As the saying goes: Soldiers and horses do not move, grain and grass go first, the army on the outside is fighting, the food supply is the most important, if the soldiers do not have enough to eat, no matter how many advanced weapons and equipment are in vain. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Nationalist army made a lot of efforts, and almost half of the first batch of students who graduated from the Whampoa Military Academy were killed on the battlefield, and the national integrity they embodied was worthy of everyone's praise. However, the reason why the national army will attract high-quality talents to join, in addition to strong strength, and then there is logistical support, you know, in the war years to eat a bowl of delicious meals, it is not so easy.
In fact, the logistics support of the armed forces of Western countries such as the United States and Britain is very perfect, and before the First World War, the US military already had reserve rations, front-line rations and emergency rations, including bread, canned meat, cigarettes, sugar, wine, etc., which can be said to be almost everything. Later, Japan also made great efforts in the rations of soldiers, according to records, the dietary standards of an ordinary soldier are: polished rice, refined noodles, fresh meat, vegetables, salt, sugar, tea, etc. It has to be said that this configuration is even stronger than the United States.
However, compared with Japan and the United States, the rations of the national army are difficult to say. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, there were certainly a series of problems within the Nationalist Army, such as command errors and intelligence deviations, but in fact, one of the most important reasons was that the food supply was seriously insufficient, and in the later period, even more than half of the soldiers were malnourished, so that the soldiers went to war hungry, how could they easily achieve brilliant results? In 1937, the War of Resistance broke out in full swing, and the already fragile small-scale peasant economy was on the verge of collapse, and if it were not for the bumper grain harvest in the previous two years, I am afraid that the supply of the front line would not be guaranteed.
Later, after the Japanese army pressed forward step by step, the northeast, north China, and southeast regions fell one after another, and after losing a large number of grain-producing areas, the grain supply problem gradually became apparent. Ironically, at this critical juncture, there are still some merchants who hoard goods and live in a strange way, and they firmly grasp the grain in their hands and do not put it on the market at all. In June 1940, the domestic grain price index was 424, but after only one year, the grain price index reached 2133. From this, it can be seen that it is urgent to solve the food problem, and in any case, it is necessary to let the soldiers have a full meal.
In 1940, the Nationalist Army changed the dietary standard, the original three-meal system was changed to a two-meal system, and only vegetable leaf brine soup could be eaten. On July 7 of the same year, Commander Yu Hanmou of the Guangdong Army reported an important message to the Chongqing side: the soldiers on the front line could only eat one porridge and one meal a day, and some officers and soldiers were malnourished and could not afford to take up guns, in addition to the soldiers who starved to death and fled. Three months later, the Nationalist government implemented the policy of "collecting land and collecting real estate", which meant that farmers no longer needed to pay money, but replaced it with physical goods (grain).
According to records, in the following years, the Nationalist government expropriated more than 270 million pieces of municipal stone grain, which not only ensured the supply of the army, but also improved the eating conditions of the soldiers. However, the establishment of the US Air Force contingent in China has led to the recurrence of the hard-won food problem. In 1945, the 20,000 U.S. troops stationed in Kunming consumed 80,000 eggs and 100 cattle per day, which is believed to be shocking enough. In this way, the grain of the Nationalist army was consumed by the US army in large quantities, and the soldiers at the bottom did not have enough food to eat, except that the officers could eat and drink enough, and the people below could not even get a little oil and water.
From the above photos, it can be seen that the gap in food within the national army is still very large, and this female officer who smokes has a complicated expression, and I am afraid that the problem she is thinking about is not food, but the victory or defeat of the war.