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

Chapter 321 Li Muzhi is not Sun Wukong

Li Muzhi followed Zhang Wanhe to the outside of the interrogation room.

A middle-aged man wearing glasses saw the two approaching and immediately greeted Li Muzhi with great enthusiasm: "This must be Factory Director Li."

Zhang Wanhe smiled and introduced the middle-aged man in front of him to Li Muzhi, saying, "Little Li, this is Wu Yaohan, the section chief of the intelligence department."

"Section Chief Wu, hello, I'm Li Muzhi." Li Muzhi smiled and extended his hand.

"Hahaha, good, good, good, Director Li, you're good too! Haha, I've always heard that Director Li of the Border Region Arsenal is young and capable. Wang Xunbu described you as a handsome man, and seeing you today, I can see that Wang Xunbu wasn't lying." Wu Yaohan laughed heartily, and quickly reached out to grasp Li Muzhi's hands, shaking them excitedly, almost shaking Li Muzhi off his feet.

Wu Yaohan was so excited.

With Yamamoto Sakura brought here, you can't hit her, you can't scold her. Section Chief Wu is worried about how to deal with this Japanese woman in the fastest and most efficient way.

Unexpectedly, Li Muzhi made a move and took it down directly.

The intelligence department immediately passed this hot potato to the political work department.

Once the political commissar has won over the person, the intelligence will naturally follow.

Then there's Konosuke Takahashi.

This was a Japanese military expert who was just as important as Sakura Yamamoto.

Moreover, these were people who had received professional training, and even Section Chief Wu was put in a difficult position.

Even more unexpectedly, Li Muzhi used a dog to provoke Takahashi Konosuke into revealing important information.

This crucial intelligence hasn't been uncovered yet, but something even more exciting is coming.

The flashbangs made by Factory Director Li need to be randomly selected for testing from time to time.

This test unexpectedly got Konosuke Takahashi to agree to cooperate, which was a pleasant surprise.

It can be said that although Li Muzhi was a staff member of the arsenal, his assistance to the intelligence department was of great significance.

If Li Muzhi weren't so important to the military industry right now, Wu Yaohan would have tried to poach him.

"Alright, alright, Section Chief Wu, I know you're excited and happy, but you'd better let go quickly, or you'll hurt Xiao Li. You simply can't afford to pay for it." Zhang Wanhe came to Li Muzhi's rescue in time and removed Wu Yaohan's hand.

"Haha, I'm so sorry, Director Li, I was just too excited." Wu Yaohan apologized to Li Muzhi with a smile.

"It's alright, Section Chief Wu, it's only human nature, I understand." Li Muzhi indicated that he didn't mind, and then got straight to the point: "Minister Zhang said that Takahashi Konosuke is going to be recruited, so has he recruited him yet?"

“We weren’t waiting for you to come. There are some things you can ask first,” Wu Yaohan said. “After all, without the flashbangs you made, Director Li, our efficiency wouldn’t be this high, so it’s only right that you ask first.”

Zhang Wanhe reminded Li Muzhi from the side: "It's mainly about the military industry, you can ask about those."

As for the other intelligence regarding Secret Site No. 9, that will be handled by Section Chief Wu.

First, let Li Muzhi find out the important military intelligence about Secret Site No. 9. Then, when we take this place later, we need to make advance preparations for the military industry.

This is similar to dismantling a Japanese military train or other equipment.

Before taking action, the arsenal must also make corresponding preparations in advance.

"Okay, I understand." Li Muzhi nodded, and then Wu Yaohan called his deputy section chief to lead Li Muzhi over.

"Director Li, please." The deputy section chief politely gestured for Li Muzhi to proceed.

“Okay.” Li Muzhi followed.

Watching Li Muzhi's retreating figure, Wu Yaohan sighed, "Everyone says that Director Li is young, but seeing him today, he's really too young."

Zhang Wanhe laughed and said, "Heroes have always emerged from among the young."

"Haha, that's true, that's true." Wu Yaohan nodded, and then said to Zhang Wanhe, "Minister Zhang, how about we put all the flashbangs you manufacture at your arsenal in my interrogation room for testing from now on? What do you think?"

