The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment and said, "How do you build a laboratory? You need to draw a blueprint first, and then start construction. As for the test site, well, there are no trains now, so it's really difficult to move. Otherwise, airplanes can be used to transport it to various parts of the country for testing.

"We will build aircraft manufacturing plants in other places in the future, and we will definitely need to transfer personnel from here. You should be mentally prepared and train more talents."

"Okay, Chairman, as for talent, we need to establish specialized training schools to train these young workers in mechanical, aviation, and power knowledge! We also need..."

Zhang Yinghao's face darkened when he heard Feng Ruke's insistent demands. Many comrades who heard the conversation between Feng Ru and Zhang Yinghao snickered.

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Chapter 388: Keep writing!

Listening to Feng Ru's demands, Zhang Yinghao suddenly understood a drawback of concentrating resources on major projects. There's only so much funding these days. If you have more, others will have less. You think this research is important, and he thinks that research is important. Which is more important? They're both important; it's just that there's not enough money for colleagues to develop.

The more backward a country is, the more it needs to catch up, and the more obvious and effective this system of concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks becomes. Administrative orders can indeed replace the functions of the market economy to a certain extent, just as Zhang Yinghao knew that aircraft research would inevitably succeed. Therefore, Zhang Yinghao dared to divert all resources toward aircraft and automobiles, providing people and money when needed. Just like now, if Feng Ru asked for these things from him, Zhang Yinghao would indeed satisfy him.

But how many people in the world could know the future like Zhang Yinghao? Who could prove that this administrative order was absolutely correct? That it conformed to scientific laws and wasn't just blind command? That's why Marxism says history spirals upward. Furthermore, the most common consequence of administrative orders is that amateurs are guiding experts. In the past, this kind of imperative instruction had caused Chinese scientists much trouble.

If all projects need to apply for funding from higher authorities, which is limited after all, people with connections will be treated differently from those without. This artificial struggle is both cruel and unfair. Many excellent projects may not be developed or even killed outright.

Furthermore, the Tao Te Ching states that "I possess three treasures, which I uphold and protect: kindness, frugality, and the courage not to be the first in the world." In essence, others blaze a trail, and those who follow widen it, making the path easier. Those who take the lead initially often also make the most mistakes, as the industry is still immature. Many fail midway rather than triumph in the end. Those who perform best are often those who follow behind, making fewer mistakes and surviving by building on the legacy of those who have already taken the lead. China's internet industry in its past is a prime example of this.

Therefore, concentrating efforts on major projects can only be successful if they are based on a foundation of clear, known, and inevitable success. For example, the early development of the two bombs and one satellite, and later infrastructure, high-speed rail, the internet, information and communications, aerospace, and so on, all of these things already exist abroad. Therefore, as long as China focuses its efforts on major projects according to the scientific principles of success in other countries, it will only be a matter of time before it catches up and surpasses them.

However, it must be acknowledged that the great powers' years of scientific and technological revolution have resulted in a formidable pool of scientific technology and talent. Sichuan's scientific development was practically starting from scratch, and it still had a long way to go to catch up with the great powers. Even with Zhang Yinghao's guidance, and some significant leaps forward, its overall scientific and technological level was still insufficient to rival the heights of the Western powers.

It wasn't that Zhang Yinghao was frustrated. Even if all the information was provided to technicians about complex technologies, they could only train a few operators, not fully understand the technology. For example, if a cutting-edge machine broke down one day, even with the information, there might not be anyone who could repair it.

Therefore, in the short term, Zhang Yinghao still adheres to the planned economy. There's still a long way to go, and he's not afraid of taking the wrong path. But that won't work in the future. What if administrative orders go in the wrong direction? The consequences would be disastrous, wasting enormous time, resources, manpower, and energy, just like the display screen war between Japan and South Korea, where Japan bet on plasma and South Korea on LCD. In the end, Japan lost miserably, and plasma production has now ceased. Furthermore, a slow start can lead to many more, and a mistake can lead to many more, ultimately leaving one trailing behind and picking up scraps.

Suddenly, Zhang Yinghao came to a clear understanding. He couldn't let the government handle everything; that would inevitably lead to serious distortions in development. However, until government functions reached a certain level, Zhang Yinghao wouldn't allow the market economy to develop. Capital markets like finance and stocks also needed to develop. Since the state didn't have enough money to invest in the rapid growth of all businesses, he should allow outstanding enterprises to absorb idle private capital and jointly support their development.

