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

Chapter 334 Division Commander Robs
386th Brigade Headquarters

"Yes, sir, I understand."

As the brigade commander put the telephone receiver back on the shelf, he said to his bodyguard, "Go and take the officer's knife that Li Yunlong gave me as a tribute to the division headquarters."

Upon hearing this, the guard asked suspiciously, "Brigade Commander, what do you mean? Is the division commander going to rob you of your general's sword again? That's not right. The division commander already robbed you of one before, and now he's robbing you again..."

Before the guard could finish speaking, the brigade commander interrupted, "It's alright. It's just a general's sword. As long as I still have Li Yunlong, this golden goose that lays the golden eggs, do you think I won't get more general's swords?"

Of course, there is another reason.

Li Yunlong has done Li Muzhi such a great favor, so when it comes to air defense weapons and radar, Li Yunlong will most likely be the first choice.

These air defense weapons and radars can be considered top-of-the-line equipment in our army. The division commander will definitely be drooling with envy when the time comes.

We're practically wielding the general's sword to shut the division commander up beforehand.

"That's true." The guard nodded and went to carry out the brigade commander's order.

No sooner had the guard left than a staff officer rushed over: "Brigadier, Fujita Ichiji has returned from the natural gas plant."

Upon hearing that Fujita Ichiji had returned, the brigade commander's negative emotions immediately turned into joy, and he laughed, "Haha, as long as Fujita Ichiji can return, it means my plan can succeed."

If Fujita Ichiji doesn't return, he will definitely be killed by Hojo Keiji, and the plan will fail.

Fujita Ichiji's return means that Hojo Keiji was forced to submit.

The brigade commander quickly left the brigade headquarters and went to where Fujita Ichiji was staying.

Because Hojo Keiji used a bit too much force, the army doctor is treating Fujita Ichiji's wound.

Upon seeing the brigade commander arrive, Fujita Ichiji quickly stood up and said, "Good day, sir."

"Fujita Ichiji, you've had a hard time on this trip," the brigade commander said to Fujita Ichiji with a smile.

“It’s not hard work. As long as I can complete the task you assigned, no matter how hard or tiring it is, it’s not hard,” Fujita Ichiji quickly replied.

"Really?" The brigade commander feigned surprise. "That's great! I happen to have another task for you."

"..." Fujita Ichiji.

Fujita Ichiji was cursing inwardly. Didn't you Eighth Route Army soldiers realize that this was just me being polite?
Being captured by the Eighth Route Army is too miserable.

I was beaten up like this, and my injuries haven't even been treated yet, and I'm being made to do things again right away.

Even a dog deserves some rest.

Of course, despite his frustration, Fujita Ichiji didn't dare show it in front of the brigade commander.

Fujita Ichiji forced a smile that looked more like a grimace and asked, "What mission?"

"Go and rest in our rear area," the brigade commander said.

"Go to your rear to recuperate?" Fujita Ichiji was taken aback, not quite understanding the brigade commander's meaning, and asked, "Is recuperation considered a mission?"

"Why not? As long as you complete the task at the natural gas plant, you'll be a meritorious person, and you'll definitely be allowed to rest and recuperate in the rear," the brigade commander said seriously.

"Sir, I think my injury is nothing serious. I can still do things for you. I won't go to your rear area." Fujita Ichiji had already planned to escape and was unwilling to go to the Eighth Route Army's rear area to recuperate.

Once we were behind the Eighth Route Army lines, it would be even harder for us to escape.

"When will Hojo Keiji be able to make his move?" The brigade commander didn't waste any more words with Fujita Ichiji and went straight to the point.

“He said it would take another day,” Fujita Ichiji replied.

"Alright, let's wait another day then." The brigade commander nodded, indicating that it would also take time to get the dismantling team from the arsenal to come over.

"You should get some rest," the brigade commander said as he came out.

When a guerrilla leader saw the brigade commander come out, he took out a paper package and handed it to the brigade commander: "Brigade Commander Chen, this was found on Fujita Ichiji?"

"What does it mean that it was found on Fujita Ichiji?" the brigade commander asked, puzzled.

"I saw him coming from the natural gas plant, and it seemed like he was hiding something on him. When I searched him, I found this. It looks like it's all Japanese writing, which I can't understand. I don't know what it is," the guerrilla captain replied.

The brigade commander took the paper package, which still had some dirt on it.

It seems that this thing had been buried underground for some time and was dug out by Fujita Ichiji.

The brigade commander opened it and saw that it was indeed written in Japanese.

The brigade commander doesn't understand Japanese, and it would take time to have the documents translated by the enemy work department. It's better to just ask Fujita Ichiji directly.

So, the brigade commander took the paper package, walked back to Fujita Ichiji, pointed directly to the contents of the package, and asked, "Fujita Ichiji, what does this say?"

“My life-saving charm,” Fujita Ichiji replied.

"What do you mean?" the brigade commander asked, confused.

"It's just a little secret among some of our high-ranking officials," Fujita Ichiji explained.

