Bright Sword: Follow Kong's fun and build the strongest military industry

What the Eighth Route Army lacked were medium and long-range attack means, such as grenade launchers. The Type 89 grenade launcher, which was the most commonly used by the Japanese, had a maximum range of 700 meters and an effective range of 500 meters.

Normally, riflemen usually aim between 50 and 150 meters. If the distance is over 200 meters, it is generally not recommended to fire. In this case, the probability of hitting the target is too small, and it is just a futile waste of bullets.

So when faced with the Japanese's grenade launchers, our troops were forced to take the beating most of the time and couldn't fight back at all.

Of course, the grenade launcher as a weapon also has its great flaws, because it relies entirely on the veteran's feeling and naked eye aiming, and basically needs to be about 200 meters away from the target to ensure a hit rate. However, this is already very good. At least it has a longer range than a rifle and can suppress our riflemen outside the range.

Light and heavy machine guns are basically range shooting, and basically do not require much accuracy. It is also difficult to hit the Japanese soldiers lying on the ground and firing mortars.

As for mortars, their range is even longer, more than 1,800 meters. If our troops are equipped with a large number of mortars and enough shells, we can launch a fierce bombardment when the enemy just charges, disrupting the enemy's offensive rhythm.

By the time the Japanese infantry approached our position, they had already suffered more than a dozen rounds of artillery attacks. Their formation had been disrupted and they did not have much attack power, so the threat they posed to our position was greatly reduced.

Unlike grenades, which are only effective within a range of several dozen meters, by the time that time comes, it is actually too late.

It would be fine if the enemy is only a small-scale force, but if it is an attack at the regiment or brigade level or above, it will be difficult for our troops to resist in the field.

This also means that only after the two production lines reach maximum output can the surplus materials be used to manufacture grenades, and it will take a long time for our troops to replace the existing grenades.

Minister Zhang thought about it for a moment, then issued the latest order:

"Call back the commanders of the various military regions and briefly explain the actual situation. Let everyone stay calm and everything will be fine in the future."

"Also send a telegram to the arsenal, asking Lao Ren and Lao Qin to produce some new grenades for the various troops based on the actual situation."

"And we need to spend another 200,000 yuan to go to major cities to purchase urgently needed raw materials, such as mercury, which we often call quicksilver. We need to focus on purchasing them."

After hearing this, the secretary in charge of recording looked up and said in confusion: "Commander, this kind of thing is listed as a controlled material by the Japanese. It is generally difficult to get. If you buy it on the black market, the price is too expensive. It is totally not worth it."

"No matter how expensive it is, we have to find a way to buy it. Fortunately, the military has more money now, so we can still spend this little bit of money."

In fact, this was also thanks to the large amount of funds that Kong Hao had brought back before. Otherwise, it would have been really troublesome for him to take out 200,000 yuan at once.

In fact, the current model of arsenals is not to produce what the troops need, but that the troops use whatever the arsenal can produce, and everyone has no choice at all.

However, most of the front-line commanders were already very satisfied with this. At least they could produce some things themselves, which gave them some hope. It was not like before when they had to rely on seizing everything from the Japanese.

At this moment, he seemed to have thought of something again and asked loudly:

“How many bicycles does our logistics department have now?”

"About 500 or so. Basically, they are all produced in the arsenal and then brought back by our transport teams."

Minister Zhang was also very happy to hear that so many bicycles had been accumulated. Bicycles are good things, convenient and fast, and most suitable for short-distance transportation of supplies.

Another thing is that the headquarters is very large. If we have to walk here, it will take a lot of time. Raising horses will consume too much energy. Not only do we need special people to take care of them, but we also need a lot of food to feed them. The soldiers nowadays can't even get enough food, so how can they have extra food to feed a large number of horses?

It was unrealistic for the Eighth Route Army to raise war horses on a large scale to replace its leg power because they simply did not have the financial resources to do so.

Bicycles are still better. The production cost is not high, the output is relatively large, and the most important thing is that there is basically no other consumption after production.

As long as you are strong, you can reach the destination quickly within ten kilometers. When you go to inspect the departments below, you just need to exert some strength. It is convenient and quick.

At the same time, the bicycle's load capacity is also very considerable. In addition to a rider, it can also carry two people. If it is transporting goods, it will be no problem to use a specific cargo shelf to transport 300 kilograms.

By forming a bicycle transport fleet, it is easy to transport large amounts of supplies to distant places.

In fact, when this type of bicycle was first delivered to the headquarters, it immediately caused a sensation. Many people from the logistics department came to watch the fun, and they were all very curious about it.

After watching the video, many people were amazed. They didn't expect that the Eighth Route Army could actually produce bicycles on their own. This was a huge progress.

Although the technical content of the bicycle is not high, for a unit that had nothing before, this is an achievement beyond everyone's imagination.

They can produce bicycles now, and will definitely be able to produce motorcycles and even military trucks in the future. As long as they persist, they will achieve it one day.

"So, leave 100 bicycles at the headquarters as a means of transportation for everyone to travel or transport, and send the rest to the front-line combat troops."

"Troops on the front line often face various battles, and the transportation of supplies has always been a big problem. If there are some bicycles to assist in transportation, it will make their life much easier."

"The same distribution will be followed in the future. As soon as the bicycles from the arsenal are delivered, we will immediately arrange for people to deliver them to the front-line combat troops. The earlier they are delivered, the more combat effectiveness of the troops can be improved."

"It's just that the production is a bit low, only 1,300 vehicles a month, which is not enough. Even if it is more than 10,000 vehicles a month, it is not enough. The army needs this kind of good thing that can be transported quickly everywhere."

"By the way, allocate another 30,000 yuan and send someone to Yunnan Province to purchase natural rubber. Buy as much as possible, even if the price is a little higher."

"Compared to the practicality of the bicycle, this amount of money is not much. The rubber we bought can produce at least 100,000 bicycles. No matter how you calculate it, it is a profit for us."

After receiving the order, the secretary went down to implement these things.

On Kong Hao's side, he was introducing a new thing to Director Ren and Political Commissar Qin.

"Director, Political Commissar, this is the latest good thing developed by our arsenal. I call it a stove and honeycomb coal. It is more suitable for our troops or ordinary people to use."

After saying that, he took the two of them into a room where there were several strange-looking things in the shape of barrels, each with a kettle on top.

After seeing this, Director Ren smiled and said, "Xiao Kong, I know this thing. It's called a fire pond. It's nothing special."

"This kind of thing has been used for hundreds of years. You guys are researching this kind of thing. Are you bored and bored? There are so many things going on in the Arsenal right now, and you dragged us two over to make fun of it. This is a bit too much."