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

Chapter 329 Solving the Core Problems of Radar
Border Region Arsenal

"Sigh, it still doesn't work."

Seeing that the indicator light in front of him did not light up, Li Muzhi knew that the experiment had failed once again.

Without even thinking, Li Muzhi knew the reason for the failure.

The main problem is that the electronic components are substandard, making it impossible to provide a precise cradle for magnetoresistive technology.

Without overcoming the challenge of magnetic resistance, neither orientation indication nor radio wave direction finding will be effective.

Both of these are core components of radar.

Rubbing his temples, Li Muzhi stood up, walked to the window, and looked out to give his brain and eyes a rest.

Just then, the captain of the guard led the emperor past here.

Upon seeing Li Muzhi, the Emperor immediately began barking and rushed towards him.

The captain of the guard loosened the rope, and the emperor darted to the window.

Li Muzhi fed the Emperor something.

Wang Wang Wang!
The Emperor ate with great pleasure, wagging his tail as he ate.

The captain of the guard smiled and said to Li Muzhi, "Director Li, if there are some things you can't figure out, why don't you come out for a walk?"

"No need, I'll stay here for a while. Captain, you can continue your patrol." Li Muzhi waved his hand.

News from the front was bad. The Kumamoto Division was relying on cannibalism to replenish its supplies, but they eventually managed to hold out until they joined up with the supply troops.

Of course, the cost is also enormous.

The Kumamoto Division's forces numbered less than a quarter of the total.

The Japanese military headquarters was rapidly replenishing the Kumamoto Division's troops with manpower and supplies, and they were taking the time to rest and recuperate.

Once these Japanese soldiers recover and their fighting strength is restored, they will inevitably make a comeback.

At that time, there's no need to even think about it; they'll definitely have planes.

Therefore, Li Muzhi must seize the time to overcome the core challenges of radar.

Even if there isn't enough time or technical resources, we have to do it.

Just like this war, our national strength was inferior to that of the Japanese, but our martyrs still fought bloody battles, refusing to be slaves of a conquered nation.

"Alright, Director Li, then I won't bother you any longer." The captain of the guard nodded, made a gesture to the Emperor, who barked twice at Li Muzhi, and then obediently followed the captain of the guard to patrol.

As Li Muzhi watched the captain of the guard and the emperor disappear from sight, he reorganized his thoughts.

Close your eyes and think about the details, how to further refine this electronic component.

About ten minutes later, Li Muzhi opened his eyes.

This wasn't because Li Muzhi had come up with a method for refining the technique, but because he heard Li Yunlong's voice.

Yes, it was Li Yunlong's voice.

"Brother Li, come out quickly, come out quickly, see what I've brought back." Li Yunlong's voice arrived before he did.

Li Muzhi quickly walked out of the laboratory and out of the arsenal gate. Covered in filth, Li Yunlong grinned at him and said, "Brother Li, the stuff is over there in the woods. Come with me and let's go take a look."

"Commander Li, you've had a tough time these past few days." Li Muzhi didn't mind that Li Yunlong's hands were covered in filth, and he hadn't even had time to change his blood-stained clothes, the collar of which was already black as paste.

Li Muzhi gripped Li Yunlong's hand tightly and shook it excitedly.

Li Muzhi has received news that Li Yunlong has taken over the equipment from the Taiyuan Arsenal.

However, the equipment has not yet been delivered; it is currently in a relatively safe location and is still on its way.

You have to understand, that was the heartland of the Japanese First Army.

With only a few thousand men, Li Yunlong created a miracle, an unprecedented miracle.

How could Li Mu not admire him?

“Brother, you’re being too polite by saying these things to your older brother.” Li Yunlong laughed heartily. “How can what I do compare to what you do, Brother Li? What you do is truly hard work.”

Li Yunlong then said bluntly, "Brother, this time, Ding Wei, Gao Liujin, and I suffered considerable losses. Forget about the manpower; the main problem was the equipment. The Hellfire Cannons and Type 92 infantry guns were all destroyed by Japanese planes. We also lost many grenade launchers, mortars, and machine guns. We brought back the Taiyuan Arsenal; you can have that equipment..."

Before Li Yunlong could finish speaking, Li Muzhi interrupted him: "No problem. I'll allocate all the rocket launchers and hell missiles that the arsenal has been producing these days to your three regiments."

Li Muzhi then added, "Once the equipment for making seamless steel pipes arrives, and the anti-aircraft weapons are manufactured, we can prioritize equipping you with them."

