Chiang Kai-shek was aware of the shortcomings of seizing young men, but he did not expect that the situation would be so bad.
In Chang Kaishen's view, it is normal for the mortality rate of young men to be less than 10%, and it is even more normal for imposters to appear. But if more than 500 of 1,000 young men die, it would be terrible, and the remaining ones are all weak and sick.
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How does this make the recruitment process work? How can we fight a war without enough soldiers?
Zhou Hexuan mentioned a total of five issues in the report
First, grassroots officials used lottery to make money and engaged in various illegal operations, which led to the ruin of some families. This problem was something that Chiang Kai-shek did not want to deal with and could not control. It was a phenomenon that could not be eradicated at all.
Second, local snakes extorted people in the name of conscription, seriously damaging the image of the government and people's enthusiasm to join the army. Chiang Kai-shek also didn't want to deal with this issue. At most, he issued a document asking county magistrates and mayors to pay more attention and take it seriously.
If investigated, the result will definitely be nothing.
Third, the recruitment agency and the troops receiving the troops withheld money and food, causing a large number of deaths and weakness among the young men, and arresting foreigners as young men along the way. This situation made Chiang Kai-shek very angry, and seriously damaged the speed and quality of the recruitment of soldiers.
Yu privately, I finally got the money to recruit soldiers, but you all just stuff it into your own pockets!
Fourth, the recruitment agency used young men as porters to do business, and even engaged in smuggling secretly. Most of these smuggled items were opium. Chiang Kai-shek could have just turned a blind eye, but contraband items such as tungsten ore and mercury, which were used to support the enemy,
Chiang Kai-shek plans to kill a group of people’s heads!
Fifth, many clerks who are responsible for sending young men do not regard young men as human beings at all. Small things such as boiling water and hot meals do not cost money at all and can be done by lighting a fire in the wilderness. But these people are too lazy to do so.
It was troublesome, and because they were afraid that the young men would escape, they were not allowed to collect firewood and make fires by themselves. So the young men could only drink raw water and eat cold food, which caused unnecessary deaths due to illness.
In addition, Zhou Hexuan also mentioned some individual phenomena.
For example, a certain township chief has his eye on a farmer's land, so he levies a dice on that family every year, sometimes two or three times a year. When the amount becomes too much for the farmer to bear, the township chief takes the opportunity to annex the other's land.
In addition, the government's heavy taxation and land extraction policies have resulted in some farmers having land but being unable to cultivate it, resulting in small-scale abandonment of cultivated land. This abandonment phenomenon has become more and more intense, and if it continues to develop at this rate, it is likely that the area abandoned will be nearly 20% in another year.
It has doubled or tripled, causing immeasurable agricultural losses. If another natural disaster occurs, it will inevitably lead to a catastrophe. The 1942 Henan disaster, as well as the thousands of miles of red land from Guangdong to Guizhou reflected in Jiang Menglin's memoirs, were all caused by this reason.
Bitter fruit.
Chang Kaishen suppressed the anger in his heart and patiently read the 30,000-word report. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Are these situations obtained by reporters' investigations and interviews?"
Zhou Hexuan nodded and said: "Reporters from Ta Kung Pao, Li Pao and Shen Bao spent nearly two months visiting seven provinces. I guarantee that every data and case in it is true and reliable."
When Chang Kaishen heard that Ta Kung Pao and Shen Bao were involved, his facial muscles twitched a few times and he asked: "It wasn't published in the newspaper, was it?"
Zhou Hexuan replied: "The matter is of great importance and can easily lead to instability in the morale of the military and the people, so I suppressed it and did not let them publish the news."
"Very good," Chang Kaishen breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "Mingcheng is serious and solemn. He has done a good job in this matter. The relevant news must not be published in the newspapers. Now that the country is facing a national crisis, everything is focused on resisting Japan. There can be no
Any unfavorable remarks appear.”
Zhou Hexuan said: "But the issue of mature men is indeed full of ills. I hope President Jiang can seriously investigate and deal with it."
Chang Kaishen nodded and said, "Don't worry about this."