On the second day after Zhang Yinghao returned to Chengdu, Yu Qingao brought a young man in his thirties to Zhang Yinghao's office. Zhang Yinghao looked up and immediately noticed that there was a soldier carrying a gun at the back.

When Yu Qingao saw Zhang Yinghao, he said directly: "Chairman Zhang, we have developed a replica of the light machine gun."

Zhang Yinghao asked hurriedly when he heard this: "Really?"

"Of course. Come, let me introduce our hero to the Chairman. His name is also Liu Qing'en, the same name as the comrade from our Ministry of Health. He entered the Hubei Gun Factory as a technician in 1999 and was recommended to study at Seijo School in Tokyo, Japan in 2001. After hearing about our revolution, he immediately returned from Japan to join the revolution. However, in 1995, he participated in the Tainan Campaign to defend Taiwan after the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 with Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army. He was shot in the leg and was unable to join the People's Liberation Army. Instead, he was assigned to our arsenal."

Zhang Yinghao quickly stood up and walked over, stretched out his hand, shook Liu Qingen's, and said: "Anti-Japanese hero, welcome to join our revolution."

Liu Qing'en had known Zhang Yinghao was young, but he had never thought he was this young. Seeing this powerful young man actually come over and shake his hand, he felt a strange feeling. However, upon hearing Zhang Yinghao's words, he immediately replied, "A defeated soldier cannot be called a hero."

"The failure is not due to you, but to the weakness and incompetence of the Qing Dynasty."

After a few more pleasantries, Yu Qing'ao asked the soldier behind him to open the light machine gun's bracket and put the gun down. Liu Qing'en explained, "Actually, I came up with the magazine feed based on the structure of our rifle, which can fire both single and continuous. After I shared this idea with Director Yu, the factory gathered its key scientific research personnel and we are almost ready to develop a light machine gun."

The global arms market is currently under an arms embargo on the Liberated Areas, and Zhang Yinghao's understanding of light machine guns is still based on the anti-Japanese dramas he watched in his previous life. Having played with a pistol in his previous life, Zhang Yinghao added a spring to the Liberated Areas rifle design. With a single pull of the trigger, the next round automatically loads under the force of the spring. With another pull of the trigger, the next round can be fired directly. This design is actually considered a semi-automatic rifle.

Honestly, manufacturing firearms isn't difficult. In the past, any machining factory could easily produce a firearm simply by following the blueprints. The only difference was the quality. In the liberated areas, however, machine guns and artillery were readily available, and there was a system of concentrating resources on major projects. Even the two bombs and one satellite were developed under such difficult circumstances. The liberated areas concentrated all their talented personnel, and with the ingenuity of the Chinese people, it would be a joke if they couldn't even produce a simple firearm now.

Unbeknownst to Zhang Yinghao, in his previous life, Liu Qing'en had successfully developed a five-round automatic rifle and the first long-range cannon in 1914. Later, he, along with Yu Qing'ao, Deng Dinghao, and others, successfully developed the Browning 1917 machine gun, which entered mass production on October 10, 1921. It was called the "10-section heavy machine gun." In 1918, Liu Qing'en decided to develop his own artillery. Due to the Beiyang government's lack of funding, he invested all his personal savings and borrowed from relatives and friends. Tests revealed high firepower and accuracy, earning it the nickname "Qing'en Cannon," but it was never put into production. Liu Qing'en's outstanding contributions cemented his place as a pioneer in modern Chinese ordnance engineering. He was awarded five medals by the Nationalist government, including the Second Class Wenhu Medal and the Second Class Jiahe Medal.

A genius is a genius. Now that he has a platform and the information collected from the entire liberated area, Liu Qingen has slowly begun to show his dazzling brilliance.

However, to Zhang Yinghao's surprise, Liu Qingen then said, "It's really because of our incompetence. Even though we were close to figuring it out, we couldn't figure it out. We just needed that final step. But a comrade from Northeast China brought us a light machine gun. After we saw it, we suddenly realized that this is the finished product we are making now."

