"Kun Fujiwara, you're a little late. I wanted to talk to you a few more words, but I would have to be fined three drinks later!" Katsuda Takashi said with a smile.

He and Ning Zhiheng are close friends with close interests, and their relationship is naturally different from others. The conversation between the two people is friendly and casual, without any barriers.

Ning Zhiheng also smiled and said, "Kaitan Jun, you know me and rarely attend such large banquets. I came here after Mayor Su invited me again and again."

Katsuda Takashi knew that Ning Zhiheng liked peace and was not willing to socialize in normal times. It was indeed not easy to come to the banquet this time.

He laughed and said to Su Yue beside him: "Brother Su, you still have a great face. Fujiwara Jun rarely comes to such an occasion. You need this kind of love!"

Su Yue also had a smile on his face, and a lotus flower was raised on his mouth. He bowed and smiled slightly, "Actually, Katsuda Jun is all Katsuda Jun's face. I invited Fujiwara Jun in your name at that time. Fujiwara Jun agreed immediately. Speaking of which, Katsuda Jun wanted to get this love!"

As soon as these words were said, the three of them looked at each other and laughed happily. Su Yue is worthy of being a politician who has experienced a lot of witty words and is full of witty words, making people feel like a bath in the spring breeze.

Ning Zhiheng came to the living room to sit down under the gaze of everyone. At this time, several presidents of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce also came up quickly. These were the largest Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, and this time they were also invited.

As the overlord business company in the business world, these business leaders naturally have to meet in person. And they usually deal with Fujiwara's manager Daichi Hiroo, and they can't see President Fujiwara himself at all. Today, they happened to take this opportunity to contact President Fujiwara in order to leave a good image in front of President Fujiwara.

But Ning Zhiheng was too lazy to deal with these people. After all, he was not a person at the same level, so he just responded lightly and gave a wink at Hirao Daichi who was standing by.

Hirao Daichi naturally understood the president's meaning, stepped forward and reached out to signal, inviting the presidents to talk to each other, and these people also retreated with tactfulness.

Su Yue, who had been accompanying him, saw it in his eyes and nodded secretly. He deserved to be the son of the top Japanese nobles. He sent these people away with slight dismissively. These wealthy Japanese businessmen who are usually arrogant are respectfully afraid to say anything in front of President Fujiwara.

Su Yue originally wanted to say a few more words to Ning Zhiheng, after all, there are not many opportunities to be able to have face-to-face contact with this President Fujiwara.

But at this time, another guest came. As the host, it was difficult to ignore other guests. Su Yue had to accuse Ning Zhiheng of guilt and stood up to welcome the social event. Katsuda Takashi accompanied Ning Zhiheng to talk and chat.

There is still some time before the banquet is held, and it is the time for the guests to communicate and talk with each other. The guests are talking to each other according to their status and industry.

Takashi Katsuda and Ning Zhiheng are both senior officials with deep military backgrounds. The other guests, looking at them, wanted to come forward and talk for a few words, but their status was low and they still dared not act rashly.

But soon, two Japanese officers with higher status came forward to sit with them, and everyone talked to each other.

Here are the fellow townsmen and friends of Katsuda Takashi, Major General Yoshioka Masaka, the commander of the 18th Brigade.

There is also Colonel Akira Ogasumura next to him. He is the captain of the Fourth Regiment of the Shanghai Governor. Although his position is lower than that of the others who are sitting there, he is also from Kyoto. He is from Katsuda Takashi and Yoshioka Masao, both of whom are from Fujiwara Company, and Tomohito Fujiwara, the president of Fujiwara Company, is from Kyoto and has a military background, so he is also in this small circle.

Katsuda Takashi said to Yoshioka Masaka, "Yikaoka, your 18th Brigade has been successful in southern Jiangsu this time and has effectively attacked the Chinese guerrilla forces. The military headquarters issued a special commendation order. It is really gratifying!"

When Yoshioka Masao heard Katsuda Takashi's words, he waved his hand and said with a smile: "Kaita Jun is over. To be honest, we spent several months clearing out the guerrilla troops in southern Jiangsu. The results were not ideal. There are many lakes in southern Jiangsu and the terrain is complex. In addition, these Chinese troops are very cunning, so it is difficult for us to catch them. After four months of clearing out, there will be only half a month of battle at most. The other time is constantly looking for traces of the enemy. Fortunately, the effort has not been in vain. We have now successfully forced them to the southern mountainous areas. However, it is very difficult to clear them further. Our troops are also in a miserable way, so we have to withdraw to Shanghai for a temporary rest."

Ning Zhiheng felt aroused when he heard this. Since the Japanese invaded Guangzhou and Wuhan in October last year, due to the long attack line, the Central China Army was seriously insufficient in military strength and consumed huge manpower and material resources, so that all aspects of finance and economy were in trouble.

