Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 107: Two Shots

With the start of the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese invaders in the entire North China were involved.

Even the Japanese troops in Shanxi were deployed, forcing them to stop their raids.

Throughout northwest Shanxi, only occasionally would puppet troops, detective teams and other traitors leave the city and commit crimes around the county town.

In addition to fighting wits and courage with these traitors who left the city, the guerrillas also guarded the main traffic routes and suddenly robbed the Japanese transport teams.

Hongniwan, the headquarters of the new second regiment.

"Lao Luo, the brigade commander sent me intelligence saying that in order to deal with the battle in Wuhan, the Japanese have withdrawn a large number of troops from Shanxi. They should not be able to launch a mopping-up operation in a short period of time. I would like to take advantage of this time to vigorously develop the light industry and handicraft industry in the base. Do you have any ideas?" Chen Chengxing said.

Developing light industry in the base can not only generate income for the people, but also bring more convenience to the New Second Regiment.

"Developing light industry and handicrafts is a good thing, but ordinary people may not have the money to do it." Luo Ping sighed.

Even if you go into the simplest textile industry, you still need a loom and you also have to buy thread.

Although the common people in the base area were given land to farm by the New Second Regiment, it only solved the problem of food and clothing. If they were asked to spend money to do these things, they would probably be unable to do it.

"Haha. I thought it was nothing. This matter is easy to handle. I brought some money back from Shenkou Town. It's just right to provide interest-free loans to the people, or directly invest in the company." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

Qin Youde took a lot of money with him when he fled. Chen Chengxing took the initiative to send the seized gold bars to the headquarters. These gold bars will be sent to northern Shaanxi to purchase urgently needed strategic materials.

However, Chen Chengxing brought back the remaining dollars and legal tender, which he could use now.

"Really? Then I fully agree with it." Luo Ping said happily.

People today are having a hard time, and it would be great if we could provide them with an opportunity to make money.

Moreover, although the hand-woven textile industry earns money through hard work, it is extremely difficult to incur losses. As long as the people are given a chance, they will naturally kick the textile machines to produce sparks.

"Since we both agree, I'll leave this matter to you," said Chen Chengxing.

Relying on the common people in the base area, they could only develop small-scale, family-run light industries. If they really wanted to make big money, the New Second Regiment had to cooperate with the local government to set up factories.

As for what kind of factory to build, Chen Chengxing already had a plan.

As a person who has watched the military expenditure rise rapidly in the future, we know very well where the military expenditure comes from.

The aircraft carriers and large destroyers of the navy, the fifth-generation and sixth-generation aircraft of the air force, and the heavily armed combined brigades of the army were all smoked one by one by the majority of smokers.

The huge profits from tobacco are obvious to all.

For the New Second Regiment, the cigarette factory and the liquor factory are synonymous with low investment and high returns.

Especially for cigarette factories, there is no investment at all and what is needed is more manpower.

Chen Chengxing saw his grandfather using a manual cigarette-rolling machine when he was young, and he even disassembled it to study it. Although he didn't put it together in the end, he was still severely punished for it.

But Chen Chengxing can make it now. After all, the technical content is not very high. It only requires a few pieces of wood and a piece of cloth.

As for the winery, you can just buy a distillery. There are people in every town and village who know how to make wine. Even the soldiers of the New Second Regiment know how to make wine with sweet potatoes.

Of course, the Eighth Route Army has a clear ban on drinking, and as the head of a regiment, Chen Chengxing certainly cannot take the lead in violating it.

But producing alcohol for the purpose of sterilizing the wounded doesn't violate regulations, right?
The first liquor of distilled liquor is just strong liquor, with an alcohol content of 70 degrees or even higher. It is not suitable for drinking because of excessive impurities, but it is just right for sterilizing external injuries.

Although the bactericidal effect is slightly worse than that of special medical alcohol, it is better than nothing. After alcohol sterilization, the probability of soldiers being injured and infected can be greatly reduced.

As for the remaining by-products, in order to avoid waste, it would never be wrong to sell them and recover the funds, right?

