Industry began in 1937

Five days later, Wen Shizhou returned from Jiangshui Town, his face showing the fatigue of days of travel, but his eyes shone with an irrepressible excitement.

Without a moment's rest, he went straight to the blacksmith's shop on the back mountain and found Chen Yuan, who was adjusting a new batch of woodworking lathe tools.

"Brother Chen! It's done! The fermented water test is successful!" Wen Shizhou's voice was a little hoarse with excitement.

"They used the shells and wooden handles we provided, loaded them with gunpowder, and detonated the grenades. The sound was like a muffled thunder, and fragments flew dozens of meters away, leaving craters in the ground larger than bowls! Representative Zhang, Political Commissar Zhou, and Director Gao were all present, and after watching, they all said it was excellent! Much better than many grenades we had seen before!"

He took a breath, his tone resolute: "The higher-ups have ordered us to immediately expand production! Don't worry about raw materials; the provisional government has given a direct order: every district and village must do everything in its power to collect scrap iron and wood, especially gunpowder and sulfur, and allocate them centrally, prioritizing supply to our area and the newly established gunpowder factory in Jiangshui! Your task is to operate at full capacity, producing projectile bodies and wooden handles! The more the better, the faster the better!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yuan realized that it confirmed the power of the Suihuo platform; it could easily crush current military factories by simply producing something.

A huge weight has finally been lifted from my heart.

Chen Yuan nodded vigorously: "Understood, Secretary Wen. Everything is ready here. As long as the raw materials can keep up, we can increase production immediately."

The order was as firm as a mountain, and the situation was as dire as a raging fire.

With the brief preparation period over, the Justice Blacksmith Shop began to operate at full speed, like a wound-up machine, driven by the instinct for survival and combat.

The scale of the outer workshops was expanded again.

Under the organization of Wen Shizhou and Zhao Dachui, all the able-bodied young men in Gouzi Village were mobilized to participate in this special production in shifts.

Those with skills learned to operate blowers, grinding machines, and drilling machines from Shuanzhu and Tiedan, while most others engaged in relatively simple but arduous tasks such as handling raw materials, cleaning castings, deburring, cutting wood, and turning wooden handles.

The furnace fire burns day and night, thick smoke billowing from the specially heightened chimney. The clanging of forging, the whooshing of the air blower, the hissing of the grinding wheel and drill bit, and the rhythmic cutting of the woodworking lathe intertwine to form a rugged and powerful work chant that echoes through the valley behind the mountain.

Inside the "precision workshop," Chen Yuan focused his main efforts on using the "flint" platform to manufacture grenades and bayonets.

In order to keep up with the production capacity of the flint platform, Chen Yuan manufactured another woodworking machine tool, which further improved the processing capacity of wooden handles.

The platform's energy reserves are being rapidly depleted, but the newly added villagers outside, frantically pedaling various "human-powered machines," are also continuously converting their physical strength into electrical energy, barely maintaining a fragile balance.

Boxes of cast iron projectile blanks with pre-made fragmentation slots and bundles of uniformly sized hardwood handles were continuously transported out of the workshop, sorted and stacked in open spaces in the village, awaiting delivery.

The task of transporting supplies was undertaken by Zhao Dachui's district guerrilla squad and reliable militia organized by the provisional government.

Under the cover of night, they used mules, wheelbarrows, and even carried on their shoulders to transport these seemingly ordinary "cast iron parts" and "timber" in batches towards Jiangshui Town via hidden mountain paths.

In a more secluded and heavily guarded valley near Jiangshui Town, the first gunpowder factory of the Xingtai County Anti-Japanese Provisional Government was established and put into operation.

It is now a pitifully small business, with all its assets consisting of two old gunpowder makers brought out from the mountains, along with eight carefully selected, taciturn young workers.

They didn't have proper factory buildings, only a few reinforced caves and shacks.

But right here, the saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal purified using traditional methods are carefully proportioned, ground, granulated, mixed, and pressed into compact cylindrical blocks according to the formulas finely adjusted and optimized by experienced craftsmen.

In another, smaller "workshop" operated by only three people, skillful craftsmen used the simplest tools and followed the blueprints to make thin copper sheets into the outer shell of the fuse tube, twist cotton threads soaked in the molten metal into a fuse of uniform thickness, and then carefully pressed in the sensitive and deadly fuse head.

Finally, workers complete the final assembly and inspection of the projectile body, propellant charge, fuse, and wooden handle.

While the soldiers and civilians in the base area were desperately producing and arming themselves for survival and dignity, the atmosphere was completely different in the command post of the Japanese 108th Division in Xingtai County.

