Traveling through the sword to engage in military industry.

Chapter 153: Seven and a half roads, food in exchange for steel mills

"What? We are going to use our blast furnace ironmaking technology and wrought iron bullet making technology to exchange for food and ore from Qiluban?" Jiang Chongjing looked at Ren Zhong in disbelief.

"are you serious?"

"Of course, we don't have anything that can attract the Seventh Route and a Half right now. Although they will definitely exchange weapons for food, it is naturally impossible as we are in short supply of these. I thought about it and thought that they might be interested in iron smelting." Ren Zhong looked at Jiang Chongjing and said calmly.

He returned to the main plane and studied the situation around the border area. With the Japanese troops approaching from the east, it would be difficult to even deliver some firewood, let alone food.

The preserved fruit core in the southwest is now under strict defense by the transport captain, so it is impossible to buy food from them.

To the west is the area of ​​the Ma family army. If you see cash, you can buy some, but the quantity cannot be large. Moreover, taking advantage of the ban on preserved fruits, the prices have skyrocketed, and even a loser like Ren Zhong can't afford it.

Now only the seven and a half routes in the north not only have similar operations to the border areas, but the two sides are also interdependent and have an objective need to rely on each other to defend their defense areas.

The most important thing is that the seven and a half roads can produce grain, turning the 50-li Hetao into the Jiangnan of the Great Wall! With more than 30 acres of fertile land, more than 760 people including the military, government and civilians, the per capita food ration is kilograms! A real grain producer, there is really no shortage!
"Look, veteran, the Seventh Route Army owns the Hetao area and has no shortage of food now, but weapons are in short supply just like ours. Wuyuan has iron and copper mines. If we can provide them with iron smelting technology and transfer a wrought iron equipment for making bullets so that they can produce their own bullets, I believe this attraction can be exchanged for 2 tons of food." Ren Zhong went on to say.

Then he looked at Jiang Chongjing quietly.

Yes, Ren Zhong was 80% sure that the Seventh Route and a Half would accept this condition, but he was not sure whether the border region would accept the transfer of the new iron-making technology and bullet production technology, which were very critical to this era.

After all, this is more important than food.

From the perspective of the overall situation, Ren Zhong personally feels that strengthening the strength of the Seventh Route and a Half will be beneficial to changing the strategic situation in the border area. If the Seventh Route and a Half masters the iron smelting and manufacturing of bullets and becomes powerful, they will definitely have ideas about Jiuyuan, the Mongolian army, and may even take action to seize Jiuyuan.

And this is related to Ren Zhong’s next plan!
Now the Ikh Ju League is secretly controlled by the underground organization in the hands of the newly formed Third Division of Guosu. Once Jiuyuan is taken, and the Daqingshan Detachment contains Hohhot, the threat from the Japanese in the north of the Ikh Ju League will be greatly reduced, and Ren Zhong can go to the Ikh Ju League to mine on a large scale without any scruples.

Not only is there high-quality coal from one of the world's eight largest coal bases, but there are also extremely rich reserves of natural soda ash, sodium sulfate and pyrite. Ren Zhong's next step is to significantly increase grain production. It is certainly not possible to meet production needs by relying solely on good varieties and organic fertilizers. It is imperative to build a large-scale fertilizer plant. Therefore, these resources in Ikh Ju League are very important to Ren Zhong.

Of course, what is more important is that between Jiuyuan, Hohhot and Yikh Ju League, there is buried something that Ren Chong particularly needs at this stage - the mysterious uranium resources!
Originally, Ren Zhong was going to wait for the border area to explode its military industrial capacity, and then persuade the border area to organize three main regiments of about 3 people to sneak into the northern part of Ikh Zhao League, and work with the new third division of Guosu to seize the south bank of the Yellow River in Ikh Zhao League, prevent the Jiuyuan devils from going south, and ensure the basic safety of mining in the Ikh Zhao League. But now the production capacity of the border area's military industry has to supplement northwest Shanxi, where the anti-spring sweep is imminent. The border area's military industry has produced more 56 semi-automatic, mortars and ammunition this time, mainly to supplement the main regiments in northwest Shanxi. As a barrier to the north of the border area, northwest Shanxi cannot afford to lose!

Of course, at this moment, Ren Zhong couldn't even explain his reason for opening a mine.

"Brother Ren," Jiang Chongjing's head was buzzing. He was totally unprepared for Ren Zhong's unconventional ideas. For a moment, he almost lost the ability to think.

After a while, Jiang Chongjing regained his clarity of mind. "Brother Ren, let's not talk about anything else. Even if the deal is done, how can you ensure that the other party will execute it? You know, 2 tons of grain is a lot of food, and it's not close from Wuyuan to the border area. If they regret after we build the blast furnace, we will end up with nothing."

"No, they can't fool us about this, because in the initial stage of production, they can't figure out the iron-making ingredient process data themselves. In fact, the local iron ore must be handed over to the organization behind me for analysis, so that we can get an accurate configuration and produce qualified wrought iron. Otherwise, even if molten iron is produced, it will be unqualified scrap iron. It may be used to make mines or grenades, but it can never be used to make bullets." Ren Zhong shook his head and explained to Jiang Chongjing's concerns.

"Besides, we can still control their propellant and explosives. We will use them to exchange copper ore later. We will not trade this part of the production process to them. In this way, no matter how much wrought iron they refine, they will not be able to turn it into ammunition due to the lack of explosives."

Ren Zhong had thought through all these causes and consequences long ago. He was not afraid that the Seventh Route Army would default on its debts, and of course the Seventh Route Army was not afraid that the Border Region would default on its debts either. They would definitely give out food only after seeing the results.

Ren Zhong was very clear that during this period, Qiluban's mentality was still quite inflated, and the desire to be independent prevailed. Especially after they fought several tough battles and developed Hetao into a granary, they even had the idea of ​​becoming the king of the outside world.

But to be honest, the Seventh Route and a Half are indeed the most capable of production among the generals. There is no one in the border area who is good at grain production who can compete with the Seventh Route and a Half. Otherwise, given the area and population of the border area, there is still hope for self-sufficiency in grain production.

"This," Jiang Chongjing felt something was wrong after hearing Ren Zhong's reasons but couldn't put it into words.

"Old Chiang, we are now in the darkest period before dawn. We just need to get through it. Please report my opinions (including the reasons) and the difficulties of your Ministry of Military Industry to them, and let the superiors make the decision. You and I cannot decide on this matter, and we cannot handle such a big thing. Look at your health. Come to my place at least one day a week to replenish your energy. You are only in your forties, but you look like you are in your sixties. Although work is important, health is the capital of revolution. Without a good body, you can't do anything!" Ren Zhong really felt sorry for this big brother. He had almost the same personality as Zhang Wanhe. He was a hardworking and even risked his life for work.

"I think the higher-ups will give more consideration to my opinions." Ren Zhong said finally. He has always been independent from the border areas and base areas in order to maintain an aloof identity so that he can handle things better.

Second update
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(End of this chapter)