Bright Sword: From Northwest Shanxi to Changjin Lake, a Hundred Battles, a Hundred Victories

Chapter 237: The Type 42 Semi-Automatic Rifle is Finalized! Military Experts Have Arrived!
After the meeting, Chen Ming, led by the person in charge of the arsenal, went to inspect the arsenal immediately.

For our military commanders, the most important thing is weapons and ammunition.

Having weapons in hand gives us confidence.

If the performance of the newly developed semi-automatic rifle by Arsenal 417 truly meets the standards for deployment, it would be a huge boost for the Independent Detachment.

The advantage of a semi-automatic rifle over a bolt-action rifle is enormous.

Two semi-automatic rifles are equivalent to one light machine gun.

If an entire infantry battalion were equipped with semi-automatic rifles, it would be equivalent to half a battalion of soldiers carrying light machine guns.

That breakthrough capability is something that ordinary troops can't match.

Although semi-automatic rifles consume ammunition quickly, given the current resources of the Independent Detachment, it is impossible for all personnel to be re-equipped.

However, by equipping only a portion of the troops, they can maintain overwhelming combat power on the battlefield.

With so many resources in the entire Fourth Division, plus the supply from the arsenal, there's no way they couldn't equip one or two battalions.

A battalion fully equipped with semi-automatic rifles would consume approximately 50,000 to 60,000 rounds per day during a high-intensity battle.

As for why not play more?
A battalion equipped with semi-automatic rifles is destined to fight breakthrough attacks.

If a battalion consists of 500 men, and each man is equipped with 100 rounds of ammunition, then if every soldier on the battlefield can use up all 100 rounds of ammunition, then the battle is basically over.

As a strike force, being able to fire a hundred rounds on the battlefield truly depends entirely on skill and luck.

When the group arrived at the arsenal, Engineer Jia and his men were already waiting there.

"Hello, Chief!"

When Jia Gong and the people waiting at the arsenal saw Chen Ming, they immediately saluted.

"Let's go see the new treasures our arsenal has come up with."

Chen Ming returned the greeting and said with a smile.

"Yes."

Jia brought three semi-automatic rifles produced by the arsenal.

"Reporting to the commander, this gun is 1128 mm long, the barrel is 550 mm long, and the total weight is 4.1 kg."

"It uses 7.9257mm Mauser rounds (the standard caliber of the National Revolutionary Army is easy to replenish)."

"Effective range of 560 meters, rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute."

The gun in Jia's hand was designed with reference to the M1 Garand and the Soviet SVT-40, two semi-automatic rifles that had already been introduced, plus some ideas for the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle provided by Chen Ming.

It looks a lot like the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, but it is longer and has a longer barrel for a longer range.

"Not bad, it looks beautiful, but we'll only know if it works after we shoot it," Chen Ming said with a smile, taking a gun.

After a little trial and error, I figured out how to use the gun.

"Let's go to the firing range."

The group arrived at the shooting range, and Chen Ming loaded a magazine onto the rifle.

This rifle uses a magazine and has a capacity of ten rounds.

After loading the bullets, Chen Ming aimed at the target 150 meters away.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"."

Chen Ming fired ten bullets in quick succession, eight of which hit the static target 150 meters away.

"Reporting, sir! Eight out of ten bullets hit!"

The soldier in charge of observation ran over to report, his face beaming with smiles.

Hitting the target eight times out of ten bullets at 150 meters is considered a good result for their guard company.

For Chen Ming, as a leader, to achieve such results on his first use of this gun is truly remarkable.

However, Chen Ming was not very satisfied.

He used a map to obtain the various parameters of the firing range before shooting at the target.

The first two shots missed the target, and it was only after adjustments that they hit the target.

"It seems the trajectory is slightly to the left, resulting in a slightly lower accuracy."

Chen Ming spoke up.

However, this effect is already good enough.

If this rifle were equipped to a commando team, its accuracy within 200 meters would be quite good.

The semi-automatic rifle was used by the independent detachment for battlefield assault and fire suppression.

For greater accuracy, a traditional bolt-action rifle can be used.

Next, Chen Ming maintained the rifle according to the maintenance manual.

After the maintenance was completed, Chen Ming discovered some minor issues.

"This rifle is quite good, but it's a bit troublesome to maintain."

"We all know that the difficulty of maintaining a weapon is directly related to its reliability."

"Our rifle is designed not only for combat in Shanxi Province, but also for combat in frigid and muddy areas."

"How can we do without reliability? If a gun suddenly malfunctions on the battlefield, our soldiers will be in danger."

"Let's see if we can make further improvements to enhance the reliability of this rifle."

"I can sacrifice some aspects such as rate of fire and range, but I have one requirement: a rugged and durable rifle that can be reliable in any combat environment."

Chen Ming offered his opinion.

The designer of this gun, Jia Gong, had never fought on the battlefield, so his understanding of the weapon's characteristics and the needs of soldiers differed somewhat.

Given the current situation of our soldiers, what is needed is a weapon that is easy to maintain, easy to operate, and robust.

Like the Japanese army's Type 96 machine gun, it was a good remedy for purging pus when weapons were scarce.

