The Beijing-Shanghai Railway makes travel between Nanjing and Shanghai very convenient, with many trains passing through every day. However, the vast majority of these are passenger and freight trains, and special trains carrying high-level officials, such as those escorting diplomatic missions, are still very rare.
Shanghai authorities specially arranged a military train for this purpose, and also deployed a squadron of soldiers to escort it. A large number of troops were also deployed along the route to guard the train and ensure its safety.
Security on the special train was extremely tight. In addition to Japanese soldiers, the driver and train attendants were all Japanese. The delegation was in the middle carriage, with soldiers guarding both the front and back. It can be said that the security work was done extremely meticulously.
Everyone else had other arrangements, while Ning Zhiheng, Shimizu Hidetoshi, and the two councilors were arranged in a separate premium carriage.
The entire carriage was decorated in an extremely luxurious manner, just like a room in a high-end hotel. It had a reception room, a bar, and a lounge, with all the necessary facilities.
Because it was a luxury special train, there weren't many people being transported, so there weren't many carriages attached to it. The train traveled very quickly, taking only about ten hours in total. People were too lazy to rest, so they just chatted and talked with each other in the carriages.
Time flew by, and after passing through Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou, the special train entered the Zhenjiang area a few hours later.
Suddenly, the train slowed down noticeably, which surprised everyone on board. Soon, the train braked suddenly and came to a stop.
"What's going on? Go and ask!" Ning Zhiheng frowned and instructed Kimura Maki, who was waiting outside.
Ning Zhiheng had taken the Beijing-Shanghai Railway a few times before, but those were all in the VIP compartments of ordinary passenger trains. This was the first time he had ridden on a military special train, and the first time he had enjoyed such a high level of security. He had never encountered a train stopping midway before.
At this moment, the Japanese soldiers responsible for security quickly got off the train, set up a perimeter around the train, and sent people to search nearby high points to eliminate potential hazards. All actions were well-trained and orderly.
Soon, Major Ezaki, who was in charge of security, ran over and respectfully reported to Ning Zhiheng and the others: "I'm very sorry, please wait a moment. There's been a slight problem ahead, but we'll handle it quickly and it won't take too long!"
"What exactly happened?" Ning Zhiheng asked directly.
"We received a radio report that the railway ahead had been damaged. After the patrol personnel discovered it, they notified Zhenjiang Station. The armored vehicles that were leading the way ahead of us have rushed to the damage site. They are equipped with specialized railway repair machinery and tools and can carry out repairs on site."
Hidetoshi Shimizu asked from the side, "What? Isn't this occupied territory? Is the transportation on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway frequently disrupted?"
Major Ezaki quickly said, "That's not the case. Please rest assured, Vice Minister, the safety of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway is not a problem. This was just a low-probability incident."
He then explained in detail that the Beijing-Shanghai Railway was originally the most complete railway line built in China, connecting the two most important cities in China, the capital Nanjing, the political center, and Shanghai, the economic center. Therefore, the Chinese government invested a lot in this railway, supervised it very strictly, and the construction quality was very high. After its completion, there were no problems.
However, after the full-scale war between China and Japan broke out, Shanghai and Nanjing fell one after another, and this railway became an important transportation line for the Japanese to transport troops and supplies.
For this reason, the New Fourth Army and the National Salvation Army in southern Jiangsu spent a lot of effort to sabotage the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. However, a year later, the Japanese had gained a foothold and invested a lot of manpower and resources to repair the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. Centered on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, they focused on attacking the Chinese troops near the railway line. After several years of fighting, they had suppressed the Chinese army's power in the mountainous and lake areas of southern Jiangsu, and the Japanese transportation safety on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway was finally guaranteed.
However, since the beginning of this year, the Chinese troops gathered in southern Jiangsu have all made considerable progress. They have gradually grown stronger in the long-term battles with the Japanese army, and their military strength has also improved a lot. As a result, they have begun to launch attacks along the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and infiltrate the Japanese-occupied areas. However, so far, they have not achieved the desired results.
However, small teams would still infiltrate the hinterland. Of course, because the Beijing-Shanghai Railway line was located in the Japanese-controlled hinterland, the control was quite strict. The small teams sent in were small in number and lightly equipped, so they could not play much of a role.
These small teams ventured in to carry out special missions, usually assassinations, elimination of traitors, or rendezvous in occupied territories.
Sometimes there are deliberate acts of sabotaging railway lines, but these are very rare at present. This is mainly because the vast majority of trains on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway are passenger and freight trains, with relatively few military trains. If the railway were sabotaged, it would be easy to accidentally harm Chinese civilians, unless it was specifically targeted at Japanese military personnel and supplies. However, this would require more precise strikes and more accurate intelligence. Moreover, the Japanese attach great importance to the protection of military trains, with not only a large number of soldiers escorting them but also armored vehicles clearing the way, making it quite difficult to carry out. Therefore, such incidents are extremely rare.
After listening to Major Ezaki's explanation, Ning Zhiheng was surprised. How could he have encountered such a coincidence? Could it be that the Military Intelligence Bureau received intelligence about him and sent people to deal with the delegation?
Just then, a violent explosion suddenly came from afar, and the direction it came from was the direction the armored vehicle was traveling. Everyone's expression changed.
Major Ezaki quickly said, "Please wait here for a moment, gentlemen. I have just notified the garrison in Zhenjiang by radio, and someone will be here to meet us soon. I will take some men to take a look now."
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