The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Begins in Songhu

Chapter 304 Triple Happiness (Two Chapters Combined)

"Hiss! Why is it so cold tonight? If this weather continues, it might snow by the end of the month."

Because the wizard finally succeeded in producing penicillin by hand, Hu Biao and Zhao Zheng stayed in the chemical plant, or rather, the chemical workshop in Zhangjiayu for quite some time.

I had a good discussion with the wizard about how to promote this technology.

By the time the wizard continued working overtime and the two emerged from the cave, it was past midnight.

As Hu Biao lifted the thick curtain and stepped out, a gust of night wind blew in, causing him to shiver, even though he had just been in the warm cave dwelling.

As he tucked his neck into his collar, he couldn't help but mutter the opening remark.

Zhao Zheng, a proper northerner, seemed quite calm about the weather:

"The weather in northwestern Shanxi this year is a bit abnormal. The first half of the year was very dry, but the second half of the year was much colder than usual. Fortunately, the soldiers should be able to get their winter clothes before the weather gets really cold."

It is said that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment was able to solve the problem of winter clothing.

We absolutely have to thank them for the 'Flying Tiger' brand cigarettes they produced some time ago.

On the one hand, thanks to the advanced cigarette technology of modern times, as well as the tobacco processing techniques, the yellow tobacco leaves native to the Jin-Northwest region have undergone a complete transformation in taste after processing.

To put it simply, it's strong enough to smoke, but doesn't strain your throat.

It received high praise from customers. It seems that anyone with a bit of means would not want to continue smoking pipes or roll their own cigarettes after trying the "Flying Tiger" brand cigarettes from the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment.

On the other hand, there's Hu Biao and his team's flexible sales methods.

Cigarettes, frankly speaking, are nothing more than fast-moving consumer goods.

Therefore, regardless of whether they were from the surrounding Jin-Sui Army, puppet army, landlords, or merchants, they were all allowed to purchase goods without any restrictions.

At the same time, the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment did not require money to purchase goods. Apart from opium, which was a harmful substance, other materials such as cloth, grain, sheepskin, and Chinese medicinal herbs could be bartered.

It just so happens that cotton is a crop with a large planting area in Shanxi Province, and the villagers also have the habit of raising sheep.

Therefore, although the "Flying Tiger" brand cigarettes had only been around for a short time, after Hu Biao deliberately sent people out to promote them, they had already gained some fame in at least a few surrounding counties, and many businessmen had expressed great interest.

Although the number of people coming to purchase goods and the scale of business are not large at present, there is a clear increase every day.

The cotton, sheepskin, and cloth that were exchanged for have been used to make cotton-padded clothes, cotton-padded shoes, and sheepskin vests by a group of older women.

Thinking of the new cotton-padded coat and sheepskin vest, even if they couldn't compare to the down jackets of the modern world, they would still be quite warm. Hu Biao nodded with satisfaction.

Sure enough! No matter the era or timeline, tobacco and alcohol are always extremely profitable.

He then tightened his military uniform and, instead of going back to sleep in the dead of night, walked toward a row of cave dwellings on the other side of the valley, where there were even more.

The main focus is the arsenal of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, their most prized asset, which they haven't even had a chance to inspect yet.

The key is that Wizard and Super, in order to speed up the construction progress and output, have been working overtime in the valley, eating in the canteen when they are hungry, and sleeping on the floor in the office when they are tired.

So even at this time, Chaozi, the person in charge of the arsenal, must still be awake. It's a good opportunity to have a good chat with him...

Just as Hu Biao and his companion had expected, after they lifted the thick curtain and entered the far right of the many cave dwellings in the arsenal, they found that...

The first thing I noticed was Chaozi, who was examining a newly manufactured helmet.

At least dozens of identical steel helmets were piled up around him, gleaming with a dark gray sheen under a light bulb that was no more than 15 watts in size.

After casually picking one up from the ground, Hu Biao could tell at a glance that this helmet was a variant of the Tony helmet.

