Chapter 149: All Set, Just Missing The Shoulder-mounted Cannon!
Time flies in the mountains!
Li Muzhi led all the workers in the Border Region Arsenal to work overtime intensively.
Generator connection to power completed, transformer connection completed, generator successfully generating power.
The steel smelting plant’s boiler successfully melted the first furnace of molten steel!
Until this day!
The first marching pot was forged.
Old Zhang held up this heavy iron pot with both hands, his face full of excitement: “This is the first pot made by our Border Region Arsenal. Its meaning is immensely significant! It means that from now on, we can gradually provide the troops with cooking utensils.”
“Minister Zhang, we can smelt iron ourselves now. Should we immediately make bayonets and steel helmets?” someone shouted.
“No rush. First solve the problem of feeding all the troops,” Zhang Wanhe said.
Although bayonets and steel helmets are important, the food problem is the biggest.
Moreover, forging bayonets is not that simple.
Unlike iron pots, which have little technical content and are done in just one or two processes.
To forge a good bayonet, there are several processes.
And then!
Shoulder-mounted cannons and jumping mines must be produced as soon as possible.
Fighting outside is very intense now. Japanese Invaders and Jin Sui Army Direct Line Army are fighting fiercely. Our troops haven’t launched an attack and are resting.
But sooner or later we still have to fight the Japanese Invaders. We can’t fall behind on shoulder-mounted cannons and jumping mines.
“Send this pot to Headquarters at the fastest speed,” Zhang Wanhe called someone over. “The first rice cooked in this pot must be eaten by the Headquarters leader first.”
“Yes, Factory Director.” Someone immediately took the pot to Headquarters.
After the pot was sent to Headquarters, Zhang Wanhe came to Li Muzhi’s side.
Li Muzhi had just assembled twenty jumping mine sample rounds and handed them to Kong Jie: “Regiment Commander Kong, go test the killing effect of these jumping mines.”
Normally, these jumping mines jump to a height of one or two meters after being triggered and then explode.
But that is the standard height.
Japanese Invaders are generally short, so Li Muzhi also lowered the height of these jumping mines accordingly.
To inflict maximum damage on the lower bodies of Japanese Invaders as much as possible, making them lose mobility while also saving some fuel for us.
“Yes, Factory Director Li.” Kong Jie was extremely excited and had people move the twenty jumping mine sample rounds away.
Kong Jie had already heard Li Muzhi explain that these are mines that jump into the air and explode when stepped on.
With 360-degree no-dead-angle killing in the air, Kong Jie was really looking forward to it.
Testing this thing is also easy.
We just go out, find a group of enemies, pretend to retreat in defeat, and lure them to chase.
“That… Factory Director Li, when will the sample for this shoulder-mounted cannon be ready?” Comrade Kong Jie took the jumping mine samples but didn’t leave.
No choice.
With this shoulder-mounted cannon, we didn’t provide timely updates to the Brigade Commander, and he gave us a scolding.
Now, Old Kong has learned to be smart.
He is constantly paying attention to the progress of the shoulder-mounted cannon.
“Regiment Commander Kong, why are you in such a hurry? Test the jumping mines successfully first,” Li Muzhi waved his hand.
Li Muzhi had already put the workers on the rocket launcher.
But the biggest key is still the rockets.
Li Muzhi had already asked Li Yunlong and others for combat data. There are still some details on the rockets that need optimization.
So Li Muzhi still needs some time to perfect it!
“Alright.” Kong Jie then withdrew.
“Xiao Li, why did you give Kong Jie so many jumping mines? For testing, ten or eight would be enough,” Zhang Wanhe said after seeing Li Muzhi give Kong Jie twenty jumping mines for testing.
Zhang Wanhe had already seen the preliminary test of the jumping mine.
When stepped on, it really jumps up from the soil by itself.
Of course, the test Zhang Wanhe saw was using soil as explosives.
The jumping mine can jump up but won’t explode.
In Zhang Wanhe’s view, our Arsenal’s preliminary test has no problem.
The battlefield test will definitely have no problem either, since our explosives can explode normally. There’s no need to give Kong Jie so many jumping mines.
Saving half is possible.
“Heh.” Facing Old Zhang’s stinginess, Li Muzhi chuckled and said, “Giving Regiment Commander Kong more jumping mines means more data, which is always better.”
Li Muzhi doesn’t know the battlefield situation. What if Kong Jie lures out a lot more Japanese Invaders? Having more jumping mines would also help Regiment Commander Kong escape.
“Fine, I can’t argue with you.” Zhang Wanhe didn’t dwell on the topic with Li Muzhi and asked, “When exactly will this shoulder-mounted cannon be ready?”
Now, not only the combat troops, but even Headquarters is extremely concerned about this weapon.
Just a short while ago, the Headquarters leader was still asking Zhang Wanhe.
From the Headquarters leader’s words, Zhang Wanhe also picked up some clues.
That is, the Japanese Invaders’ tank regiment is now particularly arrogant on the battlefield. The Direct Line Army and Jin Sui Army have been beaten several times.
Now, we are in a united front, with gun muzzles aimed outward together.
Seeing the Japanese Invaders so rampant while our troops don’t help out, even Old Zhang, as Head of Logistics, feels it’s a bit inappropriate.
“Minister Zhang, give me a bit more time.” Li Muzhi couldn’t give an exact answer either.
