kingnovel Chapter 952 Internal Debate
Chapter 952 Internal Debate
"Is there even a need to ask? This must be Li Shaoyi's scheme. To prevent his 72nd Army from heading to the front lines, he's resorting to roundabout tactics. Those overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia have long been sitting on the 72nd Army's dinner table."
The person who spoke was the Premier of the Executive Yuan. He didn't need to come to such a military meeting, but because of the Pujiang War, all kinds of resources needed to be mobilized from the civilian population, and military resources were no longer sufficient, so some government officials also came.
Compared with the military, government agencies were more opposed to the expansion of the 72nd Army. Originally, they had some say in Peking, but after the 72nd Army gained the right to garrison in North China, their say became less and less.
The government itself represents big capital, but in the jurisdiction of the 72nd Army, if you don't follow the rules and bully the people as before, then you won't last long. The supervisory department of the 72nd Army can arrest you at any time, and sometimes they even charge you with a crime without the consent of the Nanjing government. It is obvious that they don't take the Executive Yuan seriously.
Of course, there are some things that cannot be explained. Every time the 72nd Army did this, it got the job done, and it was an ironclad case.
I will give you whatever evidence you want.
And it was made public in the newspapers. Even if Jinling had any ideas, under the huge public pressure, it could only choose to keep silent.
"Your Excellency, the President is right. The 72nd Army has always operated this way. But I'd like to ask everyone to look at some data. Over 10,000 people from the Pujiang Police Department in the past week..."
"Wait a minute. The Pujiang Police Department has around 8,000 police officers on staff. If I'm not mistaken, these 10,000 or so are probably the hidden troops of the 72nd Army stationed in Pujiang. Let me remind you, this is just Pujiang. We have many similar armed personnel throughout Jiangnan. If Commander Li of the 72nd Army raises his arm, how many more of them will appear around us?"
Minister He of the Ministry of Military Affairs was interrupted by the lackeys of the Executive Yuan President before he could finish his words.
However, this guy interrupted at the right time. The expressions of the people present changed slightly. Although it was a difficult period in the War of Resistance Against Japan, Li Shaoyi's infiltration method did make many people dissatisfied.
Li Shaoyi possesses powerful economic and military capabilities and does not even ask for permission when infiltrating into various places. Take these second-line armed personnel in Pujiang for example, they all entered through formal channels in the beginning, and you can't find out even if you want to. Moreover, these people don't care about their monthly salary after they start working, and they often put money into it.
What boss wouldn't like a subordinate like this? Even if they issue repeated investigation orders, the investigations are never thorough enough. When faced with subordinates offering bribes, most superiors turn a blind eye and even offer protection.
According to those grassroots officials, isn't this how we survive? They're putting money in our pockets, so we have to ensure their job security. If we can't even do this, how will anyone give us money in the future? Can we afford concubines with just the fixed salary from the Nationalist government?
"That's not what I want to talk about now. Please don't interrupt me. These 10,000+ people who participated in the various battlefields in Pujiang helped us quickly stabilize the front. Otherwise, under the massive attack of the three Japanese divisions, we would have lost several of our strongholds, and they were extremely important locations."
Minister He was quite fair in saying that without these more than 10,000 people and the 72nd Army's air force stationed in Pujiang, our army would have suffered heavy bombing from Japan.
Now the number of planes lost by Japan every day is not a small number. The original all-weather bombing has now been changed to intermittent bombing, which has bought our army a lot of time.
"Just because things have improved slightly on the battlefield, are we going to let go of the 72nd Army's principled issues? If that's the case, the 72nd Army will only become more emboldened in the future. Today it's Pujiang, tomorrow it could be Nanjing. By then, we won't even be able to control Nanjing. Wouldn't our government be nothing more than a hollow shell?"
The Premier of the Executive Yuan is determined to go against Li Shaoyi. This guy is also a pro-Japanese, but he has not made any move yet. He will make a big move in the future.
"Then let's discuss the matter of the Overseas Chinese Association. An army of over 5,000 people is extremely scarce for us right now, and they have all their own weapons and equipment. Besides, we can't afford to offend them. In the first eight months of this year, overseas Chinese donated over 90 million yuan to the Nationalist government. If we offend them, who will pay for this money? This is a very important source of revenue for the Nationalist government."
Minister He wasn't from the Ministry of Finance, but he had a pretty good understanding of the situation there. Ninety million dollars was a hugely important sum for the Nationalist government. Could the Executive Yuan, no matter how powerful they were, actually secure that kind of money? If they offended the overseas Chinese, and they stopped donating, what would they do?
When it comes to the issue of money, it is difficult for the government to answer. To be honest, if it were not for the lack of money, they would also strongly support the expansion of the military and suppress the arrogance of the 72nd Army.
During the period of the Pujiang War, although the subsequent Central Army's combat effectiveness could not catch up with the first three German-equipped divisions, because they purchased a lot of weapons and ammunition from Li Shaoyi, they were now able to fight the Japanese army on equal terms. If they did not have these weapons and ammunition, they might have collapsed long ago.
"Since your military has already decided to send the Overseas Chinese Volunteer Corps to the war, why hold this meeting? Just notify them directly. Inviting us here is unnecessary."
The Premier already felt that the reason he was asked to attend this meeting was simply so that he would need to sign the summary of the meeting later, and his opinions would be of no use at all.
Originally, this dean was one of the most important people within the party and the country, but after a series of power struggles, his power began to slowly slip away, and now it is not so easy to get it back.
According to what the dean thinks, after a while, you might just become a tool, and you have to raise your hand however you are told to...
Maybe it's time to make a decision...