The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

"Our military industry's priority right now probably isn't high-end military equipment. More precisely, we need to first develop the arms industry that produces guns and cannons."

Li Qiang and Chen Tianheng inspected the Guangdong No. 1 Arsenal.

The two men watched the deep-hole drilling machine working through the workshop window. Although there was a layer of glass between them, the piercing noise of the workshop still filled their ears, and they had to speak loudly to hear each other clearly.

After two or three minutes, the noise stopped temporarily, and the inner bore of a 6.5mm gun barrel was roughly processed.

"We bought a complete set of equipment worth several million yuan, debugged it and started running it. The effect is immediate, you see,"

Li Qiang put on gloves and picked up the barrel that had just come off the production line. "The finish, straightness, and tolerance of the bore are, without exaggeration, on par with those of the original Japanese factory."

Chen Tianheng also donned white gloves, took the barrel, and examined it carefully against the light. Visually, the bore bore showed no flaws, and the rifling was neat. "Minister Li, I'm also concerned about the processing costs and the overall price of the gun."

李强:“三八式步枪的760毫米枪管比较贵，40元一根;三八式骑枪的枪管460毫米,这就便宜得多，26元一根。现在兵工厂760长管和460短管的产量是3比1的比例。”

Chen Tianheng: "Cavalry, scouts, combat engineers, and supply troops are all equipped with the Type 38 musket. In the future, the production ratio of long-barreled and short-barreled rifles may be 2:1 or even 1.5:1. However, we are currently working to standardize the firearms of our main forces. In the past two years, we have seen slightly more orders for standard Type 38 rifles. ... Check out the handguard workshop."

This month, the First Arsenal was able to independently produce rifle barrels with quality no less than that of mainstream international rifles. This is a huge improvement.

However, the handguard of the Type 38 rifle produced in Guangdong is still made of imported wood.

"A handguard is simply a wooden stick, but this stick is quite unusual." "The handguard has to withstand the recoil of the rifle barrel when it's fired, and that immense recoil is transmitted by two small holes drilled through the handguard, along with bolts and protrusions. Furthermore, this stick has to be able to withstand bayonet fights and even be swung to hit someone. The handguard on a gun has to be able to withstand all sorts of bizarre and violent actions. Unfortunately, the handguard isn't a cylindrical stick shape, which is optimal for maintaining strength. Instead, it's crooked and has slots and holes drilled in the middle."

"We used to use imported wood because we couldn't find qualified wood locally. Recently, we found some qualified wood for guardrails in Guangxi, Guizhou, and Yunnan, but the complete processing process will not be completed until October of this year."

Zhou Wenqi took Chen Tianheng and Li Qiang to visit the wood guard workshop. On the workbench, several workers were shaping imported wood. Domestic wood was in a closed secret room with large windows - the drying room. There were seven or eight iron racks like library bookshelves, and each rack was stacked with long strips of wood layer by layer.

This enclosed drying room also has a large dehumidifier

This may be the first large-scale dehumidifier in Guangdong, and it was used in an arsenal to dry wood logs.

Zhou Wenqi, an engineer in the wood guard workshop, wore a large blue apron and unhooked his goggles and mask from the wall. "Two officers, please don't go into the drying room. One more person means more humidity."

Zhou Wenqi entered the drying room and inspected it. After a while, he came out with a wooden stick in his hand: "This one is cracked."

A thin crack appeared on the drying wood of the handguard. Zhou Wenqi casually threw the handguard into the scrap pile.

The most expensive part of a gun is the barrel, followed by the handguard. The First Arsenal produces the Type 38 rifle. Currently, a barrel costs 40 yuan, and a handguard costs 22 yuan. Furthermore, with improvements in production processes, barrel processing costs may decrease in the future.

Chen Tianheng: "The handguard requires very high strength, but it's also very long, nearly a meter. The arsenal should revise the design so the stock doesn't need to extend to the muzzle, but only to the trigger. The front section, which encompasses the barrel, should be made of a separate piece of wood."

Zhou Wenqi: "Just like the Bergmann submachine gun that another workshop is imitating?"

Chen Tianheng: "Yes."

Zhou Wenqi: "I don't know much about other aspects of firearms, but if rifle handguards were made the same length as submachine guns, only reaching as far as the trigger, we could save more than half the cost of lumber and processing. Plus, we'd have more usable wood. If you cut down a mountain of long handguards, you might only get 500 pieces of suitable wood. If you cut down a mountain of short handguards, you might get 1500. Or, if you cut down a single tree, you could get enough wood for 20 rifles with long handguards and 40 with short handguards."

