Chapter Six: All These Years
1924 is the Year of the Rat in the Chinese lunar calendar, which marks the beginning of a 12-year cycle. In Chinese history, rats are not despised but rather admired for their agility and industriousness. There's even a saying that "welcomes good fortune". Indeed, this rat year proved to be quite uneventful globally.
In the year of the ox, 1925, apart from the relatively good economic recovery in the world, the situation within China was not so calm. At the beginning of the new year, President Cao Kun of Beijing issued a decree to re-elect the House of Representatives. Sun Yat-sen, who was ill at the time, presided over an award ceremony at the Grand Marshal's Mansion in Guangzhou and later announced plans to establish a military academy in Guangzhou. However, this news did not have much impact. Instead, shortly after the award ceremony, the new financial policy issued by the Guangzhou Military Government, which aimed to unify finances, was met with direct resistance from the military.
While the situation in Guangzhou was still fermenting, contradictions between Cao Kun, Wu Peifu and Feng Yuxiang in the north began to intensify. Zhang Zuolin in the northeast watched with keen interest, a fierce and intense war between Zhili and Fengtian was inevitable.
1926 was a year of the tiger, and tigers are symbols of ferocity and power wherever they are found. They represent strength and authority that will not be challenged or usurped. Some people said it would be a disastrous year, with war likely to break out. Others said it would be an auspicious year, ideal for giving birth to a tiger baby. The population growth rate in the autonomous region did indeed show some increase that year, but it was far from being a peaceful one.
Not long after the new year began, Sun Yat-sen had just left Guangzhou to head north for negotiations, and Chen Jiongming, who had occupied Fujian as a warlord for some time, jumped out. He called himself the acting grand marshal, and soon afterwards Sun Yat-sen died of illness in Beijing. Later, a fierce struggle for power broke out between Mo Rongxin, the actual controller of Guangdong's military strength, and Chen Jiongming, the Fujian warlord. Chen Tianhua of Hunan and Long Jiguang of Jiangxi both stood by with folded arms, waiting to reap the benefits of the situation.
The internal strife of the Guangzhou warlord government had not yet subsided when Zhang Zuolin took advantage of the ongoing conflicts between Cao Kun, Wu Peifu and Feng Yuxiang to march on Beijing. Wu Peifu deliberately wanted to use someone else's hands to get rid of Feng Yuxiang and then wage a scattered war, resulting in Feng Yuxiang's defeat, and Zhang Zuolin's troops quickly entered Shanhaiguan. Later, when he was about to engage in a bloody battle with Zhang Zuolin, Sun Chuanfang, who controlled the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, took advantage of the situation to make trouble, sending troops to occupy Shandong and march on Henan.
In times of crisis, no one stood up to help the direct descendants. The warlords who had already formed their own factions only saw their own interests, so when domestic chaos erupted, those who took advantage of the situation far outnumbered those who helped each other.
Long Jiguang from Jiangxi seized the opportunity and sent troops to Hubei, but unexpectedly Chen Qian from Hunan was persuaded by people from the Western Autonomous Region at a critical moment. He abandoned his position as head of the Hunan Revolutionary Military Government, took a generous reward and a nominal vice-provincial post, and left with ease.
The army under his rule quickly accepted reorganization into the People's Army. He knew he couldn't afford to provoke the People's Army, and sooner or later Hunan would be annexed. It was better to accept "peaceful liberation" and leave some room for himself.
Chen Qian's actions this time were clearly arranged by the autonomous region. If he wanted to fight against the cunning Long Jiguang in Jiangxi, victory was certain, but the cost of war would be difficult for people to accept. Therefore, the People's Army needed to let Long Jiguang get his elite troops into a certain battle. Wu Peifu's forces in Hubei were not strong, but they could not be ignored either. So Long Jiguang thought that Chen Qian was still eyeing the great power of Guangzhou and launched an attack on Hubei, who would have thought...
