Preface
In China's modern history, there are some days that have become an indelible page in the national memory because of their significance. September 18, 1931, was such a day, which was not only a profound disaster in China's modern history, but also a dark chapter full of plundering and atrocities committed by Japan against China.
After the September 18 Incident, the iron hooves of Japanese imperialism set foot on the land of northeast China and began a 14-year colonial rule. This is not only a military invasion, but also a frenzied plundering of wealth and resources. The wealth plundered by Japan in Northeast China supported its future war needs to invade China, and also alleviated Japan's domestic economic crisis and social contradictions. It's like a rat falling into a rice bowl, and someone is going to sleep like someone handing you a pillow.
Gold and Silver Treasures: Direct wealth of plunder
After the 918 Incident, Japan plundered a staggering amount of gold and silver treasures from Tohoku. The Shenyang Marshal's Mansion alone plundered 2.5 million taels of gold, as well as 1.06 billion silver dollars from the military and government organs and government-run banks in the northeast, which was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Japan at that time.
Not counting these things, during the Japanese occupation, the people of Northeast China were forced to use paper money issued by the Central Bank of Manchuria, and a large amount of gold and silver were further plundered. In 1932, Japan shipped tons of gold from Tohoku to the United States, which were used to purchase strategic materials such as oil and equipment. It is equivalent to using Chinese money to buy weapons to attack China.
The industrial base: a long-term investment in plunder
The Japanese not only obtained war funds in Northeast China, but also brought an industrial base outside the island, the Fengtian Ordnance Factory in Shenyang, which was the largest arsenal in Asia at that time, and was established by the Zhang family and his son.
With tens of thousands of machines and tens of thousands of employees, it is capable of producing artillery and firearms of almost all calibers. After the 918 Incident, it fell into the hands of the Japanese and became the core of the Japanese military industrial system. The weapons and ammunition produced underpinned Japan's military expansion abroad.
In addition to the military industry, the industrial base of Northeast China was relatively complete, and it was basically the center of China's heavy industry at that time. The Fengtian Minsheng Automobile Factory, one of the earliest automobile factories in China, was occupied by the Japanese after the incident and forced to produce military vehicles for Japan.
The same fate befell the aircraft factories and textile factories in Tohoku, which became part of the Japanese war machine after the Japanese occupation.
The plundering of these industrial enterprises not only provided Japan with a large amount of war materials, but also seriously damaged the industrial base of Northeast China and brought a long-term negative impact on the local economic development. According to statistics, the value of industrial equipment and raw materials plundered by Japan in Tohoku amounted to billions of silver dollars. The loss of this wealth was undoubtedly a huge blow to China, which was in the early stages of industrialization at that time.
Food Resources: A Lifeline for Plunder
After 918, Japan was like a rat that fell into a barn, with an innumerable supply of grain. As the largest grain-producing areas in China at that time, the three eastern provinces not only solved Japan's grain problem, but also provided a material basis for Japan's military expansion.
Through the policy of "grain out of the load", they forcibly purchased peasants' grain at extremely low prices, causing many peasants to go bankrupt and even starve to death. According to historical records, the amount of grain plundered by Japan in Tohoku was as high as 180 million tons, which was enough to feed 65 million people at the time. What is even more outrageous is that Japan has also expelled the peasants from the land by means such as the establishment of "group tribes" and turned the fertile land into the farms of Japan's "pioneer groups". These "pioneer groups" not only plundered grain, but also destroyed the local agricultural production structure, and dealt a devastating blow to the agricultural economy in Northeast China.
Mineral Resources: The Plundered Industrial Blood
Northeast China is also rich in coal, steel, and forest resources. Japan went on a frenzied plundering of these resources after the incident. Taking coal as an example, during the Japanese occupation of Northeast China, large-scale mining of coal mines in Jixi, Hegang and other places was carried out. Ignoring the lives of the miners, they forced overload mining, resulting in countless deaths and injuries to the miners. According to statistics, the total amount of coal plundered by Japan in Tohoku is as high as hundreds of millions of tons.
Steel resources have not been spared. Iron and steel factories in Anshan, Fushun and other places became part of their war machine during the occupation, producing large quantities of munitions to provide material support for their war of aggression. The total amount of steel plundered by Japan in Tohoku is as high as millions of tons. In addition to coal mines and steel mills, the forest resources of Tohoku have also been uncontrollably cut down by Japan, and large areas of forests have been destroyed, causing long-term ecological damage.
The September 18 Incident launched by Japan started a big gamble by Japanese militarism, and in the past few years, this belligerent gambler has indeed taken advantage of the victory, and his appetite has become bigger and bigger, and the benefits brought to them by the Northeast are really too great.