"The Arsenal needs to work harder."

The inspection came to an end, Chen Tianheng said to Li Qiang.

"Hey," Li Qiang shook his head. "The First Arsenal, formerly the Shijing Arsenal, was a type of arsenal designed to circumvent international arms embargoes. International arms imports were banned, so we'd import semi-finished products and assemble them domestically, circumventing the embargo. That handguard workshop you just saw was also newly established last year. We didn't even do simple work like shaping the wood. We bought pre-made pieces from foreign arsenals. It was just a stick; no matter how much the embargo went on, why would we bother trying to manufacture it ourselves? In short, the former Shijing Arsenal had no comprehensive plan for the localization rate of guns or key components."

Chen Tianheng: "It's not just the Shijing Arsenal. Since the Republic of China, arsenals across the country have basically been the same 'circumventing international arms embargoes' type of arsenal. I've taken a look around the Shanghai Arsenal, and it's basically the same."

Li Qiang: "This includes the Fengtian Arsenal in Northeast China. General Chen, although the Fengtian Arsenal now has a large output and a wide range of product lines, it is essentially still assembling semi-finished products. In terms of industrial 'depth', the two arsenals in Guangdong have already surpassed Fengtian."

Chen Tianheng: "Has it also surpassed the Hanyang Arsenal?"

Li Qiang: "We have a more complete control over the rifle industry chain than the Hanyang Arsenal in its heyday. However, we haven't surpassed them in terms of artillery. Our 75mm mountain gun still uses a lot of imported parts. Of course, the 75mm mountain gun is not currently manufactured on a large scale."

Chen Tianheng: "The main problem with the 75mm mountain gun is that we haven't chosen the right model yet. Copying the K-75 is too bad. After all, we've already captured the Type 41 mountain gun, and after using it, we can't go back to the K-75. ...How are the mortars doing now?"

Li Qiang: "It's at the Fourth Branch Factory, some distance from here. But, Chief Chen, the design team that enlarged the 81mm mortar into a 100mm mortar said it's not easy to make, and there are some technical hurdles to overcome."

Chapter 47: Our Great Pearl River Nation is founded on agriculture and commerce

Guangzhou introduced the technical patent of the MLE 27 81mm mortar from Brandt Company and has imitated it at the Fourth Branch of the First Arsenal.

此时勃兰特公司自己也还没研制60毫米和120毫米迫击炮，但革命军现在的装备体系需要轻迫和重迫。于是四分厂就负责基于勃兰特81迫的技术原理，自行研制60迫和100迫。

60毫米迫击炮装备步兵连,100毫米迫击炮是团属火炮。装备发展中心对100迫的技术要求是:总重80公斤(可适当放宽到85公斤)，单个部件重量不超过30公斤(这样可勉强由人力运输），最大射程4300米(克虏伯75毫米山炮的射程)。

Now the Fourth Factory has discovered that if the mortar's barrel is to reach a range of 4300 meters, it will weigh 32 kilograms.

Chen Tianheng brought in the head of the gunnery group at the Equipment Development Center for on-site coordination, and the final decision was to reduce the 100mm mortar barrel by another 200mm (reducing the caliber by 2) to meet the single-component weight standard. The projectile weight was also reduced slightly, maintaining a range of 4300 meters.

The reason why the caliber of 100mm was chosen instead of 120mm was that it had to be able to be carried by manpower. If the caliber was made into 120mm, it could only be towed by horses or carried on the back, and people could not carry a 120mm gun barrel.

If road conditions permit, the 100mm mortar can certainly be carried on the back, and it does not require any strong mules or horses to carry it, just donkeys that can be bought everywhere in the countryside.

将来100毫米重迫列装后,革命军的山地步兵团火力就不弱于同时代的欧洲军队了。什么,迫击炮不能直射?那就再编入75毫米无后坐力炮。平原师的步兵团甚至可编制一个37/45/47毫米反坦克炮连。

Speaking of recoilless rifles...that's going to be a headache for a few more years.

If you don't want the recoilless rifle to lean back and forward when firing, the propellant/propellant and recoil counterweight must be processed and formed very precisely, which requires updating the equipment.

