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

Chapter 172 From Cloudy to Sunny
Seeing Li Muzhi come out, Lao He was the first to approach him: "Factory Manager, is the machine fixed?"

Although it is important to have factory director Li Muzhi verify the equipment parts.

But what's even more concerning is whether the important machinery related to steelmaking has been repaired.

"It's fixed," Li Muzhi replied with great certainty.

"That's wonderful, that's really wonderful!" Old He said excitedly.

As long as the steel can continue to be smelted, ammunition production can continue normally.

Zhang Wanhe also breathed a sigh of relief. As the logistics minister, he was the first to be notified when the equipment at the arsenal malfunctioned.

Now that Li Muzhi has repaired the machine, production can continue.

Zhang Wanhe pulled Li Muzhi and quickly brought him to the equipment parts, saying, "Little Li, quickly take a look at what these equipment parts are for. Lao He said that half of the parts are missing, but I have a feeling that he has misjudged them."

Half of the equipment parts are missing?
Li Muzhi was taken aback when he heard this. No wonder the atmosphere seemed a bit off when he came out.

When they brought back the equipment parts for making seamless steel pipes, Zhang Wan, Li Yunlong, and the others didn't seem very excited.

Li Muzhi quickly checked it carefully and finally nodded: "That's right, the equipment is indeed missing some parts."

Without the right equipment, you can't make seamless steel pipes.

To produce seamless steel pipes, you need more than just drilling rigs and pickling equipment; you also need annealing, cold drawing, precision rolling, straightening, and so on.

At present, Li Muzhi only saw the parts of the drilling rig and pickling equipment; he did not see any of the equipment parts for the subsequent processes such as annealing and cold drawing.

If we consider the entire process, this is less than half.

Li Muzhi remembered that Li Yunlong had previously obtained semi-finished cannon barrels, which were most likely produced by the enemy's arsenal.

In other words, this arsenal mainly produces bullets and shells, and also manufactures semi-finished cannon barrels.

The semi-finished cannon barrel is now complete and should be transported to the next arsenal.

In other words, this is a very important clue.

Upon hearing Li Muzhi confirm that some equipment parts were missing, Li Yunlong immediately jumped up: "That damned Sato Haruno, I'll definitely kill him, I'll definitely kill him!"

Kong Jie was also furious: "If I didn't have to mine coal, I would definitely go with you, Lao Li, to kill this little devil. He's so hateful."

Ding Wei sensed something was amiss in Li Muzhi's words and asked, "Director Li, you said there are missing parts in this equipment, but how many exactly are missing?"

If half of the parts or equipment were missing, Li Muzhi would definitely say that half were missing.

But he only said it was less, without specifying how much less.

Zhang Wanhe and Lao He both looked at Li Muzhi with solemn expressions, waiting for his answer.

Li Muzhi did not answer Ding Wei's question directly, but looked at him and asked, "Commander Ding, when you took over the enemy's arsenal, what happened to the arsenal workers? Did you capture them?"

Li Muzhi only saw the equipment parts brought back, but did not see the workers from the enemy's arsenal who were brought back.

Ding Wei replied, "We captured all the workers, managers, and even the factory director of this enemy arsenal. Because the arsenal in the border region is in a very important location, we couldn't bring them here directly, so we temporarily placed them elsewhere."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe became excited: "Did you really capture all the workers from this Japanese arsenal? How many exactly?"

Although the fact that the equipment is missing parts makes one feel disappointed.

But if we could bring in skilled workers, it would be of great significance to our military production.

We're short-staffed here.

"About a hundred or so, the exact number hasn't been tallied yet," Ding Wei replied.

"Where are they?" Zhang Wanhe asked immediately. "I'll contact the intelligence department right away and have them go over to select them."

Old Zhang isn't stupid.

We captured skilled workers from the enemy's arsenal, but we certainly can't use them directly; we still need to have them reviewed by the intelligence department.

"We arranged for them to stay in the abandoned village No. 17," Ding Wei replied.

The Japanese invaders committed many atrocities, and many villages were massacred.

Many villages' original names are no longer remembered, so they are replaced with numbers.

"Okay, I'll send someone to contact the intelligence department right away..." Comrade Zhang was eager to get started and was about to send someone.

"Minister Zhang, wait a moment, I have something else to say." Li Muzhi called out to Zhang Wanhe.

"Xiao Li, go ahead and say it." Zhang Wanhe stopped and looked at Li Muzhi seriously.

"Here's the thing," Li Muzhi said. "Based on the parts and equipment we see here, I've determined that this enemy arsenal mainly produces bullets and shells, and also manufactures semi-finished artillery barrels." "Once these semi-finished artillery barrels are finished, they'll definitely be transported to the next arsenal. So, Minister Zhang, do you understand what I mean?"

"You mean..." Zhang Wanhe seemed to be thinking, but his expression quickly became excited, "We can get clues from these captured arsenal workers, especially the managers and factory directors. They may very well know the whereabouts of the next Japanese arsenal?"

The negative emotions Zhang Wanhe felt due to the lack of equipment parts vanished instantly.

If they could follow the clues to find the next Japanese arsenal, an arsenal that could assemble artillery would definitely be an even larger one. Upon hearing Zhang Wanhe's words, Li Yunlong, Kong Jie, and Ding Wei, who were standing nearby, immediately brightened up.

