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

Chapter 177 Let the shells fly by themselves!

After Gao Liujin left, Lao He noticed the blueprints on Li Muzhi's office desk.

Old He looked down and asked suspiciously, "Factory Director, are you improving the rocket? Wasn't Commander Kong's test results already very good? There's no need to change it, is there?"

The old man had seen the structural drawings of the rockets fired by the rocket launcher.

The structure of the drawing by Li Muzhi in front of us has many similarities.

Therefore, Lao He mistakenly believed that this was Li Muzhi making improvements.

"This isn't about improving the rockets, it's about creating a new type of rocket," Li Muzhi explained.

A new type of rocket?

Old He didn't quite understand what Li Muzhi meant, and asked, "Factory Director, could you be more specific?"

Li Muzhi said, "Rocket launchers are light tactical artillery, while Hellfire cannons are heavy artillery, so our army still lacks medium-sized artillery. This new type of rocket will be used to make up for the lack of medium-sized artillery in our army."

Old He was stunned for a moment, looking at Li Muzhi: "Factory Director, since it's a medium-sized artillery piece, the caliber must be quite large. I'm afraid a single soldier won't be able to carry it on their shoulder."

In Lao He's opinion, since this is also a rocket, it must be launched using a cannon barrel.

Therefore, the diameter must not be small.

A larger diameter means a greater weight.

If the weight is too great, a single soldier may not be able to withstand it.

Li Muzhi smiled and said, "Old He, do you see any gun barrels drawn on my blueprints?"

Old He looked down again, then looked up at Li Muzhi in a daze: "Factory Director, I don't understand what you mean."

Lao He truly did not understand Li Muzhi's meaning.

In Lao He's view, if you're going to fire a cannonball, you definitely need a cannon barrel.

Even the rockets that our arsenal just produced, which are recoilless, still need a cannon barrel to fire.

Factory manager, you're not going to draw a cannon barrel on this new weapon? Are you telling me you're not going to use a cannon barrel?

Oh my God!
If you fire a cannonball without a barrel, wouldn't that be...? So, Lao He really didn't understand what Li Muzhi meant.

"That means my new type of rocket doesn't need a cannon barrel; the projectile can be launched by itself," Li Muzhi explained.

"..." Upon hearing this, Lao He's mind went completely blank.

The shells can be fired by themselves without a barrel?

Are you kidding me?
If cannonballs could really fly on their own, what would be the point of cannons?

According to you, Factory Director, this is equivalent to the shells flying over to kill the Japanese soldiers.

If you can build a cannonball that flies over to kill the Japanese today, can you build a plane that flies over to kill the Japanese tomorrow?
This is utter nonsense, absolutely utter nonsense.

Of course!
Standing before Lao He was none other than Li Muzhi.

If it were anyone else, Lao He would have spat out a mouthful of phlegm long ago.

The old man witnessed the miracle created by Li Muzhi.

This young factory manager's abilities are completely disproportionate to his age.

After a long while, Lao Hehao came to his senses and looked at Li Muzhi hesitantly: "Factory Director, you're really not joking, are you? This shell can really fly by itself and doesn't need a cannon barrel to fire?"

Li Muzhi explained: "The reason why our rockets are launched using rocket launchers is that the rocket launcher only serves to ignite, aim, and provide support. The rocket itself still relies on its own propellant to propel it forward. This new type of rocket eliminates the cannon barrel and launches itself, but the principle is similar."

After hearing Li Muzhi's explanation, Lao He understood and his expression instantly became excited: "Factory Director, according to what you said, as long as the aiming and support functions are solved, it seems that we really don't need a cannon barrel."

In Lao He's heart, his admiration for Li Muzhi immediately rose to an incomparably high level.

This is an absolutely unprecedented and unparalleled idea!

Who would believe that artillery shells could fly over and kill the enemy on their own?

But Li Muzhi's explanation made it seem feasible.

Our factory manager is truly amazing.

Now that we have large-diameter steel pipes, the factory director bypassed the enormous chamber pressure and created the Hell Cannon.

Now that we can smelt steel, the factory director simply eliminated chamber pressure and created a rocket launcher.

Although our border region's arsenal can now smelt steel, it still lacks the capability to manufacture cannon barrels.

so what.

Our factory manager simply decided to discard the cannon barrel altogether.

Let the shells fly by themselves!

This is... Old He doesn't even know what words to use to describe the factory director's great wisdom.

"Old He, don't get too excited yet," Li Muzhi told Old He to calm down. "I've only drawn up the blueprints. To manufacture this new type of rocket, we still lack some important equipment. Perhaps we'll have to wait until Commander Li takes over the Japanese's new arsenal." Old He was still incredibly excited, saying, "Commander Li taking over the Japanese's new arsenal is definitely a piece of cake. Factory Director, you're truly amazing! If I told Old Lu and the others about your idea, I'm telling you, they would all choose to stay. I wouldn't need to do any more persuasion."

What kind of work is this?

The factory director is so incredibly intelligent; to be able to work under such a top-notch military expert is a blessing that one couldn't attain in several lifetimes.

If Lao Qi and Lao Lu knew about the factory director's new guy who had even abandoned the cannon barrels, they would be completely convinced and wouldn't dare to go back, even if they beat him with sticks.

"Old He, you should go and oversee production. I haven't finished drawing this yet," Li Muzhi said calmly.

