Chapter 173 Railways

From Duyun to the south, the terrain is even more rugged, which also seriously increases the difficulty of railway construction...... The construction of the less than 100-kilometer railway from Duyun to Mawei in southern Guizhou took several months to build in the first half of this year. The materials and money required are far greater than those in the plains.

Now, fortunately, this section of the railway has already been built, otherwise it would have taken several months to build the railway to Yongning. Now, the railway is very busy, and all the trains that run are transporting various supplies for the construction of the railway ahead, such as steel rails, sleepers, cement, and food consumed by tens of thousands of people every day.

When Wang Yuze arrived at Mawei, it was almost dark. This remote mountain village has now become the command center for the construction of the Guiyang-Yongning railway. Because Wang Yuze attaches great importance to this railway, the Minister of Transportation, Zhan Tianyou, even personally sits in order to ensure that the railway can be unblocked before the fleet returns to China next summer. Once the navy is completed and the port is built, it will become the passage to the sea in western Sichuan. Therefore, in a sense, this railway will become the lifeline of western Sichuan, which is very important.

The Guiyong Railway commands Zhongxing, which is only a row of more than a dozen bungalows, and more of them are just thatched houses built of wood at will. Of course, there are even worse houses, all of which are where prisoners of war who were captured by the Western Sichuan Army during last year's and this year's wars live. In the border clashes on the plateau, more than 20,000 Indian Asans who were captured were all sent to the construction team of the Guiyong Railway, and some of them were prisoners of war captured in last year's war. Among the tens of thousands of construction workers, less than 2,000 were hired. Of course, they are all people who know a little bit of technology, and the hard work is done by those prisoners of war, and they are much easier.

Wang Yuze's arrival attracted the attention of the guards. Because there were a large number of prisoners of war here, the Eighth Division, which was stationed in Guiyang, specially transferred two regiments of troops to protect the construction of the railway on the one hand, and to guard those prisoners of war on the other. In order to avoid the escape of prisoners of war or riots, which will affect the progress of railway construction. This is not uncommon. A few years ago, some prisoners of war working in the mines rioted, they blew up the mines with explosives, and they also robbed the guns of the mine guards, killing many people. Although the garrison arrived later and suppressed all the prisoners of war who rioted, this also caused a lot of damage to western Sichuan. This incident gave Sichuan West a stern warning, and for this reason, Sichuan West increased the protection of various mines, and at the same time, when it was necessary to use a large number of prisoners of war, troops were often sent to protect them to avoid a similar situation from happening again.

"Who are you? This is a military restricted area, no trespassing! Before they could get close, Wang Yuze was told by the guards of the guards.

"We are from Chengdu, Dashuaifu!" Wang Wei hurriedly said. "This is our ID!"

A guard came over and checked the documents, which read: Patrol embassy guards, major marshal adjutant, major! Suddenly, the guard was stunned. The major's adjutant appeared here, didn't this mean that the young man next to him was the major marshal?

"Wu Dahai, a soldier of the Second Regiment of the Eighth Division, has seen the commander. Hello young marshal! The guards hurriedly saluted Wang Wei, and then greeted Wang Yuze.

The other guards, seeing this situation, also reacted and greeted Wang Yuze one after another. Tong Guò's long-distance raid on Beijing last year and this year's border clashes have established his prestige in the army, and many soldiers regard him as an object of worship.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for your gastronomy! Wang Yuze greeted everyone with a smile before entering the command center.

The movement here has already attracted the attention of the inside. After learning that it was the young marshal who came, Zhan Tianyou personally greeted him.

"Young Marshal, how did you get here?" Zhan Tianyou is a rectum person, and as soon as he saw Wang Yuze, he raised his own questions.

"I'm here to see if you have any difficulties, and second, the situation at the military port!" Wang Yuze said with a smile.

"Young marshal, let's go into the house and talk about it!" Zhan Tianyou invited Wang Yuze into the command center.

Zhan Tianyou's office is only a small room of less than 20 square meters, except for a desk, a cabinet and a few chairs, there is no other furniture, it looks very simple. In addition, there is a stowed camp bed in the corner. Obviously, in addition to Zhan Tianyou's office, this is also his bedroom.

"Minister Zhan, the conditions are more difficult! Please overcome it a lot! Wang Yuze said.

"It's all right, young marshal. I'm still young and totally up to it. As long as the railways in western Sichuan can be built more and more, and the people's lives can be better and better, I will be satisfied! Zhan Tianyou said with a smile. Zhan Tianyou, who was born in 6 years, was only old at this time. Among the ministries of the Western Sichuan Cabinet, he is the youngest minister. It's just that he doesn't attach much importance to power and the like, and he is focused on railway construction.