"From the Northeast?" Zhang Yinghao said silently in his heart.

In fact, what the Northeast comrades sent back were actually captured Madsen light machine guns. Tsarist Russia purchased hundreds of these from Denmark during the Russo-Japanese War. Comrades sent to the Northeast knew that the liberated areas now had a certain level of scientific research capabilities, so they naturally began to send some of the captured valuables to Sichuan for comrades to study and further strengthen the liberated areas.

"After all, we don't have any tests. After a period of development, these experiences will automatically accumulate on their own, and innovation will not be a tree without roots or water without a source."

Liu Qingen nodded and began to introduce the data of this light machine gun: "Chairman, this light machine gun uses our 7.92mm rifle bullet, the magazine capacity is 30 rounds, the empty gun weighs 9.5 kilograms, the total length..."

Zhang Yinghao listened carefully, but he knew that since Yu Qingao came to him in person, it definitely couldn't be just about this light machine gun.

Sure enough, after Liu Qingen finished introducing the data of the light machine gun, Yu Qingao said: "Chairman, originally I shouldn't ask about this matter, but our current bullet caliber is based on the 7.92mm rifle bullet of the German 1888 Commission Rifle, and it is a round-nose bullet. However, according to current research, for us, the 7.62mm rifle bullet is more suitable, and our current steel is basically qualified, so we can use pointed bullets..."

Zhang Yinghao knew that pointed-nosed rounds were more demanding on barrel quality than round-nosed rounds, but upgrading the military's equipment wasn't an easy task. While it was a simple matter for Zhang Yinghao, the change in size would require extensive modifications at the arsenal, making it a complex undertaking. Of course, switching from 7.92mm to 7.62mm had its advantages, not least of which was the significant copper savings. Furthermore, the PLA was relatively small, making the change opportune now. However, Zhang Yinghao still had one more question to answer.

After listening to Yu Qingao's story, Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment and asked, "What caliber of bullets does the Russian Mosin-Nagant rifle use?"

The reason why Zhang Yinghao asked this was that he vaguely remembered that the caliber of Mosin-Nagant rifle bullets was common in many countries and firearms.

"Sir, it's a 7.62mm bullet."

"The US seems to be upgrading their equipment now. What caliber of bullets are they using now?"

"It's also a 7.62mm bullet."

Hearing the answer, Zhang Yinghao said directly: "We can't change equipment immediately. We will be using the troops abroad soon. If the PLA comrades are not familiar with firearms and bullets, they will be at a disadvantage. But since we already have the production conditions, it is imperative for us to change to 7.62MM pointed bullets. We can build a production line now to improve our production capacity. In the future, when we change equipment, we can't just change equipment on a small scale. Otherwise, the logistics department will be in chaos. I will ask the relevant departments to make a replacement plan and complete the replacement as soon as possible."

"Okay, Chairman. There's one more thing. Comrade Liu Qingen wants to set up a separate research laboratory for him to study firearms..."

Even before Yu Qingao finished speaking, Zhang Yinghao knew that this was all because of lack of money, but there was nothing he could do now, he could only endure it!

Zhang Yinghao interrupted Yu Qingzheng and said, "You guys make your own decisions and apply for the relevant research expenses yourself."

"it is good."

As for ammunition calibers, they're definitely getting smaller, and the future will inevitably be dominated by small-caliber rifles. However, Zhang Yinghao vaguely remembered that for a long time, the most popular rifle caliber wasn't German-made. Since the United States currently uses the 7.62mm, the PLA also using this caliber would facilitate the future arms sales. Ammunition is the true profiteering commodity. Just a few kilograms of steel are being sold for the price of silver—it's no exaggeration to say it's a money grab. And ammunition is the ultimate profiteering commodity.

Just when Zhang Yinghao was leading the development of the liberated areas, Hu Songhui and dozens of comrades had already appeared in the now extremely chaotic three northeastern provinces, bringing with them the order to form the Fifth Field Army in the Northeast.

After the Russo-Japanese War broke out, the once somewhat orderly Northeast China was thrown into complete chaos. The Japanese army and the Russian army, the militia organized by the Forward Party and the bandits, the militia and the Japanese army, the militia and the Russian army, the militia and the Qing army, the bandits and the Russian army, the bandits and the Japanese army, the Qing army and the bandits, all of which fought each other in a chaotic melee, and the Northeast was immediately thrown into chaos.

