Chapter 20: Empty-handed against White Wolf (New book seeking attention)

  As the saying goes, 'a big gun sounds like a million taels of gold', but Chen Feng's big gun hasn't sounded yet and several hundred thousand dollars are gone. Chen Binggong is a business genius, in just a few decades he rose from a poor boy to become a famous rich man in four provinces in the north, with a family fortune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  But no matter how capable Laozi is, he can't afford to lose to Chen Feng like this. The old man couldn't take it anymore and simply told Chen Feng, "We're out of money at home, you figure it out yourself."

  No money is a matter of life and death, one penny can kill a hero, let alone an army. Even the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, which had been reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, would give soldiers some subsidies when necessary, not to mention Chen Feng's own troops.

  No money, no troops, no food and pay, no weapons and equipment, no cotton clothes and medicine. Without the guarantee of these things, how can the combat effectiveness of the troops be improved? Chen Feng thought for a few days and decided to borrow money.

  "You want to borrow money?" Chen Bing Gong looked at his son in surprise.

  Logically, the son is now on the right path, no longer indulging in vices, and not going to eat, drink, or gamble. Old Chen should be happy about it. However, his son has made up his mind to expand the troops, and the family's money is being spent like flowing water. The two trips to Pingjin cost Chen Feng over 2 million yuan, which makes Old Chen, who started from humble beginnings, feel extremely heartbroken.

  Also, his son is out every day, often leading soldiers to fight battles. If something happens to him, it's over. Old Chen's family only has this one son to carry on the family line, they can't afford to lose him.

  "Yes, father, we now need a lot of money for construction in all aspects. Without money, we can't do anything." Chen Feng said.

  "So who are you planning to borrow money from and how much?" Chen Bing asked openly.

  "Dad, which foreign banks are you familiar with?" Chen Feng asked again.

  "It's okay, the US's Citibank, the UK's HSBC, France's Banque de France and Germany's Deutsche Bank all have business dealings with our family, so how do you plan to borrow money from them?" Chen Bing Gong asked.

  "In Japan's banks, don't you have acquaintances?" Chen Feng asked again.

  "In Japan, I have dealings with Fuji Bank and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank. I also have a good relationship with an executive at Daiwa Bank. However, whether it's Japanese banks or those from other countries, the interest rates are not low, and collateral is required." Chen Binggong said with furrowed eyebrows.

  "It's all easy to say, Dad. Tomorrow you set off for Beiping and secretly borrow money from these foreign banks. Borrow as much as you can, don't worry about the interest. You can mortgage anything in the house to them, especially Japanese banks, the more the better." said Chen Feng.

  "Feng Er, what are you planning to do? Are you going to borrow without returning?" Chen Bing Gong continued to ask.

  "Who says not to repay, Dad? This time you go borrow money with two principles. First, when signing the contract with them, specify that the loan term is 5 years, and after maturity, the principal and interest will be repaid, but when repaying the money, it must be repaid in national government legal tender. The second principle is that after borrowing the money, immediately exchange it for silver dollars or daily necessities and return to Xinghe."

  "What does it mean and why must we return the law money?" Chen Bing Gong asked in surprise.

  "There's nothing, it's just that I plan to swindle the bank. Now war is about to break out, but outsiders know very little about it, and those foreigners don't even think Japan will launch a full-scale war against China, so they haven't considered the impact of war on banks. Dad, once the war breaks out, the National Government will be at a disadvantage in a short period of time, places like Beiping and Tianjin will fall in no time, and the National Government's fiat currency will depreciate rapidly. Now if we borrow 100 yuan, it's worth 100 yuan, but when we repay it, it may not even be worth 10 yuan. Dad, isn't this swindling the bank?" Chen Feng said with a smile.

  Chen Feng knew that during the Anti-Japanese War, the Nationalist government implemented an inflationary policy, causing the fiat currency to depreciate sharply. In 1937, on the eve of the war, the total amount of fiat currency issued was only over 1.4 billion yuan, but by the time Japan surrendered, the amount had reached 500 billion yuan. Now, the issuance of fiat currency is still relatively stable, and its purchasing power is still strong, with 100 yuan being able to buy two good yellow cattle. However, at the end of the war, 100 yuan in fiat currency could only buy two eggs, depreciating by tens of thousands of times.

  After the victory of the War of Resistance, many ridiculous and sympathetic things emerged. It is said that in Shanghai, there was a cultural institution that received a donation of 500,000 silver dollars from an enthusiastic donor before the outbreak of the war, with the agreement to deposit it into eight banks, only using the interest without touching the principal, and strictly following the rules.

  After the implementation of the legal tender policy, one silver dollar was equivalent to one yuan in legal tender, so 500,000 taels were converted into 5 million yuan in legal tender. Shanghai fell to the enemy, and two legal tenders were exchanged for one puppet currency, which became 2.5 million puppet currencies. After the victory, 200 puppet currencies were exchanged for one legal tender, which became 12,500 yuan in legal tender. The gold yuan certificate was issued, and 3 million legal tenders were exchanged for one gold yuan certificate, which became 0.4 gold yuan certificates; two gold yuan certificates were exchanged for one silver dollar, which became 2.05 taels. In over a decade, it went full circle, and the original 5 million yuan was almost equivalent to zero, making a big joke.

  Chen Feng now wants to make a fortune by taking advantage of the impending devaluation of the French currency. If he borrows one million dollars now and repays it with French currency in a few years, it's likely that not even one thousand dollars will be worth anything.

