Although the situation in the 23rd year of the Republic of China was relatively calm with Japan, the internal flames of the Republic of China have been everywhere, and the red regime that had taken root in Jiangxi for many years finally suffered a great defeat militarily due to the blind command of Wang Ming, Bogu, and the Soviet Union, and the momentum of rapid expansion came to an abrupt end. The strategic westward movement began, and Chairman Chiang's troops chased the tail of the Red Army all the way to the west, and the military strength of the Nanjing lineage also quickly spread to the southwest.

Due to successive years of military disasters and drought, natural and man-made disasters caused famine in Sichuan exceeded the imagination of later generations, and millions of people fell into the dilemma of starvation. The situation in Shaanxi is slightly better, and Henan is second only to Sichuan in terms of disaster, and countless refugees have poured into the northwest after several years of peace. Jiang Li's original funds for storing grain were exhausted, and he had to use a large amount of money originally used for construction to buy grain and provide relief to the victims.

In order to meet the power needs of the development of the northwest, Jiang Li built five large and medium-sized hydropower stations in the Yellow River in one go, and more than 20 thermal power stations of different scales in Lanzhou and Yinchuan. The other two sets of equipment ranging from about 30,000 tons to 60,000 tons respectively have settled near the newly discovered small iron ore mine in northern Sichuan. With the original Longhai Road, Lanxi Road, Lanzhou to Dihua, Yinchuan section of the railway derived a large number of branch lines, the construction of the highway has also been pushed to a new peak. The hungry people who poured into the northwest were getting hungry rations at the same time. The large-scale famine was a major test of the grain reserves in the northwest, and Jiang Li had to buy grain from Southeast Asia, the United States and other places thousands of miles away. Grain convoys flocked to the northwest from all over the country were endless. It is also these extremely cheap labor to lay the most solid foundation for the infrastructure construction of the northwest. Let the big projects that usually take a lot of money to promote. Because the addition of these hungry people was able to spread out quickly. Those white designers can be seen all over the Northwest ground. Engineers are busy, and around them, there will always be some young engineers, apprentices, and students of the Republic of China. There is also a busy laborer.

Compared with these sensational construction scenes, the military reform and expansion of the 15th Route Army was also in full swing, relying on a steady stream of funds from all over the United States, the original mixed brigade was directly reorganized into a division. The provisional brigade was organized into a full-fledged brigade. With the addition of two divisions directly expanded, by the end of the 23rd year of the Republic of China, the 15th Route Army was expanded to 16 infantry divisions, 5 infantry brigades, and 3 cavalry brigades in one go. The armored forces, special forces, and aviation units have all been expanded to a certain extent. The various units were filled with a large number of new soldiers, and the 15th Route Army had a significant decline in combat strength due to the filling of new soldiers, and the artillery was seriously underequipped. However, the total number of troops was expanded to nearly 300,000 in one go, and such a scale was even if it was nested in the northwest. It's also a behemoth. In addition to Nanjing, Japan sent a lot of fine work to the northwest. But he never expected Jiang Li to expand his troops to such a point in a short period of time.

"Since you entered the Northwest, you have been in the camp step by step, and it is rare to see such a radical time." Huang Xiansheng walked along the verdant Yellow River embankment with Jiang Li and others, overlooking the crowd at the repair wharf and said.

"The Soviet Union's first five-year plan for industry and military has made great progress, and since the assassination of Inukai Takeshi, Japan's militarist forces have risen, and its investment in the military has also increased day by day. This time, the army was expanded to such a scale in one go, and it was also taken advantage of the fact that Japan has not made a big move now, and in a year or two, the new recruits who have entered the army will almost be able to train into veterans. Japan is also accumulating strength now, and I can't let a group of recruits fight hard with the Japanese, and the pace of military expansion in the next two years will not be small. Jiang Li nodded and said, "Although the intensity may not be as great as this year, it is much higher than before, and at least seven divisions will be expanded in the next two years." ”

"The intensity of this expansion is relatively large, and the production speed of the arsenal can also keep up, and now the 15th Route Army has become a wing, sitting in the northwest, and is no longer afraid of Nanjing, and now the red regime is in danger, and is surrounded and intercepted by the central army. Liu Lanbo said in an almost pleading tone at this time.

"Congwen, the situation of the Red * Army is indeed critical now, you see if you can provide some help at this time." At this time, Huang Xiansheng also frowned and said.

"At this time, it is the peak of the construction of the northwest, hundreds of millions of dollars of machinery continue to be transported from the east to the west, if you commit the taboo of Nanjing, directly send troops, this hundreds of millions of dollars can be lost, and there is no way to guarantee the war of resistance later." Jiang Li felt a little tricky, "In this way, you send someone to send a sum of money to the Red Army, and I will send someone to bring money to open up some relationships, so that the Red Army's westward retreat will be smoother." ”

"The Red * Army retreated all the way west, far away from the 15th Route Army, trekking through mountains and rivers, and passing through the territory of so many people, it is unrealistic to directly send troops to help, and it is safe to have money to make the ghost grind." Huang Xiansheng nodded and agreed with Jiang Li's approach. In the Republic of China, money is sometimes better than knives and guns.

Jiang Li himself has no aversion to the red regime, the Red Army that can complete the Long March through difficulties and dangers is undoubtedly elite, if there is a northwest weapon and equipment, it is also a strong force of the Anti-Japanese War, but in Jiang Li's eyes, the significance of the Red Army is far more than that, before due to the large-scale introduction of technology and equipment, the northwest has been relatively close to the United States and Germany, and the lack of close cooperation has led to the relationship with the Soviet Union has not been improved, and the arrival of the Red Army can control Sichuan by the way, In addition, the merger with the Northwest and the Red Army also has a certain Soviet gene, and under the shadow of the Soviet Union, it can get more support from the Soviet Union during the Anti-Japanese War, otherwise with the strength of the Soviet Union, it will absolutely not be able to sit idly by and watch a strong pro-American or pro-German regime grow up in the Far East, if the Northwest is strong enough on the battlefield, I am afraid that the Soviet Union will even secretly reach an agreement with the Kwantung Army in the Far East and pull the Northwest back. It made the road of the War of Resistance more difficult, on the contrary, if it was a pro-Soviet regime that grew up in the Republic of China, it could at least win a breather for China. The Red regime did not want to find a father of the Soviet Union, and its historical closeness to the Soviet Union did stem from the strength of the Soviet Union and the weakness of the domestic defense industry. In fact, between countries, there are only eternal interests, and in the end, because of interests, did they not part ways with the Soviet Union? As long as there is enough strength, even if it is from the same source, it will eventually go on a strange path, if the strength is enough to control the domestic discourse, who is willing to give up Japan's war reparations and give up Outer Mongolia? (To be continued.) )