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

Chapter 200 Five Carts of Tungsten Sand
"Reporting to the regimental commander, Regimental Commander Li of the 386th Brigade is passing by in a hurry with his troops."

At this moment, someone reported to Gao Liujin.

Gao Liujin initially didn't want to acknowledge Li Yunlong when he heard he was passing by.

But if the Japanese plane was indeed lured out by this black and gray thing we seized, then we must hurry.

So Gao Liujin quickly said, "Send someone to call him over immediately and tell him I have something important to discuss with him."

"Yes."

……

"Commander Li, our Commander Gao wants you to come over."

"Why do you want me to go there? Can't you just say what you need to say?" Li Yunlong was in a hurry to meet Ding Wei and Blind Cheng, and didn't have time to listen to Gao Liujin showing off.

That's right!

Li Yunlong thought Gao Liujin was probably trying to show off to him.

Gao Liujin, along with his rocket launcher, helped the border region's arsenal dismantle Japanese military trains. This guy must have had a great time with the rocket launcher and wanted to show off in front of me.

It's also possible that this guy got a lot of supplies and profits from the Japanese military train and wants to show off in front of me. I don't have time to listen to his nonsense right now.

"Commander Li, our commander says he has something important to discuss."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong turned to Zhang Dabiao and said, "Dabiao, let the troops take cover and rest where they are to avoid the Japanese planes."

Although the Japanese plane flew around twice and then left, it never appeared again.

But now that this disgusting thing has flown out, we still need to be careful.

"Yes, Commander." Zhang Dabiao responded, carrying out Li Yunlong's orders.

Li Yunlong arrived at Gao Liujin's location and, seeing that Gao Liujin had seized a considerable amount of sugar, glared at him and exclaimed, "Gao Liujin, you son of a bitch, you stole so much sugar!!"

This is far too much; even the white sugar the scholar prepared doesn't amount to this much.

That bastard Gao Liujin, it's like God is chasing after him to feed him.

"Not much, not much, just a mere hundred thousand catties," Gao Liujin said casually.

I'm still very happy. I've finally completely outshone you, Li Yunlong, when it comes to sugar.

"Alright, stop talking nonsense. I have important things to do. What are you bastards up to? Get to the bottom of this." Li Yunlong couldn't stand Gao Liujin's smugness.

Gao Xi grabbed a handful of the grayish-black stuff and placed it in front of Li Yunlong: "Commander Li, have you seen this before?"

"What is this? I've never seen it before." Li Yunlong looked down and didn't recognize it at all.

Of course, Li Yunlong recognized Gao Xigang.

After Ding Wei stepped down as commander of the 28th Regiment, Gao Xigang became the new commander of the 28th Regiment.

Gao Xigang continued, "Gao Liujin and I just analyzed it, and this thing is very valuable, possibly even more valuable than white sugar. The Japanese planes have come out, and it's probably related to this thing."

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong immediately glared and said, "What? What did you say? Did you provoke these Japanese planes? Do you know how much trouble this will cause for logistics and our combat troops?"

Immediately afterwards, Li Yunlong asked, "Then what is this thing?"

If the Japanese planes were indeed lured out by this thing, then it must be worth a lot of money.

That bastard Gao Liujin, he's got such good luck.

"We don't know either," Gao Xigang shook his head.

"You didn't even know what this was, yet you snatched it back?" Li Yunlong was stunned for a moment. "Aren't you worried that you've misjudged it and brought back something worthless?"

“Li Yunlong, this is what I’m thinking: we should send some of this stuff to the border region’s arsenal immediately and have Director Li appraise it quickly to see if it’s really valuable.” Gao Xigang’s tone was very serious. “Gao Liujin and I only managed to snatch a small portion; there are five truckloads of this stuff over there. If it’s confirmed to be valuable, we need to hurry and seize it tonight.”

Even if Okamura, the commander of the North China Expeditionary Army, wanted to send reinforcements, he couldn't possibly arrive in a day.

Therefore, once it was confirmed that this thing was valuable, it was necessary to seize all the remaining gray and black stuff before the large number of Japanese troops arrived.

