Starting from the next day, Wang Zhengting and his people continued to visit major banks, hoping to provide low-interest or even interest-free loans to China. Since Roosevelt had greeted him in advance, most of the banks received him politely, but in real terms,
At this time, most of the borrowings were hesitant. At this time, the U.S. economy, which had just slowly recovered from the pain of the Great Depression, took another big fall. The economy fell into a deep valley again, and a "double recession" appeared. During the recession of 1937-1938,
The unemployment rate is as high as 19%. Although it is much lower than the peak of 25% during the previous "main shock", it is still unimaginable today. All major banks attach great importance to funds. If they want them to do so for no reason
It was undoubtedly very difficult to lend money to China, especially when China did not have any collateral. However, for Roosevelt's sake, in the end, he was still willing to lend some money.
Five days passed quickly. Jiang Cheng saw that Wang Zhengting had remembered the numbers. It was only 17 million U.S. dollars in five days. You must know that he had already visited all the large banks. He couldn't help but feel pessimistic about the goal of 30 million U.S. dollars he had set.
At this time, Wang Zhengting ran over excitedly and said, "Gu Quan, good news, great news. Just now, the U.S. Construction Bank sent someone to tell us that it is willing to provide an additional loan of 4 million U.S. dollars, plus the previous Bank of Communications loan.
Ten million."
Jiang Cheng asked in surprise, "What's going on? Why did you suddenly increase the loan?"
Wang Zhengting said happily, "This is not all the result of President Roosevelt. It is said that at the bankers' gathering yesterday, President Roosevelt once again said good things for us, and specifically asked the president of China Construction Bank to say that lending to China will be beneficial to the future of the United States.
There are advantages and no disadvantages, which is why we took out additional loans.”
Only then did Jiang Cheng exhale, feeling that half of his mission in the United States was finally completed.
During this period, the New York branch of the Weihua Company was successfully established. Like the German branch, it was willing to receive U.S. dollars 10% higher than the price of gold. This caused a large number of ordinary people and hospitals who suffered from no gold reserves to come to snap up penicillin and sulfonamides. Of course, there were
Many people came to protest that the price was too high, but under the protection of Roosevelt, there was no danger. At the same time, Jiang Cheng guaranteed that the U.S. dollars received would not be remitted back to China, but would instead be used to purchase products in the United States. This gained support from the American business community, making
Weihua Company quickly established a foothold in the United States. Jiang Cheng began to discuss with Wang Zhengting and Situ Meitang, who understood the situation in the United States, how to spend the loan. On the other side, China almost lost the red and white due to an assassination.
The party once again met with military force.
April 25, 1937 - Yan'an Zhou Guansheng waved goodbye to Mao Yongzhi and Zhu Daizhen, sitting in a military truck, with Chen Youcai next to him and the driver on the left. Other cadres and soldiers were all standing closely packed in the back.
There were more than sixty people in the open carriage.
It turns out that Xiao Zhang left the army and became a squad leader after returning to Yan'an. Later, he became a sharpshooter named Liu Jiuzhou. Unfortunately, he was too young. Several leaders were worried about the mission to Xi'an, so they temporarily sent Chen Youcai as Zhou Guansheng's bodyguard.
Chen Youcai, the chief of staff of the Yan'an Garrison Command, is very close to Zhou Enlai in terms of build, age, and face. On this day, he and Zhou Enlai were dressed the same. They were in suits and leather shoes and had a handsome demeanor. From a distance, it was difficult to tell who was who.
Who is coming? And he and Zhou Enlai were always inseparable along the way.
Zhou Guansheng looked at Chen Youcai and frowned and asked, "Comrade Chen, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"
Chen Youcai shook his head and said, "I don't know why, I just feel a little uneasy."
Zhou Guansheng smiled and patted Chen Youcai and said, "Don't think about it. We have so many soldiers, how could anything happen?"
Chen Youcai smiled and said, "Thank you, Vice Chairman Zhou, I'm much better."
