Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 236 Confusing the real with the fake
Border Region Arsenal

Today, Li Muzhi doesn't need to teach the students; instead, he has Lao Gao, a graduate student in the Physics Department of Yenching University, teach them mechanics.

Li Muzhi and his workers are working hard to modify the equipment.

Of course, the main work was still done by the workers modifying the equipment according to Li Muzhi's blueprints, with Li Muzhi overseeing the process.

If the workers encountered anything they didn't understand or anything that was difficult to operate, they would ask Li Muzhi to help them.

After a busy morning, two machines were modified.

Li Muzhi told the workers to go eat first, and then he personally debugged the modified machine.

After some adjustments, the machine still had flaws.

After all, the border region's arsenal lacked large and important equipment, and its capacity for such equipment was not very sufficient.

However, the new rocket was simply a simplified version of the later 107mm rocket, and its requirements for machinery and equipment were not that high.

So even with these flawed machines, they're basically still usable. Just be extra careful during production.

After finishing his work, Li Muzhi went to the canteen for a meal.

The woman serving the vegetables gave Li Muzhi half meat and half vegetables, and said with a smile, "Director Li, if you want to eat more meat, just let me know anytime."

"Okay." Li Muzhi nodded, picked up his food, and found a seat.

Today's meal was as plentiful and delicious as usual.

Li Muzhi had only eaten half of his meal when he saw Dr. Zhang, a metallurgist who had studied in the UK, walking over with a smile.

Old Zhang held two cloth bags in his hands, which he opened one after the other in front of Li Muzhi, revealing two portions of tungsten ore.

Old Zhang smiled at Li Muzhi and said, "Factory Director, one of these two samples of tungsten ore is real, and the other is fake. Can you tell the difference?"

Li Muzhi carefully observed as he put meat into his mouth.

The two samples of tungsten sand are indistinguishable in color and appearance to the naked eye.

Li Muzhi reached out again and picked up the two cloth packets of tungsten ore; their weights were about the same.

Li Muzhi took out a magnifying glass and examined the two samples of tungsten sand.

This time, using a magnifying glass, he noticed some subtle differences.

Of course, it's only a minor difference.

If Li Muzhi hadn't known beforehand that one of the samples was fake, it wouldn't have been so easy to distinguish the authenticity of the tungsten sand; he would have had to conduct a chemical verification in the laboratory.

In short, this fake tungsten sand is so convincing that it can easily be mistaken for the real thing.

Li Muzhi smiled at Lao Zhang and said, "Comrade Zhang, not bad, you did a good job on this task."

Dr. Zhang, a metallurgist, is named Zhang Ke.

Logistics Minister Zhang Wanhe wanted Li Muzhi to make fake tungsten sand, and Li Muzhi handed the task over to metallurgical PhD Zhang Ke.

Of course, the process of how to make counterfeits was also provided in advance.

Zhang Ke's title of metallurgical doctor is well-deserved; he is very efficient and produces excellent results.

If it were someone else, this time would likely be longer, and the product would certainly be much harder to make.

After all, although the counterfeiting process has been provided, it is still quite difficult.

"Hehe." Zhang Ke smiled modestly: "It's mainly because the factory director provided very detailed procedures. I just followed your instructions."

“We stole five truckloads of tungsten ore from the Japanese, so you should make five truckloads of fake tungsten ore,” Li Muzhi said to Zhang Ke.

The cost of producing fake tungsten sand is very low. Since they are going to make fakes, they must make the whole set.

Zhang Ke still asked, "Factory manager, even if the cost of making fake tungsten ore is not high, is it necessary to make so much?"

“Once you finish making this fake tungsten ore, you’ll definitely have to return it to the Japanese. Tungsten ore is so precious, the Japanese will definitely transport it back to their homeland as quickly as possible,” Li Muzhi laughed. “I’ll add something to this fake tungsten ore beforehand. The Japanese military industry is in such a hurry, they probably won’t check it carefully when they bring the fake tungsten ore back. Once this fake tungsten ore is put into their arsenal, hehe.”

