Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 1 Arsenal Shutdown

"Li Muzhi, the border region arsenal is now in your hands."

"The number of bullets delivered must not be less than one thousand before the end of the month."

"I don't care what methods you use, whether it's normal production or abnormal production, the quantity of bullets must be guaranteed."

"Also, grenade production must be resumed by the end of the month, and grenade production must return to normal next month!"

Logistics Minister Zhang Wanhe spoke to Li Muzhi in a serious tone.

"Please rest assured, Minister Zhang, I guarantee I will complete the mission!" Li Muzhi nodded emphatically.

Li Muzhi was originally a top-level military expert in later generations. After passing away peacefully in his old age, he opened his eyes again and found that he had transmigrated into the world of "Bright Sword".

The original owner was also named Li Muzhi, and was the deputy director of the border region's arsenal.

The Yamazaki Battalion launched a surprise attack on Yixiantian, and the border region's arsenal also suffered losses.

The original director of the arsenal was wounded, so Zhang Wanhe promoted the deputy director, Li Muzhi, to director and put him in charge of the arsenal's bullet production, and ordered him to resume the production of hand grenades in the border area within a specified time.

"Go to work."

"Yes, Minister Zhang."

……

When Li Muzhi returned to the new factory of the border region's arsenal, the workers had already begun to resume production in full swing.

Workers of this era were highly conscious; they knew what to do without needing to be told.

Li Muzhi convened a meeting of the key personnel at the arsenal and asked, "Have the specific statistics on the losses at the arsenal been compiled?"

"Factory manager, the statistics are in. The losses aren't significant. Take a look." The workshop director slowly handed Li Muzhi a small notebook.

Lao He, whose real name is He Darong, is 45 years old and is a veteran of the arsenal.

He was twice the age of Li Muzhi, and Lao He actually harbored resentment towards Li Muzhi for being appointed as the director of the arsenal.

However, this was Minister Zhang's appointment, and Lao He could only cooperate with Li Muzhi's work.

Li Muzhi took the notebook and read it; the losses at the arsenal were indeed not significant.

The arsenal in this area, to put it nicely, is an arsenal; to put it bluntly, it's just a small workshop with hardly any machinery.

With limited resources, what losses could there possibly be?

The arsenal's biggest loss was that its former director was injured.

Li Muzhi noticed the entry at the very end of the notebook, which revealed an additional batch of mechanical supplies, including welding machines, cutting machines, and generators.

The original owner had no memory of this batch of supplies. Li Muzhi asked Lao He, "What's the deal with the supplies recorded at the very end of this notebook?"

"These were stolen by Li Yunlong, the commander of the Independent Regiment, when he was doing side jobs. The enemy was pressing him hard at the time, so he hid them outside. He only managed to dig them up and hand them over these past few days," Lao He explained to Li Muzhi. He then added, "When Li Yunlong was leaving, he shamelessly asked for twenty boxes of hand grenades. I didn't give them to him. After all, without Minister Zhang's and your approval, I dared not make the decision on my own."

"When Commander Li left, he must have been cursing," Li Muzhi couldn't help but chuckle.

Li Yunlong never suffered a loss; even after handing over his goods, he still wanted hand grenades.

If Lao He didn't give it to him, Li Yunlong would definitely leave in a huff.

“Of course, I’ve never seen such a wild regimental commander before. This guy is nothing like a regimental commander, he’s practically a scoundrel.” Old He was quite troubled. “He said he will come again. He said this batch of supplies cannot be handed over for nothing. When he comes again, you must give him these twenty boxes of grenades.”

"Let's not talk about Commander Li for now. Where are these supplies? Take me there to see them." Li Muzhi put aside this little episode.

Old He led Li Muzhi to a new warehouse. Li Muzhi quickly inspected it, his face beaming with joy: "Don't even mention twenty boxes of grenades, even if you gave Li Yunlong fifty boxes of grenades, it wouldn't be too much."

Li Muzhi hadn't expected that these mechanical devices actually existed, including generators, cutting machines, welding machines, large-diameter steel pipes, and so on.

As a top-level military expert from later generations, Li Muzhi immediately thought of one phrase: Hell Cannon!

The Hell Cannon, in later generations, was a bizarre weapon produced in the Middle East. It was made from a modified gas cylinder, with simple manufacturing process, low cost, and enormous destructive power.

One cannonball was as powerful as three thousand hand grenades, making it a favorite on the battlefield.

The US military was badly beaten by this hellish cannon.

Of course, the Hell Cannon is not without its flaws. For example, it is difficult to control its accuracy and often misses its target. Its range is also short, only fifty meters.

Just think about it, 3,000 grenades exploding at the same time within a distance of 50 meters, what's the difference between that and suicide?

However, as a top-level military expert, Li Muzhi could control his aim by installing a stabilizer fin.

As for the range, it can also be increased.

The Hell Cannon's shells are modified from gas cylinders. We can use the materials used to make hand grenades to cast smaller, aerodynamic projectiles. With smaller projectiles, there will be less wind resistance and less weight, allowing them to travel further.

As for the explosives in the shells, that was no problem for Li Muzhi either.

The arsenal's warehouse currently contains sugar and fertilizer, both of which can be used to make high explosives.

Seeing Li Muzhi grinning from ear to ear, the workshop foreman still earnestly reminded him, "Factory Director, I know this batch of supplies is very important, and Commander Li has done a great service, but you should still remain calm. Giving Commander Li fifty boxes of grenades is unacceptable. If all the grenades go to his Independent Regiment, what will happen to the other units?"

The arsenal's warehouse currently has exactly fifty boxes of hand grenades left.

"Let's go back and continue the meeting," Li Muzhi said, without giving Lao He a direct answer.

Old He didn't ask, but his expression remained serious.

If Li Muzhi really gave the Independent Regiment fifty boxes of hand grenades at the meeting, he would definitely oppose it.

Back in the conference room, Li Muzhi made a startling announcement: "I am now announcing that bullet production must be immediately halted, while grenade production will be resumed!"

The border region's arsenal could not produce bullets themselves; they could only reload bullet casings salvaged from the battlefield.

The quality of the second reload was, well, let's not even talk about it.

It's inaccurate, doesn't shoot far, and is prone to getting damp in rainy weather, making it unable to fire properly.

As for the quality of the grenades in the border region, Li Yunlong, the commander of the Independent Regiment, has already explained it very clearly.

Sometimes the explosion only splits the shell in two, which often causes delays on the battlefield.

Since Li Muzhi can now build the Hell Cannon, he must first build something big.

What? This is a big mess! We can't complete the bullet and grenade mission. How are we going to explain this to Minister Zhang?

This is not a problem. Minister Zhang has already said that no matter what method is used, whether it is normal production or abnormal production, it means that Minister Zhang only cares about the result and not the process.

Now that we have this big equipment, with Commander Li's ability to run side businesses, it will be a piece of cake for him to steal bullets and melon grenades from the Japanese. Not only will it be a piece of cake to complete Minister Zhang's quota, but the quality will also be guaranteed!

Li Yunlong once said, "If you have good weapons, you'll stand tall!"
He can still plunder a batch of machinery even without the Hell Cannon; if we give him the Hell Cannon, he'll definitely be able to plunder even more.

Our arsenal here has too little machinery; we have to have Li Yunlong use his Hell Cannon to plunder it for us.

(End of this chapter)