“Alright, I’ll personally deliver it on horseback.” Li Yunlong didn’t waste any time. Seeing that Gao Xigang and Gao Liujin’s team was exhausted, he added, “You guys take this time to rest and replenish your strength. If we confirm that this stuff is valuable, have Lao Zhang send a transport team to pick it up. We’ll hurry up and grab the rest.”

Although Li Yunlong and Gao Liujin disliked each other.

But when it comes to matters of principle like these, what do personal grudges matter?

Let's work together to resolve the major issues first, and then we can discuss personal matters.

"I'll go with you," Gao Liujin said, wanting to go along.

"also."

The two quickly grabbed a small sample packet and rode swiftly to the border region's arsenal.
-
Border Region Arsenal

Despite the minor incident involving the Japanese planes, it did not affect Li Muzhi's inspection.

Zhang Wanhe waited outside the door until Li Muzhi finally opened it.

Li Muzhi said excitedly, "Minister Zhang, this is definitely tungsten sand."

"What can this tungsten sand be made into? Why do you value it so much?" Zhang Wanhe asked hurriedly.

“There are many things we can make. For example, take the machine cutting blades in our factory. You've seen them; once they break, they're beyond repair. Tungsten is a crucial raw material for making these blades,” Li Muzhi said.

"For example, armor-piercing rounds. With these, we can strike targets behind heavy obstacles."

"Furthermore, cannon barrels and gun barrels also need it. With it, the service life of cannon barrels and gun barrels is greatly increased."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe said with relief, "Now that you mention it, this stuff is indeed a valuable commodity. No wonder we were able to exchange 8000 tons of tungsten ore for so many other supplies. Moreover, the foreign powers were all scrambling to get it. They didn't even tell us what it was actually used for."

"Minister Zhang, who provided this tungsten ore? Was it that Jin-Sui Army officer again?" Li Muzhi asked.

"Yes," Zhang Wanhe nodded.

“This person is quite capable,” Li Muzhi said seriously. “Let the intelligence department investigate him. We must find out how he obtained this tungsten sand.”

We don't have that many general's swords here. If we want to get more tungsten sand, we'll have to take another route.

Once our trump card weapons are developed and our troops are ready to fight, we can reclaim the tungsten mines that have been occupied by the Japanese.

"Okay." Zhang Wanhe nodded emphatically.

“Then you go ahead and get busy. I’ll appraise this other thing,” Li Muzhi said. This other thing was tin.

Tin is mainly used for welding, and it is also very important to the arsenal.

"Xiao Li, there's some good news I haven't told you yet..." Zhang Wanhe was about to tell Li Muzhi that Li Yunlong had brought the copper smelter back.

Before Zhang Wanhe could finish speaking, someone rushed over: "Reporting to the factory director, Minister Zhang, Regiment Commander Li and Regiment Commander Gao have arrived in a hurry, saying they have urgent business to discuss with the factory director."

"Have them come over right away," Zhang Wanhe nodded immediately.

Zhang Wanhe also knew that Li Yunlong and Gao Liujin never got along.

But now that the two of them have come together, it must be something very important.

Soon, Li Yunlong and Gao Liujin appeared in front of Li Muzhi and Zhang Wanhe.

"Commander Li, Commander Gao, you..." Zhang Wanhe hadn't even finished speaking.

Li Yunlong handed the grayish-black object wrapped in cloth to Li Muzhi: "Brother, take a look and see what this is."

Li Muzhi took it suspiciously, and while opening it, he asked, "Commander Li, why are you being so mysterious..."

Li Muzhi stopped abruptly as he looked at the grayish-black particles before he could finish speaking.

Zhang Wanhe, standing to the side, was also stunned. Of course, he was no stranger to this thing.

Li Muzhi just identified it as tungsten sand.

"Commander Li, how did you get this?" Li Muzhi asked Li Yunlong hurriedly.

Although, this thing has not been identified yet.

However, its appearance is the same as the tungsten sand obtained in exchange for the officer's sword.

This shows what.

This suggests that this substance is very likely tungsten sand!

And another one!
The fact that even a general could exchange his sword for tungsten ore from an officer in the Jin-Sui Army is extremely serious.

That is!
There must be traitors colluding with the Japanese.

According to historical records, the reason why the Japanese were able to plunder large amounts of tungsten ore from our land was also closely related to traitors.

"Brother, this thing is very valuable, isn't it?" Seeing Li Muzhi's expression and attitude, Li Yunlong's expression immediately became serious as well.

