Bright Sword: From Border Region Manufacturing to Major National Heavy Industry

Chapter 3 Hell Cannon
When the workers at the arsenal learned that they could now manufacture cannons, they were all full of enthusiasm.

When everyone in the arsenal is united, the fire can burn brightly!

Under Li Muzhi's leadership, they quickly built their first cannon.

The cannons looked simple and crude on the surface, but the entire arsenal was still buzzing with excitement.

Our arsenal can't produce bullets, but the factory director is able to lead us to overtake others and produce cannons. The factory director is amazing!

"Factory manager, this cannon is finished. We need to give it a name." A worker excitedly approached Li Muzhi, wanting to name the cannon.

"What name do you think would be good?" Li Muzhi asked the worker.

"How about we have the border region build cannons?" the worker blurted out.

"Actually, I already had a name in mind," Li Muzhi said. "This is the first cannon we've built, so the name has to be impressive. Therefore, I named it: Hell Cannon!"

"Hell Cannon?" Upon hearing this, the workers nodded in approval: "That's a powerful and resounding name! It'll send the Japanese devils to hell! No wonder he's the factory manager; he's much better at naming things than us workers."

"Factory manager, the cannon is finished! Let's hurry up and take it to the back mountain for a test firing!" Old He couldn't wait to test the cannon.

Li Muzhi glanced at Lao He: "Lao He, how many shells do we have now?"

"Ten shots," the old man replied.

“We only have ten shells. It would be a waste to take them to the back of the mountain to blast rocks,” Li Muzhi pointed out.

"Factory Director, the cannon has been built, but it definitely needs to pass a test firing before we can deliver it to the troops." What Lao He meant was that this wasn't a matter of whether it was a waste or not, but a necessary cost of testing.

"I didn't say to cancel the test firing; the cannons must be test fired. But why can't we use the pillboxes of the Japanese and traitors for the test firing? Or at the very least, we can find the house of a traitor or bully to use as a target."

"Yes, yes, yes." Upon hearing Li Muzhi's words, Lao He immediately slapped his forehead and nodded repeatedly. "Factory Director, you're right. Shells are precious, and we can't waste them even during test firings. Using the pillboxes of the Japanese and traitors for test firings is the most suitable option."

Some people couldn't help but say to Li Muzhi, "Factory Director, our arsenal is not a combat unit after all. If we take cannons to attack the Japanese and traitors' pillboxes, what will we do if the Japanese and traitors rush out?"

Li Muzhi remained calm: "It's very simple. When we go to test fire, we'll just send a combat unit along. Once the cannon test fires successfully and blows up the enemy's pillbox, the combat unit can then take over the enemy's stronghold."

"Yes, that makes sense." The man nodded. "With combat troops accompanying us, even if the artillery test firing fails, we won't have to worry about the enemy coming out..."

Before the man could finish speaking, Lao He couldn't help but kick him, yelling, "How dare you talk like that, you jinx! Shut your mouth!"

Factory Director Li led us to overtake others and build the cannon. Everyone was looking forward to a successful test launch. How could you say such a thing!

"Yes, yes, yes, I deserve to be slapped, I deserve to be slapped." The worker quickly slapped himself a few times.

"The test firing of the cannon is of great significance to our arsenal. Everyone in our arsenal should witness this historic moment," Li Muzhi said to all the staff. "So, everyone, follow me."

Old He stepped forward and said to Li Muzhi, "Factory Director, although we've developed the cannon, we don't need everyone to go for the test firing. Most of the people should stay and continue producing bullets and resuming grenade production." Immediately, someone echoed, "Factory Director, Old He is right. Bullets and grenades are also very important to our army. We should try to produce as many as possible as possible..."

"Or what!" Li Muzhi interrupted, "When the combat troops take down the enemy stronghold, won't they seize bullets, grenades, and other supplies? Sending everyone along is to bring those things back. Think about it, is moving things faster, or is producing them at home faster?"

These people were immediately stunned!
If we take over the stronghold, we can move our supplies back home, which will definitely be faster than producing at home.

I just feel like something's not right.

Aren't we an arms factory? We're supposed to be producing weapons and ammunition, so why are we acting like we're robbing people?
"Let's go." Li Muzhi waved his hand, and the workers, pulling the cannons with mules, happily set off.

……

Independent Regiment Headquarters

"Damn it, if the brigade commander hadn't found out, I wouldn't have handed over that batch of stuff to the arsenal so easily."

Li Yunlong, the commander of the Independent Regiment, cursed as he said to his deputy commander, Xing Zhiguo, "Considering the losses suffered by the arsenal and the fact that grenade production hasn't resumed yet, I only want twenty boxes of grenades, but the arsenal won't even give me that. Those people at the arsenal are just like Zhang Wanhe, all tightwads, damn stingy!"

Xing Zhiguo advised, "Commander, calm down. There's no use for those things if we keep them. They'll only be of maximum value if we hand them over to the arsenal. As for the grenades, the arsenal will definitely provide them. Let's wait a few days until their grenade production resumes."

“Old Xing, you know what’s going on. In the battle of Lijiapo, although I wiped out that kid Yamazaki, our regiment ran out of grenades. Without grenades, I’m not sure what to do. What if…” Before Li Yunlong could finish speaking, someone ran over and said, “Reporting to the regimental commander and deputy regimental commander, Director Li from the arsenal is here.”

Director Li of the arsenal?
Li Yunlong listened and couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "Isn't the director of the arsenal surnamed Luo? When did he start sharing the same surname as us, Old Li?"

“I don’t know either.” The man shook his head and then said, “He said he’s bringing grenades to our Independent Regiment.”

Are they sending grenades to our Independent Regiment?

Upon hearing this, Li Yunlong's face immediately brightened, but he was still somewhat skeptical: "Are you sure they really sent me a grenade?"

I went to the arsenal myself to ask for hand grenades, but they wouldn't give them to me, and they were so serious about it.

Now, the arsenal has proactively sent over more grenades. Isn't the arsenal doing something a bit...?

Xing Zhiguo said from the side, "Perhaps the supplies you handed over were of great help to the arsenal, so they took the initiative to send over the grenades."

"In that case, at least they still have some conscience and know that it's not easy for us old Li." Only then did Li Yunlong quickly run out.

Li Muzhi waited outside the Independent Regiment's headquarters for a short while before seeing Li Yunlong run out.

Without hair wax or hair gel, wearing a gray military uniform with a dirty collar, this is the most authentic version of Li Yunlong.

It's not like the enemy has already stormed into the command post, and you're still sitting down drinking coffee and complaining about the pretty boy who put too much sugar in his coffee.

(End of this chapter)