Chapter 56: This Is Playing A Bit Too Big
As soon as the Brigade Commander left, Lao Lu immediately smiled at Li Muzhi, introducing himself: “I’m Lao Lu. This must be the new Factory Director of the Arsenal, Li Muzhi, right?”
“Hello, Lao Lu. I’m Li Muzhi.” Li Muzhi quickly responded.
“I heard from Lao Fan at Headquarters that the new Factory Director of the Arsenal, Li Muzhi, is an amazing talent who made cannons. I happened to have some free time today, so I came over to take a look.” Lao Lu smiled kindly. “Li Muzhi, I didn’t interrupt your work, did I?”
Zhang Wanhe thought to himself on the side: You came at just the right time, cutting off Brigade Commander Chen.
However, since it’s internal matters of the combat troops, this Head of Logistics won’t get involved.
Regardless of whether this Lao Lu just happened to have time or came on purpose, in any case, the remaining cannons were definitely taken by him.
The subsequent four cannons supplied to division-level troops were just right.
“No, welcome, Comrade Lao Lu.” Li Muzhi smiled and responded. “Do you want to visit the Arsenal now?”
“No, no, I just came to take a look.” Lao Lu waved his hand, smiling. “Now that I’ve met you, I’ll head back. The Arsenal’s production is very important and can’t be casually delayed.”
“Lao Lu, let me see you off.” Li Muzhi wanted to proactively escort him.
“No need, no need to see me off. I have legs.” Lao Lu waved his hand and politely declined, then turned to Zhang Wanhe: “Minister Zhang, how many cannons are left for the 386 Brigade to pick up?”
“Four, none have been made yet.” Zhang Wanhe answered. The fourth one wasn’t made yet; three thousand jin of sugar could be exchanged for three, adding up to four in total.
“Once these four cannons are made, send someone to deliver them to our Division Headquarters.” Lao Lu said happily to Zhang Wanhe.
Four Hell Cannons, hehe, that would definitely make the other two divisions green with envy.
“Sure, no problem. I can personally deliver them to you then.” Zhang Wanhe quickly agreed.
“Li Muzhi, if you need any help in the future, just tell me.” Lao Lu mounted his horse and still said seriously to Li Muzhi.
“Yes, Lao Lu.” Li Muzhi nodded.
Lao Lu was like a gust of wind, coming fast and leaving fast.
Watching Lao Lu’s back disappear, Zhang Wanhe suddenly remembered something and immediately asked Li Muzhi: “Li Muzhi, did you notify this Lao Lu?”
“Minister Zhang, you can’t just say things like that.” Li Muzhi said righteously. “Could I foresee the future? Could I predict that the 386 Brigade would send us over three thousand jin of sugar? Besides, I don’t even know Lao Lu.”
“That’s true.” Zhang Wanhe nodded. It seemed he had misunderstood Li Muzhi.
In fact, Zhang Wanhe’s suspicion was not without reason.
The reason Li Muzhi didn’t mind the 386 Brigade taking more cannons was that he knew there was Division Headquarters above Brigade Commander Chen.
The 386 Brigade couldn’t monopolize all the Hell Cannons.
“Hurry, hurry, Lao He, move all the sugar inside right away and speed up production of Hell Cannon Shells.” Zhang Wanhe shouted excitedly at Workshop Director Lao He.
“Minister Zhang, I’m the Workshop Director, not a porter.” Though Lao He said this, his emotions showed absolutely no complaint.
Being able to continue making Hell Cannon Shells was the most meaningful thing!
Lao He led the workers to quickly move the sugar inside. Zhang Wanhe said to Li Muzhi: “Li Muzhi, rest well if you’re tired. Lao He and the others know how to make the shells; you don’t need to watch every moment.”
“I know.” Li Muzhi nodded and said to Zhang Wanhe: “Minister Zhang, there’s something at the Arsenal now that still needs you to prepare in advance.”
“What trouble? I already said, as long as the Arsenal’s military industry production needs it, I’ll unconditionally meet your requests.” Zhang Wanhe quickly agreed and asked, “What’s the matter? Do you want me to pick stars from the sky or fish the moon from the water?”
“Hehe.” Li Muzhi chuckled and shook his head. “Minister Zhang, you’re really humorous. I’m not asking you to pick stars or fish the moon, but to prepare in advance for the Arsenal’s power issue. Without solving the power, we can’t make conventional shells.”
“Tell me, how do you want me to cooperate?” Zhang Wanhe’s expression was extremely serious.
Although Zhang Wanhe didn’t understand military industry manufacturing, he knew that power was the foundation of military industry.
The Arsenal’s current generator had fuel now, but its power was still too small.
“Go borrow workers from the other arsenals—all the workers who know how to disassemble, bring them all, and also bring as many disassembly tools as possible.” Li Muzhi said.
The Eighth Route Army had more than just the Border Region Arsenal; there were other arsenals as well.
“Borrow these?” Zhang Wanhe looked at Li Muzhi in confusion. “Borrowing people and tools—I don’t see how this relates to upgrading our Border Region Arsenal’s power.”
“Minister Zhang, to be straightforward, I’m planning to modify a Japanese Locomotive into power for our Arsenal.” Li Muzhi laid his cards on the table.
Trains have very strong carrying capacity, mainly because the locomotive provides sufficient power.
So, using a Japanese Locomotive to modify into power for the Arsenal was the most suitable.
This locomotive doesn’t burn oil or electricity, but coal.
Shanxi Province has plenty of coal, so that’s why he had Kong Jie dig coal on the spot in advance to stockpile fuel.
“Li Muzhi, what did you say? Modify a Japanese Locomotive into power for the Arsenal?!!” Zhang Wanhe’s eyes instantly widened like the moon in the sky, utterly shocked.
Earlier, Li Muzhi had said that once the Hell Cannon Shells were made, he would work on power.
He had thought he would have the combat troops raid enemy arsenals for generators, but he hadn’t expected him to modify a Japanese Locomotive.
And he had prepared disassembly workers and tools in advance.
This meant Li Muzhi planned to have the combat troops rob a Japanese train!
My goodness, this is playing big.
Li Muzhi explained to Zhang Wanhe: “Minister Zhang, this power is like a person’s strength. If the strength isn’t great, you can’t carry heavy things. If the strength is great, you can carry heavy loads. A Japanese Locomotive can pull a dozen fully loaded carriages, so such powerful output is the most suitable.”
Faced with Li Muzhi’s explanation, Zhang Wanhe still said: “I’m not questioning whether modifying the Japanese Locomotive into power works; I’m just thinking, how easy is it to rob a train and bring it back?”
“Minister Zhang, look at you, you’re overthinking it.” Li Muzhi laughed. “Different trades have their specialties! I’m the Factory Director of the Arsenal; I mainly handle making weapons, ammunition, and keeping the Arsenal running. You mainly ensure logistics. As for seizing the locomotive, that’s a combat mission for the combat troops—we don’t need to worry about that. Right?”
