Anti-Japanese War, weapons designer at Fengtian Arsenal

Li Qinwu dawdled until 3 p.m. before going to work. If the workshop had not started production today and he had to go to see whether the first batch of guns were up to standard, he would have been too lazy to go, so as to avoid being scolded by the old man.

After locking the door, he walked on the streets of Fengtian City. He noticed that the pedestrians around him were in an inexplicable restlessness. They looked uneasy and looked around, as if something big was about to happen?

Li Qinwu feels that numbness is the nature of people in this era. They don't care about anything except eating. But now, this fear of the unknown permeates everyone, which makes Li Qinwu feel a different kind of vitality.

Li Qinwu was really confused about what happened. He wanted to find a random passerby to ask, but suddenly! A burst of rapid and continuous machine gun fire came from the northwest of the city, which was the direction of the South Manchuria Railway!

The density of the gunfire was at least four heavy machine guns firing. At such a far distance, the sound of the gunfire in the air became distorted and muffled, but the gunfire was still creepy, causing Li Qinwu and everyone around him to look in the direction where the gunfire came from.

The gunfire lasted for at least four or five minutes before it stopped. In just that short period of time, at least two thousand bullets were fired.

After the gunfire stopped, the restless crowd around became even more agitated. Their steps became much faster, as if they wanted to escape from the street and leave quickly.

Li Qinwu just stood on the street, watching the fast-moving crowd around him. At this time, an old man with a cane slowly passed by him, and the old man muttered something to himself.

"Alas, the devils are about to take action, the devils are about to take action!"

Li Qinwu suddenly realized that war was about to come!

Before the September 18th Incident began, the Japanese army conducted large-scale exercises using heavy machine guns and artillery along the South Manchuria Railway, with the aim of spreading terror to Fengtian City and making the situation in the city tense.

It was obvious that the Japanese army had succeeded. Li Qinwu could smell the lingering fear from the passers-by around him.

He quickened his pace and entered the Fengtian Arsenal. He found that there were more guards at the arsenal, and heavy machine guns were mounted on both sides of the gate. The soldiers were no longer as casual as usual, but stood on both sides of the sentry box with rifles in hand, looking ready for battle.

After entering the factory, Li Qinwu found that the workers were in very low spirits and looked worried. How could they do their job well in this state?

Li Qinwu felt that the atmosphere of failure was already in the air before the war even started, and if you didn't lose, who would?

He walked to the workshop he was supervising in a somewhat dazed manner, and ran into the old fireman who was managing the workers.

When the old man saw Li Qinwu, who seemed a little distracted, he started scolding him. Li Qinwu just stood in front of him and let him scold him.

The old man scolded him for nearly 10 minutes, and finally stopped because he couldn't help but feel dry and thirsty. Li Qinwu also came back to his senses and said to the old man, "Master, please go south!"

Lao Huotou was stunned and thought to himself, I scolded you for more than half an hour, and this is the only reply you gave me?

He was just about to continue lecturing when suddenly, the dull sound of machine gun fire from far away was heard again, along with the roar of artillery fire and the explosion of shells hitting the ground.

The sounds were very far away and almost unnoticeable after being filtered through the workshop, but Li Qinwu and Lao Huotou still looked up at the same time and looked towards the place where the gunfire was coming from.

"Master, please go south!"

Li Qinwu repeated it, and the old man was silent for a long time before replying: "This is my hometown."

Li Qinwu reached out and took the wrench covered with engine oil from the old fireman's hand and placed it on the workbench on the side.

"Master, as long as we are still alive, we can buy a house, build a small courtyard, get married, and have a bunch of children. Any place can become our hometown!"

It was the first time that Lao Huotou saw Li Qinwu act so serious. He looked straight into Li Qinwu's eyes, hesitated for a long time, and nodded.

"Okay, let's go together."

Li Qinwu shook his head: "No, Master, I still have things to do here!"

Just as Lao Huotou was about to speak out to persuade him, Li Qinwu stopped him.

