Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Shangganling

Chapter 110: Operations Behind Enemy Lines Take the Forefront
After Chen Chengxing returned to Dayun Mountain, he discussed the situation of the guerrillas with Luo Ping.

Finally, it was decided to upgrade the guerrilla squadron to a guerrilla brigade, each divided its own activity area, and drew elite soldiers from the main battalion to strengthen the guerrilla force.

At the same time, some troops were also drawn from the guerrillas to join the county battalions and district squads.

The struggle against the Japanese puppet regime and the village maintenance associations still depends mainly on the county brigade. The guerrillas and the New Second Regiment mainly target the Japanese.

At the end of September, Chen Chengxing suddenly received reports from various guerrilla groups.

The puppet armies and traitor maintenance associations in their respective guerrilla zones were forcing local people to buy fertilizer powder.

Chen Chengxing was overjoyed when he saw this, the Japanese Feitian powder had finally arrived.

"Old Chen, should we send out our main forces to clean up the outposts around the base?
It is the winter wheat planting season now, and the Japanese are forcing us to sell fertilizer powder at this time, which is extremely disadvantageous to the people. "Luo Ping said after reading the report.

The Japanese didn't sell fertilizer powder for the common people. They wanted the common people to buy it and produce more grain, and then they would go to the countryside to steal grain during the harvest season.

Anyone with eyes can see through the Japs' tricks.

If there were real benefits, the people would have rushed to buy them long ago, and there would be no need to send those puppet troops and traitors to the countryside to force people to buy and sell.

"Why waste that energy? The traitors forced the people to sell it, so we just buy it from them at the original price," said Chen Chengxing.

"We collect it? We won't be able to use so much even if we collect it! Besides, even if the cigarette factory and the winery can make money now, they can't afford to buy so much fertilizer powder." Luo Ping said anxiously.

Fertilizer powder cannot be eaten as a meal. Even if the land in the base can be used, not much can be used.

"Who wants to use it for farming? Do you know what fertilizer powder is? The main ingredient is ammonium sulfate!" Chen Chengxing explained.

"What's Liu? What's the story about a person named Liu here?" Luo Ping said he had never heard of it.

"What's the surname Liu?" Chen Chengxing was helpless about Luo Ping's words. It was really hard to explain to people who didn't understand this aspect.

"The Japanese fertilizer powder is a by-product of the Changshan coking plant. Its main component is ammonium sulfate, which can be reacted with saltpeter to form ammonium nitrate."

"Ammonium nitrate is an explosive. Although its power is lower than that of TNT, it is also a high explosive!" Chen Chengxing said directly.

When Changshan Coking Plant produces coke, it produces coke oven gas. When purifying the coke oven gas, benzene and ammonium sulfate can be obtained.

Among them, benzene is mainly used to make TNT, while ammonium sulfate is made into fertilizer powder by the Japanese.

(PS: Brothers, don’t try it. Nowadays, chemical fertilizers are specially added with passivators, so ordinary people can’t explode.)
(PPS: A fertilizer plant can actually be transformed into an explosives plant at any time.)
"Explosives?!" Luo Ping stood up in shock. Isn't it used for farming? How can it be explosives?

"It has to be purified first, which is quite troublesome." Chen Chengxing explained.

If the conversion was so easy, the Japs would have discovered it long ago.

"Trouble? Trouble is better than no trouble." Luo Ping said.

With the rapid development of the guerrillas, the production of explosives could no longer keep up with the actual demand.

In addition, the arsenal also needs to produce mortar shells, so the guerrillas have now switched back to using black powder.

The guerrillas no longer dare to bury iron mines. It’s not that they can’t afford iron mines, but the power of black gunpowder in iron mines is too small. They can only use stone mines and clay mines.

"Old Chen, since fertilizer powder can be used to make explosives, we should attack the stronghold. As far as I know, the Japanese have piled up fertilizer powder in the stronghold. Let's go and rob it." Luo Ping suggested.

"You can't rob." Chen Chengxing hurriedly pulled Luo Ping and asked him to sit down.

After Luo Ping sat down, Chen Chengxing explained, "If you go to grab this fertilizer powder specifically, the Japanese will definitely get suspicious. By then, they will definitely find out our purpose, and it will become a one-time deal. Even if we grab it all, how much can we get? It's better to go slow and steady. It's just a matter of spending some money."

For the Japanese, selling fertilizer powder was just a means of generating income. If they knew that fertilizer powder could be used to make explosives, they would probably rather destroy it than sell it again.

This will seriously affect the production of explosives of the Eighth Route Army.

Luo Ping thought about it and felt that it was right. The war between the Eighth Route Army and the devils was not a temporary one but a protracted war. Obtaining some explosives in the short term would not affect the overall situation. Steady and long-term efforts were the right path.