The brigade commander immediately realized that Fujita Ichiji was truly exceptionally foolish.

Writing down the secrets of high-ranking officials? Are you out of your mind?

Even if you want to use a high-ranking official's secrets to blackmail someone, you shouldn't write them down. The safest way is to keep them in your mind.

Have you ever thought that one day, this little secret written on paper will be seen by someone else, and then these high-ranking officials will kill you?
"Can I borrow this for a couple of days? I'll return it to you in a couple of days, okay?" The brigade commander still didn't readily believe Fujita Ichiji's words.

He said it was a little secret among some high-ranking Japanese officials, is that it?

We still need to let the comrades from the Enemy Work Department take a look first, and then conduct an analysis and investigation before we can finally draw a conclusion.

"Of course, you can." In front of the brigade commander, Fujita Ichiji didn't dare to say no and could only agree.

"Alright, then you can rest." The brigade commander came out and immediately had the things sent to Wu Yaohan.

At the same time, the brigade commander also sent people to the border region's arsenal.

If the natural gas plant is about to be taken over, then the dismantling team of the arsenal in this area also needs to set off ahead of schedule.

……

Rumble!
Li Muzhi was diligently tinkering with the radar components when the sound of an airplane came from the sky, rapidly approaching from afar.

Stopping his work, Li Muzhi quickly walked to the window, the curtains covering his entire face, leaving only one eye visible, and carefully gazed at the sky.

Two Japanese planes flew overhead at high speed and dropped two bombs.

Upon seeing this, Li Muzhi's pupils instantly contracted.

Could it be that the Japanese planes discovered something?
The two bombs landed on the other side of the woods outside the border arsenal due to inertia.

boom!
boom!
The two bombs exploded at low altitude.

The sound of the explosion was different from that of a regular bomb; it was more like a muffled thud.

The explosion did not produce a fragmentation shockwave; instead, it scattered many small objects, which fell and dissipated as mist.

Li Muzhi shouted to the guards hiding at the door, "Comrade, that's most likely a bacteriological bomb dropped by the Japanese. Immediately tell your guard captain to seal off that area. No one is allowed to approach there." "Yes, Factory Director," the guard replied and quickly went to find his guard captain.

After dropping two bacteriological bombs, the two planes flew away to another location.

The captain of the guard led his men quickly toward the area shrouded in mist.

"Factory Director, do you think the Japanese have discovered the location of our arsenal?" Lao He asked Li Muzhi anxiously.

“It shouldn’t be.” Li Muzhi shook his head. “If the Japanese had discovered the location of our border region arsenal, they would never have come to drop bombs to alert us beforehand. Instead, they would have made ample preparations, first surrounding the area with heavy ground forces, and then having their special forces infiltrate and launch a surprise attack. It’s highly likely that they deployed their forces randomly.”

"Hmm, that makes sense." Although Lao He didn't understand warfare, he also thought Li Muzhi's words made sense.

“Tell the workers that the Japanese are just randomly dropping bombs, they haven’t actually discovered us,” Li Muzhi said to Lao He. “Let them continue production as usual.”

"Yes, factory manager." Old He nodded and left immediately.

Li Muzhi went outside.

"Listen up, everyone! Director Li said this is most likely a bacterial bomb. Stay away from all directions. Keep an eye on all intersections, and if any villagers pass by, stop them immediately," the guard captain ordered with an extremely serious expression.

Because the area was quite large, the guard captain didn't have enough men, so one of Kong Jie's battalions quickly came to help.

Upon seeing Li Muzhi arrive, the guard captain and Kong Jie both said with serious expressions, "Director Li, what brings you here? You should go back right away."

"It's okay, I'll stay in the safe zone and won't go there," Li Muzhi waved his hand.

"Give me the binoculars," Li Muzhi said, reaching out to the captain of the guard.

"Here you go." The guard captain handed the binoculars to Li Muzhi.

Li Muzhi held the binoculars and observed carefully. Finally, his expression turned serious: "That's right, this is definitely a bacterial bomb."

"Factory manager, what should we do about this? Should we keep it sealed off?" Kong Jie asked.

“We don’t have professional protective and disinfection equipment right now, so we can only temporarily seal it off,” Li Muzhi said in a serious tone. “Fortunately, it was deployed on the other side of the forest, where the terrain is low-lying. There are hills and trees between the deployment area and the arsenal. Otherwise, deploying it at the arsenal would have been a nightmare.”

Li Muzhi had no way of confirming what specific bacteria the Japanese had released, so the only option was to isolate and seal off the area.

If the virus were plague or cholera, there would be no live bacteria left for months or years.

But if it's anthrax spore-forming bacteria like Bacillus anthracis, that's even more troublesome. These things can remain dormant in the soil for up to sixty years, and they can still be infectious after being revived by water.

"Those damned Japanese devils! The sweep hasn't even started yet, and they're already randomly dropping bacterial bombs. They're definitely trying to create an epidemic in our base area in advance to weaken us," Kong Jie angrily denounced.

