I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 70 The Spear That Tears Through the Sky

"Reporting to the teacher, the preparations for the test firing of the 37mm single-barrel anti-aircraft gun have been completed."

Please instruct me whether to begin test firing.

Chen Changzai did not respond to the student's report immediately.

Instead, he turned around, saluted the tall leader standing next to him, and reported:
"Reporting to the leader, preparations for the test firing are complete. Should we begin the test firing? Please give instructions."

"Give it a try, I've been wanting to see the power of this big guy for a long time."

If it actually succeeds, then we'll have fewer dung balls left on our heads by the enemy.

"Yes, prepare to begin the test firing."

After receiving the order from his superior, Chen Chang turned around, saluted his students, and said, "Now I order the test firing of the 37mm anti-aircraft gun to officially begin."

Q: Has the area where the bullets landed been cleared?

Is the hot air balloon fully prepared?

Has the entire gun been inspected?

"Reporting to the teacher, the area where the bomb is expected to land has been cleared of personnel."

The hot air balloon is ready.

The 37mm anti-aircraft gun has been inspected according to the requirements and there are no malfunctions.

I asked again whether it was permissible to test the cannon.

“We can test the cannon,” Chen Changzai replied loudly.

"Yes, the test firing will begin now." After replying, his student immediately turned and ran towards the test firing command post not far from him.

There were two hand-cranked telephones there.

After he relayed the order, the command center immediately dialed one of the telephones.

After the call is connected.

The commander shouted into the phone: "Test firing begins, hot air balloon launch begins."

Be sure to record the launch altitude.

Record wind speed and direction at all times.

After receiving a reply from the other side.

The command center hung up the phone.

Then he shook another phone.

After the call was connected, the command center shouted into the phone: "The test firing operation begins."

The hot air balloons have already begun to take off.

Pay close attention to the ground monitoring system.

After receiving confirmation from the other end, the command center hung up the phone.

Then he ran towards where the leaders and Chen Changzai were.

After receiving a reply to the command.

All the leaders and Chen Chang, along with their large group, picked up their binoculars.

They began to look at the 37mm anti-aircraft gun on the distant test range.

And further away, three hot air balloons, each five meters in diameter, are rising rapidly.

The reason why hydrogen balloons were not used this time is that hydrogen gas would escape inside the current rubber-coated balloons.

During the last test of the anti-aircraft machine gun, the hydrogen balloon barely met the requirements.

But this time the requirements are much higher.

Therefore, the hydrogen balloons are no longer able to perform the task.

The only thing we can do is create unmanned hot air balloons.

This is a high-pressure kerosene torch with a high-pressure oxygen nozzle added to the suspended basket.

It won't go out even at an altitude of at least 5,000 meters.

Oxygen extraction is no longer an insurmountable problem.

Chemical laboratories have long been able to produce oxygen using chemical oxygen generation methods.

However, this method of oxygen production is too inefficient, and in later generations it was generally used for health care and oxygen inhalation.

However, mechanical oxygen production requires very complex equipment to achieve industrial-scale oxygen production efficiency.

At least for now, Chen Changzai doesn't have the energy to study it.

As long as the supply of medical oxygen is guaranteed, that's sufficient.

The hot air balloon, its body painted orange-red, quickly ascended into the sky.

The observer at the ground-based 37mm anti-aircraft gun position began calibrating the one-meter rangefinder mounted on a support frame that was strapped to his body.

It continuously tracks the rising target in the distant sky and reports the target's location.

This one-meter rangefinder was a copy of the later domestically produced Type 58 one-meter rangefinder by Chen Changzai.

If anyone has seen old documentaries about air defense forces.

You'll see that on the anti-aircraft gun positions, there's always a person holding a large horizontal pipe.

That person was the observer.

However, creating this thing caused Chen Changzai's entire precision equipment and mold factory a lot of headaches.

They started when they were just established and began processing high-pressure pump plungers and fuel injectors for diesel engines.

Chen Changzai then gave them a task.

That is to make high-powered telescopes, aiming scopes, artillery scopes, and eyepieces and objective lenses for one-meter air rangefinders, as well as refractive lenses.

