1928: The Rise of Giants

On February 2, after the news that the Japanese army suffered heavy losses in Wusong reached Tokyo, the Japanese Chief of Staff Zairen urgently ordered the 8th Army Division (led by Division Commander Kenkichi Ueda) to send reinforcements as soon as possible, based on the imperial decree approved by the Japanese Emperor.

On the afternoon of February 2, the main force of the 13th Division arrived at Shanghai Port and landed at Wusong. As a result, Lieutenant General Ueda, commander of the th Division, took over Nomura's command.

At this time, the Japanese invading army's naval, land and air forces had reached more than 3 people, with sixty to seventy field artillery pieces, more than 60 aircraft, and dozens of ships concentrated in Wusongkou.

Ueda first issued a statement late at night on the 13th, declaring: "If there are people who hinder the execution of the mission of our division, we will take decisive measures without hesitation."

Ueda then presented Cai Tingkai with an ultimatum, which stated: "Your army should immediately stop fighting and withdraw from the Zhabei war zone before 2:20 p.m. on February 5. At the same time, other military facilities such as artillery batteries in the war zone should be removed and no more should be set up. If the above points are not implemented, the Japanese army will have no choice but to take free action against your army, and all the consequences arising therefrom should be borne by your army."

After receiving Ueda's ultimatum, Tsai and Chiang ordered the front-line troops to fire fiercely at the Japanese positions as a response and warning to Ueda's ultimatum.

At this point, the Battle of Shanghai had reached a situation where "either you die or I die."

The principal knew that continuing to negotiate a peaceful solution with the Japanese invaders would be humiliating, so he decisively ordered Chen Mingshu and four other generals to defend the area to the death, vowing to drive the Japanese invaders out of Zhabei.

To show his determination, the president sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nanjing National Government, asking them to announce to the public: "The stationing of troops in Shanghai is a last resort for the sake of protecting the land. We have no choice but to engage in self-defense and fight to the end."

Then he personally called other warlords in the country one by one, asking them to put aside their disputes and conflicts, unite to resist Japan and ensure unity.

Due to years of war and the great flood in Jianghuai in 1931, the Nanjing National Government was in financial distress.

In late January 1932, various Kuomintang generals sent telegrams one after another, saying that "food and ammunition are in short supply and have reached the point of running out of food."

At this stage, the president discovered that the finances of the Nanjing National Government had long been embezzled by the corrupt officials within the Kuomintang and others who later took over, such as Mr. Wang.

The war reached a white-hot stage, and then the logistics department told him that "supplies are scarce and we may not be able to support it until the end of February."

Now the principal really couldn't stand it anymore, so he immediately went to find Song Ziwen and asked for military funds.

Song Ziwen failed to make a lot of money from the textile industry, and the losses from his previous trip to the United States had not yet been made up. Now he was asked to pay for the military expenses out of his own pocket, and he was extremely unwilling to do so.

He immediately kicked the ball to Kong Xiangxi.

The Kong family is known as the number one family in the Republic of China, and Kong Xiangxi even has the official certification sign of the richest man in the Republic of China.

But when he heard that military funds were needed to support the front lines, Kong Xiangxi immediately became a coward, saying that he had a hidden illness and needed to go to the United States for treatment. He flew to New York with his wife overnight and disappeared in an instant.

Both Gods of Wealth fled, and he had conflicts with his former supporters, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Financial Group.

The isolated and helpless principal had to call his last hope, Shanghai's No. 1 tycoon Ye Luo, begging for military funds: "Since Japan refuses to withdraw its troops in Shanghai, we have no choice but to resist to the end. Food in Jiangxi and Henan provinces will become increasingly scarce, and aid will be completely cut off. Please support the front-line military expenses with 10 million yuan, and transport 20 million yuan of central banknotes to Nanjing, so that the government can still operate, the army can also be maintained, and perhaps we can overcome this difficulty and not collapse. This is Zhong (Zheng)'s last plea, and I hope you can find a way to help it."

With this telegram and the private phone call, the principal completely put aside his pride and directly begged Ye Luo for help, promising to provide subsidies with a large amount of commercial resources and benefits after the war.

Ye Luo was also confused. He knew that the chaos in the past few years had caused the finances of the Nanjing National Government to be very tight, but he didn't expect it to be so bad.

The four great families that made 200 billion US dollars in the Republic of China can't even raise million dollars now?
The principal was really anxious this time, and he used the official account of the Executive Yuan of the Nanjing National Government to beg Ye Luo for support for military expenses many times. It was obvious that if the military expenses were not received in a few days, the soldiers on the front line would have nothing to lose!

"So, since the beginning of the war, there has been basically no logistics support, and they are all relying on the materials transported before my Ye's investment to support them?"

Ye Luo was shocked, and immediately thought of the call from Wen Yingxing not long ago, saying that many soldiers sneaked into the Tax Police Corps every day. After one month of fighting, the number of people in the Tax Police Corps inexplicably increased from more than 30,000 to 50,000.

It was the first time for him to see the number of troops increasing as the battle went on!

So this is where the problem lies.

The 19th Route Army and the supporting gendarmerie were running out of food and ammunition.

The Tax Police Corps was living a very comfortable life thanks to the support of Ye's investment, so the soldiers had no choice but to sneak over to their place to eat and drink for free.

No wonder the expenses of the General Tax Police Corps are increasing day by day, from 12 oceans a day to 20 oceans a day!
"Don't worry, Party Chairman. I will quickly gather 3000 million dollars to support the frontline, and call on all sectors of society to donate for relief. I will definitely not let the soldiers who sacrificed their lives and shed their blood feel disheartened."

Ye Luo asked Bai Xiuzhu to draft a telegram and send it to Qielu quickly. Then he found the head of Ye's United Bank and asked him to immediately take out 3000 million oceans in liquid funds to assist the Ministry of Finance of the Nanjing National Government.

A mere 3000 million oceans is just a drop in the bucket for Ye Luo now and is not worth mentioning.

But he also had to make the principal understand that the money was not given for free. He was a businessman. Although he would not make a fortune from national disasters and wars like Yu Qiaqing and others, he must get what belonged to him.

After distributing the money, Ye Luo immediately set off for the headquarters building of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce.

Because Yu Qiaqing and others split from the president's faction, the reorganization committee that originally nominally commanded the Shanghai business community has become defunct in name only.

President Yu Qiaqing is a figurehead and the committee members have no intention of continuing to maintain the organization.

Today, Ye Luo suddenly convened an emergency meeting in the name of vice chairman of the reorganization committee, and a group of business tycoons immediately became excited.

They all knew that Ye Luo was highly valued by the principal. After the principal stepped down last month, the officialdom in Shanghai was severely purged. Although Ye's investment, which relied on the officialdom, was not harmed, it was not as prosperous as before.

Mr. Wang was determined to support Yu Qiaqing to take power, but the Battle of Shanghai disrupted all his plans.

After the principal came back, Ye’s Investment has not made any moves. Now a meeting is suddenly held. Is something big going to happen?

A group of business tycoons rushed to the venue, but were shocked to find that it was written "Resisting Japan and saving the country is everyone's responsibility; for business donations, I will be the first!" (End of this chapter)