Chapter 47: Route of Action
The place Han Te found was an abandoned small fishing port, with reeds all over and no fishing boats had come here for a long time. This place is just right for Zhao Zhi to give his men target practice, and from here it only takes half an hour to get back to Huangpu Dock by boat, very convenient transportation. Last time Zhao Zhi asked Han Te to bring the fixed weapons, two big leather suitcases were brought over, full of things that only Zhao Zhi and Han Te had seen, on the way, Yu Da Zhi and Luo Ying were trying every means to open the suitcases, but as a result they were each rewarded with several slaps from Zhao Zhi.
Zhao Zhi brought a simple set of weapons this time, including a German Mauser 98K sniper rifle, a Thompson submachine gun, and several original German-made Mauser C96 pistols, also known as "fast-slow machines". Hunter had been shouting that the 1911 pistol was the best and most powerful, and he was very annoyed that Zhao Zhi chose the Mauser C96. In fact, he didn't know that since the first Mauser pistol came off the production line in Germany, China has always been the largest importer of this type of pistol, and mid-to-low-level military officers, warlords, and bandits all loved this pistol. Zhao Zhi did so purely for the convenience of replenishing ammunition.
Zhao Zhi finally pulled out a Japanese Type 97 sniper rifle, which was just beginning to be equipped by the Japanese army in 1937. In fact, this sniper rifle is a variant of the Type 38 rifle, with a 4x scope mounted on the side of the original magazine. The caliber remains the same as before. However, after installing the scope, its range has indeed increased, and its accuracy has also improved significantly. Zhao Zhi chose it also because of the supply of ammunition, his team had to go through a long stretch of enemy-occupied territory, using common weapons was the greatest guarantee of ensuring the source of ammunition, Zhao Zhi did not want his guns to become useless due to lack of bullets.
"Are you interested? Pick one!" Zhao Zhi placed the 97 and 98K side by side, indicating that Ye Kong should try one out. Zhao Zhi had truly witnessed Ye Kong's marksmanship, and the bloodthirsty expression on his face when he shot those agents at close range was what impressed Zhao Zhi the most. As a mercenary war machine, he should be like this - bloodthirstiness is the nature of mercenaries, otherwise what kind of mercenary would they be?
Ignoring others' woodenness, one person with a submachine gun, and Thompson was taking turns practicing. These are the weapons that must be used in close combat. Yu Daqi and Meng San were not polite, beating each other enthusiastically, anyway, there were enough bullets. Zhao Zhi's shooting skills naturally didn't need to be practiced again, he just demonstrated a few times for everyone, then let Hunter's people take them to practice guns, he wanted to discuss the specific action route with Hunter.
"Zhangjiakou?" Hunter blurted out, looking at the place Zhao Zhi had marked on the map. Zhangjiakou had long been occupied by the Japanese army, so why would Zhao Zhi choose to enter Shanxi from there? Moreover, going through Zhangjiakou was a detour, in Hunter's opinion, it would be better to take a boat to Tianjin Port and then head directly to Taiyuan via Shijiazhuang. But now, Zhao Zhi's plan was to go to Tianjin Port and then head south from Beiping through Zhangjiakou to enter Shanxi and reach Taiyuan, which would take a big detour.
"That's right, Zhangjiakou" Zhao Zhi said with a confident look at Han Te. "Since ancient times, Shanxi merchants have been selling their goods from Zhangjiakou to outside the pass and then bringing back large quantities of fur and horses from Zhangjiakou to inside the pass. This is where the Shanxi merchants start and end their adventures. Disguising ourselves as fur traders entering Shanxi from Zhangjiakou is the safest way, and we also need a secure place to hide our weapons. The horse-drawn carts carrying furs are the best place."
"You also need to find me a translator who understands Japanese, preferably one of your people, it's best if they know about those missionaries' materials." Zhao Zhi puffed on his cigar, pondering what other supplies he still needed. "I also need you to provide some money or tobacco, I want to buy a horse-drawn carriage and hire an escort agency, these are necessary start-up funds, can't be stingy with this." Zhao Zhi spread out his hands, giving Han Te a look that said if he didn't get the money, he wouldn't do anything. This made Han Te curse Zhao Zhi as a swindler in his heart.
Zhao Zhi originally wanted to go to Shandong or Henan, but he was not familiar with the situation there. Only Zhangjiakou was the best route. Yu Dazhi had hidden in Zhangjiakou for a while when he escaped from Beiping to avoid disaster, and he had good relations with some of the local gangsters. Moreover, Zhao Zhi disguising himself as a Shanxi merchant to enter Shanxi via Zhangjiakou was the best cover. The Japanese army and the Shanxi-Suiyuan army would generally not have any suspicions about this route, as there were many Shanxi merchants on it. As long as Zhao Zhi and his group did not reveal their true identities, they would generally not encounter any problems.
Han De didn't know much about Zhangjiakou, he only knew that it was already under Japanese occupation, but he forgot that Zhao Zhi still had a Morin on his hand. The Black Dragon Society certificates and the Special High Police Corps agent ID cards obtained in Beiping were all forged by Morin, so they could pass through the Japanese military checkpoints along the way without being detected. Moreover, Zhao Zhi and Ye Kong both spoke Japanese, so it was no problem for them to pretend to be high-ranking agents of the Special High Police Corps. As for Yu Da Zhi and the others, they just pretended to be traitor agents, which wasn't a big deal since they were already gangsters, their rough and tumble demeanor didn't need any pretending, all they needed was to wear a pistol on their waist, put on a fedora hat, and they looked exactly like a few small-time agents.
However, what Zhao Zhi wanted most was a radio station. With a radio station, he could contact Hunter at any time and also contact the anti-Japanese armed forces in Shanxi to understand the latest trends of the Japanese army. But Hunter only had a telegraph operator, and this kind of thing couldn't be asked of outsiders. If they were to attract spies, then all their efforts would be wasted. At this moment, Zhao Zhi was nostalgic for the era with mobile phones and satellite phones. Any message could be resolved by dialing a few numbers, without considering the distance.
Hant has some worries, Zhao Zhi's plan makes sense. Although it seems like a detour to go through Zhangjiakou, it is the safest route. Moreover, after picking up the missionaries, Zhao Zhi and his men might be able to return to Tianjin Port via the original route, directly sending the missionaries back to their country by ship. However, what worries Hant is, what if Zhao Zhi gets intercepted by the Shanxi army? It's well-known that Yan Xishan has a bad reputation, he sets up roadblocks everywhere to collect taxes and donations for his own benefit.
Perhaps seeing Han Te's concern, Zhao Zhi smiled slightly and pulled out several documents from the lining of his suitcase. "These are documents from the National Government that I found at Huang Hanlin's house last time. They haven't been useful until now." Zhao Zhi's plan was simple: use Japanese documents when facing the Japanese army, and use National Government documents when facing the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army. As long as the other side wasn't intentionally trying to make things difficult, there would be no problem at all. Even if a problem did arise, with their firepower, Zhao Zhi's group wouldn't be at a disadvantage.
