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

Chapter 28: Let me dig coal for you?

Kong Jie arrived at the border region's arsenal as quickly as possible and immediately noticed that the arsenal looked quite different from before.

This doesn't mean the addresses are different, but rather the actions and reactions are different.

In the current arms factory, you can actually hear the sound of cutting and smell the welding.

This made Kong Jie pause in surprise, wondering if they had come to the wrong place.

After confirming several times that he had not gone to the wrong place, Kong Jie stepped to the gate and said to the guards, "I am Kong Jie, the commander of the new 2nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade. Your new factory director sent me here."

"So you're Commander Kong." The guard looked at Kong Jie with a strange expression, but quickly led the way: "Come with me."

Commander Kong's name is well-known, and his reputation in logistics is equally widespread.

The 386th Brigade had two famous regimental commanders: Li Yunlong and Kong Jie.

Let's leave Li Yunlong aside. Commander Kong had our headquarters leaders invent a new term: "leavened dough"!

In the Battle of Yangcun, Commander Kong's regiment was wiped out by a small Japanese unit, suffering a 200-to-0 defeat, leaving not a single Japanese soldier alive.

Kong Jie followed the guards into the arsenal, his eyes quickly widening in disbelief: "You, you, what new things are you making in your arsenal? Aren't you making bullets and grenades anymore?"

"Commander Kong, you're from the 386th Brigade, don't you know that?" the guard asked suspiciously.

Your 386th Brigade stole our logistics artillery, which angered Minister Zhang greatly. Commander Kong, don't you know about this?

"I really don't know," Kong Jie shook his head.

The new Second Regiment had just been formed, and Kong Jie was so busy with training that he didn't have time to go to the brigade headquarters.

"Our arsenal is temporarily ceasing production of bullets and grenades; we're switching to cannons," the guard explained.

"What? What are you doing?" Kong Jie's eyes widened, wondering if he had misheard.

Are the border region's arsenals now capable of making cannons?

This sounds like something out of a fairy tale.

You can't even forge steel, can you?

However, looking at the pipes being cut and the steel plates being welded in front of him, Kong Jie calmed down.

It seems the arsenal is really working on artillery.

I just don't know how good the quality of this cannon is. It should be better than a homemade cannon, right?

"Factory Director, Commander Kong of the New Second Regiment has arrived." The guard led Kong Jie behind Li Muzhi and reported to Li Muzhi.

Li Muzhi stopped what he was doing and turned around to look.

Commander Kong, one of the famous "Iron Triangles," was known for his tough fighting style. During the Ping'an-Gele Campaign, he was nicknamed "Kong the Thriller"!

"Commander Kong, hello, I am Li Muzhi." Li Muzhi dismissed the guards and extended his hand to Kong Jie.

Kong Jie also extended his hand to shake hands with Li Muzhi: "Director Li, hello."

Immediately afterward, Kong Jie got straight to the point: "Director Li, your guards said your arsenal is currently making cannons?"

"Commander Kong saw it all, didn't he?" Li Muzhi pointed to the workshop.

"Even our army's Huangyadong arsenal can't make cannons, but your border region arsenal can. I always feel there's something amiss..." Kong Jie paused, looking at Li Muzhi, "How powerful are your cannons?"

Huangyadong Arsenal was one of the most important arsenals of the Eighth Route Army, and its strength far surpassed that of the arsenals in the border region.

The Huangyadong Arsenal couldn't even produce cannons, yet the Border Region Arsenal could—it was unbelievable. "It seems Commander Kong hasn't spread the word yet," Li Muzhi said to Kong Jie with a smile. "Just ask anyone at your brigade headquarters, and you'll find out."

The Second New Regiment is a new regiment, and they should be busy with training right now, so the intelligence is coming in a bit slowly.

"I'll ask later." Kong Jie suppressed his suspicions and looked at Li Muzhi. "I wonder if there's anything you need my cooperation with, Director Li?"

"Commander Kong, since you've come here, it means your Second Regiment is not currently on combat duty, right?" Li Muzhi asked again first.

"Although there are no combat missions now, I still need to train the troops as soon as possible, after all, they are combat troops." Although Kong Jie had avenged himself in the Battle of Lijiapo, he still wanted to get the New Second Regiment up as soon as possible so that he could kill more Japanese devils on the battlefield and personally avenge himself again.

"Here's the thing, our arsenal wants to stockpile some coal first, and we hope Commander Kong can cooperate," Li Muzhi said.

"You want me to get you coal?" Kong Jie was taken aback, not quite understanding what Li Muzhi meant. "Where would I get it for you?"

“I know a place with coal. You take your troops and go dig it for me,” Li Muzhi said. “Of course, I won’t let you work for free. You work for me for three days, and I’ll give you a cannonball.”

Li Muzhi did not demand production output from the new Second Regiment because he knew that people in this era were very dedicated and serious in their work.

The timeframe is all that's required.

As for Li Muzhi knowing where the coal was, that came from his memories of later generations.

"What? You want me to take my troops to mine coal for you?" Kong Jie's eyes widened. "Don't you have any logistics personnel?"
As I said, we are a combat unit, and I need to train the troops as quickly as possible.

You're really something, making us dig coal for you!!!
However, Li Muzhi's offer of a cannonball in exchange for three days of work surprised Kong Jie.

As an elderly man, Kong Jieke clearly understood the value of artillery shells.

For example, the use of each shell from the mountain guns at headquarters required the approval of the headquarters leaders.

As for Li Muzhi, is it true that he can get one cannonball for working for three days?

Kong Jie quickly asked, "Did you give me an infantry gun shell?"

Although Kong Jie did not have infantry guns at the moment, he had shells and could borrow artillery from headquarters.

“It’s not an infantry gun shell,” Li Muzhi said, shaking his head. “It’s a shell from the cannons that my arsenal is currently producing.”

"Now you're producing cannonballs?" Kong Jie was taken aback. "I don't even know how powerful they are."

If the shells aren't very powerful, and our troops do the work for you, wouldn't that interfere with the troops' training?

If the troops aren't trained, how will they kill the Japanese later?

"Commander Kong, you can go to your brigade headquarters now and inquire about the power of the cannons produced by our regional arsenal. Then you can consider whether to work for our arsenal." Li Muzhi indicated that he could give Kong Jie time to think.

"Alright, Director Li, I'll go to my brigade headquarters right away and get back to you as soon as possible." Kong Jie's first impression of Li Muzhi was quite good.

After all, the brigade headquarters had issued an order stating that it was signed by the headquarters commander.

If a combat unit has no combat mission, but the arsenal needs to cooperate with its military production, the combat unit cannot refuse without a valid reason.

Based on this alone, Li Muzhi could absolutely force Kong Jie to go to the coal mine, since the New Second Regiment currently has no combat missions.

Li Muzhi, however, gave Kong Jie time to consider and did not force him.

"Commander Kong, I'm quite busy here, so I won't see you off."

"It's alright, you're busy, you're busy, building cannons is the important thing."

……

(End of this chapter)