Lu Zuofu was a famous patriotic industrialist and educator in modern China. Although he was not a soldier, he did a great thing in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, single-handedly saved China, created a miracle, and shattered the dream of the Japanese army to force China to surrender in a quick and decisive battle. The war would have been more arduous without him, and Chinese should not forget him.
Why give Mr. Lu Zuofu such a high evaluation? Because what he did was of great significance to China at that time, it can be said that it had a major impact on the war of resistance, and to a large extent, it determined the confidence of the people of the whole country in the war of resistance and the direction of the war, and this major event was the successful organization of the Yichang retreat.
The Yichang great evacuation is known as the "Dunkirk evacuation" in Chinese history, but unlike the Dunkirk evacuation, the Yichang great evacuation relied on Lu Zuofu's strength to complete the miracle, allowing China's industry to complete the great transfer, preserving a large number of anti-Japanese basic industries, laying the foundation for the protracted war of resistance against Japan, and enhancing the confidence of the whole nation in resisting Japan.
In 1938, the Japanese army pointed the spearhead at Wuhan for only one purpose: to quickly occupy Wuhan, force China to surrender, and achieve the purpose of a quick war. An important reason why the Japanese army chose Wuhan as a target was that Wuhan had a special geographical location in China and was the economic, political, and cultural center of China. Another, more important reason is that Wuhan was the industrial center of China at that time.
At that time, China's basic industries were very weak, and some Western countries predicted that once the Japanese army eliminated one or two of the only mechanized corps and the only few arsenals of the Chinese army, China would not be able to fight any longer. Although this statement is somewhat exaggerated, it is a very true reflection of the current situation of China's basic industry at that time: there are very few factories that can make guns and bullets.
In the face of hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops approaching the important town of Wuhan, the Nationalist army organized army resistance on the one hand, exchanging space for time, and on the other hand, immediately organized factories to move inland and did their best to retain the basic industry of the anti-Japanese resistance. The so-called "three armed forces have not moved, grain and grass have gone first", the war is fought with materials, there is no gun, bullets, and there is no necessary supply of logistical materials, and the battle cannot be fought. To preserve these basic industries is to preserve the logistics materials of the Chinese army, and its importance can be seen.
When Wuhan was about to fall, all the people and factory equipment flocked to Yichang, the choke point leading to the capital Chongqing. There is no air transport, land transport is cut off, and the only hope is the waterway Yichang. Nearly 1.5 million people, hundreds of thousands of tons of machinery and equipment, is about to squeeze Yichang through, and the sky is still bombed by planes from time to time.
Most of the people who gathered Yichang were teachers, engineers, businessmen, almost all of them were China's elite, and if they were to be destroyed by the Japanese army, the consequences would be unimaginable. The government required 40 days of transshipment, but in practice the ship at the time could not run out in a year. Everyone put their hopes on Lu Zuofu's Minsheng Company, but Lu Zuofu's Minsheng Company only has 22 boats.
These 22 ships were also cleverly preserved by Lu Zuofu, who did not carry out the government's request to sink ships to block the Japanese warships. Now these ships are the only hope of saving Chinese industry. But in the face of such chaos, how can Yichang complete the task in 40 days and turn the tide?
Lu Zuofu personally went to Yichang to stabilize the overall situation and formulate a plan. Under his leadership, all dock ships, regardless of all costs and conditions, obeyed commands uniformly, dispatched uniformly, and strictly enforced orders.
Lu Zuofu used the famous "three-stage navigation method" to overcome the problem that some sections of the Yangtze River waterway were shallow and difficult to navigate. In order to prevent China from transferring basic industries and increasing its attack on Yichang, in order to move before the Japanese army captured Yichang, Lu Zuofu hired 3,000 workers and requisitioned more than 800 civilian ships to help transport them.
By the time of the fall of Yichang, with the efforts of Lu Zuofu alone, minsheng company had transported more than 1.5 million people and 1 million tons of goods, including a large number of weapons manufacturing equipment. Create incredible miracles in history. However, Lu Zuofu's Minsheng Company lost 16 ships and more than 100 company employees died heroically. After these materials were transferred to the rear, new industrial zones were quickly established, and hundreds of thousands of grenades and countless bullets were continuously sent to the front line every month, providing great strength for persisting in the anti-Japanese resistance.
Mr. Lu Zuofu's feats made great contributions to the protracted war against Japan, single-handedly saved China, created miracles, and shattered the Japanese army's dream of a quick battle and a quick decision. Chairman Mao spoke highly of Mr. Lu Zuofu, a man who must never be forgotten in China's modern history.