The New Fourth Army was too difficult
The New Fourth Army was difficult from the first day of its formation.
Not only do we have to fight against the Japanese and the hypocrites, but we also have to face difficulties from "our own people".
Chiang Kai-shek always regarded the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army as dissidents and used all means to suppress them. This can be seen from the military expenditure on the New Fourth Army.
At that time, the National Government stipulated that the military expenditure of a first-class division was 200,000 yuan per month, and the C division was less than 100,000 yuan.
However, how much is the military expenditure of the New Fourth Army?
At the beginning of the establishment of the New Fourth Army, the original military expenditure should be 166,000 yuan per month. However, only 65,000 yuan was actually in hand. Later, Premier Zhou went to negotiate, and only reluctantly gave a little more, to 80,000 yuan.
The military expenditure of an army is only equivalent to that of a C division.
Why? Without him, He Yingqin did something in this. Behind it is naturally adhering to the will of Old Jiang.
There is not enough military spending, let alone combat, and even the soldiers' food for the winter has become a problem.
In January 1938, Xiang Ying said in a telegram to the Central Committee
"The entire funding of the New Fourth Army is only approved for 65,000 yuan per month, and other supplements are not approved. In this way, it is impossible to maintain more than 10,000 food for its army every month, let alone buy guns, and there are no blankets for everything, and the severe winter operation is a big problem. ”
In 1939, the New Fourth Army had about 40,000 men, but only 20,000 guns, and half of the fighters had no guns and could only use grenades and large knives to fight the Japanese. When fighting, the soldiers without guns follow the people with guns, and if they see guns on the battlefield, they will pick them up.
In 1940, the New Fourth Army had grown to 90,000 people, but the Nationalist government not only did not increase military spending, but on the contrary, it withheld more and more fiercely.
Yuan Guoping, director of the Political Department of the New Fourth Army, said:
"For example, some of the troops in the front are not able to get the equipment and ammunition they deserve, and some of them lack the maintenance of minimum living supplies, but many soldiers who fought in bloody battles often suffered from hunger and cold, such as last winter when many of the officers and men of our army fought alone and barefoot in the ice and snow."
To what extent has the Nationalist government treated the New Fourth Army differently? For example,
The Kuomintang army hospitals resolutely refused to treat the wounded and sick of the New Fourth Army.
Song Qingling once published an article publicly, saying angrily
"This blockade creates an invisible line in China, where every wounded anti-Japanese fighter is eligible for treatment, but it is not.
Okay, deduct military expenses, so do I accept donations?
Chiang Kai-shek even cut off this road, stipulating that all donations should be uniformly sent to the Executive Yuan. The Executive Yuan will be redistributed, and it is conceivable that how much can the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army be divided?
Before the Anhui Incident, in September 1940, the military expenditure of the New Fourth Army was simply stopped. Previously, it was also forbidden for the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to set up offices in the garrison, that is, to prevent the New Fourth Army from raising funds in the local area in disguise.
One word
It is to weaken the New Fourth Army as much as possible.
Survive in the cracks
War is not only a military and political race, but also an economic race
The New Fourth Army not only had to face all kinds of difficulties from the Kuomintang, but also had to face all kinds of "economic wars" from Japan and the Wang puppet government.
On the one hand, the Japanese strengthened the encirclement and suppression of the base areas of the New Fourth Army militarily, and on the other hand, they adopted various means to prepare to economically cut off the new Fourth Army's survival base.
To sum up, the Japanese have 3 means:
Tight lockdown, cash-in, drug smuggling.
The Japanese blockade of the base areas of the New Fourth Army
, there is no tightest, only more tight.
In central and southeastern China, the Japanese and the japanese set up the "Qingxiang Committee" to carry out an economic blockade against the New Fourth Army. On the Japanese and pseudo-blockade lists, all of them, from weapons and ammunition, machinery, cotton, and tung oil, to eggs and empty bottles, could not flow into the base areas.
