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

Chapter 83: Big Bet

Border Region Arsenal

The brigade commander left with Li Yunlong and Ding Wei. Li Muzhi said to Zhang Wanhe, "Minister Zhang, although the combat troops are going to seize the locomotive, the transport team will still be under a lot of pressure when the locomotive is brought back. You need to prepare more people and transport vehicles for the transport team."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Zhang Wanhe nodded emphatically.

We have a good foundation among the masses, so setting up a transportation team is nothing special.

We were worried that if we didn't make enough money from robbing the Japanese train, the transport team would be left with no manpower... Oh, no way!

If there's no more profit on the train, there's still some on the railway.

Even if the rails are dismantled, the iron sleepers can be brought back; the transport team will never have any spare manpower.

"Minister Zhang, I'll get back to work now." Li Muzhi showed the small notebook in his hand and said, "The shell test data is back, I need to take a good look at it."

"Okay, okay, you're busy, you're busy, I'll go get busy too." Zhang Wanhe nodded and left.

Li Muzhi returned to his office.

After carefully reviewing the test data of the four new shells, I confirmed that there were no problems.

"Old He." Li Muzhi called Old He over and instructed, "The test data for the new Hell Cannon shells is fine. Produce the cannon shells at full capacity according to the revised data."

"Yes, Factory Director." The old man rubbed his hands together, eager to get started.

After instructing Lao He to oversee the production of new artillery shells, Li Muzhi went to several key personnel, who were still diligently familiarizing themselves with the locomotive's structural diagrams.

Seeing Li Muzhi approach, several key personnel stopped and looked at him, saying, "Director Li, there's another question."

"What's the problem?" Li Muzhi asked.

"Even if we gather tools from all the arsenals, it will probably still be a bit short," a key member said.

“That’s alright. The 386th Brigade just delivered a batch of scrap metal. We can quickly select from it and process it,” Li Muzhi said.

“Really? That’s great. Once our backup technicians arrive, we can have them make the changes as soon as possible,” the group said.

They were just the leaders who arrived first; a large number of technical personnel were still behind.

"Ok, Ok."

……

Japanese Military Police in Heyuan

"Captain, the commanders of the Kuroshima and Ueno regiments have arrived," a trusted aide reported to Fujita Ichiji.

Fujita Ichiji immediately went out to greet them: "Commander Kuroshima, Commander Ueno, thank you for your hard work."

Given the repeated attacks by the Eighth Route Army on Heyuan County, they practically treated it like a public toilet.

Therefore, Fujita Ichiji ordered the encirclement and suppression troops to be stationed in Heyuan County.

Firstly, it can prevent Heyuan County from being humiliated by the Eighth Route Army again!

Secondly, it also provides some protection for one's own safety.

Thirdly, Fujita Ichiji's bait is about to be cast, and the encirclement and suppression forces are stationed in Heyuan County, forming an ambush that is closest to them.

Kuroshima Morita and Ueno no Mura's troops were fast, so they arrived first. The 22nd Regiment was an infantry unit and would arrive a day later.

"Captain Fujita, have you found any clues about the Eighth Route Army?" Kuroshima Morita and Ueno no Mura asked, their voices filled with annoyance.

They got into a fight with Chu Yunfei, and both of them suffered a significant loss.

Now that I've calmed down and thought about it, damn it, we fell for the Eighth Route Army's treacherous scheme!
The Eighth Route Army deliberately walked along the edge of Chu Yunfei's defense zone, intentionally tripping them up.

“Gentlemen, please calm down,” Fujita Ichiji said soothingly. “Where the Eighth Route Army is right now is not important. What’s important is that I have a way to lure them out. At that time, I hope you can…” Before Fujita Ichiji could finish speaking, Kuroshima Morita interrupted him angrily: “What way do you have to lure them out?”

Kuroshima Morita was genuinely angry.

The Eighth Route Army really went too far. I could understand if you looted rice, flour, oil, and salt.

But you even take horse feed, that's really not very classy!

“I’ve already had people preparing the bait,” Fujita Ichiji explained. “Once Kasahara-kun’s troops arrive, the bait can be deployed. Then, your three regiments can set up an ambush, and you won’t have to worry about not catching any fish.”

"Yoshi." Kuroshima Morita's emotions stabilized a bit. "As long as we can lure these Eighth Route Army soldiers out, we can wash away the shame of being played!"

I'm so tired of running around, I don't want to keep going back and forth, I just want a one-time solution.

Uenomura looked at Fujita Ichiji: "What are the chances that the Eighth Route Army will take advantage of this?"

"One hundred percent!" Fujita Ichiji said confidently.

"Is it that big?" Kuroshima Morita and Ueno no Mura asked, still with some skepticism.

Nothing on this battlefield is absolutely certain.

Fujita Ichiji, you say the Eighth Route Army will definitely take the bait? Isn't that a bit too confident?

Have you forgotten that you were just tricked by the Eighth Route Army?

Kuroshima Morita asked suspiciously, "What is this bait?"

"The Eighth Route Army's arsenal can only produce bullets that can be reloaded, which means they don't have the ability to manufacture bullets themselves..." Fujita Ichiji didn't finish his sentence.

Kuroshima Morita's eyes widened in disbelief: "Captain Fujita, are you kidding us? Are you trying to use the bullet-producing machinery as bait?"

Uenomura was also shocked: "Aren't you afraid that this batch of things will really be lost?"

Island nations face resource shortages, and with their war machines in operation, the demand for ammunition is increasing daily.

In this context, how could machinery capable of producing bullets be easily used as bait?

“You two, I also wanted to use regular supplies as bait, but that’s not possible now.” Fujita Ichiji shook his head.

Fujita Ichiji originally envisioned that the Eighth Route Army lacked everything, and that they could use regular supplies as bait.

However, the Eighth Route Army had already looted Ping'an County, so they were essentially full and wouldn't easily ask for more food.

The Eighth Route Army knew it was dangerous outside, with three regiments lying in wait for them, so they wouldn't come out easily.

To get a well-fed but wary fish to keep biting, you have to work on the bait and bet heavily on it.

Can't bear children, can't catch wolves!
You need to let the fish know that even if there's a hook in the bait, they shouldn't hesitate to take the risk and bite.

Fujita Ichiji continued, "The Eighth Route Army isn't stupid. They won't bite easily unless we use heavy bait. As long as my bait is appealing, they'll take the risk even if they know there's danger. What do you think?"

Kuroshima Morita and Ueno no Mura looked at each other, both feeling the pressure from Fujita Ichiji.

If the pressure weren't so great, how could one so easily use bullet-producing machinery as bait?

Whoever becomes the military police captain, the situation will be difficult to manage.

We can't use the horses of a cavalry regiment or the armored vehicles of a mechanized force as bait.

A hunter can't go hunting empty-handed.

“That makes some sense.” Both Kuroshima Morita and Uenomura nodded.

(End of this chapter)