Bright Sword: I built Italian cannons for Li Yunlong

"What kind of talk is that?" the brigade commander interrupted him, his tone serious and sincere.

"You fell ill this time for the sake of the revolutionary cause in the base area. It's only right that I come to visit my comrade."

"I've heard from the comrades that you've been working day and night to produce activated carbon, and you haven't even had time to eat."

Comrade Zhou Zhen, I have to criticize you for this. I understand your anxiety, but "health is the foundation of everything."

Our revolutionary journey is still long, and many tough battles await us. Many new technologies await your help in their implementation; you can't afford to squander all your resources now.

He paused, his voice softening slightly: "The Japanese have been using poison gas on the battlefield for quite some time now, and we've managed to get through the most difficult period step by step."

We overcame all those hardships, climbing snow-capped mountains and crossing grasslands.

If the Japanese devils think they can break our will with such despicable means, they are delusional.

So don't put too much pressure on yourself.

Some things can't be rushed. Even if it takes a while, as long as we're on the right track and work steadily, we'll definitely succeed one day.

Don't worry, the sky won't fall down.

As Zhou Zhen listened to the brigade commander's earnest words, a warm feeling welled up in his heart. He knew these principles all too well.

"Commander, I understand the reasoning. But the thought of our soldiers being exposed to poison gas without any protection keeps me awake at night."

I don't mind being tired. The sooner we get it done, the more lives we might save—those are our comrades, living, breathing human beings!

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander looked directly at Zhou Zhen.

His lips moved, as if he wanted to say, "There are always deaths in war; that's the cruel reality of war."

But the words just wouldn't come out.

He was not one of those cold-blooded generals who believed that "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand soldiers." It was precisely because he cherished the life of every soldier that he valued technical talents like Zhou Zhen, who could reduce casualties among soldiers.

In the end, he could only swallow his words, then let out a sigh, and reached out his large hand to pat Zhou Zhen's thin shoulder heavily.

Feeling the weight and warmth on his shoulder, Zhou Zhen seemed to understand something.

He rallied his spirits and offered, "Brigade Commander, since you're here, I'll take you to see the arsenal's achievements over this period. Some things are better seen with your own eyes than just heard reports."

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander smiled, and his characteristic magnanimity in commanding thousands of troops returned.

"Great! I've been wanting to see it for myself for a long time."

I hear Lao Zhao report to me every day that our Factory Director Zhou comes up with some new tricks that give the Japanese a headache every now and then. Today is a good day to see it for myself.

Next, Zhou Zhen accompanied the brigade commander on a tour of the mercury fulminate primer production line.

The brigade commander nodded repeatedly as he watched the workers carefully weighing and mixing the materials under strict safety procedures.

After all, he was a graduate of a military academy and had seen the regular production lines of the Nationalist Army.

Although the environment here is rudimentary, the current organizational actions already show the beginnings of standardized production.

Next, they visited the smokeless propellant production area.

The brigade commander picked up a small pinch of smokeless powder, examined it carefully, and then smelled it.

"Is this the smokeless powder in the new bullets that Li Yunlong and Ding Wei praised so highly? It's definitely different from the black powder we used before."

Zhou Zhen briefly explained its principle and its huge advantages over black powder, and demonstrated the combustion effect on the spot. After watching it, the brigade commander's eyes lit up with admiration.

Their final stop was the activated carbon production area, which is currently the most important production area.

Several modified rotary steam activation furnaces are in operation, with workers turning cranks connected to gears to stir the activated carbon inside the furnace.

Although the workers were busy, they loaded the fired charcoal pellets into the furnace in an orderly manner, then adjusted the gas valves according to the procedures and recorded the gas pressure data inside the furnace.

If the first two areas were still workshops, then this place already had the beginnings of a modern chemical industry.

Zhou Zhen picked up a handful of activated carbon granules that had just come out of the furnace and cooled down and handed them to the brigade commander.

"Brigade Commander, look, this is the core filtering material of the gas mask."

The brigade commander took it, examined it carefully in his palm, and then rubbed it between his fingers, sighing with emotion.

"It's unbelievable that these inconspicuous black charcoal particles could actually block deadly poison gas."

This scientific stuff is truly amazing; sometimes it's more effective than a thousand troops.

Zhou Zhenze said, "Brigade Commander, future wars will largely be about technological strength and industrial capabilities."

Upon hearing this, the brigade commander shifted his gaze from the activated charcoal in his hand to Zhou Zhen's face, revealing an interested expression: "Oh? Tell me more about it."

Zhou Zhen organized his thoughts and tried to explain in a simple and easy-to-understand way: "Technological strength determines our advantage in weapon power."

For example, with a stable supply of smokeless ammunition, the range, accuracy, and sustained firing capability of rifles will increase, giving soldiers a greater chance of victory on the battlefield.

If we can develop artillery shells with greater power than the Japanese explosives in the future, it will be more effective in attacking and capturing key points.

This is the boost in combat power brought about by technology; it's a qualitative advantage.

He paused, then pointed to the operating activation furnace and the busy workers.

"And industrial capacity determines whether we can combine our 'quantity' advantage with our 'quality' advantage."

A war cannot be won with just powerful weapons; it also requires sufficient ammunition and logistical support.

To sustain a high-intensity, costly war, you need large-scale, stable industrial production capacity.

Only in this way can a continuous stream of weapons be sent to the front lines.

Otherwise, even the most advanced weapon, once it's used up or broken, is just a useless stick.

At this point, he recalled the war between Da Mao and Er Mao in his previous life.

Zhou Zhen continued, "It's like... two people fighting."

One side had a harder punch, but lacked stamina and sustained power.

The other side was weak in combat, but had good endurance; even if he took a few hits, he could withstand them.

So if these two fight to the end, it's hard to say who will win.

Modern warfare, especially protracted wars of attrition, often boils down to who has the greater stamina and whose industrial capacity can withstand the strain.

The brigade commander listened very attentively.

He himself was a commander with great strategic vision, and Zhou Zhen's words directly and deeply touched his thinking about future warfare.

Through the other person's description, he seemed to see a corner of the future war.

If we combine this with our experience fighting the Japanese army over the years, it completely confirms what the other party said.