[h1]China[/h1] [h2]Guangxi[/h2] [h3]Unmarked location[/h3] The room was filled with smoke. So much so the light from the table lamp cut a clear cone through the thick air. There was no other light, and in the haze two dark figures could be seen. One stood over a table, it had no finish except for blood that had by then been beaten into the wood. The other figure sat in a chair, his arms restrained behind his back and tied to the backrest. He was also strapped forward over the table and he fought to crane his head up to see the standing figure. The cause of the smoke wasn't easily missed. A bowl has been placed on the table, and all matters of things that burned were smoldering under a layer of wet leaves. It prevented the entire orchestration from going up in flames, but it aided in making the burn ever smokier. Cigarettes, dog shit, a few old mice found dead in the closet somewhere, leaves, sticks. Adding to it, the pack of cheap cigarettes the standing figure had been smoking through during the entire interrogation process added to the choking gloom, though he did not look to care much. The ember on the cigarette glowed a devilish orange every time he took a draw and it was the only sign that the man there was alive. “Who's supplying you.” the standing man asked in a rough cracking voice. The sitting man coughed and wheezed against the smoke, but held his tongue. “Tell me who's sending you arms and providing you with support; I'll remove the bowl.” the man offered, taking a draw from the cigarette. The sitting man coughed, it sounded painful in his chest. Pneumonia? No, it was too far south and warm for pneumonia to grip a man. He thought it had to be asthma of some sort. The cough from the captive was deep and old. It had to be a long standing respiratory issue. At this point any doubling down would kill him. “You're a fool. A brave fool. But still a fool.” the man said to the other, leaning over the table. He was speaking in Vietnamese, the entire conversation had been in Vietnamese, flirting between that and French. “But realize if we wanted you dead you would have died before crossing over the border. I have the full power to give you Hell on earth. By the time we finally kill you, not even Nitou and Mamien will know what to do with your soul.” he promised, referring to the mythical keepers of Diyu, Hell. “Speaking up though will still save enough for them to have something to do with you, and you could be saved.” “Pagan.” sneered the man. In another room, two men watched the proceedings from behind a pane of one way glass. There world was much better lit, and they strained to not only look passed their reflections but into the swirling smoke inside the room. “We're going to need to throw the switch and air out the room.” said one of the two, a taller man from up north. His round face had the deep winter tan of having been born on the steppe or the fringes of the Mongolian steppe. He dabbed at his forehead with a white napkin, checking and dabbing at a unchecked injury on his forehead. “He's going to kill both of them at this rate.” the other agreed, he was a much softer looking man, his clean hair combed back across his head. A delicate mustache on his upper lip. “But at this stage if he hasn't talked yet then he won't.” “We got much better results from the refugees.” the taller man said, turning from the interrogation room's viewing window.” Both of the men wore black coats and uniforms. Red trimmed the collars and sleeves as it did the bottom folds of their great coats that fell to about shin length. “Out of curiosity, have you heard anything on this Trung name?” the taller of the two asked. The other shook his head, “Not at all.” he said, “It's another name.” Ngo Dinh Diem and Bao Dai were the two biggest names that the QJ had been tracking. The newest player to the Vietnamese theater spectacle had come from the blue, and no one knew who was behind the name. It had thrown the southern Bureau into a state of panic and the southern commander had ordered fresh waves of cross-border prisoner captures to find anyone who might know. “The northern refugees have perhaps been our best source of information.” the shorter of the two continued as they walked to another side room. Here a much more open window looked out into a side-room where a handful of bedraggled looking farming sorts sat in chairs with their eyes half closed. No agents harassed them, they had already taken their brief interviews and given what little they knew. Unless anyone had any more information for the Chinese intelligence network they had a line held out for them to pull if they felt like talking. But a night on the run had rendered them tired and most of them now just looked like they wanted to sleep. “Ngo Dinh Diem has usurped Bao Dai's power in central Vietnam, the Catholic Ngo Dinh is persecuting the Buddhists, sending them fleeing. The