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

Chapter 56 This is going a bit too far.

As soon as the brigade commander left, Lao Lü immediately smiled at Li Muzhi and introduced himself: "I am Lao Lü, and this must be Li Muzhi, the new director of the arsenal."

"Hello, Lao Lü, I'm Li Muzhi," Li Muzhi replied quickly.

"I heard from Old Fan at headquarters that the new director of the arsenal, Li Muzhi, is a remarkable talent who has successfully built cannons. I happened to have some free time today, so I came to take a look." Old Lu smiled kindly. "Li Muzhi, I hope I haven't disturbed your work?"

Zhang Wanhe thought to himself: You came at just the right time, intercepting Commander Chen.

However, as the logistics minister, I won't get involved in the internal affairs of other combat units.

Whether Old Lu happened to have some free time or did it on purpose, he definitely took the remaining cannons.

The subsequent supply of four cannons to the division-level troops was just right.

"No, welcome, Comrade Lü," Li Muzhi replied with a smile. "Would you like to visit the arsenal now?"

"No, no, I just came to take a look." Old Lu waved his hand and smiled. "Once I see the people, I'll go back. The production at the arsenal is very important and can't be delayed."

"Old Lu, let me see you off." Li Muzhi offered to see him off.

"No need, no need to see me off, I have my own legs." Old Lü waved his hand, politely declining, and turned to Zhang Wanhe: "Minister Zhang, how many artillery pieces from the 386th Brigade are still unclaimed?"

"The four gates haven't been built yet," Zhang Wanhe replied. The fourth gate hasn't been built yet; three thousand catties of white sugar can be exchanged for three gates, making a total of four gates.

"These four cannons are finished. Send someone to our division headquarters," Old Lü said happily to Zhang Wanhe.

Four hell cannons, hehe, they'll definitely make the other two divisions green with envy.

“Okay, no problem, I’ll personally deliver it to you then,” Zhang Wanhe readily agreed.

"Li Muzhi, if you ever need any help in the future, just let me know," Old Lu said earnestly to Li Muzhi as he mounted his horse.

"Yes, Lao Lü." Li Muzhi nodded.

Old Lu is like a gust of wind, coming and going quickly.

Watching Old Lü's figure disappear, Zhang Wanhe remembered something and immediately asked Li Muzhi, "Li Muzhi, you're the one who notified Old Lü, right?"

“Minister Zhang, you can’t just talk like that,” Li Muzhi said righteously. “How could I predict the future? How could I calculate that the 386th Brigade would send us more than 3,000 catties of sugar? Besides, I don’t even know Old Lü.”

"That's true." Zhang Wanhe nodded, realizing that he had misunderstood Li Muzhi.

In fact, Zhang Wanhe's suspicions were not without merit.

The reason Li Muzhi didn't care that the 386th Brigade could get more artillery was because he knew that Brigade Commander Chen had the division headquarters above him.

It's impossible for the 386th Brigade, known for its hellish artillery, to handle the entire area.

"Hurry, hurry, Lao He, move all the sugar in right away and hurry up and produce the cannonballs for the Hell Cannon!" Zhang Wanhe shouted excitedly at Lao He, the workshop director.

"Minister Zhang, I'm the workshop foreman, not a porter." Old He said this, but his tone was completely devoid of complaint. The most important thing was that the cannonballs for the Hell Cannon could continue to be manufactured!

Lao He led the workers to quickly move the sugar inside. Zhang Wanhe said to Li Muzhi, "Li Muzhi, if you're tired, just rest. Lao He and the others will handle the cannonball manufacturing. You don't need to watch over it all the time."

“I know.” Li Muzhi nodded and said to Zhang Wanhe, “Minister Zhang, there’s something at the arsenal that I need you to prepare for in advance.”

"What trouble? Didn't I already say that as long as the arsenal's military production needs it, I will unconditionally meet your request?" Zhang Wanhe readily agreed, then asked, "What is it? Do you want me to pluck the stars from the sky for you, or scoop the moon from the water?"

"Hehe." Li Muzhi chuckled and shook his head. "Minister Zhang, you're really funny. I'm not asking you to reach for the stars or the moon, but rather to prepare in advance for the power plant issue at the arsenal. If the power plant problem isn't solved, we can't manufacture conventional shells."

"Tell me, how do you want me to cooperate?" Zhang Wanhe's expression was extremely solemn.

Although Zhang Wanhe did not understand military manufacturing, he knew that power was the foundation of military industry.

Although the generator in the arsenal now has fuel, its power output is still too low.

"Go and borrow workers from those other arsenals. Borrow all the workers who know how to dismantle, and bring over as many dismantling tools as possible," Li Muzhi said.

The Eighth Route Army had more than just the Border Region Arsenal; there were other arsenals as well.

"Borrow these?" Zhang Wanhe looked at Li Muzhi in bewilderment. "Borrowing people and tools, I don't understand. Is this related to the motivation for setting up our border region's arsenal?"

"Minister Zhang, let me be frank with you, I plan to modify Japanese locomotives into power sources for our arsenal." Li Muzhi laid his cards on the table.

The train has a strong carrying capacity, mainly because the locomotive provides sufficient power.

Therefore, using the locomotives of the Japanese to power the arsenal was the most suitable option.

This locomotive doesn't burn oil or electricity; it burns coal.

The province of Shanxi has no shortage of coal, which is why I sent Kong Jie to mine coal locally in advance and stockpile fuel.

"Li Muzhi, what did you say? Using Japanese locomotives to power an arsenal?!" Zhang Wanhe's eyes widened instantly, as big as the moon in the sky, utterly shocked.

Li Muzhi had previously stated that the cannonballs for the Hell Cannon had been manufactured, and he wanted to work on the power source.

He had thought the combat troops would go to the enemy's arsenal to steal generators, but he hadn't expected that the Japanese would modify their locomotives.

They even asked us to prepare dismantling workers and tools in advance.

Doesn't this mean that Li Muzhi plans to send his troops to seize the Japanese train?
Good heavens, this is a serious gamble.

Li Muzhi explained to Zhang Wanhe: "Minister Zhang, this power is like a person's strength. If the strength is not great, the load will not be heavy. If the strength is great, the load will be heavy. The Japanese locomotive can pull a dozen or so fully loaded carriages. Such a powerful engine is the most suitable."

In response to Li Muzhi's explanation, Zhang Wanhe still said, "I didn't question whether the Japanese locomotive was modified for power. I was just thinking, how easy is it to steal a train? We have to get it back."

“Minister Zhang, look at you, you’re overthinking it,” Li Muzhi laughed. “Everyone has their own expertise! I’m the director of the arsenal, and my main responsibility is to manufacture weapons and ammunition and keep the arsenal running. Your main responsibility is to ensure logistics. As for seizing locomotives, that’s a combat mission, something for the combat troops to handle. We don’t need to worry about that, do we?”

(End of this chapter)