Li Yunlong slapped his thigh excitedly and laughed, "That's right, that's right! How come I didn't think of that? If we can find the location of the Japanese's next arsenal through the Cui Village arsenal, it will be hard for us not to get rich."

Kong Jie laughed and said, "Haha, if we find out the location of the Japanese's next large arsenal and take it over, what does this little setback matter?"

"This time, God is on our side again. Maybe the equipment and supplies that the Japanese took away beforehand are still in this arsenal. If we take it, it will be like making up for it." Ding Wei also smiled and said to Zhang Wanhe, "Minister Zhang, I think you don't need to notify the intelligence department. They're too busy. Why don't Lao Li and I just take the man back and let our brigade commander interrogate him? What do you think?"

In war, the most important thing is not food or weapons and ammunition, but intelligence!

The intelligence department is already very busy and short-staffed.

Now we are inflicting heavy losses on the Japanese and gaining more and more advantages from them, so the pressure on our intelligence department is naturally increasing.

Therefore, Ding Wei believed that it was better not to distract the intelligence department and let the brigade commander do the job.

Anyway, intelligence gathering is our brigade commander's specialty.

“Okay, okay.” Zhang Wanhe nodded immediately and said, “Let your brigade commander screen them first. Workers who don’t know any clues should be sent to the logistics department. We need to hurry up and reform them.”

“Okay, no problem.” Li Yunlong and Ding Wei both nodded.

With just a few words, Li Muzhi enlivened and excited the previously oppressive atmosphere.

No one was disappointed that Sato Haruno had transported a batch of equipment and supplies ahead of schedule; everyone's faces were filled with smiles and anticipation.

Old He said to Li Muzhi, "Factory Director, there are some things among these supplies that I don't recognize. Can you take a look and see what they are?"

Li Muzhi took one look and realized that these were all raw materials for making explosives.

Li Muzhi glanced at the raw materials he had brought back and said with a smile, "Commander Li, you have brought back so many ammunition materials, and the variety is complete. The border region's arsenal will not have to worry about raw materials for a while."

"Haha." Li Yunlong laughed and said, "Brother Li, from what you're saying, that means you have enough raw materials to produce shells and bullets, right? You'd better hurry up and make them for us. The Japanese will definitely launch a large-scale mopping-up operation soon, and our combat troops will need a lot of ammunition. Of course, what I need most right now are the Hell Cannons and rocket launchers. Give me some first. I don't need much, ten Hell Cannons and one hundred rocket launchers. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

Before Li Muzhi could even speak, Zhang Wanhe started cursing: "Li Yunlong, what are you doing? Robbing me? You've got quite the appetite, have you no shame?!"

You want ten hell cannons and a hundred rocket launchers? Even if your brigade commander came, he wouldn't be this shameless.

"Hehe, Lao Zhang, Brother Li said that the raw materials we brought back are enough to produce enough shells and bullets. Didn't you hear that?" Li Yunlong chuckled, then turned to look at Li Muzhi: "Brother Li, what do you say?"

Li Yunlong knew, of course, that he had set his sights too high, but that was just like a cunning businessman.

Ask for a higher price first, then the other party can negotiate.

"Commander Li, here's what we'll do. The Hell Cannon is finished. Here's one for you," Li Muzhi said to Li Yunlong. "And the rocket launchers? Here are thirty for you. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong's face immediately fell: "Brother Li, you've cut the price way too much. Leaving aside the supplies, the workers I brought back are valuable too, and you're only offering this little?"

Kong Jie said, "Director Li, isn't this a bit too little? How are we supposed to divide it among me, Lao Ding, and Li Yunlong?"

This was brought down by three people and divided among them; there's not much soup in it.

Ding Wei chimed in from the side, "Director Li, when did you become as stingy as Minister Zhang?"

Zhang Wanhe glanced at Ding Wei sideways but didn't say anything.

“This enemy arsenal was taken down jointly by you, Commander Li, Commander Ding, and Commander Kong, so I plan to give each of your regiments a copy like this,” Li Muzhi explained.

Li Muzhi calculated that this was equivalent to giving them three hell cannons and ninety rocket launchers.

Li Yunlong, Ding Wei, and Kong Jie looked at each other, and immediately stopped making a fuss, their excitement like they had eaten bee droppings.

Mr. Li immediately nodded with a smile: "Hahaha, that's good, that's more like it. I knew you were a straightforward person, Brother Li!"

Ding Wei also laughed: "I misunderstood Director Li. I'm sorry. Director Li, you and Minister Zhang are really different."

Zhang Wanhe glanced at Ding Wei again, but didn't say anything.

In Zhang Wanhe's view, it was quite reasonable for Li Muzhi to provide three hell cannons and ninety rocket launchers.

The raw materials are valuable, but of course, the most valuable thing is the skilled craftsmen we brought back.

The happiest person was Kong Jie.

In that case, our new Second Regiment will also have Hell Cannons.

Kong Jie witnessed the power of Ding Wei and Li Yunlong's Hell Cannons on the battlefield.

My desire to get it grew stronger, and I never expected it to come so quickly.

Kong Jie looked at Li Muzhi with wild joy: "Director Li, you're not kidding, are you? You're really going to give me a Hell Cannon?"

"Commander Kong, when have you ever seen me joke?" Li Muzhi said seriously.

"Haha, that's true, Director Li, you never joke around." Kong Jie's mouth stretched to his ears.

(End of this chapter)