The 10th Division, which was formed by the Second Army Group with the troops obtained from the 7th Division and some adjustments, naturally belonged to the First Army. It was this 10th Division that, along with the 9th Division of the Third Army Group, set out from Shaanxi and Guizhou respectively. The 9th Division received Hubei Province under Chen Qimei's command and then marched towards Jiangxi, forcing Long Jiguang to retreat and withdraw his troops attacking Hubei. Meanwhile, the 8th Division, which had set out from Sichuan, easily captured Xiangfan and Wuhan in Hubei, and subsequently controlled the two major provinces of Hunan and Hubei in China.
The People's Army's move did not cause much "resentment" from the outside world, after all, everyone can see that China has once again entered a period of warlordism. Although the Zhili clique later repelled the Fengtian clique, both major warlord groups suffered heavy losses, and the Zhili clique completely lost control of Hubei Province and Shandong, while the power struggle in Guangzhou also came to an end this year, it was a good show where a strong dragon crushed a local snake. Chen Jiongming replaced Mo Rongxin as the ruler of Guangdong, and without Sun Yat-sen by his side, he simply rebuilt the military government himself.
After Chen Jiongming became the Grand Marshal of the Guangzhou Military Government, he brought in Jiangxi's Long Jiguang, who was on the verge of collapse, at the end of the year. He promised that the military government would soon send troops to conquer the territory of China's largest warlord, Sun Chuanfang, and give him a share of the spoils. At this time, Long Jiguang was struggling to survive between the People's Army, the Zhili clique, and Sun Chuanfang, and had to find someone to rely on. Chen Jiongming, who was behind him, was undoubtedly a good backing. After joining his camp, Chen Jiongming kept his promise and sent troops into Jiangxi's Ganzhou to help Long Jiguang defend against the People's Army's Ninth Division, which was pressing in from Hunan Province.
That is to say, in 1926, the year of the tiger became a year of disaster. Sun Chuanfang, who occupied the rich provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong and Anhui as his shield, undoubtedly became another powerful warlord in China. Even Zhang Zuolin, who controlled the three eastern provinces, Wu Peifu, who controlled Beijing and other places, had to acknowledge his status. Of course, the powers were also happy to see the emergence of such a warlord. China's important central plains and coastal provinces, he had as many as three. The so-called open door policy was just a private conversation between the powers and Sun Chuanfang himself.
1926 was an important year, especially for the autonomous region. Not only did it merge two major provinces at a minimal cost, but also completed several major transportation arteries ahead of schedule. The railway trunk lines connecting Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Sichuan Basin and Loess Plateau were all completed ahead of time. Guangxi was closely connected with Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Shaanxi and other places through railways and aviation. More importantly, the three major railway construction groups that had been freed up had new tasks.
The China Railway First Group, which completed the construction of the Baoji-Chengdu railway, obtained a special permit to freely radiate in both directions from Baoji. This means that as long as they have sufficient capacity, they can extend westward directly to Urumqi or Kashgar in Xinjiang, and eastward to Wuhan or Baotou. After the completion of the Sichuan-Shaanxi railway, subsequent construction projects can obtain a constant supply of materials and personnel through rail transportation, and the entire northwest region has opened its arms to them.
Although the market prospects are vast, they must start from reality. From their survey results, it can be seen that the four railways listed in their construction plan are: starting from Baoji and passing through Gansu's Tianshui and Lanzhou to reach Urumqi, Xinjiang. This is undoubtedly a railway that the People's Autonomous Government attaches great importance to and has significant meaning for the economic development of the northwest. Therefore, this railway has already started preliminary work, and there will be an important hub in Lanzhou that needs to be reached as soon as possible, which will benefit the construction of branch railways in the future, such as the railway from Lanzhou north to Yinchuan and then along the Yellow River to Baotou.
The railway from Baoji to Xi'an, an important transportation hub in the future, is a short project. The railways that extend northward and southeastward are more important, such as the railway from Baoji via Pingliang and Guyuan to Yinchuan, the railway from Xi'an via Yan'an and Yulin to Baotou, and the railway from Xi'an via Ankang and Shiyan to Wuhan. The coverage of these major railways is very important for the overall development of the autonomous region. Of course, for the first group, what they need to do is to complete the railways to Lanzhou, Yan'an or Yulin, Xiangyang or Wuhan as soon as possible, and extending the railway to these areas will be of great strategic significance.