There is no requirement for armored mechanization for the time being, and only the weapons of the mule and horse infantry divisions are guaranteed. Guangzhou now has to use two five-year plans to build the Guangdong First and Second Arsenals, and add the Zhuzhou Arsenal to the long-term plan of the 25th period to meet the demand.

Just counting the firearms, there are pistols, silent pistols, submachine guns, flare guns, rifles, lances, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and anti-tank/anti-material rifles. Special operations forces also want sniper rifles and grenade launchers.

炮械有50毫米掷弹筒、60、81、100毫米迫击炮、75毫米山炮、75毫米野炮、37到47毫米的坦克炮、反坦克炮、57和75毫米无后坐力炮。此外还需要至少—种小口径高射炮和一种75毫米以上的大口径高射炮。

The troops also called for equipping themselves with heavy artillery of 100 mm and above, because during the second anti-encirclement and suppression campaign in Hunan, the troops found that 75 mm mountain artillery shells could not penetrate brick and stone bunkers.

There are also telescopes, sniper scopes, artillery scopes, field gun scopes, bayonets, engineer shovels, explosive packs, blasting tubes, fuses, engineer electric detonators, grenades, anti-tank grenades, land mines, anti-tank land mines, sea mines, barbed wire, telephone lines, field telephones, switches, high-power radios, medium and small radios, voice radios that are still on the drawings, and walkie-talkies (small backpack voice radios).

This is only part of the equipment listed by the General Armament Department. The complete list of required military equipment would take several pages to complete.

"Ready—fire!"

"Bang—bang—"

The sound of warships' salutes echoed in Guangzhou Port.

The British Navy heavy cruiser HMS Suffolk slowly docked in Guangzhou, commanded by Vice Admiral Arthur Westell, commander of the British Far East Fleet's China Command.

In addition, Major General James Sandilands, commander of the British garrison in Hong Kong, visited Guangzhou on board the ship.

"Hello, General Wester." Wester: "Hello, General Chen."

Chen Tianheng and Li Zhilong shook hands with Commander Westell and Captain Norman Allan of HMS Suffolk in turn.

The temperature in Guangzhou reached 38 degrees Celsius today. In this scorching heat, Wester and Captain Alan both changed into snow-white short-sleeved shirts and shorts, with cream-colored leather shoes and white socks.

Don't talk about "gay-ish" outfits... These are the Royal Navy's standard uniforms for generals and officers. They do look a bit gay, though.

"I noticed your navy has adopted a new uniform," Wester said. "It's a refreshing uniform, full of a simple and clear style."

Chen Tianheng: "The revolutionary navy is still in its infancy. It will take a long time for us to build a modern and powerful naval force."

Westell is of course implying that the materials of Guangzhou's new navy uniforms are downgraded (the original uniforms of the Fujian Navy period were all modeled after the British in terms of materials and style), so he is indirectly saying that this is very "simple".

The HMS Suffolk was a standard treaty-type cruiser, with a standard displacement of 9924 tons and a full load of 13400 tons. It had four twin 203mm main guns. The largest ship in Guangzhou was the Zhongshan, which weighed less than 4 tons.

Sending HMS Suffolk to Guangzhou was likely a gesture of goodwill from the British Navy towards the Guangzhou government. Westell's arrival in Hong Kong also included the battlecruiser HMS Hood and the aircraft carrier HMS Furious, both of which were on a global cruise from the British mainland, a display of force. Compared to the HMS Hood, the Suffolk was a relatively small vessel originally stationed in Singapore.

"We've noticed a recent return to peace among various factions within China," Westell said. "The armed clashes of the past two months have heightened tensions in East Asia, but fortunately, the Chinese are ultimately peace-loving. Guangzhou received a 'flag-changing' warship during the recent conflict, but the Royal Navy believes the naval power imbalance between Guangzhou and Nanjing remains significant, presenting a potential for conflict."

Chen Tianheng: "The Nanjing regime of Chiang Kai-shek has an advantage in the number and tonnage of naval vessels, but this advantage is not enough to enable Nanjing to launch an offensive against us at sea. We believe that instead of focusing too much on China, your country should consider what the largest navy in East Asia is thinking and what they intend to do."

Westell grinned: "The Imperial Japanese Navy is the largest maritime power in the Western Pacific. But the maritime order in the Western Pacific has, so far, been dominated by Britain."

The real business that Westell came to Guangzhou to discuss was that the British Hong Kong Squadron and the Anti-Smuggling Fleet hoped to cooperate with the Guangzhou Navy to carry out anti-piracy operations in the South China Sea.

