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

Because the special forces' dedicated transport team had more than 300 people and over a hundred trucks, it was easy to load all the supplies at once.

Then, under the cover of all special forces members and guards, it took another half a day to reach the headquarters of the independent regiment.

Of course, there was a flurry of activity as soon as we got back, mainly because we had to cook the pork right away.

Fortunately, the independent regiment had experience once and was already familiar with the process.

After everything was explained, Li Yunlong, Zhao Gang and Kong Jie sat together and listened to Kong Hao's report.

"Two regiment commanders, Political Commissar Zhao, I specially got a set of equipment to produce matches when I went to the county this time."

"We in the Eighth Route Army are too poor. We don't have anything to earn money from. If we rely on captured goods every time, it won't be a long-term solution. We should have some industry of our own."

"This kind of match factory is good. It is also something that the army and the people need. It can not only save expenses for the army, but also sell it to the people to obtain some development funds."

"This small match factory has few equipment and can produce about 100,000 boxes of matches a month."

Hearing that so many matches could be produced at once, the three people present were very excited, especially Political Commissar Zhao, who was in charge of the life of the Independent Regiment, was extremely excited.

In fact, the headquarters has already had clear regulations to encourage the troops below to open more workshops to ease the logistical pressure on the troops.

However, the other troops are basically oil pressing factories, soy sauce factories or aged vinegar factories.

These small workshops are too small, and their output is just enough for the troops to use themselves, which is better than nothing.

But Kong Hao's move was a big one, producing 100,000 boxes of matches per month. This could no longer be considered a workshop, but a small factory.

Although this small factory is insignificant in a big city, it is a remarkable achievement for the independent regiment.

The independent regiment currently has thirteen companies, each with a cooking squad that has to make fire and cook three meals a day.

Each time you light a fire, you need thirteen matches. Of course, there is also the waste caused by not lighting the firewood at once or the match stick becoming ineffective, which amounts to fifteen matches.

The independent group cooks three meals a day, which adds up to a minimum of one box of matches, or 30 boxes a month. If you add in the fact that some people smoke or do other things, that would be 40 boxes.

If you calculate based on the current market price of five cents for a box of matches, the total cost per month would be two yuan.

This is just the consumption of one independent regiment. If all the troops of the Eighth Route Army are included, this is also a considerable expense.

There were also ordinary people in the base area. Every household needed matches to make fire and cook, and the number of matches consumed was countless.

Although their match factory produces 100,000 boxes per month, it is only a drop in the bucket compared to the huge demand of the base.

In the past, matches for daily use were purchased from other cities. Although the Japanese did not prohibit it, it still required a lot of manpower and money to purchase them.

It would be great if we could produce this kind of matches ourselves. One hundred thousand boxes a month, converted into French currency, would be around five thousand yuan, or more than sixty thousand a year, which is a huge sum of money.

All the costs added together account for no more than 30%, and the labor costs in the base are worthless, unlike the match factories in big cities, where a large part of the profits are used to pay workers' wages.

When you think about it this way, it's a really good deal.

But Zhao Gang is a college student after all, and he knows something about mechanical things.

He asked in confusion: "Ah Hao, what is the power used for the equipment in this match factory?"

"Political Commissar Zhao, didn't I get a Japanese truck earlier? It has a generator set on it. With a little modification, it can generate electricity using coal."

"There are many coal mines near us, so there is no shortage of relevant fuels."

After hearing this, Li Yunlong said with satisfaction:

"That's right, Xiao Kong, just go ahead and do it boldly. The three of us will fully support you."

Then Kong Hao said, "By the way, yesterday I blackmailed the traitor Gao Jincai in the county and got nearly 1.2 million kilograms of grain, 10,000 silver dollars and a large amount of copper coins."

"I will take the transport team out again tomorrow and bring all the stuff back."

After hearing this, Li Yunlong asked curiously:

"Xiao Kong, there is nothing wrong with the food and the money, but what are you going to do with the copper coins? They can't be eaten or worn, it's just a waste."

Kong Jie, who was standing by, suddenly raised his head and said with a hint of meaning:

"I've heard people say that if you want to make your own bullets, you'll need a lot of copper. The headquarters' arsenal is in short supply, and copper coins are made of top-quality copper, so it's perfect for making bullets after refining."

After hearing this, Kong Hao nodded.

"Captain Kong is right. This is my idea. Our army does not have that much money to purchase the crops, but the traitor Gao family does. They have tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. It is most appropriate to exchange grain for copper coins."

At this time, the door was opened and the leader of the Independent Tang Telecommunications Group pushed the door open and walked in.

"Commander, Commissar, telegram from the Brigade."

After Zhao Gang finished reading the telegram, he said to the three people present:

"The brigade commander asked Lao Li and I to go to the brigade headquarters the day after tomorrow. It seems that an important combat meeting will be held."

"In that case, Old Kong, you should stay at home and help Kong Hao set up the match factory."

Kong Jie didn't say much, just nodded heavily.

At around 2:00 p.m. the next day, Brigade Commander Chen and Political Commissar Wang presided over the combat meeting.

The commanders and political commissars of each regiment affiliated to the 386th Brigade were all present, except for the commander of the independent regiment, Li Yunlong, and Zhao Gang.

Before the meeting started, everyone was chatting with each other and exchanging recent operational results.

The head of the 771st Regiment, Xu, poked Ding Wei who was sitting next to him and asked in a low voice:

"Old Ding, I heard that your New 1st Regiment made a fortune in the Nanji stronghold. You seized a large amount of weapons and ammunition, and even shot down two Japanese planes."

Ding Wei quickly responded modestly: "It was a small reward. We helped Li Yunlong's independent regiment to fight a blocking battle. Our New 1st Regiment only killed more than a hundred Japanese soldiers and received two mortars, two heavy machine guns and five light machine guns as a reward for our service."

What he said was actually to avoid the main point. The Type 92 infantry gun must not be revealed to anyone. The best way to do it now is to keep quiet and make a fortune.

Otherwise, if the other regiment commanders start making a fuss and the brigade commander and the political commissar can't stand the pressure and take back the Type 92 infantry gun, he won't even have time to cry.

But even so, it aroused the envy of others present.

After all, the Taiyue Military Region still has many basic regiments, but they don’t even have a mortar, and there are only a few heavy machine guns for show.

At this time, the head of the 772nd Regiment, Cheng, said dissatisfiedly:

"Why hasn't Li Yunlong from the Independent Regiment arrived yet? He has no sense of time at all."