Li Muzhi chuckled twice at the end, but that was the end of it.

However, it will certainly cause significant damage to the Japanese's domestic arsenals.

"Hehe." Zhang Ke chuckled and nodded, "Alright, factory director, then I'll make the whole fake."

Immediately afterward, Zhang Ke asked, "Isn't it Minister Zhang who ordered us to make fake tungsten ore, supposed to be used to exchange for equipment with the Jin-Sui Army? Did you leave it all to the Japanese?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Just get the fake one made as soon as possible," Li Muzhi said.

"Okay, factory manager, you can eat slowly. I won't bother you anymore." Zhang Ke accepted the order and left.

Li Muzhi lowered his head and continued eating. When he had only a few bites left, Minister Zhang from the logistics department came over.

Minister Zhang walked over with a smile and said, "Little Li, good news!"

"Minister Zhang, judging from your appearance, have you struck it rich again?" Li Muzhi asked jokingly.

"Xiao Li, I have to criticize you for saying that. In your words, how come I, Zhang Wanhe, am just a money-grubber? Can't I be happy about other things?" Although Zhang Wanhe said this, it was completely a joke and there was no criticism in it at all.

"Minister Zhang, what is it about?" Li Muzhi asked curiously.

"News just came from the combat units: the Japanese have withdrawn three brigades from their sweeping force," Zhang Wanhe said with a smile. "The remaining Japanese divisions are dreaming if they want to sweep through our combat units, so they've slowed down. In other words, the two sides are locked in a stalemate. As long as the Japanese don't have any other tricks up their sleeves, our regional arsenal won't need to relocate. Not only can we continue to produce weapons and ammunition at full speed, but you can also focus on manufacturing the new rockets."

"That's really a good thing," Li Muzhi said with a smile, then asked, "What method did Li Yunlong and his men use to lure away three Japanese brigades?"

"I don't know about that. I asked headquarters, but they didn't know either." Zhang Wanhe shook his head and laughed. "Let's not worry about that. As long as their combat troops can finish off the Japanese mopping-up operation, then we can hurry up and focus on military production."

“That’s true.” Li Muzhi nodded. After finishing the last few bites of his meal, he pushed the two cloth bags left by Zhang Ke in front of Zhang Wanhe and said, “Minister Zhang, take a look and see if there’s any difference between these two things.” One of the cloth bags contained genuine tungsten ore, and the other contained fake tungsten ore. Li Muzhi wanted to show them to Minister Zhang.

Minister Zhang also needs to take it to the headquarters leaders.

Only after the headquarters leader nodded in approval could we "return" the fake tungsten ore to the Japanese.

Zhang Wanhe looked down at the contents of the two cloth bags. He thought Li Muzhi was joking and said, "Little Li, aren't these two packages of tungsten ore? What's the difference?"

Li Muzhi laughed and said, "Didn't you ask me to make fake tungsten sand? One of the batches is fake."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe's expression immediately turned to surprise: "You guys produced a fake one so quickly?"

Although Li Muzhi had previously said that making fake tungsten sand was not difficult, Zhang Wanhe did not expect that Li Muzhi would be able to do it so quickly.

This is not just easy, it's downright too easy.

After saying that, Zhang Wanhe lowered his head again and carefully examined both samples of tungsten ore. Then he looked up at Li Muzhi suspiciously and asked, "Little Li, are you sure these aren't two real samples of tungsten ore? You're not joking with me, are you?"

Clearly, Comrade Zhang couldn't see anything.

“Minister Zhang, this one is real, and this one is fake,” Li Muzhi pointed out to Zhang Wanhe.

Zhang Wanhe lowered his head again and looked at it once more, trying to discern whether it was real or fake, but he still couldn't tell the difference.

However, Zhang Wanhe became excited: "Haha, this fake one looks just like the real one. Even if Yan Kai has a sharp eye, he won't be able to tell the difference."