However, as the number of heavy machine guns and Czech-made light machine guns increased in the army, this weapon began to be disliked. The reason was simple: its design was too peculiar, and it was too difficult to maintain; it would shut down if it was in a bad mood.

"clear."

Engineer Jia nodded and wrote down Chen Mingti's opinion in his notebook.

Given Chen Ming's suggestion to sacrifice some performance in exchange for weapon reliability, these problems are not difficult to solve.

After Chen Ming finished sharing his feelings, he had the soldiers take turns testing the gun and giving their feedback.

Engineer Jia also noted them down one by one.

"How difficult are these problems to solve?" Chen Ming asked with concern.

"Reporting to the commander, it's not a big problem. In fact, before this gun was designed, there were several of its predecessors, one of which met your requirements perfectly."

"That gun is still in our warehouse."

"That's what Jia Gong said."

Designing a gun is definitely not something that is designed directly from the beginning; it goes through a process of gradual modification and adjustment.

Engineer Jia brought out this gun because it had the fastest rate of fire and the longest range.

"Really? Let me try it out." Chen Ming said.

"Yes!"

Not long after, Engineer Jia had someone bring him a gun.

This gun doesn't look like the Type 56 semi-automatic rifle; it looks more like the American Garand rifle. It's probably a copy of the Garand with some modifications.

After taking the gun, Chen Ming began loading, firing, and maintaining it according to Engineer Jia's instructions.

The rate of fire is a bit slower than the previous one, at 25 rounds per minute, but the range is not significantly different.

However, in terms of maintenance, this gun has a simple structure and is sturdy and durable.

"Okay, we'll stick with this model for the guns we're currently mass-producing."

"Our current industrial strength and processing precision are not up to par, so we'll use this model as a temporary measure."

"We don't need to discard that model. We can produce it again when we've improved our industrial capabilities."

Chen Ming said with great joy.

While the 56-inch and 6-inch models are good, there is currently a lack of more precise machine tools and a lack of precision manufacturing capabilities.

We can use this gun as a temporary measure. Once we acquire the industrial equipment in Northeast China, we can restart the production of more advanced semi-automatic rifles and even automatic rifles.

"Yes!"

Engineer Jia immediately saluted.

"Sir, please name this gun."

The head of the arsenal then stepped forward and spoke.

Chen Ming did not refuse. After stroking his chin and thinking for a moment, he said:

"Since this gun was produced in 42, let's call it the Type 42 semi-automatic rifle, or simply 'Type 42 semi'."

Chen Ming adopted a naming method that combines the production year with the weapon type, making it more intuitive.

After naming the firearms and setting the mass production signal, Chen Ming ordered someone to send information about the Type 42 semi-automatic rifle and the sample guns to headquarters.

Let the leaders at headquarters know that we can now produce semi-automatic rifles ourselves.

Although they couldn't compare to countries like the US and the Soviet Union, they had at least surpassed the Japanese in terms of rifle firepower.

The creation of the Type 42 semi-automatic rifle was not just about a semi-automatic rifle; its political significance was equally enormous!
Next, Chen Ming continued to inspect the rockets produced by the arsenal.

Today, rocket production technology is mature, and production speed is gradually increasing.

"Reporting to the commander, our rocket engine technology has been improved, and now its stability and range have both increased."

"This is my classmate in the United States. He is now a research and development engineer for rocket engines at our arsenal."

"That's what Engineer Jia reported."

"Reporting to the commander, my name is Liu Xianfeng."

A fair-skinned man wearing gold-rimmed glasses saluted Chen Ming.

"It's Comrade Xianfeng. Did you have a smooth journey to our base?" Chen Ming asked.

"Reporting to the commander, with the support of our comrades, the journey has been smooth," Liu Xianfeng replied.

Liu Xianfeng was Jia's classmate in the United States, and he researched micro-engines for rockets.

Chen Ming paid a heavy price to be able to return safely.

In order to bring back the talent that these bases desperately needed, and to break through the US blockade of military industry talent.

After Chen Ming reported the matter, he spent a lot of money to follow the lead of Smith, the Allied representative at the time.

Liu Xianfeng and several military workers were able to return safely.

The United States is a capitalist country. As long as they are willing to spend money, there is nothing they wouldn't sell.

However, if you want to spend money, you need to find the right channels; they wouldn't dare accept money that's too risky.

Chen Ming had some contact with Smith, which allowed him to get through to this Allied representative and successfully smuggle our valuable military expert back.

After offering a few brief words of comfort, Chen Ming continued to inspect the rockets produced by the arsenal.

Looking at so many rockets, Chen Ming had an idea.

With the increasing production capacity of rockets, the old method of using artillery battalions to handle rocket launches is no longer suitable.

Chen Ming plans to establish a dedicated rocket artillery battalion, directly under the command of the independent detachment.

In addition, once the Soviet Union's weapons and artillery are acquired, the artillery units of the independent detachment will also be separated and established as an artillery detachment for easier unified management.

P.S.: I went to the police station to reissue my ID card today, so I didn't have much time to write and my updates have been lacking. As compensation, I'll write a full day of non-fishing tomorrow to make up for it.

(End of this chapter)