Under the strict lockdown, the Japanese also set up special agencies in Wuhu, Anqing and other places, stipulating that each store should report its turnover every day, but also check, and once it found that there was a discrepancy, confiscate the goods and detain the shopkeepers; while the logistics in Wuhu and other places were monopolized by Japanese companies.
It was not enough to prevent materials from entering the base areas, and the Japanese also tried their best to obtain materials from the base areas. It not only satisfies its own goal of "feeding the war with war," but also fulfills its intention to weaken the New Fourth Army and the anti-Japanese base areas.
Whenever Xingu was listed, the Japanese Kou "bought at a heavy price" and purchased grain everywhere at a price that was more than four times higher than that of the kuomintang areas and base areas.
For hard currency and legal tender, the Japanese also focused on buying.
In addition to hard currency and currency such as grain, oil, livestock, and other necessities of life, gold and silver, and legal tender, tungsten, tin, antimony, mercury, lead, and nitrate are also the key targets of The Japanese Kou.
On June 22, 1942, Japan banned the circulation of fiat money in the occupied areas. all previous debts incurred,
Deposits must be exchanged for a ratio of 2:1 between fiat and pseudo-China Reserve Bonds, and the fiat currency is converted into counterfeit China Reserve Bonds.
What is the purpose of the Japanese in doing this?
In doing so, the price level calculated in fiat currencies in the occupied areas was raised. That is to say, the price of goods in the occupied areas is artificially raised, so that if the merchants in the rear area buy goods from the occupied areas and buy them from the rear, they will lose money. And smuggling grain and other materials from the rear to the occupied areas,
If you exchange fiat currency or drugs, you can earn a huge profit.
In order to obtain supplies, the Japanese army corroded the will to resist of the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians. Openly encourage drug trafficking to the Kuomintang and Liberated Areas. For every 1 or 2 pieces of opium sold by the profiteers, the Japanese army subsidized 10 yuan.
The Japanese also disguised drugs as cigarettes, ostensibly selling cigarettes, but in essence selling drugs. The soldiers of the New Fourth Army also have the habit of smoking, and once the poisonous smoke flows into the army, it will have a great impact on the combat effectiveness of the army.
The Japanese not only sell drugs, but also manage "drug rehabilitation." Of course, the Japanese ostensibly help Chinese detoxify, but in fact they are selling alternative drugs. There are data showing,
In February 1939, the Japanese Dongxing Company shipped 10,000 kilograms of so-called detoxification drugs to China, and half of the detoxification drugs called "Toko Agent" were morphine.
In addition to these measures, the Japanese army's "sweeping" and "clearing the countryside" every three to five minutes, and doing its utmost to loot all materials, have brought great difficulties to the production and life of the New Fourth Army and the base areas.
During the period from 1938 to the autumn of 1940, the Japanese and the Japanese went to the base areas to rob the special robberies, and grain, cotton, and cultivated cattle were robbed by the Japanese and the Japanese. What results does this lead to? Production in the base areas where the New Fourth Army is located has declined and prices have risen, which has been seriously affected by both military and civilian use.
There is a strict blockade of the Japanese and the pseudo-Japanese outside, and behind it there are all kinds of difficulties of the Chiang Kai-shek clique. So the New Fourth Army is very difficult, it has always been difficult.
If you ask what does "surviving in the cracks" mean? The New Fourth Army during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is the best example.
Supported more than 30 million people in the Eighth Route Army
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, people called the New Fourth Army "Fourth Master." There is both secrecy for safety and respect for the New Fourth Army.
Why do the people respect the New Fourth Army? Because in the most difficult environment, while fighting devils and killing traitors, they are still self-reliant. The New Fourth Army not only fed itself, but also backhanded more than 30 million yuan to support the Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army.
How did the New Fourth Army do it? In general, it is four words
"Self-reliance"
Don't look at just four simple words, the simpler the truth in the world, the more difficult it is to do.
Old Chiang Kai-shek will not give him arms, so he will find a way to do it himself.
Ye Ting's lover knew that the New Fourth Army lacked weapons, so he bought 3,600 pistols from Hong Kong, Guangdong Province, at his own expense and shipped them to southern Anhui. At the time of Shangrao, he was detained by Gu Zhutong on the grounds of "resisting Japan".
