Anti-Japanese War, weapons designer at Fengtian Arsenal

"Master!"

"My disciple!"

The two men were almost hugging each other, and the old man was pinching Li Qinwu's arms, as if to confirm his integrity.

This scene made the people around sigh with emotion. This was a farewell after traveling more than 1,300 kilometers, crossing the war zone, and who knows how much hardship they had gone through.

What everyone didn't know was that after the initial excitement, Lao Huotou said to Li Qinwu in a voice that no one else could hear: "The tall and fat man in the group of people at the back is Director Huang Wande. He is not a good person. Be careful!"

Li Qinwu was stunned for a moment, glanced obscurely at the leadership team, and easily found Director Huang.

At this moment, this guy was smiling so hard that his eyebrows were not visible. He looked like a simple and honest man. Unexpectedly, he was regarded as a bad person by Lao Huotou. Li Qinwu secretly became alert to him.

At this time, the workers had already gotten off the bus. Director Huang walked up and said with a smile, "Director Li, I've heard a lot about you. I'm Huang Wande, the director of the Xiaoyi Arsenal. Thank you for leading these workers to join our factory. Everyone, please come in quickly. We have prepared a banquet to welcome you all!"

Li Qinwu stepped forward and bowed to Director Huang.

"I thank Director Huang for his kindness. The workers have been riding the train these days, so we really need to give them a good meal. I will not hesitate to treat them again."

He waved to the workers behind him, and they followed him into the Xiaoyi Arsenal.

This detail made Director Huang raise his eyebrows. This group of workers was led by Li Qinwu, which made him a little afraid of Li Qinwu.

Of course, these people were led by Li Qinwu, especially the group of people he brought out from the suburbs of Fengtian, who were even more obedient to him.

They knew that if Li Qinwu did not have such a tough style, they would most likely not be able to get out of the north. The subsequent purchase of train tickets and food were arranged by Li Qinwu, and they naturally became obedient to Li Qinwu.

The employees entered the arsenal and walked towards the employee cafeteria. The cafeteria was already filled with a large number of tables, which were filled with fish and meat. The cost of these banquets alone was estimated to be a not small amount. It can be seen that the arsenal attaches great importance to these workers.

These workers hadn't had anything good to eat on the road, and coupled with the fatigue of the journey, their appetites had reached their peak, so they sat down and ate a meal.

Factory Director Huang nodded with satisfaction upon seeing this. He felt that this was the first step to win over the workers.

He looked at Li Qinwu who was sitting next to him, and said with a smile: "Director Li, I heard that you are the deputy director of the weapons design department in Fengtian Arsenal, but our Xiaoyi Arsenal is not as large as Fengtian Arsenal, and we did not have a weapons design department when we first built it. This... you see..."

This guy made an embarrassed expression. Li Qinwu was not sure whether he was discussing with him seriously or pointing a finger at him. He tentatively said: "Director Huang, I think I have some talent in weapon design. Since our factory does not have a weapon design department, I wonder if Director Huang can give me some manpower and space so that I can set up a weapon design department?"

"This……"

Director Huang hesitated. Weapon design was too complicated and Chinese technicians of that era could not grasp it. Instead of spending a lot of resources on designing weapons, it would be better to directly copy advanced foreign products.

However, this is not a long-term solution. If we simply copy foreign weapons without conducting independent research and development, we will suffer losses sooner or later in the future.

For example, if you want to build a cannon, how long should the barrel be to make the cannonball fly more stably? How thick should the barrel wall be to prevent the barrel from exploding? These things need to be accumulated step by step. With the accumulation of technology, you can think about larger caliber cannons and climb the technology tree.

As more of this kind of technology accumulates, the military industry will be revitalized and will be able to deal with the enemy more effectively.

For example, the 45mm small-caliber anti-tank gun cannot penetrate the enemy's tanks. With the accumulation of military industry, we can immediately develop 75mm anti-tank guns and 100mm anti-tank guns.

If there had been no accumulation of technology, the Japanese tanks would have been able to run rampant on the Chinese battlefield, and the Chinese army would have been unable to deal with these small and fragile tanks.

But for China now, weapons research and development is difficult. For example, the question of how thick the barrel wall should be can only be measured after thousands of rounds of firing, right? This kind of waste is something China cannot afford now, which is why the Fengtian Arsenal did not attach importance to the weapons design department, and the Xiaoyi Arsenal did not have a weapons design department at all.

But now Director Huang is really considering Li Qinwu's opinion. It's not that he attaches importance to weapons research and development, but if he gives the burden of establishing the weapons design department to Li Qinwu, then does it mean that Li Qinwu doesn't need to be given an official position? There is no need to change the power structure of Xiaoyi Arsenal!

