Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Maintaining good trade relations with the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries is very beneficial to China's exports.

Of course, Wei Hongjun did not have time to participate in specific matters, but he could help Mao Zemin select the most suitable cadres to cooperate with him.

800 domestic rocket launchers

Following the Executive Yuan meeting, the various ministries and commissions began another round of adjustments. With the support of the Executive Yuan, the Political and Legal Affairs Committee quickly established the Central Disaster Relief Committee, with Marshal Nie himself serving as its director. Former Minister of Agriculture Li Shucheng, Minister of the Interior Chu Juezai, and Vice Minister of Public Security Wu Xinyu served as deputy directors of the committee.

Marshal Nie has a lot of work to do, so this director position is a part-time job.

Of course, the more important reason was that the Disaster Relief Committee had to coordinate with numerous departments and local governments, necessitating the presence of a cadre of Nie Shuai's caliber. Without Nie Shuai, and with only Li Shucheng and Wu Xinyu, the central government and local governments wouldn't necessarily cooperate with them on a daily basis. Li Shucheng was older and came from a prominent family, having never experienced hardship and lacking familiarity with the countryside. The CCP's rural policies were fundamentally different from those of previous dynasties. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Yicun's primary focus was land reform. Therefore, Li Shucheng's time at the Ministry of Agriculture wasn't entirely comfortable; he felt deeply uncomfortable. He didn't even necessarily support the CCP's rural policies.

Normally, the work of the Ministry of Agriculture is handled solely by Deputy Minister Li Shaocheng.

Because Li Shucheng is not a member of the Communist Party of China, Li Shaocheng is not only the Vice Minister of Agriculture, but also the First Secretary of the Party Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture.

But Li Shucheng was different from other democratic figures because he had deep roots in the Communist Party. The First National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held at Li Shucheng's home. His son, Li Hanjun, was an important early leader of the Communist Party who died in 1927. Even after the April Incident, Li Shucheng's ties to the Communist Party continued.

Li Shucheng has a good personal relationship with many senior leaders of the Communist Party of China.

Li Shucheng was appointed deputy director of the newly established Disaster Relief Committee. Compared to his work in rural areas, Li Shucheng was no stranger to disaster relief. By this time, Li Shucheng had practically ceased to oversee the Ministry of Agriculture, his focus completely shifting to disaster relief.

However, Li Shucheng still retains the position of Minister of Agriculture, and Li Shaocheng serves as the acting Minister of Agriculture as the Deputy Minister, handling the work of the Ministry of Agriculture.

In addition to the Central Disaster Relief Committee, the Political and Legal Committee subsequently established the Central Flood Control Committee and the Central Epidemic Prevention Committee. Marshal Nie personally served as the director of both committees. Cadres were then drawn from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Health to serve on these committees. Wei Hongjun also quickly came up with a plan to merge the Ministry of Light Industry and the Ministry of Food Industry.

There weren't many people in the Ministry of Food Industry.

In the ten months since its establishment, the Ministry of Food Industry itself has been unable to clearly distinguish what constitutes the food industry. Furthermore, the local central bureaus and regional governments have always held considerable power, allowing the Ministry of Food Industry to control some food factories in North China. Consequently, while other central ministries expanded their staffs, the Ministry of Food Industry was unable to develop.

This time, the Ministry of Light Industry could be directly merged into the Food Industry Bureau. Yang Lisan, formerly the Minister of the Food Industry, would be appointed Minister of the newly created Ministry of Light Industry, while Song Yuhe, formerly the Vice Minister of the Food Industry, would be appointed Vice Minister of Light Industry and Director of the Food Industry Bureau. This proposal received support from other leaders of the Finance and Economics Committee.

The final plan was submitted to the Central Committee and the Central People's Government, both of which approved it. After submitting this plan, Wei Hongjun began discussing the Harbin Trade Fair with Mao Zemin, who attached great importance to it.

He hoped to use the Harbin Trade Fair to understand the needs of the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Therefore, he paid great attention to the selection of the Harbin Trade Fair Preparatory Committee. Mao Zemin personally served as its chairman. Wei Hongjun recommended Zeng Shan, Minister of the Ministry of Textile Industry, as its deputy director.

Zeng Shan has extensive experience and a high rank.

He is also a candidate for Deputy Director of the Finance and Economics Committee. Furthermore, the textile industry is a key export product for my country. Before becoming Minister of the Textile Industry, Zeng Shan was in charge of finance and economics at the East China Bureau. He is very familiar with these matters.