Many Japanese spies were too stubborn and too difficult to get them to talk.

This flashbang test is a good method.

“No problem, of course there’s no problem.” Zhang Wanhe nodded repeatedly. “These damned Japanese devils shouldn’t have been allowed to stay in the interrogation room so comfortably.”

Because the poison gas bombs blinded many soldiers, Zhang Wanhe now hates the Japanese to the core whenever he thinks of them, and he agreed without hesitation.

"Haha, thank you, Minister Zhang, for supporting my work." Wu Yaohan laughed again, and then said, "When can Director Li come up with some new tricks for our intelligence department?"

"What new tricks do you want?" Zhang Wanhe asked.

Although Li Muzhi is very busy, he should hurry up and get the gas masks and anti-aircraft weapons out.

But intelligence is equally important to the military, and its importance even surpasses everything else!
If Wu Yaohan has made a request, then we should definitely consider it.

"To monitor the Japanese radio stations." Wu Yaohan rubbed his hands excitedly, as if Li Muzhi could build this thing tomorrow. "Ideally, we could also intercept the contents of Japanese telegrams and decipher them..."

Before Wu Yaohan could finish speaking, Zhang Wanhe couldn't stand it anymore: "Hey Section Chief Wu, you really know how to make things difficult for Xiao Li. We can't even make the most basic radio, let alone a radio, we can't even make batteries, we can't even get electronic components. And you're asking me to do radio decryption? Why don't you just let Xiao Li make a super bomb and fire it straight to the Japanese homeland, blasting all those damned Japanese devils to hell? The war would end immediately, and we wouldn't need you to gather intelligence on the Japanese anymore."

Zhang Wanhe had initially thought that Wu Yaohan would make a more normal request.

I never imagined that you would ask Li Muzhi to provide you with radio decryption equipment. You really think that Li is Sun Wukong, capable of conjuring up anything for you.

You're supposed to be an intelligence chief, yet you speak so rudely.

Faced with Zhang Wanhe's disdain, Wu Yaohan smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Minister Zhang, I admit that what I said was indeed a bit inappropriate, but Director Li is truly no ordinary person. With such dilapidated logistical conditions, he managed to build the Hellfire Cannon, rocket launchers, and Hellfire Missiles, as well as heavy, medium, and light artillery. I believe in Director Li..."

“You don’t believe that.” Zhang Wanhe interrupted again: “Besides, what do you mean by dilapidated logistics? Are the logistics conditions dilapidated now? If it weren’t for the equipment support, Xiao Li wouldn’t have been able to build the artillery.”

"Never mind, never mind, Minister Zhang, just pretend I didn't say anything." Wu Yaohan and Zhang Wanhe were having some disagreements.

Let's wait until Li Muzhi comes out and then discuss it with him.

Yes.

We admit that our demands were a bit excessive. We can't even manufacture batteries and electronic components, so asking Li Muzhi to decipher Japanese telegrams is indeed a bit of a pipe dream.

But the logistics warehouse had captured radios, batteries, and other electrical appliances.

Li Muzhi is so capable, we could probably get him to disassemble these things and put together a telegram decryption device for us.

As long as we can intercept and decipher the Japanese intelligence transmissions at any time, our job as the head of the intelligence section will be much easier in the future.

It can also provide the troops with timely and important intelligence about the Japanese, which is crucial for the battlefield.

Seeing that Wu Yaohan had shut up, Zhang Wanhe didn't continue his criticism.

Although Wu Yaohan's request was excessive, its significance to our military's intelligence department cannot be underestimated.

If Li Muzhi really can pull it off, then... cough cough, never mind, I'm probably overthinking it.

Led by the deputy section chief, Li Muzhi arrived at the interrogation room... oh, no, to be precise, it wasn't an interrogation room anymore.

Since Takahashi Konosuke was about to confess, they moved him to a normal interrogation room.

Of course, even if Takahashi Konosuke was about to confess, he was still bound to a chair, which was fixed to the ground.

