I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 7 Everyone Lifts Iron Bars Together
"Pulling iron bars? What's that? Can you get iron powder by pulverizing iron bars by the river?"

Commander Chen and the two political commissars asked in confusion.

The three people looked completely bewildered.

Chen Changzai also felt a little confused.

However, judging from the appearance of the three people, they probably really didn't know about using magnets to attract iron powder on the riverbank beach.

So Chen Changzai said, "The so-called 'iron rod lifting' is just a nickname. The formal term should be 'magnetic separation method'."

Simply put, it's about using a magnet to attract iron powder hidden in the sand and mud of a riverbank.

This method of extracting iron powder from riverbed sand has been used since ancient times.

The reason why iron powder can be extracted from the sandy mud of the riverbank is that over tens of thousands of years, the iron ore hidden underground has been continuously washed and crushed by the river.

Then it is carried downstream by the river. During this process, the relatively dense iron ore powder is slowly collected in the sandy mudflats where the water flow is gentle.

And it settled there.

This process is like panning for gold, or rinsing rice when we cook at home.

When rinsing rice, shaking the bowl causes the water to run down into the rice bowl.

The sand and pebbles in the rice remained.

The same principle applies.

Due to the river's erosion over the years.

The iron filings carried down by the river were left in the calmer parts of the river.

Moreover, due to the scouring action of the river, most of the impurities in the iron ore powder were separated out.

Therefore, the remaining iron ore powder will have a very high grade, at least 50% or 60% or higher.

"So high? Does that mean we can just smelt it in a furnace and get iron?" Political Commissar He said in surprise.

"Yes, if you come across a good location, the grade of iron ore powder can even reach over 70."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go find it now."

We're not far from the Yan River. Didn't Xiao Chen just say we should look for a place where the river is wide and the current is slow?

The Yanhe River to our south is located in the middle and lower reaches, where the river channel is wide enough and the water flow becomes slow.

Moreover, the river there is winding, so there must be a lot of iron ore powder deposited there.

Commander Chen was as impatient as ever.

He's the type to do something immediately once he says it.

"Wait a minute, Xiao Chen just said that you need to use a magnet to get iron ore powder."

Let's prepare more magnets first.

"But we probably don't have many magnets left. If we have too few magnets, won't the iron ore powder processing speed be too slow?" Political Commissar Liu said with some concern.

"That can be solved. As long as we have a magnet, we can make a lot of magnetic rods."

All we need is an iron rod or bar about half a hand's width thick. We can polish the surface clean to remove stains and rust.

Then, use one pole of a large magnet to rub the iron rod continuously in one direction.

Before long, the iron rod will become magnetic.

This process is called "magnetization".

A large magnet can magnetize many iron bars.

Chen Changzai said with a smile.

Political Commissar He then said, "Good, good idea. I'll arrange it. Let's go find some magnets now and see if we can attract the iron powder by the Yan River."

Political Commissar He first arranged for people to get iron bars and rods, and then went to polish and clean them.

They then sent people to collect magnets.

Magnets are also called lodestones or magnets.

This thing isn't actually that rare.

You can still find it if you look for it.

Meanwhile, Chen Changzai took advantage of this lull to arrange for his students to begin preliminary preparations for the mass production of mercuric fulminate.

Whether it was the ceramic vats used for reaction work, the ceramic jars used for storage, or the countless small caves that had to be dug out on the shady side of the mountain specifically for storing mercuric fulminate.

No one dares to put a large amount of mercuric fulminate in a cave; if it explodes, it would be a major disaster.

When storing mercuric fulminate in ceramic jars, it is necessary to add water.

Keep mercuric fulminate moist.

This can improve the safety of mercuric fulminate.

To maximize safety in the manufacture of explosives, mercuric fulminate, and nitrocellulose.

His students, including himself, all shaved off all their body hair.

Upon entering the production and storage areas, there are two iron poles, half-buried in the ground, with two iron balls at the top of each pole.

Everyone had to rub their hands against the iron ball repeatedly to discharge all the static electricity from their bodies.

This is how they can be allowed into the production workshop and storage area.

Moreover, the clothes they wear must be made of pure cotton.

Hemp and wool products are absolutely not allowed on their clothing.

Especially wool products, because they generate static electricity with the body.