Then, cadres were drawn from the Ministry of Textile Industry, the Ministry of Light Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Forestry to serve on the Harbin Trade Fair Preparatory Committee. Mao Zemin ultimately appointed Gao Weinong, the Northeast Director of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, as Secretary-General of the Harbin Trade Fair Preparatory Committee, responsible for organizing the Harbin Trade Fair in Harbin. Gao Weinong was transferred from Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei to the Northeast and initially oversaw the establishment of a trading company in Dalian. Later, after the Ministry of Foreign Trade was established, he served as the Ministry's Director for Dalian and Northeast China.

Mao Zemin was very satisfied with Gao Weinong's performance in Dalian.

Therefore, the task of organizing the Harbin Trade Fair was handed over to Gao Weinong. Wei Hongjun also held frequent meetings with the ministries and commissions below him.

I hope everyone will pay attention to this.

Bring out everything you can.

Of course, Wei Hongjun also had to keep an eye on the affairs of the Ministry of Coal Industry and the Ministry of Fuel Industry. Currently, the two departments' biggest priorities were the construction of the Yumen Oil Base and the integration of the national coal industry and the mechanization of major coal plants.

The coal, oil, and electric power industries received the most Soviet aid this time. Wei Hongjun must keep a close eye on them.

"Boss He."

"Vice Premier Wei, your North China Military Region has made something big."

After the Third Session of the Seventh Central Committee concluded at the end of February, Wei Hongjun was first busy with the promotion of local cadres, then the reorganization of the Central Committee and the Secretariat, and then the adjustment of central ministries and commissions. Combined with his current work, he was busy until early May. But today, he was outside the city.

Because the Zhangjiakou Arsenal made a big one.

Not only did Wei Hongjun arrive, but also the Premier, Marshal Nie, and General He. Wei Hongjun was familiar with everyone except General He. However, Wei Hongjun had a deep impression of General He. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, the Jin-Cha-Ji and Jin-Sui Military Regions collaborated several times.

Mr. He is very clear and conscientious in doing things.

Jin-Cha-Ji transferred troops to the Jin-Sui Military Region several times, and General He was very considerate of these troops. He truly respected their history and their cadres. Precisely because of General He's open and honest approach, the Jin-Cha-Ji troops easily integrated into the Jin-Sui military.

"It's not really our North China Military Region. It was the Central Military Commission that assigned this project to our region." "That's also thanks to the Zhangjiakou Arsenal's impressive performance."

The two of them chatted and laughed as they came to the stands.

The reason so many leaders were so alarmed this time, with even the Prime Minister and Marshal Nie personally attending, was because the Zhangjiakou Arsenal had developed a domestically produced rocket launcher. This domestically produced rocket launcher had little to do with Wei Hongjun. It was a project of the Central Committee and the Military Commission.

Zhong Lin, the leader of this project, is a Chinese weapons expert known as the "Father of Rocket Artillery." He attended Hunan's top-tier Industrial School in his teens, later studying electrical engineering at an electrical company and becoming a technician. The Party later arranged for him to work at the Shenyang Arsenal, where he began his experience in weapons manufacturing and became a technician. His outstanding performance earned him the position of Director of the Sulfuric Acid Plant at the Shenyang Arsenal before he turned 30.

After the September 18th Incident, he came to Nanjing to serve as Director of the Nationalist Government's Ordnance Department. Later, the Nationalist government sent him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States to study weapons manufacturing technology. After returning to China, he was appointed Director of the Sulfuric Acid Plant affiliated with the Hanyang Arsenal.

During the Anti-Japanese War, the Hanyang Arsenal was relocated to Chenxi, Hunan, and Zhong Lin was responsible for setting up the factory in Chenxi.

In 1946, he discovered a small American-made rocket in the Kuomintang's Ordnance Department. He smuggled it to Chengdu, disassembled it, studied it, and modified it, and eventually successfully developed China's first rocket.

After the outbreak of the Liberation War, Zhong Lin brought these materials to Shijiazhuang. The Central Committee attached great importance to Zhong Lin, so Marshal Nie personally welcomed him. Zhong Lin then joined the Enterprise Department of the North China People's Government as the Chief Engineer of the Arsenal. He established the Rocket Technology Department and began to be responsible for the development of rockets.

He then established a research and development team based at the Zhangjiakou Arsenal in North China (formerly the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Arsenal). This team included prominent professors and experts who would later become renowned in China's science and technology industry, including the developer of the mortar grenade; a pioneer in my country's aerospace industry, responsible for the development of the DF-1 missile; experts in gunpowder and solid propellants; and a strategic missile and launch vehicle expert, who served as the chief designer of the CZ-3 launch vehicle.

China has weak foundations in all aspects, but its advantage is that it can gather limited resources to do important things.

Just like this time.