The Japanese military train that Gao Liujin seized had five cars full of these things.

Zhang Wanhe shouted from the side, "Commander Li, this thing is more than just valuable, it's worth a fortune!"

Gao Liujin stood there in a daze, then asked, "Director Li, is this stuff as valuable as white sugar?"

“White sugar can’t compare to this. This stuff is called tungsten ore, and it’s a strategic metal,” Li Muzhi said in an extremely serious tone.

Strategic metals!
When Li Muzhi uttered the words "strategic metal," even those present who didn't understand what those words meant could clearly sense that this was probably no ordinary valuable commodity.

Li Yunlong couldn't help but kick Gao Liujin: "Gao Liujin, you son of a bitch, look at your short-sightedness! You robbed tens of thousands of catties of white sugar, but you lost tens of thousands of catties of tungsten sand, you big idiot."

Gao Liujin took a kick but didn't get angry.

It was absolutely foolish of me to not take tungsten ore in order to get white sugar and industrial acid.

Gao Liujin couldn't help but slap himself twice: "Gao Liujin, you bastard, you didn't study! Now you're reaping the consequences of being uneducated!"

Li Muzhi and Zhang Wanhe, who were standing to the side, were both stunned when they heard that Gao Liujin had brought back over 100,000 jin of white sugar.

Tens of thousands of kilograms of white sugar, is it true or false?
The military train that Gao Liujin seized was a troop transport vehicle, wasn't it? It had no cargo.

How did he obtain these tens of thousands of kilograms of white sugar?
"Gao Liujin, where are the tens of thousands of kilograms of white sugar?" Zhang Wanhe shouted excitedly at Gao Liujin, as if he had been injected with chicken blood.

Hundreds of thousands of kilograms of white sugar—this will be of great use!

The arsenal has over a million kilograms of fertilizer; all they need is sugar. This is a real lifesaver.

"I gave up tens of thousands of kilograms of tungsten ore for tens of thousands of kilograms of white sugar. I'm a fool, I'm an idiot!" Gao Liujin was still regretting it.

For the sake of tens of thousands of kilograms of white sugar, they gave up tens of thousands of kilograms of tungsten ore?

Zhang Wanhe and Li Muzhi were stunned again upon hearing this.

What exactly happened?

Giving up tens of thousands of kilograms of tungsten ore for tens of thousands of kilograms of white sugar is a huge loss.

Li Yunlong explained, "It's like this: Gao Liujin previously stole a military train from the border region's arsenal to dismantle the locomotives; those were troop carriers. Gao Liujin wasn't satisfied, so he stole another military train. This train had a lot of supplies on it, and Gao Liujin didn't recognize tungsten ore, so he took the sugar and industrial acid that the arsenal could use first..."

Before Li Yunlong could finish speaking, Zhang Wanhe quickly interrupted, "Then what about the tungsten ore? Not a single piece was brought back?"

If we don't get anything back, then that's incredibly stupid.

“Gao Liujin and Gao Xigang did bring back a small amount of tungsten ore, which is currently in a deserted village more than ten kilometers away,” Li Yunlong explained. “The military train had a total of five truckloads of tungsten ore…”

"How much? Five cartloads of tungsten ore!"

Zhang Wanhe jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on, spitting all over Li Yunlong's face: "Are you sure it's five carts?!"

Oh my God!

Five truckloads of tungsten ore, that must be over a million kilograms!

With so much potential for wealth, you, who are six pounds tall, gave up most of it. You're hopelessly stupid!
Do you know or not?

The officer's sword was exchanged for dozens of kilograms of tungsten sand, which made Xiao Li extremely excited and happy.

You gave up five cartloads and six kilograms of weight, you bastard, you deserve to die!

Li Muzhi looked at Li Yunlong in shock: "Commander Li, are you sure it's five truckloads, not five tons?"

Five truckloads of tungsten ore, that must be two or three hundred tons.

"Gao Liujin, you bastard, what are you yelling for!"

Li Yunlong didn't answer Li Muzhi. Instead, he turned around and kicked Gao Liujin again, cursing, "While the large number of Japanese ground reinforcements haven't arrived yet, let's go and snatch back all the remaining tungsten ore!"

(End of this chapter)