While Chen Chengxing and Luo Ping were busy developing the base, Qin Sheng, under the instructions of Chen Chengxing, took several Northeastern soldiers to the three northeastern provinces.

With the help of the New Second Regiment, the sideline businesses of rural families in the base area developed very smoothly.

The first thing the base advocated was the development of weaving and textile industries.

The homespun cloth produced in each village was both large in quantity and good in quality. It not only met the needs of the New Second Regiment and the common people in the base area, but the surplus was also sold to other parts of Shanxi and even to Suiyuan and Chahar.

In terms of industrial development, the achievements are also remarkable.
Chemical industries such as salt boiling, alkali making, and sulfur, and light industries such as oil pressing, papermaking, flour, and stationery have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

At the end of July, when Chen Chengxing was leading his troops to make money in the Zhongyun Mountains, a report made him hurriedly return to Erlang Mountain.

"Have you tried it? How far can it hit?" Chen Chengxing said excitedly as he looked at the mortar set up on the ground.

After three months of research, Wen Ying finally came up with a 3mm mortar.

The completion rate shown by the system is 83%, which means that this mortar is only 63% similar to the Type 83 mortar.

"I've tried it, and the longest range is 1400 meters." Wen Ying introduced:

“However, due to the craftsmanship, the weight of this gun is heavier than I expected, a full 17 kilograms.

If we can have better machine tools, I estimate that we can reduce the weight by three or four kilograms. This is mainly because the bottom plate and bracket are difficult to process precisely, so there is a lot of redundant weight. To ensure safety, the barrel should also be slightly thicker.
And because there is no sight and the gun barrel is not powerful enough, the hit rate will be lower."

Wen Ying looked at the mortar with a sense of regret. If it was in the Taiyuan Arsenal, she could bring out the best of the gun's properties.

"17 kilograms is 17 kilograms, it doesn't matter." Chen Chengxing waved his hand.

Three or four kilograms of redundant weight does not affect the overall situation, it is just the weight of two or three shells.

As for the hit rate, Chen Chengxing didn't care at all. The mortar was an indirect fire suppression artillery, and it basically gave up the ability of accurate point firing.

Ordinary artillery can use it to carry out range strikes.

"Lift it up and try to fire it out!" Chen Chengxing said to the soldiers from the mortar platoon who were specially brought over.

"Yes!"

In an open space outside the arsenal, Chen Chengxing watched the soldiers of the mortar platoon fiddling with the small cannon.

Although there is no scope, Wenying still has two sights, which can help the gunner confirm the distance.

"Monk, go to that hill and check if there is anyone there to avoid any accidental injuries." Chen Chengxing said, pointing to a hill a thousand meters away.

In real combat, as front-line infantry support weapons, small artillery is rarely used at the longest distance. Whether it is the Type 92 infantry gun or the 82mm mortar, it is mostly used at half the distance. After all, the longer the distance, the greater the error.

Moreover, the main function of this 60mm mortar is to suppress the Japanese heavy machine guns and grenade launchers, and a distance of one thousand meters is more than enough.

Ten minutes later, Wei Dayong came running back and said, "Captain, there is no one on the hilltop, not even a bird."

"Okay, aim at the tree on the top of the hill and fire." Chen Chengxing ordered.

The gunner had already used the jumping eye method to confirm the distance and adjusted the muzzle. After hearing Chen Chengxing's order, he stretched out his hand to the side:
"Cannonball!"

"Tum~"

"boom!"

This was a test shot, and the distance was a bit far. After the gunner made a slight adjustment, he stretched out his hand to the side again: "Cannonball."

"Tum~"

"boom!"

The shell landed less than 5 meters away from the tree. If this were an actual combat, the tree would be completely within the killing range of the shell.

The 60mm mortar shells, even those produced by the New Second Regiment Arsenal, are not that powerful, and the shrapnel killing radius is still seven or eight meters.

"Fire two more shots." Chen Chengxing said. One shell still couldn't show anything.

"Boom~" "Boom~"

"Boom!" "Boom!"

This time the gunner used rapid fire.

"Not bad! Not bad! The error is not big!" Chen Chengxing said happily.

