Southern guerrilla warfare: I led the Red Seventh Army Corps to amassed a million troops.

After glancing at it a few times, he looked up, a hint of surprise in his voice: "Isn't this just a Hanyang rifle? What's so special about it... Hmm, but the workmanship is indeed quite good, it looks like a new gun."

He paused, then exchanged a glance with Zhou Zeyuan.

The two men exclaimed in unison, "Did we build this?"

"That's right! It was the first batch of finished products manufactured on the newly commissioned production line of the Military Industry Bureau under Engineer Zhang's guidance."

Le Shaohua made no attempt to hide his pride. The first rifle of the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region was produced under his leadership, an achievement worthy of being recorded in history.

Zhou Zeyuan took the gun from him, examined it carefully, and nodded: "It's solidly made, definitely not one of those shoddy products from small factories. What's the monthly production capacity?"

"Our initial estimate is that monthly production capacity can reach around 1,000 units within three months. Once the workers are more skilled, reaching 1,500 units should not be a problem."

Ye Fei's eyes lit up as he looked at the rifle, as if Lu Bu had seen Red Hare or Cao Cao had seen a widow.

He couldn't help but touch the rifle and exclaimed, "Made-in-China rifles are the most reliable. Although we don't lack guns now, it's only the regular troops that don't lack them."

"Many militia members and local armed forces are still using old-fashioned rifles and Mannlicher rifles, and some teams even still have locally made homemade guns."

"Being able to produce reliable Hanyang rifles is of great significance to us. It not only increases the armament rate of local armed forces and militias, but the upgrading of weapons and equipment for these second-line troops can also effectively enhance their combat effectiveness."

Zhou Zeyuan turned around and looked at Le Shaohua: "It's pretty good. I heard that the difficulty of imitating the Mauser 98G is at least ten times that of imitating the Hanyang Type 88."

"Your idea is excellent. Prioritizing stable and reliable firearms, rather than blindly pursuing high-end ones, better suits our needs."

Le Shaohua nodded, his face beaming with the joy of being affirmed. After so much time, even if he was slow-witted, he had already figured out who the king and queen were.

But he quickly showed a troubled expression: "Engineer Zhang said that our equipment is the best among all the Red Army's arsenals, but the workers' skills are generally not very proficient, and many of them are self-taught. We also don't have enough manpower."

"If we could mobilize a group of urban workers, our production capacity could be further increased."

Zhou Zeyuan waved his hand: "Why didn't you say so earlier? We've taken so many cities in southeastern Fujian. It's easy to mobilize a group of workers to support the revolution. In the future, if you encounter something like this, remember to tell me in time."

Le Shaohua quickly explained, "At first, I mobilized people from Fu'an, Ningde, and neighboring Fuzhou, which was enough to meet the demand."

"But recently, after Engineer Zhang came, he integrated the resources and made full use of all the limited machinery and equipment, which is why we are short-handed. That's why I came to find you right away."

Ye Fei recalled the scenes of the heads of the armed forces departments in various districts coming to him to plead poverty in the past few days, and quickly said:

"Comrade Political Commissar, producing weapons is certainly important, but what we need more right now is ammunition, especially reloaded bullets. You guys need to step up your efforts."

Le Shaohua's expression turned serious: "No problem. The production of reloaded bullets and mortar shells is our priority."

"I expect to be able to increase the production capacity of reloaded bullets to 250,000 to 300,000 rounds next month."

"We have also conducted small-scale trial production of mortar shells, and there should be no problem in increasing the production capacity to thousands of shells in the future."

Ye Fei was not very satisfied. In his opinion, it would be better if the production capacity were doubled.

"Political Commissar, this achievement is certainly quite remarkable. But as you know, we have 100,000 militiamen, and this production capacity is equivalent to our soldiers using less than three bullets a month for training."

"Furthermore, regular troops occasionally need bullets for routine training. Could you perhaps increase production capacity a bit more?"

Le Shaohua's smile froze for a moment. How busy has he been lately? How busy have the comrades at the Military Industry Bureau been?

He hadn't complained to anyone, but he was definitely nearing his limit.

He stood there, silent for several seconds, unsure how to respond.

Zhou Zeyuan spoke up to take over for him: "The factors that determine production capacity are nothing more than a few: working hours and work efficiency."

"This involves the number of workers, the number of machines, the production organization method, and so on. Although I don't understand the specific technical details, there is a method that should be feasible."

"Let's use a three-shift system to maximize the machine's capacity. Comrade Shaohua, is this a feasible approach?"

Le Shaohua's eyes lit up: "Feasible, of course feasible! Two or three shifts, making full use of the nighttime hours, plus the fact that we don't lack raw materials right now, can indeed further increase production capacity."

"But I also have to say that we are already short of workers. If we recruit another batch of apprentices, coupled with the consumption of kerosene during nighttime production, production efficiency will actually decrease and costs will increase significantly."

Zhou Zeyuan waved his hand: "Don't think about these things during wartime. Let's get through this first."

He sighed, his tone growing heavier: "The central government's main force has already moved on, and next, hundreds of thousands of Kuomintang troops will come rushing towards us. How many of us are there?"

"We only have 70,000 to 80,000 regular troops and over 100,000 militia and local armed forces. That seems like a lot, but even within the regular army, a considerable portion are new recruits. In terms of veterans, we have at most one or two tenths of the enemy's numbers."

"However, the difference in people is actually the smallest. The difference in ammunition is at least several dozen times. Comrade Shaohua, your work now determines the rise and fall of our Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area, and even the entire Red Army."

Le Shaohua's chest heaved slightly, and he straightened his back sharply, his voice carrying an almost reverent solemnity:

"Comrade Zeyuan, I understand. We must spare no effort to convert the resources of the base area into guns and ammunition. I will go to see Comrade Qiubai first thing tomorrow morning to discuss it and ask him to allocate some funds."

Ye Fei said with dissatisfaction, "Comrade Political Commissar, why tomorrow? We revolutionary soldiers, what do we care about day or night?"

Le Shaohua looked slightly embarrassed and coughed twice: "Um, well... Comrade Qiu Bai's wife recently came from Shanghai. When I arrived, I saw the couple returning to their dormitory."

"Comrade Ye Fei, if you think this matter is truly urgent, why don't you go?"

Ye Fei looked embarrassed; just thinking about it was awkward!

No, I should say it's terrifying to even think about.

"Comrade Political Commissar, you're not right about that. Military production is your responsibility, and it's your duty to go ask Comrade Qiu Bai for money. What would it look like if I went in your place?"

Le Shaohua wasn't annoyed by his retort, he just chuckled and said, "I was just saying, why are you in such a hurry? It won't make a difference if it's just one more night."

Zhou Zeyuan watched the two bickering and shrugged: "Alright, it's rare for Comrade Qiu Bai to reunite with his family. Let him get a good night's rest. He can go early tomorrow morning, so it won't delay things."