A magazine of 30,000 rounds, you call it Hanyang

Economic plunder is an important means for the Japanese to continue waging war, and it is one of the most important means.

Shanxi Province and the nearby Hebei Province in the east of Shanxi are the most important and famous coal producing areas in China.

Underground in this area, there are extremely rich and huge amounts of coal.

Coal is a basic energy source and is known as black gold. It has a wide range of uses.

For example, in some heavy industrial industries such as steel, chemicals, and building materials, coal plays an irreplaceable role.

Coke in coal is an essential material for separating iron from ore.

Chemical products such as methanol and propylene are also extracted from coal.

The transport trains used by the Japanese before were also powered by coal.

The generators used by the Japanese also generate electricity by burning coal.

Apart from other things, the use of coal that is most closely related to the lives of ordinary people in the north is heating.

Since modern times, foreign powers have invaded.

After a century of poverty and weakness, all usable energy in the mountains and on the earth has almost disappeared.

Decades ago, the barren mountains and hills of Shanxi Province were a desolate and bare scene.

The trees, firewood and bushes on the mountain had almost been cut down long ago.

Except for the remote mountains and forests where few people go, it is difficult to get firewood near the villages outside.

Heating the kang has become a big problem.

If you have coal at home, a few pieces of coal can burn all night long, making the whole room warm as spring.

If you can't get coal, it will be extremely difficult to get firewood.

Every winter, the cold wind howls, the snow falls heavily, and the ice is three feet thick!

Even if the temperature is minus ten or twenty degrees Celsius, I feel at ease as long as I have coal at home.

Although life was hard in the past, ordinary people could still manage to get a few pieces of low-quality coal by doing whatever they could to save their lives in emergencies.

Since the Japanese invaded Shanxi and Hebei and occupied North China, almost all mines and shafts have been occupied by the Japanese.

The Japanese transported coal back to their island in a steady stream, and then gave priority to supplying the remaining coal to their troops.

It’s not that they don’t sell to the Chinese.

However, since they control the coal resources, they also have the power to set coal prices.

The price sold to the Chinese is ridiculously high!

The black lumps that were once seen everywhere in Shanxi and Hebei provinces have been hyped up to sky-high prices by them!

Who can afford it if they are not landlords, wealthy businessmen or other rich people?

Ordinary people have difficulty even getting enough to eat, so how can they afford to buy coal?

They not only control prices, they also control supply.

If you say you want to sell, you sell it. If you say you don’t want to sell, you don’t sell it.

During the years when the Japanese occupied the coal mines, countless Chinese people froze to death in the cold winter when their homes were left with nothing.

The Japanese occupied the coal mines but never did the work themselves.

All the coal miners were forced laborers from the local area.

Laborers in the mines often work day and night without any protective measures.

Most people have contracted occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis.

When sleeping, hundreds of people were crowded into a simple wooden house or tent. There were no beds, and the ground was covered with wooden boards.

They dig coal every day, but cannot enjoy any warmth from the coal in the cold winter.

Not only do they have little food and water, and their clothes are worn out, but they also have to endure the cold winter relying solely on their body temperature.

It's very difficult to escape.

It is surrounded by high walls, watchtowers and bunkers.

The high walls were all equipped with machine guns and barbed wire. If the laborers tried to escape or attempted to escape, they would be caught and tortured inhumanely and then executed.

In summer, mosquitoes, rats and ants are rampant and plagues are rampant.

Many workers suffered from injuries and illnesses.

But the Japanese will definitely not provide them with medical treatment.

Anyone who was weak or seriously injured would be dragged out and shot by the Japanese and thrown into a large pit in the mining area.

Or, they would be pulled directly into the furnace, burned alive and then discarded.

Over time, the valleys and pits inside and around the mining area were filled with piles of bones.

Mass graves where tens of thousands of people are buried can be seen everywhere around the mining area.

It's not just in Shanxi and Hebei provinces, but almost everywhere else there are mining areas, there are mass graves of tortured and murdered laborers.

The heinous crimes of killing committed by the Japanese are appalling.

When working in the well, if you move a little slower, you will be whipped in the face.

If the devils were not satisfied with something, they would either beat or scold the laborers!

There were also some traitors who formed mining teams in the mines to help the invaders oppress their compatriots.

They often use pepper spray, tiger bench and other ten torture methods to torture people to the point where their life is worse than death.

Taking human lives in exchange for resources was the main purpose of the Japanese when mining.

They don't care whether the equipment is backward or the environment is dangerous. In order to mine coal, they sacrifice a steady stream of lives!

In the words of the Japanese, China has abundant human resources.

If a group dies, we can just capture another group.

Is this human talk?

Moldy steamed buns and泔水 are the daily food of these poor laborers, and there is no guarantee that they can eat them every day.

They never treated the miners as human beings, but drove and abused them like animals!

More than a year ago, Zheng Kaituan led 300 brave warriors and rushed into the Jingxing Coal Mine, destroyed all important buildings and machinery above the coal mine, and rescued thousands of miners.

Later, as the Japanese army was approaching, Zheng Kaixuan had to lead his troops to withdraw.

But Jingxing has more than just one Jingxing Coal Mine.

Zheng Kaixuan destroyed only the old mining area, as there was a new, larger mining area more than ten kilometers away.

There are many coal mines in other places.

Including the old mining area that Zheng Kaixuan destroyed, it has begun to revive after such a long time.

Since the machinery and equipment were no longer usable, the Japanese army transported new machines from other places via Zhengtai Road.

They rebuilt fortifications and began to capture laborers from all over the place again.

Although Liu Daqiang and his militia had been trying their best to cause trouble, they still failed to stop the Japanese from rebuilding the mining area.

The soldiers under Liu Daqiang dreamed of rushing into those mining areas and avenging their brothers and sisters!

Today, this opportunity finally came.

Zheng Kaixuan made a decision.

All coal mines along the Zhengtai Railway, within a few dozen kilometers of Jingxing, must be completely eradicated! Uproot them!

All the resources in the coal mine will be transported out and given to the folks who need the coal to survive the winter!

Just do it.

"Spearhead Operations Team, everyone! Encircle the old mining area in Jingxing!"

"If there are any Japanese soldiers escaping, kill them all and don't let any of them go!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

The three teams of the Sharp Knife Regiment, the Independent Regiment and the Militia, totaling more than 7,000 people, quickly formed a comprehensive blockade of the old mining area under the rapid transportation of the Triumphant Ivy.

Immediately afterwards, Zheng Kaixuan began to order a violent attack.

"Chen Shengli, Zhang Dabiao, charge in!"