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

Chapter 242 Let Li Muzhi oversee the process
Li Muzhi instructed Lao He to produce one hundred modified flashbangs, and then returned to continue debugging the equipment.

Another piece of equipment has been modified and, after Li Muzhi debugged it, the equipment is usable.

He had the debugged machine moved into the factory, and Li Muzhi continued to oversee the process from the side.

It was almost time to leave work when I saw Minister Zhang and the brigade commander of the 386th Brigade arrive.

Upon meeting, Zhang Wanhe immediately asked, "Xiao Li, do you know anything about shipbuilding?"

Li Muzhi spoke frankly: "Minister Zhang, you must be joking with me. I've never even been in contact with a warship, how could I possibly manufacture one?"

In fact, Li Muzhi did come into contact with ships in later generations.

But it was all just a visit to learn some basic principles and common knowledge about ships. He didn't delve into the specifics of ship manufacturing.

Immediately afterward, Li Muzhi looked at Zhang Wanhe suspiciously: "Minister Zhang, why are you asking me this?"

Zhang Wanhe pointed at the brigade commander and said, "Li Yunlong from the 386th Brigade captured a senior Japanese naval expert. He wants you to take a look at him first."

Upon hearing this, Li Muzhi immediately looked at the brigade commander with suspicion: "Brigade Commander Chen, did Regiment Commander Li capture a senior Japanese naval expert?"

Wasn't Li Yunlong going to lead his troops to fight outside the encirclement?

If he arrests someone outside, can he bring them back?
All this back and forth, are they really treating the Japanese mopping-up troops like decorations?
"That son of a bitch is lucky," the brigade commander cursed happily.

After all, Li Yunlong's capture of a high-ranking Japanese military industrial worker was a real honor for us.

Then the brigade commander continued, "Yan Kai, the deputy director of the arsenal in the Jin-Sui Army, knows this man. He said he is a senior naval expert. Li Yunlong realized his value, so he risked sending him back."

"I see." Li Muzhi nodded and said, "Now that we've captured this senior Japanese naval expert, is he cooperative during the interrogation?"

If the other party doesn't cooperate, even if Li Muzhi gets through, this hurdle won't be cleared.

"The person isn't cooperating yet, but we just want Xiao Li to come up with a way to confirm whether she understands shipbuilding." The brigade commander and Zhang Wanhe both understood the reason why Li Muzhi asked this question.

If the other party is uncooperative, we can take it slow.

The most crucial thing right now is to figure out whether she is indeed a senior naval personnel; we can't just listen to what Yan Kai says.

“I don’t know much about ships either,” Li Muzhi paused, then said, “I can only say that I’ll try my best.”

"Come with us after you're done here," Zhang Wanhe said, though he was in a hurry.

Li Muzhi is going to modify the equipment here. Once the equipment is modified, it will be used to manufacture new types of rockets.

The Japanese mopping-up operation began, but fortunately, Li Yunlong and his men managed to withdraw three brigades from the mopping-up force, which greatly reduced the pressure on the main force in counter-mopping-up efforts.

With the ammunition, grenades, and rocket launchers provided by the arsenal, and relying on favorable terrain and guerrilla tactics, the Kumamoto Division's mopping-up operations were stalled by us.

But no one can guarantee that the three Japanese brigades that were withdrawn will rejoin them.

Therefore, the advent of new types of rockets is still urgently needed.

"This equipment is nearing completion; all that's left is debugging. I can debug it when I get back," Li Muzhi said, waving his hand.

"Alright, then come with us for a bit." Zhang Wanhe nodded.

Li Muzhi walked in the middle, Zhang Wanhe on his left, and the brigade commander on his right.

The brigade commander said to Li Muzhi, "According to Yan Kai, the Japanese senior naval expert is named Yamamoto Sakura. She is a woman. He and Yamamoto Sakura were classmates. It seems that Yamamoto Sakura has some connection with the Japanese Navy's highest commander, Yamamoto Shichihachi."

"Yamamoto Shichi-hachi?" Li Muzhi was still somewhat stunned when he heard this.

After all, Li Muzhi was quite familiar with the name of the highest-ranking Japanese naval commander.

Wasn't this person named Isoroku Yamamoto? He was shot down by the US military and died.

Where did this Yamamoto Shichijiya come from?
The brigade commander explained with a smile, "Seven times eight equals fifty-six."

"Haha." Li Muzhi smiled and said, "This must be the nickname that Commander Li and the others gave it to me."

Li Muzhi could only think to himself, "This nickname is so fitting."