China Railway No. 2 Group finally got rid of the suffering of building railways on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and truly gained liberation. Because the task they received was simple, starting from Guizhou to build a railway to Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, had lost its challenge for them who had experienced the high mountains and rivers of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. So, they also took on the railway from Guilin via Yongzhou and Hengyang to Changsha and even Yueyang, and let China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. help with it, they were confident that they could build the railway from Changsha to Wuhan together, including the Chengdu-Wuhan railway. However, at this time, the Chengdu-Wuhan railway was different from the past, starting from Chongqing in Sichuan Province and passing through Yichang in Hubei Province to reach Wuhan. With the Yangtze River waterway having a good transportation capacity, the necessity of building railways was not high, so the second group finally got the task of building railway networks within Hunan Province. Of course, the first ones that should start construction were the two railways from Guiyang to Changsha and Guilin to Changsha, and then perfect the railway network later.
However, the China Railway No.3 Engineering Group, although not large in scale, is the most hardworking, but unfortunately has always been unlucky. From the beginning of the construction of the railway from Baise to Kunming, they encountered one difficult project after another. The railway from Kunming to Dali was completed together with the Second Group, and before they could take a break, the Chengdu-Kunming Railway project, which runs north from Kunming all the way to Chengdu, fell on their shoulders.
The "glorious and arduous" task has been undertaken by the Third Group for the second time, the first being from Baise to Kunming. The railway, which is of great significance to the development of the southwestern region of the autonomous region, is indeed a daunting task. Another arduous and glorious arrival, for them, may not be worth sighing about, as building highways in the Sichuan-Xi'an area, known as the "road construction forbidden zone", is extremely troublesome. Building a railway there is even more challenging, enough to make any railroad worker eager to take on the challenge. The railway will pass through seven cities and 130,000 square kilometers of land in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, where the land is rich in resources and products. Especially, the section from Chengdu to Emei passes through the "granary of western Sichuan" plain region. The two places, Xichang and Panzhihua, which the railway will pass through, are also rich in mineral and water resources.
Especially in the Panxi region, it is an autonomous region and even the whole of China and the world that has a rich vanadium mine reserve. The railway passes through a large number of coal, iron, copper, aluminum, zinc and other minerals along the line. Relying on the construction of the Chengdu-Kunming highway to build the Panzhihua steel base is not efficient at all. Moreover, the surrounding areas are rich in hydropower resources, and the construction of the Panzhihua Steel Base and the Second Dam Hydropower Station requires the transportation capacity of the Chengdu-Kunming Railway. Furthermore, this railway will be interconnected with the railways from Chengdu to Chongqing, Baoji to Chengdu, Kunming to Guizhou, and Baise to Kunming, which will greatly accelerate the overall development speed of Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Shaanxi provinces. For various reasons, this railway has become truly significant, comparable to the original Baocheng Line. Therefore, the project was assigned to the Third Group, who did not push it away at all, but instead were very proactive, and established a good relationship with the future Panzhihua Steel Group, which will benefit their long-term development infinitely.
This railway, in another time and space, New China relied on its strong manpower advantage and high morale, and actually completed all construction tasks within 6 years and opened to traffic on schedule. At that time, this over-1,100-kilometer railway with nearly a thousand bridges and more than 400 tunnels was, for the Third Group which had previously built the Kunming-Haiyang Railway in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, striving to complete the opening-to-traffic task within 4 years.
And compared with another group of road builders, they have not only advantages in equipment and technology, but also better basic conditions. Because through the transportation of railways and dense highways from Liuzhou to Chengdu, Baise to Kunming, etc., they can divide human and material resources into several parts, and take Kunming, Chengdu, and Leshan or Xichang as three engineering construction bases, so that the Chengkun Railway is divided into several sections for simultaneous construction. In their words, it is estimated that this line will be opened to traffic in less than four years.
