Anti-Japanese War, weapons designer at Fengtian Arsenal

Li Qinwu moved his lips and swallowed back the nonsense he had said.

The island space is the collective property of him and his clones. Whether for them or for himself, it must be kept secret.

But he felt a little guilty when he thought about hiding the secret from this old man who was both his teacher and his father.

In the end, Li Qinwu could only look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, with his hands behind his back, and said in a bleak tone: "Master, I am a middle-aged hero, and I also want to do something to establish my heart for the world and my destiny for the people. What is that unique skill and what is that thing?"

The old fireman's face was full of black lines.

"It is to carry on the lost knowledge of the ancient sages and to bring peace to the world for eternity. If you can't recite it, don't recite it. It's shameful to put a green onion in a pig's nose to pretend to be an elephant.

You are still a middle-aged hero, just stay here. You are just a small director, or a humble office with only two people. Do you still want to do big things? Forget it!"

The two chatted for a while and the atmosphere eased. The old man pulled Li Qinwu into the workshop office, opened the safe in the corner, and took out a gun wrapped in oil paper.

The old fireman removed the oil paper, revealing an ugly-looking submachine gun, which was the Sten submachine gun that Li Qinwu had improved before he left.

"No, I made the submachine gun you designed before you left. I also tested it with live ammunition. It's OK, but the firing rate is too slow, and the structure is too exposed, so it's easy for sand to get in and jam. Also, the safety device is too crude and doesn't look safe."

Li Qinwu ignored Lao Huotou's complaints, took the submachine gun and inspected it. It felt very light, probably less than 3 kilograms.

This gun has been upgraded and modified, and its ergonomics are much better than the original. The magazine well can be used as the front grip, the wooden buttstock is very solid against the shoulder, and the pistol grip is also very comfortable. He doesn't need to go to the shooting range to know that this gun is easy to control when firing automatically.

As for the shortcomings mentioned by Lao Huotou, it was entirely because he was standing on the standpoint of designing a qualified gun. However, Li Qinwu designed this gun for cost-effectiveness. In the face of the cost of 25 oceans, all shortcomings are insignificant.

Now that Li Qinwu has mastered the ceramic steel technology, he feels that the cost can be further reduced. For example, cylindrical gun cases, pistol grips, magazine wells, etc. can all be made of ceramic steel. The price could probably be reduced to less than 20 dollars.

As for the gun components and barrels, traditional materials should still be used. These components are often rubbed during the shooting process, and ceramic steel is prone to accidents.

The old fireman leaned back in his chair, took out his pipe, lit it and took a puff.

"Young man, I can guess why you made this gun. It's cheap. I felt it when I made it. The cylindrical gun body is easy to process. I asked the military kettle factory to modify the machine, and it can press out dozens of them in one minute.

Although this gun is a bit crude in my opinion, if it is put into production, it is quite suitable for our country's situation. "

Li Qinwu put down his submachine gun and gave Lao Huotou a thumbs up.

"As expected of you, Master. You have a very sharp eye. You can tell what I am thinking just by looking at the gun."

The old man put on a look of disapproval and continued, "Young man, today Commander Li Xiaoshan happened to come to the arsenal again, accompanied by Director Huang. Last time you said in front of Commander Li Xiaoshan that you could make a submachine gun cheaper than a rifle. You made a big promise, and now you have to show your stuff to him."

Li Qinwu thought it was a good idea, so he asked Li Xiaoshan, a soldier, to test the gun, and then discussed production with Director Huang.

He sat down as soon as he thought of it. He picked up the submachine gun and went to the shooting range with Lao Huotou. On the way, Li Qinwu asked, "Master, why did Captain Li come to the arsenal this time?"

"What else can we do? We're receiving a batch of new weapons. We're taking one out of 10 guns for target practice and inspection. Isn't that the sound of gunfire coming from the shooting range?"

The two soon arrived at the entrance of the shooting range. When Li Qinwu was about to push the door open, the old man stopped him and whispered, "Young man, I don't think Director Huang will arrange a production line for your gun. You should be mentally prepared."

Li Qinwu was stunned.

"Huh? Why?"

The old man had a meaningful look on his face.

"Young man, you know guns but not people. Director Huang is a businessman. Do you understand what a businessman is?"

Li Qinwu's mind was full of guns, and he didn't understand what it meant for a while, but when he entered the shooting range and introduced the new weapons to Factory Director Li Xiaoshan Huang, he understood.

Both of them practiced shooting under the guidance of Li Qinwu. Regiment Commander Li Xiaoshan was amazed and looked at the gun over and over again.

"This gun is really good. The price is only 26 dollars? I didn't expect there is such a cheap submachine gun. Director Li, you are really a talent! How much automatic firepower can this equip the party and state troops with!

Director Huang, look at this gun. When will production be put on the agenda? By then, our military will probably have to purchase hundreds of thousands of them!"

Li Xiaoshan's face was full of joy, and he couldn't wait to equip the army with a large number of automatic weapons. But compared with his excitement, Director Huang said nothing.

Li Qinwu looked at Director Huang in confusion, thinking, what are you thinking about? You are just standing there without saying anything, and people are asking you.

When Director Huang saw the two men looking at him, he coughed, unbuttoned a button on his collar, and looked very uncomfortable.

"You two, the production schedule for this gun will have to be postponed a little. Director Li, you also said that a stamping machine is needed to make this gun, but the stamping machines in our factory are fully booked. It is too expensive to buy a new stamping machine, and it has to be shipped from Europe and the United States. It will probably take a year or two.

Moreover, producing new guns requires training new workers and familiarizing them with new production processes, which is really not worth it. It is better to produce existing guns."

Regimental Commander Li Xiaoshan was not satisfied with this explanation. He was still hoping to set up a submachine gun squad in his company. Why was it rejected so suddenly?

Director Huang didn't dare to offend the military representative, so he complained to Captain Li Xiaoshan, saying how expensive the stamping machines were, how difficult it was to train the workers, and that it was impossible for the cost of setting up a production line to be less than 26 oceans after all the effort.

His words really fooled Li Xiaoshan, who didn't understand the technology, and he thought that producing this submachine gun was really that difficult. Director Huang even made promises to Li Xiaoshan, saying that he would report this to the top management and put the production of submachine guns on schedule within the next two to three years.

Captain Li Xiaoshan didn't understand the production process, so he believed it. It happened that the guns he received had been tested, so he took the guns and left.

Director Huang looked at Li Qinwu with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Is Director Li well? Come on, I have to treat Director Li to a good meal to get rid of the bad luck!"

The two of them went to the Arsenal's small kitchen to have a good meal. After the dishes were served, Director Huang began to complain, saying that the factory was not easy, the efficiency was not good, and he had to support workers. Between the lines, there were two words filled in: business.

When Li Qinwu came down from the table, it was already dark. Looking at the dark arsenal, he sighed. It was the first time he saw a product not being produced because it was too cheap.

"Businessman, businessman."

Li Qinwu shook his head and walked into the darkness.