Seven times eight equals fifty-six, that's absolutely amazing.

Before long, Li Muzhi arrived at the interrogation room where Yamamoto Sakura was.

Because of Yamamoto Sakura's high value, several layers of guard posts were set up outside the interrogation room.

These are all the most elite logistics troops, normally used to protect headquarters and important rear-area institutions.

"Xiao Li, the person is inside. You go in and check on them. Commander Chen and I will wait outside." Zhang Wanhe decided not to go in and disturb them.

After all, he didn't understand the topic of military industry.

Brigade Commander Chen also said, "Xiao Li, it doesn't matter if you don't understand or aren't confident. Anyway, the person is in our hands, and we have plenty of time."

“Okay.” Li Muzhi nodded and stepped into the interrogation room.

Although the guards did not recognize Li Muzhi and had never seen his face before.

But given Li Muzhi's young age and Zhang Wanhe's attitude towards him, the guards seemed to have guessed Li Muzhi's true identity.

They all cast respectful glances at Li Muzhi; the director of the border region's arsenal, Li, had finally seen the real Li Muzhi.

Li Muzhi walked into the interrogation room amidst the respectful gazes of the guards.

The interrogation room still had food on the table, untouched.

It's clear that Sakura Yamamoto is on a hunger strike.

Li Muzhi's gaze fell on Yamamoto Sakura's face, and he still felt a sense of amazement.

This woman was indeed very beautiful, with almond-shaped eyes, long black hair cascading down her shoulders, and a captivating charm in every glance.

However, the woman looked terrified and nervous, as if she had been stimulated and her emotions were not yet fully stable.

She looked rather pitiful.

When she saw Li Muzhi come in, Yamamoto Sakura was still a little stunned.

She was brought here, and several people have already questioned her.

The people in front of me were all older, but this one looked to be only in his early twenties, which was too young.

However, Sakura Yamamoto still intends to remain ineligible for interrogation, just as before.

Even if you're terrified, you won't say a word.

Li Muzhi sat down directly in front of her and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Li Liang, and I am the assistant director of the Eighth Route Army Border Region Arsenal."

The translator relayed Li Muzhi's words to Yamamoto Sakura. (Subsequent dialogue and plot details are automatically omitted in the translation.)

Sakura Yamamoto's expression remained unchanged upon hearing this.

I still felt a little uneasy. Why would the Eighth Route Army send an assistant from the arsenal to ask me about this?
Sakura Yamamoto didn't react, so Li Muzhi continued:
"Let's talk about your navy's battleship Yamato."

"The Yamato battleship truly deserves to be called the king of battleships. Its main guns have a huge caliber and its protection capabilities are also strong. It is well-deserved to say that it is the number one battleship in the world."

……

While Li Muzhi was talking about the advantages of the Yamato battleship, he was secretly observing Yamamoto Sakura's expression.

If the other party's expression doesn't change, it means they've received some training, and it's unlikely that the interrogation will yield results in a short time.

Conversely, if there are flaws, it means that one has not been trained.

Before long, a barely perceptible hint of pride and self-satisfaction appeared on Yamamoto Sakura's expression.

This was enough for Li Muzhi.

The Yamato was the pride of the Japanese Navy, and many important meetings and decisions were made aboard the battleship Yamato.

When Yamamoto Sakura heard herself praising the Yamato battleship, her expression revealed pride and self-satisfaction, which was enough to prove that she was a member of the Japanese navy and had not received any training.

If she were in the army, she would definitely have the opposite expression if she heard someone praising the Yamato.

From this detail, Li Muzhi also saw the problem.

Since Sakura Yamamoto still feels pride and honor towards the Yamato, it means that her heart still belongs to the Japanese Navy.

So why did she serve the Japanese army?

This is not reasonable.

Now that we've confirmed Yamamoto Sakura is a member of the Japanese Navy, the next step is to get her to follow our line of thinking and see if we can find out the reason.

Li Muzhi changed the subject: "Unfortunately, times have changed. It's no longer the era of battleships and cannons clashing, but the era of aircraft carriers. Your Yamato battleship has taken the wrong path and is unwilling to correct it in time, so there is only one outcome for it: to be sunk!"

When one's own sense of excellence and pride is praised by others, it's easy to feel smug.

Once someone starts questioning them, they will most likely start refuting it.

As Li Muzhi predicted, when he said that the Yamato would ultimately be sunk, Yamamoto Sakura couldn't remain calm and became excited: "Our navy is now the second largest in the world. As long as we don't go to war with the US military, who can defeat our navy!"