The Japanese wanted to take over the Chinese Eastern Railway and use it to transport supplies, but that was out of the question. All the members who went to take over the Manchurian Railway either mysteriously disappeared or were beaten to death on the roadside. At this time, comrades with bases like Liu Wenxiu developed particularly rapidly. However, at that time, the population of the three northeastern provinces was mainly concentrated in the Shenyang area, so the comrades here naturally developed better, while the comrades in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces developed much worse. But overall, in the three northeastern provinces, the comrades sent by Zhang Yinghao had already organized a large number of people. In Zhang Yinghao's eyes, this was their greatest achievement.

During the Russo-Japanese War, countless people came to surrender as soon as they raised their arms.

Liu Wenxiu's previous actions against the Russians in the Northeast had already made him famous throughout the country. A large number of heroes from all over the country came to Liu Wenxiu.

Anshan was a place guarding a railway, which meant having both men and weapons. Liu Wenxiu's territory at that time bordered Tieling in the north, the Japanese Lushun region in the south, the Yalu River in the east, and the vast rural areas and parts of the city of Chifeng in the west.

If Zhang Yinghao had known how quickly Liu Wenxiu and his group would develop, he could only sigh: a life of cheating cannot be measured by reason. However, up to this point, Liu Wenxiu and his group had not yet raised the banner of the Forward Party or the People's Liberation Army. Many still used the banner of the militia or the Qing court.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Liu Wenxiu dispersed his troops, expanding their territory and picking up spoils wherever they could. Taking advantage of the Qing Dynasty's retreat during the Russo-Japanese War, he attacked all known mines in Anshan and its territory, rescuing the miners from their positions. Even with the Russo-Japanese War still raging, both Japan and Russia had noticed the sudden appearance of these bandit militias in the three northeastern provinces. However, most of them were still scattered in the countryside, and their exact numbers were unknown. They were still closely watching the Russo-Japanese War.

Although Liu Wenxiu and his men were aware of them, the war between Japan and Russia was no longer something they could stop at will, and neither side really cared much about these bandit militias. As long as they could defeat the other side, they believed their army would be able to easily strangle these bandit militias. Liu Wenxiu and his men fully utilized their cold-blooded tactics, annihilating the enemy piecemeal, accumulating small victories into larger ones, and seizing spoils bit by bit, ultimately rapidly expanding their strength.

Regarding the three northeastern provinces, Zhang Yinghao's request to Hu Songhui was simple: not a single grain of iron sand or coal briquette should be transported to Japan via the Chinese Eastern Railway. Therefore, if they failed to defeat Japan within a short period of time, their next move would be to tear up the tracks and blow up the railway.

Moreover, in this life, due to the intervention of Liu Wenxiu and others, both Japan and Russia suffered losses.

The number of soldiers lost is nearly 10% more than in history, and there are more soldiers lost than in history. The Japanese are really unable to fight anymore. There are no bullets in their guns, so they can only use bayonets to solve the problem. Every time the troops are transported, many of them die inexplicably on the way.

However, both Japan and Russia are still sharpening their swords, preparing for a new battle to decide the new master of Northeast China.

In the areas where they had defeated the Russian army, the Japanese rushed to take over the coal mines, iron mines and other Russian heritage, but many places were already under the control of Liu Wenxiu and his team. These receivers either got a bombed mine or eventually disappeared between the white mountains and black waters.

The war had been going on for more than a year. At this time, the entire three northeastern provinces were actually more stable than at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War. Because Liu Wenxiu and his men were well organized, the place became increasingly peaceful. However, the fighting became increasingly difficult. Because there was a brief truce in the Russo-Japanese War, both sides were stockpiling ammunition in preparation for another fight. However, when the Japanese and Russian sides looked back, they realized that they had unknowingly raised a monster in the three northeastern provinces, and it was no longer something they could easily kill.

Chapter 389:

Although both Japan and Russia were still preparing for a war, they had already tacitly begun to suppress bandits everywhere, because both Japan and Russia knew that they were indeed preparing to divide the interests of the Northeast for the sake of profit, but they had never thought of raising a Qing armed force in the Northeast that could compete with them. Otherwise, not only would they not be able to gain more benefits, but their current interests would not be guaranteed. Therefore, Lian Chengjue and his men's battles became more and more brutal.