  After listening to Chen Feng's plan, Old Master also felt that this matter was feasible. With the reputation of Chen Binggong and Chenji Grain Store as well as Chenji Leather and Fur Store, borrowing 1.8 million would not be a problem at all. Moreover, Chen Feng had said that now the real estate properties such as shops and houses owned by the Chen family in Beijing and other cities would become worthless after the war breaks out, so it's better to mortgage them for more money while they still have value.

  The next day, Lao Yezi secretly went to Beiping under the protection of a special warfare squad, while Chen Feng focused on training troops and building city defenses.

  Last month's battle against the bandits, the combat effectiveness of the troops was greatly improved, and a large number of bandits were captured. Chen Feng did not kill them immediately, but instead gathered them together. Chen Feng knew that except for a few who were guilty of heinous crimes and had blood on their hands, most of these people were inherently good, but they had been forced to become bandits due to the circumstances of the world, and had taken this path out of desperation.

  Chen Feng decided to give these people a chance. Chen Feng's requirements were simple: as long as they were willing to join his security team and pass the assessment, he would commute their death sentences and transfer their household registration to military status, allowing their families to enjoy the treatment of military dependents.

  Chen Feng knew that there was only a little more than a month left before the outbreak of war, and in this short period of time, he had no idea what kind of training these people would receive. However, the vast majority of them were tough guys, and most of them had used guns and fought battles before, so Chen Feng still had high expectations for them.

  In order to train these bandits into qualified soldiers, Chen Feng reorganized them into an infantry regiment and gave it the designation of the 3rd Security Regiment. He personally took command as the commander of the 3rd Security Regiment, while Li Wensheng succeeded him as commander of the 1st Security Regiment.

  The third security regiment had the same organization as the other two regiments, but with fewer personnel, only 2,800 people.

  The Security Third Regiment, except for Chen Feng, did not have a single formal officer. In Chen Feng's words, the entire Security Third Regiment, except for him, had no one qualified to be an officer. After listing all the training subjects, Chen Feng told every soldier in the regiment that the training subjects were there, and whoever could get a good ranking in the comprehensive assessment would become the deputy commander of the Security Third Regiment, the second place would be the chief of staff, and so on.

  According to the establishment of the security group, the third security regiment needs 2 regimental officers, 4 battalion-level officers, 8 deputy battalion-level officers, 14 company-level officers, 14 deputy company-level officers, 42 platoon-level officers, and 42 deputy platoon-level officers. A total of 126 officers need to be selected from more than 2,800 people.

  Chen Feng said that these 126 officers were all produced among them, and he would not transfer an officer from outside to take up a post in the Third Regiment. As for who these 126 officers are, it depends on their abilities.

  With the motivation of official positions, without Chen Feng's supervision, the enthusiasm for training in the three regiments naturally increased. Moreover, since the soldiers were originally bandits, their physical fitness was good to begin with. After more than half a month, when they learned the most basic common sense, the training effect quickly emerged, showing a trend of surpassing others.

  As the Third Squad was personally trained by Chen Feng, all training subjects were personally selected by him. The intensity of the training far exceeded that of Security Squads One and Two.

  According to Chen Feng's requirements, the troops get up at 5:30 every morning, warm up and then run 5,000 meters with a weight of 20 kilograms. After running, they have breakfast, but the last hundred people don't even think about eating breakfast.

  After finishing breakfast, cross the 500-meter barbed wire back and forth for 100 laps. Do 10 sets of push-ups, with 60 each time. Then do 10 sets of sit-ups, with 100 each time. Next is the endurance training under the scorching sun, standing still with a rifle, with a brick tied to the muzzle, without moving for 2 hours.

  Two hours of combat training, all confrontational actual combat. Immediately after is live ammunition shooting, 10 rounds per person, scoring 70 rings to pass. Half an hour after dinner, continue running 5000 meters with a load of 20 kilograms. In addition, every other week, there will be a loaded cross-country run, with a distance of 60 to 100 kilometers.

  The training intensity of the first and second brigades was not small, but after all, there was no danger to life. However, the third brigade was different. Every one of them was a prisoner waiting for punishment. If they failed to complete the assessment, what awaited them would be the bullets of the law enforcement team.

  Under the threat of death, Chen Feng hoped that they could excavate all the thousands of miles of their bodies and become a truly elite corps.

  Moreover, Chen Feng participates in the training of the three battalions every day. Every day, he personally leads the team to train, and the amount of training is not only no less than that of ordinary soldiers, but also much more. With Chen Feng's leadership and the stimulation of his official position, all members of the Security Third Battalion trained like crazy, and even three people died directly from exhaustion on the training ground.

  Despite this, Chen Feng still did not reduce his training volume. Time waits for no man. It's already early June now, and there is less than a month left until the July 7th Incident. Chen Feng has no way out, so everyone is going all out.

  While training troops, Chen Feng also urged the county government to build city defenses and resettle those Jews.

  It has to be said that Delixi really helped Chen Feng a lot. There were as many as 800 Jews from Tianjin, and the vast majority of them had a special skill. There were about 100 doctors, among whom more than 40 were licensed doctors, and more than 60 were students who had not yet obtained their medical licenses. In addition, there were some mining workers, and Chen Feng urgently needed dozens of steelworkers. What made Chen Feng most happy was that there were actually four military industry experts and three architectural designers, which made Chen Feng feel like he had found a treasure.