Generally speaking, the error of a 60mm mortar is 1/100, which means the error at 1000 meters is 10 meters. These shells are completely within this range. "Director Wen, I want to thank you on behalf of the New Second Regiment." Chen Chengxing said with a smile.

With the 60mm mortar, the New Second Regiment will have a certain advantage in small-scale conflicts.

"As long as I can fight the Japanese, I will do anything." Wen Ying said seriously.

"Don't worry, I guarantee that every gun will be used to fight the Japanese. By the way, what is the production volume of this mortar?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"Relying on the existing equipment, we can complete one course every two or three days on average," Wen Ying said.

Now the arsenal has no electricity and relies purely on manual labor for production, and drilling holes in solid iron pillars is very slow.

This is also the reason why Wen Ying chose to cast the gun mount directly. Although this increased the weight, it reduced the working hours. If the gun mount needed to be processed again, it would take at least another day.

Hearing this output, Chen Chengxing felt a little upset, but there was nothing he could do because all the equipment in Shenkou Town had been taken away.

Besides, even if Chen Chengxing left a few machines, it would be useless because there is no electricity in Erlang Mountain.

"Director Wen, let's produce 40 guns first, and then produce a few spare parts." Chen Chengxing said.

Assuming 3 guns per company, 12 infantry companies would need 36 guns;
The guard company, which had just been upgraded from a guard platoon, did not have a grenade launcher squad under the platoon. In addition, they were responsible for defensive tasks, so they had one more platoon than a normal infantry company. Therefore, the guard company needed 4 guns.

A total of 40 doors are required.

Moreover, the New Second Regiment must have reserve inventory. After all, if a war really breaks out, losses may occur at any time.

"Okay." Wen Ying nodded.

"Director Wen, now that the 60mm mortar has been produced, isn't it time to put the 82mm mortar on the agenda?" Chen Chengxing suggested.

On the way to Erlang Mountain, Chen Chengxing had already prepared everything in the system and was just waiting for Wen Ying to nod.

As for the product chosen by Chen Chengxing, it was naturally the Type 37 mortar produced by China based on the Soviet PM82 53mm mortar.

The PM37 mortar and the Type 20 mortar are both imitations of the French Brande 81mm mortar.

The Taiyuan Arsenal produced the Type 20 mortar, so she must be very familiar with mortars of this caliber.

When Wen Ying heard that Chen Chengxing wanted to research the 82mm mortar, her face froze. She hadn't had a good night's sleep in the past three months, and her dark circles under her eyes were already very dark.

However, Wen Ying thought about the soldiers of the New Second Regiment, who relied on their flesh and blood to fight against the Japanese machine guns and cannons, and she cheered up again.

The soldiers on the front line didn't complain, so why should I complain? Just do it!
"No problem, I will get started as soon as possible, but how do we solve the problem of the gun barrel?" Wen Ying asked.

A 60mm mortar can be fired from a railroad pier, but an 82mm mortar is absolutely impossible.

"The previous axles were used for this." said Chen Chengxing.

The narrow-gauge train axles brought back at that time were just right for this purpose, both in terms of length and thickness.

"Axle? Sure." Wen Ying nodded.

"But it looks a bit thick inside. Should we produce a larger caliber one? I think we can at least produce a 100 or 105 mm mortar." Wen Ying suggested.

Chen Chengxing thought about Wen Ying's suggestion and finally gave up: "No, the axle is too short, just produce 82mm."

The larger the caliber of the mortar, the heavier the shell, and the barrel must be lengthened to ensure the range.

However, the train axles captured previously were all narrow-gauge trains, and the barrel length could not meet the requirements of a 100mm caliber mortar.

Even if a 100mm mortar is produced, its range will probably not be much longer than that of a 60mm mortar, which cannot meet the needs of war at all.

To produce 100mm mortars, you must use standard gauge railway axles, but that kind of axle can be used to produce 120mm mortars.

"Okay." Wen Ying just said it casually. Since Chen Chengxing didn't want to, then forget it.

"By the way, I have another request. The 82mm mortar should be equipped with a trigger device so that it can be used for both mortar and flattening." Chen Chengxing added.

