Because enough supplies were stored, Xiang Nan's family did not suffer from hunger or cold.
Even so, they were still affected by the war.
At the factory, due to the fall of Wuyang, there were sales problems, which affected the business. Moreover, due to high commodity prices, it is difficult for factories to even manage food supply.
Today, Renji Pharmaceutical Factory employs 200 people. For so many people, they need more than 100 kilograms of rice every day and spend hundreds of silver dollars, which is really unaffordable.
Therefore, in desperation, Renji Pharmaceutical Factory was forced to cut wages, from twenty silver dollars per month to five silver dollars. Even so, no one is willing to leave.
After all, in this day and age, having enough to eat is already a blessing. There are hundreds of thousands of hungry people in Macau now crying out for food. If they don't do it, people will do it.
Seeing this, Xiang Nan and Zhou Qingquan couldn't help but feel sad.
…
In November of 1938, the authorities decided to implement a scorched earth policy in order to stall the Japanese offensive.
The Changsha Security Headquarters set fire in the middle of the night. The fire spread rapidly and burned for five days and four nights before it was finally extinguished.
More than 90% of the entire city was burned, and more than 30,000 Changsha residents became unjust ghosts in their sleep. The direct loss was more than one billion yuan, accounting for 40% of Changsha's total economic value.
In December, Wang defected to Hanoi and openly committed treason.
The news spread and caused a sensation all over the world.
Entering 1939.
In February, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region launched a large-scale production movement.
In March, the Japanese army occupied Yuzhang.
In April, the Luzhou Defense War ended and the Japanese army occupied Luzhou.
That same month, Italy invaded Albania.
In May, with the support of Japanese troops, Manchukuo launched an attack on Mongolia.
As a result, in the Battle of Nokanmen, the Japanese suffered more than 10,000 casualties and more than 40,000 prisoners.
After this disastrous defeat, the Japanese army's arrogance was severely frustrated, and they never dared to confront the Soviet Union again.
Dongyang's northward policy also failed, and it had no choice but to move southward. Therefore, it invaded French Indochina in 1940, offending the Allied Powers such as Britain, France, and the United States.
In June, the Japanese army invaded Shantou.
In August, Sood signed the "Never Aggression Contract."
In September, Germany invaded Poland, adopting the strategy of making contacts at a distance and attacking at close range.
Britain and France finally understood Germany's ambition to annex Europe and declared war on Germany.
The Second World War broke out.
In October, the Battle of Changsha ended. The Japanese army suffered more than 13,000 casualties, shattering its plot of "forced landing by means of war".
…
During this period, the number of disaster victims in Macau continued to increase, reaching nearly 200,000.
Although such a large number of immigrants has caused many social problems, it has also made Macao unprecedentedly prosperous.
Coupled with the fact that Macau is a neutral territory, supplies from Europe, America, and Southeast Asia are pouring in, which has also made trade and freight business boom.
However, this prosperity is very abnormal.
The only people who get rich are those who engage in lawlessness and plunder. They smuggled, practiced drugs, prostituted, gambled, extorted, kidnapped and robbed, hoarded, and took advantage of the opportunity to amass large amounts of money.
On the contrary, ordinary people often have to pay an extremely high price in order to have a roof over their heads and three meals a day. They sold their labor at low prices, pawned their property, and even sold their children and daughters, which was horrific.
Xiang Nan discussed this with Zhou Qingquan and each took out three thousand silver dollars to open a porridge shed to relieve the disaster and help the people. But even this is a drop in the bucket. In 1939 alone, more than 2,000 people in Macau died of cold and starvation, which made people cry.
…
1940.
In April, Germany invaded Norway and Denmark.
In May, the battle of Zaoyi began. Although the Japanese army won, it was a tragic victory, with more than 11,000 casualties.
The patriotic general Zhang Zizhong unfortunately died for his country, which is sad.
In June, Germany occupied Belgium, bypassed the Maginot Line, and swept across northern France.
The British and French forces were forced to evacuate by boat, known in history as the "Dunkirk Evacuation", and France immediately surrendered.
In July, Germany bombed London, starting the Battle of Britain.
In August, the Eighth Route Army launched the Hundred Regiment Campaign and launched a counterattack against the Japanese army. More than 20,000 Japanese troops and more than 5,000 puppet troops were killed and injured, which greatly dealt a blow to the arrogance of the Japanese army.
In September, the Japanese army invaded Southeast Asia and occupied it.
By this time, France had surrendered and was therefore out of reach.
In the same month, Germany and Italy joined forces with Japan to sign the Tripartite Pact, officially forming the Axis Powers.
In October, Germany invaded Romania.
…
War is going on almost all over the world. Everywhere you look in the newspapers, the war is happening here. If there is a war happening anywhere, you can’t even read the news. It’s annoying to death.
Xiang Nan doesn't even want to read the newspaper now. Because there was very little good news in the newspapers, it was just about being captured here and being occupied there, which made people really upset.
However, in August, when the Eighth Route Army launched the Hundred Regiment Campaign, Xiang Nan couldn't help but have a drink with Zhou Qingquan and got drunk.
You know, since Japan fully invaded China, he has not had a drop of wine for three years.
…
November, 20th, late at night.
Xiang Nan's family is sleeping.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
Xiang Nan woke up suddenly.
Ever since the Japanese army occupied Wuyang, he had always slept with one eye closed, and he would wake up whenever there was any movement, just in case something unexpected happened.
Then he put on his clothes and went downstairs.
At this time, Jin Shanxun, Wang Tiezhu and others also woke up and followed Xiang Nan out.
With the faint light, he saw a man in rags, who looked like a beggar standing at the door.
"Who is it?" Xiang Nan shouted.
"Master Ye, it's me, open the door quickly." The man outside the door shouted.
Xiang Nan was stunned, then ran over and opened the door, "Wu Chilin, is it really you?!"
"It's really me, Master Ye, I have found you." Wu Chilin cried bitterly.
"Quick, come in and talk." Xiang Nan let Wu Chilin into the room, and then told Uncle Wang, "Hurry up and make a bowl of brown sugar water, and then serve those steamed buns warm."
When Uncle Wang heard this, he hurriedly went.
…
"Wu Chilin, why did you come here? What happened to you?" Xiang Nan looked at Wu Chilin and couldn't help but feel distressed.
They saw that Wu Chilin was as thin as a monkey, with his skin sticking to his bones. The clothes were in tatters, with patches on top of each other, and were covered with grass clippings and dirt. He really looked like a beggar.
"When the Japanese attacked Wuyang, I originally wanted to escape. But I didn't expect that the Japanese came so quickly and blocked the road directly, blocking me back.
After that, they took away my teahouse and ransacked the whole city, taking away all the valuables, grain, and livestock. My brother had no choice but to dig coal for others in the coal mine and make a living.
After that, the Japanese people kept blocking traffic. My brother and I wanted to come to you, but we never had the chance. It wasn't until a few days ago that the Japanese people finally relaxed their control, and my brother and I went on the road together.
Unexpectedly, when we walked to Zhongshan, we met the maintenance committee. My brother and I ran away and ended up getting separated, and I was the only one who made it through. "
When Xiang Nan heard this, he couldn't help but sigh.
He wanted to say something, but when the words came to his lips, there was only a long sigh.
