Chapter 1: The War of Resistance, Radar and Financial Issues
A sharp alarm sounded suddenly on a sunny autumn day in October. Passers-by and the so-called office workers who were working in the buildings were stunned for a moment, and then they all rushed out like a tide.
The tram had pulled over to the side of the road, and auxiliary police officers wearing red armbands were giving orders with sweat on their foreheads.
Thanks to their guidance and dozens of previous drills, most of the city's residents were safely transported to the air-raid shelters before the arrival of enemy planes.
Of course, there are also a few people who are still optimistic. Dozens of warning signals of "the wolf is coming" have made them think that this is just another drill that is difficult to distinguish between true and false.
But the solemn-looking soldiers and the messages coming from the loudspeakers on both sides of the road reminded them that the atrocities of the invaders had finally come to this peaceful land regardless of the good will of the people.
"Boom, boom, boom" the anti-aircraft artillery sounded, this was the noise of the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun deployed on the commanding heights in the city. Then the "bang", "bang", and "bang" sounds were the roar of the larger-caliber 88mm German-made anti-aircraft gun group deployed on the periphery. Finally, the crisp sound of the 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun and the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun also rang, and the city was suddenly shrouded in smoke and fire.
Under the artillery fire of the defenders, some Japanese planes hastily abandoned their bombs and fled, but some enemy planes still broke into the center of the city, dropped deadly bombs, and flames rose.
At this time, the firefighters from the Fire Department were the ones rushing to the front line amidst the flying shrapnel.
On the one hand, they used water hoses to suppress the spreading flames, and on the other hand, they waded through the streets covered with broken glass and other broken building materials, rushed into the burning houses to search and rescue those trapped inside.
In addition to these heroic firefighters, the nurses and doctors who were assigned to the battlefield emergency rescue team according to the three-defense plan of the Northwest National Defense Government were also busy. They hurried over to take over the wounded brought by the police, and either rescued them on the spot or rushed away with stretchers... At this moment, no one complained that they were civilians and should not join the war. Everyone used practical actions to prove what "loyalty" and "fearlessness" meant, and "fighting well!"
A huge cheer suddenly broke out among the firefighters who were racing against time to rescue. The medical staff nearby looked up and saw a fireball exploding in the air and another Japanese plane rapidly falling, trailing black smoke. So they also cheered.
After losing several of their comrades, the Japanese planes finally retreated cowardly. However, the retribution was not over yet. Northwest fighter planes that took off from Fuping, Dali and Yuncheng had already been waiting for them on their return route. It was obvious that they would have to pay the necessary price for today's brutality.
"Your Excellency, the Fourth Air Force has determined based on the return route of the Japanese planes that they took off from Taiyuan, flew south along the Luliang Mountains, and then entered Shaanxi through Xiangning and Jixian. By the time the front-line air defense observation posts in Yichuan and other places discovered them, it was already too late."
Ding Guo, Chief of Staff of the Northwest Air Force, stood in front of Dai Jiliang with a face full of shame. Although Xi'an was only attacked by more than 30 bombs in total due to the efforts of the anti-aircraft artillery and the Northwest Air Force, 12 buildings were damaged to varying degrees, 17 people were killed, 22 people were seriously injured, and the direct loss was only more than 50,000 yuan, but this was the first time that the Northwest mainland had been attacked by the enemy. He had previously vowed that he would never let the Japanese planes succeed, and now he could not do it and he really couldn't explain it.
"I will definitely rectify the operations of the air defense headquarters in various places and never let a Japanese plane fly over the Yellow River again."
Dai Jiliang knew without reading the report handed over by Ding Guo that in fact the Japanese bombing was not worth the cost.
However, the result of shooting down and destroying six Japanese planes and damaging several others did not satisfy him. However, this was not Ding Guo's sole responsibility, so he picked up the phone and said, "Please connect me to Chen Guang."
Chen Guang was the deputy director of the Northwest Ordnance Bureau. The position of director was initially held concurrently by Zhang Binnan, deputy commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army and acting commander-in-chief. Later, it was handed over to Zhang Xueliang, deputy commander-in-chief of the Northwest National Defense Army and vice chairman of the Northwest National Defense Military and Political Committee. However, everyone knew that the real power was still in the hands of Ma, the old man who had followed Dai Jiliang for more than 20 years.
"Chen Guang?"
The call was connected quickly.
"Do you know the information that Xi'an was bombed by the Japanese army? I will instruct the Xi'an Air Defense Command to solve the loopholes in the air defense alert post, but when can the Clairvoyance system be officially put into use? Complete the construction of twelve link base stations and two relay stations in Baishui, Pucheng, Huaxian, Lantian, and Yaozhou within two months."
Although Northwest invested a large amount of money a few years ago to carry out practical research on air defense radar with Italy's Marconi Laboratory, due to Northwest's insufficient research capabilities, low industrial processing level, and Marconi's deliberate concealment and blockade of some related technologies, the initial experiments have been delayed until now, and it has just officially entered the construction stage, which is nearly three years later than the British Marconi Company that built the first radar station as early as 1936. Fortunately, it has finally made a crucial breakthrough.
"Very good! But we need to speed up. You should already know the situation in Xi'an, right?"