China lacks technical talent, but if we search nationwide, we still have a good supply. When these people work together to promote a project, the results are quite impressive. This is one of the advantages of socialism. Furthermore, in the process of promoting a project, we can also cultivate a group of technical personnel.

Not long ago, their R&D team successfully developed a domestically produced rocket launcher and then produced the first batch at the Zhangjiakou Arsenal. This batch of domestically produced rocket launchers was secretly sent to Beijing for inspection by the Central Military Commission. Zhong Lin personally brought the rocket launchers to the Central Military Commission for testing.

Wei Hongjun looked at the information about this batch of rocket launchers.

因为是49年4月份制造成功的，所以取名为"494火箭炮"，或者是"49式6管火箭炮"。第一批四门火箭炮参加检验。

“Boom boom boom—”

A total of three rounds were test fired.

After the fight, the Prime Minister couldn't help but clap his hands and said, "Good, good."

In reality, the 494 rocket launcher is significantly inferior to American and Soviet rocket launchers in every respect. Its range, accuracy, power, and even mobility are all significant issues. However, for a Chinese military that has historically struggled with firepower, the superior range and firepower of this rocket have pleased the Prime Minister and others.

The same is true for Wei Hongjun.

China is currently negotiating with the Soviet Union to import Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers, but the process is not going smoothly.

Throughout the Korean War, China purchased 240 Katyusha rocket launchers from the Soviet Union. These rocket launchers played a significant role in the war. In the early stages of the Korean War, the Chinese army entered North Korea armed with domestically produced rocket launchers, approximately three battalions.

"Comrade Zhong Lin, well done."

The Prime Minister shook Zhong Lin's hand and said yes repeatedly.

Wei Hongjun asked, "Comrade Zhong Lin, what is the production capacity of this rocket launcher?" "Commander, under normal circumstances, about 100 can be produced per year."

"100 doors."

Wei Hongjun thought for a moment and said to General Trade and Yang Quanwu, "I want to apply to the Military Commission to form a rocket artillery regiment in our North China Military Region, equipped with this batch of domestically produced rocket artillery, and assigned to the Soviet-equipped troops that are being formed. Let the troops use it first and see if there are any problems so that they can be corrected immediately." "I think it's okay."

Yang Quanwu said carelessly.

General He was standing nearby. After Yang Quanwu finished speaking, he said cheerfully, "I think so too. Let the troops try it first. If there are any problems, we can make modifications." Wei Hongjun sighed inwardly.

Marshal Xu frequently requested rest for health reasons and rarely participated in the affairs of the General Staff. As the First Deputy Chief of Staff, Yang Quanwu was practically acting as Chief of the General Staff, handling the work of the General Staff. However, judging by Yang Quanwu's behavior, it seemed unlikely that this Chief of the General Staff would last long.

Previously, Marshal Nie was in charge of the CMC's daily operations and doted on Yang Quanwu. General He hadn't been in charge of the CMC for long, and his temper was acceptable. But when General Peng or Marshal Lin were to take charge of the CMC, Yang Quanwu's behavior would inevitably lead to a conflict. Yang Quanwu's stubborn temper might even lead to a conflict with General Peng or Marshal Lin.

But Wei Hongjun can't say anything about this matter now.

After all, neither of them was in the Anti-Japanese War era. Wei Hongjun was now the high-ranking Vice Premier of the State Council, and Yang Quanwu was the Acting Chief of the General Staff, so many things were difficult to discuss. Wei Hongjun could only turn to Zhong Lin and say, "Comrade Zhong Lin, could you send someone to accompany the troops throughout the entire process to inspect the use of this batch of weapons?"

"That's as it should be."

Seeing that Wei Hongjun was already considering how to use this batch of rocket launchers, the Prime Minister smiled and said to Marshal Nie: "Comrade Wei Hongjun is always decisive and swift in everything he does." "During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he was also a first-rate looter."

Nie Shuai also answered with a smile.

The Prime Minister said: "High enthusiasm is a good thing."

Chapter 801: Unified Weights and Measures

After a simple celebration banquet, the Premier, Marshal Nie, and General He left. Soon after, Yang Quanwu and General Logistics Department Director Zhao Lu followed suit.

They had come here to test the power of the domestically produced rocket artillery, and overall they were quite satisfied. While not as powerful as the Soviet Katyusha, it was still a powerful weapon capable of significantly enhancing the troops' firepower. Now that the test was complete, they naturally wanted to start the day with a high-quality start. They still had another day of work to do. Now that Wei Hongjun had applied for a rocket artillery regiment on behalf of the North China Military Region, the rest of the work was entirely the responsibility of the North China Military Region itself.

In fact, Wei Hongjun seized the initiative.