After all, he knows the battlefield significance of the rocket launcher is extraordinary.
The sooner it’s ready, the sooner it can be supplied to combat troops, the sooner we can deal with the Japanese Invaders’ mechanized troops. Whether for us or friendly forces, everyone will have it much easier.
But these detail issues really can’t be sloppy.
Although the rocket launcher is effective on the battlefield, it has drawbacks.
The rockets leave a long tail flame trajectory in the air, which exposes the gunner’s position.
So Li Muzhi must ensure every rocket launcher is top-notch.
Launching must not have issues.
As long as enemies are eliminated, the position exposure problem will be well solved.
If the rockets fail and enemies aren’t eliminated in time, with the gunner position exposed, even immediate relocation makes retaliation strikes very likely.
“How much more time exactly? How many days?” Zhang Wanhe asked, then explained, “I’m not rushing you. It’s just that Headquarters can’t wait. They say the Japanese Invaders’ mechanized troops are too rampant. The Direct Line Army and Jin Sui Army are under great pressure. If we keep not attacking, whether Officer Yan or The Bald One in Shancheng, they will attack us in public opinion for fighting without engaging.”
“One week.” Li Muzhi replied, “Complete assembly and testing within one week, and equip combat troops.”
“Alright, I’ll report that to the Headquarters leader.” Zhang Wanhe nodded immediately upon getting a specific time.
In one week, the Japanese Invaders should be at the end of their strength.
According to the Headquarters leader, although they fight fiercely against Jin Sui Army and Direct Line Army, their ammunition supply is not smooth, and they haven’t gotten much supplies.
By then, our troops can take advantage with shoulder-mounted cannons and pick up easy gains.
“Minister Zhang, Factory Director Li, Regimental Commander Gao is visiting.” Someone came to report at this time.
“Xiao Li, keep working here. I’ll go greet him.” Zhang Wanhe immediately said to Li Muzhi.
As long as Zhang Wanhe is in the Arsenal, he receives all visitors for Li Muzhi.
In short, avoid delaying Li Muzhi’s time as much as possible so he can focus on developing new weapons.
“Good, give my regards to Regimental Commander Gao.” Li Muzhi nodded and continued working on the rocket details.
Zhang Wanhe then went to the reception room, where Gao Liujin was already fidgeting.
Seeing Zhang Wanhe come out, Gao Liujin quickly asked, “Minister Zhang, where is Factory Director Li? Why hasn’t he come out?”
Gao Liujin was really anxious.
Although the Hell Cannon shells were sent to him, now!
The Japanese Invaders’ mechanized troops have brought in another one. Ueno no Mura’s mechanized troops have also been replenished with war vehicles.
That means now Japanese Invaders have two mechanized troops cooperating with infantry to show off on the battlefield!
Although the Hell Cannon is powerful, its mobility still can’t match the Japanese Invaders’ mechanized troops.
So Gao Liujin is eager to get this shoulder-mounted cannon.
As long as we can curb the Japanese Invaders’ mechanized troops, we can immediately start robbing the military train.
“Regimental Commander Gao, Factory Director Li is very busy now, working on the shoulder-mounted cannon. His time is precious,” Zhang Wanhe said sternly. “In the future, when you have nothing to do, try not to disturb him.”
“Minister Zhang, don’t you want to rob the Japanese military train sooner?” Gao Liujin countered.
“Of course I do, but the shoulder-mounted cannon isn’t ready yet. Being anxious won’t help,” Zhang Wanhe replied.
On Zhang Wanhe’s side, the transportation team is all prepared.
Li Muzhi’s disassembly team is also prepared.
Now, everything is ready except for the shoulder-mounted cannon!
“How much longer do we have to wait?” Gao Liujin scratched his head.
“One week.”
“That long?” Gao Liujin widened his eyes. “That’s too long.”
“Regimental Commander Gao, as the saying goes, good food is not afraid of being late.” Zhang Wanhe comforted him. “When the shoulder-mounted cannon comes out, it will be a sharp sword unsheathed. Go back and train your troops. Headquarters has new documents coming down. You should prepare in advance.”
“What new documents?” Gao Liujin asked.
“The Headquarters leader said that when the shoulder-mounted cannons are distributed to combat troops, not a single one can be captured by Japanese Invaders,” Zhang Wanhe said seriously. “If anyone loses one on the battlefield and it’s captured by Japanese Invaders, even the regiment commander will be relieved of duty.”
“That serious?” Gao Liujin’s expression tightened.
Losing one shoulder-mounted cannon means the regiment commander is relieved of duty. That’s too harsh a punishment.
“Nonsense!” Zhang Wanhe said solemnly. “The Japanese Invaders’ military industry is stronger than ours. If they capture a shoulder-mounted cannon and produce it, using it against us, think about the pressure it would add!”
Their grenade launcher mortar already puts a lot of pressure on our troops.
If they also get shoulder-mounted cannons, it would be adding insult to injury for the troops!
“That’s true.” Gao Liujin nodded. This good thing indeed cannot fall into Japanese Invaders’ hands.
To put it bluntly, even if the whole regiment is wiped out.
We must use explosives to completely destroy the shoulder-mounted cannon in advance, not even leaving cannon slag for Japanese Invaders.
“So, Regimental Commander Gao, go back and make the corresponding preparations.”
“Minister Zhang, sorry to disturb you. I’ll come back in a week.” Gao Liujin took his leave.
“Good.”
……