"Then let the guerrillas go and buy it." Luo Ping said.

Ordinary people didn't have much money, and the Japanese invaders and traitors would never give them credit. Every household only had one or two bags, and they couldn't be bought for much money.

As for the landlords in each village, they are basically the presidents of the Japanese maintenance association. Since they work for the Japanese, they should enjoy the blessings of the Japanese. Let them increase production.

However, to be on the safe side, Chen Chengxing did not immediately make a large purchase, but instead bought a few bags to experiment with.

The final experiment was also very successful. After all, it was all written in the book that Chen Chengxing owned at that time, but he just didn't have this kind of fertilizer powder at that time.

"boom!"

At Erlang Mountain, everyone was overjoyed at the power of the explosion. The power was not small, almost the same as their homemade dynamite, and the production cost was obviously lower than that of dynamite.

"Buy! Buy as much as you can!" Luo Ping said excitedly.

Buying the Japanese's Feitian powder and frying them makes people happy just thinking about it.

"Captain, Political Commissar, there is something I need to say." Zhang Xu on the side suddenly spoke up.

"What's the matter?" Chen Chengxing asked.

"As the production of explosives increases, the amount of fulminate of mercury will not be enough," said Zhang Xu.

Nowadays, fulminate of mercury is used in many places in arsenals, such as bullets, artillery shells, grenades, and mines.

Even with the current output of explosives from chemical plants, fulminate of mercury is already somewhat stretched, and with the production of large quantities of fertilizer powder explosives, fulminate of mercury will certainly be in serious shortage.

Mercury is needed to make fulminate of mercury, but the Japanese now have very strict control over mercury, and not much mercury can flow into the base.

However, just when everyone's faces darkened again, Chen Chengxing said, "I have a way."

"What method?" Zhang Xu immediately looked at Chen Chengxing.

In fact, this is the reason why he brought up this matter now. Before, both Wen Ying and Xu Tao said that they would go to the team leader if they had any problems, so Zhang Xu also decided to give it a try.

"During the Long March, I communicated with foreign missionaries." Chen Chengxing once again mentioned foreign missionaries.

"In addition to fulminate of mercury, there is actually another kind of detonator, called fulminate of silver."

"The production of fulminate silver is similar to that of fulminate mercury. First, silver nitrate is prepared, then the chemical reaction is carried out, and finally, it is washed and dried."

"However, fulminate silver is extremely sensitive and is not safe to produce or use, so Western countries do not use it. Instead, they use safer fulminate of mercury," Chen Chengxing explained.

However, the new second group has no choice but to use thunder silver as detonator. After all, silver is still easy to obtain.

"Then I'll try to make it." Zhang Xu said.

Even though Thunder Silver is not safe enough, it can be installed on mines and detonators can be installed when the mines are buried, which can ensure safety as much as possible. (PS: The little goldfish firecrackers that everyone plays during the Chinese New Year contain Thunder Silver.)
"Okay, you try it, but you must be careful when operating. The amount of material added each time should not be too large, and you must also pay attention to dust prevention. Moreover, thunder silver is still explosive in water. Do not rub it when washing, and rinse it slowly with a small leather tube. It must be placed on cardboard when drying." Chen Chengxing carefully warned.

Chen Chengxing didn't want any accidents to happen. After all, if an accident occurred in the explosives factory, it would be a big event, and if things went wrong, it would affect the development of the entire New Second Regiment.

"By the way, thunder silver cannot come into contact with metal. You need to make paper detonators to replace metal detonators." Chen Chengxing added.

In this way, Lei Yin can be put into use more safely.

"I understand." Zhang Xu nodded.

He would certainly be careful and no amount of caution could be too much when it came to the production of explosives.

When the headquarters received the production method of fertilizer powder explosives and the preparation method of thunder silver sent by the New Second Regiment, the boss was overjoyed.

"This kid Chen Chengxing had these experiences during the Long March?" the boss said with a smile.

"Who knows. But when we were in Ruijin, the Red Army organized a study session to understand the international situation at that time.

I heard that Chen Chengxing liked to ask international friends all kinds of questions and even made a fool of himself because of his inaccurate language expression. "The deputy chief of general staff said.

At the beginning, the original body did ask questions to those foreigners frequently, but what they asked were not about the production of equipment, but stories about wars.

The original body can gain certain knowledge from these stories.

But the boss and the others don’t know about it.

"Thank goodness Chen Chengxing likes to ask questions, which solved two of my headaches at once." The boss said with a smile.

At this stage, except for the New Second Regiment, the overall development speed of the Eighth Route Army is very fast, and the number of troops will increase by tens of thousands every once in a while.

The guerrillas, county brigades and other troops are different every day.