"The people will remember you for your work. Minister Zhan, are there any difficulties that I need to solve on the Guiyong Railway? Wang Yuze said. He attaches great importance to this railway, and must ensure that it will be completed and opened to traffic in the middle of next year.

"Young marshal, the difficulties are great, but we can all overcome them. The main sections of the Guiyong Railway belong to the karst landform, which is very difficult to build and the cost is also very high. In many places, there is no way to use large-scale engineering equipment, so you have to use manpower. In terms of manpower, because there are more prisoners of war, it is still relatively sufficient. In terms of opening time, we will also try to ensure it. Now the main difficulty, there are two. First, the consumption of prisoners of war is relatively large, and in only half a month, thousands of Indian prisoners of war have been killed. I'm afraid that if this railway is opened, those Indian prisoners of war will die cleanly. Zhan Tianyou said.

"It's okay! Those who are not of my people will have different hearts! These Indian Ah San, you can use it though. The British didn't treat them as human beings at all, and we naturally didn't care about them. Whatever work is the hardest, most tiring and most threatening, you can let them do it! Wang Yuze said indifferently. The reputation of the Indians is very terrifying, and in later generations, they are almost about to surpass China. Even now, India has almost 400 million people, not much less than China. More than 20,000 Indian Asan, it is not an important thing at all.

Zhan Tianyou nodded, he didn't feel unbearable or anything. Having studied in the United States, he naturally knew the tragic situation of Chinese workers when they were building the American Pacific Railroad.

"Young marshal, we can use these Indians however we want. However, other Han prisoners of war, we don't have to be so ruthless. At the end of the day, they are still our compatriots. However, after the unification of the whole country in western Sichuan, there are still a large number of railways to be built, which require a lot of manpower! Zhan Tianyou said with some concern. With the current state of technology, building a railway is a deadly job. It doesn't feel like a foreigner to die. But if you are your own compatriots, you will be a little unbearable.

"When you are building, try to keep everyone safe! In addition, I will go through other ways to provide you with enough labor. There are many monkeys in Southeast Asia, as well as the three of them in India. It's imperative, let's spend money on a little bit of it! Wang Yuze said.

"Monkeys?" Zhan Tianyou was stunned for a moment, and then he figured out that this was Wang Yuze's name for those people in Southeast Asia.

"Okay, young marshal, in this case, the first problem is solved. The second question, judging from the current layout of western Sichuan, Guangxi will become the passage to the sea in western Sichuan. However, the capacity of this railway is limited, and even after the railway is completed, I am afraid that it will not be able to bear the annual foreign trade volume of western Sichuan. Zhan Tianyou said.

Wang Yuze hesitated for a moment, and then said: "While building the railway, the construction of the highway cannot be relaxed. In addition, after the railway is completed, a double line will be built, so that the capacity will be more than doubled. With the addition of the Yangtze River waterway, it should be enough for the time being. After we overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty, there will be more outlets to the sea, and there will be no more such troubles! ”

"Hmmm! Young marshal, then I'll rest assured! Zhan Tianyou smiled.

When it came to Zhan Tianyou's sincere smile and his face that looked old because of overwork, Wang Yuze felt very uncomfortable. However, he has no choice, who called the current China too backward? And the railway is the main artery of a country. In the whole of China, more than 100,000 kilometers of railways need to be built. At present, the railways in western Sichuan, even if they are under construction, are only more than 10,000 kilometers, and the difference is too far and too far. Even in this mouthful, zhèngfu requires a lot of investment.

Wang Yuze spent three days at the Guiyong Railway Center to inspect the construction of the railway. I have to say that it is really very difficult to build the Guiyong Railway, and it is common to open mountains and build bridges. Because of the road, the erection of the steel rail often needs to be carried by manpower. A section of steel rail, weighing almost one ton, can only be carried by dozens of prisoners of war, and the road is rough, and various accidents often occur. Almost every day, prisoners of war die.

In this regard, Wang Yuze is very light. Just because he keeps in mind the words "those who are not of my race will have different hearts", if these corpses of Indian Ah San can be exchanged for the construction of China's railways, there seems to be nothing wrong with it.

Thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Communications, although it is very difficult, the Guiyong Railway is still under rapid construction. It is expected to be repaired to Yongning in February next year. From Yongning to Beihai, Fangchenggang and Zhanjiang, it is relatively much easier. In the middle of next year, the passage to the sea in western Sichuan will be officially unblocked.

ps: The third update is here, ask for a subscription, ask for a monthly pass! To be continued