October 23, 1938, Yichang. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The situation is urgent.

After the victory of the Japanese army in the Battle of Wuhan, they continued to advance westward and went straight to Yichang

Lu Zuofu, general manager of Minsheng Company, arrived in Yichang.

During the Anti-Japanese War, military and industrial talents were produced in large numbers, like a brilliant galaxy. There is a brilliant star shining in this galaxy, which is Lu Zuofu. He was admired by millions of people in future generations for his outstanding talent and decisive intelligence.

Lu Zuofu had a high social status, and his arrival brought hope to Yichang. There are many things that He Wenyuan can't do, he can do.

Lu Zuofu first had a meeting with He Wenyuan and Li Wei in the cabin, and then the three of them got off the boat. According to the agreement, Li Wei directly got on a cargo ship and went to Zhongbao Island.

Zhongbao Island is between Xiling Gorge and Wuxia, not far from Yichang, is a small island in the center of the river, there is a small town on it, and it is indeed unique in the Three Gorges. This is one of the alternative dam sites for American experts to inspect the construction of the Three Gorges Dam a few years ago, and it is also the dam site of the Three Gorges Dam in later generations.

Li Wei and He Wenyuan meant to transport some goods here and buffer them. Li Wei is a soldier and knows that there are high mountains on both sides here, and it is not easy for aircraft to target bombing, which is much safer than Yichang. Li Wei divided the labor, coordinated here, and after arranging a few managers, he returned to Chongqing to arrange the resettlement of refugees in Chongqing.

In early October, the government issued a foolish order for Lu Zuofu to scuttle all Minsheng Company's ships downstream of Wuhan to block the Japanese warships.

Lu Zuofu refused this order and concentrated the ship on transporting people and supplies.

As a result, some of the ships became lifesavers. It was with these ships that by the later stage of the Battle of Wuhan, Yichang had much less supplies. Gone are the historical situation where some supplies were not transported.

When Lu Zuofu returned to Yichang, he did not express his opinion, but walked around the wharf yard to investigate and analyze the situation. The situation is clear, and the parties are anxious to hold a meeting and analyze the situation clearly.

From Yichang to Chongqing, it takes 4 days to go up the river, 2 days to return down the river, and 6 days to go back and forth. According to the capacity of 22 ships and 2 foreign ships of Minsheng Company, it will take one year to transport, plus more than a dozen ships of Fuxian, it will also take eight months. How do you get all the people and goods out of the 40 days when the water is dry?

Lu Zuofu has a strong ability to plan: from Yichang to Chongqing, the entire transportation is divided into three sections. That is, Yichang to Sandouping is the first section, Sandouping to Chongqing Wanxian is the second section, and Wanxian to Chongqing is the third section. According to the draft and horsepower, the ship is separated and transported in three sections. The big ships are downstream, and the boats of the Sichuan River are upstream. The freight of goods is only 10% of the usual.

It's a very clever way to transport it. Although Sandouping is not far from Yichang, it is already in the Three Gorges, it is difficult for aircraft to bomb, and the army cannot reach it, so it is the best place to build the Three Gorges Dam, and it is also the best place to transfer materials, and the goods are temporarily stored here, so there is no need to worry about safety.

In terms of passenger transport, he implemented the "seat ticket system" for passenger classes, and changed all second-class berths to seat tickets, which could more than double the passenger traffic. At the same time, the fees are reduced, and the public education personnel are half-charged, and refugee children are free of charge.

In order to avoid the controversy of freight, Minsheng and Fuxian took the initiative to reduce the freight, only 30 yuan per ton, which is 10% of the freight of foreign ships. The British steamship company, with the exception of a few foreign factories, did not have Chinese factories to charter their ships. British ships were too expensive.

In terms of gaining time, the Three Gorges section cannot sail at night, and all ships are required to use night loading and unloading and sailing during the day. Wharves and transfer stations were added, more than 3,000 workers were hired temporarily, and more than 850 civilian wooden boats were requisitioned to carry light materials.

