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

Chapter 301 Coconut Shell Activated Carbon
Border Region Arsenal

As the sun rises, all things come back to life!
At the same time as usual, Li Muzhi woke up.

After getting dressed, getting out of bed, and washing up, I went out of my room to eat in the cafeteria.

Upon entering the cafeteria, Li Muzhi sensed that the atmosphere was somewhat different, a bit oppressive.

Normally, the workers would chat and laugh while eating, but today there were fewer smiles and the atmosphere was rather somber.

"Old He, what's wrong? What happened?" Li Muzhi asked, looking at Old He, the workshop director. "Could it be that the combat troops' operation to dismantle the military train last night failed and they didn't bring back the supplies?"

Old He pointed to the breakfast at the window and said, "Factory manager, didn't you see there's bread in this breakfast? The military train has been dismantled and brought back supplies, so we all have bread to eat now."

"Why does this atmosphere feel a bit off?" Li Muzhi hadn't noticed it before, but now that he looked closely at the window, there was indeed bread.

In later generations, bread was no longer a scarce commodity, and ordinary families could buy bread machines to make it.

However, during the War of Resistance against Japan, this was a rare commodity.

Not to mention the Eighth Route Army troops, many Japanese army units also couldn't get bread; only high-ranking officers had the luxury of it.

Of course, those "naval deer" in the eyes of the Japanese army could easily get bread.

Even by today's standards, the food provided by the Navy's deer would be considered extremely luxurious.

"Commander Liu's troops are fighting the Japanese fiercely," Lao He said. "Because they lack anti-aircraft weapons, Commander Liu's Hellfire cannons were destroyed, his Type 92 infantry guns were destroyed, and even most of his rocket launchers were scrapped. There are also rumors that the intelligence department has obtained information from the Japanese that they seem to be borrowing more aircraft from the Kwantung Army. You know, we don't have anti-aircraft weapons now, and if the Japanese planes come and bomb us indiscriminately, the casualties of the combat troops will definitely increase greatly, not to mention that even the combat missions will be difficult. If the combat troops are having a hard time, how can we logistics personnel be happy?"

Upon hearing this, Li Muzhi frowned: "If the Japanese have more planes reinforcing the Second World War zone, wouldn't those planes be able to cover the military trains and deliver supplies to the Kumamoto Division? Wouldn't the Kumamoto Division be able to come back from the dead and perhaps sweep us up again under the cover of the planes?"

Li Muzhi was also deeply saddened by Liu Weidong's significant artillery losses.

Although the border region's arsenal can produce hell cannons, its production is limited due to a shortage of materials.

If the Japanese bomb one door, there will be one less door.

unless!

Unless the seamless steel pipe equipment can be quickly replenished, and once the equipment is available, the Hell Cannon can continue to be produced.

Anti-aircraft weapons can also be quickly and urgently produced.

There's nothing we can do.

Seamless steel pipe technology is an insurmountable barrier; there is absolutely no possibility of overtaking it by taking shortcuts.

Without the equipment, it simply won't work.

"Yes," Lao He nodded and said, "You know, the combat troops finally managed to destroy the Japanese army's logistics and supplies, and then they seized the military trains again. If we could just delay them for a few more days, the Japanese army would definitely have to rest. But if a large number of Kwantung Army planes can come and escort the military trains to transport supplies again, the Japanese army will be resurrected, and we will most likely be swept away again."

In this way, the precious time that the border region's arsenal could have gained for production will likely become a mirage.

Li Muzhi quickly composed himself and said to Lao He seriously, "After we finish eating, gather the management staff together immediately. I'll hold a meeting with them."

Li Muzhi doesn't usually hold meetings, but seeing that the morale of the logistics personnel has been clearly affected by the fighting at the front, this is definitely not acceptable.

"Yes, factory manager." Old He nodded.

When Li Muzhi arrived at the food serving window, the lady serving the food gave him two extra pieces of bread, saying warmly, "Director Li, if this bread isn't enough, I can give you more."

"Okay, thank you." Li Muzhi, carrying two pieces of bread and a bowl of soy milk, turned around and casually found a seat to sit down.

He had just eaten one piece of bread and drunk a bowl of soy milk, and was about to have another when he saw Deputy Minister Zhang rushing over with a coconut shell. "Director Li, do you think this coconut shell will do?"

This Vice Minister Zhang is a vice minister under Minister Zhang Wanhe, and his name is Zhang Yu.

The border region's arsenal doesn't leave all the materials it needs to Zhang Wanhe to obtain.

After all, Zhang Wanhe was the Minister of Logistics, responsible for the entire army's food, drink, toileting, and sleeping, so he was very busy.

Therefore, if the border region's arsenal needs any materials, Li Muzhi can contact the other deputy ministers of logistics.

Li Muzhi took the coconut shell and handed the empty bowl to Zhang Yu with a smile: "Vice Minister Zhang, could you please get me a bowl of soy milk?"

"Okay." Zhang Yu took the empty bowl from Li Muzhi's hand and turned to serve Li Muzhi soy milk.

Li Muzhi held the coconut shell under his eyelids and examined it carefully.