Li Muzhi said, "Minister Zhang, actually I have another idea that I haven't told you about before."

"What are your thoughts?" Zhang Wanhe asked, looking at Li Muzhi.

“I plan to make five truckloads of fake tungsten ore and return it to the Japanese,” Li Muzhi said.

"Give it back to the Japanese?" Zhang Wanhe didn't understand. "What's the point of doing that?"

If we really take it down and return the fake to the Japanese, do you think the Japanese will just give up? Do you think they will stop their sweeping operations?

It's impossible!

“How can it be meaningless? This is fake tungsten ore, not real,” Li Muzhi said seriously. “When we return this fake tungsten ore to the Japanese, we’ll add something to it beforehand. As long as those Japanese manage to transport the fake tungsten ore to their arsenal on the mainland, we might be lucky enough to destroy it…”

Before Li Muzhi could finish speaking, Zhang Wanhe exclaimed in surprise, "Little Li, you're not kidding, are you? Are you going to use fake tungsten ore to sabotage the Japanese's domestic arms factories?"

If that's the case, then it's not just meaningless, it's incredibly meaningful!

The Japanese's home-based arsenal was their core.

Good machines, good equipment, and heavy equipment are all over there.

If you destroy it, the Japanese devils will cry their eyes out.

“Minister Zhang, I’m not joking.” Li Muzhi shook his head and then said, “You should also talk to the headquarters leaders about this. If we want to return the fake tungsten ore to the Japanese, we can’t let them become suspicious.”

If these five truckloads of fake tungsten ore hadn't been made, they would have been given directly to the Japanese.

The Japanese weren't stupid; if they got the goods back too easily, they would definitely suspect something was wrong.

The headquarters or the combat troops should put on a good show, making the Japanese take back the five truckloads of tungsten ore; that would make it seem more realistic.

“Of course, of course.” Zhang Wanhe nodded repeatedly and laughed, “If we don’t fool the Japanese, they won’t feel comfortable transporting tungsten ore to their homeland. Haha.”

As Zhang Wanhe laughed, he wrapped the two cloth bags and said to Li Muzhi, "I'm going to headquarters now to talk to them..."

Before Zhang Wanhe could finish speaking, he slapped his forehead and said, "Oh dear, I forgot about the important matter. How's the equipment modification going? Is it going smoothly?"

Comrade Zhang is most concerned about the progress of Li Muzhi's new rocket manufacturing project.

Although the three Japanese brigades withdrew, Li Yunlong and his men were certainly under considerable pressure.

It's really necessary to get this new type of rocket developed as soon as possible.

"I modified two devices this morning, and it went fairly smoothly," Li Muzhi replied. "The rest should be finished in three days."

"So that means you can start manufacturing the new type of rocket in three days?" Zhang Wanhe asked in surprise.

"We'll start manufacturing parts in three days, and the actual shipment will begin in about a week, if all goes well," Li Muzhi replied.

It wasn't that Li Muzhi was deliberately delaying; rather, it was because the equipment was limited in its capabilities.

The assembly and testing of parts all take time.

This is unlike later generations, where assembly lines start up and products are shipped out in a rush.

"That's taking so long!" Zhang Wanhe said impatiently, "Xiao Li, can you hurry it up?"

With the machine modifications, it will take you ten days to get it out, which feels too slow.

“Minister Zhang, we can speed up the process, but the quality will suffer, and the probability of accidents will increase. Are you willing to take the gamble?” Li Muzhi asked rhetorically.

"No gambling, no betting." Zhang Wanhe immediately shook his head like a rattlespeaker.

Anyway, the Japanese are currently engaged in a mopping-up operation, so they can't do anything to us for the time being.

The border region's arsenal is a large business; if an accident occurs, the consequences could be dire.

Safety first!

"Xiao Li, I'm going to headquarters," Zhang Wanhe instructed. "You should continue with your own plans here. Don't rush; safety is the most important thing."

"Okay, Minister Zhang."

(End of this chapter)