Lian Cheng Jue, Liu Wenxiu, and the others had already prepared for Hu Songhui's arrival. Almost everyone had already arrived and came out to greet him personally. Everyone knew that Hu Songhui's visit to the Northeast was primarily to reorganize the troops. Once the reorganization was complete, their troops would officially return to the rank of the Military Commission. They would also receive promotions and official appointments. At this point, all the comrades were quite excited, as they all knew that they had essentially been promoted.

"Old leader, we have finally got you here. These are all our party members and comrades."

When Lian Cheng Jue, Liu Wenxiu, and the others saw Hu Songhui, they immediately stepped forward and embraced him. Hu Songhui, upon hearing this, immediately realized that he didn't need to worry too much about keeping secrets. He immediately shook hands and hugged his comrades, saying, "Haha, don't call me old commander. That makes you sound old. The Chairman said that we revolutionaries are forever young. You should just call me Comrade Songhui or Instructor. And don't think that I'm here to dictate things or seize power right after I step down."

Hu Songhui said this because some political commissars, upon arriving in Northeast China, immediately compared the situation in Northeast China to that in Sichuan, interfering without understanding the actual situation and even attempting to seize command of the army. Although Zhang Yinghao's original intention was to send them as political commissars to oversee political work, there was still the possibility that some among them would be power-hungry, eager to achieve merit, and act on their own.

"That's not true. I didn't build this team by myself. It's the work of all my comrades, and it's inseparable from the support of the Party Central Committee. Moreover, we are always loyal to the Party. This is a Party team."

"Haha, well said. But you guys are amazing! Your contributions are immense! The Chairman has praised you highly. Do you remember what he said? You'll become an officer based on how many soldiers you recruit? You're incredible! You've all become high-ranking officials."

Listening to Hu Songhui's words, Lian Chengjue immediately said, "As long as the Chairman is satisfied, that's all that matters. We haven't thought about how high our positions will be. We just want to do our best and work hard according to the Chairman's instructions. As for what official positions we will hold, we will obey the arrangements of the Party Central Committee."

"Haha, let's not talk about this now! Tell me about the current situation in Northeast China."

"Let's go in and talk. We now have 250,000 troops here..."

Although I already knew that the Northeastern comrades were good at mass-produced troops, but when I heard them say it themselves, I still jokingly said, "Wow, are you guys doing magic? Where did all these people come from?"

"Aha! Comrade Song Hui, there's no shortage of soldiers and food everywhere. Even if we in Sichuan need to recruit a million soldiers, it's easy."

Hu Songhui agreed with this. If we don't consider other things, it would be easy to mobilize everyone to become a soldier.

Seeing Hu Songhui nod, Lian Cheng Jue continued, "During the Russo-Japanese War, the people of Northeast China suffered terribly from both sides! With just a call, a huge crowd would flock to us. If the weapons and equipment were up to par, even organizing millions of civilians wouldn't be a problem."

"What about the territory you control?"

Liu Wenxiu listened, walked to the front of the map, pointed and said: "The territory we control, both openly and secretly, extends northward to Jilin, but in fact, our comrades have established bases in Heilongjiang and other places. To the south, it reaches Wafangdian and Zhuanghe areas, and to the east, it reaches the Yalu River. Baishan and Tonghua are also our bases. To the west, we have reached Chifeng and Baicheng."

"Reaching Chifeng and Baicheng? Those were still the central areas under the Manchurian control, right?" "Yes, it was mainly the Japanese army attacking Tsarist Russia, and they mainly advanced along the Chinese Eastern Railway. During the Russo-Japanese War, the Manchurian army was mobilized to the interior of the country, and its influence in the Northeast was greatly reduced. So we worked hard to expand our territory on both sides. Many areas were still officially Manchurian territory, but the militias formed by some of our comrades were recognized by the Manchurian government, and they directly stationed and liberated many towns. The vast rural areas were even more accessible to us. Now during the Russo-Japanese War, the Manchurian government was also afraid of misunderstandings between Japan and Russia, and did not dare to mobilize troops at will."