Zhou Guansheng and his party had two or three large trucks. Just as they were driving to Xi'an, a group of men in black appeared on Dalao Mountain halfway. This Dalao Mountain has steep terrain and towering ancient trees. It has always been a gathering place for "green forest heroes"
In this haunted place, passing merchants did not dare to walk alone. The leader was a young man, and next to him was a gangster-looking man. There were about a hundred people behind him. The man said, "Mr. Toushan, this is it."
."
The young man was Toushan Geming. He nodded and said, "Is this Dalao Mountain? It is indeed a good place for an ambush. Black Tiger, let your brothers ambush and follow my orders."
Heihu responded and asked the people below to start ambush. These people seemed to have messy weapons and they were bandits. Toushan Geming looked at the disorganized Heihu and others and thought with disdain, although
There are more than a hundred people, but as long as he is given a small team, he can annihilate them all. Such bandits can be arrogant for more than ten years. The Chinese are really vulnerable, but it is good to use bandits to ambush the bandits, which complements each other.
Zhou Guansheng and others drove out of the South Gate of Yan'an. When passing by Sansanlipu, everyone got off the car, drank water, relieved their hands, and then boarded the car again. After a while, they climbed up the towering Sansanlipu and
At Dalao Mountain between Ganquan County, Zhou Guansheng looked at the dense forests on both sides of Dalao Mountain and the dim light. He couldn't help but sigh, "This place is really a good place for an ambush."
On the other side, Tou Shangeming, who saw several military vehicles, took his favorite rifle and aimed it at the cab of the first vehicle. With a bang, he fired the first shot. Everyone heard the gunshot and screamed.
The fight started.
"What sound? Is this a gunshot?" Liu Jiuzhou, a sharpshooter, was the first to ask alertly.
As soon as he finished speaking, the gunshots all around rang out like beans popping in a hot pot. The bullets hit the car, making a crisp "ding-dong" sound and flying around. Some soldiers were shot and fell down.
More soldiers immediately took out their guns and fired back at the ambushers who were hiding in the woods on the roadside.
Zhang Yunyi shouted to the guard: "Get out of the car quickly! Protect Vice Chairman Zhou!"
The soldiers jumped out of the carriage one after another and ran towards the cab.
Zhou Guansheng, who was sitting in the cab, loudly ordered: "Everyone get in the car and rush over!"
The soldiers were stunned, then turned back to the carriage.
At this time, both Chen Youcai and the driver were injured. The driver heard the order, endured the pain, increased the accelerator, and the truck rushed forward like a crazed bull.
But they didn't run far before they fell into a ditch dug by the ambushers. Many soldiers were thrown out.
Zhou Guansheng is indeed one of the true descendants of Xingyiquan. The moment the truck fell into the ditch, he quickly opened the right door, jumped out of the cab, and immediately turned around and leaned behind the right front tire.
At this time, the driver had died. Chen Youcai got out of the cab, immediately wounded and commanded the soldiers to fight back, and ordered the deputy platoon leader of the guard platoon to escort Zhou Guansheng, Zhang Yunyi, and Kong Shiquan to quickly leave this dangerous place. The remaining guards,
They shot at the ambushers who were charging towards the truck. Unfortunately, most of the guards had short guns with short range and low lethality, so it was difficult to repel the ambushers' charge. The casualties were huge for a while, but Toushan Pavilion Ming on the mountain
But he was so angry that he attacked 60 people with more than 100 people, and it was still an ambush. The sound of gunfire was very lively. Until now, the opponent had only killed or injured more than a dozen people. What kind of ghost battle was this.
The black tiger next to him smiled sheepishly and said, "Most of the bastards like me have never fired a few shots. They are not as powerful as the imperial army. This is not bad."
Toushange Ming sighed, "Fortunately, it's an ambush, so it shouldn't be a big problem. Okay, get ready to charge, and we must wipe out all these people."