When Li Muzhi entered the interrogation room and looked at Takahashi Konosuke in front of him, it was as if he were seeing a completely different person.

Previously, Konosuke Takahashi had a foul face, as smelly and hard as a rock in a latrine.

His mouth spewed out a barrage of vulgar and abusive language like a machine gun.

However, Takahashi Konosuke in front of him looked apprehensive and cautious, as if he were walking on thin ice.

His pupils were somewhat unfocused, as if they couldn't focus properly.

His overall mental state was extremely poor.

He looked as if he hadn't slept for days and nights.

Upon seeing Li Muzhi enter, Takahashi Konosuke seemed to have forgotten the scene of Li Muzhi training dogs in front of him in the past, and hurriedly smiled politely and asked, "Why didn't you bring the Emperor?"

"What's wrong? You don't mind if my puppy is named Emperor?" Li Muzhi was very surprised to see Takahashi Konosuke's expression. Was this really the Takahashi Konosuke who had received professional training in the past?
But seeing Takahashi Konosuke's face full of aftereffects, he quickly stopped finding it strange.

Flashbang, this intense light and noise is no joke.

“I don’t mind, how could I mind? Even if you named it Japan, I wouldn’t mind,” Konosuke Takahashi quickly replied.

"Hmm, that's a good suggestion." Li Muzhi nodded. "If I get a second dog later, I'll name it that."

"If you don't mind, I can be your dog," Konosuke Takahashi said again, expressing his sincerity.

Upon seeing this, Li Muzhi couldn't help but feel surprised again.

Konosuke Takahashi's transformation is too exaggerated; he's lost even the most basic human decency.

Does this flashbang have such an effect?
Seeing Li Muzhi's surprise, the deputy section chief beside him added, "Director Li, in addition to testing him with flashbangs, we also used a little trick on him."

"Oh, I see." Li Muzhi was no longer surprised. Then, Li Muzhi turned to Takahashi Konosuke and said, "We Eighth Route Army are different from you. We will treat those who are willing to cooperate as human beings and friends, not as dogs."

"Yes, yes, yes, your Eighth Route Army is the most benevolent army." Takahashi Konosuke nodded repeatedly.

"Alright, enough with the small talk, let's get straight to the point." Looking at Takahashi Konosuke in front of him, Li Muzhi asked seriously, "What aspect of military industry is mainly involved in your No. 9 secret location?"

Konosuke Takahashi answered honestly, "Strategic metals." Upon hearing the term "strategic metals," Li Muzhi's brow immediately twitched.

Previously, the combat troops had seized five truckloads of tungsten ore from the Japanese military train, which is also a strategic metal.

Now that Takahashi Konosuke says that the No. 9 secret site mainly involves strategic metals, could it be that this tungsten sand is also produced from the No. 9 secret site?
After a pause, Li Muzhi suppressed his joy and continued to ask, "What specific strategic metals are involved?"

“There are six types: tungsten, antimony, tin, mercury, bismuth, and molybdenum,” Konosuke Takahashi said.

Upon hearing that this secret location No. 9 contained these six strategic metals, Li Muzhi couldn't help but feel excited, even though he tried to suppress his joy.

"Mr. Takahashi, are you sure it's these six strategic metals? You're not lying to me, are you?" Li Muzhi couldn't help but ask again.

Overjoyed, Li Muzhi couldn't help but address the other person as "Mr. Takahashi".

Of these six strategic metals, tungsten is not mentioned.

The other five are all very valuable special minerals.

Antimony can be used as an ingredient in ammunition detonators and fuses.

Tin, in combination with bismuth and lead, forms an ideal soldering material.

Besides soldering, tin can also be used to manufacture tinplate for military canned food.

Although our army does not produce canned food yet, it will eventually do so.

Because canned food does not require fuel processing on the battlefield, it can be eaten immediately after opening, and it is also convenient to store and transport.

Therefore, canned food is an indispensable food for the army, and tin is also an important military material.

