In the early and middle periods of the Republic of China, when it came to which army had the worst reputation and the worst combat effectiveness, the Sichuan army ranked second, and no one dared to rank first.

How do you describe the Sichuan army?

Four words: rabble!

During the Republic of China, the warlords fought endlessly, and the land of Bashu was particularly strange.

Warlords in other places have already fought across provinces, and Sichuan is still fighting in a protracted nest, and has been controlled by warlords from other provinces several times.

From 1912 to 1934, after more than 400 battles, the Sichuan warlord melee lasted for 22 years, during which it never stopped, as if they were playing a Sichuan mahjong called the bloody battle to the end. It seems that he is raising Gu, throwing a bunch of poisonous insects in the Gu plate in the Sichuan Basin, whoever can fight to the end is the real Gu King.

Liu Xiang is the Gu King, the King of Bashu!

Let's take a look at Liu Xiang's growth history, graduated from the accelerated school of the military academy, midshipman, platoon commander, detachment officer, battalion commander, regiment commander, acting brigade commander, brigade commander, division commander, army commander, and commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army. Every time he ascended, he witnessed one or several civil wars, and he relied on his military exploits to rise hard.

In the warlord melee in Sichuan, political sides are often useless, and whether they can survive depends on the troops under their hands. Liu Xiang actually made mistakes in line several times, but he had soldiers, guns, money and food, and the victors had to reuse him.

The most bizarre thing is that the warlords of Sichuan Province fought to the death. But when they face the warlords of other provinces, they are often united, and the rivals can also form alliances very happily, and we will continue to fight after driving the warlords from other provinces out of Sichuan.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this tradition of unanimity with the outside world that when Japan invaded China in an all-out way, the Sichuan army called Hanako was able to suddenly burst out with incredible power and shocked everyone's attention.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Liu Xiang, the king of Bashu, once said these words:

"In the Anti-Japanese War, Sichuan can send 300,000 troops, supply 5 million Zhuangding, and supply tens of thousands of stones of grain!"

"When the National War of Resistance has been launched, the responsibility of the people of Sichuan is especially heavy compared to other provinces!"

"In the past, I fought a civil war for many years, and my face was not very glorious, and today I serve the country, how can I be in the rear?"

"The War of Resistance to the end will always be unswerving, that is, the enemy army will not withdraw from the border for a day, and the Sichuan army will not return to its hometown for a day!"

During the Anti-Japanese War, Sichuan sent 40% of the soldiers, 50% of the money and food to the whole country, and one out of every five soldiers who died on the battlefield of resistance against Japan was a Sichuanese. The number of prisoners of the Sichuan army was the smallest among the provincial and local armies, less than 1% of the total number of prisoners. The proportion of Sichuan soldiers killed was as high as one-third, and often after a large-scale battle, the Sichuan army from the generals to the soldiers all died on the battlefield, did not retreat, and did not surrender.

Among the six lieutenant generals in the Izukawa War of Resistance, four were martyred, and the first batch of more than 400 regimental-level officers to go out of Sichuan all died on the anti-Japanese front without exception.

That's why in the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, there was such a saying: No Sichuan can not be an army!

……

Zhou Hexuan met the famous Bashu King Liu Xiang in the Liu Mansion in Liziba.

Liu Xiang is not tall, with good facial features and a shaved head. This person is gloomy and introverted, unsmiling, and exuding a reckless atmosphere; But he speaks in a coherent manner, with rigorous phrasing, and a bit of a reader.

"Fu Gong, this is my good brother Mr. Zhou Hexuan," Fan Har gave a thumbs up, "Brother Zhou is a university scholar, he drinks more ink than I drink rice soup, and he is the guest of honor of Commander-in-Chief Chiang!" ”

"Hey, I've admired my name for a long time, hello Mr. Zhou!" Liu Xiang shook hands with Zhou Hexuan warmly, and a slight smile appeared on his cold and serious face.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Commander Liu, I have admired you for a long time, fortunately!" ”

Liu Xiang waited for the servants to finish serving tea before saying, "Shao Zeng (Fan Ha'er) has already told me, what kind of factory do you plan to open in Chongqing?" ”