"Yes, Factory Manager." The old man's voice was loud and clear. He quickly and respectfully withdrew and closed the door behind him.

Lao He returned to the workshop, his face still beaming with an incredibly bright smile, unable to stop grinning.

"Old He, what's making you so happy?" Dr. Zhang, a metallurgist, asked Old He curiously.

"Old Zhang, I talked to you yesterday, and you still want to go back to the Huangyadong Arsenal, right?" Old He kept it a secret for now.

"I would like to stay, but after all, I came from there," Old Zhang said tactfully.

He wanted to stay, but the Huangyadong arsenal treated him well.

"It's alright, if you want to go back, no one will stop you." Old He nodded, then said mysteriously, "Have you ever heard of a shell that can fly to kill the enemy without needing to be fired by a cannon?"

"Old He, don't joke around." Old Zhang shook his head immediately upon hearing this. "Traditional artillery shells are propelled by the huge chamber pressure of the cannon. Even the rockets produced by the arsenal in this area need rocket launchers to be fired. How could a shell fly by itself? If that were the case, then why bother making cannon barrels at all? We might as well just make shells."

"Hehe." Old He knew Old Zhang would say that, so he chuckled and said, "I just went to our factory director's office. I saw that our factory director is working on a new weapon."

"Old He, do you mean your factory director is planning to develop artillery shells that don't need barrels and can fly over and kill the enemy on their own?" Old Zhang immediately questioned.

I admit that Director Li of the arsenal in this area is very capable and a remarkable talent.

Even we, a few graduates with doctorates who had studied abroad, paled in comparison to Director Li.

But you keep bragging that your factory director, Mr. Li, can make shells that can be fired without a barrel, and nobody really believes that.

Cannons have been around for hundreds of years, and haven't they always followed the same pattern?
Could this Factory Director Li possibly be capable of changing a business model that's been around for hundreds of years?

"Who is our factory director? He's a genius that only appears once every few thousand years!" Old He boasted. "Our human civilization is only a few thousand years old, and we've only produced one factory director in those few thousand years. Let alone the fact that he can build artillery shells that can fly out and kill the enemy, I believe that he might even build airplanes that can fly out and kill the enemy in the future. Our soldiers won't even need to make contact with the enemy to wipe out the Japanese devils."

"Old He, I know that Director Li is an extraordinary talent, but aren't you going a bit too far by praising him like this?" Old Lu, a graduate of the Iron and Steel Department of the University of Berlin, really couldn't stand it anymore.

Even a peddler praising their own wares wouldn't exaggerate like this.

"It's okay if you don't believe me. You can ask our factory manager yourself during lunch." After piquing the man's interest, Lao He went off to get busy.

Old Lu and Old Zhang looked at each other, then at Old He's retreating figure. Old Lu said, "How much of what Old He says do you believe?"

"Any more? I don't believe it for a second!" Old Zhang blurted out. "The firing principle of artillery is right here. It's been done this way for hundreds of years. Director Li didn't even bother with the barrel, letting the shells fly by themselves. This, this, this..."

As Old Zhang finished speaking, his tone still showed some hesitation: "This old man doesn't usually seem like someone who likes to joke around. Could it be that Director Li is really capable?"

After all, although the border region's arsenal could smelt steel, it still lacked the capability to manufacture standard artillery barrels.

Li Muzhi wanted to build a new cannon, so he simply didn't want the cannon barrel anymore. This, this, this... it sounds absurd, but what if he could actually do it?

"Let's go ask Director Li," Old Lu thought it was necessary to ask Li Muzhi.

If Li Muzhi truly possessed such wisdom and changed the centuries-old artillery firing method, then, then, then we would never leave, even if you killed us.

From now on, we'll be tied to the border region's arsenal.

"Let's ask him during lunch," Old Zhang said, pulling Old Lu aside. "Director Li's time is very valuable. We should try not to disturb him. If we interfere with Director Li's work on these shells that don't need barrels and can fly on their own, Minister Zhang will definitely punish us!"

“That makes sense,” Old Lu nodded. “Then we’ll ask Director Li at noon.”

These two big shots will no longer bother Li Muzhi.

However, the topic of Li Muzhi developing a shell that could fly on its own without a barrel quickly spread within the arsenal:
"Have you heard? Our factory manager is working on a new type of artillery that doesn't need a barrel; the shells can fly to kill the enemy on their own."

"Really? Don't talk nonsense. How can a shell fly to kill the enemy by itself without being fired from the barrel?"

"No cannon barrel needed, the shells fly by themselves, our factory manager is amazing."

"That's right. The arsenal couldn't produce cannon barrels, so the factory director simply stopped using them altogether. That's amazing."

"If the shells can fly off to kill the enemy today, maybe the guns the factory director makes tomorrow will also fly off to kill the enemy."

"What's so special about a gun flying out to kill the enemy? Our factory director might even be able to build an airplane someday, and that airplane will go and kill the Japanese devils on its own."

"So what if airplanes kill the Japanese themselves? Our factory director might be able to build even more awesome shells that can fly to the Japanese mainland and kill the Emperor, ending the war."

"What's so bad about just blowing up the Emperor? It would be better to blow up the Japanese mainland as well."

"Yes, our factory manager is so capable, he can definitely do it and wipe these little devils out of the woods, eliminating any future troubles!"

……

(End of this chapter)