"There is no unified leadership yet?" QQ book club group 775111838

"No, but everyone knows that those are our own troops. You see, there are troops like ours, as well as the Security Corps, the Anti-Russian Volunteer Army, the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, the National Salvation Army, the Sweeping and Exterminating Foreign Army, and so on. When we shouted out these numbers, many bandit militias also shouted out their own numbers.

There are so many numbers in Northeast China now."

"How many times have your troops gone through internal reorganization?"

Liu Wenxiu took over and said: "Haha, don't worry about the instructor laughing at us, we have reorganized many times. When the number of people increases, the original organization must be changed, and we don't know how to expand it directly. Can we continue to fill it with troops according to the principle of the three-three system?"

"It's not appropriate to completely reorganize the troops right now. The Chairman asked you to form a field army. What suggestions do you have?"

“All instructions are subject to the Chairman’s instructions.”

"How is our police force organized now?" "It's all organized according to the Sichuan model." "What about the food reserves?"

"Military farming, there's no other way. Now we can only rely on the army to grow their own food to solve the problem."

"Haha, what do you mean there's no way? The Chairman has long said that in the Northeast, with so many people and so little land, we must establish military settlements. Military settlements are the best solution. Do we have enough food now?"

"Not enough. The military is fine, but there are too many refugees now.

They organized their labor, and we cleared so much land that we could grow potatoes and corn, and we only had one more harvest to go."

"What is the current situation of the Japanese army?"

"Haha, I want to laugh when I talk about this. The Japanese army is like a beggar army now. They are seriously short of weapons and ammunition. Now these military supplies are not as sufficient as ours."

"It seems the Chairman is right. Japan is really at the end of its rope."

"Yes, I believe that as long as Russia continues to drag out the war, Japan will undoubtedly lose."

"It's not that easy. There are also revolutionary parties like us in Tsarist Russia. Imagine if the Qing Dynasty went to war with other countries and we didn't help them but instead tried to disrupt them, would the Qing Dynasty be able to continue fighting?"

"Of course, we can't fight anymore."

"But I heard that Tsarist Russia has sent warships from Europe. It looks like there's still a fight to be had."

"There will certainly be another major naval battle, but after Japan fought the battles of Liaoyang, Heigoutai, Shahe, and Fengtian with Tsarist Russia, and especially after Japan occupied Fengtian, its offensive has slowed down, and it may even have enough strength to encircle and suppress us."

"Yes, they have been fighting for over a year, and there won't be any major conflicts. Now they will continue to fight for a while, and when their naval battle is over, the winner will be clear. If Japan wins, and Japan sees that it can't defeat Tsarist Russia, it will stop, and the great powers will intervene. If Tsarist Russia wins, then this war will continue. Given the character of the Russians, it is very likely that they will drive the Japanese into the sea again."

"The Chairman told me that if the Russians win, the Japanese army will have no choice but to surrender, because as long as the Russians blockade Japan, the Japanese army in Northeast China will be trapped."

"That's the truth."

"Instructor, what are the Chairman's instructions this time?"

Hu Songhui immediately recalled the conversation between him and Chairman Zhang Yinghao and said, "The Chairman's instructions are very simple: drive out Japan and Russia, overthrow the Qing Dynasty, and establish our own people's government."

Although this statement immediately resonated with the comrades, as these were the things they most wanted to do, it was also because it was too empty, and no one else agreed. These words are simple to say, but extremely difficult to do. The comrades here had personally experienced the Russo-Japanese War and knew the cruelty of war. Now, hearing Hu Songhui directly state several goals in one breath, although these goals were what the comrades wanted to achieve, the comrades also understood the difficulty involved.

Zhang Yinghao naturally understood the difficulty involved, but no matter how difficult it was, he would undertake it. No one in the world understood the weakness of Japan and Russia and the importance of Northeast China more clearly than Zhang Yinghao. Of course, at this time, Northeast China hadn't yet undergone decades of dedicated development by the Japanese in his previous life. Statistics from that past life show that Northeast China, with only 12% of China's land and 10% of its population, produced 93% of China's steel, 66% of its cement, 69% of its chemicals, 95% of its machinery, and 78% of its electricity. It maintained a relatively complete industrial system encompassing metallurgy, mining, automobile manufacturing, aircraft and shipbuilding, transportation, and energy. It surpassed Japan to become the most developed region in Asia in terms of industry and manufacturing, and its economic scale soared to first place in Asia, with a GDP second only to the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union. Although much of its machinery and equipment was ultimately plundered by the Soviet Union, Northeast China's high urbanization, large population, and highly educated workforce provided a valuable source of recruits.