Zhou Hexuan pointed to the enamel fruit plate on the coffee table and said, "Enamel factory, the most advanced enamel factory in the whole of Asia." A full set of semi-automated assembly lines introduced by the United States are not only available in China, but also in Japan. As long as the power supply is sufficient, the production efficiency of the enamel factory I run is more than 20 times that of the Japanese factory, and the cost is only three-fifths of that of Japanese products. In the past few years, China's enamel market has been monopolized by Japanese products, and it has been slightly better in the past two years, but domestic products are still not as good as Japanese products. My enamel factory is to save the country through industry, and the goal is to drive all Japanese enamel out of China, and if possible, to compete with Japanese goods in the whole of Asia. ”

"Hey, that's a good thing, save your energy!" Van Haal praised.

Liu Xiang was stunned and couldn't help asking: "Is the production efficiency really 20 times that of the Japanese factory?" ”

"Yes, but the power consumption is relatively large, I wonder if the power plant in Chongqing can provide enough power?" Zhou Hexuan said.

Liu Xiang thought for a while and said, "Mr. Zhou, if you can come to Chongqing to open a factory, I welcome you with both hands." But to be honest, Chongqing currently has only one power plant, and two years ago it burned down a generating unit, which has not been repaired until now, and the power supply is still relatively tight. I'm preparing to build a new power plant, and I've chosen the address, right on the other side of Daxigou. However, the Daxigou power plant will be put into operation, and I am afraid it will take a few years. ”

"Is the Daxigou Power Plant thermal power or hydropower?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"Thermal power." Liu Xiang replied.

Zhou Hexuan said strangely: "How many years does it take to build a thermal power plant? A year and a half is enough! ”

Liu Xiang spread his hands: "If you want talents, you don't have talents, you don't have equipment, how can you build it in a year and a half?" Sichuan is not as good as the coast, engineering professionals are difficult to find, and it is not easy to invite from outside. ”

Zhou Hexuan suddenly smiled: "Commander Liu, rest assured, the talents and equipment for building a thermal power plant are all wrapped up in me!" ”

"Brother Zhou, do you have a way?" Liu Xiang even changed his title.

Zhou Hexuan said: "I bought the equipment directly from the United States, and the engineers of the thermal power plant also asked the Americans to serve as them. ”

Liu Xiang was embarrassed: "I'm afraid it's very expensive to invite foreign devils, I am short of money." ”

"It's not expensive, the United States is experiencing an economic crisis, and both equipment and talent are cheap." Zhou Hexuan explained.

Liu Xiang didn't understand what an economic crisis was, and he was skeptical about it, but thinking that Zhou Hexuan didn't need to lie to him, he agreed with his mouth. He rolled his eyes and said, "Since Brother Zhou has a way in the United States, can you help me introduce a set of production equipment from the arsenal?" I'm going to build an arsenal in Chongqing. ”

It's also funny to say that Liu Xiang, the most powerful warlord in Sichuan, doesn't even have his own arsenal so far.

Zhou Hexuan did not give a direct affirmative answer, but said: "I can ask in half a year, those outdated gun production lines should still be able to introduce a few." ”

"It doesn't matter if it's outdated, as long as you can produce guns." Liu Xiang hurriedly said.

Not to mention the current Sichuan army, even the Sichuan army that went out of Sichuan to resist Japan, the weapons and equipment are so backward that they can't bear to look at it directly. The weapons in the hands of many soldiers were almost falling apart, tied with hemp rope and fixed, and the rifling was almost invisible, no different from a burning stick.

How so?

Due to the long transportation distance and the lack of financial resources, most of the weapons in the hands of the Sichuan army were second-hand goods used by the warlord troops in other provinces. There are even many guns of the new army of the Qing Dynasty, which have been used until now, and there are all kinds of guns, bird guns, and old sleeves made in Hanyang.

Hearing that Zhou Hexuan was able to get the firearms production line in the United States, Liu Xiang, who was indescribably happy and angry, couldn't help but laugh happily. He enthusiastically took Zhou Hexuan's hand and said, "Brother Zhou, you are my timely rain." By the way, I have newly formed an air force, and we will conduct exercises in two days, so let's go and see it together. ”

The air force units of Sichuan ......

Zhou Hexuan suddenly remembered those "warships" on the river, and couldn't imagine what Liu Xiang's air force would look like.