Bright Sword: I built Italian cannons for Li Yunlong

After seeing Zhang Dabiao off, Zhou Zhen stood alone at the warehouse entrance, watching the workers carefully carry the shell casting machine to the newly leveled shed, his heart filled with excitement.

I never expected that Old Li would bring back such a big item after going out for a trip.

Indeed, a man cannot get rich without unexpected wealth, and a horse cannot get fat without night grazing.

Li Yunlong went out and started a side business, which solved his problem. Otherwise, he really didn't know when he would have been able to assemble such a machine on his own.

Next, he gathered the technical backbone led by Master Chen.

"Master Chen, this manual casting machine is our hope for producing artillery shell casings in the future. It's entrusted to you. You take the lead and get it debugged as soon as possible."

Master Chen is a taciturn old fitter in his fifties.

He circled the machine twice, looking excited.

With his calloused hands, he touched the machine and confidently assured the factory manager, "Don't worry, I'll get it working as soon as possible. With this, we won't have to rely on hammers and files to grind shells anymore."

The sulfuric acid and nitric acid that Li Yunlong delivered this time were of higher quality than expected, eliminating the need for purification.

With this large quantity of raw materials, in addition to supplying the production of mercury fulminate, the trial production of smokeless drugs has also been put on the agenda.

The final step in synthesizing the smokeless drug was arranged by Zhou Zhen in a remote, rocky ravine far from the factory's core area.

"Comrades," Zhou Zhenqing cleared his throat, "what we're going to build next is a propellant that's much more advanced than black powder, called smokeless powder."

And the first step in producing this thing is…”

Zhou Zhen demonstrated and explained at the same time.

The site has been prepared according to the standards for synthesizing mercury fulminate, including ventilation, fire prevention, and static electricity prevention.

Thanks to previous experience in synthesizing mercury fulminate and rigorous safety training, the workers had a basic understanding of the procedures and hazards of chemical operations, which greatly saved Zhou Zhen's training time.

"The synthesis of smokeless drugs is, in principle, simpler than that of mercury fulminate," Zhou Zhen continued his demonstration in front of a well-ventilated stone platform.

"The key lies in precise proportions, strict temperature control, and thorough deacidification."

While synthesizing the smokeless drug according to the standard steps, Zhou Zhen explained the details and precautions of each step to everyone.

Zhou Zhen carefully spread the first qualified smokeless drug on a dry stone slab. He slowly approached it with a long ignition rod, and everyone who witnessed this moment held their breath.

The moment the small amount of smokeless powder came into contact with the flame, a swift and bright flash of light "hissed" past, and before anyone could react, it had burned out completely.

In the end, only a few almost invisible light-colored marks were left on the stone slab. It had neither the thick gray smoke that came up when the gunpowder exploded, nor any residue left behind.

It worked!

After a brief, almost frozen silence, came a deafening roar of cheers.

The entire experimental site was filled with the workers' almost frenzied joy.

"It's done! It's really done!" A young worker jumped up first, shouting excitedly.

"See that? It burned so fast. Not a trace of black smoke, not a single ash left."

"God...we...we really created smokeless medicine."

"Is this what the Japanese used?"

A huge cheer suddenly erupted, like a long-suppressed torrent.

The workers excitedly patted each other on the shoulder, and the young apprentices jumped and laughed.

Several experienced craftsmen cautiously approached, with Master Han even using his fingers to carefully touch the tiny remaining trace.

My whole hand trembled slightly when my fingers touched the last remaining residue.

Looking at Master Han's trembling hands, Master Wang noticed that the muscles on his own weathered face were also twitching slightly.

Unbeknownst to me, tears silently streamed down my face, etched with wrinkles.

"Really... not a single black speck was left... and the smoke was so small it was almost invisible... This... this is what a real 'smokeless medicine' should be!"

He spoke in a choked voice, his voice not loud, but at that moment it was like a key that instantly opened the floodgates of everyone's emotions.

"For so many years... what have our soldiers been using?"

"If you load too little black powder, it won't be powerful enough to fire far; if you load too much, it will explode. You can't fire more than five or six shots before you have to stop and clean it up."

On the battlefield, countless brave young men sacrificed their lives for this cause.

Master Han remained squatting on the ground, looking up at the young workers who had gathered around him, his eyes red-rimmed.

The same Type 38 rifle, the Japanese can hit the target at 400-500 meters with good accuracy, but ours, after 300 meters, becomes unpredictable.

For the soldiers to hit their targets, they had to risk even more by advancing forward. This…this was a lesson learned in blood!

"It's all right now, it's all right now." Zhao Dajiang finally couldn't control his emotions. He rushed over, wanting to pat Zhou Zhen's shoulder, but then withdrew his hand halfway up as if afraid of breaking something.

"Now that Director Zhou has led us to develop smokeless powder, our soldiers will no longer suffer losses from purple eggs on the battlefield."

From the crowd, someone shouted first, "Long live Factory Director Zhou!"

Then, more voices gathered together, initially somewhat chaotic, but later becoming unified, choked with sobs, and filled with the triumphant spirit of overcoming all obstacles.

"Long live the Eighth Route Army!"

"Drive the Japanese devils out of China!"

This outcry was no longer merely a celebration of the success of an experiment, but rather a deep yearning to change the fate of the battlefield and a heartfelt adoration for the leader who had guided them down this path.

Zhou Zhen was overwhelmed by these surging emotions, and his nose felt a little sore.

He understood their excitement.

In their view, this is more than just the successful development of a new material.

In the dark years of lost territory and the pressure of powerful enemies, the brilliance of this independently mastered core technology will be like a torch suddenly lit in the night, dispelling the confusion in people's hearts.

This is a hope.

He clearly saw that on those faces, which were weeping with joy, there was a radiance called hope.

When the news reached headquarters, the leaders were extremely excited, although they were somewhat "used to" it.

The chief of staff, holding the telegram, smiled and said to the commander-in-chief, "Commander-in-chief, how long has it been since Comrade Zhou Zhen developed the primer? He's already managed to develop smokeless powder."

The boss looked at the map and smiled, "I wouldn't be surprised if he ever built us a cannon."

This kid's got some talent!

The headquarters awarded Zhou Zhen a second-class merit, but due to the severe shortage of supplies, the only reward that was ultimately distributed to all the staff of the arsenal was a fat pig and two hundred catties of white flour.

When the notification was delivered, the factory erupted in cheers once again.