The answer to this question raised by Wang Xuexin is self-evident.
What China lacks most is definitely food.
This may be difficult for modern people to understand, because it seems that no matter how poor you are, you are never unable to afford food.
But food is a big problem in this era.
The main reason is that people generally have low willingness to farm during the war.
To be precise, it's not that we don't have a high willingness to farm, but that the risks of farming are too high... After working hard for more than half a year, everything will be over when the Japanese come. People can run away, but the crops cannot walk.
The area controlled by the recalcitrant army is almost the same, except that the Japanese are replaced by the recalcitrant army.
The Eighth Route Army base area is pretty good now. The two defense lines of Luliang Mountain and Zhongtiao Mountain have been established to protect the security of southwestern Shanxi, so that large areas of wasteland can be opened up for farming. Otherwise, the Japanese will definitely come to "mopping up" during the autumn harvest, and then it will not only be
Food was plundered, accompanied by burning, killing, and looting.
Therefore, the people thought that if they grow food and others collect it, they will still be hungry in the end, so why bother? It is better to do odd jobs to earn some money to fill their stomachs, and maybe save some money.
On the other hand, the Japanese occupied the northeastern and eastern coastal areas and occupied 70% of China's grain-producing areas. The interior was either mountainous and rocky or arid with little rain, and the crops they planted were not modern hybrid rice with high yields, frost resistance and disease resistance, so
Food production has always been at a critical level and we are heavily dependent on imports.
Now, if the Burma Highway is cut off again, the channel for importing grain from overseas will basically be lost. Then even if you want to buy grain, you will not be able to buy it... The hump route has a small volume and can only be used to transport scarce strategic materials.
Transporting food can only be described as a luxury.
Therefore, even stubborn soldiers will only be able to eat two meals a day, each with three or two meters of rice.
Even three or two meters cannot be guaranteed, because due to layers of deductions from stubborn military officers, the rice is mixed with a lot of broken chaff, sand, etc.
What Wang Xuexin has to do now is to take advantage of the fact that the Burma Highway has not yet been blocked and buy more food reserves to cope with the difficulties he will face.
The leader was the first to agree. He nodded slightly with a solemn face and said: "If the Burma Highway is blocked by the Japanese, you will indeed have to buy food! If you don't have enough food, how can you still have the strength to fight with the enemy with bayonets? The enemy has not taken action on your own."
I’m just starving to death!”
"Chief!" said the Chief of Staff: "Shouldn't I remind the stubborn troops of the possible situation now and try to prevent the Burma Highway from being blocked by the Japanese? This matter is not trivial. Not only food will be lacking, but also all overseas
None of the supplies can come in!”
What the Chief of Staff said was not very comprehensive.
The transportation line between the north and Mao Xiong is still open.
The problem is that Mao Xiong cannot protect itself under Hans' attack. It also needs to import a large amount of supplies from Yingjiang, and of course it cannot take care of China.
In addition, the chief of staff at this time was not the hump route used for "a drop in the bucket", so he thought it was completely blocked.
When the chief of staff said this, the cadres in the conference room immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.
Among them, the one who understood the stakes best was Zhang Wanhe, the Minister of Logistics. He interrupted: "Commander, Chief of Staff, I think this matter will have little impact on our Eighth Route Army, but it will have a great impact on the stubborn army!"
The chief nodded and confirmed Zhang Wanhe's analysis.
The reason is that the Eighth Route Army has been jointly blockaded by the Japanese and stubborn troops... Under their blockade, the Eighth Route Army has developed a "do it yourself" system. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation can now be produced by themselves, including bullets and rifles. Although
It's not luxurious but it's much better than before.
Under this situation, the Burma Road had almost no impact on the Eighth Route Army.
If there is any impact, it is that it will not be so convenient for Wang Xuexin to do business with Eagle Sauce in the future. Everything he needs will have to be shipped via the hump route, and the freight will be several times the material itself.
The leader frowned and said: "Although this is correct, we can't just care about ourselves, we must take into account the overall situation! Stubborn military management is also the enemy of the Japanese after all. If they have a hard time, it will definitely affect us!"
The cadres nodded in agreement.
Although the recalcitrant army always did things that hindered them, at least they held back many Japanese troops on the frontal defense line. There is a saying that "the enemy of the enemy is a friend." No matter how the recalcitrant army targeted the Eighth Route Army, this point in the overall strategy
It cannot be changed.
Therefore, the interests of the stubborn army are also the interests of the Eighth Route Army.
However, the leader then shook his head and sighed: "The problem is that it is not the stubborn army that may be in trouble now, but the sun that never sets, and it is also because they have no determination and will to fight. This cannot be solved with a few words.
of!"
The cadres nodded in agreement. Now they know that this battle is not optimistic and they can't help much.
Wang Xuexin had not considered this. Before, he had always thought about how to avoid danger after the Burma Highway was blocked. He never thought about whether this result could be changed. If it was not possible, it would be a good thing to let the road be blocked later...
Then Wang Xuexin thought of Sun Erwei, maybe he could influence the situation indirectly through Sun Erwei's influence on Yingjiang.
There was no suspense about the outcome of the meeting. After seeing clearly how the war situation would develop in the future, most of the cadres agreed to use these 10 million US dollars to purchase food.
But Wang Xuexin’s focus is no longer this.
As soon as he returned to Luotuoling, he found Sun Erwei.
"We have decided!" Wang Xuexin told Sun Erwei: "We will use all the aid of 10 million US dollars to purchase food!"
"Food?" Sun Erwei was quite surprised when he heard this decision at first: "Are you so short of food? Do you need to buy 10 million US dollars of food?"
Wang Xuexin did not want to elaborate on this aspect with Sun Erwei, so he put on a bitter face and said: "You know, we are under the blockade of the stubborn army and Japanese soldiers and have always been in very short supply of food. Besides, there are many people in the base area, so we need to save more."
You can’t go wrong with the food!”
Sun Erwei also knew something about the situation of the Eighth Route Army, and laughed when he heard it: "Poor Wang, it is indeed not easy for you! Well, I will convey your decision to the superiors. Transporting food should not be a big problem, because we
You can buy it directly from Asana!”
What this means is that Asan is a large grain-producing country. Although the country's land area is not as large as that of China, its cultivated land area is larger than that of China. In addition, the warm climate allows grain to be harvested three times a year.
But even so, Asan's life was not easy.
The reason is that it is a colony where the sun never sets at this time. It fights Hans on the battlefield of Africa until the sun sets. Its country is blocked by Hans submarines and bombed, and here it fights the Japanese... all the costs of the war are passed on to the colonies.
Heavily taxed on his head.
As a result, Ah San was even suffering from famine at this time.
However, the famine did not affect Asan's ability to sell food to others.