Specifically, it resembled a coal hopper helmet, but because the arsenal lacked the machinery for flanging, it didn't have the large flared edge of a Tony helmet.

It simply uses a foot-operated grinder to remove the burrs on the edges, so as not to cause injury.

This type of helmet weighs a little over 3 pounds, which is within an acceptable range, and it won't be too tiring to wear for a long time.

With the addition of a sheepskin lining, it's quite comfortable to wear.

As for the necessity of producing and equipping people with steel helmets, Hu Biao, being a modern person, was naturally quite clear about it, knowing that this thing, though seemingly insignificant, was quite important.

Therefore, no one questioned why the arsenal produced so many steel helmets, which were ignored by both the Nationalist Army and the Communist Party.

He didn't even ask why the M35, one of the best helmets of World War II, wasn't produced; because he knew that if he did, the answer from Superman would be that the process was too complicated, there weren't enough machines, and the production efficiency was too low.

So after he took off his helmet, he asked some other key questions:

"How effective is this thing defensively? Is it reliable?"

Chaozi replied, "It's alright! Although the quality of the steel is a bit poor, it can basically protect against artillery shells and grenade fragments, but don't even think about protecting against bullets."

Even an original M35 helmet wouldn't be able to stop Japanese bullets.

After nodding to express his approval of Chaozi's idea, Zhao Zheng, who was standing to the side, spoke up and made a request:

"I've been too busy with work lately and haven't been to the arsenal for a while. Show us what products they have now?"

Chaozi didn't delay and led Hu Biao and Zhao Zheng straight to a cave dwelling that served as a warehouse.

Upon entering, he first picked up a simple submachine gun, resembling a water pipe, and began his introduction:

"Considering that there is a Type B regiment's equipment on the way, which will arrive in some time; most of it consists of rifles, with very few automatic and semi-automatic weapons, so the firepower density is insufficient."

Therefore, based on our experience in Taierzhuang, we manufactured this submachine gun.

It uses Mauser 7.63mm pistol ammunition. Although adding a safety makes it less prone to accidental discharge, it is still relatively easy to jam.

However, I still suggest manufacturing at least one hundred; that could alleviate some of our firepower shortage problem.

Upon seeing this ugly thing, Hu Biao knew it was a copy of the Sten submachine gun.

This thing was heavily criticized during World War II, and you could easily find a whole host of faults about it.

But who can blame them when these things are cheap and easy to manufacture? With their current limited equipment and processing capabilities, they're already lucky to have submachine guns to use, so they have no right to be picky.

In the following time, Chaozi introduced more equipment:
"The copy of the Mauser 1932 pistol, like the submachine gun, uses Mauser 7.63mm pistol ammunition, but the manufacturing process has been simplified..."

"It's a copy of the Type 89 grenade launcher. Due to the weight issues mentioned earlier, it's half the weight of the Japanese version. It uses specialized fragmentation projectiles, and its maximum range is only 150 meters..."

"Bazooka..."

In short, after Chaozi's long-winded introduction, Hu Biao's impression was:

Compared to the original models, these counterfeit weapons are inferior in both quality and effectiveness, and in some ways, even more so.

Fortunately, it's still usable, especially the rocket launcher that protects against RPG-2 rockets, which is a completely new piece of equipment that no other country has developed yet. Once it's unveiled, it will definitely give the Japanese a big surprise.

The only problem is that, according to Chaozi, the monthly production of the above equipment is too low.

Therefore, Hu Biao made a demand of Chaozi: "The Battle of Wuhan should end by the end of the month at the latest."

It is estimated that the Japanese will launch a large-scale attack on the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment in a little over a month at the latest. The arsenal must increase the production speed of the above equipment to prepare for the battle.

Therefore, by the end of the month, it needs to be increased at least fivefold.

Faced with such a request, Chaozi spread his hands and said, "You might as well just kill me. I can't do it."

Putting aside everything else, just the most basic steel; if our blast furnaces were to operate at full capacity, they could produce at least three tons of crude steel and pig iron per day.

Pingding County has abundant coal and iron ore resources, so there is no problem with raw materials; these facts are all correct.

