Although the Chinese army has far surpassed neighboring Japan in terms of absolute numbers, Zhang Hanqing knows that modern warfare is not only about numerical superiority, but more importantly, strategic surprise and the ability to concentrate troops.
To effectively control such a large country and achieve the purpose of deterring hostile forces in terms of national defense, for a traditional land power like China, mobility capabilities, that is, strategic transportation capabilities, are very important. If sufficient troops cannot be invested in decisive battles, the batch deployment of friendly forces far away cannot quench the thirst for near water, which can only be a tactic to add fuel to the fire.
Not only for military needs, transportation is also a very important factor in economic development. Isn't there a saying: "If you want to be rich, build roads first." The first very important national development strategy of the People's Government is the transportation construction, and its implementation started with tariff independence.
In other words, only with tariff independence can the government have the financial capacity to complete this major project that has attracted worldwide attention.
The benefits of tariff independence are very obvious: except for Kanto Prefecture, which Japan still occupies, other places have already realized state-owned customs. By the end of 1924, Harbin had firmly occupied the top spot in China's customs tax revenue, which provided a great contribution to the booming national economy. Development was infused with necessary blood and nutrients.
When the government of the Republic of China nationalized customs duties, a large industrial and trade zone was formed across the country, led by Shanghai and followed by Guangzhou, except for Northeast China. Due to the increase in foreign trade, fiscal revenue has increased significantly compared with last year, which truly reflects the economic capabilities of the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta and greatly guarantees the various constructions of the central government.
It is precisely with this opportunity that China's railway construction under Zhang Hanqing's plan has begun with great vigor. The person in charge of railway construction arranged by Zhang Hanqing was Lu Zuofu, who was surprising but had to be praised later.
Zhang Hanqing used talents like Lu Zuofu in an eclectic way, even though they were not members of the Kuomintang. But in terms of the great cause of building a new China, he believes that the People's Party should have a grand mind, save everything, use its talents according to its capabilities, and attract a large number of outstanding people from outside the party to join the government.
The exclusion and fear of people outside the party are precisely manifestations of lack of self-confidence, and the party¡¯s United Front Work Department should play the above-mentioned role.
In the early years of the Republic of China, after the changes in the late Qing Dynasty, people's wisdom was opened up, and enriching the country and strengthening the people became the inevitable choice for this nation to rise again. It is China's good fortune and the People's Party's greatest achievement to have a group of China's best intellectual elites take their own responsibility for the rise and fall of the country and take the initiative to devote themselves to the comprehensive reform of politics, economy, and ideological concepts.
Because these intellectuals possess a noble character that has never been matched by businessmen of past dynasties: regardless of personal wealth, they strive to revitalize the national economy.
The total railway mileage in old China is the lowest among major countries, even far less than India. And China's railways are concentrated in the northeast. In such a huge country, there were only a few trunk lines that could be counted in the customs before entering the customs: the Beijing-Hankou, Guangdong-Hankou Railway and Jinpu-Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, which were separated by the Yangtze River, were far from being connected. The Longhai Railway, as well as the Shijiazhuang-Taiwan Railway and the Qingjiao Line built for coal transportation.
Under the leadership of the People's Party, it took three and four years to build two road and railway bridges in Wuhan and Nanjing on the Yangtze River. The most important Beijing-Shanghai line and Beijing-Guangzhou line were fully connected. This is A remarkable achievement.
For the most difficult western route of the Longhai Line, Zhang Hanqing started planning since he entered the northwest. The large amount of funds he invested in the northwest and five years of reserves allowed the western route to be put into operation even earlier than the middle section.
It was also because of the final destruction of the direct line that it became possible to connect Tongguan to Luoyang. In 1924, it was successfully opened to traffic under the attention of the Transportation Committee. In this way, trains from Haizhou can reach Lanzhou directly, and the planned Longhai Line is fully connected.
However, in order to connect the northwest border, Zhang Hanqing began the research and construction of the westward extension section based on the Longhai Line.
The reason for research and construction is that while planning, we should start construction on easier routes first based on the principle of easier things first and then harder ones. After gaining corresponding experience, we can start construction on other road sections. This method is carried out everywhere.
In order to compete for economic rights with the South Manchuria Railway under Japanese control, the Jingjia Line built by the old Feng|Feng government was also completed. This main line starts from Beijing, connects Chengde and Chifeng in Rehe Province, passes through Tongliao, and goes from Taipingchuan to Da'an and Harbin. It connects to the North-Manchuria Railway and reaches the terminal station Jiamusi. It bypasses the important cities in the Northeast, Shenyang and Changchun, and becomes the successor to Beijing and Fengcheng ( Shenyang) line is another strategic artery.
It intersects with the newly built Tonghua-Zhengjiatun branch line in Taipingchuan, which can ensure that it can reach the Tonghua and Ji'an lines on the China-North Korea border in a short time, seriously threatening Japan's military presence in the Northeast.
Since the Northeast will be the frontline of the battle between China and Japan, this war-ready railway has been built, and the central government will gradually shift the focus of industry, transportation, and economy to the inland to enhance the country's ability to resist risks¡ª¡ª ¡ª¡ªThis is the same as not putting your eggs in one basket.
The 4 horizontal and 4 vertical railway planned by Sun Yat-sen during his lifetime has been fully constructed. In addition to the Beijing-Guangzhou Line and the Beijing-Shanghai Line, which have already been opened to traffic, all main lines have been launched at the same time. If there is no money, finding solutions through national allocation, provincial fund-raising, debt borrowing, etc. is called "creating conditions but also improving".
