Chapter 898 897 [July]
That trigonometric function problem was finally proved.
That night, the father and son stayed up in the study room until midnight, when an idea suddenly struck them and they suddenly became enlightened.
"woo woo woo woo!"
Just when Zhou Hexuan was telling his son to go to bed quickly, an air raid siren suddenly sounded in the direction of the main city. Needless to say, it must have been a sneak attack by a Japanese plane in the middle of the night. Everyone in Zhou's mansion hurriedly got up and ran towards the basement while dressing.
Not long after, explosions were heard from the north and east. Japanese bombers had broken through and dropped bombs in the main city.
It wasn't until the next afternoon when Zhou Hexuan read the evening news that he learned that the Japanese invaders dispatched 24 bombers last night, 6 of which bombed Guangyangba Airport, and the remaining 18 bombed the city, dropping more than 30 bombs and more than 10 incendiary bombs. It killed more than 40 citizens, seriously injured more than 70 people, and destroyed nearly 500 houses.
At the same time, the Japanese invaders also dispatched 24 fighter jets to escort them, and they engaged in fierce battles with the Chinese Air Force over the area from Linjiangmen to Guangyangba.
At this time, no country had developed the black technology for night air combat, and the fighters on both sides could only fight randomly based on their feelings. The Japanese side was shot down two bombers, but the Chinese Air Force suffered no damage. Judging from the ratio of battle losses between the two sides, it seems that the Chinese Air Force won. However, Linjiangmen Street was burned to rubble, Confucius Pond and many other places were bombed, leaving tens of thousands of citizens homeless and causing immeasurable economic losses.
The air raids seemed endless. Just one day later, Japanese planes raided again in the middle of the night, leaving Chongqing citizens unable to sleep peacefully.
This time it was another small victory for the Chinese Air Force, but Shuixiangzi, Yaojiaxiang, Chaotianmen and other places were bombed, and thousands of citizens were displaced. The most serious thing was that the Chaotianmen Pier was blown into a mess, seriously affecting water transportation. It would take at least a week to repair the terminal.
Chaotianmen Pier had not been completely repaired, and Japanese planes suddenly came again during the day.
A bomb fell near Yunxiu Tower, almost destroying Chang Kaishen's mansion. Chiang Kai-shek was furious and ordered Zhou Zhirou and Feng Yong to quickly complete the reorganization of the air force, and then take the initiative to destroy the Japanese invaders' Wuhan Airport.
From the end of May to mid-July, the Chinese and Japanese air forces repeatedly exchanged fire in Chongqing, with bloody battles occurring every now and then.
In less than two months, a total of 47 Japanese aircraft were shot down, but there were only 38 fighter jets left in Chongqing that could take off. Nearly half of the fighter jets Feng Yong brought back were lost. 22 pilots who returned from the United States died, 17 domestic pilots died, and 4 Soviet pilots died.
The reorganization of the air force was carried out at Chengdu Shuangguisi Airport (the predecessor of Shuangliu Airport), and all bombers were shipped there. With the bombers purchased by Zhou Hexuan, the bombers newly supported by the Soviet Union, and the few remaining bombers from China, Zhou Zhirou has established a fully equipped bombing squadron, with Soviet pilot Major Kurishenko as the captain.
Kurishenko is urgently training bombing personnel and preparing for a big game in August or September. After all, it is not a problem to be passively bombed all the time.
Perhaps it was because Chongqing was too hard to crack, and the Japanese aggressors felt heartbroken after losing planes one after another. In late July, Japanese planes began to change their bombing strategy and frequently bombed Fuling, Changshou, Wushan and other surrounding districts and counties in Chongqing, making it difficult for the Chinese Air Force at Guangyangba Airport to provide timely rescue. Every time when an air raid was reported and the Chongqing Air Force rushed to the scene, the Japanese planes had already left in a swagger.
At the end of July, the Japanese invaders received news of the reorganization of the Chinese Air Force and launched a sudden air attack on Chengdu Shuangguisi Airport. Although the damage to the airport was not serious, three Chinese fighter jets stationed at the airport were shot down, while only one Japanese plane crashed.
Zhou Zhirou was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and quickly dispatched fighter jets from various places to strengthen the air defense force of Shuanggui Temple Airport. Chongqing was transferred 10 fighter planes at one time, and the number of aircraft was once again stretched thin. By August, it was already difficult to cope with the Japanese raids.
In fact, the Japanese invaders were still able to endure the direct losses caused by the bombing of Chongqing, but it was the series of consequences that caused tens of thousands of people to become homeless at every turn that really troubled state officials.
After all, Chongqing is a companion capital, and the government must provide relief to refugees. Large-scale relief every three days makes it difficult for the government to financially support it.
The factories in Chongqing were the main targets of bombing, but everyone was working hard and enduring it.
Take the Yuxin Steel Factory as an example. This factory not only provides steel products, but also manufactures its own machines. It is one of the engines of China's wartime industry. From February 1938 to December 1944, the Yuxin Iron and Steel Plant was bombed for seven years. Even the workshops and employee dormitories were bombed, and every house in the factory was bombed. From May 1940 to August 1942 alone, Yuxin Iron and Steel Plant paid as much as 300,000 yuan in pensions and relief payments to its employees.
Even so, Yuxin Steel Plant still maintains huge profits and continues to expand its production scale. Until the end of 1942, when prices soared and the legal currency depreciated violently, the prosperous Yuxin Steel Plant actually began to lose money. It struggled to maintain its operations until the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and then declared bankruptcy.
For China's wartime private enterprises, they were not afraid of Japanese bombings or erosion of bureaucratic capital. What they were most afraid of was the plummeting currency value.
The plummeting value of the currency has made everyone feel insecure. In the past, payments for goods could be recorded in accounts, but gradually they only accepted cash. The production cycle of large machinery produced by Yuxin Iron and Steel Plant often lasts several months. In the past, working capital of 50,000 yuan could maintain operation. In 1943, working capital of 5 million yuan was suddenly needed.
What's going on with the factory?
The factories opened by Zhou Hexuan in Sichuan are now maintaining a profit growth of more than 10% every month, making money faster than robbing money. But this situation would last until the end of 1942 at most. After that, there was no way out. The factory profits could not offset the depreciation of the French currency.
Let's continue...
On July 9, Wang Zhaoming publicly declared cooperation with Japan. On July 14, the Kuomintang Central Standing Committee decided to permanently expel Chu Minyi, Zhou Fohai, and Chen Bijun from the party—these are all die-hard traitors who followed Wang Zhaoming.
At the same time, due to the rising anti-Japanese movement in the UK, relevant British interest groups jointly imposed trade sanctions against Japan. Japan instigated the puppet governments in Peking and Nanjing to carry out anti-British movements, and Japanese overseas Chinese in Nanjing also held anti-British demonstrations.
Under Japan's diplomatic pressure, the British government quickly made a compromise and signed the Arita-Clutch Agreement on July 24. The British promised not to take any necessary actions against Japan in China. The signing of this agreement is equivalent to Britain's public recognition of the "actual situation in China" caused by Japan, and it is an important part of the "Munich of the East" conspiracy.
The Chinese foreign ministry strongly condemned this, and the British government immediately made remedial measures and was willing to lend China 3 million pounds. At the same time, the British Foreign Office issued a statement: The British government will not change its China policy as a result of the Tokyo talks - this statement frustrated Japan's plan to isolate China's diplomacy.
On August 1, the Nanjing Massacre documentary was released across Sichuan. All subtitles in the film were reproduced in Chinese, and "My Motherland" sung by Zhou Xuan was used as the ending theme.