"Hahaha." Li Yunlong laughed again. "I knew you wouldn't treat your brother badly. Once my troops have rested up, I'll get you some more stuff."

Remembering something, Li Yunlong asked again, "Once you get the equipment from the Taiyuan Arsenal back, you'll definitely be able to make guns too, right? When that happens, you should give me priority when it comes to making guns."

"I will definitely consider it, I must consider it." Li Muzhi nodded immediately.

"So what kind of guns do you plan to build?" Li Yunlong asked curiously first.

"You'll see when the time comes. I guarantee it's better than the Japanese guns." Li Muzhi hadn't seen the actual equipment yet, so he couldn't give Li Yunlong a definite answer.

"Haha, I believe it, I believe it, haha." Li Yunlong laughed again, full of anticipation.

Li Muzhi followed Li Yunlong to the forest, but did not see Ding Wei and Gao Liujin. Li Muzhi asked suspiciously, "Didn't Commander Ding and Commander Gao come?"

"It's been exhausting working behind enemy lines this time," Li Yunlong explained. "Both of them have taken their troops back to rest and recuperate. I've given you the stuff, and I need to go back to sleep too. To be honest, brother, I haven't had a good night's sleep in all these days behind Taiyuan. I'm just too tired."

"I understand, I understand." Li Muzhi nodded. "I'll talk to Minister Zhang later. We must allocate some of the flour, rice, and meat from the logistics department to your three regiments so that the soldiers can eat well and rest well."

"Haha." Li Yunlong laughed again, "Brother, with what you've done, I reckon Old Zhang is going to start cursing, haha."

Of course, Li was still very pleased with himself.

Then, Li Yunlong shouted to Zhang Dabiao, "Dabiao, Brother Li is here now, hurry up and take off the cover so that Brother Li can take a good look at what this is. Don't let that brute Gao Liujin break it."

"Yes, Commander." Zhang Dabiao responded and immediately ordered his men to remove the coverings from the equipment parts.

Li Muzhi looked at the equipment parts, and just by looking at their appearance, his eyes immediately lit up with delight.

It was as if I had forgotten everyone around me, as if I had entered a dream.

Li Muzhi didn't even know how he managed to walk up to the device. He reached out and touched it, feeling the texture, his hands trembling uncontrollably. It was truly a case of searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to him effortlessly.

Li Muzhi recognized it; it was the Japanese's radio direction finding equipment.

With this readily available component, the core problem of radar has been solved.

Seeing Li Muzhi's excited expression, Li Yunlong asked curiously, "Brother Li, what kind of treasure is this that makes you so excited?"

Li Yunlong didn't know exactly what it was, and like Gao Liujin, he guessed that it was probably some kind of electronic reconnaissance device.

Although this is considered a treasure, judging from Li Muzhi's excited expression, it seems that this thing is even more precious than electronic surveillance.

"This is a radio wave direction finding device," Li Muzhi explained.

"I've heard the brigade commander mention this radio direction finding device. It's mainly used to listen to the enemy's radio transmissions and use that to determine the direction, right? Is it something to get you so excited about?" Li Yunlong suddenly realized what was going on when Li Muzhi confirmed the name of the device.

The Japanese devils used this thing on us, they must have thought we were carrying a radio and wanted to pinpoint our location by radio wave direction finding.

But he didn't realize that we didn't have a radio station at all.

We even managed to get three of these radio wave direction finding devices.

Judging from Li's excited expression, Li Yunlong could easily tell that the purpose of these three radio wave testing devices for Li Muzhi was definitely not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

“I can use it to make key components for radar,” Li Muzhi explained. “In the future, we will be able to know in advance when those Japanese planes will take off, where they will be, and what their flight speed will be.”

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong's eyes widened immediately, as if they were eggs: "Brother Li, so you mean your radar can warn of Japanese planes?"

Li Yunlong was naturally overjoyed.

Li Yunlong had just recently experienced firsthand how despicable the Japanese planes were.

This thing suddenly flies over from the other side of the mountain, or skims rapidly from low altitude over the horizon, and our troops have no time to react.

This important artillery position was exposed, and the Japanese planes launched a precise attack, which was extremely frustrating.

If we could know in advance that Japanese planes were coming, even if we didn't have anti-aircraft weapons, we could at least camouflage or hide our important firepower to minimize losses.

Important firepower, which is the foundation of the army's combat effectiveness.

Oh, that's not all!
The equipment from the Taiyuan Arsenal has been brought back; Brother Li can now manufacture anti-aircraft weapons.

So, if this radar is equipped with air defense weapons, wouldn't that be a killer feature?

