According to post-war declassifications, during the Great War from 1914 to 1917, a total of 58 million rounds of artillery shells were manufactured in Russian factories, however, the annual demand for artillery shells on the front line reached 50 million rounds. Because of the lack of industrial production capacity (Russia's industrial base was already poor, and more importantly, adults had gone to war, and the industrial production and logistical support capacity was seriously insufficient), the Russian government had to hand over the production and orders of artillery shells to foreign countries. During the war, a total of 56 million rounds of 3-inch artillery shells were ordered and produced abroad, and about 13 million rounds, or less than a quarter, were actually delivered to Russia. As a result, the Russian army felt a severe shortage of military supplies throughout the war. As a result, the division commanders of the Russian army had to control the average number of artillery firing per day at 5 to 10 rounds, and the diaries of the Russian soldiers complained that "Germany fired 20 shells, and we could only fire back one".

Later, lacking the necessary weapons, the flesh and blood of countless soldiers could only be used to resist the attacks of the German army.

Allies such as Britain, France, and the United States are not without help, but they lack suitable ports and cannot carry out large-scale assistance. In addition, perhaps they still have a careful idea, that is, to let the two great powers of Germany and Russia fight on the Eastern Front in order to compete for the right to speak after the war. Russia, on the other hand, had just transformed from serfdom into a backward agricultural country, and its military industrial strength was not strong, and after the whole country was mobilized to participate in the war, the disadvantages of its industrial weakness immediately appeared, and it even bought shells from Japan, which was weaker in the east.

The same is true for rifles: the Russian army has a shortage of about 3 million rifles per year, and even buys Type 38 rifles from Japan at great expense; The front line needs 3 billion rounds of ammunition per year, but the annual production capacity is only 500 million.

ALMOST ALL OF THE ARTILLERY OF THE BONG ARMY, INCLUDING THE BEIYANG ARMY, USED 75MM SHELLS, WHICH WERE EXACTLY WHAT 3-INCH CALIBER GUNS NEEDED. If, if, Zhang Hanqing put forward his hypothesis to Neshinsky: "If you use this loan to provide us with lathes and other equipment necessary for the production of artillery shells, we will produce them at full capacity and give priority to providing you with artillery shells at preferential prices." ”

If I want to say that the backwardness of Tsarist Russia is a fight with China---- I mean the concept, not the entity: people are emaciated camels bigger than horses, for example, on the eve of the Great War, Russia had 7,088 artillery pieces, while China only has, well, 54 guns per division, and the Republic of China had only 16 such standard divisions by the beginning of 1918. 16, only 972 doors are fully established!

It is a pity that only 40 of the so many artillery pieces in Tsarist Russia are heavy artillery, and the reason for this is that its generals believe in the theory of mobile warfare (Tukhachevsky laughs but does not speak), that is, the mass production of light artillery that can carry out battlefield maneuver to accompany infantry charges, while heavy artillery is an "outdated and bulky" weapon, which is only suitable for "defensive warfare", resulting in only 3% of the 11,000 guns produced in the entire war...

Therefore, when the Russian soldiers in simple armor met the German soldiers in hardcover, they were immediately devastated, and it was also helpless to use the advantage of numbers to fill the lack of weapons, which was an encounter with the later Chinese War of Resistance, and the battlefield used human lives to fill guns and bullets, as in a movie: "A large number of unarmed personnel lined up at the back of each formation, waiting to pick up the guns of the dead..."

Don't talk about it, all in all, in short, Zhang Hanqing's words have touched on the sore spot of Russia, and they are also to the point. As a patriotic and loyal businessman and financier, Neshinsky greatly admired Zhang Hanqing's very astonishing judgment of the Russian front, and also admired Zhang Hanqing's empathetic support for Russia, and he said that he would work hard to promote this win-win business.

In my heart, if the Fengtian army can produce the guns and ammunition that the Russian army urgently needs, it will be far faster and more convenient than buying them from Japan, and you must know that with the Eastern Railway, Mukden is very likely to become a rear supply line for Russia.

Russia has no shortage of machinery, and now it is in dire need of manpower; Mukden lacks machines, but there is no shortage of people. The two sides hit it off, and Neshinsky sent the news to China in a top-secret message.

This was a boon for the Russians, who had just experienced a crushing victory in the summer offensive, having just supported France and Italy, which had narrowly been routed by the Allies at the cost of more than a million men, and had themselves exhausted the military supplies they had accumulated during the brief period of peace in early 1916.

However, even if this is the case, the Russians are not willing to support China, they are only willing to sell the machines that produce artillery shells and bullets. FOR THE 75MM FIELD ARTILLERY PRODUCTION LINE THAT ZHANG HANQING DESPERATELY WANTED, HE REFUSED TO MENTION IT, WHICH MADE ZHANG HANQING VERY DISAPPOINTED.

Two production lines of artillery shells and three lines of bullets, costing a total of 2 million rubles, were loaned by Dow Son Bank with an interest rate of 12%, and the principal and interest were repaid in full after one year.

Although Zhang Zuolin initially wanted to negotiate for a price, he now felt that the deal was worth it, and in any case, his army was able to self-sufficiency in shells, which was already a huge improvement. I also thought that Xiao Liuzi could think of arms production without being controlled by others at this time, which was really far-sighted.

The deal went well, and Neshinsky reaped a lot of benefits. Maybe it's because he's in a good mood, he didn't care about Zhang Hanqing's clichés, so Zhang Hanqing probably guessed the reason: the technical blockade turned out ---- the best way to prevent China.