Before Comrade Zhang could switch the equipment with the Military Intelligence Bureau, Li Muzhi had already asked Deputy Minister Zhang Yu to prepare some raw materials.

Coconut shells are an important raw material for making activated carbon.

Activated carbon is a very important component in gas masks.

Coconut shell activated carbon has a high surface area, and it can even adsorb formaldehyde in later generations, so adsorbing the poisonous gas molecules of the Japanese invaders would not be a problem.

Li Muzhi looked at the coconut shell and his expression was satisfied.

At the same time, there's still something else going on.

Although coconut shells are common items, getting them here won't be easy. After all, coconuts are only produced in coastal areas.

Now that the coastal areas have been occupied by the Japanese, how can coconuts still be transported inland?

In other words, there were coconuts, but the Japanese devils picked them all.

Li Muzhi was naturally curious that Vice Minister Zhang was able to obtain coconut shells in such a short time.

Zhang Yu took a plate and sat down.

On this plate is Li Muzhi's bowl, already filled with soy milk, and also a breakfast, which is Zhang Yu's breakfast.

Zhang Yu handed Li Muzhi the bowl, and seeing Li Muzhi's satisfied expression, he smiled and said, "Director Li, it seems that this coconut shell meets your requirements, doesn't it?"

"Hmm." Li Muzhi nodded and asked, "How did you get these coconut shells, and how many do you have?"

If it's just a few coconut shells, then Li Muzhi will need to rest.

The use of poison gas by the Japanese on the battlefield was not an isolated incident, but rather a frequent and widespread practice.

In addition to their aircraft being able to drop poison gas bombs, their ground artillery can also fire them.

Without enough coconut shells, you can't make enough gas masks.

"It's quite a coincidence," Zhang Yu explained with a smile. "Wang Xun took the flashbangs you made to eliminate a traitor, a major collaborator. Unexpectedly, after capturing him, this guy was extremely afraid of death. In order to save his life, he revealed a lot of things, including these coconut shells." He added, "He said that these coconut shells can be used to make medicine and were transported from the coast to the inland. Goodness, this guy has hoarded quite a lot of these coconut shells, probably over a thousand pounds."

"I see, then you're lucky." Li Muzhi smiled as well.

Coconut shells can indeed be used to make medicinal materials.

Boiling coconut shells in water generally has antioxidant, thirst-quenching, cooling, and blood pressure-lowering effects.

Boiling coconut shells in water can also increase one's own disease resistance.

Li Muzhi then said, "These thousand-pound coconut shells are still not enough. I need more."

Even if you put coconut shell activated carbon inside a gas mask, it still has a limited lifespan.

With such a large force and the Japanese using poison gas so ruthlessly, these mere thousand kilograms of coconut shells are simply not enough.

What's more, they've actually managed to develop this gas mask.

Whether it's the Jin-Sui Army or their own elite troops, they must all be envious.

These gas masks are not offensive; we can trade them for items and resources later.

Zhang Yu quickly replied, "Director Li, that's no problem. Now that we've caught this traitor, we can definitely get his supply channels. Then, however many coconut shells you need, you can get them through those channels."

"I see, that's good then." Li Muzhi nodded. "It's not about how many coconut shells I need, but rather how many you can get over."

“Okay, no problem.” Zhang Yu nodded, picked up the bread, took a couple of bites, and praised, “This bread is better than steamed buns. I’ll have another one later. Director Li, do you want some more? I’ll get it for you.”

"No need, thank you." Li Muzhi waved his hand, picked up the soy milk and took two sips.

This bread tastes really good, retaining the original aroma of the grains.

Unlike later generations, where bread was made entirely of artificial flavorings and additives, making it impossible to taste the original texture and flavor of the grains.

Remembering something, Li Muzhi looked at Zhang Yu: "Vice Minister Zhang, has Minister Zhang returned?"

Zhang Wanhe said yesterday that the equipment for producing gas masks for the Military Intelligence Bureau arrived last night.

It's already morning. If all goes well, Zhang Wanhe should have brought the equipment back by now.

Why is Zhang Wanhe still nowhere to be seen?
Could it be that the Military Intelligence Bureau has pulled some trick this time?
"I don't know, I haven't seen Minister Zhang since early this morning." Zhang Yu shook his head and looked at Li Muzhi suspiciously. "Director Li, is there something you need from him? He's not here, but I can help you with that."

“The Military Intelligence Bureau wants to trade our gas mask production equipment for our flashbangs. I’m curious, the exchange should have been completed last night, why hasn’t Minister Zhang shown up yet?” Li Muzhi said.

"Perhaps something came up and delayed things," Zhang Yu said, offering words of comfort despite not being in charge of the matter or aware of the situation.

"Hmm." Li Muzhi hummed in response and continued eating his breakfast with his head down.

After chatting with Zhang Yu for a few more minutes, Li Muzhi gave Zhang Yu some more instructions, asking him to get a few more materials.

Zhang Yu wrote down all the materials, ate his meal, and left in a hurry.

After all, even the deputy minister of logistics is very busy.

After finishing his breakfast, Li Muzhi went to the conference room.

Here, Lao He had already gathered all the management personnel.

Li Muzhi said solemnly, "The workshop has tight production schedules, so I'll just say a few words."

……

(End of this chapter)