Chapter 33 Made in China
Speaking of the Sino-Japanese War, Zhou Xiaoshan felt a little sad. If he could not change the fate of the 66th Division, these two people, himself, and so many officers and soldiers would have to die in that small place of Teng County!
Let them know the outcome of the war as soon as possible, and have the belief that they will win. It will be a kind of comfort when they are fighting bravely against the enemy!
"Trading space for time is the right way. The KMT and the CPC must unite. The KMT army will fight head-on while the CPC army will harass the enemy and rob the surrenderists and traitors. When the Japanese army is scattered across our vast land and cannot gather together and our national strength is exhausted, China will win!"
Feng Tiankui excitedly hammered the solid wood coffee table, making a clanging sound!
Zhou Xiaoshan was stunned. He had never thought that Feng Tiankui had such vision!
Could it be that he is also a time traveler? It doesn’t seem like it!
"If a full-scale war breaks out between China and Japan, I will be the first to lead the 66th Division out of Sichuan to meet the enemy. Soldiers, when fighting in a war, die on the battlefield! This is true manliness!"
"Xiaoshan, I'll do as you say. When the next suppression of the Red Army is over, you will go to Peking and bring back as many college students as you can. As for industry, I will even reduce taxes for the factories and mines that have moved here from the south! If you can bring Mr. Fan Xudong here, not only will I not collect taxes from him, I will send soldiers to help him with security, transportation, and help him build a factory!"
Feng Tiankui became more and more excited as he spoke. Zhou Xiaoshan's so-called investment promotion in Peiping was a big event to preserve the vitality of the Chinese nation!
Once the war breaks out, Sichuan will inevitably become the rear base for a full-scale war. The more abundant the production and educational capabilities in the rear base are, the more it can support a protracted war of resistance!
The more opportunities there are to win the battle for the nation’s survival!
Good steel should be used where it is needed most. Even if Zhou Xiaoshan and his Guards' Third and Fourth Companies, as well as the Guards' Fifth Company which is still recruiting soldiers, fight to the death, it will be worth it if they can send these industries and people back to Sichuan!
Zhou Xiaoshan looked at the excited Luo Jialie and Feng Tiankui, saluted seriously, and prepared to leave!
He was pulled back by Feng Tiankui again!
"I still underestimated you! When do you think the full-scale war between China and Japan will start?"
“In three or four years!”
"Why?"
Zhou Xiaoshan rolled his eyes and said, “I can’t tell you that I came from the past.” Feng Tiankui and Luo Jialie laughed!
"According to the information collected, the September 18th Incident was very accidental. It was a conspiracy instigated by several officers at the level of division commanders, such as Itagaki Seishirō and Ishiwara Kanji. In fact, it was not a military expansion planned by the headquarters. It was just that the people below wanted to make achievements! Of course, it is consistent with their headquarters' strategic goal of invading China, so it is natural that they will get support!"
"What do you want to clarify?"
"From this incident, and the subsequent occupation of Chengde by more than 100 soldiers, we can see that the Japanese army has a tradition of overthrowing the superiors. Their government was busy digesting and annexing land, while the officers below were unwilling to be left out and nibbled away step by step until the Battle of Xifengkou, when they were hit hard!"
"Are you trying to say that the blows the Japanese soldiers have received won't last for two years, and that they will relapse within the next three years?"
"Think about it, Commander. If you were a Japanese general, and other officers were getting promoted and rich because of their proactive offensive and territorial expansion, would you be able to sit still? But the Nationalist Army is weak, and one of their regiments can chase after a division of the Nationalist Army! It's like putting a piece of meat next to a tiger's mouth. Can you bear it?"
"Yes, there is no place to retreat. Beiping is not only the capital of the Ming and Qing dynasties, but also a very important city in the hearts of the Chinese people that cannot be abandoned. Not only Chiang Kai-shek, but anyone in that position would not dare to give up Beiping and Tianjin to the Japanese army. The full-scale war of resistance is about to break out!"