Hearing about the hand-to-hand fighting, this was a good show for bandits. Heihu smiled and agreed and rushed down the mountain with his men. When Zhou Guansheng saw the enemy rushing down, he knew that the enemy wanted to entangle his side so that he could annihilate them all, so he
Seeing that most of the troops on his side were short guns and could not win, he hurriedly fought and retreated with the soldiers. Chen Youcai did not want Zhou Guansheng to expose himself, so he quickly gave instructions loudly. Fortunately, these enemies did not have a strong sense of fighting. Seeing the Red Army's sudden death, Chen Youcai
, the grenades were thrown randomly, and they were so frightened that they all gave way. The angry Toushan Geming flew into a rage. In the end, although more than thirty corpses were left behind, Zhou Guansheng and others rushed out. Several Japanese spies brought by Toushan Geming watched.
When the Red Army was about to break out, they quickly concentrated their firepower on Chen Youcai, who was commanding him. Toushan Geming was worthy of being a top student in Japan's military academy. He raised his hand and shot Chen Youcai in the abdomen. Finally, Chen Youcai was shot six times in the abdomen and fell to the ground.
When he saw that the commander was dead, he stopped pursuing him and just considered that he had completed his mission.
Toushan Geming looked through these corpses one by one. They were all wearing patched and shabby military uniforms. He knew that there were senior cadres of the Red Party in this car. How come there were not many left? This was his first time.
I independently completed the mission and ended up like this... It's all my fault for these damn Chinese people, they are all trash. If I had a small team of imperial troops, this would never have ended like this. But luckily I took the lead.
After being killed by myself, it can be regarded as completing the basic task.
Heihu said with a smile, "Mr. Toushan, we did a pretty good job, right? Have you seen so many deaths, um, about money?"
Toushan chuckled and said, "Yo Xi, our Empire of Japan will not owe you money. You can take your family to Japan in the future. Don't worry about the money. Let's evacuate this place first."
After Zhang Yunyi saw that he was out of danger, he immediately sent two guards and rushed to the Red Army Division Headquarters in Sansanlipu to report the news. Then he, Zhou Guansheng and Kong Shiquan, escorted by more than a dozen soldiers, walked all the way through the forest and climbed the cliff until late at night.
We just returned to Sansanlipu.
When Yan'an learned the news and heard the report, Mao Yongzhi, who had always been calm in the face of danger, was so panicked that he pulled up his shoes, rushed out of the cave, and issued an order in a stern tone to Huang Lin, the head of the Central Guard Regiment: "Huang Lin,
Don't worry about anything, go and get Vice Chairman Zhou back for me immediately! I want to see people in life, and I want to see the body in death!"
Huang Lin immediately ordered the soldiers of the guard regiment to be fully armed and ready to set off. There were not enough horses. Mao Yongzhi, Zhu Daizhen, Zhang Wentian, Bo Gu and other leaders all pulled out their mounts and those of the guards. After a while, Huang Lin led the temporary formation.
The cavalry troops rushed all the way out of the south gate of Yan'an.
The central leaders gathered in Mao Yongzhi's cave. Not only were they worried about Zhou Guansheng's safety, but they were also nervously analyzing who planned and implemented this major murder against Zhou Guansheng? It was an external enemy, an agent of the White Party.
, or from within? If it is the latter, then this incident will be more serious and may even cause severe turmoil in the situation in Yan'an.
Fortunately, the news spread quickly. Zhou Guansheng and others were not seriously injured, but the accompanying soldiers suffered heavy casualties.
Mao Yongzhi smoked a cigarette and said, "We must investigate clearly what is going on. This is a very serious leak. Let Comrade Kenong investigate. No matter who is found, he will not tolerate it. At the same time, just in case, send
Please protect Chairman Zhang."
At dawn the next day, the accurate news came. Zhou Guansheng, who had retreated to Sanlipu that night, ordered the garrison to go to Dalao Mountain overnight. At the same time, Gu Zhutong and others in Xi'an also learned the news and sent troops overnight to cooperate with the Red Army.
Black Tiger and others made dumplings. After a melee, Black Tiger was killed by someone unknown. Several mysterious people mentioned by the bandits also disappeared. Both Red and White immediately knew that there must be someone.
