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

Chapter 346 Daily Bullet Production: 300,000 Rounds
Li Muzhi and Lao He carefully packed the radar. Lao He said, "Factory Director, why don't you take a rest? I'll go and call Zhang Ganren over for you."

Although Zhang Ganren is a talented person.

But Li Muzhi's time was even more precious.

Moreover, Li Muzhi is the factory director; how could there be anyone in the arsenal who doesn't listen to the factory director?

If that's true, then it's my dereliction of duty as the deputy factory director.

That's right, Lao He and the other managers have all been promoted to deputy factory directors by Li Muzhi.

"It's alright. I've already finished the first radar. I can just follow the same steps for the rest. Consider this a break." Li Muzhi laughed again. "If you can't get him to come, then I've wasted my time waiting."

"No, he won't come. I'll have someone bring him over..." Old He didn't finish his sentence.

As Li Muzhi walked, he said, "You said it yourself, he fights without regard for his life on the battlefield. I doubt you can really control him. Let's go."

"It's only because you have a good temper, factory manager," Lao He said as he followed them out.

Xiao Gu had just returned from a phone call and said to Li Muzhi, "Factory Manager, I've already called Section Chief Wu, and he said he'll be here right away."

“Okay.” Li Muzhi nodded and said to Xiao Gu, “Then you can stand guard at my door. When Section Chief Wu comes, give him the radar. Tell him that I packed the instruction manual in as well.”

"Yes, Factory Manager." Xiao Gu nodded and stood guard at the door.

Li Muzhi hadn't inspected the workshop for several days. When he arrived, the workers greeted him warmly and respectfully.

Li Muzhi nodded in response, indicating that they should not delay their work.

"Huh, why is no one here?" Old He led Li Muzhi to the repair workshop, but did not see Zhang Ganren, which made Old He suspicious.

"Where's Zhang the Madman?" Lao He asked someone.

"He said there was no point in fixing the remaining parts here, so he went to the parts processing workshop," the man replied.

"Which parts processing workshop?" Lao He asked.

"It looks like a part of an anti-aircraft weapon..." The man didn't finish his sentence.

Old He was furious: "Why didn't you keep an eye on him? How can you let him mess around with parts of anti-aircraft weapons? What if he broke them!"

The equipment in the repair shop was already broken, so they weren't afraid of Zhang Ganren messing with it.

But manufacturing parts for these air defense weapons is no joke.

Even if Zhang Ganren is incredibly talented and can learn something at a glance, what if he makes a mistake due to lack of experience and ruins the product? That would be a real problem.

"It's alright, it's alright, let's go take a look over there." Li Muzhi said that it was no problem.

Li Muzhi seemed to see the shadow of Li Yunlong in Zhang Ganren.

When Li Yunlong was working under Brigade Commander Chen, he was like a wild horse that would break free of its reins at the drop of a hat, causing trouble everywhere.

But despite causing trouble, Li Yunlong never suffered any losses; he always managed to gain a huge advantage and make a profit.

Otherwise, if Brigade Commander Chen could have treated Li Yunlong like a treasure, he would have executed him when he allowed his troops to plunder grain.

Zhang Ganren, on the other hand, could run around anywhere, but he never broke anything and always managed to fix things.

He and Li Yunlong were quite similar in their approaches.

This air defense weapon has many parts, and it is being manufactured in several workshops.

Lao He and Li Muzhi searched for Zhang Ganren one by one, and finally found him in the last workshop.

Zhang Ganren forcibly pulled a technician aside, snatched the tools from the technician's hands, and buried himself in working on the parts.

The new workshop director originally planned to have someone forcibly restrain Zhang Ganren, but seeing how persistent Zhang Ganren was in his actions and posture while making the part, and knowing that the part was very important and that he had failed more than ten times, he still hadn't made the part that the factory director required.

Seeing that Zhang Ganren seemed capable of making it, the workshop foreman temporarily stood by.

After all, the deputy factory director and Da Rong had already spoken to each other, and that as long as Zhang Ganren didn't disrupt production, they should let him do whatever he wanted.

Seeing Li Muzhi and Lao He arrive, the workshop director hurriedly greeted them: "Deputy Factory Director He, Factory Director, you're both here. Zhang Ganren, he..."