After the plan was finished, Lu Zuofu said: "As long as everyone unites and cooperates, according to my plan, we will definitely be able to transport all the people and goods within the forty days of the dry season!" ”

There was a burst of applause in the venue.

Lu Zuofu said: "Stop negotiations and handle transportation!" ”

Everyone immediately returned, sorted out the personnel and cargo, sorted out the ships. Lu Zuofu's plan immediately spread throughout Yichang, and the entire city left to regain confidence, and order returned at once.

On October 24, 1938, the first ship loaded with supplies and personnel set sail for the port of Yichang. Hundreds of orphans and refugee children were the first batch to be on board under Lu Zuofu's personal escort. The scene of the children singing loudly on the railing, and the scene of them shaking their little hands to say goodbye to Lu Zuofu was touched by the spectators on the shore.

The greatest retreat in history began. This time the retreat of Yichang is completely comparable to the retreat from Dunkirk, and its difficulty is even more than that. The difficulty lies in the fact that the river channel is narrow and shallow, and the water is a hundred times more difficult than the English Channel.

Another big difficulty is that the Yichang retreat transported supplies, refugees, troops, government personnel, not just the army. These people are far less orderly than the army.

The greatest difficulty is that those in a position of power demand limited access to transport resources. Ordinary people wait for a ferry ticket, but they can't get it for many days, their children cry, and their wives scream, how difficult it is.

Lu Zuofu had to go to various wharves in Yichang every day to personally understand the navigation situation of the ships, and he had to go to various wharves along the river to check the loading situation late at night.

In November 1938, the Japanese Konoe Cabinet issued its second statement on China, declaring that it would completely eliminate the Nationalist Government and establish a new order in East Asia. The Japanese army carried out a frenzied bombing of the city of Yichang and the nearby Yangtze River waterway. Yichang doesn't have to be in Chongqing, there is no thick fog in November, and the Yangtze River can be seen in the clouds.

Every day news of the losses of the fleet came: the wooden ships of the steamers were blown up, and the staff were killed. During the entire retreat, Minsheng lost 16 ships, 116 company employees were killed, and 61 were injured and disabled. Fuxian also lost five ships, and more than two dozen crew members were killed or wounded.

However, because of the emergence of Fuxian, the speed of transportation has been greatly improved, and more personnel and materials have been transported into Chongqing. The original planned transportation of 40 days was completed 10 days ahead of schedule, and many more goods and factories came during this month, and they were all shipped away.

The most praised thing about Fuxian is that there are several companies that have transported the equipment to the vicinity of Yichang and have no money to transport it anymore. Everyone was about to give up, and they found Fuxian with the idea of giving it a try. Fuxian Company readily agreed, and the steamer left Yichang to go downstream and transport the factory free of charge.

Later, these factories took the initiative to give part of their shares to Fuxian Company, obtained space from Fuxian, obtained funds, and organized production, and the result was that they came back to life. At the same time, Fuxian also has a series of factories under his name.

Soon, they disclosed their identities to Lu Zuofu. Lu Zuofu expressed his willingness to join the organization. Soon, he secretly met with Zhou Gong on a boat on the river near Chongqing, and joined the organization under Zhou Gong's introduction.

A super tough talent was pulled into the battle line of the path.

Historically, when praising and admiring the retreat of Yichang, some people also raised some questions.

For example, some people questioned that tens of thousands of tons of materials were not transported. Some questioned that as long as some companies join hands with Minsheng, then the transportation will be smooth, on the contrary, the transportation will be difficult.

In fact, the supplies can never be transported, and knowing that the Japanese have not killed them, some people will want to transport the materials into Chongqing.

Second, when transporting materials and factories, there will always be people who transport them first and someone who will transport them later. People who don't go well will always have complaints. Because of these calls into question the Great Retreat, which should not be.

Just imagine, in such a hectic situation, Lu Zuofu organized transportation, and there was no major incident, which can no longer be described as simple, it is simply a miracle.

Some people praise the British Dunkirk retreat as soon as they mention it, why don't they praise the Yichang retreat.

That's all for later.