The unwillingness to see the red and white parties unite greatly promoted the realization of the red and white coalition to resist Japan.
On the other side, Toushange Mingqi, who had fought all the way, had his teeth chattering. Fortunately, he took advantage of the chaos and shot the black tiger. There should be no clues left. He said to the surrounding men, "Go back to Shanghai!!"
——Due to the new round of economic crisis in the United States, the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar is extremely strong. Jiang Cheng decided to purchase some weapons and equipment first. After all, the war was about to begin, and strengthening armaments was the most important thing, so he asked Wang Zhengting to negotiate with the American arms dealer to purchase Brown.
Ning M2 heavy machine gun, the caliber of this machine gun is 12.7MM, which is very suitable for hitting Japanese armored vehicles and low-altitude aircraft. In addition, the US military’s Thompson submachine gun was purchased. This was mainly because the Republic of China at this time had begun to imitate the Thompson in large numbers.
Submachine gun.
From 1923 to 1924, the Guangdong Arsenal copied 39 M1921s. In 1926, the Shanxi Military Craftsmanship Training Factory also began to imitate. After being renamed the Taiyuan Arsenal in 1927, a dedicated submachine gun factory was established. In 1928, the monthly output reached 900. After the National Government took over
Production was suspended for a time, but production resumed from 1932 to 1934, with a maximum monthly output of 250. Another major domestic manufacturer of the "Tom" was the Chongqing Arms Repair Institute, which produced a total of 4,700 of the two models from 1928 to 1935.
All are 7.63mm in order to be compatible with shelled bullets. One of them is imitated from the M1923 type, equipped with a bipod, and can be used as a light machine gun. In addition, Huayin, Chishui and other arsenals have also imitated this gun. These domestic Toms
The range of imitation Thompson equipment far exceeds today's imagination. It was used by various warlords in the Central Plains War. Before the Anti-Japanese War, even the ethnic minority armed forces in the Ganliang area had a small number of Thompson submachine guns.
This made it possible that if China now had many workers and technicians with experience in manufacturing Thompson submachine guns, Jiang Cheng placed an order for a production line of Thompson submachine guns, specifically requesting that the caliber be reduced to 7.63 so that the ammunition could be used universally.
What workers in the Republic of China can do is not difficult for American technicians. At this time, the United States only has these light weapons to choose from. What it really wants to buy is industrial machinery.
Jiang Cheng asked Gallagher, "Gallagher, what do you think is the most important thing for me to buy machinery now?"
Gallagher closed his eyes and said, "Heavy industry is actually basic industry. Your current level of development is metallurgy, petroleum, coal, electricity, chemistry, machinery industry, etc. These basic industries require more equipment, long production and construction cycles, and high consumption.
It has a lot of capital and provides services to the manufacturing industry and the production and consumption means sector. So the question is, what industry is the basic foundation? I heard that the first industrial revolution on your planet was in the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom relied on coal and iron.
Coal is actually energy. No industry can do without these two, so the most important ones are steel plants and power plants. In fact, steel has been around since ancient times, but the scale and metallurgical methods are different between modern and ancient times, but power generation is in your era.
It’s still a new thing, and as far as I know, your country doesn’t seem to have connected every town or town with electricity, but some counties and counties have not yet done so.”
Jiang Cheng nodded with a wry smile. In fact, it took until 2005 for the actual county-level electrification to be successfully completed. At that time, there were 461 power plants in China, and in later generations, there were more than 660 municipal-level cities. In other words, a city
It can’t even be divided into one power station. The total installed capacity of power generation is 630MW, and the annual power generation is only 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours. Although the power distribution system has initially formed in large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Nantong
. But not to mention Japan’s power generation capacity of more than 30 billion kilowatt-hours, even Manchukuo in the Northeast generated 1.63 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1938. As for the steel industry, before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Japan produced 5.8 million tons of steel and pig iron in 1937.
