Industry began in 1937

After leaving Gouzi Village, Zhang Xianyue did not return to the temporary command post of his advance detachment, but instead, accompanied by two guards, rode at full speed towards Jiangshui Town, where preliminary contact had just been established. That town was a newly emerging hub where anti-Japanese forces in the western mountainous region of Xingtai were converging, and also an important liaison point for him to coordinate actions with his superiors and other fraternal units.

It was already late at night when we arrived in Jiangshui Town.

The town was much larger than Gouzi Village, but it was equally shrouded in wartime tension and busyness.

Lights shone from several courtyards, casting shadowy figures, and the faint sounds of radios and low conversations could be heard.

Zhang Xianyue was led to a relatively spacious but extremely simply furnished farmhouse, which served as a temporary liaison point for the forward command post of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

Waiting for him were Zhou Huan and Gao Yang, who had arrived in Jiangshui a few days earlier and were in charge of the development and consolidation of the area, as well as several cadres who had arrived earlier and were carrying out mass mobilization work nearby.

Under the oil lamp, several faces, slightly tired from working day and night, but with sharp eyes, sat together.

"Comrade Xianyue is back? How's the situation in Gouzi Village?" Zhou Huan stood up and shook hands firmly with Zhang Xianyue. Although they belonged to different mission sequences, they shared the same goal and had heard about each other before. Their meeting here was precisely for the purpose of coordinating their work.

"Comrade Zhou Huan, Comrade Gao Yang, comrades," Zhang Xianyue took off his hat, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, his voice hoarse from the long journey, but clear and logical, "the situation in Gouzi Village is better than we expected, and... it deserves our attention even more."

He first gave a brief report on how Zhang Juejiu's Red Spear Society attacked Gouzi Village, but was repelled by the villagers who relied on the strategic terrain and their homemade firearms and landmines.

"...The battle was small in scale, but significant in meaning. This shows that as long as the masses are truly mobilized and organized, and given appropriate guidance and simple weaponry, they are fully capable of defending their homes and resisting those feudal armed forces that, under the guise of resisting Japan, are actually harming the local area."

The battle at Gouzi Village shattered Zhang Juejiu's arrogance and set an example for the surrounding villages.

Everyone present nodded in agreement.

The successful case of the masses spontaneously arming themselves is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for them, who are making every effort to mobilize the masses and establish base areas, and also provides empirical evidence for their working methods.

"More importantly," Zhang Xianyue changed the subject, his expression becoming more serious, "I met the head of their village protection team in Gouzi Village, and I also met Chen Yuan, the blacksmith Chen, who was introduced by Comrade Wen Shizhou."

He recounted in detail what he had observed about Chen Yuan's blacksmith shop: its "production efficiency" and "product quality" far exceeding those of ordinary rural blacksmiths; the two ingeniously designed blowers and grinding machines that utilized human labor to increase efficiency; the ability to produce a large number of standardized spearheads, broadswords, and even landmines in a short period of time; and the fact that Chen Yuan offered to forge bayonets for the Eighth Route Army and attempt to repair gun parts.

"This Chen Yuan is not old, but his skill and ingenuity are extraordinary. His blacksmith shop looks simple, but the products he produces have a level of regularity that is vaguely reminiscent of factory production. This is something that an ordinary village blacksmith could not have figured out with just a hammer and a furnace," Zhang Xianyue said, expressing his judgment.

"Oh? There's such a talent?" Gao Yang pushed up his glasses, revealing an interested expression.

"Now that we are establishing base areas and building local armed forces, what we lack most is a reliable source of weapons and maintenance support. If we can really win them over, even just establishing stable procurement and repair channels would be a great help."

"That's not all." Zhang Xianyue leaned forward slightly, his voice lower but filled with barely suppressed excitement. "When I tentatively asked him if he had a way to solve our most troublesome ammunition problem, he gave a...unexpected answer."

He reiterated Chen Yuan's idea that "if bullets cannot be manufactured, perhaps we can try to manufacture hand-operated machinery for reloading bullets," including small specialized tools that might be used in each step, such as stamping and trimming cartridge cases, metering propellant, pressing in bullets, and installing primers.

After he finished speaking, there was a brief silence in the room.

The only sounds were the faint popping of the oil lamp's flame and the distant barking of dogs outside the window.

Zhou Huan and Gao Yang exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

One was a seasoned commander, and the other was a cadre skilled in political and mass work. They knew all too well what a reliable and efficient bullet reloading tool meant for the Eighth Route Army, which was deep behind enemy lines and had a long and fragile supply line!

That means that the "waste" of the battlefield can be transformed into new combat power, and that the troops' ability to continue fighting under extremely difficult conditions can be enhanced in a valuable and autonomous way!

"This idea... is bold, yet practical!" Zhou Huan tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pondering. "If it can truly be realized, even if it only improves replication efficiency and security, its value will be immeasurable. Comrade Xianyue, what is your assessment of this person?"

"I think this man is trustworthy and truly talented," Zhang Xianyue said confidently. "Although his background is somewhat unclear, judging from his words and actions, his anti-Japanese fervor is genuine, he has a harmonious relationship with the villagers, and he is not a cunning person. More importantly, he has the ability to try. I have already established a contact channel with him through Comrade Wen Shizhou. My opinion is to do our best to win him over, provide covert support, observe him carefully, and strive for practical results."

He made a specific suggestion: Wen Shizhou should act as a single liaison to communicate with Chen Yuan and support his trial production of bullet reloading tools under the premise of absolute confidentiality.

The Eighth Route Army, through reliable channels, collected necessary metal raw materials and provided some bullet samples and experience guidance on reloading processes.

Chen Yuan's blacksmith shop remained an ordinary folk workshop to the outside world, continuing to provide ironware to the village and its neighbors, thus maintaining its cover.

"We will not publicly recruit him or give him any official title," Zhang Xianyue summarized. "We will cooperate with him as a reliable member of the public with special skills. In this way, we can both utilize his abilities and protect him, which is more in line with the requirements of the current united front and covert work. All cooperation will follow the principles of fair exchange and compensated support."

"I agree with Comrade Xianyue's opinion." Gao Yang nodded. "There are capable people among the masses. We must be good at discovering them, and even better at uniting and utilizing them. Comrade Xianyue, you will be in charge of this matter through Wen Shizhou's connection. Comrade Zhou Huan and I will do our best to cooperate in collecting materials and providing intelligence support. We must pay special attention to confidentiality. This matter should only be known to a few of us in the core group. Wen Shizhou will also be in charge of keeping things in check with Chen Yuan."

"Furthermore," Zhou Huan added, "the location of Gouzi Village has been exposed and its value has been demonstrated after this battle. Comrade Wen Shizhou has a foundation there, and we should help him further consolidate the village protection team and develop it into a reliable base for us in that area. Although Zhang Juejiu will not dare to act rashly in the short term after this defeat, he will surely hold a grudge. We should remind Gouzi Village to be vigilant and guard against his covert sabotage or collusion with other reactionary forces to launch a counterattack."

The report on a small-scale battle eventually focused on a seemingly insignificant blacksmith shop and a potentially far-reaching technological experiment.

Under the lamplight, several Eighth Route Army cadres reached a consensus on this matter.

They had no unrealistic fantasies, fully aware of the countless hardships and obstacles between an idea and a practical product. But they also understood that in the arduous environment behind enemy lines, any spark of wisdom from the masses that could strengthen themselves deserved to be carefully nurtured and ignited with all their might.

Only in this way can the raging flames behind enemy lines be ignited.