Chapter 564

December 7, 1941.

A top-secret telegram was sent, and Japan finally made up its mind to go to war with the United States.

Secret negotiations had been going on since February, and on April 16, the United States proposed the 鈥淯S-Japan Understanding Plan.鈥� The Japanese refused.

Negotiations between the two countries entered a stalemate.

Japan then decided to take action against the United States, because the United States would not give Japan favorable conditions, and what could not be obtained at the negotiating table would have to be taken by force.

While pressuring the United States in negotiations, dragging the United States at the negotiation table, and testing the other party’s bottom line, Japan also stepped up its war preparations, even engaging in the 鈥淜anto Incident鈥� in Manchuria.

Although the Kwantung Army also wanted to really do it and launch a full-scale war against the Soviet Union, it was also a feint to deceive the Americans, which coincided with Japan’s domestic situation.

I’m going to do something to the Soviet Union, and I have absolute sincerity in negotiations with the United States. The intention to deceive the Americans is very obvious.

Cheng Mo provided both of his superiors with this intelligence and analysis.

As for the exact intelligence, it was top-secret information that Nakamura obtained for him on the eve of Japan’s attack on the United States.

Of course, there was also some other supporting information, such as the Japanese army training for landing operations and the secret dispatch of intelligence personnel to the South Pacific to gather key information such as geography, water temperature and climate.

Takeo Takeda was one of them.

Of course, Cheng Mo knew that even without his own intelligence, the Japanese could not keep their Pearl Harbor attack a secret.

As for whether the United States would be successfully attacked by the Japanese, it would depend on the wishes of President Roosevelt. If he still wanted to use a 鈥渢orture鈥� to unify the views of the country, and the United States subsequently entered the war,

This price is actually acceptable.

If the United States is not beaten, the isolationist trend in the country will not be broken or reversed. Even if Roosevelt is the president, he does not have the power to start a war. This is determined by their system.

In fact, Cheng Mo secretly hoped that the Japanese would give the Americans a hard time, and he even hoped that they could sink one or two American aircraft carriers.

Of course, this will not change the final outcome of the war. If it can make the Americans shed more blood, then perhaps in the future, they can send a 鈥淟ittle Boy鈥� to mainland Japan.

He could only think about this in his heart.

As soon as the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came, Cheng Mo knew that the day when the Japanese army entered and occupied the public concession was coming.

He began to take action.

First, he protected the Lone Soldier Barracks, but in fact, except for some officers, most of the soldiers had already left.

The Japanese and the Wangguai knew this, and Cheng Mo expanded the Chinese unit of the International Volunteer Corps and installed McCain as commander, Androv as deputy commander, and a newly appointed Chinese deputy commander, Xu Qinghe. Lei Gang was also transferred to the International Merchant Corps as the captain of the Chinese unit.

The Chinese unit expanded to 1,500 men within a year, while the other national volunteer corps were either disbanded or just retained their formations, with the exception of officers, all soldiers were Chinese.

The British acquiesced, the Japanese did not oppose it, and the Wang Clique simply did not have the ability to do anything about it.

Both sides understood each other implicitly.

Once Japan declared war on Europe and the United States, as long as the Japanese side guaranteed that the safety and interests of all Westerners in the concession would not be compromised,

the IOB would smoothly hand over power to the Wang Clique.

These were secret agreements that could not be put in writing, and the Japanese side did not want a large-scale conflict to occur.

After all, if there is a fight, guns and bullets have no eyes, and people will die. And the whole thing was facilitated by the Consulate General in Shanghai. Once the concession was taken peacefully, it would be the achievement of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put in a lot of effort for this matter, and rejected any weak conditions proposed by the Navy or the Army.

Chongqing was definitely going to sabotage it.

If they didn’t do something, it would show that they didn’t exist.

Therefore, Cheng Mo directly ordered a 鈥渃urfew鈥� in the concession, and with a strong hand, he completely controlled the concession.

This also showed the Wang Clique and the Japanese side that he had absolute control over the concession, and that he could even complete the 鈥渃hange of allegiance鈥� without the need for the Japanese army to enter the concession.

With the support of Zhou Fuhai, the Wang Clique’s mayor of Shanghai, and Iwai Eiichi of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cheng Mo naturally blocked all the open and covert attacks.

On December 17, the public concession 鈥渃hanged its tune鈥� and the Wang Clique announced to the outside world that it had recovered the concession without a fight and abolished all the privileges related to the concession.

Originally, the Japanese army would occupy the concession and plunder it, but now it was done in one step, and the public concession was subsequently designated as District 1.

The constabulary was renamed the First Police Station, with the Japanese Akagi Kiyoyuki as the first police commissioner and Cheng Mo as deputy commissioner.

However, Cheng Mo also held several other positions, such as deputy director of the Economic Committee of the puppet SH Municipal Government, and was elected as a substitute member of the Central Committee.

A year later, Lin Shiqun was poisoned by Zhou Fuhai in collusion with the Japanese.

Cheng Mo helped Zhou Fuhai find the secret telegram that almost revealed their secret murder of Lin Shiqun, and the two became increasingly close.

Akagi Kiyoyuki was assassinated by the Action Team of the Blue Clothes Society of the Military Union while accompanying his wife to the hospital for a prenatal examination.

After the death of Kiyoyuki Akagi,

Cheng Mo became the dominant figure in the First Police Station. The Japanese originally wanted to send another Japanese to be the station chief, but in the end they were unable to do so.

Cheng Mo then became the acting station chief.

He served as acting station chief for six months before being made permanent.

Two years later, as the war situation became clearer, and Japan’s defeat became an irreversible trend, Zhou Fuhai approached Cheng Mo and made clear his relationship with Chungking.

At that time, Chen Gongbo was the mayor of Shanghai, and the two were vying for power in the Executive Yuan. They hoped that Cheng Mo would support him, so that when the time came, they could have a bright future.

Cheng Mo agreed.

Subsequently, under the operation of Zhou Fuhai, Cheng Mo became the deputy mayor of Shanghai and the head of the police department. Apart from the Japanese, basically all the military and police in Shanghai were under his control.

At this point, the military intelligence in Shanghai no longer needed to be visible. They had whatever information they wanted, and only occasionally needed to come out to show their presence.

Of course, the organization had more to do, but Cheng Mo was still quite cautious. He knew that Zhou Fuhai did not fully trust him, and in order to 鈥渃ontrol鈥� him, he would definitely investigate him secretly in order to catch him out.

What he didn’t know was that he had always been a man of Chongqing.

It wasn’t until just before Japan’s surrender that Cheng Mo, after a quick transformation, appeared in Zhou Fuhai’s presence in the uniform of the National Army, having become the person in charge of the takeover.

It was then that Zhou Fuhai realized that the other person had long been on the side of Chongqing, and moreover, had also been a person of great merit.

The other person was in charge of the takeover, while he himself was the one being taken over. How could he not understand?