Lieutenant General Shimomoto Kumaya, the division commander, looked at the western mountainous area of ​​Xingtai marked on the map, his eyes flashing with a cold and contemptuous light.

Intelligence indicates that a group of peasants and a small contingent of Eighth Route Army soldiers who had fled from Shanxi have actually established a so-called "provisional anti-Japanese government" right under the noses of the Japanese-occupied areas and are still actively operating there.

This is undoubtedly a provocation against the authority of the "Imperial Army of the Great Japanese Empire".

"Order," Shimomoto Kumami's voice was devoid of warmth, "25th Infantry Brigade, Major General Nakano Naozo, immediately draft a sweep plan. With the 132nd Regiment as the main force, and with necessary artillery and engineers, thoroughly eliminate the resistance forces in the western mountainous area of ​​Xingtai and destroy their puppet regime."

These Chinese must understand that resisting the Imperial Army only leads to death. The 1st Battalion of the 108th Supply Regiment is to prepare for follow-up resupply. The operation must be swift and ruthless, leaving no room for future trouble!

He did not believe that the small guerrilla force in the mountains could withstand the Japanese army.

However, these Eighth Route Army soldiers were still too difficult to capture in the mountains, so he dispatched a regiment of Japanese troops.

With his orders issued, the shadow of war pressed down on the nascent Xingtai Anti-Japanese Base Area with greater speed and heavier pressure.

The base area also quickly learned of the Japanese army's movements through inside intelligence and forward reconnaissance.

A campaign to suppress the newly established anti-Japanese regime is imminent.

The entire base area instantly entered a state of maximum combat readiness.

However, the newly established anti-Japanese regime did not have much power.

The advance team, including the guerrilla brigade, numbered less than 500 people. They were short of weapons and had weak combat capabilities, making them no match for the Japanese army.

Zhang Xianyue and others quickly reported to the brigade headquarters, requesting support from the main force.

Upon learning of this situation, the 129th Division headquarters ordered a part of the 772nd Regiment of the 386th Brigade, which was operating nearby, to urgently move towards Jiangshui and Yingtou to reinforce the local armed forces and prepare to repel the invading enemy.

The 1st Battalion of the 772nd Regiment, led by Battalion Commander Pan Zhankui, was the first to arrive near Jiangshui Town.

Pan Zhankui was a wiry man in his early thirties, his face bearing the marks of long battles.

The battalion he brought was the main force of the 772nd Regiment, consisting of four infantry companies and one machine gun company, with a strength of about 800 men. It was a crack unit forged by the Eighth Route Army.

But even as the main force, their equipment was heartbreakingly rudimentary.

Although things are much better now than before they crossed the Yellow River.

The number of firearms has increased significantly, and the number of machine guns is also acceptable.

However, many soldiers' rifles still lacked bayonets, their ammunition pouches were empty, and the entire battalion had less than one grenade per person, let alone "high-end" items like landmines.

Zhang Xianyue and his team were very happy to see such troops.

Most of this unit consisted of veterans of the Red Army; their inferior weaponry did not necessarily mean they lacked combat capability.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone quickly began discussing the battle plan.

When discussing the battle plan, Pan Zhankui was not confident that he could withstand the large number of Japanese troops deployed.

The Japanese were well-equipped and had ample ammunition. Even the 108th Division, a unit composed of reserve soldiers, was not to be underestimated in terms of combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the Japanese had a considerable number of troops stationed in Xingtai. If the Japanese troops continued to reinforce, even if they were all killed, they might not succeed.

He was more worried about not being able to complete the tasks assigned by his superiors.

Xingtai was a forward outpost base for the Eighth Route Army's future advance into the North China Plain.

Establishing a foothold here would make it easier for the Eighth Route Army to enter southern North China.

After discussing it back and forth, the group of people all agreed that a multi-pronged approach was necessary.

That is, guerrilla harassment combined with ambush and interception.

However, this was not guaranteed to succeed; preparations for evacuation and retreat were still necessary to prevent retaliation from the Japanese.

The Japanese devils are inhuman and do inhuman things; this isn't the first time they've done this. We can't let our guard down.

"It would be great if the brigade could send the artillery company as reinforcements," Pan Zhankui said casually, looking at the terrain.

Having artillery, even mortars, would make things much easier here.

The Eighth Route Army simply lacked artillery and even fewer shells.

The brigade treats its artillery company very well! They are meant to be used on more critical battlefields.

Pan Zhankui said this without complaint. He just hoped for more equipment so that he could better resist the enemy and reduce the losses of the people.

"We don't have any cannons, but we have a lot of good stuff," Zhang Xianyue said mysteriously.

Everyone else laughed when they heard that.