After all, the domestically produced rocket artillery was first developed at the Zhangjiakou Arsenal. Although it is now under the control of the Central Military Commission and the Second Ministry of Nuclear Industry, its predecessor, the Jinchafen Arsenal, maintains close ties with the North China Military Region. Therefore, when the Red Army intervened, the North China troops were the first to benefit.

Wei Hongjun's move to seize the rocket artillery regiment wasn't to keep all the good stuff for his own troops, but rather because the situation on the Korean Peninsula was getting worse and worse.

Kim Il-sung, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, visited China just last month and shared some of Chairman Mao's thoughts. The Soviet Union has been accelerating the supply of Soviet weapons to North Korean troops, with tanks being delivered to North Korea in batches.

Jinricheng's intention is to hope that China will transfer the Korean troops in the People's Liberation Army to North Korea. There are many Korean troops in Northeast China.

From the time of the Anti-Japanese United Army until the formation of the Northeast Field Army, there were a large number of Korean officers and soldiers in the army. In particular, nearly half of the troops in the East Manchuria Military Region were Korean officers and soldiers.

When the Fourth Field Army entered the Great Wall and marched south, it had nearly 15 Korean officers and soldiers among its ranks, and nearly 15 remained in Northeast China. The 46th Corps, led by Wang Qiuyun, had over 15 Korean officers and soldiers. Because the th Corps' th Army was formed from troops of the East Manchuria Military Region, the th Corps had the largest number of Korean officers and soldiers compared to other units.

The central government is discussing North Korea's demands.

The Chairman understood that relations between South Korea and North Korea had been extremely tense since their independence. Now that the Soviet Union had armed North Korean troops on such a large scale, and with such high-quality weapons, the situation was becoming increasingly uncontrollable. They now wanted China to hand over the Korean troops.

This was clearly preparation for the upcoming conflict. Wei Hongjun was an alternate member of the Politburo. Although he was not yet eligible to vote, he could attend Politburo meetings and review confidential documents available only to Politburo members, so he understood these matters.

time does not wait.

The conflict on the Korean Peninsula is getting closer.

The Soviet-equipped units must be assembled as quickly as possible, and their officers and soldiers must be adapted to multi-service combat. Because the promised Soviet weapons were being continuously delivered to China, the Military Commission had already ordered the transfer of two more armies. One was the 18th Army, derived from the 65th Corps of the Fifth Field Army, formerly the First Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Campaign, and a direct descendant of Yang Quanwu's direct line. The other was the 15th Army, derived from the Second Field Army, the historically equivalent of the 12th Army.

随着12军和65军北调，苏械部队已经下辖12军、65军、71军、74军四个军。

That's not enough.

Wei Hongjun petitioned the Military Commission to transfer another army from the Third Field Army, bringing the currently assembled Soviet-equipped forces to five armies. Together with other attached units, this would total over 30 men. Only with a force of this size, once it entered the Korean Peninsula, could it engage in major battles and decisive campaigns.

Adding a rocket artillery regiment to this unit was also for this purpose. The first battle of the Korean War was originally a surprise attack, aiming to catch the enemy off guard and ideally annihilate a large number of the UN forces' effective forces, thus creating opportunities for the following battles.

If the Volunteer Army had three or four fully-organized rocket artillery regiments when the First and Second Campaigns broke out, they would have been able to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. As for how to use rocket artillery and under what circumstances, the troops had to adapt quickly. That's why Wei Hongjun applied to establish a rocket artillery regiment in the North China Military Region.

After everyone left, only Wei Hongjun and several North China Military Region officials remained. Wei Hongjun was very polite when speaking to General He, explaining that Zhong Lin's rocket artillery project was a CMC project. However, the project was, after all, based on the Zhangjiakou Arsenal. Furthermore, Zhong Lin was still a cadre of the North China Military Region.

Wei Hongjun was very happy. He said to Zhong Lin, "Comrade Zhong Lin, you have brought honor to our North China Military Region." "Commander, this is the result of everyone's efforts. I couldn't have completed this project alone."

"Comrade Zhong Lin is so modest." Wei Hongjun liked him more and more the more he looked at him.

Zhong Lin is not only a weapons expert, but also a management-oriented weapons expert. This type of expert is currently the most in demand.

Understand technology and management.

No wonder Zhong Lin even became the Deputy Minister of Heavy Industry in history.

Zhong Lin looked around and said to Wei Hongjun: "Commander, there is still a problem that must be solved as soon as possible. If it is not solved, it will not only affect the logistics unity of our army, but also greatly hinder the localization of our weapons. It is not only a major obstacle to the localization of weapons, but also a major obstacle to the independence of our industry."

"oh?"