Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

January 20, 1925, early morning.

An armored train with a heavy armored shell was speeding along the Hangzhou-Nanjing Railway, belching out thick black smoke.

Inside the luxurious compartment of the special train, sealed off by steel plates, Chen Zijun leaned back on a leather sofa, holding a cup of bitter black coffee, and glanced at the pale blue light screen that popped up on his retina.

[Host: Chen Zijun]

[Unlimited spending system in operation... Current fund acquisition speed: 1.5 pounds/second]

Current available funds: £3,645,800

[Status of core assets: Jiangnan Heavy Industry Group has commenced full-scale production (Lishui); Ma'anshan Coal-Steel Composite Blast Furnace has successfully smelted special armor steel]

Just a few hours earlier, He Maofeng, the commander of the Independent Sixth Mixed Brigade stationed in Ma'anshan, sent a top-level secret telegram that was "extremely urgent".

The telegram contained no military intelligence, only one sentence.

"The first batch of special armor is ready; please inspect it, Young Marshal!"

Chen Zijun woke up Shen Li overnight and mobilized an armored company of the Imperial Guard. He directly dispatched an armored train, sounding the sirens, and rushed to Ma'anshan, Anhui, with all the green lights.

"Young Marshal." Shen Li pushed open the carriage door and walked in, his military boots making a crisp sound on the wooden floor. He held a newly compiled battle report in his hand. "Brigade Commander He has submitted a detailed battle report from last night. In the middle of the night last night, a group of sixteen Japanese Special Higher Police suicide squad members, carrying eighty kilograms of military TNT, attempted to blow up our blast furnace under cover of darkness."

"Where is he?" Chen Zijun asked without looking up, gently blowing on the steam rising from his coffee cup.

"Nume them all, leave no one alive." Shen Li sneered, his tone revealing undisguised contempt. "Those idiots didn't even touch the outer barbed wire before they were blinded by our searchlights, and then turned into mincemeat by the crossfire of twelve MG34 machine guns. The leader was called Takeda Jiro, and I heard he was the Special Higher Police's last trump card in East China."

"Aces? Against the firepower of our Chen family army, they're nothing but useless cards." Chen Zijun put down his coffee cup, his eyes sharp as knives. "Well done. Tell Uncle He to give him credit for this. Once this batch of armor steel is finalized and the arsenal's assembly line is up and running, his Independent Sixth Mixed Brigade will be the first to be expanded into a German-equipped motorized infantry division!"

"Yes!" Shen Li shouted, standing at attention.

……

It was exactly 9:00 AM.

The armored train emitted a sharp, long whistle and slowly entered the dedicated platform inside the Ma'anshan Coal and Steel Complex.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Chen Zijun, wearing his signature German-style military overcoat, strode off and jumped out.

On the platform, He Maofeng, along with a group of engineers and factory managers who were covered in dust but had enthusiastic expressions, were already lined up and waiting.

"Young Marshal!" Upon seeing Chen Zijun, He Maofeng's eyes reddened with excitement, and he gave an extra forceful salute, slamming his hand hard on the brim of his hat.

"Stop with the fluff, where's the steel?" Chen Zijun cut straight to the point without uttering a single wasted word.

"In Steelmaking Workshop No. 1! Cooling annealing has just been completed!"

The group of people walked briskly towards the huge factory building that was tens of meters high.

As soon as the heavy iron door was pushed open, a wave of scorching heat, mixed with the smell of machine oil and rust, rushed out. In the center of the workshop, a huge square steel ingot lay quietly on the testing table. Its surface had a deep, dark gray metallic luster, like a lurking steel behemoth, exuding a cold and deadly sense of oppression under the bright lights.

Chen Zijun stepped forward, took off his white gloves, and, unconcerned about the high temperature and dust on them, reached out and touched the steel ingot that still seemed to be warm.

Rough. Hard. So heavy it brings a sense of peace.

This is the feel of a major national asset.

"Young Marshal!" The gray-haired German chief engineer squeezed through the crowd, clutching a report filled with German data tightly in his hand. He was so excited he was incoherent, not even bothering to wipe the soot off his face. "A miracle! This is simply a miracle in industrial history! We have successfully produced high-nickel alloy armor steel that fully meets Krupp's most stringent standards using this new electric arc furnace!"

"Enough with the nonsense, where's the data?" Chen Zijun asked directly in fluent German.

