Film and Television World Life Record

The process was a bit bumpy. Despite facing repeated encirclement and interception by Japanese aircraft, the established goal was achieved in less than a month.

For a time, the morale of the anti-Japanese fighters across the country was greatly boosted, and the future looked bright.

Just then, the payment came in from the penicillin side—over ten million US dollars in a short period. No wonder penicillin was hailed as "soft gold" during World War II; it really was more expensive than the same weight of gold.

During this crucial period, having money meant spending it. Upon arriving in Singapore, they ordered another batch of machinery and equipment for penicillin production.

Continue to expand production scale and output.

In addition, with the European war about to break out, some weapons and equipment need to be ordered, otherwise it will be difficult to buy them later.

After contacting several large international arms suppliers, Li Mu placed an order for 300,000 Mauser 98k rifles, 2,000 M2 heavy machine guns, 10,000 light machine guns, and over 1,000 mortars.

They also placed an order for two hundred howitzers and thirty heavy artillery pieces at a high price…

In total, they ordered over 20 million US dollars worth of weapons, with a deposit of 5 million US dollars alone.

These weapons will be delivered in batches over the next few months, or even six months. The quantity is simply too large to be collected in a short period of time.

To increase war potential and self-sufficiency, Li Mu ordered twenty more bullet production lines; fifteen firearms production lines; eight mortar production lines; ten artillery shell production lines; and ten hand grenade production lines…

Coincidentally, the batch of inland waterway gunboats he had purchased also arrived, and he paid the remaining balance, completing the acceptance process. In the future, a surface force could be formed in the inland waterways to protect water safety and launch attacks from the water.

His procurement scope includes not only military supplies, but also various civilian products and materials.

The Nanyang region was originally located in the rear, and its only threat was the air. Now that the air threat is gone, it is conceivable that the flames of war will not spread here in the future, and it can develop peacefully.

In that case, we cannot lag behind in terms of people's livelihood; some basic public facilities are naturally required.

For example, buses.

Don't think that buses from the Republic of China era are rare. According to Li Mu, Guangzhou established a municipal government in 1921, and public buses appeared on the streets that year.

Before the outbreak of the full-scale War of Resistance against Japan, the city already had more than 200 long-distance buses and more than 300 unlicensed taxis that could be stopped at any time, similar to today's taxis.

By extension, this applies not only to Guangzhou but also to other major cities, where public buses are practically standard equipment.

As Nanyang has developed to this point, buses have become a necessity to meet everyone's travel needs.

This time, Li Mu purchased 500 buses of various models and several hundred inexpensive Ford cars to be used as taxis.

In addition, a large number of ambulances, fire trucks, police cars, engineering vehicles, including excavators, bulldozers, and other vehicles were also purchased.

With these vehicles being transported back to Nanyang, the city's development accelerated, especially the construction of the new district, which reached a new level.

Gradually, it developed the atmosphere of a major city in the Republic of China era.

Meanwhile, with war raging and natural and man-made disasters raging in the country, Li Mu stepped up his grain stockpiling plan to prevent famine.

Fortunately, the international market has had a bumper autumn harvest, and grain prices have fallen slightly, especially corn. This year, the yield in various regions is good, and the price has dropped significantly. It is now at $17 per ton, which is about $10 cheaper per ton than wheat.

Therefore, Li Mu instructed the Far East Trading Company to purchase large quantities of corn and stockpile it in warehouses at ports in northern Malaysia. If conditions permit, they could even purchase it directly from the grain-producing regions of South America.

Domestically, many granaries were also built in the Nanyang area, so Li Mu became busy again.

In his spare time, he would fly abroad to bring back grain, 60,000 cubic meters at a time, which could be two 48,000-ton trips each. He would make eleven or twelve round trips a month.

Surprisingly, cornmeal, processed from corn, is quite popular in China. It's not that people particularly love it, but mainly because it's cheap—half the price of wheat flour and one or two times the price of rice. Given the current situation in China, people at the bottom of society are lucky to have enough to eat; who cares about taste?

Regarding grain, since the opening of shipping routes to foreign countries, Li Mu has relaxed the ban, allowing some grain to flow out.

The price of grain in China has risen too sharply recently, and it's not just rising in one place; it's rising in surrounding areas as well.

