In the next few days, Isamu Terauchi sent Watanabe to contact Zhou Weihan many times to ask when the transaction would be launched.
Compared to Terauchi Isamu's eagerness, Zhou Weihan sat firmly on the Diaoyutai. Every time Watanabe asked, he always responded with kind words.
It's just that I haven't given a positive response, refuting that the matter is serious and that I'm negotiating with my superiors.
Isamu Terauchi really couldn’t figure out what Zhou Weihan meant this time. If Zhou Weihan was sincere in trading, he shouldn’t be so evasive? If Zhou Weihan had no idea of trading, why did he respond promptly every time?
In fact, Zhou Weihan could not sit still, because the headquarters and division headquarters did not respond, and the telegrams sent out were like nothing. This is not common in normal times.
Under such circumstances, it was not easy for Zhou Weihan to go to the headquarters to inquire about the matter in person, so the matter was delayed.
When Zhou Weihan reported the matter to the headquarters, the leaders held a secret meeting limited to a few people.
"What do you think about this matter?" The boss, who has always been quick to act, did not dare to make a decision at this time.
You look at me, I look at you.
Political Commissar Deng blew out a puff of smoke from his mouth, his eyes were deep, and he didn't know what he was thinking. After a long time, he said: "If this thing is done, it will be a good thing, but the political impact inside and outside the party is inestimable. It may be considered
It is a right-leaning mistake, and once the Nationalist Government learns of this matter, it will definitely make a big fuss, or the Japanese will make this matter public, which will have a great impact on the image of our Eighth Route Army."
"We in the Eighth Route Army are sincerely fighting against the Japanese, but if the common people know about it, will they still support us as always? How will the patriots view this matter?"
At this time, the deputy chief of staff suddenly said: "Zhou Weihan has posed a difficult problem for us, but that's right. Even we can't make a decision on this matter, let alone him?"
"Then we will reject this transaction. Judging from the investigation of Terauchi Isamu, he is greedy at this time and will never stop easily. It will not affect other cooperation between our Eighth Route Army and him!" Commander Liu said at this time.
"To be honest, our Eighth Route Army has benefited a lot from working with Terauchi Isamu or the groups behind him. This is not only reflected in weapons and equipment. In some places, due to the cooperation between the two parties, relations have eased slightly. Even the raids in the countryside,
The Japanese army avoided it and did not want to conflict with us. However, our forces took this opportunity to expand their base areas invisibly, and even developed many secrets within the Japanese army's sphere of influence. Even if they were discovered by Japanese officers,
Turning a blind eye, it can be seen that the Japanese army has been corroded internally, which is an effect that cannot be achieved on a frontal battlefield." The deputy chief of staff was responsible for the intelligence work within the army, so he saw it more thoroughly.
"Zhou Weihan's independent detachment is the best example. Which base is the same as Wuyi and Wu'an? It can be said that it is a unique approach and has other effects. Sometimes I feel ridiculous myself. How can a little devil do such a thing? But he is just pretending
Facts before our eyes!" The deputy chief of staff actually laughed as he spoke.
"The little devil is also a human being, not a machine. He is a human being with seven emotions and six desires. Now whether we can do this transaction or not, we have to look at it dialectically!"
"The impact on the military is almost negligible. The Japanese army will eventually come back from their raids. It is just a matter of sooner or later. Restoring the railway near Handan in advance will not affect the overall situation. But if the railway tracks can be exchanged for weapons and ammunition of equal value, this transaction will
No matter how you look at it, it’s not a loss!”
"As for the political influence, do you think Terauchi Isamu is a member of the Japanese Communist Party and intends to assist us within the Japanese army?" Political Commissar Deng made a bold guess at this time.
"Japanese Communist Party?"
"I think so!"
"Yes, if Isamu Terauchi is a Japanese Communist, then he is our comrade. In order to prevent being discovered by the enemy, it is natural for comrades to secretly assist each other!"
As soon as my thoughts changed, I suddenly became enlightened.
In this way, as long as the fact that Isamu Terauchi is a member of the Japanese Communist Party is confirmed, the influence within the party will be reduced to a minimum. As far as outside the party is concerned, there will be a day when it is really leaked, and there will be a way to say it.
Terauchi never dreamed that one day he would become a revolutionary with faith.
"The four of us will send a joint telegram and report it to Yanzhou!" the boss said at this time.
"Use encrypted messages!" the deputy chief of staff suggested.
After reaching a consensus, the deputy chief of staff personally went to battle and drafted a message.
One day later, Yanzhou called back.
The telegram contained a reply from a comrade from the faculty: There is nothing wrong with cooperating in struggle and fighting in cooperation.
Seeing that the matter was finalized, the leaders also expressed joy.
"Now comes the specific matter. We have taken such a big risk, so we can't just let it go. Go tell Zhou Weihan and ask him to ask me for a serious price!" the boss said, patting the table.
"The chairman also asked in the telegram which comrade Zhou Weihan was. He was so powerful that he developed such a "comrade" in disguise within the Japanese army. He also said that it would be beneficial to the revolution to develop more such "comrades"!"
The chief of general staff spoke of the translated contents of the telegram.
On the same day, Zhou Weihan received a call back from the headquarters, and his anxious heart completely calmed down.
In the past two days, Zhou Weihan also arranged for people to conduct a simple inventory of the railway tracks.
Pinghan Railway is also called Beijing-Han Railway and Lu-Han Railway.
Hanyang Iron Works is responsible for supplying materials, and the Belgian company supervises manufacturing.
Its track gauge is standard track gauge, 1435 mm track.
Due to terrain factors, the Zhengtai Road and Tongpu Railway have a one-meter gauge.
During the Puppet Manchukuo period, the Northeast standard was 1067 mm. However, since Lao Maozi built railways in the Northeast during the Tsarist Russia, the standard was 1524 mm wide gauge, so the Japanese changed it to 1435 standard gauge during the renovation, so during the Puppet Manchukuo period
The Northeast adopts a construction method of three parallel tracks or four parallel tracks.
According to the model of 10-meter rails and 30kg per meter, the independent branch seized a total of about 15,000 rails, weighing 450 tons.
This amount of steel production is just a drop in the bucket for Japan.
The reason why the Anti-Japanese War was extremely difficult had a lot to do with the serious shortage of steel production in China's rear areas. From 1938 to the end of 1945, China's total steel output in the rear areas was only 45,000 tons in 8 years, which can be said to be pitifully small.
.
Hanyeping Company, established in 1908, was the largest steel conglomerate in Asia at the time. On the eve of the Revolution of 1911, its annual steel production reached 70,000 tons.
Japan's steel production exceeded 5.8 million tons in 1937, and reached 7.65 million tons in 1943. The total steel production from 1938 to 1945 reached 50.19 million tons.
It was the industrial strength with an annual steel production of more than 5 million tons that gave Japan the ambition to invade China on a large scale. The thousand-fold difference in steel production between China and Japan is enough to reflect how difficult China's war of resistance was.