When the guerrillas and county brigades fought against the Japanese and puppet troops, they relied more on sparrow warfare and mine warfare, and consumed a lot of explosives.

The boss has lost a lot of hair recently because of the issue of explosives production. He never expected that the fertilizer powder right under his nose could produce explosives.

"I think Chen Chengxing should be credited for this." The boss affirmed.

Not to mention the war, the arsenal established by Chen Chengxing alone has played a major role several times.

"Since we want to commend them for their contributions, I think we should include the people from the arsenal. After all, they have made a lot of efforts in this regard." The Deputy Chief of the General Staff suggested.

The credits previously awarded to the New Second Regiment were all for their military achievements. They have done so much in logistics, and it would be inappropriate not to express some appreciation.

"Yes, together. You draft a document and then discuss it at the meeting." said the boss.

"Okay, I'll do it in a moment." The Deputy Chief of General Staff nodded.

In mid-October, the 10mm mortar that Chen Chengxing had been dreaming of was finally produced, with a completion rate of up to 82%.

Apart from the old problem of weight and the lack of a scope, the rest is basically a replica. After all, this thing really doesn't have much technical content and is not much different from the Type 20 mortar.

It just has an additional dual function of forcing a draw.

With the 82mm mortar, the main battalion of the new second regiment has completed its ultimate evolution.

每个营有4个步兵连，1个机枪连8挺重机枪，1个炮连6门82毫米迫击炮，整编兵力1千1百多人。

However, the New Second Regiment has only transferred some troops from the guerrillas to complete the reorganization, and both the 60mm mortars and the 82mm mortars are still in short supply.

The real reorganization may not be completed until after the Chinese New Year.

However, it was not complicated to convert the existing three mortars into dual-purpose mortars, and all the modifications were completed in just two days.

After completing the research on the 82mm mortar, Chen Chengxing wanted to continue with the next step of research, but faced with the very simple Erlangdong Arsenal, Wen Ying said he was powerless.

She simply had no material to go on.

Chen Chengxing could only temporarily give up the idea of a larger caliber mortar and let Wen Ying focus on the research and development of bullets.

Wen Ying rolled her eyes to the sky at Chen Chengxing's treatment of her like a donkey.

Somehow, when she was researching the mortar, every time she had a flash of inspiration, Chen Chengxing's shadow would appear in her mind, and she was almost having a stress reaction.

Just when the Eighth Route Army got the opportunity to develop rapidly, the Battle of Wuhan finally came to an end.

The war ended with the Guo army retreating on its own initiative before the Japanese completed their encirclement.

Although the Japanese won the Battle of Wuhan, they paid a very painful price.

During the battle, except for the 1st Guards Division, all other troops in the entire Italian mainland were sent to the front line.

A total of 35 troops, 500 fighter planes and 120 warships were deployed, and the battle lasted for more than four months.

According to the Kuomintang’s report, the Japanese army suffered 15 casualties in this battle, while the Kuomintang army suffered 40 casualties.

Although there is certainly a lot of water in this report, the Japanese themselves reported that the casualties in this battle reached 3.55, and these 3.55 people completely lost their combat capability. The actual casualties are certainly much higher.

However, after paying such a huge price, although the Japanese caused great casualties to the Guo army, none of the 120 divisions that participated in the battle were annihilated as a whole. Their basic backbones were still there and could be reorganized at any time. This was a world of difference from the previous Battle of Shanghai.

Moreover, the Kuomintang also successfully transferred most of the industrial equipment and personnel to Sichuan. The Japanese used the whole country's strength to attack for four and a half months, but in the end they only occupied the empty city of Wuhan and the large guerrilla area nearby.

Although the Japs won a tactical victory, they also suffered a strategic defeat.

After this battle, the Japanese were forced to shift from strategic offense to strategic conservatism, and large-scale battles never happened again.

Even in the later Battle of Changsha, only tens of thousands of people were dispatched. It was simply wishful thinking for such a small number of people to occupy the entire Hunan province.

You should know that during the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese deployed more than 100,000 people in a single battle several times.

Hunan controls the eastern gateway to Sichuan, and if we fail to capture it, we will not be able to effectively attack China's rear.

Of course, when the Japanese finally realized that they were going to perish, they were desperate and mobilized all their troops, assembled 55 people to forcibly launch the Henan, Hunan and Guangxi Campaign. However, the Japanese army was extremely weak and was defeated miserably.

But that was just the last gasp of the Japanese and had no effect on the direction of the war.

After the Battle of Wuhan, the Japanese were forced to adjust their policy of invading China because the front line was too long and the troops were insufficient.

The main force was focused on attacking the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army in the enemy's rear.

The Japanese adopted a policy of mainly inducing political surrender to the Kuomintang government, and the battlefield behind enemy lines gradually became the main battlefield of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

(End of this chapter)