"Master, listen to me. I really have things to do here. Don't worry, I will be heading south in less than half a month. Master, you can go to the Xiaoyi Arsenal in the south to help me gain a foothold. With your level as a senior technician, you will definitely get better treatment in the Gongyi Arsenal.

Master, please help me to gain a foothold first. When the time comes, I will go south to develop in Xiaoyi Arsenal."

Upon hearing this, the old man could only sigh.

"Alas, has the situation deteriorated to this point? I have 300,000 troops stationed in the three northeastern provinces. Do those little devils really dare to take action?"

Li Qinwu also sighed and pointed at the workers working in the factory.

"Master, look at them. They are distracted, looking around, and feeling anxious. We have already been doomed to fail from the beginning!"

In the end, Lao Huotou listened to Li Qinwu's persuasion, went home to pack his luggage and prepare to go south. Li Qinwu asked Li Xiongnu, the humanoid Gundam, to follow him, to help Lao Huotou move things and provide protection, and also to provide Li Qinwu with an anchor point for teleportation.

The old man didn't say anything about going through the resignation procedures. He also sensed the gunpowder in the air, so he just left without saying goodbye and took the last train of the day heading south.

Before leaving, Lao Huotou gave Li Qinwu the 5 yuan he got from modifying the machine. This check was only valid in Northeast China and would be of no use in other places. Li Qinwu took it without any hesitation, said take care to his master, and watched the train leave the station.

When we came out of the train station, it was already around 6pm. The sound of the Japs' gunfire could be heard every hour. The atmosphere of fear in Fengtian City had reached its peak and it would explode with just the slightest touch!

Li Qinwu returned to the factory. It was not yet time to get off work and the workers in the workshop were still working. Li Qinwu came to the polishing and assembly workshop and took out an assembled flamethrower submachine gun from a wooden box. He pulled the bolt to load the gun and pulled the trigger. There was a crisp click and the gun was functioning normally.

The person in charge of the polishing and assembly workshop was a mid-level technician. When he saw Li Qinwu coming, he walked up to him and greeted him with a smile.

"Director Li."

Li Qinwu nodded and asked, "How much are the flamethrower submachine guns produced today? Are the workers still skilled?"

"Please rest assured, Director. Today we produced 57 flamethrower submachine guns. The workers all came from the rifle production line and have some experience in gun production. As long as we give them more time to familiarize themselves with manufacturing, the output will increase. I think we can produce 100 guns a day."

Li Qinwu nodded.

"Is there any way to increase production capacity? You can hear the sound of gunfire. The Japanese are eyeing us covetously. The situation may change in the near future. We must increase the production of submachine guns!"

After a brief thought, the other party said, "Director, there are only two ways to increase production: increase the number of workers and improve the enthusiasm of the workers. With more workers, we can work in three shifts, and the machines will not stop even if the workers stop. The daily output should be able to reach 150 or even 200 sticks."

Li Qinwu made the decision immediately.

"Okay, let's do it this way. Go down and tell the workers that from today on, we will start work at 6 am and get off work at 8 pm. We will give them one dollar every three days as a subsidy for high-intensity work!

As for the staff for the night shift, I will ask Deputy Director Zhang for them. You can go to other workshops and ask if there are any workers who want to earn extra money and come to our workshop to work the night shift. You can earn one dollar for two days!

Anyway, I don’t lack money, so start the machine for me!”

This made the other party dumbfounded. At that time, the workers' salary was only four dollars a month. Li Qinwu paid one dollar in three days, which was equivalent to doubling their salary!

He was suddenly extremely excited and started shouting in the factory in front of Li Qinwu. When the workers heard that they would get one dollar for three days, they were instantly in an uproar, followed by excited cheers. The clouds of war were dispelled a lot by the high wages, the factory regained its vitality, and the machines ran much faster.

Li Qinwu nodded with satisfaction and said that he would give everyone a dollar as a reward tomorrow morning. He asked the workers to start working first while he went to ask Deputy Director Zhang for more people.