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

This was something Kong Hao specifically instructed him to keep secret before he left. The fewer people who knew about it, the better, until the retreat plan was completely completed.

"Gentlemen, our Dafengtang is planning to secretly dig a tunnel, about 500 meters long and wide enough for two people to pass through. We hope you can help us design the project scope."

"Moreover, we must carry it out in secret, without letting anyone know or attracting the attention of those around us."

After listening, Liu Xiaofan immediately became interested, as this was his area of ​​expertise.

Although I haven't done this kind of work for several years, what I learned before is ingrained in my bones, and I will never forget it until I die.

Moreover, it's just digging a tunnel, which is the most basic form of construction.

Liu Yifan and Song Xiaofei understood that this was just a test, and only after they passed it would Master Cui fulfill all his previous promises.

But the two young men never imagined that Master Cui's real purpose was to recruit these talents into the Great Wind Hall, so that these high-level talents could play their greatest role.

As for carrying guns to fight the Japanese, China has plenty of strong young men. Letting these weak scholars carry guns would be a huge waste.

There are not many college students in China to begin with, and every one of them is a treasure. We must make the most of them.

In a country where anyone who can read is considered an intellectual, university students are practically reincarnations of literary geniuses; in ancient times, they would be considered scholars who had passed the imperial examinations.

Another major task of the Da Feng Tang was to find a way to escort intellectuals from Shanghai and surrounding cities to the base area, where there was a great need for such talents.

A country's industrialization requires a large number of knowledgeable and skilled workers who can at least read mechanical blueprints.

China's foundation is too weak. Even though we are desperately building schools in our base areas, the time is too short. To train enough technicians and engineers, it will take at least a whole generation.

Literacy classes and night schools for workers can only train the most basic operational workers and have limited impact on the research and development of new technologies.

As long as Da Feng Tang sends these highly educated talents to the base area, they can obtain a large amount of supplies, including various weapons and equipment, as well as canned food and so on.

Professionals are professionals after all. In less than half an hour, they drew up a simple tunnel construction plan, which included various dimensions, as well as the materials, tools, and personnel needed.

When the two were drawing up the construction drawings, they specifically asked Master Cui about his various requirements before finally producing this construction sketch.

After doing all this, Liu Yifan continued:

"Master Cui, this is just a sketch. The specific construction details need to be investigated on-site. In addition, if we want to avoid attracting attention, we need to treat the excavated soil. If it's temporary, we'll need a lot of sleepers; if we want it to be permanent, we'll need a lot of cement."

"This is already very good. Welcome to our operation. I guarantee you will both be very proud of this in the future."

Liu Xiaofan was extremely excited to receive Cui Tangzhu's invitation and quickly became polite in return.

"Master Cui, it is our honor."

The situation in Shanghai is basically over, and the rescue plan for the isolated battalion is progressing steadily with no major problems expected. Let's now check on the developments in other areas.

There is a small mountain village in the New Fourth Army base area of ​​Jiangsu Province called Kaoshan Village. The place has a good geographical location, surrounded by mountains on two sides, and there is a river more than 100 meters wide at the entrance of the village.

Kaoshan Village is located in the core area of ​​the base area and is relatively remote. It is also guarded by several main forces, making it an ideal logistics and production base.

Because there is a large river here with abundant water resources, it is perfect for pressing oil, which can be said to greatly save energy consumption.

One early morning, a large supply convoy arrived at Kaoshan Village. There were fifty horse-drawn carts, all piled high with supplies, all in sacks, presumably grain, and all covered with waterproof tarpaulins.

Upon hearing the report, Factory Director Ma and Instructor Qian immediately went to the village entrance to greet them.

This place is also considered an important production base for our troops, so a lot of defensive fortifications were built at the entrance of the village, and a militia squad of about fifty people was sent by the county brigade to defend it.

These guards were well-equipped, with all of them carrying Type 38 rifles, two Czech light machine guns, and four Mauser pistols. Each soldier had an average of one hundred rounds of ammunition.

In addition, two large bunkers were built with reinforced concrete and located right on the only road into the village. Two light machine guns formed a crossfire that blocked the only entrance to the village.

As the Eighth Route Army's base areas were able to produce various machines and equipment, such as cement plants and glass factories—factories with low technological content—the New Fourth Army was able to build them on a large scale.

Therefore, our various bases have no shortage of cement. In addition to using it to build defensive fortifications, it can even be used to construct a large number of houses and buildings.

Fortifications constructed with reinforced concrete would require the enemy to use at least three times the amount of ammunition to break through, especially for those heavily fortified bunkers, which would require heavy artillery of at least 75mm caliber. And the enemy would only be able to equip themselves with such a level of weaponry at the regimental level.

This is a contest of industrial strength between two countries. Whoever has more resources and better logistical support will have a significant advantage.

In the Eighth Route Army's base areas, we were the spear, on the offensive, while the enemy was the shield, desperately building fortifications and struggling to resist our attacks.

In contrast, the situation was completely different in the New Fourth Army base areas in the coastal provinces. We used the existing industrial conditions to build a large number of defensive fortifications in the base areas and continuously depleted the enemy's ammunition reserves.

Only by first repelling the enemy's attack and creating a stalemate with the enemy on the front line can the base area's industry be gradually developed and the strength of the troops enhanced.

Take Kaoshan Village as an example. As long as these two large bunkers exist, along with more than fifty guerrillas, even if an enemy company were to attack, it would be difficult to break through the village's fortifications in a short period of time.

After all, the shells fired from a grenade launcher are like a tickle to a bunker built of reinforced concrete.

The enemy's Type 92 infantry guns were only available at the battalion level, and a battalion only had two. It was wishful thinking for them to easily reach the heart of our base area.

Moreover, when the fighting gets intense, Kaoshan Village, a large village of over 500 people, can easily muster a force of over 100 to participate in the defensive battle.