With the ongoing war and ever-increasing food prices, the hardship faced by ordinary people can be imagined.

Li Mu sometimes flew his fighter jet to scout during the day. Once he left the area of ​​Nanyang, it was like two different worlds. There were refugees everywhere, and many starving people had died on the roadside.

Selling one's children is an even more frequent occurrence.

The soaring grain prices are simply unstoppable. The war itself has led to reduced grain production, and the hoarding of rare goods by some merchants has made grain prices even higher.

In light of this, Li Mu relaxed the grain restrictions in the Nanyang region, adding more than twenty grain stores and increasing the limit on grain purchases per person to one hundred jin.

If a small grain merchant wants to purchase grain using this method, they might be able to buy a batch.

In addition, Li Mu issued a new policy that allows holders of grain coupons to exchange them for grain at grain stores under the government's name without restriction.

As long as you have enough grain coupons, you can get as much grain as you want. And there are no restrictions on where the grain goes; you can use it yourself or take it to other places to sell.

The policy caused a stir in the Nanyang area, especially among small grain merchants from surrounding regions, who flocked to Nanyang.

This also led to another issue: the value of grain coupons became fully apparent. After Li Mu adopted the policy of paying wages with a combination of grain coupons and cash, many of the hired workers did not understand and did not want grain coupons, only cash.

Gradually, people came to understand the value of grain coupons and realized that they could be directly exchanged for grain at grain stores, and that's when they slowly accepted them.

With the new policy in place, grain coupons have become even more valuable. It is said that the price of grain coupons on the market has increased by 20%, and they are still in short supply.

Don't underestimate this 20%. It's equivalent to Li Mu paying the workers five silver dollars with grain coupons. The workers could then sell the grain coupons in the market for six silver dollars.

This is a benefit delivered right to your doorstep.

As a result, workers nowadays don't want silver dollars anymore; they all want wages paid with grain coupons.

Li Mu currently has no shortage of grain, as he can import about 500,000 tons of grain from abroad every month. In order to stabilize grain prices in the surrounding areas, he has also begun to increase the issuance of grain coupons.

It is used to pay various rewards and to purchase some domestic goods. It is more widely accepted than legal tender and can even be used in surrounding areas.

With the implementation of this policy, a large amount of funds were concentrated in Nanyang, making the Nanyang area increasingly prosperous.

Moreover, another objective was also achieved: the large outflow of grain played a significant role in suppressing grain prices, especially in the areas surrounding Nanyang. As large quantities of grain flowed in, grain prices began to gradually decline, allowing the people to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Li Mu's objective was thus barely achieved.

With the opening of the air route, in addition to carrying food, more goods could be carried. Li Mu not only purchased a large amount of military supplies, but also purchased more civilian goods and commodities that were scarce in China.

The abundance of scarce resources and goods attracted numerous merchants to purchase goods here, drawing more funds into Li Mu's hands.

This also meant that the newly established Fu Hsing Bank, in terms of capital strength, was no less than that of the established domestic banks.

On this day, Li Mu had just finished presiding over the establishment of the naval camp and had ordered thirty new inland river gunboats, which were divided into two teams. One team was stationed on the Baihe River in Nanyang and the Han River to maintain the safety of this waterway.

One team was directly assigned to the Anti-Japanese United Army and stationed in the Yellow River area. They were responsible not only for patrolling the Yellow River, but also for assisting the Anti-Japanese United Army in blocking the Japanese from crossing the Yellow River southward, relying on the natural barrier of the Yellow River.

Construction of Dragon City in Kachin State is also progressing rapidly.

Because this location is closer to the major port in northern Malaysia where grain is stored, it takes just over three hours by plane each way. Under extreme circumstances, it can even make two round trips a day, carrying 100,000 tons of grain.

Therefore, in the Longcheng region, Li Mu also stockpiled a large amount of grain, approximately 300,000 tons. Not only grain, but also a large quantity of various scarce local resources were purchased and stored in warehouses.

With food and supplies in hand, and with the assistance of Muwu Trading Company, Longcheng has begun to absorb laborers and migrants on a large scale.

The southwest region was not a major grain-producing area to begin with. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, so many refugees poured in. Those with some savings were able to buy grain, settle down, and make do with their lives.