north is an adroit mixture between Ngo Dinh and this Trung and Bao Dai has mostly fallen back into the south. French forces seem to be either based in Saigon with their puppet emperor or off in the jungle, no one can tell us which or where. With a ceasefire between the French and the other parties against this new player I get the feeling we'll have more refugees simply trying to get away, it's going to get a lot worse.” “We shouldn't have overlooked Vietnam.” the taller of them complained. “We picked Mongolia instead.” the other reminded. “We should have after Mongolia.” “We tried, but Congress had other plans.” “Do you think they forgot?” “It's likely.” the shorter of the two lamented. He was thinking of a memo that was more than a few years old that had passed through the Bureau and its agents a few years after the undercutting of Mongolia and its drift back into China. Back then the situation in Vietnam was straight forward as a French anti-revolutionary government came to rest in Saigon and continued its support for then Emperor of Annam, Bao Dai the puppet. The only contention had come with Ngo Dinh who opposed French rule. Initially then the thought was to support Ngo Dinh in raising a Republic of Vietnam free of European intervention and leave it as is. Then the conversation drifted into forming a third party to seize Vietnam for themselves. But that had shifted too long, and now their third position was taken by a monarchist. There was a long stretch of silence. Until finally, “There's going to be another cross-border raid, perhaps we can pick up some of Trung's men and drag them into China.” the taller said. “You going again?” “No, I hit my head one too many times on trees and I'm not looking forward to it. And I still haven't slept.” “Out of curiosity,” the shorter of the two asked, as he headed down the hall to the door, “what would you say Nguyễn Sinh Cung is?” “Are you planning something? You should pass it up through Bureau command first.” “I'm not, I'm just curious on his position.” he replied. [h2]Guangzhou[/h2] [h3]Whampoa Island[/h3] Zhang Shu wasn't one to let particulars get in his way. And more important to him was he set a timer for himself, one that he didn't know would end but knew he could rest on it. After meeting with Deng he had issued a request to meet with the premier commander of the armed forces, commander Lou Shan Yuang. He had given him a few days to respond to his request. Whether or not the reply had been a yes or no, he took that his secretary's mention he would be performing inspections at Whampoa as being reason enough to meet him there. It didn't matter if the situation was formal or not. Shu's wheels were in motion and he wouldn't let himself get stop, despite the awkward unimpressive demeanor of the man. This would come to explain how the congressman was riding in the back seat of his car as he passed platoons of jogging academy cadets along the forested road side to the academy proper. With gravel popping under the wheels of the car it passed through the stone gates of the Whampoa Academy and down the stone drive to a large round about at the entrance to the deceptively small, single-story entry building. Cadets on guard duty snapped to attention as Zhang Shu stepped out. He exchanged mild-mannered salutes to the youths and excused them, “Where is the commander?” he asked in a well to do voice. “He is in the commander center.” a young officer answered, resting his hands at his waist. “Thank you, could you take me to him.” “Certainly.” he said with a bow, and turning on his heels walked to the doors with Shu following close. A pair of cadets opened the doors to the two and let them pass, before letting the heavy wooden doors slowly shut behind them. They crossed through the outer administrative offices and entered into the inner sanctum of the academy complex. Here, on paved squares ranks of students performed martial arts training and the air was heavy with the cries and chants of training young men. Further students under the watchful gaze of instructors performed martial arts in the grassy parks between the brick paths that crossed through the inner yard. But eventually, all paths terminated at the nerve center of the academy, a massive traditional structure of wood and stone and porch walkways up the three levels of the academy's command center. Inside the halls smelled of wood and metal polish. There was a hushed tone that only magnified the self-aware presence of the congressman and his guide. Every so often they would pass a class room or some other congress room where the muffled lectures or meetings could be heard out into the hall way. But in all the impression that Shu had was that they were very alone. The cadet led him up a stair well to the top floor where he stopped alongside a door. “The academy premier's.” he declared, bowing low as Shu entered