But do you know how long it takes to prepare enough raw materials for one day of steelmaking?

The iron ore in Pingding County has a grade of only about 26% to 27%, which means that it takes 4 tons of iron ore and at least 2 tons of coal to make one ton of steel.

It involves mining, ore beneficiation, coal washing, and transporting it by large trucks before it can finally be fed into the boiler to smelt steel; the whole process requires a lot of manpower, resources, and time.

It's nothing like other time-travel novels where something can be done with just a few words.

"The off-season for farming is almost here, I'll recruit some more people for you, let's try to increase production as much as possible." Hu Biao's confidence wavered after hearing this. The promise of additional manpower meant greater consumption of money, food, and supplies, which was a real worry given the meager resources of the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment…

In the time that followed, Hu Biao and Zhao Zheng finally left the arsenal.

The difference was that after checking the sentry posts for the night, Hu Biao went to bed, but even in his sleep, he was thinking about where to conjure up some money and food.

After returning home, Zhao Zheng began writing a telegram under the light of an oil lamp to send back to the headquarters of our Party.

In the telegram, he first gave a fairly positive evaluation of Hu Biao and his group of partners' recent performance.

They believed that although these people had a strong sense of江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) and their work attitude was sometimes a bit lax, these were minor issues that were not serious, and there was no need to doubt them when it came to matters of principle.

Furthermore, their individual abilities are far greater than originally estimated.

Leaving aside military command, the development of industry and equipment manufacturing alone are worthy of study by other parts of our Party.

Therefore, he suggested selecting a group of educated and technically skilled key personnel at headquarters and bases, and strengthening their necessary confidentiality training.

He secretly visited the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment, helping out while learning.

Finally, considering that the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment was facing the threat of Japanese attacks and a severe lack of funds, they requested a partial funding support from headquarters.

After writing the telegram, Zhao Zheng personally operated the radio and sent it back to headquarters.

And not long after, they received a reply of 'approval' from headquarters; in the reply, headquarters said that they would quickly send a group of skilled military personnel to the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment to help and learn.

When they come, these people will bring a batch of gold with them.

The quantity may be limited, but please believe me: this is the largest sum of money that the headquarters has managed to squeeze out recently.

The next day, upon learning the news, Hu Biao was so moved that he was speechless.

Our Party was indeed very poor in those years, but the atmosphere of unity from top to bottom, with even great leaders taking the lead in saving money and tightening their belts to use funds for important matters, was maintained.

Just thinking about it makes one feel indescribably comfortable and uplifted.

Knowing that support from headquarters would soon arrive, Hu Biao's spirits soared; he immediately recruited more villagers and began to expand the production scale and output of the Zhangjiayu Arsenal.

They also intensified the training of the soldiers in the regiment headquarters, formulated various tactics and plans, and made all-out preparations for the great battle that was bound to break out with the Japanese in a little over a month.

While Hu Biao was busy every day, he was unaware that a major battle was breaking out much faster than they had anticipated.

*******
In the period that followed, based on intelligence received from the radio, everything indicated that the Battle of Wuhan was unfolding as it had in history.

On October 21, facing the vanguard of the Japanese army that appeared in the suburbs of Guangzhou, Yu Hanmou almost immediately ordered his troops to retreat.

That afternoon, the Japanese invaders stormed into Guangzhou, and one of China's most important ports fell.

On the 23rd, the bald-headed principal decided to abandon his post in Wuhan.

Fortunately, thanks to the disastrous experiences of evacuating from Shanghai and Nanjing, this evacuation was much more orderly in comparison.

Factories and residents had already been evacuated in an orderly manner, and the remaining rearguard troops were also arranged reasonably.

It is said that at 4 a.m. on the 25th, when the Japanese were about to reach Hankou Airport, the bald principal took his wife and evacuated by plane.

If that's the case, then he's definitely been a man for once.

On the 26th, the Japanese occupied Wuchang and Hankou, two of the three towns of Wuhan.

On the 27th, even the last vestige of Hanyang was occupied by the Japanese.