Zhou Hexuan stood up and said: "Then I will wait for the good news and say goodbye!"
Chang Kaishen personally sent Zhou Hexuan out of the living room, and then his face became extremely gloomy. He gritted his teeth and said, "Call He Yingqin, right away!"
Two hours later.
He Yingqin rushed over after receiving the order and asked Chang Kaishen's guard adjutant in a low voice: "Brother Yiqiao, why did the chief call me?"
Ju Yiqiao led He Yingqin inside and said as he walked: "Minister He, the chief executive is very angry. You have to deal with it carefully."
"What's going on?" He Yingqin asked.
Ju Yiqiao said, "I don't know either. You'll know when you go in."
"General Manager, Minister He is here!"
"Let him in."
Ju Yiqiao smiled, turned sideways, opened the door and said, "Minister He, please."
He Yingqin felt anxious, stood at attention and saluted: "Master, I am late for my humble duty!"
Chang Kaishen was sitting on the sofa, with a sneer on his gloomy face, tapping the report and saying, "See for yourself."
He Yingqin picked up the report suspiciously, and soon felt cold all over after reading it. His mouth went dry and he said: "It's a humble job, it's a humble job..."
"Finish it!" Chang Kaishen shouted in a low voice.
"Yes!" He Yingqin could only bite the bullet and continue to look down.
In fact, although He Yingqin was in charge of the recruitment work, he knew nothing about the matter of recruiting young men. The details were all handled by the Director of Military Service, Cheng Zerun.
Historically, in the summer of 1943, He Yingqin convened more than 170 recruiting cadres from various provinces to hold a meeting at the Fuxing Guanzhong Training Corps in Chongqing.
Cheng Zerun claimed credit and showed off when giving a report: "From the implementation of the new military service law in 1939 to May 1943, nearly 12 million strong men were captured across the country, of which 2.2 million were captured in Sichuan, 1.5 million were captured in Henan and Hunan, and 1.5 million were captured in the remaining provinces.
The number of arrests ranged from 1 million to hundreds of thousands. Gansu and Ningxia each arrested more than 100,000 people due to their small population."
He Yingqin was so angry that he asked on the spot: "There are only 7 million soldiers in the country, including the police, and the combined casualties of combat troops do not exceed 2.4 million. You have captured 12 million strong men, but the commanders of each army are sending telegrams every day calling for new recruits."
Where are all the young men you captured?"
Yes, where have all the young men gone?
In four years, millions of young men have disappeared, which is horrifying to think about.
Recruitment commanders at all levels complained: "There are too many deserters, and all the strong men who were captured have escaped."
There are definitely people who can escape, but millions of strong men have escaped in four years. This is either ridiculous or incompetent.
He Yingqin was already sweating profusely after reading the report. He swallowed his saliva and said: "General Sir, this humble position must be dealt with seriously!"
Chang Kaishen asked: "This report shows that last year, large-scale civil riots broke out in five counties in Sichuan, including Longchang and Xindu, due to fraud in the selection process. Why have I never heard of this? You have never told me
I’ll report!”
This question is a bit heart-wrenching. Chiang Kai-shek has deployed so many spies in Sichuan, and He Yingqin will never be able to report on the civil uprising.
He Yingqin could only bite the bullet and answer: "As far as I know, the civil unrest was caused by the ignorance of the people, their unwillingness to serve the country, and their refusal to perform military service."
Chang Kaishen sneered: "Is this really true?"
He Yingqin buried his head and admitted his mistake: "I was deceived by the people below because of my humble position. Please punish me."
Chang Kaishen said expressionlessly: "Ignore other things for now, I will send all those officers who smuggled mercury in Henan to a military court for punishment!"
He Yingqin said: "Killing too many people doing things will make it difficult to recruit soldiers."
"It's up to you!" Chang Kaishen walked away in a puff of his sleeves.
He Yingqin smiled bitterly and froze on the spot. Those who wanted to kill were all his people. Cheng Zerun, the director of military service, was one of the four kings under He Yingqin. Cheng Zerun also arranged the military service commanders in various places. He Yingqin was asked to investigate and deal with himself.