I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 64: The MG42 Appears Five Years Ago
When Chen Chang lit his third "Changhong" brand cigarette, produced by the headquarters cigarette factory.

Wang Ling, who had just come in from outside, gently took the cigarette from his hand.

Chen Changzai stubbed out the cigarette in a small ceramic bowl that he was using as an ashtray.

"Smoke less. Look at your room, it's practically a fairy grotto."

The smoke is so thick you can barely see anyone.

"Here, put this on. I'll open the window and let some fresh air in."

As she spoke, Wang Ling picked up Chen Changzai's cotton-padded coat from the kang (a heated brick bed) and draped it over his shoulders.

He turned around and went to the window of the cave dwelling, and propped it up.

Yes, the window in Chen Changzai's cave dwelling is pushed upwards, and it needs to be propped up with a stick.

It's the kind of window that Pan Jinlian's sister propped up.

The stick is the same kind of stick.

It was early March, and the night was still quite cold. When the window was opened, a gust of cold wind blew in, causing Chen Changzai to tighten the cotton coat he was wearing.

"You should wear more clothes too, so you don't get cold."

"It's getting late, you should get some rest too." Chen Changzai said to Wang Ling with a smile.

Wang Ling gave a soft snort and said, "You're still talking to me? It's so late, why aren't you resting?"

Your boss has told you to get some rest, but you won't listen.

If you continue like this, I'll report you to the higher-ups.

"Okay, okay, I'll rest right away. Just a little bit more and I'll be done."

"Here, these are eggs laid by the chickens that my sisters and I raised ourselves."

I made you a sweet egg soup; eat it while it's hot.

Wang Ling ignored Chen Changzai's assurances and simply brought over the bowl that had been brought in and placed on the table next to her.

Inside was a snow-white egg, flat and round, like a little flying saucer.

Within the white egg white, you can still faintly see the red color from the yolk.

"Eat it while it's hot, or it'll get cold."

Wang Ling handed the bowl of sweet egg soup to Chen Changzai and then went to the kang (a heated brick bed) to put his quilt down.

I tidied up the house again afterward.

However, she didn't touch the blueprints on Chen Chang's workbench at all.

Don't mention the blueprints on the workbench.

In this cave dwelling, she wouldn't touch anything related to paper.

She would not take anything out of the cave that she hadn't brought in.

Even the trash was dumped by Chen Chang himself in the basket outside.

The guards and security personnel outside were all burned in a pit in the yard under mutual supervision.

Nothing in his cave was allowed to leave the cave.

This was what Chen Changzai requested of his guards and internal security personnel.

Because he couldn't guarantee that some of his discarded items wouldn't be taken away by someone with ulterior motives, or that it wouldn't be detrimental to him.

After all, in terms of technology, sometimes a simple diagram and data on a piece of paper can inspire someone.

There are far too many of these kinds of things.

In the 1970s and 1980s.

Near almost all military research institutes, there are people who collect garbage and scrap.

Their favorite things to collect are old books and waste paper.

Especially those pieces of waste paper that have been shredded into small strips by a paper shredder.

There was once a major case.

One of our special agents, who was infiltrated into the Military Intelligence Bureau on that small island, discovered that the Bureau had obtained intelligence on a very important domestic military equipment.

After our personnel relayed the message back.

An investigation revealed that an old man who had been collecting junk for over ten years near the research institute was actually a military intelligence agent who had been operating undercover in China for over twenty years.

His method of obtaining intelligence was to piece together blueprints and data bit by bit from those tattered scraps of paper.

After that, a nationwide secret investigation was launched.

What's frightening is that it wasn't just one or two people collecting scrap, but more than a dozen were caught in one go.

Domestic security personnel have also found many blueprints and data that have been pieced together but have not yet been sent out, hidden in the homes of some people.

This is absolutely appalling.

Later, those important military research institutes further strengthened their regulations on the handling of paper documents.

"Document destruction: Paper documents must be destroyed using a shredder that meets national standards or by incineration, ensuring that the fragments cannot be pieced back together, and the incineration must reach a temperature of 800°C or higher for 30 minutes."

The electronic version of the destruction record must be stored simultaneously on a classified intranet server and an offline encrypted hard drive, and its integrity must be verified regularly.