The guard captain also cursed, "These beasts! Aren't they worried about a plague spreading here? When they're sweeping through, aren't they shooting themselves in the foot?"

Li Muzhi said, "Gentlemen, we must report the Japanese's random deployment of bacteriological bombs to headquarters immediately. They certainly won't just deploy them here. We must quickly implement corresponding isolation measures in all areas where they are deployed."

This was retaliation by the Japanese army.

During this period, the combat troops took too many advantages from them, which angered the Japanese.

This is also an omen.

What does this foreshadow?

This foreshadows a new sweep, which will likely be unprecedentedly brutal.

"I'll go report it." Kong Jie quickly left.

"Captain of the Guard, notify all our men and the villagers. Under no circumstances should anyone enter the sealed-off area," Li Muzhi instructed the captain of the guard.

We can't use all our manpower on the locked-down areas. Once everyone has been notified, we can withdraw a large number of personnel, leaving only those for surveillance.

"Director Li, don't worry, I've already given the order." The guard captain nodded and said, "Although this is a safe zone, you shouldn't stay here any longer. Go back."

"Hmm." Li Muzhi hummed in response. The captain of the guard escorted him back, asking halfway, "Director Li, we can't keep misunderstanding these Japanese bacteria forever, can we? Do you have any ideas?"

This is our land; we can't keep sealing it off forever.

Over time, who can guarantee that no one will accidentally wander in?

If these bacteria and viruses are brought out, wouldn't that still cause an infection?

“Captain of the Guard, I’m a military expert, not a biochemistry expert.” Li Muzhi shook his head. Military industry and biochemistry are two different industries.

"Yes, yes." The guard captain nodded, then began to verbally insult the Japanese soldier's entire family.

Back at the arsenal, Li Muzhi went into his office and picked up the phone: "Connect me to Minister Zhang."

The call connected quickly, and Zhang Wanhe's voice came through: "Hey, Xiao Li, I was just about to call you. I just got the news too, the Japanese dropped two bacteriological bombs on your end. Are you alright? Those damned beasts, their revenge is so despicable."

"It's alright. The two bacterial bombs were dropped in a low-lying area on the other side of the woods. The arsenal is on higher ground, and there are woods and hills separating it, so it's safe," Li Muzhi replied.

"It's good that you're alright, and that the arsenal is safe. This incident also reminded me that I need to send people to the arsenal to implement some protective measures. In case the bacterial bomb really did end up at the arsenal, at least there's still a chance to save it." Zhang Wanhe breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Did you call me because of something?"

"The Japanese are using biological weapons, so we should have some core countermeasures," Li Muzhi said.

During the War of Resistance against Japan, the Japanese army carried out bacteriological attacks on our soldiers and civilians, causing too many tragedies.

In the 1943 Luxi bacteriological warfare, the Japanese army launched bacteriological warfare, causing the deaths of more than 400,000 people, which was more than 100,000 more than the victims of the Nanjing Massacre. This atrocity is simply too numerous to count!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe immediately exclaimed with delight, "Little Li, do you perhaps have a core countermeasure in mind?"

The Japanese bacteriological bombs were terrifying. If Li Muzhi could develop a core countermeasure, then we wouldn't have to fear them so much anymore.

“Minister Zhang, I don’t understand bacterial research and development, so how could I have any core countermeasures?” Li Muzhi shook his head.

"So you mean..." Zhang Wanhe asked suspiciously.

"Isn't the political work team working hard to persuade Yamamoto Sakura and Takahashi Konosuke? Have someone ask them for information on the Japanese biochemical experts," Li Muzhi said. "See if they can get any relevant clues. If possible, if we can capture the biochemical experts..."

Before Li Muzhi could finish speaking, Zhang Wanhe interrupted him: "It goes without saying that the Japanese biological expert is definitely in Unit 731. That's the Kwantung Army's stronghold. We simply don't have the ability to defeat the Kwantung Army."

Li Muzhi pointed out: "When the Japanese army used biological and chemical weapons on the battlefield, there were still biological and chemical experts monitoring and collecting data, right?"

"Okay, I understand." Zhang Wanhe nodded, feeling that what Li Muzhi said made sense.

Since the Japanese used this thing on the battlefield, they must have had relevant experts collecting data.

"Minister Zhang, that's all for now, I'm hanging up."

"it is good."

The call ended, and Li Muzhi put the phone back on the shelf, preparing to continue working on the radar.

Xiao Gu knocked on the door from outside: "Factory manager, the 386th Brigade has arrived. They say they're preparing to take over the natural gas plant and want your dismantling team to go there quickly."

"Go talk to Lao Yu from the dismantling team and tell him to take his men over there immediately." Li Muzhi was still very excited when he heard that the 386th Brigade was going to take over the natural gas plant.

Once we get this equipment back, it will be able to produce hydrogen, and then we can purify tungsten.

"Yes, Factory Manager." Xiao Gu went to relay the message.

Li Muzhi continued to work on the radar's production.

(End of this chapter)