Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 65: Congratulations on your prosperity? I am helpless too

Xu Tao was very excited when he heard Chen Chengxing say there was a solution.

He knew that it was absolutely right to go to the team leader when there was a problem. Look, isn't the problem solved now?
"In the early days, foreigners mainly used the high-temperature toughening technology invented by the Germans, which is our traditional simmering process, but this method has a relatively low yield rate."

"Later, the Americans made improvements and invented the black heart toughening technology."

Seeing that Xu Tao had taken out a small notebook and started taking notes, Chen Chengxing told Xu Tao the process of the blackheart toughening technology.

"You make a cast iron box first, arrange the shells inside, fill the bottom and between each layer with broken refractory bricks, and also fill the inside of the shells with broken refractory bricks."

"This prevents the shells from deforming at high temperatures and prevents them from sticking to each other."

"After the boxes are packed, they are covered with raw iron plates, the joints are sealed with clay, and a layer of spent shell fragments is laid under the boxes."

“These measures can prevent peeling.”

"Then the most important thing is to accurately control the temperature in the furnace at around 950°C, and then after a period of heat preservation, the shell can be turned into a processable state."

"This is all I know. You just need to do a few more experiments to find out the specific situation." Chen Chengxing said.

"But these are all emergency measures. It is better to build a blast furnace to produce gray iron," Chen Chengxing added.

Although the toughening process can facilitate the production of cast iron shells, the output cannot be compared with that of a blast furnace.

Xu Tao was now only concerned with recording what Chen Chengxing had just said about the shady toughening technology, and simply didn't take the small blast furnace seriously.

Xu Tao certainly knew the benefits of a small blast furnace, but with the current state of the New Second Regiment, it would be a pipe dream to build a small blast furnace.

Not to mention whether it can be built, even if it is built with great difficulty, the Japanese can destroy it with one bomb.

Now it is still the right way to produce using traditional methods.

"Captain, there is still a question." Xu Tao raised his head and said after he finished writing.

"what is the problem?"

"That's how to determine the temperature." Xu Tao said seriously.

They didn't have any temperature measuring equipment and had no way of confirming the temperature.

"This is easy." Chen Chengxing said as he took out a dollar from his pocket.

"The melting point of silver is 960 degrees. We can use this to confirm the temperature. Once the workers become proficient, they can use the color of the flame to confirm the temperature," explained Chen Chengxing.

"Captain, I'm leaving first." Xu Tao grabbed the money, stood up and left in a hurry.

He couldn't wait to try it out.

"Oh, no." Chen Chengxing was stunned looking at his empty right hand.

I took out the money just to show my appreciation, but I didn't say I was giving it to him.

This dollar is all the money I have, and it's gone just like that?

In early April, just as the New Second Regiment was stepping up its recovery, Chen Chengxing received an order from the brigade headquarters, asking him to attend a meeting at the division headquarters.

The division headquarters and the headquarters are now in Liangshan, which is hundreds of miles away from Dayun Mountain.

If Chen Chengxing wanted to get to the division headquarters, it would take a day even on horseback.

Fortunately, although the Japanese occupied the towns and counties around Dayun Mountain, the vast rural areas were still dominated by the Eighth Route Army guerrillas, so Chen Chengxing would not encounter any obstacles.

By the time Chen Chengxing arrived at the division headquarters, exhausted, it was already noon the next day.

As a result, just as Chen Chengxing got off his horse and before he could ask Wei Dayong to take Ma Qian away, the brigade commander came out of the division headquarters meeting room. "Chen Chengxing, you came at the right time. I just happened to want to talk to you about something." The brigade commander smiled.

As soon as Chen Chengxing saw the brigade commander's face, he knew that something bad was going to happen, and that he had come at an unexpectedly bad time. The brigade commander was probably waiting for him here.

The skill points I added to Insight were not added in vain.

"Brigade Commander." Chen Chengxing stood at attention.

"Chen Chengxing, let me congratulate you first." The brigade commander started congratulating as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Well, the New Second Regiment suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Japanese last month, and the staffing is almost incomplete. Brigade Commander, I was just about to ask you for some people." Chen Chengxing started by complaining, and then took the opportunity to ask for people.

"Hey, stop, stop, stop." The brigade commander waved his hand to interrupt Chen Chengxing. Who is looking for whom?
"Chen Chengxing, let me ask you, did you seize two cannons in the battle of Shuiwan Village? I don't ask for more, just send one cannon and half of the ammunition to the brigade headquarters." The brigade commander went straight to the point.

"Hey, Brigade Commander, it's not that I don't want to. The Japanese came to bomb as soon as the cannon was transported to Hongni Bay." Chen Chengxing said.

"What?! What happened to you? You were so careless that two guns were blown up?!" the brigade commander said with concern.

"Oh, that's not the case. The Japanese bombarded a fake one."

"You twit, stop breathing heavily here." The brigade commander glared at Chen Chengxing.

Who can bear this sudden shock?

"Brigade Commander, this is a field gun, it can't be disassembled. It took me three days to transport it from Shuiwan Village to Hongniwan, which is only sixty or seventy miles. If it is transported to the brigade headquarters, it will take ten days or half a month."

"The Japs are so strict about artillery. If I drag a cannon through the streets, I'd be asking for trouble," said Chen Chengxing.

The Italian artillery alone weighs more than 1.1 tons, and together with the vehicle in front, the weight of the train exceeds 2 tons.

Ordinary mountain roads are simply impossible to pass, otherwise the Second Battalion would not have to go around in circles.

And even if they tried their best to take the best road, it took more than 400 oxen and horses from the Second Battalion to pull the carts hard to pull the two cannons back.

It would be impossible to transport these two Italian cannons back to Hongni Bay with only the six draft horses.

"Field artillery? Isn't it mountain artillery?" The brigade commander frowned.

As a top student at the Whampoa Military Academy, the brigade commander was very clear about the difference between field artillery and mountain artillery.

In plain areas with good roads, field artillery can rely on its performance to crush mountain artillery.

But once in the mountainous areas, the mobility of mountain artillery becomes a big problem, not to mention field artillery.

"Well, the combat staff of the New Second Regiment don't even know what mountain artillery and field artillery are." Chen Chengxing said casually.

"Since it's a field artillery, you can keep it for now." The brigade commander waved his hand.

If the New 1st Regiment and the Independent Regiment captured the field artillery, the brigade commander would definitely not let it go, after all, it was right in front of him.

But the New Second Regiment was a hundred or two hundred miles away.

If it is a mountain artillery, it can be dismantled and transported by a horse team, but a field artillery cannot be dismantled.

And it was impossible for him to mobilize a large army to transport it here just for a cannon.

Seeing the brigade commander preparing to return to the meeting room, Chen Chengxing quickly said, "Brigade commander, wait a minute, I also happen to want to talk to you about something."

"What's the matter?" The brigade commander turned around.

"Brigade Commander, do you think you could support me with a few artillerymen? After all, these field artillery pieces are really difficult to serve." Chen Chengxing said.

You can't just say congratulations and call it a day, right?
(End of this chapter)