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

Chapter 311 Next Craft Project

After Lao He left, Li Muzhi lowered his head and continued with his work.

This is the device inside the Hell Cannon shell; it's in its final stages.

After working for more than an hour, the device was completed, and Li Muzhi finally assembled the two sample missiles.

One is designed for attacking targets, and the other for inflicting damage.

Standing up and stretching his body, Li Muzhi walked out of the laboratory and happened to see the guard captain patrolling there.

"Captain of the Guard, come here for a moment," Li Muzhi called out to the captain of the guard.

"Director Li, what's the matter?" The guard captain rushed over.

"I have two cannonballs from the Hell Cannon here. Send someone to Commander Kong and have him test them as soon as possible," Li Muzhi said. "Test whether the cannonballs can be fired normally, and bring me back the explosion and trajectory data."

"Okay, no problem." The captain of the guard nodded and immediately sent a few men to deliver the shells to Kong Jie.

"Director Li, would you like to take the Emperor for a stroll and rest for a bit?" The captain of the guards asked Li Muzhi with a smile.

With Li Muzhi having finished the projectile mechanism for the Hell Cannon, he had essentially completed a phase of the project.

"Let's take the Emperor for a walk again this afternoon," Li Muzhi said, shaking his head. "You help me take the Emperor out for a stroll."

Thanks to Li Muzhi's intervention, the Emperor is no longer averse to the Captain of the Guard, and the Captain of the Guard can now take the Emperor out for a stroll alone.

“That works.” The guard captain nodded and walked towards the dog kennel.

Li Muzhi did not return to the laboratory immediately, but instead first inspected the factory workshop.

He only went to the assembly workshop after confirming that the factory was operating normally and there were no problems.

Here, several skilled craftsmen, having learned about coconut shell activated charcoal from the students, were about to leave.

Upon seeing Li Muzhi arrive, the skilled workers all greeted him with respect: "Factory Manager."

"Well, have you found anything lacking in your coconut shell activated charcoal making?" Li Muzhi asked with a smile.

"Yes, the temperature is wrong." The skilled craftsman nodded quickly, then praised the students: "Factory manager, these students are really smart. They will definitely be able to stand on their own in the future."

Hearing this, the students felt incredibly relieved.

Although we are already very good, being praised and honored by the workers is a form of recognition, which naturally makes us feel even better.

These middle-aged workers speak as pleasantly as our teachers.

"Hehe." Li Muzhi chuckled and said, "That's right, people who aren't smart can't get into our arsenal."

Li Muzhi's words were tantamount to praising everyone in the arsenal, including the skilled workers in front of him.

"Hehe, factory manager, you flatter us. We're just roughnecks, how could we be as clever as these students?" The skilled worker said with a smile, then quickly returned to the workshop to improve the process of making coconut shell activated carbon.

"So, students, how's your research on these devices going?" Li Muzhi asked, getting straight to the point.

"Teacher, we've basically figured it out, but we just think this equipment is too broken. Even if it needs fixing, it won't be easy to fix," the students replied.

"Really? Have you basically figured it all out?" Li Muzhi paused for a moment, impressed by their efficiency, and said, "Okay, then tell me one by one what kind of equipment these are and what their uses are."

"Okay, teacher." The students nodded and began to answer in front of Li Muzhi.

Li Muzhi listened patiently, his expression growing increasingly satisfied.

In just a short time, the students actually figured out all of these devices.

Finally, Liu Fuxing concluded, "Teacher, even if these devices were perfectly intact, it wouldn't work, except that they're too broken."

"What's wrong?" Li Muzhi asked.

"The gas masks made with this equipment cannot filter the poison gas of the Japanese army," Liu Fuxing said. "In addition, the gas filter canister has poor sealing, the filter material is also very poor, and most importantly, the mask itself is defective. The equipment is flawed, and the mask made with it probably cannot fit snugly against the skin."

When facing poison gas, a mask must fit snugly against the skin without any gaps.

Otherwise, the poison gas would be inhaled through the gap between the mask and the skin.

Li Muzhi nodded firmly: "That's right, Liu Fuxing, you're absolutely correct. These equipment and materials do indeed have the problems you mentioned. But if the equipment wasn't faulty, and their own faction could produce high-quality gas masks with this equipment, would they have so easily given it back to us?"

In fact, this is exactly the case.

Otherwise, the core group would mainly rely on imports for their gas masks.

It's because this batch of equipment can't produce products of high quality.

Then Li Muzhi looked at Liu Fuxing and the other students and said, "Now that you have all discovered these problems, are you confident that you can solve them?"

Originally, Li Muzhi also planned to teach how to repair these devices.

The students themselves have a very clear understanding of the problem and know where the shortcomings lie.

Then Li Muzhi might consider letting go and allowing the students to figure it out themselves. The students were somewhat flattered: "Teacher, aren't you afraid we'll break the equipment?"

These are devices that can make gas masks, even if they are broken and the products they produce are of poor quality.

But this is the only piece of equipment in our border region's arsenal.