Ye Ting said to Gu Zhutong in person
Please ask yourself how many battles the Commander's Nationalist Troops have fought with the Japanese army? How much did he contribute to the war against Japan? The New Fourth Army is fighting the Japanese day and night, and how many guns and bullets have you given the New Fourth Army? We have managed to solve the problem of replenishing weapons ourselves, and you still have to detain them, so why can't we fight against the Japanese with our bare hands? I ask you, what do you mean by treating the New Fourth Army in this way?
Gu Zhutong was intimidated and had no temper, so he had to return the gun to Ye Ting.
In addition to finding its own way to solve the problem of arms, the New Fourth Army also continued to capture arms and materials from the enemy.
For example, from May 1938 to the end of 1940, the New Fourth Army captured a large number of weapons and ammunition in 2742 operations against the enemy and puppets, in addition to killing and wounding 38,086 people and capturing 17,134 prisoners
Medicine, of which 37 guns, 19 grenadiers, 581 light and heavy machine guns, 16463 long and short guns.
Self-financing and seizure are not a long-term solution after all. The New Fourth Army embarked on the road of building its own arsenal.
All departments of the New Fourth Army have tried to build their own arsenals and solve the problem of weapons and ammunition on their own. A number of patriotic and technical workers from Shanghai, Wuhu, and other places were mobilized to come to the base areas, using indigenous methods, and the materials needed were painstakingly obtained from the enemy-occupied areas. For example, the raw material for making smokeless launchers is film film purchased from enemy-occupied areas.
Taking the arsenal of the 7th Division of the New Fourth Army as an example, it was established in June 1942, and by the end of June 1943, the factory had manufactured its own 6-foot lathe, 1 lathe of 4-foot lathe, 1 loader, 6 punch machines, more than 12,000 grenades, and 7,500 reloaded bullets.
The New Fourth Army has also opened a bunch of factories, some producing quilts, some producing cigarettes, some producing paper mills, and so on, the most famous of which is the "Pegasus brand" cigarettes of the New Fourth Army.
Luo Binghui, deputy commander of the Second Division of the New Fourth Army, found that the soldiers on the front line had a great dependence on cigarettes. Because in the cruel and harsh war environment, cigarettes are an important tool for fighters to relieve stress. In the New Fourth Army at that time, cigarettes were also "luxury goods". Many fighters can only pick up cigarette butts and smoke, which looks particularly distressing.
Let's just make our own cigarettes.
After hearing Luo Binghui's idea, Commander Chen Yi took the initiative to donate two months' salary to support the construction of the factory. By the way, Chen Yi also gave the cigarettes to be produced by the New Fourth Army a resounding name "Pegasus Brand" --
It symbolizes the development of the revolution
Horses gallop.
The New Fourth Army liberated the town of Tongcheng in Tianchang County. There happens to be a small tobacco factory in this town. The tobacco factory, which has readily available equipment and workers, is actually on the verge of closure. Seeing that the New Fourth Army was coming, several shareholders came to the door to seek protection, and even expressed the hope that the New Fourth Army could join the shares.
After consultation, the two sides reached an agreement: the New Fourth Army pays for the personnel, manages the factory, and is responsible for production and operation. 20% of the profits of the factory are distributed among the original shareholders, and as for the management of the enterprise, the shareholders may or may not participate. And these shareholders directly said that the factory has full authority for the New Fourth Army.
In this way, the "Pegasus brand" cigarettes of the New Fourth Army began to be produced.
Soldiers are rigorous, and "Pegasus" cigarettes have been very quality-oriented from the beginning.
The tobacco factory has set up a special transport team to purchase the best tobacco leaves from Dingyuan, Fengyang, Sixian and other places that specialize in high-quality tobacco leaves; there is also a special quality inspection team in the production process to conduct sampling inspections of each process and each finished cigarette. Once a problem is found, it is not allowed to rework it from the factory. The person directly responsible should also find out the reason and write a review letter for reflection.
