Traveling through 1942 with space

Chapter 344: A Year of Despair, Donating Cannons

It is now the beginning of August and the weather has reached its hottest stage.

When many families were resting, Hou Xiaoge's family was not idle, but were applying fertilizer to the fields.

"Heiwa, how is our corn? I applied more manure several times, and now it is taller than my calves." Wang Maimiao in the field asked Hou Xiaoge excitedly, wearing a straw hat.

"It's growing well. It's as tall as my calf now. There are still three months until mid-November when it's time to plant wheat, which is enough time to harvest a crop of corn." Hou Xiaoge nodded as he looked at the corn hiding under the drooping tobacco leaves.

"Hey! This year looks like another bumper year.

Let me tell you a secret. Some time ago, I picked all those vegetables and made stewed dishes, and I earned more than twenty dollars!" Wang Maimiao said, smiling as he spread manure under the corn and tobacco leaves.

"Mom, you should pay more attention to rest when you are working. If you can't do heavy work like spreading fertilizer in such hot weather, just hire some villagers to do it.

If you have time to set up a stall in the market and earn two dollars a day, you can hire seven or eight people." Hou Xiaoge said with a wry smile, looking at his adopted mother and several siblings whose faces were sunburned.

"You kid, I'm just worried that others won't do their work carefully! Besides, we have people at home, so if we can hire people to help, wouldn't we become landlords?

There are quite a few people in our village working in Tianmen Group, earning more than ten dollars a month. There are also quite a few rich people, and they all farm peacefully.

We should be low-key, otherwise it is easy to cause disasters. "Wang Maimiao rolled his eyes at Hou Xiaoge and said unhappily.

"Forehead!"

Hou Xiaoge really wants to say that our current income and conditions may not be comparable to those of ordinary landowners.

However, Hou Xiaoge swallowed the words back when they were about to come out of his throat.

Because according to our family's situation, we have finally taken root here, and it would be too difficult to move away.

He also knew what would happen in the country in the future. The local lords all had a bad ending. He should learn from his cheap mother and keep a low profile.

"Mom, I just saw in the fields that many villagers didn't plant corn. Only a few of them did. What's going on?" Hou Xiaoge changed the subject.

“It’s because they don’t believe they can harvest a crop of corn! Some families don’t have enough manure, so they don’t plant.

Don't worry about them, we don't owe them anything, and they will regret it when we harvest the corn." Wang Maimiao explained.

"Ok!"

Hou Xiaoge understood from her mother's tone that Wang Maimiao must have had an argument with someone in the village, otherwise she would not have said that.

But the opportunity was given to the villagers, but they didn't seize it. They deserve to regret it later!

Hou Xiaoge stayed at home for three or four days. He was worried when he heard the radio broadcasting reports on the domestic war.

It was now mid-August, the weather was at its hottest, and the war of resistance became even more difficult.

Hou Xiaoge was well-versed in history and often watched TV dramas and movies. He knew that this year was the most difficult year in the later period of the War of Resistance.

As the War of Resistance entered the middle and late stages, the industrial potential of Da Piaoliang exploded, and planes and warships were produced in large numbers. The number of planes of the Kuomintang and the Allied forces exceeded that of the Japanese.

Because of the excellent performance of the big, beautiful planes and their greater numbers than those of the Japanese, the Japanese have been the losers in the air force since this year.

The Allied forces naturally took advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy, especially the Great Piaoliang, whose bombing completely disregarded the feelings of the Chinese people.

The B29 Flying Fortress bombers often flew out from Sichuan Province to bomb Taiwan Province and the Japanese's lairs, which angered the Japanese.

In order to retaliate against Da Piaoliang for bombing their own lair, the Japanese began to mobilize massive troops, expand the occupied area, and destroy the airports of the Kuomintang and the Allied forces.

Now the war has been going on for four months. Henan, Hunan and Guangxi have become a huge battlefield. More than two million people have died, and tens of millions are struggling to survive under the oppression of the Japanese.

Hou Xiaoge's family often heard such broadcasts and were so angry that they kept cursing the Japanese at home.

……

"Hey! Heiwa, we are living a good life now, and I don't know how your father is doing now.

In the past year or so, I often dreamed that your father was covered in blood and smiled at me. The Japanese have occupied our hometown again. I am afraid your father is gone. "After listening to the broadcast, Wang Maimiao choked up and said to his children.

"Ugh!"

Hou Xiaoge sent people to look for his cheap father last year after he was drafted into the army. However, society is so chaotic now that finding someone is harder than climbing to the sky. He could only sigh helplessly.

"Heiwa, the kid from Tianmen Group in the village has been collecting donations recently, saying that Yanhuang League can help buy cannons and donate them to his hometown.

You were not here a few days ago, so I donated ten dollars.

Now that you're back, you're the boss of our family, and I'd like to ask for your opinion.

Our family is doing OK now, and we have less than four hundred dollars left at home.