They, who have already been fascinated by the high-risk tasks, will continue to challenge the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Sichuan Basin. From Liupanshui, an important coal-producing area in Guizhou Province, passing through Wumeng Mountains to Shao Tong, then along the Wu Lian Feng area north to Yibin, Neijiang, Suining and Bazhong in Sichuan Province, finally connecting with Guangyuan, this railway is of great significance as it runs through the central region of the autonomous prefecture.
Of course, if they are willing to start from Panzhihua and head east through Yunnan's Shuotong and into Guizhou's Zunyi, then connect with the important railway hub of Huaihua in Hunan Province, linking the western Sichuan region with the two lakes regions, making it convenient for the export of industrial products from Panzhihua area in the future. If the third group really works hard on this Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and in the western and southern Sichuan regions, they will bring boundless benefits to the development of the autonomous region. In fact, they are doing so. The first group has established itself in the northwest region's development, the second group has established itself in the eastward development, and they must also find a good outlet for themselves. The railway construction project in the mountains, in the backward regions, is their best destination, and it is also the best place to prove their value and significance.
In the railway construction enterprises of the autonomous region, there are three major groups and a "company". The three super-large groups that have been making great achievements in the autonomous region's railway construction projects are not only because of their strong strength and ability, but also because of their excellent business capabilities for large-scale projects. However, the main reason is that compared to them, the scale of the other group's company is too small and has not made any significant achievements, after completing the railway project on Hainan Island, they seemed to have disappeared from people's sight, people only know about the three major groups, but do not know about the existence of China Railway Fourth Group with its remarkable strength.
The reason why this "company" is not well-known is that after completing the construction of the Hainan Island railway, they dispersed their business to build specialized railways for ports, industrial parks, large group enterprises, etc. Of course, the impact of these railways was naturally not as extensive as those major arteries that stretched hundreds of kilometers. Moreover, part of their strength was diverted by the autonomous government for other uses. The base cluster of the Taishan Plan is located in the Jiuyi Mountains on the border of Guangxi and Guizhou, where many basic infrastructure projects were completed by them. After the Taishan Plan's facilities were put into use and a "cooling period" passed, the company's participating employees began to return one after another. Therefore, it wasn't until the end of 1926 that the company integrated new forces, changed its structure, and truly became China's fourth railway construction group.
Their task is to build a railway artery passing through the border areas of the autonomous region, from Beihai, an important port city in Beibu Bay, all the way northeast, passing through Yulin and Wuzhou, two important industrial cities in the autonomous region, then entering Hunan Province via Hezhou, and finally connecting with Yongzhou, an important railway hub in Hunan. From there, it will be connected to Zhangjiajie via Shaoyang, which belongs to the provincial railway network of Hunan Province. That's a job for the experienced and powerful Second Group, so the newcomer Fourth Group doesn't need to rush to do more work.
This railway is very simple, the cities along the way are all heavy industrial cities in Guangxi Province that have developed for many years, and there are also well-developed transportation highway networks around them. Especially within Guangxi, China Road and Bridge Corporation has completed the construction of high-speed trunk roads, and important cities have a well-developed network of high-speed roads, which is even more beneficial for railway construction projects.
So, some people say that the People's Autonomous Government regards the Fourth Group as its darling, while the other three groups are treated as "coolies". However, this statement is unrealistic. All engineering governments give equal attention to all groups, of course, with corresponding requirements. The quality and speed of completion determine the size of the group's benefits, which also depends on the difficulty of the project. So, don't look at the Third Group working hard in the mountains, their rewards are not low.
Also benefiting greatly are the many engineering groups that participated in the construction of the Hongshui River cascade hydropower station, who have already put large sums of money into their pockets. The reason is simple: all eight power stations planned for the first phase of the Hongshui River project have been completed one after another. Those who are eager to make money have already started building hydropower plants in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces. The Second Tan Hydropower Station in Panzhihua, Sichuan is one of them.