However, this was difficult for Zhang Hanqing, who thought of a weapon ---- mortar, which the Russians did not take to heart, but which would be very beneficial to the promotion of the Feng army: "Mr. Neshinsky, with your understanding of your country, do we have any chance of getting a mortar production line from your country?" If you can make the deal a success, I think we'd be grateful. ”

The First World War was mainly a defensive war, and the Makqin machine guns, aircraft, and second-line artillery and cannon already constituted a very good line of defense, and the ordinary small-caliber guns of mortars, which were not mobile enough and whose firepower range were inferior to those of the main artillery, were not taken seriously, and the same was true in Russia.

However, Zhang Hanqing knew that it had a great effect, especially in China, where heavy firepower was insufficient and heavy industry was underdeveloped, and this portable, simple operation, and low-cost weapon was an excellent firepower supplement for an infantry-based army. In line with the principle that the rice should be eaten one bite at a time, it is not bad to be able to settle for the next best thing and obtain its production.

Neshinsky understood his hints, and, according to his immature knowledge, the mortar was not a new play, and it was not very technical, so it was expected that there would be little resistance. He nodded: "I'll try again, do my best, my young marshal." ”

He took out a loan of two million, from which he received a commission of twenty thousand, and of course was happy to facilitate new deals. UNDER HIS DILIGENT MEDIATION, A FEW DAYS LATER, HE FINALLY BROUGHT BACK A REPLY THAT MADE ZHANG HANQING VERY HAPPY: "MR. YOUNG MARSHAL, I HAVE COMMUNICATED WITH THE SUPREME COMMAND SEVERAL TIMES, AND FINALLY OBTAINED APPROVAL, AND MY COUNTRY HAS AGREED TO SELL THREE MORTAR PRODUCTION LINES OF 60MM CALIBER, WORTH FOUR MILLION RUBLES, AND WILL NEVER MAKE A COUNTEROFFER, AND MUST BE PAID IN FULL IN ONE LUMP SUM." ”

It doesn't matter, banks and governments are different behaviors. Four million rubles asked for cash, but Zhang Hanqing just went through the formalities from the bank. For Daosheng Bank, it is the relationship between the left hand and the right hand. In fact, there is no need for him to say that Zhang Hanqing is also ready to re-lend his family's money to carry out this transaction. Anyway, this account is not going to be repaid, and now they use their money to buy their machines, as long as they can get it, they can say anything.

Zhang Zuolin had already received a detailed explanation from Zhang Hanqing in advance. He still knows a lot about the role of mortars, but he is still skeptical that the money will not be paid back in the end. However, he still agrees with the things that can add combat effectiveness to his army. Borrowing money, he has done it many times in his life, and the repayment process is very clear.

The market has been inquired, and the price I heard from Lihe Foreign Bank is about the same, it seems that Neshinsky really didn't open his mouth in order to get a commission, and the price was completely conscientious.

The three lines, with an annual output of 150 guns, can be equipped with 25 companies of 6 mortars, or 16 or 7 of 9 mortar companies. Compared with the infantry guns of the Japanese Army, which are generally equipped with front-line combat infantry, the infantry of the Beiyang Army is really "pure infantry" in addition to machine guns! With China's current conditions, it would be very good to be able to equip a mortar company like this at the regimental or even battalion level.

The standard artillery company under the artillery regiment of the Beiyang Division has a six-gun system, which has an inherent advantage over the four-gun system that is common in the West and the East. If you want to overwhelm the Japanese army in terms of support artillery, with your current economic capacity, it is a bit against the sky.

And it seems that later the infantry artillery of various countries was replaced by mortar artillery. Relatively speaking, the power of infantry artillery is far inferior to that of cannons, and in its support function for infantry, the direct fire function is not as good as that of rocket artillery and curved fire mortars, which are known for their almost non-existent shooting dead ends. The mortar is lighter in weight and simpler in maintenance. In the long run, the introduction of mortars is definitely the right way.

In order to thank Neshinsky for his "contribution", he was once again rewarded with 50,000 rubles, because this time Zhang Zuolin gritted his teeth and renewed the loan for 5 million.

The reason why one million was added was because Zhang Zuolin saw that Zhang Hanqing was busy preparing for the expansion of the arsenal, and the Guards Brigade also dispatched a lot of manpower. And the eldest son, who was trying to earn money for his subordinates, did not take a penny out of it for food, clothing, housing and transportation of the Guards Brigade, and all the loans were used for equipment related to the manufacture of artillery shells. Lao Zhang saw it, and he felt a lot of emotion.

The son worked hard for this family belonging, and he couldn't be a father without a little eyesight. Regardless of whether you want to pay it back in the future, anyway, now that there are more lice, you are not afraid of itching, and you will talk about it after this hurdle first. Of course, Zhang Hanqing was happy to go straight to the top, and the problem of his own financial difficulties was solved at once, and this real equipment was hard to find. I'm not afraid that I can't pay it back, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to get a loan, and my dad can certainly be praised for having such insight.

In order to avoid long nights and dreams, Zhang Hanqing kept urging, and Nesinsk also mobilized all the relations and contributed a lot to the success of this batch of equipment. Is it okay to be unhappy? Once it dragged on until November, Russia changed dramatically, and everything came to naught. Money can be made well, but now the equipment is more valuable! In order to avoid attracting people's attention, especially the "concern" of the Japanese, the equipment entered Mukden in batches from several directions, announcing to the outside world that it was a coal mining machine. Some of this is true, because Mukden also lacks such equipment. Zhang Hanqing asked Neshinsky to add some in the name, in the name of covering people's eyes and ears.

Neshinsky made some more money from this transaction, but if he knew that this loan would be equivalent to a free gift to the Zhang family and his son in the future, would he feel like buying and repaying the pearls?