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

Chapter 88 The Officer's Knife is Delivered
Seeing Li Muzhi arrive at the workshop, Lao He quickly came over and said, "Factory manager, twenty shells have been made, twelve of them are for attacking enemy positions and eight are for casualties."

The main difference between lethal artillery shells and those made with other materials is the extra step of adding nails and iron balls, which makes them take longer to produce.

Those unfamiliar with military industry might say, "Just add iron nails and iron balls to the explosives; it won't take long."

Not also!

Iron balls and nails are not added directly to the explosives, as this would affect the combustion of the explosives.

The kinetic energy gained by the iron ball and the nail is also insufficient.

The iron beads and nails are evenly wrapped around the explosive to prevent them from affecting its intense combustion.

When the explosives detonate, the iron balls and nails can also receive sufficient energy to spread and fly in all directions.

"Let me check it." Li Muzhi nodded and personally checked each shell.

Li Muzhi was very satisfied; every shell met his requirements.

"Commander Kong, it's good that you're here. Come here for a moment." Li Muzhi looked at Kong Jie and called out to him.

"Director Li, what's the matter?" Kong Jiefeng approached Li Muzhi, his attitude polite and his face smiling.

"Twenty shells for this Hell Cannon have been made. Send someone to deliver them to your brigade headquarters," Li Muzhi instructed.

Although Li Muzhi didn't understand warfare, he was clear about it.

The 386th Brigade robbed the Japanese of so much stuff, the Japanese certainly wouldn't let it go.

Now that artillery shells have been produced, they should not be stored in warehouses but distributed to combat troops immediately.

“Okay, no problem. I’m off work right now, I’ll deliver it myself.” Kong Jie nodded readily.

Kong Jie was also very grateful to Li Muzhi for letting him leave work.

In Kong Jie's view, three days of work would earn him a cannonball from the Hell Cannon. Although Li Muzhi did not demand a certain output, he could not be lazy. He would definitely try to dig as much coal as possible.

But Li Muzhi said seriously that Kong Jie was not allowed to work overtime voluntarily.

When it's time for the new Second Regiment to leave work, they also have to do it on time, just like military workers.

In this way, the soldiers of the new Second Regiment will have time to recover, and Kong Jie will even be able to take some time to do some basic military training.

"Hmm." Li Muzhi nodded, and Kong Jie led the guards to quickly deliver the twenty shells to the brigade headquarters.

After inspecting the production of artillery shells, Li Muzhi then looked at the production of the Hell Cannon before returning to his office.

Just as I was about to take a nap, Minister Zhang from my superior arrived.

"Little Li, look what good stuff I brought." Zhang Wanhe handed Li Muzhi a long box that looked a bit like the sword case carried by ancient swordsmen.

Upon seeing this, Li Muzhi couldn't help but ask, "Minister Zhang, could there be a general's sword in here?"

“That’s right, it’s an officer’s sword.” Zhang Wanhe nodded and opened the box in front of Li Muzhi, revealing a long samurai sword that was over a meter long.

The hilt is wrapped with silk thread, and the outer side of the sash is brown, while the inner side is red.

It features decorative patterns in the shape of an M with gold thread, and the tassels are made of gold silk.

This is precisely the characteristic of a Japanese general's sword.

Li Muzhi reached out and picked up the officer's sword, then drew it from its sheath.

The blade is intact, showing no signs of combat. However, this does not diminish the blade's cold gleam and sharpness.

Although the Japanese devils were hateful, one has to admit that the quality of their knives was really good.

Li Muzhi sheathed his sword and asked, "Which unit sent this sword?"

“Commander Liu of the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division,” Zhang Wanhe replied. “They want to exchange one of their Hellfire Cannons.”

"Mm," Li Muzhi hummed in agreement, and said, "Once the Hell Cannon is finished, we'll send it over to them as soon as possible."

Remembering something, Li Muzhi asked, "Why didn't Commander Liu come in person?"

"He has something to attend to and can't get away for the time being, so he sent this officer's sword over and asked me to deliver the Hell Cannon to him as soon as possible," Zhang Wanhe explained.

"Yes, it seems Commander Liu is indeed quite busy." Li Muzhi had no doubt about this.

The Hell Cannon is so important to the combat troops that they will definitely try their best to come in person.

Commander Liu only sent someone; it seems he really couldn't spare the time.

"Little Li, you've brought this official knife here. What do you plan to do with it?" Zhang Wanhe knew that Li Muzhi probably didn't want to collect the official knife himself.

"Let's find some time to contact the Jin-Sui Army or the elite troops," Li Muzhi said. "Our military industrial capacity is weak. Let's use the general's sword to exchange for some military resources or equipment."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wanhe paused for a moment: "Little Li, the Jin-Sui Army and the direct forces aren't stupid either."

While the Japanese general's swords were valuable, military resources were even more valuable.

Whether it's Chiang Kai-shek or Commander Yan, they might not be willing.

After all, they had killed Japanese major generals and had officers' swords.

"Of course I know they're not stupid, but corruption is rampant over there, especially around Chiang Kai-shek's side. We might have a chance," Li Muzhi said confidently.

Just how corrupt was Chiang Kai-shek's side?

They've become so corrupt that they dare to resell smuggled weapons.

Corruption has even extended to the transmission of military intelligence, where bribes are now being accepted.

Corruption has led to a situation where the interests of the nation and its people are less important than one's own career advancement.

Although there are general's swords, there aren't many.

There are plenty of corrupt officials who want to take over government positions.

“Alright, then I’ll contact the Jin-Sui Army first.” Zhang Wanhe nodded. “If the Jin-Sui Army doesn’t agree, I’ll contact my own people. You can keep this knife for now and examine it at your leisure.”

"Forget it, I'm not very interested in Japanese swords." Li Muzhi waved his hand and said, "Minister Zhang, you can keep it."

Japanese swords were not actually used much on the battlefield; they were mostly used on civilians and were notorious!

“Alright, then leave it here.” Zhang Wanhe nodded and continued, “I’ve already organized nearly two thousand people for the transport team, along with over four hundred oxcarts, donkey carts, and rickshaws.”

“That’s not enough. We need to keep organizing.” Li Muzhi shook his head and said, “Besides getting the locomotive back, we also need a lot of other supplies. If the combat troops are lucky and the train is fully loaded, we’ll need even more people and tools.”

"Yes, I'll put in a little more effort and try to get six or seven thousand people and a thousand vehicles."

……

(End of this chapter)