In the Hongshui River Hydropower Development Plan, the autonomous region proposed a plan to build ten cascaded hydropower stations. The first-level station is the Tianxing Bridge First-Level Hydropower Station, which is the leading station among the ten stations, and together with the second-level station not far from it, they become the two major power plants that provide electricity to Baise, Nanning and other places. The two major power plants with a total installed capacity of 26 billion kWh were constructed by China Water Resources and Hydropower First Construction Group, both started construction on February 1, 1916, and completed grid connection in 1921.
The flood control and navigation priority of the Dahua Hydropower Station, Bailongtan Hydropower Station, Letan Hydropower Station, and Qiaogang Hydropower Station have installed capacities of 400MW, 192MW, 600MW, and 456MW respectively. The Dahua Hydropower Station built by China Hydroelectric Group was connected to the autonomous region's power grid as early as 1916, while the Bailongtan Power Station was also completed in mid-year that year. A Pingban Hydropower Station with an installed capacity of only 405MW was quickly completed by the Second Group, and then the group embarked on a massive task, which is the backbone project of the stepped development plan - Longtan Hydropower Station.
This fourth-level power station is composed of three main parts: the dam, underground powerhouse and navigation buildings. Its installed capacity accounts for nearly 40% of the developable capacity of the Hongshui River, with a relatively high construction difficulty. After completing Dahua and Bailongtan, the second group adjusted its forces to invest in this project. The personnel from Pingban Hydropower Station also joined after completing their task. From the second half of 1916 to the beginning of 1926, it took nearly ten years to finally complete the project, with a total installed capacity of 6300MW, installing 9 sets of 700MW hydroelectric generating units, and an average annual power generation of 187 billion kWh, which is more than the sum of the first three hydropower stations.
Correspondingly, the construction difficulty is extremely high, with a normal water storage level of 400 meters, a total reservoir capacity of 27.3 billion cubic meters, a flood control reservoir capacity of 7 billion cubic meters, a dam height of over 200 meters, a crest length of about 800 meters, and a concrete volume of over 7 million cubic meters... Such a large-scale project also requires nearly ten years of hard work by the Second Group of China Water Resources and Hydropower Corporation. The corresponding installed capacity is 1210MW, and the construction of the rock-filled dam was undertaken by the Third Group. Due to the need to relocate tens of thousands of residents, the start of construction was delayed until mid-1917.
Although this power station is mainly used for power generation, it also has the benefit of navigation, and its construction significance is extremely large. However, the difficulty of construction is still daunting, especially since it was entrusted to the third group, which is relatively weak among the three major groups. Normally, the water storage level is around 220 meters, with a corresponding reservoir capacity of approximately 2.6 billion cubic meters, and an adjustable reservoir capacity of around 1.6 billion cubic meters. The power station has four single-machine 302.5MW mixed-flow hydroelectric turbines, with a total installed capacity of 1210MW and an average annual power generation of 56.6 billion kWh. Entrusting the construction of such a challenging project to them was truly a test of their abilities, from the start of construction in 1917 to its completion in 1925 and grid connection in 1926.
So, after experiencing all kinds of hardships and tribulations, the three major groups have grown up. The one that has gone the fastest and farthest, with the greatest ambition, is undoubtedly the First Group. As soon as they completed the transportation network in Sichuan Province, they began to prepare for the construction of the important Er'tan Hydropower Station in western Sichuan, making it clear that they wanted to make a contribution to the future Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group. After more than a year of preparation, they started construction in 1922, which was also the first large-scale project to be built in the Yi minority area of western Sichuan, marking the beginning of a new era for the emergence of large modern enterprises in this region.
Of course, the second and third groups that do not want to fall behind also have their own corresponding plans. Guizhou with over 10 million kilowatts of hydropower resources and Yunnan with over 70 million kilowatts need them to develop and utilize. Although the autonomous region has seen a surplus of electricity due to the successive commissioning of power stations in the Hongshui River cascade plan, the demand for electricity will only increase day by day with economic development. The autonomous region's rational use of natural resources will not stop, and its forward pace will become more stable. Because we have been striving for so many years, it is all for these years.
