War of Resistance: Glory of the Beasts

Chapter 388 Growth has a price

Shock and astonishment are Xu Chaoyang's respect for the Four Crossings of the Chishui River. In this battle, even if he, a man who has experienced life and death several times on the battlefield, were to fight according to the historical trajectory, he might not be able to achieve such an effect. A slight wrong step would lead to a dead end, and a complete loss.

Fortunately, this is not the problem Xu Chaoyang needs to face. What he needs to face is the last problem of Dagu Shipyard - copper.

The Spring Festival of that year was on February 2th, which was when the Four Crossings of the Chishui River was in full swing. At this time, Dagu Shipyard stopped work on the pretext of the Spring Festival.

At this moment, the progress of Dagu Shipyard has reached the point where it has completely copied fifty MG30 light machine guns. In other words, this production line is completely mature and can be fully mass-produced...

But the bullets were useless because there was no copper.

Xu Chaoyang watched helplessly as the copper mine buried underground in Hebei Province was unable to move its source. Every day, he was worried as he saw reports from the workshop urging for raw materials being placed on his desk.

There are copper mines in Hebei Province, which is next to Beijing and close to Baoding.

Baoding has not fallen yet. It fell on the 78th day after the July Incident, which means it is still a full two and a half years from now!
But can he move?

Right now the 29th Army and the Peking Military Branch are in a stalemate. If Xu Chaoyang touches the mines in Yuanyuan County at this time, it would be overestimating his own capabilities. Besides, this is definitely not the way to do it!

Xu Chaoyang squinted his eyes and pondered carefully in his office. After pondering for a long time, he walked out of the office and went to Lao Yang's office next door to ask, "Lao Yang, can we send the 50 MG30s that our factory has just copied to the 29th Army's base in Beiping?"

When Yang Jingyu heard this, he first glanced at Xu Chaoyang with surprise, and then said, "Who are you trying to trick again?"

He's used to it!
"Go away!" Xu Chaoyang was quite unhappy: "Am I that person? What do you take me for?"

Yang Jingyu said slowly, "Don't I know you? From the day I met you, you've been a man who won't give up until you get the rabbit. You can exchange a piece of paper in broad daylight for a regiment-affiliated battalion. This time you're offering fifty light machine guns. I won't believe you if you don't get a mountain of gold in return!"

"Do you agree?" Xu Chaoyang looked at him and asked.

"I absolutely don't agree with others doing this, do you?"

"Tell me what you want to do first."

Xu Chaoyang grabbed Yang Jingyu's teacup and drank two sips without complaining about who was dirty and who was clean. He cleared his throat and said, "Didn't we hack into a mineral company in Chahar before?"

"Don't be so selfish at this time!" Yang Jingyu rolled his eyes at him: "Why don't you take me with you when you have something good to do?"

Xu Chaoyang ignored him and continued, "I've read the exploration report of that company. They once discovered a copper mine in Yuanyuan County, Baoding, but they couldn't determine the exact location, so they didn't invest a lot of money in exploration..."

Anyway, the mining company was gone, and even the foreigner's house was burned down by a fire, so Xu Chaoyang could make up whatever he wanted. The most important thing is that this copper mine is really not easy to explore. It took our country seven years of exploration to determine the ore deposit buried 35 meters to 1500 meters deep, and the total area is only 0.37 square kilometers. Don't underestimate this small 0.37 square kilometers. This place contains nearly 50 tons of copper, and there are also a lot of molybdenum, iron, zinc, gold and other metals attached to the ore deposit.

Before doing this, the only thing that worried Xu Chaoyang was what would happen if the mine fell into the hands of the Japanese... However, in the current situation of urgent shortage of copper mines, he no longer had the time to consider so many things. He could only use the large-scale mining industry established in 94 to compensate for the hardships of this era.

"Can we take this mine into our own hands?"

This was Yang Jingyu’s first thought.

Xu Chaoyang shook his head: "This is the reason why I sent fifty newly-made MG30s to the 29th Army. If we don't send this batch of machine guns, Old Song will never remember that we are still short of copper. Only if we send this stuff over, the bullets will be insufficient, and he will be as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. It will be useful to write a 'petition' to him."

"But we still can't take this mine into our own hands."

Yang Jingyu glanced at him and asked, "Why?"

"Why? We have already occupied the Dagu Shipyard and we also control the Jingxing Coal Mine. Under this circumstance, even if you discovered a copper mine, at best we would reward you with real money. How can we let you take it all?"

Xu Chaoyang said unwillingly: "However, fortunately, what we lack is only copper. Even if Song Laoding mines the copper, a large amount of copper will have to be sent to us. By then, we will not have the risk of taking more than we deserve, and we can still get the most affordable share. After all, the arsenal is here."

He has started to get things done after working with Deputy Director Li. Although there are still some flaws in the way he does things, the ultimate goal can be achieved.

Yang Jingyu was looking at Xu Chaoyang in the office, and then recalled Xu Chaoyang charging head-on at the armored vehicle in Tailai County. He sighed, "These troubled times really test people." Then he leaned back in his chair.

Only by following their footsteps can you understand how this group of people have become what they are today.

Isn't it true? The brave Xu Chaoyang is gone. He has already learned to use the roundabout tactic of "donating guns" to "exchange for copper".

But when he really thinks about it, Yang Jingyu still feels that he likes the Xu Chaoyang who laughed and scolded in the mountains more. At least that Xu Chaoyang was simpler.

"Okay, let's do it this way." Yang Jingyu sat up straight. "I'll handle the application with my hometown. You send someone to deliver the gun first. It's a mess over there right now. We don't have to wait until a certain time to get back to them."

The Battle of Xiangjiang, the Four Crossings of the Chishui River, and the Long March reduced our army from more than 80,000 people to only 7,000 or 8,000 people by the time we arrived at the base. However, these 7,000 or 8,000 people created a bustling northern Shaanxi and a Yan'an that people longed for.

Only by experiencing these things, or seeing them with one's own eyes, can one understand what those people sacrificed for. At this moment, Xu Chaoyang truly believed that those people hoped that there would be quiet mountains and rivers, peaceful spring and autumn in our lives. They also hoped that all of this would be better than the mountains and rivers they had seen through untold hardships. They also hoped that in a peaceful world, there would be poetry and wine, and that they could visit those who had fallen... the hills that they had never climbed.

Xu Chaoyang smiled and looked at Yang Jingyu and smiled.

(End of this chapter)