into the office. At the sound of the door opening a secretary looked up from his desk and rose to stand. “Excuse me comrade, but the premier is in a meeting.” he said. “I know, with his commander. I'm here to see him too.” said Shu, “Will you let me in?” The secretary shook his head, “I'm sorry, I can not do tha-” “My name is Zhang Shu of the national Congress. I have matters to discuss with one of the men inside that room.” “I honestly can not let you i-” Again the secretary was interrupted, but not by Shu. It was by the office door. Standing in the door way were two men on their way out. They had noticed Shu, and Shu had noticed them. “Commander Shan Yuang.” Shu bowed, “Zhang Shu.” The taller of the two officers sized Shu up and down with an unhappy expression. He was a broad shouldered man, with a weathered harsh face. Turning to his companion he said with a patient voice, “Excuse me.” before stepping away towards Shu. “I don't think I said you could meet with me, congressman.” Lou Shan Yuang remarked in a low unhappy voice. “Well I don't wait, not for any one. I have work to do, so I will do it.” “And there's a time and place for certain sorts.” Shan Yuang told him, “I am here on strict military business, if I wanted to speak to Congress I would have made an appointment with you. I have an inspection to do.” “And I have an inspection of my own.” Shu shot back. Lou Shan Yuang glowered, then groaning, “Very well. You can talk, but it'll be on the move.” “Thank you.” Shu bowed. Shan Yuang turned back to the academy's premier and waved him to move on with a gesture of his hand. He joined in behind him and turned to Shu as they walked, “So Russia.” he said. “That's the subject I wanted to talk about.” “I think it's a mess, a good mess. It neutralizes any military challenges to the north. Getting involved in it would be complicated and I would personally advise heading in on those grounds.” “But should the Russian state reform under a single government again, that threat of northern competition would resurface. Commander, you and I know the Japanese have an established beach head in Russia and they're poised to reboot their imperial ambitions in the Russian north. Czar or not, the vacuum in power posed by its current state leaves China at risk in geopolitics. So complications or not I'm of the firm opinion we need to be involved. “Truth of the matter is commander, we shouldn't be letting the revolution become surrounded.” Commander Shan Yuang gave him a heavy look. “So you've done your strategic thinking.” he conceded as they stepped out onto a back veranda. A towering plinth loomed high over a raised parade ground not too distant. Raised stadium seats stood between them and the plinth. The plinth itself stood empty, though the name written on it in large bronze characters read Sun-Yat Sen, the statue that had once been there had been long removed during the course of the war with Japanese, removed by a tank shell during fighting, it had not been reinstated. “What would be your recommendations then, what does the army need, what will it need to do.” “First and foremost it will need intelligence.” Shan Yuang said as they walked along, “Who's there, how many men do they have, what are their conditions to fight. What's the landscape like, where are the strategic locations. I can't make any concise decisions without that information. This can be three months worth of preparations, assuming strategic planning time we would be ready to go to war by this winter.” “Well I want to give you one month.” “Are you insane?” Lou Shan Yuang nearly yelled. “No, I am not.” Shu said casually dismissive, “We have in the country now a group of Russian men, some or many of whom may be Siberian locals. If you get in contact with them they can provide you with what information you might possibly need. For now I'm immediately concerned for Siberia. If it helps the military's case at all we will handle Russia in stages. The nature of the country leaves no government to declare war on, so proper proceedings in that regard do not need to be made.” “China can't go to war without a deceleration of war comrade,” Lou Shan Yuang reminded him, “How can you expect this to be legal?” “Because the government was built to handle unforeseen circumstances. We'll write the play book now in Congress.” “You're all a club of fools.” the commander chided as they climbed up some stone stairs to the parade ground. “Yet someone has to do it. Commander, all I ultimately ask is you get with my man and come up with something. I will work on getting the two of you a chance to appear before Congress to make statements for the plan moving ahead. I'm the one greasing wheels in the end. But for the sake of international security for China I advise you consider this being taken seriously. If China is to go to war with Japan a third time it will not be over Chinese land.”