Show the sword, start from the guerrillas

After the meeting, the order was passed down, and the Liangjiacun Arsenal received a call from Minister Zhang immediately.

"Hello, Minister Zhang, I'm Peregrine!" In the arsenal office, Li Yuexuan held the phone and said into the microphone.

"Peregrine, listen carefully. At the meeting that just ended, the headquarters adjusted the production of the arsenal. This month, your arsenal will gradually slow down the production of the Type 81 rifle and focus on semi-automatic production! Then, you will transfer some of the equipment and workers that produce the Type 81 rifle and prepare to move east! Taihang First Division is currently selecting a site, and these equipment will be sent to the First Division to set up a new arsenal!"

"Okay, is there anything else?" Li Yuexuan asked.

"Of course there are other things. How much do you not want to talk to an old man like me? Huh? Listen carefully, our next production focus will shift from firearms manufacturing to hardware manufacturing. Do you understand what I mean?" Minister Zhang's tone was intimate and teasing.

"I see. That is, our Eighth Route Army is not short of weapons for the time being, but ammunition cannot keep up with consumption, so we need to manufacture ammunition on a large scale... Minister Zhang, is there going to be a major war?"

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you. I've already sent the telegram. You'll know it later. It's hard to tell over the phone. Listen carefully. Although the focus has shifted to ammunition, you can't stop producing 60mm mortars. Just keep producing about 270 per month! In the regiments we're organizing now, each infantry company is equipped with 60mm mortars. One company needs three, and one regiment needs 3!"

"You can equip 10 infantry companies of regiments with one month's production now! So, you can't stop, and try to equip all infantry companies with 60mm mortars! As for ammunition, you should still focus on bullets, and maintain the existing production capacity for shells. The old workshop in Beiyue District can now produce 60mm mortar shells and 82mm mortar shells, so you should stop supplying shells to Beiyue District!"

"The newly built arsenal in the First Division is mainly to meet the rifle needs of local troops, and also to increase the production of 60 mortar shells. So in a few months, the shells for the First Division and Jizhong will no longer need you to provide! Now, your production pressure can be reduced a lot! In the past year, you and the headquarters arsenal have been working overtime. Thank you for your hard work."

"What's so hard about this? The comrades are fighting on the front lines, the workers are just sweating, but the comrades are actually bleeding and sacrificing their lives, we can't compare!"

"Okay, now is not the time to reward people for their merits. I'll tell you some good news. Not counting the three local regiments in your Ninth District and the Beishan Detachment, not counting the troops in northwestern Shanxi and the troops left behind in northern Shaanxi, there are already 60 main force regiments in our Eighth Route Army that are fully equipped with 82 mortars, 118 mortars and semi-automatic mortars!"

"Although these regiments are scattered in various bases, they are completely full-time regiments that can be pulled out to fight at any time!" Minister Zhang said with a smile.

"I see. Our Beishan detachment can send out two regiments, and the three local regiments of the 9th Division can be sent out at any time. We don't know about the New st Regiment and the Independent Detachment, but I believe it will be no problem to send out five regiments."

"The New 1st Regiment... If you hadn't mentioned it, everyone would have ignored this regiment. We can take this opportunity to upgrade the New 1st Regiment to a detachment! In terms of the number, it will be the First Detachment of the Ninth District!" said Minister Zhang.

"What about the New Second Regiment?" Langyashan asked weakly. "The New Second Regiment is still a little weak, but it's just right to split it into a main force regiment and a local regiment! Forget it, let's expand the New Second Regiment into the Second Detachment of the Ninth Division in one step!" Minister Zhang said.

"Yeah, that's good... I understand. The New First Regiment was upgraded. The existing team was split and upgraded. The overall number of people is sufficient, only the organization has changed. And the New Second Regiment does not have enough people, so it has been expanded, right?" Li Yuexuan began to quibble with words.

"Ha, that's what I mean!" Minister Zhang laughed a few times before stopping and saying, "Now, I'll give you a new task!"

Hearing Minister Zhang's serious tone, Li Yuexuan quickly stood at attention: "Yes, you say!"

"Here's the thing...the semi-automatic machine we got from the Russians will leave from northern Shaanxi tomorrow and will be in your hands in half a month at the earliest! Do you have any questions?" Minister Zhang asked.

"I've thought about this, too. There's no problem with imitation. The problem is that there's something wrong with the propellant used in the Mosin-Nagant bullets... It may have a certain impact on the performance of the firearms. We need to avoid this problem in our bullet production. You can communicate with Shaanxi for specifics! Of course, based on the amount of ammunition used by our Eighth Route Army in combat, there shouldn't be too many problems."

"Really? I'll go and ask about it. Don't worry about it! After the guns are delivered, you should hurry up to imitate them. Once the finished products are qualified in the tests, you can transfer them to northern Shaanxi for special production! Alas, as the person in charge of logistics, our two mainstream ammunition will have to be unified sooner or later. Now this is the only way. Mauser rifle bullets have round heads and pointed heads!" Minister Zhang sighed.

"Um... Minister Zhang, if there is a big war, can we go out and fight?" Li Yuexuan asked carefully.

"You guys? You mean your guard regiment? The guard regiment can go out to fight, but you must have at least a company of soldiers around you, and the arsenal must have at least a battalion of soldiers before you can let the guard regiment go out! Otherwise, just stay at the garrison and protect the arsenal! And you, don't think about fighting, that's not the place for you to display your talents... Although you are a good fighter, how many devils can you kill by yourself? Ten thousand at most, right? But what about the weapons and ammunition that you took the lead in manufacturing? You understand the principles, so stay here with peace of mind, you will have a share of the merits!"

"Yes, I promise to stay quietly and be a manager and designer who is dedicated to manufacturing weapons! At the same time, I wish my comrades a successful battle, to annihilate the enemy, to liberate Shanxi, to liberate North China, and to liberate all of China!" said Li Yuexuan.

"Haha... kid, I'll leave the matter to you. I can focus on other things..." Minister Zhang said and hung up the phone.

"118 regiments? According to the production capacity of my 60 mortars, plus the production capacity of the 60 mortars of the headquarters arsenal, there should be some hidden combat units, right? Wait, Minister Zhang only mentioned the Eighth Route Army, right? In other words, there are also quite a few such standard regiments in the New Fourth Army? Haha, this is going to be lively!" After thinking about the data, Li Yuexuan thought of many possibilities.

Of course, those 60mm mortars that disappeared from the data may have been distributed to local regiments and basic regiments, but what's the harm? As long as they are equipped and the shells are ready, they can destroy the enemy!
Thinking happily in his heart, Li Yuexuan went directly to the drawing table, and the information in his mind appeared in front of him in an instant. There was no hope for him to go out to fight, and his comrades were about to be busy with training. All he could do was draw pictures... (End of this chapter)