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature; it is also known as quicksilver. It can be used to manufacture explosive powder, a raw material for producing high-explosives. It can also be combined with nitric acid containing alcohol to synthesize mercuric fulminate, a militarily crucial substance used in the manufacture of detonators, landmines, and impact explosives for bullets.

Molybdenum is used to refine various alloy steels, stainless steels, heat-resistant steels, and superalloys. It has a wide range of applications, including seamless steel pipes, warships, rockets, satellites, and aircraft manufacturing.

Therefore, molybdenum is also known as the "metal of war".

"No, no, I promise every word I said is true." Takahashi Konosuke nodded repeatedly.

"Hmm." Li Muzhi nodded, indicating his willingness to trust the other party. "Besides these six strategic metals, does Secret Site No. 9 have any other military industry involvement?"

"No, that's all." Konosuke Takahashi shook his head.

"Be honest, if you dare to hide anything, we'll have a flashbang ready for you right now," the deputy section chief sitting next to Li Muzhi shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

Although the deputy section chief couldn't understand the names of the special metals that Takahashi Konosuke was talking about, he could easily tell from Li Muzhi's excited expression how important these things were to the logistics arsenal.

Konosuke Takahashi said that no other military industry had been involved in the No. 9 secret site, which naturally displeased the deputy section chief.

Couldn't you have given me a little more useful information?

"No, no, no! I swear I haven't hidden anything, I haven't lied to you!" Takahashi Konosuke trembled uncontrollably.

“Since Mr. Takahashi has already agreed to cooperate, you should still be more polite to him in the future,” Li Muzhi said seriously to the deputy section chief.

Takahashi Konosuke was an important military expert for the Japanese, and now he has become obedient and is willing to cooperate with our army.

Then we should get political cadres to do ideological work on him as soon as possible. Perhaps this person will become a senior technical advisor for strategic metals at the arsenal.

Although Li Muzhi understood strategic metals, he didn't understand them in every aspect.

Perhaps, we'll still need Konosuke Takahashi's help later on.

In short, Konosuke Takahashi is a rare talent, and we should make him available to our military industry as soon as possible.

"Yes, yes, Director Li, I understand." The deputy section chief nodded humbly.

"Factory manager, what kind of factory manager are you?" Takahashi Konosuke noticed that the deputy head of the intelligence department was very polite and respectful to the young man, Li Muzhi, and was somewhat curious about Li Muzhi's identity.

What kind of factory director could receive such courteous treatment from the deputy section chief of the intelligence department of the Eighth Route Army headquarters, as if he were facing their headquarters leader?

"Is this a question you should be asking?" The deputy section chief glared at Takahashi Konosuke.

"Yes, yes, yes." Takahashi Konosuke quickly lowered his head.

"Give me the notebook and pen," Li Muzhi said to the deputy section chief.

The deputy section chief was personally recording this information, but he didn't even know how to write the name of this special metal; he wrote it down in pinyin instead.

Li Muzhi was going to ask about the details of this special metal, so he didn't want to make things difficult for the deputy section chief.

"Director Li, we asked you to take these notes personally, this..." The deputy section chief was about to say something more.

Li Muzhi interrupted: "Are you planning to write all the remaining records in pinyin for me?"

The deputy section chief immediately looked a little embarrassed and pushed the pen and notebook in front of Li Muzhi: "Ahem, Director Li, you should write it then."

We'd never even heard of several of these special metals before, let alone written about them.

Li Muzhi took the pen and paper and continued to ask Takahashi Konosuke about the special mechanical equipment in Secret Site No. 9.

Konosuke Takahashi was very cooperative, answering all his questions in great detail.

Through Li Muzhi's professional questions and some of his professional doubts, Takahashi Konosuke roughly deduced Li Muzhi's true identity.

The deputy section chief called him Director Li. Since this Director Li knew so much about military industry, he was very likely the Eighth Route Army military industry expert that the headquarters had gone to great lengths to capture alive.

This person's value is equivalent to several Class A divisions.

