Shanghai, Pudong, suburbs of Zhuqiao Town

In the distant future, this low-lying wetland near the mouth of the Yangtze River will be filled with a magnificent and modern airport of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, as well as China's first shiyan maglev train track, which is full of high-tech and wonderful atmosphere.

But at the end of 1934, there was still only a vast rice field and barren reeds.

“…… Tsk, is this the sea? How is it not blue? It looks much more turbid than the mountain stream in our hometown! ”

In the bitter cold wind, platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan carried a grenade catapult on his back, a 56 semi-automatic rifle on his shoulder, a pistol and a tactical dagger in his waist, and squinted at the endless river -- or sea -- in front of him. In the eyes of this Jiangxi man, although the Yangtze River estuary in winter is sunny and sparkling, the cold weather, bare fields and muddy yellow river water do not give him a very good impression.

-- The Red Tenth Army's journey from Suzhou to the east, on the edge of this land south of the Yangtze River, finally came to the end of Zuihou.

Further east, there is the magnificent sea. It was from there that the fleets of the imperialist powers that invaded China came through the waves.

Therefore, platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan was ordered to take his platoon and stationed it here, and began to build the coastal defense observation post of the Shanghai Commune.

Today, the construction of the Haiphong observation post is only in its infancy. The reason why Dong Xiaoshan, the platoon commander, was not in the construction team at this time was because he had just gone to the battalion headquarters set up in Zhuqiao Town. I came back with this month's military salary and the construction money for the coastal defense post.

- Well, strictly speaking, within the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army before the War of Resistance. There is no real sense of military pay.

Because most of the revolutionary base areas where the Red Army was located at that time were economically backward, barren land, and sparsely populated, and were all under military encirclement and economic blockade by the enemy, the military and civilian daily necessities were very scarce, and they often could not buy things even if they had money. Therefore, most of the Red Army abolished the salary system and adopted a supply system. Only occasionally some pocket money was issued, and the accounts were made public, and the officers and men were treated absolutely equally - from the commander to the men. In addition to food, they will eat food for five cents. When giving out pocket money, the two corners are all two corners, and the four corners are all four corners, and there has never been an officer who eats and drinks spicy food. The soldiers were hungry and cold, and they had no food or clothing. Therefore, even if the money has not been paid for a long time. The soldiers did not resent anything, and there was almost no trouble.

It is precisely this spirit of unanimity among officers and men who share weal and woe that enables the Red Army soldiers to maintain a high degree of unity under all difficult and difficult conditions.

Therefore, the military salary received by platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan this time should actually be regarded as this month's pocket money and red envelopes to celebrate the founding of the Shanghai Commune -- in order to make the soldiers more impressed by the new currency, everyone in the Red Tenth Army issued a complete set of plastic "Shanghai tickets" today, ranging from 100 yuan banknotes to dimes, totaling 188 yuan and eight jiao. It's a very auspicious number.

According to the actual purchasing power after converting into the price of salt, this money is about six oceans in Shanghai. That's a lot of money.

In addition to the red envelopes received by the officers and men of the platoon, platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan also received funds for the construction of the coastal defense observation post -- originally the soldiers could do it themselves, but because the construction deadline was urgent, they had to spend money to recruit hired workers on the spot so as to speed up the construction progress...... On his way back to the construction site, platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan still spoke Shanghainese for emergency special training, shouting to every village he passed:

“…… Recruit short-term workers! Recruit short-term workers! Dig soil and repair houses for the Red Army, manage two meals in the morning and evening, and issue two yuan Shanghai tickets every day! ”

At present, it is the winter farming season in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is still quite far from the lively Spring Festival, and there are many idlers in the countryside on the outskirts of Shanghai who have nothing to do all day long. Although there were some doubts about the newly arrived Red Army, a few people tried to keep up one after another.

So, when Dong Xiaoshan returned to the seaside station, five or six local young men came behind him.

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Dong Xiaoshan: The station of their platoon is at the location of the Shanghai International Airport in the future. At this time, under a fluttering red flag, the soldiers of the whole platoon were shouting the horn in full swing together with more than a dozen hired migrant workers, sweating in this cold winter wax moon, and striving to repair the coastal defense observation post.

The so-called coastal defense observation post is actually quite rudimentary, that is, a relatively solid piece of land is selected very close to the coastline, where a small mound is built with mud and stones, and then a watchtower is built on the mound -- Shanghai is located at the end of the Yangtze River Delta on a low and flat terrain, and there are almost no peaks on the coastline.

With 20 to 50 observation posts like this, the Red Tenth Army is preparing to build 20 to 50 of them along the coast, which, together with the early warning radars being erected by the traversers, will be able to carry out an all-round alert on the sea surface in the east in case of a sudden attack by the fleets of the imperialist powers.

Of course, for the Shanghai migrant workers who are hired to dig earthwork and build bricks, they are more concerned about the payment they say in advance.

“…… Boss, no matter what we say, we have also worked for you for a day, and my hands are so tired that I am cramping! How can you just give a few bizarre red tickets to deceive people? I've never seen such a small bill in my life! Even the banknotes of the central bank are not like this! ”

A swarthy and thin young man, holding a two-yuan Shanghai ticket with a 107 MLRS pattern, protested with an unhappy face.

“…… Fellow, don't worry, our Red Army is a trustworthy army, and we will not lie to you to work in vain! Platoon Commander Dong Xiaoshan patiently persuaded and explained, "...... All you have to do is take this bill to Zhuqiao Town, and someone will exchange it for you there! No bullying! One dollar ticket for one pound of salt! ”

As a matter of fact, the old Red Army soldiers from the mountainous areas of Jiangxi were generally very much in favor of the Soviet government's issuance of the salt standard currency, and they had the impression that salt should almost be able to be directly spent as money -- for example, platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan clearly remembered that when he was in his hometown, his family was very poor and often could not afford to eat salt. I once wanted to marry a girl I liked in the village, and the dowry price offered by the other party's parents was fifty catties of salt. As a result, he had to run to the field and cry, and then through his tears, he tasted a little salty taste that he had not seen for a long time......

But the problem is that the natives of Shanghai do not seem to think so, and have very little confidence in the reputation and integrity of the Soviet government.

For this reason, platoon commander Dong Xiaoshan had to go to great lengths to persuade them to dispel the idea of insisting on silver or copper dollars...... To be honest, it's simply more tiring than fighting. So much so that he was so preoccupied with the quarrel that he did not pay attention to the situation on the surface of the water at all. As a result, when he was stunned to hear a cannon shot, and turned back to see a large iron ship flying the flag of the rising sun spitting tongues of fire on the shore, it was already too late.

“…… Damn it! It's a gunboat of the Japanese devils! Lie down! (To be continued......)