The mortar trigger can be regarded as a major invention of the Eighth Route Army, and it is not complicated in itself.

Normal mortars have fixed firing pins, and the shells can only use the effect of gravity to ignite the propellant. This requires the mortar's shooting angle to be large, otherwise the shells will slide down and cannot be fired.

With Lafa, you can use a very low parabola to attack enemy fortifications at close range.

Although the range of this method is very short, it is better than no range at all.

After all, no matter how good the Type 92 infantry gun is, it is still a bit heavy, and most importantly, the New Second Regiment is currently unable to produce its own shells.

If the 82mm mortar could be fired, the soldiers could lay the mortar flat and shoot when attacking the artillery tower, truly realizing guerrilla warfare with the mortar.

"Pull the trigger? Let me try." Wen Ying said. Normally, pull the trigger is used on rifled cannons, and it must be carefully considered before using it on mortars.

"I have already designed it, you can take it as a reference." Chen Chengxing said as he handed the paper he had prepared in his pocket to Wen Ying.

Wen Ying opened it and although it was rather abstract, she could still understand the basic principles.

"I'm just taking a look at it. Do you have anything else to do?" Wen Ying said as he put away the paper.

"No more." Chen Chengxing thought about it and shook his head.

"Then I won't see you off." Wen Ying ordered him to leave.

"Okay." Chen Chengxing scratched his head as he turned around and returned to the arsenal.

However, Chen Chengxing did not return to the regiment headquarters directly, but went to find Zhang Xu and Xu Tao again. With the production of mortars, the demand for artillery shells for the New Second Regiment increased greatly.

No matter how many mortars are produced, it will be of no use if the shells cannot keep up with the production.

However, Xu Tao shook his head at Chen Chengxing's request: "It is difficult to significantly increase production."

"Explosives can be produced by spending money to buy more vegetable oil, and shells can be produced by building new furnaces and increasing the number of people, but relying solely on manual threading is too inefficient."

"If we want to expand production, we need more equipment, including steam engines, generators, and machine tools," Xu Tao explained.

After hearing what Xu Tao said, Chen Chengxing's teeth hurt even more. Where could he find someone?

"Let's do this, Director Zhang and Director Xu. First recruit more staff and increase the production to the maximum possible level. I'll figure out the equipment issue." Chen Chengxing said helplessly.

"Okay." Zhang Xu and Xu Tao nodded. There were many Taiyuan Ordnance employees in the civilian population and they could easily recruit them.

After leaving Erlang Mountain, Chen Chengxing immediately deployed all the reconnaissance platoons.

There is only one purpose, which is to see where there is a small weapons factory. Erlangdong cannot do without these equipment if it wants to continue to develop.

After the headquarters received the mortar production process from the New Second Regiment, they held a meeting to discuss it.

But in the end it was not designated as a mass production plan.

This mortar is good in every way except for one thing: it is too complicated to produce.

According to the arsenal's estimate, with the current equipment, a maximum of 30 guns can be produced per month. This output is nothing but a drop in the bucket for the entire Eighth Route Army, which is starving.

If there is no choice, then there will be fewer. But now the headquarters arsenal has developed its own grenade launchers based on the grenade launchers of the Japanese and the Guo army.

Like the Guo Army's Type 50 grenade launcher, it is also a smoothbore and can be said to be a mm mortar.

The newly developed grenade launcher weighs less than 5 kilograms, making it very easy to carry in guerrilla warfare.

Although the current artillery shells can only hit 300 meters and are not as powerful as 60mm mortars, they are enough for the guerrilla warfare of the Eighth Route Army. Moreover, according to the estimates of the arsenal technicians, the range can be improved in the future.

The most important thing is that the production process of the Eighth Route Army's homemade grenade launchers is extremely simple. According to estimates, if produced at full speed, 150 grenade launchers can be produced per month!
And the output may increase in the future.

This production speed determines that the headquarters will focus on grenade launchers. After all, the headquarters is focusing on the entire Eighth Route Army, not one or two main regiments.

The 60mm mortar is suitable for the New Second Regiment, but it does not mean it is suitable for the entire Eighth Route Army.

(End of this chapter)