With the aid of radar, air defense weapons can know the location of Japanese aircraft in advance and deploy them ahead of time. As soon as the Japanese planes show up, they can be taken out immediately.

Once it's set up correctly, the combat effectiveness of this air defense weapon can be maximized.

That makes sense; this radio wave direction finding device is truly an extraordinary treasure.

“Yes, Commander Li, you’ve brought back three radio direction finding devices. If there are no problems with the equipment, we can build three radars.” Li Muzhi nodded.

"Brother, hurry up and check if that bastard Gao Liujin has damaged these three radio direction finding devices." Li Yunlong urged hurriedly, then cursed, "If he has damaged these devices, I won't give him any of the weapons and ammunition you give me."

Li Muzhi immediately began to carefully check each item one by one. His brows furrowed slightly, and before he could speak, Li Yunlong became anxious: "Brother Li, did that bastard Gao Liujin really break it?"

“No, the item wasn’t damaged.” Li Muzhi shook his head.

"Then why are you frowning?" Li Yunlong asked.

“Some parts seem to have been damaged,” Li Muzhi said. “You must have had a very difficult time retreating along the way. If this equipment had been transported via underground transportation lines, this problem probably wouldn’t have occurred.”

“Using underground transportation lines is so slow, and we had to cover them and draw the Japanese away, so we couldn’t easily make contact with them. I just wanted to get the stuff to you as soon as possible,” Li Yunlong explained irritably, then asked, “How bad is the part? Can it be repaired?”

“It can be disassembled from inside the radio,” Li Muzhi replied.

"If it can be disassembled from the radio, then there's still hope for repairs." Li Yunlong breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that it was a false alarm. "Brother Li, I thought all three pieces of equipment were unusable."

If three pieces of equipment are not enough, then the radar cannot be built, which would be a disaster.

Li Yunlong then said, "Brother, since the Japanese's radio wave direction finding is so important to radar, I'll rob you more of it after I've rested up."

“Okay, I’ll wait.” Li Muzhi nodded and instructed, “I’ll write something later and send it to you. It will cover what to pay attention to when disassembling the Japanese radio direction finding equipment and how to transport it. You should have your partner read it carefully and then teach it to your soldiers.”

Disassembling this radio wave direction finding vehicle does not require disassembling the equipment in detail; only the main components need to be removed.

Therefore, the demolition is very easy.

No specialized training is needed from the arsenal.

The main point is that this is a precision device, so the transportation method should avoid being bumpy or violent.

“Okay, no problem. I’ll let Lao Zhao take a good look at what you’ve written.” Li Yunlong nodded, yawned widely, and said to Li Muzhi, “Brother, now that I’ve given you this, I’ll head back. I’m too tired and need to go back to sleep and rest.”

“Alright, Commander Li, you can go back now. I won’t see you off.” Li Muzhi nodded.

"Don't send it, no need to send it. Just get this radar out of here as soon as possible. Even if the seamless steel pipe equipment hasn't arrived yet and the air defense weapons can't be manufactured in time, you have to get the radar for our army first," Li Yunlong said seriously.

Not to mention that this time he took over the Japanese Taiyuan Arsenal, gaining a huge advantage.

The Kumamoto Division alone suffered heavy losses, and the Japanese mopping-up operation would not be allowed to end there.

That is to say.

Even if the Japanese launch another sweep, their planes are very likely to come and retaliate with a barrage of bombs.

Taiyuan Airport is gone, but the Kwantung Army still has planes.

If we have early warning radar, our combat troops and logistics can avoid risks and threats in time.

After saying that, Li Yunlong led his men away in a hurry.

On the way back, Zhang Dabiao leaned up to Li Yunlong and said, "Commander, didn't you also get an officer's knife? Why don't you take it out and trade it with Factory Director Li for the Hell Cannon?"

"What's there to exchange? The border region's arsenal definitely doesn't have Hellfire cannons anymore. If we want Hellfire cannons, we need seamless steel pipes to make them, which would take forever." Li Yunlong shook his head and said, "Besides, getting the equipment back from the Taiyuan arsenal is already enough to get things done with you, Brother Li. We can have whatever we want then, and we won't have to hand over the officer's sword. Can't we keep it for ourselves?"

"That's true." Zhang Dabiao nodded.

Li Yunlong thought to himself, "The main problem is that the elite troops schemed against me this time. If we turn the tables on them, there will definitely be some disputes later. Shouldn't we hand over the general's sword to the brigade commander to calm him down?"

(End of this chapter)