This situation even affected Japan's domestic economic development, leading to war-weariness in Japan and the growth of anti-war sentiment.

Therefore, the Japanese government and military headquarters adjusted their combat policies against China, changing from a strategic policy to a long-term combat policy.

The specific strategy is to adopt political inducement and subjugation against the National Government.

In terms of military affairs, we also stopped strategic offensives on the front battlefield, focused on consolidating existing occupied areas, and shifted the focus of military strikes to the anti-Japanese guerrilla forces behind them.

At this time, southern Jiangsu, as a confidant in the Japanese occupied area, has been active with two Chinese combat troops.

That is the Red Party New Fourth Army and the National Party’s National Salvation Army.

The combat styles of these two troops are exactly the same. Faced with the powerful offensive of the Japanese army, they are mainly guerrilla, avoiding their edge, attacking their unpreparedness, and constantly attacking the weak links of the Japanese invading army, especially the New Fourth Army of the Red Party. Their combat power and skillful guerrilla warfare methods have greatly troubled and hit the Japanese military.

Since southern Jiangsu is located between Nanjing and Shanghai, its geographical location is extremely important, the Japanese have always wanted to make great efforts to eliminate the Chinese army in this area. Therefore, in the past few months after the end of the Wuhan Battle, Japanese garrisons in Nanjing and Shanghai jointly operated many joint operations to carry out a large-scale clearance of southern Jiangsu, but they have gained little.

However, this recent clearance operation has achieved considerable results. For the first time, they forced all the Chinese army into the southern mountainous areas, deployed heavy troops to set up many levels, limiting the scope of activities of the Chinese army, which is a very big improvement compared with previous results.

Ning Zhiheng then asked, "Yoshioka, according to your statement, the Chinese army has retreated into the mountainous areas, so can the safety of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway be guaranteed?"

Railway transportation between Shanghai and Nanjing has always been an important economic channel for Shanghai. However, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the Beijing-Shanghai Railway suffered great damage. In the following two years, the railway has not been able to operate normally.

The reason is very simple. The Japanese used this railway as an important supply line for transporting soldiers and materials. How could the Chinese army get it done? So the New Fourth Army and the National Salvation Army fought many times around the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. They demolished the railway, attacked the Japanese army, and intercepted the Japanese strategic materials, which gave the Japanese army a great headache.

So much so that the Beijing-Shanghai Railway was repaired and repaired again and again. Because the safety of the railway could not be guaranteed, the Japanese finally stopped the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.

But now it seems that the New Fourth Army and the National Salvation Army have been forced to stay away from the railway line and hide in the southern mountainous areas.

Ning Zhiheng immediately realized that the Japanese would immediately repair this important transportation supply line.

This railway was of great help to Ning Zhiheng's smuggling channel. He could transport his goods directly to Nanjing. As the capital of the Republic of China, Nanjing's railway transportation far exceeds that of other cities in China and is the railway center in central China.

Ning Zhiheng can transport his goods to major regions in North China through Nanjing, the railway center, which is much more convenient than opening up land channels.

Yoshioka Masao and Ning Zhiheng are also very familiar friends. When Katsuda Takashi moved to the house, they got along well and had a good conversation.

Hearing Ning Zhiheng's question, he immediately realized that after he came back, he had already heard that Fujiwara Company is developing extremely rapidly now, and it is already a commercial giant ship in Shanghai. Its business scope is getting bigger and bigger, and the volume of goods transactions is also very amazing. It seems that this Fujiwara President has a very keen sense of business. He smelled business opportunities in just a few words.

He replied with a smile: "That's true. The restoration of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway is now almost completed. If nothing unexpected happens, it will be opened to traffic in twenty days. When our army enters southern Jiangsu again, it will not have to go as hard as long journeys. Fujiwara Jun can also expand the business of the society to the Nanjing area. This is a great thing!"

Akira Ogasamura, who was standing by, also knew that Fujiwara's business was very big, and many military people on the transportation line were benefiting. He had long wanted to take up this chain of interests, so he took the initiative to say: "Fujiwara, if the Beijing-Shanghai Railway is opened, the Shanghai Railway Station is in my jurisdiction. If it is useful, please don't be polite!"

Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but smile when he heard this. He knew what Ogasamura Akira meant very well. This was his willingness to cooperate with him and become a chain of interests in Fujiwara's smuggling channels. After all, who doesn't like money?

Katsuda Takashi and Yoshioka Masaka both smiled knowingly. Both of them were profiteers, and they also had close relationships with Akira Ogasamura, so of course they were willing to have one more ally in the army.

Ning Zhiheng immediately nodded and agreed, "Ogasun, we are all fellow villagers, wandering in this overseas place. Of course, we have to support each other, and I will ask you in the future."
Chapter completed!