We don't have the same level of protection as in later generations, so we can only eliminate all possible accidents in these small details.

Now, not only are all the workers in the entire arsenal bald, but they are also bald.

Even after Commander Chen learned of this, he directly ordered all his troops to shave their heads.

This serves two purposes: firstly, to raise everyone's safety awareness; and secondly, to facilitate first aid and bandaging in case of a head injury during combat.

When Chen Chang arranged for his students to lead people to do the preparatory work.

Political Commissar He and his team also found dozens of magnets of various sizes.

So, under the protection of the special agent platoon, Commander Chen, the two political commissars, and Chen Changzai rode their horses directly south to the Yan River.

The Yan River is not far from the garrison.

It only took less than twenty minutes to ride a horse to the riverbank.

This section is the middle reaches of the Yan River, and the river is indeed wide, several hundred meters across.

We are almost at the dry season.

The river narrowed, exposing large sections of its riverbed.

At a bend in the river, Chen Changzai dismounted.

We arrived at the riverbank.

He squatted down and rubbed the magnet he was holding back and forth on the muddy and sandy ground for a while.

After a few moments, he picked up the magnet again and examined it.

The magnet was now covered with a layer of black iron powder, resembling the bristles of a porcupine.

This phenomenon occurs when iron powder is attracted to a magnet.

"There are really die-hard fans here."

Upon seeing the magnet in Chen Changzai's hand, everyone exclaimed in surprise.

Chen Changzai put those iron fans into the earthen basket he had brought.

The basket was lined with rags to prevent iron powder from leaking out.

Seeing that Chen Changzai had actually sucked up iron powder from the riverbank, Commander Chen and his men stopped watching.

Apart from a few soldiers on guard duty.

The soldiers, including the special operations platoon, all spread out and began to use magnets to stir and agitate the muddy ground.

In no time, a lot of iron powder was attracted to the magnets in everyone's hands.

An hour later, everyone's small baskets were filled with black iron powder.

Each of the earthen baskets they picked up was heavy, weighing at least several dozen kilograms.

Seeing these results, Political Commissar He shouted, "Old Chen, that's enough. The current situation has proven that what Director Chen said is completely correct."

This method will definitely solve our problem of iron ore scarcity.

I'm going back to headquarters now to report our situation.

I think headquarters will be very happy to find out.

At this moment, Chen Changzai said, "Political Commissar He, you can talk to the headquarters."

Actually, the output here in Yanhe is not very large. The output along the Yellow River should be much larger.

The Yellow River is fed by several rivers, meaning many rivers contribute iron sand to it.

"Xiao Chen is right. If so much iron sand can be extracted from the Yan River, there must be even more along the Yellow River."

"Old He, you should go back and report the situation quickly," Commander Chen said.

"Okay, then I won't go back to the base. I'll go back to headquarters now."

"Squad Leader Liu, you take your squad and these iron pellets and escort Political Commissar He back to headquarters. Absolutely no accidents are allowed on the way, understand?"

Commander Chen gave the order.

"Yes, mission accomplished." After saluting, Squad Leader Liu gathered up all the iron sand that had been absorbed and hung it on the horse's back.

Then they escorted Political Commissar He all the way to headquarters.

"What? This is iron ore sand that you pulled out with a magnet on the riverbank?"

At headquarters, Political Commissar He's superior looked at the large pile of dark iron ore on the ground and asked in surprise.

"Yes, sir. This is Director Chen and Regiment Commander Chen. We led a platoon of soldiers and extracted iron ore from the riverbank using magnets in less than an hour."

Factory Director Chen said that the grade of this iron ore should be over 60%.

He added that there probably weren't many along the Yan River, but the yield should be much higher along the Yellow River.

"Great, great, Factory Director Chen has done another great service."

Xiao Wang, quickly go and report our situation to the other leaders. If they have time, please ask them to come and take a look.

"Yes, sir!" Upon receiving the order, the guard officer, Xiao Wang, quickly ran out.

The next day, a large army of people who went to the riverbank to work on iron bars marched towards the Yan River.

Two days later, the west bank of the Yellow River was also filled with people constantly using magnets or magnetized iron rods to attract iron powder from the river.

The era of everyone lifting weights has begun.

(End of this chapter)