Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 345 Heavy Weapons

On October 16, brothers Chen Yunzhe and Chen Yunhan, with 800 militiamen, rushed to the mountain stronghold.

"Shaoyang, Shaoyang, look, what did our big brother bring you?" Chen Yunhan started shouting as he entered the gate of the mountain village.

Qu Shaoyang had already learned the news and was bringing people out to greet them.

After hearing this, he took a few quick steps and met Chen Yunhan and the others.

"Big brother, second brother, you came back so soon? You must have had a hard time along the way."

Qu Shaoyang originally thought that it would take another two days for the two brothers to arrive.

After all, the distance from Andong to Dianzi Street is long, and it takes a lot of manpower to get there, so it can't be done quickly.

"It was just a coincidence. I returned to Maoer Mountain and rushed to Kuandian after finishing my errands. I met my elder brother on the way.

Shaoyang, look, our big brother has found some good stuff for you this time."

When Chen Yunhan saw Qu Shaoyang, he didn't bother to explain too much and dragged Qu Shaoyang out the door.

Then he excitedly pointed at the things behind him, as if he was presenting a treasure, and insisted that Qu Shaoyang see it.

Qu Shaoyang was still wondering what his eldest brother-in-law was buying that made his second uncle so excited.

When he saw something being pulled by a horse-drawn carriage and pushed by people in the middle of the team, Qu Shaoyang also became excited.

"Oh my god, Maxim heavy machine guns, and Krupp cannons?"
Shao Yang recognized those things at a glance and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Brother, where did you get these things?"

The Maxim heavy machine gun is said to have been invented in 1883.

In 1885, the eleventh year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, Li Hongzhang watched a shooting demonstration of the Maxim machine gun in London.

When he learned that 300 rounds of ammunition were fired in half a minute, costing 30 pounds of silver, he said repeatedly, "Too fast, too fast. Too expensive, too expensive."

Words are words, actions are actions. As envoys of the Qing Dynasty and representatives of the Westernization Movement at the time, they were still very keen on shopping.

So, Lord Li bought a few sample guns on the spot.

After returning to China, the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau copied some sample guns based on the actual ones made in Britain.

However, due to the inadequate domestic smelting technology, the quality of the steel was poor and it was prone to bursting, so it was not mass-produced.

Later, during the Republic of China period, the German M1908 Maxim heavy machine gun was imitated according to the actual object, and production was discontinued after about guns were produced.

It was not until the 24th year of the Republic of China that the Type 24 heavy machine gun was produced after improvements. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, more than 18,000 of them were copied.

The one in front of me should be the one originally made in the UK. It is mounted on a shelf and has wheels underneath for being pushed.

As for the cannon, Qu Shaoyang could only roughly tell that it was a Krupp cannon, but he was not sure which specific model it was.

Anyway, at this time, the 75mm mountain cannon had not yet been produced.

The caliber of the one in front of me is not that thick, and it is quite heavy, requiring several horses to pull it.

"Didn't you ask me to help you buy explosives? I just happen to know a few foreign arms dealers.

Last time when my nephew was one month old, you told me to pay more attention to it.

As long as they are relatively advanced weapons from abroad, if you can find them, try to buy them back.

I chatted with those people when I had nothing to do, and it really worked. I spent a lot of money and got them to help me buy four machine guns and two field guns. "

Chen Yunzhe laughed when he heard this and explained casually.

In the past, you wouldn't be able to buy these things even if you had money, because at that time, the Double Gun Gang was considered bandits anyway.

Selling some guns and ammunition is enough. Even if those arms dealers are bold, they dare not sell heavy weapons to Chen Yunzhe.

Once Chen Yunzhe and his men rebelled, the government would investigate them and find them. But now it was different. Chen Yunzhe was the assistant director of the wood tax, and Chen Yunhan was the head of the militia. They were at least officials.

It is always easier to get things done under the guise of equipping a militia.

"I have also seen the order from the East Road Office, and I guessed that you would definitely take action against those bandits.

The experts on explosives and blasting have just arrived, so I was thinking of sending them back to you.

I didn’t expect to run into the second brother halfway through the journey.”

Chen Yunzhe was carrying so many heavy weapons, so he walked slowly. Chen Yunhan rode back to Kuandian as fast as he could to gather manpower, and the two brothers arrived here together.

"Great, brother, I never thought you could find these things.

Well, with them as my guard, if those gangs dare to challenge me this time, I will just beat them up."

The heavy weapons brought by Chen Yunzhe were like a reassurance to Qu Shaoyang.

Although these weapons are quite bulky and not as powerful as later ones, they are still quite powerful at the moment.

It is definitely more than enough to deal with some bandits.

The two of them, the uncle and the husband, were of course very happy to be together, but they had no time to exchange pleasantries.

Qu Shaoyang ordered his men to push the heavy machine guns and cannons into the stronghold, then took his men to repair the fortifications and placed the two heavy machine guns on the commanding heights on both sides of the stronghold gate.

The remaining machine guns and cannons were temporarily placed in the courtyard of the mountain stronghold, waiting for the whip-beating ceremony to give those bandit gangs a shock.

When all the men were present, Qu Shaoyang immediately made arrangements and sent some of his men out to disguise themselves as merchants, hunters, etc.

They would travel along the roads that other gangs had to take to attend meetings, always keeping an eye on passers-by and trying to gather information.

In addition, Qu Shaoyang also ordered people to go to Dianzi Street to buy a large amount of food and wine.

After all, it is a whip-beating ceremony, and guests are treated well.

If we really can't come to an agreement, we can talk about other things then. We should use courtesy first and then force, and we must be polite.

In this way, people on the mountain began to busy themselves with preparations, and before they knew it, it was October 20th.

Early in the morning, everyone in the village was busy and everything was tidy.

As the second in command of the Zhan Dongshan gang, Fan Duo was also entrusted with an important task by Qu Shaoyang and was responsible for receiving guests outside.

The main reason was that the original gang's pillars were gone, and in order not to arouse suspicion, they had no choice but to let Fan Duo come forward to support it.

Fortunately, Fan Duo was old and not very courageous. After being coaxed and frightened by Qu Shaoyang, he no longer had any other thoughts and wholeheartedly followed Qu Shaoyang.

It was not known whether these gangs had discussed it together, but at the end of Chenshi and the beginning of Sishi, the gangs that came to participate in the whip-beating meeting all came to the stronghold of the Zhandongshan gang.

Among the guards at the gate of the mountain stronghold, there were several former small leaders of the gangs. They all recognized the big leaders of those gangs, and when they saw the newcomers, they immediately shouted.

"The boss of Baishan is here."

"The boss of Xiao Sihai has arrived."

"The boss of Mantianhong has arrived."

……

He came out with his people to greet the visitors and greeted them warmly.

"Oh, it's Boss Luo, Boss Zhao, Boss Cao, Boss Gao, and all the brothers.

Long time no see, you all look as charming as ever.

Thank you for your hard work, please follow me to the Juyi Hall and have a seat. The drinks are already prepared and we are just waiting for you to come and join us in the celebration."

(End of this chapter)