Although black market firearms were becoming increasingly rampant, Sichuan Army generals were well aware that acquiring weapons in the future would only become more and more difficult. Once they lost their guns, the lucky ones could retire to old age, while those with bad luck being sent to a military tribunal was entirely within the realm of possibility.

After the Battle of Xuzhou, the 122nd and 124th Divisions were both withdrawn to northern Hubei for reorganization, but the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs constantly created obstacles for their replenishment and training.

First was food. National Revolutionary Army soldiers received a vegetable allowance of only five cents per day. Before the war, this amount could at least barely secure a full meal in the Jiangnan region, but now doing so was a pipe dream. Five cents in fiat currency couldn't even buy half a catty of coarse grain, let alone meat, eggs, cooking oil, or salt. The Sichuan Army units reorganizing in northern Hubei remained in a state of semi-starvation. How could one speak of military training under such conditions, let alone improving combat effectiveness?

Second were weapons. The 122nd Division had been virtually wiped out at Tengxian. The Military Affairs Commission had grandly announced at the time that they would be replenished, but upon arrival, they were only given three hundred old-fashioned rifles and two machine guns in total. As for the 124nd Division, which had suffered lesser losses, they only received two crates of rifles—just 20 rifles in total, yet originating from four different calibers. Could you believe that?

Take the Third Republic's 7.5mm short rifle ammunition, for instance; you couldn't even scavenge a single spent cartridge case, making it impossible to even attempt reloading bullets.

Third were personnel. The Sichuan Army did not lack replacement soldiers, but conscripts traveling out of Sichuan required supplies. Lacking supplies and subjected to various forms of extortion along the way, the conscripts arrived in northern Hubei looking like bags of bones. Not only could they not be immediately integrated into the units, but they also required even more resources just to recover their physical health.

Fourth was medicine. Rear-area hospitals were already overflowing and completely incapable of admitting wounded soldiers from the 41st Army. They had to rely entirely on their own meager supply of military doctors. While they still had some traditional herbal ointments for knife wounds, Western medicine was utterly nonexistent. Coupled with mediocre medical skills and substandard post-treatment nursing, the mortality and disability rates among the wounded and sick were exceptionally high, severely damaging the morale of both officers and enlisted men.