For those ordinary people who fled south, having no money and no food, they truly became refugees and beggars. In addition, there were too many disaster victims, and the local authorities simply could not provide enough relief, so many people could only wait to starve to death.

The news that Longcheng was recruiting laborers, providing food and drink, and paying wages, gave those desperate refugees a glimmer of hope.

In addition, Muwu Trading Company set up many registration points in the southwest region, and provided grain to anyone who registered, which attracted countless people to register.

As a result, waves of starving people with nowhere to go flooded into the Longcheng area. The government naturally saw this, but pretended not to.

There are so many starving people; they can't solve their problems or provide relief. Keeping them in the southwest will only cause unrest and deplete the already scarce food supplies. If there's a place that can solve the problem, they would naturally be eager to do so.

As a result, a large number of refugees poured into Longcheng along the newly opened roads.

Li Mu accepted all comers. He had no shortage of money, food, or supplies, but he lacked labor.

The newly planned Longcheng needs to be built, the surrounding roads need to be repaired, the surrounding infrastructure needs to be constructed, and some basic factories such as cement plants, brick factories, power plants, flour mills, etc. also need to be built.

All of these require a huge amount of labor.

When the first group of refugees arrived, they changed into clean and tidy new work clothes. They could eat white steamed buns and rice for every meal, and meat once a week. They even received wages, which instantly put their minds at ease.

When the news spread, more refugees learned about the treatment here and flocked to the area.

The once desolate and sparsely populated area of ​​Longcheng suddenly became bustling with activity and even more lively.

Countless refugees came here to build cities, roads, factories, and cultivate land, settling down and making a living. The entire city was rapidly constructed at a miraculous pace.

……

Meanwhile, the situation on the front lines in Wuhan remained deadlocked. With the airport in the northern region destroyed, the offensive was also hampered. The Japanese then focused their efforts on Guangzhou, hoping to capture this largest city in the southeast region in one fell swoop.

Therefore, the navy and transport ships were dispatched to land a large number of soldiers and supplies at Daya Bay, opening up a new battlefield. The Guangzhou garrison had already been largely redeployed, and faced with the sudden attack from the Japanese, they were caught off guard and their forward positions were breached one after another.

Furthermore, reinforcements, supplies, and ammunition from the small country were continuously transported in from the sea, making Guangzhou appear to be in imminent danger.

Just then, Wuyishan Airport was also completed, and the straight-line distance to Guangzhou was about 750 kilometers, barely within the combat radius of fighter jets.

Because it does not need to carry bombs and some necessary offensive weapons, the weight of the fighter jet is greatly reduced, which further increases its combat radius and endurance, and also gives the fighter jet some free combat time.

That day, after carefully studying the intelligence and maps from the front lines, Li Mu piloted his fighter jet and discreetly arrived at the newly built Wuyishan Airport.

The following morning, under a clear moon, the improved I-16 slowly took off, flying towards Daya Bay, where the Japanese had landed.

More than an hour later, Daya Bay came into view in the distance. Li Mu slowed down, opened the cabin door, took out his binoculars, and began to observe the surrounding situation.

Not only did the small notebook firmly control Daya Bay, but a steady stream of soldiers and ammunition were also transported by sea. The soldiers at the front were also making rapid progress, breaking through the defenses of the Guofu garrison one after another.

If no other forces intervene, they can hold out for at most six or seven more days, and then the Japanese will be able to break through the battlefield, advance all the way, and occupy Guangzhou.

After observing for a few minutes, Li Mu circled around the outer perimeter of Daya Bay and arrived at the seaside. There were still seven or eight large cruisers, more than a dozen supply ships, and more than twenty large troop transport ships that had just arrived on the sea. Countless Japanese soldiers were taking advantage of the night to land.

All sorts of artillery and armored vehicles were unloaded and laid out in a dark mass on the beach, with boxes and boxes of shells and bullets piled up like small mountains everywhere.

Tomorrow, these will all become weapons for attacking the front lines.

At this moment, Li Mu's gaze was fixed on the sea... cruisers, these are very rare, and Japanese warships can no longer be seen on the Yangtze River now.

This rendered the three-ton aerial bomb that the arsenal had just developed recently useless.