Chapter 187: 186, Pure Copper Bullets Go Online, 30,000 Bullets Airdropped
Negotiating bulk trade of copper ingots with the smelting plant in the United States was conducted under the name of Taishan Casino.
The long-term purchase and sales agreement was easily signed, but the first batch of copper ingots arriving by sea would take a month.
Before that, to let the client understand the quality of their own copper ingots, they had Southeast Asia dealers send a batch of low-price copper ingots for trial use.
The copper material in the bullet workshop came from these low-price copper ingots.
For this, they specially purchased a copper melting furnace. After the copper ingots were melted, they were poured into molds, cooled, then manually stamped into shape, precision-machined on a universal milling machine, fitted with primers, filled with propellant, and had bullet heads and bullet caps fixed.
After the first batch of bullets was made, they needed to be tested.
At the experimental shooting range outside the bullet workshop, two wooden human-shaped targets were set up, and workers loaded the bullets and shot.
High-speed fired bullets hit the targets, yielding results.
Penetration was medium, not as strong as steel core penetration.
Moreover, the pure copper bullet heads had a small problem.
After hitting the target, due to high-speed impact, the lead core inside the copper bullet head would separate from the copper jacket due to the impact, causing secondary damage.
In other words, after hitting a human body, the broken-out lead core would likely tumble inside the body, causing secondary tearing and remaining somewhere inside.
Of course, this was not absolute; it only happened when hitting bones. Normal hits still penetrated.
After the bullets were made, Fang Wen had Fang Shouxin contact the Red Third Army for the airdrop.
September 16.
Fang Shouxin and Shunzi set out on a long journey again.
But unlike last time, this trip had a specific destination.
After crossing several mountain ridges, they arrived at a village.
Shu Zhitao had said there was a liaison point here, marked by a branch with a special mark.
Where was that thing?
Fang Shouxin and Shunzi, along with five security team members, entered the village to search.
They were disguised as traveling merchants going from village to village, so when entering the village, they had to shout a couple of times.
One security team member shouted in the local Western Hunan dialect: “Iron pots, scissors, salt, needles and thread, coarse cloth, everything available.”
People from the village came out of their homes, gathered around to select and buy what they wanted, and the security team member dealt with them.
Taking this opportunity, Fang Shouxin and Shunzi each took one person to wander around the village.
Fang Shouxin’s side found nothing, but Shunzi had a find—his foot sank deep into a pile of cow dung.
Just as Shunzi was about to curse, he saw a branch inserted on the door of a house ahead, with three straw rings tied from thatch on the branch.
A branch with three straw rings was the liaison point password.
He quickly pulled out his foot and ran over to knock on the door.
The door opened, revealing a Miao girl who was quite pretty.
As soon as she opened the door, she smelled the cow dung on Shunzi and frowned: “If you stepped in cow dung, why come to my doorstep? Wait, I’ll get you some water to wash it.”
The Miao girl turned back, scooped water with a ladle, and washed the cow dung off Shunzi’s foot.
At this moment, Shunzi felt a strange emotion in his heart.
When the girl looked up at him, he couldn’t help but feel shy.
This scene made the nearby security team member unable to watch. “Brother Shunzi, don’t embarrass yourself. You blush just seeing a girl.”
The simple folk customs in Western Hunan had no hiding; people spoke directly. Shunzi knew this, especially seeing the girl smiling too, so he lost his shyness.
He asked the password phrase.
“Three circles, four circles, how many together?”
The Miao girl immediately became serious and replied:
“Walking in the river, picking shells, filling a full bamboo basket.”
The two said mismatched password phrases, but they matched.
One “add” above and one “shell” below made the character “He”.
It also represented the Red Third Army.
Immediately, the romantic thoughts faded, and Shunzi explained the situation in a low voice.
“Bullets are ready. Before tonight, tell us the airdrop location, time, and night markers.”
The girl responded seriously: “I need to go out and report. You stay in the village and wait for me.”
With that, she left home and the village, striding away quickly.
Watching the girl’s departing figure, Shunzi said to Fang Shouxin: “Dad, help me arrange a marriage.”
“What?” Fang Shouxin was surprised that his son had suddenly come around.
He looked at the departing figure of the girl in Miao clothing and couldn’t help but smile: “Her, right? Okay, after the airdrop, I’ll ask Shu Zhitao and see if she’s betrothed.”
Shunzi immediately beamed with joy.
Fang Shouxin said helplessly: “Don’t get too happy too soon, kid. If she’s engaged, it’s got nothing to do with you. Even if not, she has to like you too.”