According to the plan, all provinces will start construction first if they have conditions and good economic performance, and also adopt the method of segmented construction and segmented operation to maximize the return of funds. The main projects that will start construction in the first phase include:
1. Based on the Zhengtai Railway (Zhengding, Hebei to Taiyuan, Shanxi) and Jiaoji Railway (Qingdao-Jinan), build a railway connecting Shijiazhuang-Hengshui-Dezhou, and reach Jinan through the Jinpu Line, forming Jiaotai line;
2. Build a difficult railway between the mountains of Sichuan Province, known as the "Land of Abundance": the Chengdu-Chongqing Line (Chengdu-Chongqing) to connect the two largest cities in the southwest through the Yangtze River waterway in Chongqing , contributing Sichuan¡¯s rich products to the outside world;
3. Build a branch line between the Guangdong-Hankong Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway under construction, and extend it east and west to form a transportation artery. Initially, Zhuzhou, Hunan, Xinyu, Jiangxi, and Xiangyong will be used as branch lines, and eventually the east and west will be extended to form Jin. The (China)-Guizhou (China) line may be extended to Kunming when the time is right.
There is also an important branch line from Wuchang to Jiujiang in the south of the Yangtze River, as well as a Lanzhou-Dunhuang section that connects the northwest, and eventually extends to Xinjiang to become the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Line, which serves as a strategic channel connecting the central and northwest and opening up the road to Europe.
4. Because Shanxi has Luliang Mountain in the west and Taihang Mountain in the east, it has become necessary to build a trunk line Tongpu Railway that runs through the north and south of the province in relatively prosperous Shanxi.
The planned Tong-Pu Railway is a north-south railway line running through central Shanxi Province, from Datong at the northernmost end via Taiyuan to Fenglingdu, Puzhou Town, Yongji City at the southernmost end. The total length is 865 kilometers, bounded by Taiyuan, and divided into North Tongpu and South Tongpu.
In addition, in order to enhance the country¡¯s ability to control the northern border, Zhang Hanqing also actively planned the Beijing-Kujiang Line. This line was first built from Beijing to Zhangjiakou, and then extended to Jining at an appropriate opportunity.
It will be bifurcated here into two sections, one heading west to connect Guisui, the provincial capital of Suiyuan (modern Hohhot) and Baotou, and one continuing north to Kulun, the capital of the Mongolian Autonomous Province. When the opportunity permits, it will communicate with Soviet transportation lines.
In Lanzhou, the focus of the Longhai Line and the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Line, a Lanbao Line connecting Ningxia and Suiyuan will be built. It starts from Lanzhou in the southwest, passes through Zhongwei, Yinchuan, Wuhai and Linhe in the northeast to Baotou, and is connected to the railway from Beijing to Baotou. The purpose is to use Lanzhou's important geographical location to conveniently transport Baotou's energy resources to Lanzhou, and to radiate the entire northwest through the development of Lanzhou.
In terms of connecting the southwest and the capital, the Beijing-Chongqing line starting from Chongqing, passing through Da County, Ankang, Xi'an, Jiexiu, Taiyuan, and passing through Yuanping to Beijing is also on the agenda. Because the Longhai Railway has reached Baoji in the west, the Ministry of Railways used its main force to "smash" the mountain roads leading from Chengdu to Mianyang to Guangyuan to Yangpingguan. It only took nearly 29 months to connect the railway tracks. We arrived at the Longhai Line where Baoji is located.
Considering the seriousness of traffic in this area and its importance to the development of Southwest China after its opening to traffic, it is not an exaggeration to describe the central government and the people of Sichuan as "overjoyed".
As an important passage from central Sichuan to the outside world, the Guizhou-Chongqing line from Chongqing to Guizhou has also started construction. Once connected to the planned Jin (Hua) Gui (Zhou) Line, the Land of Abundance can also easily communicate with major trunk lines, truly forming a dense transportation network across the country.
Looking at the scale of China¡¯s railway construction, Zhang Hanqing is not complacent. Because compared with the scale of railway construction in the United States on the other side of the ocean, China's actions can only be regarded as childish.
In the 10 years from 1880 to 1890, the operating mileage of main railway lines in the United States increased from 150,000 kilometers to 268,000 kilometers, with an average annual construction of 11,800 kilometers. Among them, the average annual construction from 1886 to 1890 was 12,400 kilometers, which is 3.6 times the planned annual scale of railway construction in my country's "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" 120 years later!
In 1885, the population of the United States was less than 50 million, which was only equivalent to half the population of Henan Province; the annual steel production was less than 2 million tons; the total assets of the 4,350 banks in the United States were only US$2.4 billion.
It can also be compared with the emphasis on transportation in Tsarist Russia: the Trans-Siberian Railway spent 1.46 billion rubles from 1891 to 1901, far exceeding the military expenditure during the same period. Even at the height of the Russo-Japanese War, the Russians did not stop the pace of its construction. Instead, they worked hard and forcibly opened the Trans-Siberian Railway on July 13, 1904.
The development of the war further proved the importance of this railway: Although Russia suffered a defeat in the Far East, Japan did not receive any compensation during the post-war negotiations due to the long-term mobilization significance and transportation capabilities brought by the Trans-Siberian Railway. , basically a miserable victory.
China has such a vast territory, far less than other countries¡¯ territory, so Zhang Hanqing believes that China¡¯s railway construction still has great potential. ?(Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com)The long-term mobilization significance and transportation capacity brought by the Great Railway were not compensated by Japan in the post-war negotiations, which was basically a tragic victory.
China has such a vast territory, far less than other countries¡¯ territory, so Zhang Hanqing believes that China¡¯s railway construction still has great potential. ?(Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com