However, the matter was not settled immediately, as the two sides disagreed on who would have the ultimate authority to conduct anti-piracy operations in the South China Sea. China and Britain agreed to revisit the matter in the next round of negotiations.

As an army general, Sandilands seemed to be interested in some of the battles in the second counter-encirclement campaign.

"You used tanks in the battle in Jiangxi Province. But I don't know the specific details of the battle," Sandilands said.

Chen Tianheng: "This is confidential."

Sandilands: "Haha, Nanjing has already disclosed a lot of information."

Chen Tianheng: "Then it seems that you can consult the Nanjing authorities on this matter. Indeed, the Nanjing authorities were also involved in that battle, and they would have some information."

Sandilands: "I also understand that the tanks your army is equipped with are French-made Renault FT-17s, which, frankly speaking, are already relatively outdated tanks."

"We're aware of this, but there's nothing we can do," Chen Tianheng said, spreading his hands. "Our government and our people aren't wealthy enough to afford a brand new tank unit."

Sandilands: "Your current population ratio to the Nanjing government is 1 to 6, but your fiscal revenue ratio has reached 1 to 3. If you say you are not very wealthy, then this standard is a bit too high, and even a bit cruel to the Nanjing government."

Chen Tianheng: "If we define our current government revenue and national income as 'rich,' then I'll definitely be labeled a master of humor in your newspapers and magazines. Guangdong relies on agriculture, commerce, and foreign trade as its pillar industries. I know you often informally refer to us as the 'Pearl River Nation.' General Sandilands, you could define us as a nation of businessmen founded on agriculture and commerce."

Walking around Guangzhou city and the docks, my first impression is that this is indeed the case. This is a city whose mainstays are agriculture, commerce and foreign trade.

The Port of Guangzhou is now at its busiest period in history, with cargo throughput even exceeding the war dividend period of 1914-1918.

Every day, ships spewing black smoke leave the Port of Guangzhou, loaded with tungsten ore, pig bristles, tung oil, silk and silk fabrics, sugar and other agricultural and mineral products.

At the same time, ships loaded with cargoes came into Guangzhou one after another, including refined oil, crude oil, industrial machine tools, and of course many consumer industrial products, and even rice from Vietnam and wheat from North America.

Guangzhou is now a net importer of grain, buying 50,000 to 60,000 tons of rice from Vietnam and Indonesia each year, accounting for one-third of Guangzhou's rice consumption.

At this time, Shanghai was similar to Guangzhou. Rice imports might account for a smaller proportion, but wheat was basically imported from North America.

However, in the past six months, there have been some small changes in Guangzhou's imports and exports.

The amount of cotton imported increased fourfold, and the amount of cotton yarn and cloth exported increased by a similar amount.

Guangzhou used to export large quantities of silkworm cocoons annually, but now exports fewer cocoons and more silk and silk products. This, like the cotton textile industry, is due to the gradual recovery of Guangzhou's manufacturing industry over the past year and a half, which has enabled it to invest in equipment and upgrade its industrial technology.

White sugar production saw an even greater increase, with Guangzhou/Guangdong's white sugar production quintupling. Guangdong, of course, couldn't grow four times as much sugarcane in a single year. Instead, Guangxi's sugar industry processed the sugarcane into brown sugar locally, then transported it to modern sugar mills in Guangzhou, where it was produced as high-quality white sugar for export. Guangdong became the leader of the sugarcane industry in the two-Guangxi region.

The Guangzhou Revolutionary Government was a merchant state founded on agriculture and commerce. This wasn't just Chen Tianheng's words; they had been circulating privately for half a year. This was also true in Hong Kong and in the areas governed by the Nanjing government.

Among them, there are also some very "pill party" remarks. For example, banking tycoon Chen Guangfu once said privately that Guangzhou, with one-sixth of the population of Nanjing's ruling area, obtained tax revenue equivalent to one-third of Nanjing's. But the truth that is even more shocking than this is that the tax in Guangzhou's ruling area is much lighter than that in Nanjing's ruling area. After all, Guangzhou abolished the likin system since the initial establishment of its regime.

——Guangzhou is now in a stage of recuperation and farming, and has not yet started to fight for the world.

Guangzhou.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Revolutionary Government.

"Hello, Comrade Consul Abrashanka."

