The War of Resistance: From Overseas Chinese Mechanics to King of Nanyang

"Can they really make guns and cannons?" Huang Zurong looked at the person in front of him, his tone skeptical. Although the other party repeatedly assured him that there was absolutely no problem, he was still somewhat doubtful.

"Brother Rong, I studied mechanics in Germany. Making guns isn't difficult at all. As long as you have the tools and materials, I can even make one by hand. But don't expect any precision." Liang Huanming felt insulted and was naturally unhappy. If Chen Shunwen hadn't persuaded him many times, he wouldn't have wanted to come at all. Now that he was here, he was being questioned, which made him somewhat unhappy.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong's eyes lit up. Being able to go to Germany to study mechanical engineering at this time meant that, in addition to his good family background, he also had a strong learning ability.

"Ming-ge, I apologize for my bad attitude just now. If you can really make some guns and cannons, you'll be my benefactor." Although he had already entrusted Chen Amao to purchase weapons and equipment on the black market, the prices were too high, and they were all second-hand. There were basically no new ones available, which made Huang Zurong a little depressed. That's why he decided to start making them himself.

"Come on, I'll take you to see the tools. If you're missing anything, I'll get it right away." With that, he pulled Liang Huanming toward a dormitory.

Upon entering the room, Liang Huanming was immediately stunned by the tools before him.

Miniature lathes, milling machines, and drilling machines.

Precision calipers, taps, drill bits, and stamping dies.

High-quality civil steel, seamless thick-walled steel pipes, and bearings.

Small motors, wires, transformers, and charging equipment.

This equipment is so complete!

If it weren't daytime, he would have wondered if he was dreaming.

"Which repair shop did you bring here?" After a long while, Liang Huanming finally came to his senses and couldn't help but blurt out.

"Haha, you don't need to worry about that. Whether these things can be used to make guns and cannons?" Huang Zurong naturally didn't mention that these were actually household-grade civilian industrial equipment, things that would be easy to buy in later generations, and you could even bargain for large quantities.

Even civilian industrial equipment from later generations was a game-changer for this era.

Touching these cold machines, Liang Huanming couldn't suppress the smile on his face. He really didn't expect to see such a complete set of equipment here. He originally thought that having a lathe would be the best he could hope for.

"Yes, absolutely. I can't guarantee the cannons, but small-caliber mortars are definitely no problem," Liang Huanming assured, patting his chest.

"That's good, that's good. Can you produce a hundred a day?" Huang Zurong asked immediately. Compared to reselling supplies, arms were more profitable. Although medicine was also profitable, his strength was still too weak, and he dared not sell it recklessly.

"Cough cough cough..." Upon hearing that he was given a hundred doses a day, Liang Huanming immediately started coughing violently. Were they treating him like a donkey?

"To produce 100 units a day, you'd need at least 500 skilled workers. Can you find them?"

He felt that the other party must be an amateur who really thought that guns could be made casually. Although having these devices could make things much easier, it was not something that could be done casually, even if one hundred guns a day could be made.

"I can't find it," Huang Zurong shook his head and answered honestly.

He doesn't have many people who understand mechanics right now, otherwise why would he be so anxious?

"At most one a day, and that's only because of the equipment. I'll find a few more people to help and try to increase efficiency as much as possible," Liang Huanming said considerately, knowing that the other party was in a hurry.

Hearing that there was only one a day, Huang Zurong was even more disappointed, as this was indeed far too little for him and could not solve the problem at all.

"Are those teenagers outside capable?" Huang Zurong suddenly asked.

Because he remembered that in later generations, factories couldn't find workers, so they recruited teenagers from schools to do the work.

Of course, those students had at least gone through nine years of compulsory education. Although they may not have learned much, they were at least not illiterate, so they picked things up quickly, and half of them could get started in practice in about ten days.

But these teenagers in front of me don't know a single word. If we let them work with machinery directly, there's bound to be problems.

However, Huang Zurong believed that the world was just a makeshift operation, and with some time to train them, they could surely become skilled workers.

"You're going to use child labor?" Having studied in Germany, Liang Huanming naturally knew that factories in Europe and America often used child labor, so he wasn't very surprised.

"These people are illiterate, so asking them for help would probably be even slower," Liang Huanming felt he should point out the shortcomings.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zurong waved his hand, not caring at all. After all, he was only getting one rifle a day, which was practically inefficient, so he didn't mind that the efficiency was even slower.

With proper training, these people will become skilled workers, and their efficiency will inevitably increase.

Because he remembered something: the Peshawar region in later generations, which was a famous arms village. Not all the people there were necessarily educated, but they could make guns. If he spent a lot of money to train them, how could he not be able to handle it?

"Efficiency will gradually improve. The main reason is that these children are very obedient and good at thinking. Perhaps they will bring us miracles," Huang Zurong said confidently.

Hearing this, Liang Huanming didn't press the matter. Since the other party had already said so, he didn't care and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then find me some clever ones."

"no problem."

And so, Nanqiao Machinery Manufacturing Plant was born. In addition to Liang Huanming, there were six people who knew machinery and dozens of young men. Although they looked like a rabble, Huang Zurong believed that with the support of a large amount of materials, their proficiency would improve rapidly.

"Brother Rong, I think we could try poaching some people from Kunming. Isn't there an arms factory there?" Chen Shunwen asked doubtfully.

"We've already sent people to poach them, but there's still no news. Besides, arsenals aren't so easy to poach." Huang Zurong naturally wanted to poach people from the Kunming arsenal, but those people might not be interested in the benefits he was offering.

"We can use raw materials to exchange for it," Chen Shunwen suddenly blurted out, which was a revelation to Huang Zurong.

Yes, now that the Pacific War has broken out, the import of raw materials for the arsenals will inevitably be hindered, and their production tasks will certainly come to a standstill. After all, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice; without raw materials, they can only stare helplessly.

Especially in the area of ​​special steel, we can only import it.

After all, the steelmaking technology at that time was not up to par, and the steel produced could not be used to make cannons.

"That's a good idea. I'll send a telegram to Chen Amao later and ask him to think of a solution," Huang Zurong said with great joy. Although he couldn't buy military-grade special steel, the civilian steel of later generations would definitely outperform this era. This stuff had been tested by Middle Eastern warlords.