Feng Tiankui stood up and stared blankly at the Longxi River flowing outside the window!
Time waits for no one, no wonder this kid keeps making trouble!
Suddenly turned around!
"Go ahead, do whatever you want. Even if you poke a hole in the sky, we two will hold it up!"
Feng Tiankui and Luo Jialie were so excited that their blood boiled. Zhou Xiaoshan strolled leisurely in Yongzhou City!
He originally just wanted to avoid the afternoon drill, but he didn't expect to report the next stage of work at the same time!
Without even asking for leave, he ran to the glass workshop!
With the assistance of the Gao and Wang families, the recruited workers have already started doing odd jobs!
The Waterwheel's Blacksmith Hammer has been changed to a Water-Powered Forging Machine!
Even the mold for the glass bottle cap has been cast, the only thing left is to improve the waterwheel to press the glass solution!
The carpenter also made two water wheels to help the glass workshop with air blowing and transmission!
Two masters are working hard with more than a hundred people!
Seeing Zhou Xiaoshan running over, he hurriedly asked him!
"Manager Zhou, what do these foreign characters on the bottom of the glass mean?"
In Sichuan's workshops at that time, there was no such thing as a manager, so Zhou Xiaoshan simply asked them to call him the shopkeeper!
“MADE IN CHINA, Made in China! It means it is produced by us in China!”
"Oh my God, Manager Hu from Hengfa Foreign Company just came over to pull a large truckload of water transport to Chongqing. He said that our manager is really cultured and chose a Western brand name. Such beautiful glassware can be sold as foreign goods. This is the trademark, which translates to "Hundred Battles Army"! I guarantee that the price can be quadrupled!"
Hundred Battles Army? Damn it, that's totally irrelevant.
These bastards in the foreign company who pretend to know everything are so smart. If people who know English see them, they will laugh their heads off!
Lao Gao and Lao Wang were also speechless when they saw Zhou Xiaoshan’s stunned look!
He didn't even know what kind of sympathetic look he should show to show pity when he met Manager Hu of Hengfa Foreign Company next time, so that his surname would not be in vain!
"The Bai Zhan Jun brand is great. From now on, our glass will be called the Bai Zhan Jun brand! We will print this brand name in Chinese characters on the packaging boxes to describe how it won't break easily!"
Although the workshop is small, we can still produce dozens of boxes of glass products a day!
Let’s test the waters in the market first to see which kind of glass sells well!
Zhou Xiaoshan didn't stay in the workshop for long before returning to the military camp . After all, he didn't participate in the selection of the 124th Brigade today!
What a surprise! There were two camouflage talents that we hadn’t encountered in either brigade, but after a long delay today, two of them showed up!
One of them used to work in a dye factory and knew how to mix dyes. Another one worked as a painter in a shipyard and knew how to mix paints, even furniture paint!
The paint bought in Yongzhou City, regardless of the primary color or intermediate color, can be mixed by two people into any !
Zhou Xiaoshan didn't dare to think about telegraphs and artillery talents, let alone mention them. The 66th Division would be able to do this, and it was all in the commander's hands. As for Japanese talents, there was no one in Yongzhou City except for the hidden spies. Forget it, he might as well try his luck in Pingjin!
The 66th Division actually has only more than 20,000 people now!
But out of more than 20,000 soldiers, only 600 best soldiers were picked out. This number was less than Zhou Xiaoshan expected!
He and Chu Tiange had previously estimated that there would be at least eight hundred to one thousand people, but he didn't expect that the quality of the troops below would not even reach the average of the guard battalion!
Having fewer people also has its advantages!
Zhou Xiaoshan plunged into the team's training!
After more than a month of hard work, the three selected companies finally welcomed the Spring Festival of 1935, with their newly issued uniforms all in tatters!
70% of the troops of the 66th Division are from Yongzhou!
The commander also gave the headquarters' guard battalion a holiday, with less than a hundred people left behind!
The others have all gone home to visit their families!
