The Mistery of Belicena Villca see in Nanking either nor anywhere else . – It is that the Japanese have already been smeared – told us the guide in his flashy pidgin , a slang mix of Portuguese and English spoken on China ' s maritime coasts : Obviously , calling smear a bribe is an irony typical of Portugal and Spain . --Didn' t Lord Thienma explain it to you ? I answered in the same language that yes , but that we were impressed by the power that the money of the Green Band exerted on the smeared people . He smiled and he communicated that we would go to Shanghai immediately .
When leaving the port area , taking by streets that the guide seemed to know very well , we arrived at a huge market square , where there was a natural agglomeration of hundreds of yin-kiricsas , those Japanese man-pulled vehicles , which are shaped like individual buggies and that the English called rickshaw . We thought it was the height of organization and discipline to verify that six were apart waiting for us , no doubt warned by the Greens who had left the port earlier . I glanced at Von Grossen , but he noticed . --These rascals really know how to do things --he growled . We should come learn from them . I did not pay attention to this exaggeration because we were already rolling at quite a speed and I was completely absorbed by the view of the big city : with 5,000,000 of inhabitants in 1938 , Shanghai for the English , Changai for the French , and Xangae for Portuguese and Spanish , was a tremendous city for any pair of western eyes . Now we were heading to the “ model Colony ”, or bund , the island that westerners knew how to build in the middle of an unhealthy swamp , which was the only place ceded by the Chinese in the Nanking Treaty of 1842 , signed off by cannon fire by the English who in that year occupied Shanghai despite the 250 battery guns on the Vu-Sang : the pirates disembarked the infantry , that neutralized the cannons and marched on the city , as the ships entered through the North Gate and the Chinese fled through the South gate .
On those marshy lands a magnificent European citadel was raised , walled , with paved canalization of water , and paved and illuminated streets . Gigantic buildings were built belonging to the three occupying powers : England , the United States and France ; and soon three characteristic neighborhoods of these nationalities emerged , in addition to the inevitable Chinatown , called Nantao by the Chinese . The three colonialist powers obtained large areas of private port for their Foreign Trade Companies to install commercial factories . When the Germans tried to enter this business , the port was already completely distributed and were forced to pay franchises to their competitors . However , there was not much that Germany traded with Shanghai , although sufficient to require the presence of a Consul ; the Embassy was in Nanking . Naturally , the Japanese presence in Shanghai , and their distrust of the Carthaginian imperialist powers that had operated in the region , opened promising expectations for Germany to obtain a greater distribution of the booty .
The rickshaws raced through the lattice fence , crossed a well manicured garden , and stopped in front of the portal of a Rhenish-style mansion . A Kriegmarine sergeant approached us as we descended .
– Heil Hitler ! --Von Grossen saluted-- . I am the SS Standartenführer Karl von Grossen on special mission , Sergeant . We urgently need to see the Consul .
– Yes , Sir --agreed the marine-- . Please give me your papers and you will be taken care of immediately .
– We have no papers , Sergeant ! Here is a list of the names and the military rank of these Gentlemen who accompany me and mine . We are all SS officers .
The far-sighted Von Grossen had drawn up a note for the Consul , anticipating a possible bureaucratic blockade . It said like this :
Mr . Consul of the Third Reich , Shanghai , We present ourselves before you , and request to be immediately repatriated to Germany , the SS Standartenführer Karl von Grossen , the SS Sturmbannführer Kurt von Sübermann , the SS Hauptsturmführer Oskar Feil , and the men from Bhutan , the Gurkha Bangi and the Lopa Srivirya , all members of the “ First Key ” Operation , Ultra-confidential , code A I R . S . H . A ., authorized : Hitler , Himmler , Heydrich . We greet you sincerely Signed : Karl von Grossen Commander of the First Key Operation .
– Wait a moment , Sir --the marine requested , and he entered with readiness the building . Outside remained another guard .
It seems that everything is fine – said the Green –. I will retire right now , but I ' ll still be in Shanghai for one day . You can look for me in the port if there is any problem and , in case I have left , I will leave
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