Chapter 22 Jia Wun One Day (Middle)

  The canteen of the Jia Wang Coal Mine is quite large, and can accommodate six or seven hundred people dining at the same time. Gao Shiying had made arrangements earlier, and several hundred officers above the rank of lieutenant were having their meals here. The cooks were from a few big restaurants in Xuzhou who were invited by the high-ranking officials to come and cook for them. As for the soldiers, although they couldn't eat the famous dishes cooked by the master chefs, they still had enough to fill their stomachs with chicken, duck, fish, and meat. This was already quite good, and Yu, the clever head of the garrison, had also invited several troupes of performers from Xuzhou to come over. The performers were arranged to finish their meals early, so that as soon as one group finished eating, they could start performing on this side.

  The atmosphere at dinner was extremely warm, and everyone had just come down from Tai'erzhuang, that ghostly place where no one knew when they would die or why they were still alive. Suddenly, there was wine and meat everywhere, and a big show waiting to start on the side. All this made these soldiers, who still had dust on their bodies, feel a bit disoriented.

  Cheng Jiaji was also toasted by many subordinates, and if not for Wen Congyuan's eagerness to turn his merits into demerits, he would not only have led the way in drinking with his old superior as usual, but instead had a sudden attack of conscience and blocked many toasts for Cheng Jiaji. This newly-minted one-star general (lieutenant general) had to leave the grand dining hall horizontally. It was like this from the start, and Cheng Jiaji also got drunk to about 80 or 90 percent.

  At nine o'clock in the evening, after a ceremonial viewing of "The Great Breaking of the Heavenly Gate Formation", Cheng Jiaji left under the escort of Ma Sanbao and several others to head towards his residence.

  He is not very interested in Peking Opera, but rather more fond of Mahjong. However, he drank a lot today and really needs to go back to sleep.

  As they walked to the front of the small building, a black shadow suddenly rushed towards Cheng Jiaji and his guards, startling them. Ma Sanbao, now a lieutenant colonel and deputy officer in charge of the guard company, had been worried that he wouldn't have a chance to show off his skills, but seeing someone finally coming to give him an opportunity for merit, he became very excited and quickly opened the bolt of his submachine gun with a "click". The others followed suit, and if the black shadow took just a few more steps forward, it would be shot full of holes.

  This black figure was also a soldier, and he could understand the sound of pulling the trigger that meant someone's life. He immediately stopped in his tracks and opened his mouth to speak.

  "Governor, I am Tian Canmou, of the wealthy Tian family. I have a matter to report to you."

  This former Imperial Japanese Army lieutenant colonel also benefited from Cheng Ji's influence and became a lieutenant colonel in the National Army. His identity was somewhat special, so it wasn't easy to arrange for him, and he could only be given a nominal position as a lieutenant colonel on the staff of the division headquarters. In reality, he was still leading those seven or eight Japanese prisoners of war who were willing to join the Chinese army, doing things like searching for documents on corpses and managing newly captured Japanese soldiers. Most of the officers in the 100th Independent Division didn't have a good impression of this "Japanese traitor" and were vigilant against him, so these former Japanese soldiers hadn't even been issued guns yet. Only Wen Songyuan looked after him because he had guided the 200th Regiment's assault route twice.

  Cheng Jiaji also didn't like this person's character, but he was still willing to make use of such an "excellent person" among the Japanese (Tian Jiarong had already openly declared that he wasn't a Japanese anymore).

  "Tian Canmou, what's the matter? Come here." He signaled to Ma Sanbao and others beside him to lower their guns. It was unnecessary to be on guard against this kind of scum. Cheng Jiaji was still wary of him, in case he turned out to be an assassin.

  Tian Jiafu walked step by step in front of Cheng Jiaji, hurrying as he feared the guards would suspect him of ill intentions.

  When Cheng Jiaji understood Tian Jiafu's intention, he was really surprised in his heart. Tian Jiafu reported that among the more than 100 prisoners captured in the two battles of Independent Division 100, he mobilized more than 20 people to serve in the Chinese army and were willing to participate in the battle between the Chinese army and the Japanese army, with the condition of joining Chinese nationality.

  In Cheng Jiaji's memory, capturing Japanese military prisoners was already extremely difficult during this period, let alone those willing to fight with the Japanese army. To him, it was almost a fantasy. Last time Tian Jiafu brought back twenty or so surrendered Japanese soldiers, only seven or eight were willing to serve in the Chinese army. This time, the captured Japanese prisoners were all wounded, how could they easily complete their worldview transformation?

  Cheng Jiaji, after making sure he hadn't misheard, walked around Tian Jiafu with great interest. This guy didn't look like a wise man at all. Just this one circle made Tian Jiafu's forehead sweat profusely, even though he was already being cautious in front of Cheng Jiaji.

  "Are you sure about what you're saying?" Cheng Jiaji asked again, not that he suspected Tian Jiafu of daring to deceive him, but this matter was just too unbelievable.

  "I guarantee it's true! If not, I'll take military law!" Tian Jiafu was a bit anxious, this was the only chance to get the recognition of this "Big Lady", and whether he would eat meat or drink soup in the future Independent Hundred Regiments all depended on this one time.

  "I believe it, as long as you tell me what method you used to achieve it!" Cheng Jiaji was very curious about the method Tian Jiafu used to create this miracle, but the most important thing is that only by knowing the method Tian Jiafu used can he decide how to use the "Pro-Japanese" team in the future.

  "It's quite simple, actually. This is what happened." Under Cheng Jiaji's piercing gaze, Tian Jiafu dared not tell a lie.

  After listening to what Tian Jiafu said, Cheng Jiaji couldn't help but admire the outstanding imagination and creative thinking of the Japanese people in a certain aspect.

  As Tian Jiafu said, the whole thing is very simple, it's just that normal people can't think of it.

  Tian Jiafu first selected fifty younger and smaller new soldiers from the more than one hundred Japanese soldiers who were captured, and then selected more than thirty people with weaker willpower and heavier family concept after observation.

  After finishing these selections, Tian Jiafu began to implement his plan.

  He first knocked them unconscious, then had them photographed in poses that were not very respectful to the "Sun of the Century" and his family, such as posing naked in front of a female member of that family. (Some of these photos were from the Japanese military, while others were collected by Wen Congyue's people from old Shanghai magazines left behind in Xuzhou.)

  After taking these photos, Tian Jiafu unethically threatened these young people. For the safety of their families in Japan, (Tian Jiafu threatened to send these photos back to Japan via the Shanghai Concession under a European name.) Most of them surrendered except for a few who committed suicide.

  After listening to Tian Jiafu's self-justification, Cheng Jiaji's body hair stood on end. It seems that no matter which ethnic group's traitor is the most vicious enemy of their own ethnic group!

  Just as Cheng Jiaji was reassessing the sinister nature and value of Tian Jiafu in his mind, a burst of gunfire came from the north of Jia Wang Town.