Chapter 114: 113, Live-fire Testing, Recruiting German Army Officers For Treasure Hunting
Fang Wen looked at the information in his hand in surprise. For his convenience in reading, the information was all written in English.
The first line of the design information for this gun clearly stated: “This model of weapon is dedicated for paratroopers and can be used behind enemy lines for company level firepower configuration.”
As a pilot, Fang Wen was very sensitive to paratroopers.
For the Northeast gold incident, he had specifically trained the treasure-stealing team in parachuting, which could also be considered the earliest paratrooper unit domestically.
Since the information said so, he wanted to see what kind of treasure it was that had been in research and development since 1922 and still had not entered army equipment.
Weapon name: Grw 34 medium mortar
Basic data:
Caliber: 80 mm
Maximum range: 2400 meters
Maximum rate of fire: 25 rounds/minute
Barrel length: 1143 mm
Total weight: 57 kg
Ammunition weight: 3.5 kg
According to the information, the design process did indeed extend from 1922 to 1933, and it was a German copy of the French Brandt mie27/31 mortar.
But the reason for this also had a great relationship with the situation of the Weimar Republic.
After the defeat in the war, Germany had been burdened with huge debts, and in terms of military equipment, according to the defeated country agreement, it could only have 100,000 regular troops, which meant they simply could not procure more weapons.
Rheinmetall persisted in continuing research and development under such circumstances until now.
Fang Wen was secretly delighted in his heart. He had bet correctly. At this critical time of era change, many people were confused about the future and had not yet joined Little Mustache. Out of the idea of preparing a retreat, trading with him for a sum of funds was not a bad thing in their view.
Waving away his thoughts, Fang Wen continued reading to better understand the value of bringing this weapon back to the country.
When carried by a single soldier, this mortar can be disassembled into three parts: barrel, base, and bracket.
In other words, 3 people can complete weapon transport, installation, and firing.
Total weight 57 kg, average less than 20 kg per person, which is bearable for a single soldier.
Cost per unit: 810 Reichsmarks.
So cheap?
810 Reichsmarks, about 200 US dollars per unit.
If manufactured domestically, solving various technical problems, the cost would probably be much lower.
The main ammunition type is Wurfgranate34, which is a conventional high-explosive shell.
The information also introduced the new ammunition type under development, Wurfgranate38/39.
Wurfgranate38 is a smoke bomb, used for open battlefield, infantry and tank coordinated combat, etc.
Wurfgranate39 is a bounce shell. After the shell lands, the rocket booster in the projectile body will make the shell bounce up again to explode in the air. The damage range from shrapnel of the air explosion is much larger than that of ground explosion.
Looking at the two new types of shells, Fang Wen was a bit envious, but he knew that even with the design blueprints for the new shells, there was no such industrial foundation back home. Better to honestly use ordinary mortar shells. At least after Jinling Arsenal modifies the shell molds, they can produce 80 mm mortar shells.
After reading all the information on the Grw 34 medium mortar, Fang Wen had a general understanding of this mortar but did not discover its highlights.
Unlike the previous le. IG 18 75mm infantry gun, whose advantages were obvious at a glance.
But since they could bring it out for transaction, there must be a reason.
As an arms dealer, it was not good to ask directly, so Fang Wen thought for a moment.
He pretended to hesitate.
“I need to think about this.”
He was playing hard to get, waiting for the other side to take the initiative.
Seeing Fang Wen like this, the officers became a bit anxious.
After all, the quotation for these two items was only 100,000 Reichsmarks. Losing one would mean at least a 50% discount.
In order to sell both, they discussed for a while, and the officer who knew English negotiated.
“These two weapons are very good. We know that to reach a deal, we must let you understand them more specifically. You can come with us to a place where there will be comparative demonstrations of multiple weapons. After you see it, you’ll know how good they are.”
Fang Wen hesitated.
If trading the design blueprints and production technology directly here, he would be safe.
But if he went with them, what if something went wrong.
But he overlooked one thing: a real arms dealer would not complete the transaction carelessly.
There must be a verification process.
Not only was he considering this, Lin Shuiwang was even more anxious.
“Boss, we can’t go. What if they set a trap and kidnap you.”
Lin Shuiwang spoke in Chinese, which the other side couldn’t understand, but they could guess the meaning.
The English-speaking officer explained: “If you only trade the blueprint information, this transaction has no danger, unless you leak the matter. But if you’re worried, we can provide safety guarantees.”
Fang Wen was tempted: “How to guarantee?”
The officer took a suitcase from his companion.
“Half of the information is inside. We can give it to you in advance. You two, one takes the information, the other comes with us. After it’s done, pay cash to deliver the remaining half of the information to complete the transaction, and we’ll send you both to the airport.”