"It's alright, don't bother him, let him do it." Li Muzhi interrupted the workshop director and turned his gaze to He Darong.

I heard from Lao He that Zhang Ganren fought fiercely on the battlefield, charging towards wherever there was danger. I thought Zhang Ganren was a tall and burly man.

Unexpectedly, the person in front of him was just a thin young man.

He is about 1.65 meters tall and doesn't look very muscular.

However, appearances can be deceiving.

Just like Yang Jiguang, the ruthless bandit in the TV series "No Escape," who dreamed of splitting the profits 50/50 with Brother Hao.

Yang Jiguang wasn't very tall, but he was robbing people with an AK47 and dared to go head-to-head with the Flying Tigers. He was incredibly fierce.

Zhang Ganren noticed Li Muzhi and the others approaching and watched from the side.

He didn't even look up, continuing to work on the parts.

About five minutes later, Zhang Ganren finished making the part and handed it directly to the workshop director: "Now measure it, is it up to standard?"

The workshop director didn't hesitate and immediately took out his tools to measure it himself.

Soon, the workshop director exclaimed with delight, "It passed! It actually passed! Unbelievable! The technicians failed more than ten times, but you, Zhang Ganren, succeeded on your first try!"

The technician didn't believe it, so he quickly took the parts and measured them. Sure enough, they met Li Muzhi's requirements.

This immediately dispelled the technician's negative feelings towards Zhang Ganren.

When someone fights for a workstation and calls you an idiot, they're right to call you stupid.

I failed more than ten times, while he succeeded on his first try.

Keep in mind, he just stood there and watched me operate it once.

It takes me more than half an hour to do it myself, while others don't even use half that time.

The technician humbly asked, "Comrade Zhang Ganren, what's wrong with you...?"

"It's not difficult at all, there are just two little tricks that you didn't understand," Zhang Ganren said casually.

"Where's the trick?" the technician asked again humbly.

“It’s very simple…” Zhang Ganren stepped forward and quickly told the technician two tips.

"I understand, I'll try again right away." The technician happily returned to his workstation and immediately began to redo it.

"Zhang Ganren, let me introduce you. This is our factory director, Li." Old He introduced Li Muzhi to Zhang Ganren.

"Oh, so you're the factory manager. My apologies, my apologies." Zhang Ganren had been here for several days but hadn't seen Li Muzhi before.

I've also heard that Li Muzhi is extremely busy, so please don't bother him unless it's absolutely necessary.

Now that he has seen Li Muzhi in person, Zhang Ganren is still very respectful and polite.

How could we not respect them?

Zhang Ganren's unit was the demolition platoon, which originally had more than thirty people.

Without anti-tank weapons, they could only carry explosive packs or bundles of grenades and commit suicide by blowing up the Japanese tanks.

He would never forget his comrades who were riddled with machine gun fire in front of the Japanese tanks; their deaths were so tragic.

Zhang Ganren was utterly shocked that a single soldier could take down a Japanese tank with a rocket launcher.

He hadn't expected that tanks could be fought like this.

The person who built the rocket launcher was Factory Director Li.

This was also a promise made by Zhang Wanhe to Zhang Ganren.

As long as Zhang Ganren comes to the logistics department, send him to the arsenal; I guarantee he'll get to see Director Li.

Therefore, Zhang Ganren agreed to leave his original combat unit and follow Zhang Wanhe to the logistics department.

Now that he could see Director Li in person, how could Zhang Ganren not be excited?

"Comrade Zhang Ganren, what did you do before? How come you understand machinery so well?" Li Muzhi hadn't seen Zhang Ganren's personnel file and was curious about his background. "I used to work at the Fengtian Arsenal. When the Japanese occupied it, I fled to North China and got into the Taiyuan Arsenal. But then the Japanese occupied the Taiyuan Arsenal too, so I ran away again. I originally planned to work at the Shancheng Arsenal, but those bastards wouldn't let me in because I didn't pay them any bribes. They told me to get out. I couldn't do mechanical work, so I just joined the army." Zhang Ganren recounted his experiences with a self-deprecating laugh. "I joined the elite forces, but alas, the fighting was humiliating, so I ran away again. Then I joined the Jin-Sui Army, but the Jin-Sui Army wasn't much better, so I joined the Eighth Route Army and have been there ever since."