What is made with such care is naturally good smoke.
Because of the good quality, the "Pegasus Brand" then had a good reputation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even entered the Shanghai market. Every day, the smokers who come to the tobacco factory to order goods are lined up in a long line, and some people stay at the door of the factory all night in order to get the goods.
The average monthly profit handed over by the tobacco factory to the military department is as high as 300,000 yuan, which is much stronger than Chiang Kai-shek's appropriation.
Later, the Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army encountered financial difficulties.
Chen Yi said let's support the Central Committee and the fraternal troops.
From 1942 to 1944, the New Fourth Army successively remitted more than 37 million yuan to the Eighth Route Army, of which 16 million yuan was the profit of "Pegasus brand" cigarettes. This money was left by the Eighth Route Army for about 18 million yuan, and the rest was handed over to Yan'an, which greatly alleviated the financial difficulties of the Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army.
The New Fourth Army not only supported itself on its own, but also had spare money to support the Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army. Just ask,
Cows or not cows?
In addition to self-reliance, the New Fourth Army must also revitalize the economy of the base areas. After all, it is not enough for the troops to survive, and it is really good to have the masses of the people live well together.
The 3rd Division opened salt factories, opened a ban on salt drying, allowed the people to freely build farms to dry salt, encouraged the masses to receive beach land to build farms, and the government in the base areas lent funds and grain to help them develop. In this way, the problem of supplying goods needed by the anti-Japanese soldiers and civilians in the base areas of northern Jiangsu was solved.
From a broad perspective, the New Fourth Army implemented the policy of "reducing rents and interest rates" in the base areas, basically abolishing the harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes during the Kuomintang rule and reducing the proportion of various taxes and fees.
For example, in the Anhui River base area,
The tax is implemented according to the "Second Five-Year Plan" rent reduction, and the interest is deducted by 25% according to the original interest.
The Huainan Anti-Japanese Base Area abolished the original thirteen kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
Determine the three-seven sub-lease, the two-five-five interest reduction, the half-point interest calculation and the new lending relationship.
The most important point of this policy is not to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach, to unite and support the anti-Japanese landlord class, to expand support for the New Fourth Army, and to support the strata of our Party.
In order to fight against the Japanese and pseudo-"currency war" and "blockade war". The New Fourth Army banned legal and counterfeit coins, issued its own currency, encouraged merchants to use the currency of the base areas, did not buy Japanese goods, and did not supply the enemy with grain. Moreover, the currency of the New Fourth Army is engaged in local law, and it will be changed in the short term, so that the Japanese cannot keep up with the speed of making counterfeit money.
The New Fourth Army encouraged trade in the base areas and vigorously supported private industry and commerce. The standard is simple
: Do not sell contraband, do not smuggle as traitors, and pay taxes according to regulations. As long as the standards are met, the New Fourth Army and the government of the base areas will all support it.
What the? Want to do business without money? Don't be afraid, you can take out a loan.
The 7th Division of the New Fourth Army established the Tangjiagou Trade Zone, which was later transformed into "Little Shanghai" by the 7th Division and became an important commercial area on both sides of the Yangtze River. And the currency that merchants trade here is not legal tender, nor is it counterfeit currency,
It is the "Dajiang coin" issued by the local government itself.
In 1942, when the Tangjiagou Free Trade Zone was opened, the Anhui River base area handed over 7.49 million yuan to the military department.
To sum up, rent and interest rates have been reduced, harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes have been abolished, and trade has been encouraged, and the interests of peasants, landlords, and merchants have all been taken into account, and the people's will has come.
Therefore, while the New Fourth Army is self-reliant, it is not surprising that it can also come to the aid of the central authorities with its backhand.
End of full text
Resources
Historical enlightenment of the financial and economic work of the New Fourth Army
Major tune - the praise of the New Fourth Army supporting the Eighth Route Army
An important front in the struggle against Japan: the economic war between the New Fourth Army and the Japanese army
The New Fourth Army was fighting against the economic struggle controlled by the Kuomintang quartermasters