Fang Wen pondered.
He had just thought about his own safety but hadn’t considered that these officers were also walking on a cliff. They were actually as afraid as he was and wanted to complete the transaction as soon as possible and send him away.
The officer’s proposal was still reliable. One person goes empty-handed, the other has the information in hand—it was already the limit of what could be done.
Fang Wen took the suitcase, took out the information inside. Since it was all in German, he couldn’t understand it, and immediately handed it to Lin Shuiwang.
Lin Shuiwang didn’t know if what was written was true or false, but he understood Fang Wen’s meaning.
Then, he pretended to read it seriously, and put the information back into the suitcase.
“Boss, it should be fine. Let me go with them, you take the stuff and wait at home.”
Fang Wen shook his head. For this transaction, going or not was the same; those staying in Berlin would still be watched by the other side.
He decided to take the risk and go to complete the whole thing.
Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang came out of the beerhouse, with Lin Shuiwang carrying that suitcase.
Behind them, seven officers followed.
Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang got into the Mercedes-Benz 170, and the seven officers also got into two military vehicles.
One in front and one behind, driving on the streets of Berlin.
Until the car stopped at the guesthouse.
Lin Shuiwang got out of the car and said with concern: “Mr. Fang, let me go.”
Fang Wen shook his head: “No need to worry. As long as the money hasn’t been received, they won’t act rashly. Stay at home and wait for me to return.”
Lin Shuiwang could only nod.
Then, an officer got out of the military vehicle behind.
It was the English-speaking one.
He opened the car door and sat in the co-pilot seat of the Mercedes-Benz 170, acting as the translator and guide for the rest of the way.
“Alright, can we go now?” the officer asked in English.
Fang Wen nodded: “Where to?”
“Keep driving straight, I’ll tell you when to turn.”
The car started and headed west of Berlin.
After driving for a distance, the officer raised his hand and placed both hands at his waist.
His right hand was right on the pistol holster.
“Fang Wen, flew from France to Berlin by airplane. Previously drove a Boeing Company P26 series fighter jet from Asia to Europe. Your companion is a sailor. You two are not arms dealers, right?”
At this moment, Fang Wen’s hair stood on end.
His mind raced with thoughts.
Should he do an emergency brake drift to throw the officer out of the car.
In the state of mechanical perception where man and car are one, it was possible.
But the other side didn’t seem malicious, otherwise they would have acted back at the beerhouse.
After making a judgment, Fang Wen made no move, just calmly replied.
“Where did you get the intelligence?”
“We have a professional intelligence department. If we want to investigate you, it’s very easy. I know about your deeds in Paris and at Reza Khan’s banquet.”
The officer said this and smiled, continuing:
“Don’t worry, only I know about this. Whether you are an arms dealer or not doesn’t matter. The key is to complete the transaction smoothly. Personally, I’m curious why you are doing this? Or do you have another identity?”
Fang Wen calmly replied: “I am just a pilot and the owner of a civil aviation company. But at the same time, I am also Chinese. In this era, I also want to do what I can.”
“Is this what you can do?” The officer pretended to be surprised: “Bought a French heavy bomber, and now purchasing our country’s military weapon information?”
“Yes. I’ve always had a big appetite, daring to do things others don’t even dare to think about.” Fang Wen remained calm.
The officer exclaimed in admiration, “I admire you! Alright, suspicion lifted. Even if you’re not an arms dealer, so what? As long as you’re willing to pay, this transaction can still proceed.”
“Yes, but I want to see the effects.” This time Fang Wen finally entered the arms dealer state. Since he was buying, he couldn’t just complete the transaction casually.
Then, the car continued west until leaving Berlin.
After leaving Berlin, under the officer’s guidance, the car turned into a forest road and arrived at a clearing that had been cut out.
There, various weapons were laid out, clearly a live-fire shooting range.
The three cars stopped, Fang Wen got out, and followed the officers to the live-fire shooting range.
Several weapons were already set up there.
The officer introduced them to Fang Wen.
“This is the French Brandt 50 mm mortar, this is the Italian M35 45 mm mortar, and ours is 80 mm. Now we’ll show you a weapon firing comparison.”
After he spoke, several soldiers began loading and firing.
Fang Wen watched intently.
The Grw 34 medium mortar had the largest caliber.
The shell volume was also the largest.
But after firing, the range was actually a bit farther than the other two.
In front of Fang Wen, they completed the data testing and handed the data sheet to Fang Wen to see.
Looking at the English data comparison table, Fang Wen roughly understood the advantages of the Grw 34 medium mortar.
Grw 34 medium mortar range 2.5 km, shell 3.5 kg, maximum explosion effect.