"Okay, since Director Li has such a great talent, then the weapons design department will be left to you to prepare. I will provide you with an office location, and the operating funds will be 500 dollars. As for the technical personnel, our factory is short of people, so Director Li will have to find a way himself."

Li Qinwu frowned at this. Director Huang's attitude was perfunctory. He didn't care about the weapon design at all. He was just trying to get rid of himself. What could 500 yuan of activity funds do? There was no employee, and the office space was just decent.

But then his brows relaxed. It would be better not to send anyone. He could arrange for his clone to come in!

What he wanted was freedom without constraints. By then, all the people in the weapons design department would be his. When a product was developed, all the credit would be his!

However, just a weapons design department could not satisfy his appetite. After all, he was the supervisor of the production of flamethrower submachine guns and anti-tank guns in the Fengtian Arsenal, and he was in charge of 5 factories. After coming here, he had to at least be a supervisor!

By then, he will control both the weapons design and manufacturing departments. When he provides the blueprints, the workshop will immediately start producing prototypes. The new products will always be in his hands, without having to worry about others getting involved.

Li Qinwu took the initiative to ask the other party: "Director Huang, I wonder how the factory will arrange for these brothers I brought with me?"

These words were like pressing the mute button. The workers from the Fengtian Arsenal who were eating nearby put down their chopsticks and looked at the table in the front. This was related to their future work and life, so they had to pay attention to it.

Director Huang saw everyone's eyes on him. He felt a little pressured. He tugged at his collar, loosened a button, and said tentatively: "You all come from the Fengtian Arsenal. I don't need to say much about the technology you have. What I mean is that you all go to various workshops to work and strengthen the technical strength of each workshop. Your wages will be paid according to the treatment of the Fengtian Arsenal, and your accommodation will be arranged by the factory."

This is a standard practice. All the people in the Fengtian Arsenal come from the same place. If they are not separated and assigned tasks, it is easy for them to form groups and cause trouble.

But it was obvious that the workers did not buy into his arrangements. They just wanted to stick together and take care of each other.

People at this time have a very strong sense of homesickness. If you are a foreigner, you will easily be discriminated against and bullied by locals when you go to other places, so you have to gather together to protect yourself.

Some people were dissatisfied immediately. One worker slammed his chopsticks on the table and shouted, "Why do you want to separate us? We don't want to be separated!"

We are all from the same hometown, and we have confidence when we work together. What's the point of being dispersed to other workshops? If the foreman speaks a word in the local dialect, we won't understand it. I don't want to be bullied! "

This man's words resonated with everyone. This was what they feared the most. They all started shouting and expressed dissatisfaction with Director Huang's arrangements.

Director Huang saw that the crowd was very angry and quickly stood up to calm them down.

"Everyone! Everyone, listen to me! Dispersing you to different workshops is a helpless move. Our factory has no plans to open new workshops recently, so we can't arrange you together. We can only let you be added to different workshops. Please understand the difficulties of the factory!"

What he said is true. With more than 300 people, they can just move out of the three workshops. Xiaoyi Arsenal doesn't have any new projects recently. We can't drive the technical workers from the original workshops to other workshops and vacate one workshop to arrange them together, right?

But the crowd just wouldn't buy his account and started to make a fuss. The leaders of the Xiaoyi Arsenal also tried to persuade them.

"Everyone! Everyone! Coming to the Arsenal is like coming home! The Arsenal will not treat you unfairly, and there will be no discrimination. I can guarantee this!"

Director Huang shouted loudly to the workers around him, but no one was willing to listen to his verbal assurances. One worker said sarcastically, "What a novelty! You are talking nicely now, but when we go to the workshop, can you still come and watch us? If the foreman jumps out to make things difficult for us because we are outsiders, can you still punish your own people?"

Either let us work together! Or we leave! At worst, we can go to Jinling Arsenal!

Oh, by the way, we still have to work under Director Li, so don’t give us other leaders, we only listen to Director Li!”

"Yes! We only listen to Director Li, don't send us other leaders!"

Everyone’s demands were expressed very clearly: they had to work together, and their leader must be Li Qinwu!

This is not to say how much they respect Li Qinwu or how strong his charisma is. In fact, many of them hate Li Qinwu. When they went south, Li Qinwu behaved like a tyrant, spoke rudely, and threatened to drive them away if they disagreed with him.

But now that they are in a foreign land, they must have someone who can speak for them in official circles and protect their interests. Only Li Qinwu can play such a role.

Everyone was shouting loudly, and it seemed that they were losing control of the situation. Director Huang was embarrassed when he saw this, and hurriedly said to Li Qinwu: "Director Li, what do you think?"

Li Qinwu looked at the angry workers around him, touched his chin and said, "Director Huang, if there are no jobs, you can open a new workshop. I just happen to have a project on hand. Come, let me introduce the flamethrower submachine gun I designed."