"It wasn't easy, we've been on the run all this way." Li Muzhi emphasized the word "run."

The old man and the others couldn't help but chuckle, though it was all good-natured laughter.

Zhang Ganren fled because he wanted to serve his country; he wasn't a deserter on the battlefield.

“I have no choice. If I don’t run away, I’ll have to work for the Japanese. I was bullied when I was studying in Japan. I don’t have a good impression of those bastards. Now that they’re invading our country, I have to fight them!” Zhang Ganren said excitedly. “If it weren’t for my respect for you, Director Li, and the opportunity to meet you, no matter what Minister Zhang said, I would never have left the combat troops to come to the logistics department.”

"Comrade Zhang Ganren, so you studied abroad under the Japanese. No wonder you're so capable," Li Muzhi said admiringly.

Lao He said that Zhang Ganren could learn many things just by looking at them, mainly because he had a solid foundation.

Of course, talent is still the most important factor.

He could make the parts for the anti-aircraft weapon just by looking at them from the side, and he produced a qualified product on his first try in less than half the time. This is a rare talent.

To give another example, why didn't Guo Jing teach the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms to his soldiers? Otherwise, if all his soldiers had learned the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms, how could Xiangyang have possibly fallen!

Not to mention that Xiangyang will not fall, the enemy will not even be able to reach the city. Every soldier knows the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms and can easily sweep through the Mongol army!

The most important reason for this is talent; the soldiers lacked the talent to learn the Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

"No matter how good you are, you're not as good as Director Li," Zhang Ganren said with admiration. "I've toured the entire arsenal these past few days. Director Li, you're truly remarkable. With the Eighth Route Army's dilapidated conditions, you've managed to build the arsenal to its current scale. You've produced rocket launchers, hell cannons, and hell missiles—they're all incredibly powerful. I'm thinking, if the Fengtian Arsenal hadn't been lost, and if you were the director, Director Li, with your abilities, you would have produced such powerful weapons. It wouldn't have been the Japanese invading us; we would have scared them away."

"Sooner or later, the position of director of this Fengtian Arsenal will be mine," Li Muzhi said, making a startling statement.

Although the Taiyuan Arsenal was captured, most of the equipment inside was transported back to Japan by the Japanese, and it was severely censored.

The Fengtian Arsenal was even more powerful. It was captured by the Japanese army and gradually expanded into one of the four major arsenals of the Japanese army.

They can produce 300,000 bullets a day and 70,000 grenades a month.

Therefore, in Li Muzhi's mind, the Fengtian Arsenal must definitely be taken back.

Even though his Kwantung Army had more than a million troops.

Our team doesn't lack men; what we lack are powerful weapons.

When more weapons are produced, the gap in combat power with the Japanese is narrowed, and with the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Japanese troops are withdrawn, then there will definitely be an opportunity to recapture the Fengtian Arsenal.

"Director Li, if one day we are able to take back the Fengtian Arsenal, you must grant me one request." Zhang Ganren did not think Li Muzhi's idea was far-fetched.

The Fengtian Arsenal houses over a million Kwantung Army soldiers; how could we just take them back like that?

However, after staying with the Eighth Route Army for a while, Zhang Ganren felt that although the conditions of this team were very poor, their morale was good.

More importantly, he could sense the Eighth Route Army's growing prosperity.

Therefore, there may still be an opportunity to retake the Fengtian Arsenal in the future.

"What are the requirements?" Li Muzhi asked.

“If the equipment for manufacturing airplanes were still available, I would like to build airplanes,” Zhang Ganren said seriously.

Lao He whispered in Li Muzhi's ear: "When he was at the Fengtian Arsenal, he was in charge of this aspect."

Li Mu was taken aback. He was surprised that Zhang Ganren was such a valuable talent. He couldn't help but ask, "When he first joined the team, why didn't you ask about his resume? Why did you let him stay in the combat unit for so long?"

He fought so fiercely; if he were to sacrifice himself, wouldn't that be a great loss to the nation and the country?

"When he first joined, he said he was a refugee and didn't honestly disclose his background," Lao He explained. "At that time, he left the Jin-Sui Army and couldn't go to the direct line of the army. He was desperate and had no choice but to join us. At that time, we were in a wait-and-see state, so we didn't reveal our true situation."