"Take a look yourself!" The chief engineer handed over the report, then turned and yelled at a heavy-duty hydraulic press next to him, "Get the test sample up! Show the young commander what's really going on!"

Two shirtless, muscular men used large iron tongs to carefully pick up a cooled square steel plate and place it on the huge hydraulic press anvil.

"This is a 15-millimeter-thick test standard plate." The chief engineer personally walked to the control panel, pulled the operating lever, and said, "Now, apply the ultimate pressure test!"

The hydraulic press emitted a teeth-grinding, screeching roar.

Twenty tons. Fifty tons. One hundred tons!

The heavy pressure head slammed down on the center of the steel plate.

Only when the hydraulic press's pressure gauge soared to the equipment's limit did the 15-millimeter-thick special steel plate exhibit a barely perceptible bend. Yet, its surface showed no cracks, no signs of breakage or shattering!

"Look!" The chief engineer roared, trembling with excitement, pointing at the intact steel plate. "The yield strength exceeds 800 MPa! The tensile strength reaches 1000 MPa! The toughness is practically flawless! If this incredible material were used for tank armor, a mere 15 millimeters thick would be enough to withstand direct fire from a Japanese 37mm anti-tank gun at point-blank range!"

He swallowed hard, his voice trembling with excitement: "If it were used for a cannon barrel... God, it could absolutely withstand the terrifying chamber pressure of a 150mm heavy howitzer firing, and it would never explode!"

The workshop was deathly silent.

All the workers, technicians, and officers, including He Maofeng, held their breath and stared intently at Chen Zijun.

Chen Zijun's hand remained pressed on the huge steel ingot, his fingers exerting slight pressure until his knuckles turned white.

His heart was pounding violently in his chest.

In that humiliating historical period, in that backward era, the Chinese couldn't even forge a single, basic, qualified steel barrel for a Hanyang rifle. All heavy weapons, all tanks and cannons, had to be at the mercy of foreigners, enduring endless scorn, and spending ten or even a hundred times more in real gold and silver to buy discarded scrap metal from them.

If the foreigners wouldn't sell, China would have no choice but to use its flesh and blood to fill the enemy's steel and cannon fire.

But now, everything is different.

"Listen up." Chen Zijun turned around abruptly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the hundreds of eager men in the workshop. His voice wasn't loud, but in the empty and quiet workshop, it was like rolling thunder, vibrating everyone's eardrums.

"From this day forward, our Chen family army's artillery will no longer use steel donated by others!"

"From this day forward, we will have our own heavy artillery! We will have our own steel tanks!"

"Furthermore, in the future we will have our own main armor belts for our warships!"

Chen Zijun slammed his fist into the steel ingot, producing a dull thud: "The Chinese people now have the strongest backbone!"

"good--!!!"

A wild, tsunami-like cheer erupted instantly in the workshop.

Several veteran technicians who had spent their entire lives working in the arsenal knelt on the ground, covering their greasy faces and wailing. It was the ecstatic release of humiliation that had been suppressed for half a century; it was tears of joy!

Amid cheers, Chen Zijun turned to look at He Maofeng, his eyes instantly regaining the coldness and decisiveness of a superior.

"Old He, load this largest steel ingot onto the truck immediately. Pack it in the best shockproof wooden crates and send a company of heavily armed soldiers to escort it throughout the journey."

"Young Marshal, where do you plan to send this first treasure?" He Maofeng wiped away the hot tears from the corners of his eyes and asked loudly.

"Send it to Jiangnan Heavy Industry Group in Lishui, Zhejiang." Chen Zijun sneered, a domineering smile curving his lips. "Personally hand it over to Liu Zhenliang. Tell him that I've already taken care of the most difficult special material for him."

"You're not allowed to delay this for even a single day in the next six months!"

"I want to see the prototype of the first 150mm heavy howitzer roar! I want to see the first tracked armored vehicle crushing the dirt on my parade ground!"

"Understood!" He Maofeng stood with his feet together and loudly accepted the order.

Not just tanks and artillery.

Chen Zijun's gaze passed over the towering ceiling of the workshop and looked towards the wider southern sky.

Once this batch of heavy weaponry is fully operational, it will be an iron torrent sweeping across the land.

No matter who it is, whether they are warlords or foreign powers, anyone who dares to stand in the way of this torrent will be mercilessly crushed into dust!

……