Dai Jiliang instructed.
"Chief of Staff Ding is right beside me. Yes, the Ordnance Department must prepare for the handover with the Air Force. The two units must quickly build radar networks around major cities and major projects such as Lanzhou, Chongqing, Hanzhong, Baoji, Chengdu, Qingtongxia, and Longyangxia. We must not let the Japanese destroy the results of our 20 years of construction easily.
Yes, yes, the radar network on the western front must also be established as soon as possible.
Good, very good! Money is not a problem. I will arrange for the Military Affairs Bureau to approve the expenses.
By the way, you also need to further improve the combat capability of the Clairvoyance system and develop it towards large-scale, long-range, small-scale, portable, and airborne."
Money is not a problem, but it is a big problem. Dai Jiliang had just made a promise to Chen Guang when several bigwigs from the Finance Committee came to him.
"Your Excellency, over the past year since the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Northwest has spent more than 2.55 billion yuan on military expenses. During the same period, it also spent 410 million yuan on resettling refugees and relocating factories. In addition to the additional investment in Baocheng, Pingcheng, Chengyu and other railways, the investment in Panzhihua Iron Mine and Chengdu Iron and Steel Plant, and the various expenditures on administration, education, and military expenses in the previous normal fiscal year, the Northwest has incurred a deficit of more than 4.4 billion yuan as of today."
Liu Shangqing was appointed as the section chief of the Fengtian Finance Department in 1913. Later, he was in charge of the Three Northeastern Provinces Official Bank for many years. He made great contributions to solving the financial problems of the Fengtian clique. Naturally, he was an expert in the financial world. However, even such an expert could not help but feel helpless in the face of the current severe economic situation.
"In order to solve the deficit problem, Northwest Bank has issued about 1 billion yuan since the war began . The current value of Northwest Banknotes has depreciated by about 55% compared to before the war."
Although Northwest Bank made a fortune before the war by taking advantage of the surge in silver prices, it had just filled its previous hole when it faced an even bigger deficit, leaving Tang Bennan helpless.
"Technically, there is nothing the bank can do if it doesn't want to cause more inflation."
"Due to the fall of Hebei, Shandong, Chahar, Shanxi and other provinces, as well as southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, northern Zhejiang, and eastern Hubei, Northwest China's exports have been greatly affected. Although these impacts can be alleviated in the short term due to the needs of us and the Guiyang Nationalist Government, in the long run, this impact is deepening rather than diminishing."
Sima's side was also a difficult story. Although the history of large-scale imports from abroad in the Northwest had come to an end due to the basic severance of foreign aid, the reduction in income of the Northwest business community had a greater impact on the Northwest's fiscal revenue than the saved expenditure.
Of course, what hit him even harder was that the sales of morphine and heroin were temporarily interrupted due to the war. Without this foreign money that he had planned for a long time, he was even more financially strapped.
While listening to the reports from several people, Dai Jiliang was secretly calculating in his mind.
It's not that he doesn't have money. Gu Changqing, who successfully implemented silver speculation, has at least 1 billion US dollars.
However, on the one hand, the money had been used to purchase war-related companies and corporate stocks in the United States according to his idea, so as to share the dividends of World War II in the future. On the other hand, this money might be huge for an individual, but if it was really invested in the country, it would only be 2 billion cash, not enough to fill the existing deficit in the Northwest, so he could only find another way to solve this problem.
“I don’t understand economic issues.”
After thinking for a long time, Dai Jiliang finally spoke.
"But now the country has reached a moment of life and death, and economic problems must not become a drag on the war."
Dai Jiliang picked up the teacup and took a sip.
"I still remember the three-year drought. We were at our wit's end. How did we survive?"
Sima's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "Your Excellency means unified sales and purchases?"
“Unified sales and purchase.”
Dai Jiliang savored the meaning of the word and nodded.
"That's about it. I think the most important fiscal issue today is to avoid hyperinflation and allow the majority of the people in the northwest to survive so that they can continue the war of resistance for a long time. In this way, it is imperative to control the basic living materials."
"This can ensure that people's daily needs are met, but isn't the manpower required too much?"
Liu Shangqing frowned and looked at Dai Jiliang.
"Chairman Liu, rest assured. The Northwest has experience in control. And your intention is not to impose total control. Based on the experience of the three-year drought, it may not cause a serious impact on the market."
Sima immediately explained to Liu Shangqing, but after the explanation, he himself had questions.
"Your Excellency, do we also need to impose controls on resources such as steel, oil, and rubber?"
"That's not necessary. Doesn't the Joint Logistics Command still have a large amount of supplies purchased from private factories?"
Dai Jiliang answered like this.
"If these factories fail, it will not only be a big blow to the Northwest economy, but will also have an impact on the war on the front line. Therefore, we must not control them easily. Even if we have to control them, we must consult the business community widely."
Speaking of this, Dai Jiliang added further.
"The Red Russians have agreed to sell us a considerable amount of scrap steel. As long as we survive these most difficult years, there will be no problem with steel once the Panzhihua project goes into production. As for rubber."
Dai Jiliang looked at Sima.
"Natural rubber has been cut off from most sources and is now a Class I controlled product, but synthetic rubber is not included in this list."