Li Muzhi didn't ask any further questions, and turned to look at Zhang Ganren: "Zhang Ganren, since you are a talent in aircraft manufacturing, then we will definitely let you do what you are good at."

Our forces will eventually have their own air force.

Therefore, we absolutely have to get this plane.

Only by taking over the Fengtian Arsenal can we have the necessary conditions.

"Thank you, Director Li." Zhang Ganren did not doubt Li Muzhi's words.

Li Muzhi is now a prized member of the Eighth Route Army. He is fawned over by Logistics Minister Zhang Wanhe and the headquarters leaders. Li Muzhi's words carry great weight and need no doubt.

"Comrade Zhang Ganren, what are your thoughts on your work now?" Li Muzhi asked.

“Director Li, I don’t want to be an ordinary worker. I’d prefer to be like the deputy director and the others,” Zhang Ganren said, pointing to Lao He. “I want to be able to take charge of one or more projects on my own.”

Old He's tone immediately turned serious: "Zhang Ganren, I also climbed up from the bottom step by step. Do you want to reach the sky in one step?"

“Back when I was at the Fengtian Arsenal, I was an engineer, after all. Being a regular worker here is a complete waste of my time.” Zhang Ganren curled his lip, not wanting to argue with Lao He at all. He turned to Li Muzhi: “Director Li, you’re not going to use an anti-aircraft gun as a fire poker, are you?”

"Old He, have someone bring Comrade Zhang Ganren's personal file to my office," Li Muzhi instructed Old He.

Zhang Ganren's attitude could be described as somewhat arrogant.

Of course, in any era, anyone with ability will have a temper to some extent.

The border region's arsenal was also lacking top-notch technical personnel, and Li Muzhi didn't want Zhang Ganren to waste any more time.

The fact that Minister Zhang brought the person over indicates that this person has a solid background and is trustworthy.

But Li Muzhi still wanted to look at the file first, and then see how to make an exception and promote him.

"Yes, Factory Director." Lao He nodded and immediately sent someone to retrieve Zhang Ganren's file from the personnel archives.

"Comrade Zhang Ganren, come with me first," Li Muzhi said to Zhang Ganren.

“Okay.” Zhang Ganren nodded.

Li Muzhi told Lao He and the others to continue their work, and then he took Zhang Ganren to his office.

Li Muzhi took out several notebooks and handed them to Zhang Ganren: "Take a look at what's in these first."

This book contains records of the principles and assembly of radar, etc.

It can be said that all of Li Muzhi's knowledge and theory about radar are contained in this.

Zhang Ganren has talent. Li Muzhi will first take a quick look to see just how talented this person is.

If he reads this book, he can set up the radar himself.

That goes without saying.

Based on this alone, Li Muzhi could have easily promoted him directly to deputy factory director, making an exception for him.

Later, for the manufacture of anti-aircraft weapons and firearms, Li Muzhi could simply provide the blueprints and details, and then let Zhang Ganren do the work.

If he can handle all of these tasks, he will become Li Muzhi's right-hand man.

In this way, Li Muzhi can save even more time.

“Good.” Zhang Ganren could tell that this Eighth Route Army factory director was different from the previous directors of the Fengtian Arsenal and Taiyuan Arsenal. This person valued him more than those directors.

The things in his notebook must be for the assessment, and I can't let him down.

Zhang Ganren took the notebook, opened it, and was instantly shocked by the theoretical introduction.

He had no idea that Li Muzhi was working on radar, and now, looking at this radar theory, he couldn't help but be astonished.

I never imagined that the Eighth Route Army's impoverished logistics could produce such advanced equipment.

The Japanese also have their own radar technology, but they don't prioritize radar research and development there.

After reading the preface and theory in this little booklet, Zhang Ganren realized how foolish it was for the Japanese not to value radar research and development.

Whether now or in the future, radar will become an indispensable and important component of warfare.

Li Muzhi of the Eighth Route Army's arsenal has a unique and forward-thinking vision; he is truly a gem.

If you're hanging out with a gem like that, it's hard not to shine along with them.

Zhang Ganren was so engrossed in reading that he didn't even notice someone delivering his personal file to Li Muzhi's office.

Li Muzhi didn't disturb him. He picked up Zhang Ganren's personal file and quietly began to read it.

(End of this chapter)