To make these optical instruments, the first step is to produce glass with high light transmittance.

Making glass is simple, but making glass with high light transmittance is not so simple. It's like the difference between a piece of iron and a piece of gold.

Making such lenses is extremely difficult.

This involves everything from material selection and proportioning to firing process, and finally casting and polishing.

Each step of the process is a challenge.

Chen Changzai only had a general understanding of the manufacturing process for this type of high-transmittance glass.

If you make him burn it, he'll work himself to death and still won't be able to burn it.

Just like the students in his various laboratories.

He knows what he's good at, what he's professional at, and he can teach them as much as he can with the knowledge he knows and understands.

If you encounter a subject where you have a knowledge gap, or where you only know the facts but not the reasons behind them.

He could only explain the general theories and processes he knew to his students.

As for the rest, his students and experienced masters will have to figure it out slowly.

For example, these are just a few simple lenses.

If you want to see further and more clearly.

What you see is neither distorted nor displaced.

Then you'll have to put in a thousand times more effort to find ways to remove the impurities from the glass and make it purer and clearer.

This way you can see further and aim more accurately.

In addition to the people from the precision equipment factory, the people from the chemical laboratory also had to help out.

The etching and coloring of the scale on the mirror surface still require further work from them.

Although it is possible to carve markings with a hard blade, such markings would make anyone dizzy after seeing them.

As for polishing the mirror surface, that's nowadays an absolute craft.

These are all skills that Master Wu and his colleagues learned from their master after enduring countless hardships while making eyeglasses and gemstone jewelry.

But it is different now.

Now, almost all the workers and technicians in the entire precision equipment factory are apprentices and grand-apprentices of Master Wu and Master Sun.

There are both men and women involved, and the grinding process requires immense patience and meticulousness.

Women still make up the majority.

The reason for this is because of what Chen Changzai said to Master Wu and Master Sun back then.

"These hands are magnificent."

Even with the efforts of the entire precision equipment factory, this one-meter rangefinder was only produced a few days ago.

I missed it during the last anti-aircraft machine gun test.

However, some binoculars and sniper scopes for precision rifles have now begun to be produced.

It has already begun equipping the troops.

As the observer continuously reported the distance and coordinates, the 37mm single-barreled anti-aircraft gun, supported by outriggers, came into view.

It was also constantly rotating to adjust the direction of the cannon barrel.

The operators of the left and right steering gears and the elevation gears were constantly cranking the handles in their hands.

The ammunition feeder had already inserted a five-round magazine into the magazine.

The second and third ammunition feeders were also at their posts, ready to supply ammunition at any time.

At this moment, the main gunner was focused intently on the small dot in the sky far away, visible through the anti-aircraft gun's aiming ring.

The gunnery squad leader, who always stood below the gun position, was also listening to every piece of data reported by the observer.

He must issue the order to fire when the target reaches the designated altitude.

As time slowly passed.

The observer called out the final data: "Target due north, altitude 3,000, slant distance 3,300, elevation plus one, wind deflection two to the left."

The target is stable; launch is possible.

I heard the observer's final report.

The artillery squad leader immediately waved the small red flag in his hand vigorously.

He shouted, "Fire!"

As the order is given.

A series of deafening, booming sounds of anti-aircraft guns rang in everyone's ears.

Although this was the first time they had fired a cannon, the best artillery squad selected from the entire army had been undergoing simulated training for more than three months.

Later, the soldiers of the anti-aircraft gun squad used anti-aircraft machine guns to simulate live-fire training.

Like interlocking gears on a machine, they work together seamlessly.

After using two magazines, the observer reported, "Target number one has disappeared."

Then a few more cannon shots rang out.

The observer reported again, "Target number two has disappeared, target number three has disappeared."

The targets have all disappeared; we hit them all.

Through the binoculars of Chen Changzai and the leaders who came to watch.

As the three hot air balloons floating in the air exploded and crashed to the ground like fireworks, everyone put down their binoculars.

Thunderous applause rang out continuously.

The leader then said to Chen Changzai, "Congratulations, Changzai, you have finally forged this spear that can tear the sky apart."

(End of this chapter)