Its importance is beyond question.

The teacher wants us to do all the repairs and improvements. Isn't that a bit too much trust in us?

“Write a report quickly on how to repair and improve each piece of equipment,” Li Muzhi said. “After reviewing the reports and confirming that there are no problems, you will be responsible for repairing and improving the equipment. Consider this the next manual task I’m leaving for you.”

Even though Li Muzhi said that, Liu Fuxing still asked, "Teacher, aren't you worried that we'll break it?"

"This batch of equipment is already so damaged. Even if it gets damaged again after repairs, how much worse can it get?" Li Muzhi said calmly.

"Teacher, don't worry, we definitely won't let you down!" the students assured them confidently.

"Hmm." Li Muzhi hummed in response, then gave a few more instructions before returning to his laboratory.

Li Muzhi took out the blueprints for the Hell Missile that he had drawn earlier, and then slowly made corrections and modifications on them with a pen.

The anti-disassembly devices inside the Hell Missile are actually much easier to install than those inside the Hell Cannon shell.

The cannonballs of the Hell Cannon must withstand a certain primer chamber pressure, which is a considerable instantaneous force, placing higher demands on the equipment.

The devices inside this Hellfire missile, however, have to be smaller.

After all, the Hellfire missile does not need to withstand chamber pressure and primer; it is only propelled by gunpowder, and its speed gradually increases, unlike a cannonball which instantly gains a huge thrust.

Therefore, it should be no problem to modify the device in the Hell Cannon shell by lowering the requirements and converting it into a Hell Missile.

While Li Muzhi was revising the blueprints, two prototype shells for the Hell Cannon were delivered to Kong Jie.

"Commander Kong, Factory Director Li said they are test rounds, one is for attacking targets and the other is for casualties. He wants you to test whether they can be fired normally, and also take back data such as the blast radius and trajectory," the guard said to Kong Jie.

"Okay, I understand. You can go back now." Kong Jie nodded and accepted the two sample missiles.

The battalion commander next to Kong Jie was in a dilemma: "Regimental commander, most of the outposts and strongholds in this area have been eliminated, and the Japanese small transport teams are gone too. We can't find a test target for the time being."

Now that we have weapons, all the outposts and outposts in the vicinity have become our targets for elimination.

After these days of activity, the outposts and outposts in this area are basically no longer visible.

Of course, while they say there's no test target, there's actually a big one.

That was the Kumamoto Division army.

Cough!

Even though they've run out of food, they're not someone to mess with, so we're not going to go looking for trouble.

"If we don't have any big goals, then let's set small goals," Kong Jie said.

"Targeting small targets?" The battalion commander was taken aback. "Small targets are traitors, rich landlords, and bullies. Using the cannonballs of Hellfire on their heads is like using an anti-aircraft gun to kill a mosquito. It's a waste of resources."

"How can this be considered a waste of talent!" Kong Jie said seriously. "The guerrillas below don't have much artillery, so they can't take over the houses of these rich and powerful tyrants. We're sending the Hell Cannon to make an example of them. This is like killing the chicken to scare the monkey. Let those traitors, rich and powerful tyrants see that if they don't surrender to the guerrillas below, our cannons are not just for show!"

These traitors, wealthy landlords, and local bullies that the guerrillas couldn't handle all had a certain number of guards at their homes, fully equipped with long guns and short cannons, and some of them were even equipped with light machine guns.

This firepower is even more powerful than that of guerrillas.

Some guerrilla groups even suffered considerable losses due to attacks by these traitors, wealthy landlords, and local bullies.

The battalion commander said thoughtfully, "Regimental commander, I understand now. This is what you call psychological warfare, right?"

When this hell cannon was first built, Director Li of the arsenal tested it on a traitor's stronghold, and the traitor's stronghold was so frightened that it quickly surrendered.

We applied what we learned to attack other strongholds, and the results were particularly good.

If we can use the cannons of hell to bombard those traitors, rich landlords, and tyrants, this psychological tactic, if used well, will definitely have a deterrent effect.

Once it's set up, the guerrillas below can use fake cannons to frighten away other traitors, rich landlords, and tyrants, causing them to surrender on their own initiative.

“Yes, that’s right.” Kong Jie nodded and looked at the battalion commander: “Among the traitors, rich landlords and bullies, whoever deserves to die the most, that’s who we’ll beat up. Just name a name and we’ll go beat him up.”

The battalion commander gritted his teeth and said, "These traitors, rich landlords, and tyrants—there's no question of who deserves to die the most; they all deserve to die!"

Immediately, the battalion commander said, "Let's attack Liu Dachang. That bastard donated all the money he earned to the Japanese. He also often helped the Japanese solve other logistical problems, such as capturing civilians to build roads for the Japanese, and collecting food and medicine for the Japanese."

"How many people are in his hospital security team?" Kong Jie asked.

"There must be forty or fifty of them, and they're all equipped with two Type 91 light machine guns," the battalion commander replied.

"Okay, let's hit him."

(End of this chapter)