Sakura Yamamoto often went aboard the Yamato; it was a source of pride for the Imperial Navy.

How can we allow Li Muzhi to say that it will be sunk!
As for Sakura Yamamoto's claim that his navy is the second strongest in the world, in reality, according to current global naval strength, the Japanese navy ranks third.

The British Army ranked second, and the US Army ranked first.

But if the British and Japanese navies were to actually fight, the British might not be able to win.

After all, at the beginning of the Pacific War, the Japanese Navy crushed the US Navy, the world's number one navy, which is no exaggeration.

Although the Japanese navy's ships were far smaller than those of the US Navy, they were no paper tiger when it came to fighting.

Li Muzhi shook his head: "Your navy will soon be at war with the US military because they are already restricting your strategic resources such as oil. You are being strangled, and you have no choice but to fight them."

"Even if war breaks out, the US military won't be able to defeat us." Yamamoto Sakura's expression was just as arrogant as that of the Japanese naval high command.

"Your industrial output is only a mere 10 billion, while the US military's is 200 billion. What do you rely on to defeat them? Your arrogant words?" Li Muzhi questioned.

"We can make a bet, do you dare?" Yamamoto Sakura got so excited that she temporarily forgot their respective identities and that she was now a prisoner.

"Do you want to go back?" Li Muzhi didn't respond to Yamamoto Sakura's question.

Once people's emotions are stirred up, the atmosphere is essentially opened up.

"You're just a lowly assistant, how can you make this decision?" Sakura Yamamoto questioned directly.

"As long as you cooperate well, I'll talk to headquarters and we can let you go back," Li Muzhi said, offering this as bait.

If I talk to headquarters, they can let me go back!
Sakura Yamamoto gleaned the key information from Li Muzhi's words, her beautiful eyes fixed on his: "So you're not the factory manager's assistant at all, are you?"

A mere assistant to the factory manager is simply not qualified.

Li Muzhi stopped hiding his identity and directly revealed his identity, which was like a trump card: "I am definitely not the assistant factory director. I am Li Muzhi, the factory director of the Eighth Route Army Border Region Arsenal."

"..." Yamamoto Sakura was stunned.

When Sakura Yamamoto was exchanging ideas at the Taiyuan Arsenal, the factory director of the Taiyuan Arsenal mentioned the factory director of the Eighth Route Army Border Region Arsenal.

The director of the Taiyuan Arsenal spoke highly of this man, saying that if he could be used by the empire, the strength of the empire's army could be increased by at least double!
The claim that the Imperial Army's combat effectiveness would be doubled is more than just a figure of speech.

Now, the empire's battle lines are stretched too thin, and its forces are insufficient.

If the army's combat effectiveness could be doubled, it would mean that only half the troops would be needed for the same battle.

This would greatly alleviate the pressure of insufficient empire manpower.

One person can double the combat effectiveness of an army; his worth is beyond description.

If I had to put one word on him, it would be: the fate of the nation!

This person's abilities are already capable of influencing the fate of a nation.

The director of the Taiyuan Arsenal said he had never met the director of the Eighth Route Army Arsenal. Based on his judgment, the director of the Eighth Route Army's regional arsenal was probably an elderly and wise man.

Sakura Yamamoto never expected that the famous director of the Eighth Route Army's border region arsenal was just a young man in his twenties.

"Are you really the director of the Eighth Route Army's arsenal?" Sakura Yamamoto still found it hard to believe.

"I'll say it again, do you want to go home?" The other person's emotions had been completely stirred up, so Li Muzhi brought the topic back.

"Even if you are the factory director of the arsenal, can you make decisions for your headquarters?" By this time, Yamamoto Sakura had already been led away by Li Muzhi.

Even if your abilities, Li Muzhi, can influence the fate of a country, in the eyes of your headquarters leader, you are still a precious gem.

However, decisions made at the higher levels are probably not something a factory director like you can make.

Especially for high-ranking prisoners like myself.

“My words came with a condition: you have to cooperate,” Li Muzhi reiterated. “As long as you cooperate, I can assure you that I will definitely let you go home.”

Here, perhaps someone will jump out and criticize.

If Li Muzhi really releases the person, will headquarters really agree?
In fact, that's how history is.

On August 15, 1945, the Japanese surrendered, and all the Japanese soldiers on this land were released and sent home.

There was absolutely no problem with Li Muzhi releasing the people at that time.

Li Muzhi did not tell Yamamoto Sakura that he would release her immediately.

(End of this chapter)