Konosuke Takahashi was truly shocked. He hadn't expected this Eighth Route Army military expert to be so young. The intelligence department was judging that this person was most likely an old man in his fifties or sixties. This age difference was too outrageous.

He even thought that if one day the Imperial Army troops stormed the Eighth Route Army's arsenal, and the workers refused to cooperate and reveal who the arsenal director was, the military police might not even be able to identify him.

The deputy section chief sat to one side, unusually feeling a bit like yawning, clearly bored.

There's no way around it; there are just too many things I can't understand at all, it's like listening to gibberish.

Of course, the deputy section chief tried his best to control himself and did not dare to easily interrupt Li Muzhi's questioning and recording.

An hour later, Li Muzhi finally put down his pen and said to Takahashi Konosuke, "Mr. Takahashi, thank you for your cooperation."

Through questioning Takahashi Konosuke, Li Muzhi not only learned about the specific conditions of the special mechanical equipment in Secret Site No. 9, but also gained some knowledge about special metals.

To reiterate, Li Muzhi is not omnipotent when it comes to special metals. If Takahashi Konosuke hadn't told him, and Li Muzhi had to figure things out on his own, the war wouldn't have given him so much time.

This is similar to cooking a fish into a sauerkraut fish dish. You need to have the ingredients, but you also need to know how to do it, the principles and processes involved.

"Director Li, considering how cooperative I've been, may I make a small request?" Takahashi Konosuke had made a preliminary judgment about Li Muzhi's identity. Since he was going to be a prisoner, he should at least be a comfortable, high-ranking prisoner.

“As long as you continue to cooperate fully with the reformation, I can now decide to raise your prisoner-of-war status to the highest level of courtesy,” Li Muzhi said directly to Takahashi Konosuke.

Judging from Takahashi Konosuke's demeanor, Li Muzhi deduced that he wanted a better treatment.

Of course, since these highly skilled individuals are willing to cooperate, they should be treated with the highest level of respect for prisoners of war.

"Thank you so much, Director Li, thank you so much." Upon hearing Li Muzhi's words, Takahashi Konosuke quickly pointed and said, "Can you untie me now? I've been tied up for so long, it's so uncomfortable."

"Don't..." The deputy section chief was about to explode. "You keep saying you'll cooperate with the reform, and now that you've been untied, you're immediately hurting Li Muzhi. Wouldn't I, the deputy section chief, be finished?"

Even though there are deputy section chiefs and guards here to protect Li Muzhi's safety, I can't take that risk.

Li Muzhi turned to the deputy section chief and said, "Since we're treating him with the highest level of courtesy, let's untie him."

"Alright, Director Li." The deputy section chief finally listened to Li Muzhi's opinion.

While having someone untie Takahashi Konosuke, the deputy section chief warned, "Takahashi Konosuke, behave yourself, understand?"

"Yes, yes, I'll be honest, I'll definitely be honest." Takahashi Konosuke was freed from his restraints and was pushed back a few steps by the deputy section chief to keep him away from Li Muzhi.

At the same time, two guards subtly moved closer to Li Muzhi, essentially providing him with close protection.

These two guards were both elite soldiers who had been through countless battles.

A master who could fight Japanese soldiers hand-to-hand on the battlefield.

Seeing this detail, Takahashi Konosuke became even more certain of Li Muzhi's identity. He bowed slightly to Li Muzhi, then straightened up and said, "Director Li, thank you."

“Mr. Takahashi, my questioning of you is now over.” Li Muzhi looked at Takahashi Konosuke. “Next, the intelligence officers will ask you questions. Just cooperate. I will come to see you when I have time.”

"Director Li, don't worry, I promise I will cooperate." Takahashi Konosuke nodded again.

Li Muzhi then turned to the deputy section chief and said, "Then I'll go out. You can continue asking questions."

"Director Li, let me see you out first." The deputy section chief insisted on seeing you out personally.

"No need, it's just a few steps, no need." Li Muzhi waved his hand and walked towards the door.

The deputy section chief sat down again and looked at Takahashi Konosuke: "Where is the location of your secret location number 9?"

……

(End of this chapter)