These words were useless to Shunzi; once he liked her, he was set on her unwaveringly.
And so, the disguised traveling merchants Fang Shouxin and his group waited until the afternoon.
At three in the afternoon, the Miao girl who had run several hours through the mountains returned with Shu Zhitao.
They held a meeting at the girl’s home.
Shunzi took this chance to enter the girl’s home and see what her family was like.
It was a completely wooden wooden house. The front was probably the main room, and the right side was a woodshed for dry firewood.
The left side was actually two stories; the lower level held miscellaneous items—what was upstairs?
Shunzi saw his father and Shu Zhitao enter the main room for talks and wanted to go upstairs to check.
But he was stopped by the Miao girl.
“That’s my room. What are you going up there for?”
So, this was the Miao girl’s boudoir.
Shunzi felt a bit embarrassed but mustered courage and replied: “I’m not going up then.”
The girl was straightforward: “If you want to see, I’ll show you.”
“No, no, I don’t want to see.”
“Then tell me about things outside the mountains. I heard your family works at the airport. What does the airport do?”
Speaking of the airport, Fang Shun’s words flowed, and the two sat on the stairs, chatting.
Yangon Airport.
Fang Wen waited in his room for the call back from Western Hunan.
At every commercial airport invested in by Taishan Airlines Investment, there was such a room, the general manager’s private space.
Many had not been used yet, but they were frequently cleaned to keep them neat and tidy.
This was a requirement from General Manager’s wife Kuang Mingzhu, and everyone agreed it should be so.
A few minutes later, the appointed time arrived, and radio waves appeared on schedule.
Fang Wen recorded the Morse code and translated it.
【Airdrop point confirmed: 110 kilometers northwest of the airport, passing through Hefeng County and Hefeng County, mountainous area.】
【Airdrop time: Tomorrow night at 2 a.m., circular torch circle as guide.】
Fang Wen took out the map and plotted the night flight path based on the telegram content.
After confirming, he recalled the achievements of this period.
A total of 30,000 bullets, produced by 62 workers working in shifts day and night, taking 10 days, with a daily output of 3,000 rounds, over 300 rounds per day per machine.
Of course, this output was only the trial production stage; it should improve later.
Estimated to reach 800 rounds per machine, averaging 30 bullets per hour.
That would be the limit.
With just this one bullet processing production line, a monthly output of 210,000 bullets, all given to the Red Third Army, would mean only seven rounds per person.
One could imagine how enormous the bullet consumption was across the entire Chinese battlefield.
Shaking off his thoughts, he went out to check the bullets about to be loaded.
In the ammunition workshop, all workers stopped their work and busily packed the 30,000 bullets into boxes.
All bullets had no magazine fixed at the base; they were loose in baskets.
Workers wrapped them in oiled paper, five per package, then laid these bullet packages flat in wooden boxes, 24 packages per layer, separated by cardboard after each layer, and filled with straw.
One wooden box had 8 layers, totaling 960 rounds.
30,000 bullets required 32 boxes; for the extra space, Fang Wen added some other items.
After all bullets were boxed, parachutes for airdrop were attached.
After this, the 32 ammunition boxes were loaded onto the airplane, and Fang Wen talked with Huo Duanyang before takeoff.
“You know who these bullets are for, right?”
Huo Duanyang nodded: “Fang Shouxin and his son have been going out frequently lately. I know who they’ve been seeing.”
“So what are you thinking now?” Fang Wen asked.
If Huo Duanyang didn’t go, it wouldn’t matter; he had trained several workers to simulate airdrops beforehand and could take them instead, doing some confidentiality work at most, like giving higher salaries to keep them in Yangon until after the war.
“I originally thought this world had too many injustices with no one standing up. But now I find there’s actually an army fighting for it. I want to see what changes they will bring to the world.” Huo Duanyang replied affirmatively. From his expression, Fang Wen saw some change.
Back then, he left the county town for the safety of family and country, though he knew it was impossible, he still went.
Now, he seemed to see a direction.
With this, Fang Wen no longer worried about him leaking secrets.
He smiled and patted Huo Duanyang’s shoulder: “Let’s go. During the airdrop later, follow my commands, take it slow—we have plenty of time tonight.”
The two boarded the airplane, and then f.220 flew into the sky.
The massive f.220 had only two people: Fang Wen flying, Huo Duanyang handling the airdrop.
Therefore, everything had to be planned.
During the flight to the airdrop point, Fang Wen discussed with Huo Duanyang.
“At the airdrop point, I’ll do a 1500-meter radius circling flight. During this, each time we’re about to approach the airdrop point, I’ll notify you to prepare to drop, then drop on my command.”
