Anti-Japanese War, weapons designer at Fengtian Arsenal

(Thanks to Kirisame Marisa for the tip, more chapters will be added on 2/3)

Well, Director Huang is dead, and there is indeed a way to seek death. Let’s get back to the main topic, making cars.

During the Battle of Shanghai, the 19th Route Army exposed the disadvantage of having no cars. The Japanese used the Yangtze River to deploy a large number of troops to the rear of the 19th Route Army. The 19th Route Army lacked transportation capacity and could not quickly deploy troops to intercept them, resulting in the Japanese almost completing a strategic-level encirclement of the 19th Route Army.

Li Qinwu put the automobile self-production report he had obtained from the Xiaoyi Arsenal on the table and studied it with Colin.

"Let's see if this report can be successful."

The characteristic of this report is stability. First, buy cars and equipment from foreign countries, then produce parts little by little, and gradually improve the self-production of parts.

Now Li Qinwu's Julong Steel Plant is operating according to this report, such as the bearing workshop, the engine room workshop and so on.

Colin read the report and nodded.

"Well, it's a very conservative approach, and it's more suitable for your country's current situation. The main difficulty with cars is the engine and drive shaft. These fast-rotating parts require high strength, otherwise the quality and life of the car will not be high."

Li Qinwu asked: "What should we do?"

"Make alloys. You must make alloys! Although your factory is large, the level of steelmaking is only at the level of the European War. You need to upgrade your industry."

He picked up a pen and paper, wrote the names of a bunch of equipment on it, and then pushed the paper in front of Li Qinwu.

Li Qinwu took a look and saw that there were mainly hundred-ton steel-making furnaces, refining furnaces, large rolling mills, and a pile of alloy materials.

Li Qinwu silently put the paper away. He had wanted to do industrial upgrading for a long time. He couldn't stand the fact that he couldn't even produce a strong spring. Now it was time to put industrial upgrading on the agenda.

"I will have people buy these equipment, but that takes time. But what I want to ask is, can't we build a car with more ordinary materials?"

“It’s certainly possible to make cars without good materials, but the life of the car will be greatly reduced and the car will become very unreliable.

If cars are made with qualified materials, the life of a car is about 15 to 20 years. If you force your factory to manufacture with steel, the life span may be less than 3 years. What's more, some structures that are prone to wear and tear will wear out quickly. The car will break down from time to time, and I'm afraid it will have to stay in the repair shop for a few days every month."

Li Qinwu laughed and said, "Mr. Colin, don't be too ambitious. Our problem now is not the quality issue, but the issue of whether or not we have the car. Even if the quality of the car is a little worse, it is better than having no car at all.

We can first build cars of poor quality, complete the progress of 0 and 1, and then slowly improve the technology, and then use better cars to replace the old cars! "

Colin thought about it and agreed with this, so he nodded.

"It is a possible development path. The steel pressed by a rolling mill has a density that is barely enough for engine parts. If it is replaced frequently, it is not impossible.

Then Mr. Li, please prepare the venue, funds, equipment, and personnel for me. Of course, I suggest you first purchase the blueprints of a truck from a Western industrial country, so that we don't have to start from scratch. Also, I need to build a research team, so I suggest you hire a professional design team from the United States. Their design capabilities are the necessary cornerstone of automobile development."

Li Qinwu thought about it for a while and came up with a better idea.

He asked Colin to wait in the conference room, and he went out to the underground vault to get some blueprints. He put the blueprints in front of Colin and said, "You don't have to buy the blueprints. I have them here. See if you can use them."

Colin picked up the blueprint and glanced at it, then his eyes showed surprise. The blueprint showed the surveying and mapping of the Type 89 tank, Renault tank, and Japanese truck. The data was very accurate and the structure was quite complete.

But these are just three rough drawings. It is impossible to make anything with just these three drawings. There are thousands or tens of thousands of real design drawings, which can be used as reference.

"Mr. Li, these are just three concept drawings. We can't tell anything from them. We need a complete set of drawings for reference, and we also need a professional team to thoroughly understand these drawings."

Li Qinwu smiled complacently.

"I didn't say there were only these three blueprints. The remaining tens of thousands are in the safe. I can't possibly take them all out. There's no need for me to spend a lot of money to buy blueprints from others!"

"Wow! Mr. Li has a complete set of blueprints? How did you do that? Did you attack the Japanese mainland archives?"

Of course Li Qinwu did not attack the Japanese archives. All these drawings were drawn by Li Zhi and Li Hui through reverse surveying of the actual objects.

"Mr. Colin, in short, I have the drawings and reference data, and I will also provide you with the personnel. I need you to use your design experience and the process of manufacturing these parts. The factory will prepare the platform for you, just waiting for you to write your own legend."

Colin was satisfied to see that Li Qinwu was so well prepared.

"Okay Mr. Li, I will start working once the staff are in place, but I don't know how much I will be paid."

This is the issue that Colin is most concerned about. He works as a mechanical designer in the Xiaoyi Arsenal, earning 200 oceans a month, which is quite generous treatment. This is also the reason why he is unwilling to leave the Xiaoyi Arsenal and hang out with Li Qinwu.

Li Qinwu smiled and said, "Mr. Colin is a high-level talent. Julong Steel Plant will not treat you unfairly. Julong Steel Plant will pay you 300 yuan a month. If the car project you preside over is successful, I will pay you a bonus of 10 yuan, and the first type of co-production car will be named after you, the Colin freight car. Wow, Mr. Colin, you have to work hard. I am really giving you a chance to leave your name in the history of our country's automobiles!"

Colin jumped up from his chair, breathing heavily, muttering the words "Colin's car" over and over again, his eyes were a little red.

"Mr. Li... No! Boss! Right now, I want to work!

Please take me to see the blueprints. I want to work right away. I can’t wait even a minute! This is my chance to become great. I will work for you even if I don’t get paid!”

His enthusiasm surprised Li Qinwu. He didn't even want to get paid just to leave a name in history? No wonder so many bosses like to make empty promises.

But the fact that you don't want any salary is just a rumor. Colin is a little too excited now and says whatever he wants. But once he gets involved in the complicated work, his enthusiasm will wane. If you really dare not pay him, he will dare to jump ship to show you that the enthusiasm of technical personnel also needs material maintenance.