The French 50 mm range about 1.5 km, shell 1.5 kg, explosion effect less than half of the Grw 34 medium mortar.
The Italian M35 45 mm mortar range only over 500 meters, shell less than 0.5 kg, explosion effect one-fifth of the Grw 34 medium mortar.
It had the farthest range and the best ammunition effect.
So that’s how it is.
Fang Wen understood the benefits of this weapon.
Next was the demonstration of the le. IG 18 75mm infantry gun.
It didn’t need comparison, just drills in different environments, enough to illustrate the advantages of this weapon.
After understanding the performance of the two weapons, Fang Wen and the 7 officers went into the room at the test site to discuss.
The English-speaking officer poured Fang Wen a glass of water.
Then sat across from Fang Wen and spoke:
“We don’t care if you’re an arms dealer. In fact, someone like you is safer for us. After the transaction, you’ll return to the East, and no one will care about new weapons appearing in the East. But I must tell you something else: the shells for these weapons are the most important. If you don’t have advanced shell production lines, the power will drop a lot.”
Fang Wen nodded. This couldn’t be avoided. He hoped that after bringing the information back, the country could master this technology.
He even had an idea to establish a weapon factory in the southeast region, researching shells while producing heavy aerial bombs for his bomber.
Whether it could succeed would depend on future progress.
Fang Wen suddenly had a thought: the Weimar Republic was about to disappear, and the existing army would be restructured. Should he plant a hook in advance and keep in touch with them? It might be useful in the future.
He also thought of another thing at the same time.
The secret on the small island in Lake Van, Turkey, needed someone to explore.
If gold and jewelry were found inside, it also meant danger. Those treasure hunters brought in wouldn’t be as easy to control as the ones domestically who were well-known.
Better to use this group of people for the job. At that time, he could take less share, or just the treasure that could enhance mechanical perception ability.
He looked at the other side.
“My identity poses no threat to you, but can bring benefits. After this transaction, there can be other cooperation. Do you want to hear?”
The English-speaking officer translated to the others, and everyone showed interested expressions and nodded.
Fang Wen continued: “During my flight from Asia to Europe, I accidentally discovered a place that might hide treasure. I was originally planning to find a group of people in Europe to go treasure hunting, but now I think you are good cooperation candidates.”
After hearing Fang Wen’s words, the officers discussed.
Although he couldn’t understand their words, Fang Wen could tell they were very interested.
Adventure and treasure are the most stimulating to men’s hormones. From childhood, which boy doesn’t long for an adventure? Officers are especially full of adventurous spirit.
Then, the English-speaking officer asked: “What exactly is the situation? How to go there, how to return, how to allocate the treasure after discovery.”
He treated the treasure hunting action as a military action.
This serious attitude suited Fang Wen’s requirements well.
Fang Wen thought for a moment and temporarily made a plan.
“The treasure is in the border area of the Eurasian continent. I can’t tell you the exact location for now. I have two plans: Plan 1, you handle the action yourselves, and after finding the treasure inside, I only want one item. Plan 2, I can handle your round trip, and I take one-third of the treasure.”
The officer asked: “What if no treasure is found?”
It was possible to find nothing. Fang Wen thought and replied: “If nothing is gained, I’ll give you a reward, 1000 Reichsmarks per person.”
1000 Reichsmarks was quite a lot. The big sum of 100,000 Reichsmarks from the arms deal wasn’t going to these officers; each could get less than 2000 Reichsmarks.
In other words, for the treasure hunting action, regardless of success, there was a guaranteed income of 1000 Reichsmarks, and if successful, everyone could get rich.
Suddenly, the officers found Fang Wen much more likable.
They eagerly surrounded Fang Wen asking for details.
The English-speaking officer tirelessly translated.
“Is the treasure location far from Europe?”
“Not too far, just over 1000 kilometers.”
“That’s not far? I think Plan 1 is not feasible. We have no means for round trip over 1000 kilometers. What does your Plan 2 mean?”
“I’m a pilot with very good flying technique, able to fly at night. If you choose Plan 2, I can rent a transport aircraft, fly to the destination at night, and transport you there. But this process will involve many extra expenses, like hiring local guides and transportation tools, placing guiding torches on the temporary airplane landing runway, and possibly involving some foreign friends in treasure allocation. But this way, you can search for treasure quietly without alarming the locals, then fly back to Europe by airplane.”
Fang Wen provided an action plan that seemed highly feasible.
Flying round trip, even at night without alarming locals, and even thought of transportation for the discovered treasure.
This greatly reduced the difficulty of treasure hunting; the treasure hunters only needed to focus on treasure hunting.
The officers felt Plan 2 was very reliable.
I know someone will say this mortar is not good, but the plot is like this, please listen to the next chapter.