The Soviet Consul General in Guangzhou, Abrashanka, visited. Abrashanka got straight to the point: "Hello, Comrade Minister, on behalf of the Soviet People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, the Soviet Consulate is here to ask you a question. Regarding the battles your troops engaged in during the just-concluded anti-encirclement and suppression campaign, could we learn more about them, or perhaps engage in military exchanges?"

Chen Youren: "This is a very good suggestion. However, I haven't received any notification from my superiors yet, so we can't discuss this matter right now."

Chapter 48: Demobilization System

"stand at attention--!"

"Salute!" "Farewell veteran!"

Guangzhou. Headquarters of the 1st Division of the 1st Army.

350 retired veterans, wearing red flowers on their chests, lined up on the training ground. Opposite the veterans were all the officers and soldiers of the First Regiment of the First Division.

As more than a thousand people saluted the veterans in unison, the military band played "The Glory of the Soldiers".

The "Regulations on the Retirement of Soldiers and Officers" formulated by the Revolutionary Army in January 1929 was temporarily postponed for three months due to the second counter-encirclement and suppression campaign. In July 1929, the first batch of retired veterans wore big red flowers.

Chen Tianheng attended the retirement ceremony for veterans of the First Division and issued a discharge certificate to each of them. As the veterans walked past him, Chen Tianheng could even call out most of their names.

"Ah, ouch!"

Xu Xiangqian seemed a little melancholy: "They are all veterans of hundreds of battles." Yu Chengwan: "I really feel reluctant to let them go."

Chen Tianheng: "Most people in the First Division, and even the First Army, are battle-hardened."

Yuan Zhongxian: "Metabolism, metabolism. I've been doing this kind of ideological mobilization for the troops these past few months. Now that the metabolism has really begun, I'm feeling nervous again. I'm still worried that this will affect the troops' combat effectiveness."

Chen Tianheng: "For this batch of retirements, we've allowed all veterans who expressed a desire to stay. The rest were forced to retire due to urgent family calls or other reasons. Besides, the First Division has a total of 9,000 men, and with 350 retired now, the impact on combat effectiveness will be minimal. Within three months, the new recruits will have learned everything they need to know through the veterans' instruction. You also need to remember that after retirement, veterans can still contribute to the revolutionary army when they return to their hometowns. Consider this: the majority of these veterans are from Guangdong. We've also arranged jobs in Guangdong for those from other provinces before they retire."

Xu Xiangqian: "Yes, when they return to their hometowns, whether in cities or rural areas, they will continue to connect with grassroots organizations. When a veteran returns, the technical and tactical level of the village militia will probably be greatly improved."

Chen Tianheng: "The revolutionary struggle has entered a new stage. This is not a sprint, but a long-distance race. Long-distance running requires endurance. It's not about sprinting and accomplishing big things in one go. Just like the government's current five-year plan, we must also make long-term plans."

A week before the veterans’ retirement ceremony, the revolutionary army also awarded medals of honor for the second counter-encirclement and suppression campaign.

The Revolutionary Army's medal system was divided into four grades: third, second, first, and special. These weren't categorized as "first-class merit," "second-class merit," or "third-class merit." Instead, there were five series, each with four grades: 3, 2, 1, and special. For example, the infantry's combat medals were called the "Warrior" (third class), "Assault" (second class), "Battle Star" (first class), and "God of War" (special class).

The medals of the five series all have the same elements on their surfaces. For example, all the third-class medals have the Roman numeral "I" on the base background, the second-class medals have the Roman numeral "II" on the base background, and the special-class medals have the Roman numeral "S" on the base background.

The treatment after retirement also follows the numbers ll, l, S on the medals. For example, the infantry's Battle Star Medal and the Air Force's "Ace" Medal, although the names are different, are both first-class merits and both enjoy lifelong subsidies after retirement.

After the medal system was established, medals were also re-issued for previous battles documented in military archives. So, after the ceremony, when Chen Tianheng reviewed the First Regiment of the First Division in formation, he saw numerous medals adorning the chests of officers, NCOs, and soldiers. He even spotted a third-term NCO with four assault medals, while another soldier had a battle star and an assault medal.

Yu Chengwan whispered, "I heard from the grapevine that the Medal of War, um, is generally not awarded to living people?"

Chen Tianheng: "This is decided by the Medal Certification Department of the General Political Department. However, there should be a certain distance between the Special Merit and the First Merit, so that there is a distinction."