Pan Zhankui was a little confused and quickly asked, "Old Zhang, Old Zhou, what good stuff do you have?"

"Let's show Battalion Commander Pan what he's made of," Zhou Heng said.

"Alright, I really want to see for myself." Pan Zhankui didn't know for sure, but he guessed it might be some captured guns and ammunition.

There used to be quite a few defeated soldiers who had lingered here.

The Eighth Route Army acquired a lot of good equipment from the Shanxi Army and the Central Army in Shanxi.

Yan Xishan's troops pushed all the cannons into the river; what a waste of their resources!

When Pan Zhankui was led into a heavily guarded courtyard, he was taken aback by the sight of the newly delivered equipment, still smelling of fresh sawdust and metal, even though he was used to hardship.

"This is..." He picked up a gleaming bayonet from a wooden box, and looking at the blade, the body, and the blood groove, he knew it was a good one.

He had a guard bring him a rifle, which he skillfully fitted onto the muzzle of his Hanyang rifle, making a perfect fit.

The bayonet is of standard design, with a sharp edge and a sturdy grip.

He then picked up a wooden-handled grenade from another wooden box, weighed it in his hand, carefully examined the neat pre-made fragmentation grooves on the grenade body and the sturdy wooden handle, and unscrewed the back cover to check the already installed trigger mechanism inside.

"This thing... looks even more refined than some of the stuff from Yan Xishan's arsenal!"

Finally, his gaze fell on several dark, heavy lumps of iron—the newly prototyped pull-out mines.

"Landmines? We can make those ourselves?"

Zhang Xianyue, who was accompanying them, explained with a hint of pride, "Battalion Commander Pan, these are all produced by our base area itself. The bayonets and these iron weapons were made by a 'righteous blacksmith shop' in Gouzi Village, 3rd District. The grenade casings and wooden handles were also made by them, and the powder and fuses were produced by the small gunpowder factory we just built here in Jiangshui. These things are made using rudimentary methods, so they may not be as good as the Japanese's, but they're guaranteed to work, and they'll give the Japanese a run for their money!"

Pan Zhankui forcefully removed the bayonet from his rifle, then picked up a grenade, his eyes gleaming: "Great stuff! Truly a godsend! Representative Zhang, you don't know, many soldiers in our battalion are missing this 'bayonet' from their rifles, they're terrified of close combat. This grenade looks sturdy, perfect for defending hilltops and setting up ambushes! And this landmine... hey!" He seemed to already see the potential role these rudimentary weapons could play on the battlefield.

"How many can there be?" he asked eagerly, for that was the key question.

"There aren't many right now, but production hasn't stopped," Zhang Xianyue said. "The blacksmith shops and gunpowder factories are working like crazy. We will distribute them as quickly as possible based on your units' defensive missions and the urgency of potential enemy engagement. Your battalion is the main force and was among the first to arrive, so you'll be given priority for replenishment."

Pan Zhankui let out a heavy breath, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and a solid sense of confidence rose from the bottom of his heart.

Despite the significant disadvantage in equipment, the addition of self-made bayonets, grenades, and landmines gave him and his battle-hardened soldiers a much greater sense of confidence in the face of the impending fierce battle.

He knew that the battles to come would be exceptionally brutal, but with these simple weapons that embodied the hard work and wisdom of the soldiers and civilians in the base area, their determination to protect this land and safeguard the people behind them would be even more unwavering.

He turned to the communications officer behind him and ordered, "Notify all companies to take a break and send specialists to learn how to use and deploy these new weapons! The Japanese are coming soon! We can't let the villagers down."

"Okay, let's discuss how to fight next!" Zhang Xianyue said.

"Alright, if there are enough of these guys, we can reconsider the matter of fighting the Japanese." Pan Zhankui was now even more confident.

Different equipment naturally leads to different playstyles.

Pan Zhankui, a veteran of many battles, naturally understood this principle.

With the arrival of the Eighth Route Army, intelligence from the Japanese army in Xingtai was also quickly transmitted back.

The Japanese did not try to hide their actions, but in reality, it was generally difficult for them to conceal their movements.

The requisition of grain and livestock was just the prelude to a major operation.

Moving ammunition and adjusting troop deployments are also a blatant way of telling others that those troops are about to move.

At this point, the Japanese had no intention of concealing the truth.

They didn't believe the Eighth Route Army in the mountains could withstand them.

This was especially true for the 108th Division, a Japanese unit that had not yet been attacked by the Eighth Route Army upon entering China.

They simply regarded the Eighth Route Army as the same kind of force as the Kuomintang army.

Even in places like Pingxingguan, the Eighth Route Army had already inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese.

They won't take it seriously unless it happens to them.