As early as the Seventh National Congress, our predecessor, Taizu, clearly pointed out that from the perspective of our Party and the immediate and future prospects of the Chinese revolution, the Northeast is particularly important. Even if we lose all existing base areas, as long as we hold the Northeast, the Chinese revolution will have a solid foundation. Of course, if we maintain our other base areas and retain the Northeast, the foundation of the Chinese revolution will be even more solid.

In previous history, when the Eighth Route Army first entered Northeast China, they faced significant difficulties due to the disparate nature of their forces. Communication was poor, and they were short of ammunition and weapons. Furthermore, central government policy shifted repeatedly. Initially, they aimed to seize all of Northeast China. However, to buy time to transport looted supplies, the Soviet Union directly handed over cities like Shenyang to the weak Kuomintang, even resorting to a battle with the Eighth Route Army, thus thwarting their attempt to dominate the Northeast. Then, the Northeast Bureau, following central government directives, stubbornly defended the cities and resisted the Kuomintang army, resulting in an extremely passive situation. Under the Kuomintang's fierce attacks, they were unable to gain a foothold and retreated. Finally, they decided to cede the main road and occupy both sides. From then on, the Eighth Route Army gradually began to seize the strategic initiative.

Zhang Yinghao believed that the Eighth Route Army's repeated defeats upon entering Northeast China were due not only to objective difficulties like a shortage of ammunition but also to the fact that they had not yet mastered the art of large-scale, conventional warfare. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Hundred Regiments Campaign was the only major engagement; the rest of the campaign consisted primarily of ambushes and other tactics. While the Eighth Route Army did hold back a significant number of Japanese troops, they were also constantly resisting Japanese raids. Therefore, in the early stages of the Liberation War, the Eighth Route Army was still accustomed to guerrilla warfare. While the Militia suffered repeated defeats against the Japanese during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, they undeniably possessed greater experience in large-scale offensive and defensive combat than the Eighth Route Army. However, the People's Liberation Army, representing the people, was a force capable of evolving and learning from battle. Once the PLA soldiers mastered large-scale combat, the Militia Army was largely no match.

Zhang Yinghao saw that the comrades in Northeast China had already established bases in the vast countryside and small and medium-sized cities. They had completed the previous phase of the Eighth Route Army's advance into Northeast China, where they had relentlessly mobilized the masses, developed armed forces, gathered supplies, strengthened the people's power, rapidly expanded their forces, built a democratic government, and established bases. By this point, they had completely established a firm foothold. Furthermore, thanks to the Russo-Japanese War, they had assembled a force that had experienced war and was filled with hatred for Japan and Russia. They could concentrate their forces at any time to strike the enemy, thus gaining the strategic initiative.

How similar was this situation to his previous life? So, Zhang Yinghao's next task was to liberate Northeast China through war, transforming this army into a truly capable and adept force, capable of large-scale combat. The vast land of Northeast China would serve as their best training ground, and the weak Japanese and Russian armies would serve as their sharpening stones. Because, aside from a handful of armies like the Beiyang Army, large-scale combat was unnecessary against the Qing Dynasty, and would serve no purpose in training the army. The Qing's military strength was simply not enough to allow the PLA to rise from the ashes.

Moreover, as long as the Northeast was liberated, the field army would march into the pass and the entire army would be deployed. Liberating the entire country would be a piece of cake, and Zhang Yinghao would no longer have to worry about the great powers sending troops to interfere in China's revolution.

…mouth".

After everyone discussed the situation between Japan and Russia and the Northeast for a while, Hu Songhui asked again: "Who is responsible for civil affairs now?"

"Instructor, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Tang Genli. He came to Northeast China to recruit Party members earlier than we did. He is now in charge of civil affairs work in Northeast China."

Hu Songhui, of course, knew about the widespread deployment of the Liberated Areas. He quickly extended his hand to shake Tang Genli's hand and said, "Hello, Comrade Tang Genli."