Thus, this major battle, which lasted for more than four months and resulted in over 40 casualties for the National Revolutionary Army and 10 to 20 casualties for the Japanese, came to an end amidst the sighs and disappointments of countless Chinese people.

In comparison, Hu Biao not only didn't sigh, but was actually quite pleased with himself.

The reason is simple: today the Northern Jiangsu Independent Regiment has three pieces of good news.

The first joy was when my daughter Annie arrived a little after 10 a.m.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the chief of staff, who had originally planned to visit the base area after the Mid-Autumn Festival, had to postpone his trip.

Fortunately, after dealing with those unexpected situations, Annie finally arrived in Zhangjiayu today.

Besides some machinery, personnel, and materials, the key thing that arrived with her was 13 large fat pigs, all of which she had entrusted the Military Intelligence Bureau to purchase along the way.

They were all fat and plump, with fat that could be three fingers thick just by looking at them.

One of the old sows was almost supernatural; its size was quite frightening, and heaven knows how many years it had been raised.

When Mina, who had ridden a mule several miles out of Zhangjiayu to greet her, saw her long-lost cousin, she immediately cheered.

When they saw the 13 plump, fat pigs, they jumped up with joy, drooling uncontrollably.

What? Sow meat is too tough and doesn't taste good.

It's okay! Mina felt that her teeth were better than ever before.

The second piece of good news came a few minutes before noon when a group of capable personnel secretly dispatched by our Party arrived.

Apart from a small number of security personnel, there are a total of 47 technical personnel; although the number of these people may not seem large, every single one of them is an elite talent of our Party in the field of military technology.

The group includes 5 college students, 26 high school students, and 16 junior high school students, all of whom have some work experience and quite good hands-on skills.

This means that once we arrive in Zhangjiayu, we can immediately get to work.

With just a little training, they can become key personnel in various fields, and I wonder how much they will help the wizard and Chaozi.

After the meeting, a team leader solemnly handed two heavy boxes to Hu Biao.

Upon opening it, Hu Biao was greeted by a dazzling display of gold, as it was filled with gold bars of all sizes.

The third piece of good news came around 3 p.m. when a batch of weapons and equipment issued by the Ordnance Department was escorted by a company of the Jin-Sui Army.

After such a long and winding journey, we finally arrived at Zhangjiayu.

Hu Biao was in a great mood when he received the equipment list.

The inscription read: 756 Type 79 rifles, also known as Hanyang rifles, 12 Czech-made light machine guns, 2 Maxim heavy machine guns, and 51 pistols.

A total of 60,000 bullets of various calibers and 2000 wooden-handled grenades.

Even according to the Nationalist Army's organizational structure, the above equipment quantity is still somewhat insufficient for a normal Class B regiment, and it is even more lacking in the two crucial 60mm mortars.

But since this thing is free, we shouldn't be too picky.

After tearing off the seal, they opened a wooden crate containing weapons.

Looking at the box of rifles inside, even if they weren't brand new, they were still about 70-80% new and wouldn't affect their usability at all.

Along with the equipment came military expenses for a total of six months, amounting to 30 yuan in legal tender, which Hu Biao was quite satisfied with.

The current fiat currency has not depreciated significantly, and this amount of money still has considerable purchasing power.

The day before, Hu Biao felt he was short of money and couldn't make ends meet; a day later, he suddenly had money, people, weapons and equipment, and even his girlfriend came.

Even with the extent of his relationship with Annie, the most they could do was kiss in private, but he was still incredibly happy about it and didn't care at all about the defeat in the Battle of Wuhan.

After all, even if he worries, it won't solve any problems.

But Hu Biao, who was experiencing three happy events, was completely unaware of this:
Last night, Yamamoto Ichiki, along with all his special forces, armed to the teeth, secretly arrived in Pingding County.

To avoid revealing their presence, they didn't even enter the city.

After resting for half a night, they hid their car and stealthily made their way towards Zhangjiayu according to the map; they killed all the villagers they encountered along the way...

(End of this chapter)