2.39 million tons, while the corresponding Chinese steel production is just over 40,000 tons, a difference of a hundred times. As for the United States, the production at this time is 60 million tons, a difference of 1,500 times from China. It is no wonder that there are people like Wang Jingwei.
They feared Japan like a tiger and were not optimistic about the outcome of the war.
Gallagher continued, "So electricity and steel are the key. China has a lot of coal resources and you have a lot of people. Just dig them. Don't worry. But how to increase the output of electricity and steel is the problem, and you will have it soon."
There is a war, and what is most needed is gun steel that can be used to make guns. This is not comparable to the pig iron or crude steel that you can make now."
Although Jiang Cheng had long known that China's heavy industry was weak during the Republic of China, he still felt powerless when he thought about the steel gap. Although he could travel through time and space, he was not Long Aotian. He could build an aircraft carrier with just two blueprints.
AK47 can be made with machine tools. This steel factory and power station cannot be moved from modern times.
Probably feeling Jiang Cheng's mental fluctuations, Gallagher cheered, "You are not alone, what are you afraid of? I have said before that the most precious thing is not weapons or supplies, but knowledge and culture. You were just
I won’t say anything if you want to make money, but now that you have plans to save your country in this time and space, what you should transport most is not materials, but knowledge and technology. You can save all of you by yourself.
It wouldn't be of much use to move the entire Baosteel Group from Shanghai, because this era simply doesn't know how to maintain and use things from your era."
Jiang Cheng asked, "You mean I should save the country through science and technology and industry?"
Gallagher agreed, "Yes, if you really want to get involved in this time and space, the most suitable place is to engage in industry and technology. But instead of letting you do it, let others do it for you. You can still transport some small machine tools.
Yes, as for power stations and steel plants, let the people in this time and space figure it out, but before doing this, you should find your base."
Jiang Cheng agreed, "Yes, this trip abroad allowed me to see the industrial power of other countries. China under the rule of the White Party is really bad in heavy industry. I just don't know if Chairman Chiang will support me."
To do heavy industry."
After all, heavy industry is not comparable to light industry in terms of investment and return rate. Just in case, Jiang Cheng first sent a message to Yu Qiaqing in Shanghai, asking him to help take a pulse. If he was really prepared to persuade the National Government to engage in heavy industry, he would
Should this be done and where should the factory be located?
Soon Yu Qiaqing's call back came. Jiang Cheng took it over excitedly and took a look. He immediately felt that he was being treated with cold water from beginning to end. Yu Qiaqing was not here to encourage him, but to warn him not to be impulsive. Heavy industry is not that easy to do. At the same time, he analyzed
Tell him the reason.
First, most of the domestic iron ore is not under our own control, not to mention the power of other countries. The resources under the control of Japanese capital alone exceed 29% of the coal output and 90% of the iron ore in the country.
Without raw materials, the steel industry would be impossible to build.
Second, all other national heavy industries in the country are under the control of the Resources Committee. If Jiang Cheng wants to start heavy industry, the first thing he should do is to hand over the enterprise to the Resources Committee.
Third, the domestic banking industry does not support heavy industry and it is difficult to obtain loans, making it difficult for heavy industry factories to finance.
Fourth, there is a large amount of foreign iron and pseudo-national iron in the country, and the price is low. It is difficult to make a living in such an environment by setting up a factory. It is impossible to make money. Nowadays, domestic steel plants are refining every furnace at a loss.
Looking at the telegram, Gallagher chuckled, "What happened to your country? The heavy industry is basically in the hands of the enemy. I really admire you for winning in the end."
Jiang Cheng angrily tore the telegram into pieces. This won't work, and that won't work either. Should flour and cloth be used to fight the enemy in a war?
Gallagher advised, "If you don't have a political force that supports you, and you don't have a stable territory, it's impossible to develop industry. You'd better think of a way to do this first."
Jiang Cheng also felt that without support, it would be impossible to start some industry. The most powerful force in this era is of course Jiang Jie, and it seems that he still needs to be persuaded first. But Jiang Jie will really support Jiang Cheng.