“Why a 1500-meter radius circle?” asked Huo Duanyang, who didn’t understand flying.
“Because for this large airplane, a 1500-meter radius circle is already the limit.” Fang Wen explained.
“I see. Last time you did circling bombing at the Great Wall, it was the same.”
“Yes, last time the barracks area was large enough for circling bombing to work. For a bombing point a few hundred meters wide, only straight-line bombing works.”
Fang Wen and Huo Duanyang chatted, and time passed quickly, but the long flight path still had no end even when talk ran out.
Then, Huo Duanyang, who hadn’t participated in the Great Wall bombing, began simulation drills.
He had to airdrop 32 ammunition boxes, and each operation couldn’t fail, so these simulations would help him avoid mistakes during the airdrop.
Just like that, over six hours passed, and they finally arrived at Xiangxi Airport.
With the augmented fuel tank still having fuel, the airplane did not stop at Xiangxi Airport for refueling but flew northwest.
The final 100-kilometer flight path took only 20 minutes.
By then, it was already 2 a.m. deep into the night.
In this mountainous area, a circular torch circle was lit, guiding the airplane’s position.
Fang Wen, in mechanical perception state, merged as one with the f.220, controlling the night bomber to approach and circle.
Before the first airdrop opportunity, he said: “Start preparing, ten seconds to drop.”
Huo Duanyang didn’t respond but placed an ammunition box on the safety pallet and pulled off the parachute binding lines.
Moments later, Fang Wen said again: “Ten seconds to drop.”
Huo Duanyang immediately pulled the bomb release lever; the safety pallet opened, the ammunition box fell, and the parachute deployed under air resistance.
With no time to see how the ammunition box landed, Huo Duanyang pulled back the bomb release lever, resetting the safety pallet.
He then placed the second ammunition box and performed the same operation.
In the 10-second drop window, six ammunition boxes were dropped, leaving Huo Duanyang very dissatisfied with his operation.
He shouted: “I can do it faster.”
Fang Wen laughed: “Alright, we’ll see your performance next round.”
The airplane continued circling, and upon returning to the drop position, the next ten-second drop began.
In the mountainous area between Laifeng, Hefeng, and Enshi, a detachment of the Red Third Army was stationed.
They had received orders to receive an airdrop.
At first, no one understood what airdrop meant.
Once understood, they didn’t dare believe it—when did the Red Army get such good treatment, enjoying airplane airdrops?
Though not quite believing, the evening arrangements were strictly followed.
They had soldiers between two mountains form a large circle, then lit torches on time to make a large torch circle.
Then they waited, looking toward the sky.
Soon, a roaring sound came from the sky.
Immediately, a soldier said: “It’s the sound of an airplane. Kuomintang airplanes flying overhead make this noise too.”
Others agreed.
“Yeah, I’ve heard it too.”
“The airplane really came.”
The regiment commander shouted: “Quiet, don’t disturb their airdrop from the sky.”
If Fang Wen heard this, he would explain it didn’t affect anything.
But at that moment, all the soldiers fell silent.
They looked up at the sky.
A huge black shadow passed over the moon.
Then something seemed to fall down.
Couldn’t see clearly, but soon under the torchlight, they saw things really floating down.
Not smashing down, but floating down, landing in the circle formed by the soldiers.
“This is the airdrop!” a soldier finally couldn’t help exclaiming.
The regiment commander quickly ordered: “Everyone stay still, keep holding the torches, don’t let them go out, and don’t break formation.”
After the slight chaos ended, everyone eagerly awaited the airdrop’s arrival.
Some landed inside the circle, some outside, even some over the other side of the mountain.
Until the roaring from the sky stopped, the regiment commander confirmed the airplane was gone, then ordered the soldiers to collect the airdrop supplies.
All thirty-two boxes were collected, and the regiment commander led the team away from there back to the hidden spot.
There, they excitedly began opening the boxes.
The wooden boxes were opened, revealing shiny yellow bullets.
“These bullets look so new.”
“Not reloaded; first time seeing bullets this bright.”
A soldier who had been a coppersmith gave his view: “Should be pure copper, and polished too—this is good stuff.”
Then the regiment commander happily counted the bullets. Since each box had the same number, he finished quickly: a total of 30,000 rounds.
Such a supplement was too timely.
But the regiment commander couldn’t keep all these bullets; he had to leave some for brother troops.
Just as he prepared to take some soldiers to transport ammunition, a soldier found something new in one of the boxes.
“Regiment commander, besides bullets, there’s other stuff here—letters, and colorful paper.”