Although most of it is earned by you, I still want to donate 300 yuan to fight the Japanese invaders, what do you think?" Wang Maimiao said, looking at his son cautiously.

"Mom, I fully support the anti-Japanese war, but why aren't you keeping a low profile now?" Hou Xiaoge now admired this strong mother who was only about 1.5 meters tall.

"Everyone in the village has donated. Two workers in Erdan's family donated two hundred dollars at once. There is nothing for me to be afraid of by standing out." Wang Maimiao shook his head and said.

"Well, you keep the money. I just happened to use the connections of a few good friends to get an infantry gun from the alliance.

I will drive it back and donate it to the village on behalf of my family, and then donate it to the army in my hometown." Hou Xiaoge looked at her mother's expectant eyes and replied with a smile.

"Heiwa, you got a cannon? That's great. You are worthy of being my son. You are the most promising one in the village.

But I still want to donate this money, another 200! Anyway, my family doesn't spend much money now, so I support your father in fighting the Japanese devils." Wang Maimiao thought of her man's bloody body smiling at her and she wanted to kill all the Japanese devils.

"I'll listen to you!"

Two days later, Hou Xiaoge drove a car with a cannon in the car back to the village.

"What a big cannon, Heiwa, is this the infantry cannon you mentioned?" The villagers looked at the 75mm infantry cannon, each with an excited look on their face, and kept touching the gun barrel.

"Yes! This is a Prussian infantry gun. It can fire at a maximum range of ten miles." Hou Xiaoge explained while patting the removed tire.

"My god, it's so far!"

"Heiwa, how much does this cannon cost?"

"A brand new one costs 50,000 yuan, and this one is second-hand, for 30,000 yuan. I know several friends whose families are wealthy and they provided the money, so I provided a channel." Hou Xiaoge lied with his eyes open.

"Thirty thousand? Oh my god. Our village has only donated three thousand five hundred yuan in total. It seems we can only buy a cannon wheel." Everyone was a little discouraged.

"Three thousand five is not a small amount. I have a channel to buy a 60mm mortar." Hou Xiaoge comforted with a smile.

"Mortar? Is that the kind we have in our village?" some villagers who didn't know asked in confusion.

"The two weapons in our village are the Japanese's grenade launchers, not mortars. Mortars are also cannons. Heiwa, buy that one!" said the guard elder excitedly.

Hou Xiaoge collected the money from the village, then took out an 80mm mortar from the space, saying it was money from a friend's family.

In addition to this mortar, the village also donated ten extra guns, two thousand rounds of ammunition, and reluctantly gave up a grenade launcher and thirty shells.

In addition to Nanjiagou Village, several other villages of Tianmen Group also donated three mortars and fifty rifles.

Several villages donated four mortars, an infantry gun, and sixty rifles, which directly shocked the entire government.

When the villagers were beating drums and gongs to escort the cannon to Henan Province, Hou Xiaoge also quietly followed.

……

August is the height of summer in the north. The weather is scorching and the air is distorted by the sun.

However, this weather is not terrible for the military and civilians in the country. What is terrible is that the Japanese this year are like mad dogs, sweeping the country crazily.

At this time, the Central Plains Battle was taking place in Henan Province. After experiencing a great famine, Henan Province had just recovered a glimmer of life, but was destroyed again by the ruthless war.

On the ground, the Japanese were burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of atrocities. The thousands of miles of plains were filled with blood and fire.

However, the Kuomintang army was slow to respond due to the corruption and fear of death of its high-ranking generals, who were afraid of fighting and had slow dispatch, and frequently missed opportunities to fight. As a result, more than one million troops were defeated by the Japanese invaders, who accounted for less than one-third of their troops.

As the saying goes, if one soldier is cowardly, the whole general will be cowardly. If the leadership is not good, no matter how powerful the soldiers are, it will be useless.

After years of fighting, the old soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and most of the new recruits were afraid of war, so they were defeated and retreated hundreds of miles after being hit by the Japanese.

It would be fine if you retreat, but these defeated soldiers often commit all kinds of atrocities during their escape, and are even more vicious than the Japanese.

For a time, the whole Central Plains was shouting slogans of "floods, droughts and locusts."

Many ordinary people who were bullied by the Kuomintang's defeated soldiers would rather believe the Japanese than the Kuomintang soldiers, and even helped the Japanese to encircle and suppress these defeated soldiers.

For a moment, a funny scene appeared in the Central Plains. A company and a battalion of Kuomintang soldiers from Jingchang were directly disarmed and captured by the local militia.

When the villagers of Nanjiagou heard how cowardly the Kuomintang soldiers were, they almost donated their ammunition directly to the Eighth Master.

But this cannot be done. After all, it has been reported in the newspapers and has caused such a sensation. If this is done, these people will not be able to go back.

"Brother Yangmin, who should we donate these weapons to?" In the car, several villagers looked at Hou Yangmin with confusion.