The paper destruction approval form must be stamped with the official seal of the organization and stored in a dedicated confidential archive room for permanent retention.

These strengthened regulations were all formulated after painful lessons were learned.

After tidying up the room, Wang Ling closed the windows.

Then he took the bowl that Chen Changzai had finished eating the sweet egg soup and said, "Don't stay up too late, remember to rest early."

"Okay, I understand. This syrup is very sweet, and the eggs are delicious." After hearing what Chen Changzai said, Wang Ling didn't say anything more, but just smiled and left with the bowl.

Chen Changzai smiled as he watched Wang Ling's departing figure.

Then he looked at the blueprints on his workbench.

The blueprints above are for a machine gun.

This is a general-purpose machine gun that Chen Changzai selected for the troops.

Chen Changzai was constantly thinking about which general-purpose machine gun would be more suitable for the troops.

As the name suggests, the most important feature of a general-purpose machine gun is its versatility.

It needs to be able to handle both light and heavy machine guns.

Its bullets also need to be compatible with rifles.

When fired from a bipod, it functions as a light machine gun.

When it was used to fire from a tripod, it was a heavy machine gun.

Take the MG42 general-purpose machine gun as an example.

When using a bipod, its effective firing range is 800 meters, and its rate of fire is approximately 600 rounds per minute.
When used with a tripod, its effective range is about 1,000 meters, and its rate of fire is between 1,000 and 1,200 rounds.

The maximum rate of fire for a tripod is between 1,200 and 1,500 rounds.

The main reason for this difference lies in the different levels of stability between bipods and tripods.

The more stable a machine gun is, the faster its rate of fire and the longer its range.

However, on the battlefield, machine guns are not necessarily better the faster they are.

The MG42 has a high rate of fire.

The fact that the barrel needs to be replaced every 250 rounds, along with the logistical pressure on its ammunition supply, is a nightmare.

Later statistics suggest that the optimal rate of fire for a light machine gun on the battlefield is between 500 and 600 rounds per minute.

Below this rate of fire, the suppressive effect on the enemy will be weakened, resulting in a thinner barrage.

The optimal rate of fire for a heavy machine gun is around 1,000 rounds per minute.

Below this rate of fire, it is impossible to effectively suppress the enemy with firepower.

A rate of fire higher than this would put unbearable pressure on both the barrel and the ammunition supply.

The reason Chen Changzai was looking at the MG42, a legendary rifle that the Germans developed in 1942 based on the MG34, was because it was a weapon that had become legendary.

He also had his own ideas.

The Type 67 general-purpose machine gun that their military factory produced in later generations.

It's fair to say that the performance is extremely poor.

It borrowed too many designs from machine guns used in other countries, resulting in a bizarre combination.

As for the Type 88 general-purpose machine gun, it was not suitable for Chen Changzai to use at the moment.

Because it uses too many new materials and the process is complicated.

After much thought...

Chen Changzai still felt that the MG42 general-purpose machine gun, which wouldn't be available for another five years, was the most suitable for the present.

First of all, its processing technology is very simple.

Its gun body is basically made of riveted and welded parts.

In terms of manufacturing technology, Chen Chang's military factories below are fully capable of doing it.

And now we have electricity.

For Chen Changzai, stamping and welding are no longer a hurdle.

Another advantage is its relatively low cost, only 70% of that of the MG34.

This is also something that needs to be considered.

As for this gun, its high rate of fire has been criticized ever since.

That's because it uses roller locking, which is fast and simple to lock.

It is faster than rotary locking and has a very short bolt travel.

In addition, it was a recoil-operated machine gun and was equipped with a muzzle assist device.

This results in extremely fast recoil of the barrel, allowing the bolt to be pushed back quickly and complete continuous actions.

That's why it has a high rate of fire.

However, Chen Changzai did not want to cancel this high rate of fire.

This is because the designer intended it to be used for the rate of fire when firing at air targets.

Actually, the MG42's rate of fire can be adjusted.

All that's needed is to replace the bolt and the buffer spring.

Chen Changzai also had some other methods to adjust the rate of fire.

These are all solvable problems.

"After all the choices, it still has to be you."

"In that case, you should come out a few years earlier," Chen Changzai murmured.

　Thank you to all my friends who have supported me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)