"The Japanese Army intends to order one hundred and twenty machine guns and half a million rounds of ammunition from us, and the Japanese Navy has made the same offer, but the problem is," Rachel threw the two papers on the table, rubbed her temples vigorously with her hands, and had an indescribably strange expression, as if she didn't know how to describe her feelings—in fact, she didn't even know what it was, quite complicated, mixed with many completely different emotions. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info "The Japanese Navy put forward several requirements, its machine guns must not be manufactured using the same production line as the machine guns purchased by the army, the technical indicators cannot be completely consistent with the army's, even if it is the same style, the direction of rotation of the screws and rifling must be opposite to the army's, and it is best to use bullets of different calibers. ”

"My God, it's the same joke that the boss used to tell." Claude laughed, "I thought he just made it up......"

Rachel glared at him sternly and tapped lightly on the table. "As an employee of the Great Viper Weapons Company, you should know that your boss doesn't tell meaningless jokes, Mr. Claude."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Yi." He shrank back a little, avoiding her gaze.

Thankfully, he wasn't the man Rachel was looking for, and it was just a trivial trifle—not even a vignette. Rachel quickly turned his attention to the chief gunsmith beside him. "Mr. Browning, will you be able to fulfill the demands of the Japanese?"

Browning smiled. "Except for the caliber of ammunition, there are no problems with anything else. We can supply five types of machine guns for the Japanese to choose freely. ”

"Five?" Now it was Rachel's turn to be surprised, "You're not kidding, Mr. Browning, so much?" ”

"Yes, Mrs. Yi." Browning's smile became sly, "Actually, if we count the old design, we can make up seven machine guns." ”

"Hmm...... How did you come up with it? She still couldn't figure it out. According to the documents she saw, the Viper Weapons' undisclosed catalog contained only four machine guns: the large-caliber M2, the .308-bullet "Browning's Potato Excavator" and the yet-to-be-unnamed, one-letter code-named MAG, and the Novotny-designed "chainsaw" with .223 caliber ammunition.

That's all. Moreover, only the "Browning's potato excavator" is a full-fledged product, the MAG and the "chainsaw" are still in the testing stage and cannot be put into mass production, and the M2, the .50 caliber bullet it will use, has not yet passed all the tests.

However, Browning claimed that the company had seven machine guns...... What are the other three? The Browning automatic rifle, which has always been used as a machine gun by mercenaries? Perhaps it could occupy one place, but the remaining two empty seats ...... Are there any other new products that will be developed?

Noticing the confused look on her face and guessing what she was thinking, Browning put away his smile and explained, "I beg your pardon, Madame Yi, the seven machine guns are purely commercial descriptions. ”

"...... so"

"If strictly defined, the company has only two machine guns that can be sold to the Japanese." He continued, "Browning's potato excavator, which has been in production for several years, and the Model 1899 machine gun ready for production. ”

"Not MAG and chainsaws?" Some of the problems were solved, but a new one came again, "What is Model 1899?" ”

"MAG and chainsaw are still in the testing phase. We," Browning was referring to him and Novotny, "do not think that they can yet be regarded as qualified products. As for Model 1899, it was an engineering prototype gun designed for the M2 project to verify the principle of short-recoil automatics with a barrel......"

Rachel motioned for him to stop - she wasn't interested in the automatics of firearms, and always did. "Mr. Browning, how did you turn two machine guns into seven?"

"Oh, it's very simple." Browning smiled again, "There have always been two models of the potato excavator, one with an air-cooled barrel and one with a water-cooled barrel, and recently the young people in the design department have improved its air-conducting piston and locking mechanism, and designed a new air-cooled barrel with a heat sink, so that we can count it into five different machine guns......"

"So, the same is true of Model 1899?"

"Yes. Of course, it has only two barrels, so it can only count two. ”

"It's a cunning idea," Rachel commented, "but I like it." ”

Browning did not express his opinion, nor did he want to accept the compliment—as a firearms designer, he did not like this kind of clandestine behavior. He did this because the Japanese Navy had made unreasonable and illogical demands that it could not use the same line of production as the army's machine guns, that it could not use the same design, and that the rifling should rotate in the opposite direction......

By the way, also, ammunition of the same caliber cannot be used. Although the Japanese say so, "the best". In the name of God, how could they not design a machine gun themselves?

And, in fact, if it were done exactly as they wanted, then it would not be much different from redesigning a machine gun - except for the unfinished "chainsaw", none of the machine guns were designed with a different caliber and size of bullets in mind.

Browning thought angrily, when he heard Rachel then ask, "How to solve the problem of bullets?" ”

"There's no way to fix it." He spread his hands, "We only have two bullets that are fully compliant with military standards, .308 rifle cartridges and .223 carbine cartridges. ”

"No other bullets?"

"Nope."

The Grand Viper Arms Company now produces six different caliber rifle bullets, but only two meet military standards and can be used on machine guns, while the remaining four, .270 caliber and seven mm caliber only have soft-tipped and air-tipped rounds, .300 Magnum has a pointed lead core but cannot be used as ammunition for machine guns, and as for the .22 long rifle cartridge, I am afraid no one thinks it is suitable for military use.

Then, after deducting the .223, which could only be used as a carbine cartridge because of its power and range, only .308 of the six rifle bullets could be used as machine gun ammunition, and if the Japanese Navy insisted on using bullets of different calibers, then it would have to buy military ammunition from other countries.

Of course, this is just an inconsequential problem, and the company's top management will feel uncomfortable, because purchasing bullets from other countries will lead to a decrease in the company's profits, but there is no problem in practice. The real trouble caused by the requirements of the Japanese Navy was always only the one he had already thought of: being forced to make large-scale revisions to the already existing design, almost equivalent to designing a new gun.

No one in the technology department wants to do this kind of thing, not even a newcomer who has only been in the company for a few weeks. For no other reason than that the technical department was already very busy, with many projects to complete, there was no time to waste on a business worth less than $30,000.

One hundred and twenty machine guns is such a business that is only enough to stuff the teeth, and the Japanese are embarrassed to make so many demands?

Who do they think they are? Oh, God?

Not only Browning, but also Claude, whose face was already distorted—he had to do his best to control the urge to laugh—Rachel also hated the demands made by the Japanese Navy. However, she does not intend to refuse this business, first of all, this is Qin Lang's plan, and secondly, the current situation is very clear, the business she got today is just the beginning, and follow-up orders will continue to come. The Japanese are desperately expanding their army, and they need weapons.

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Zhanjiang. Messerschmidt's deal with Graham continued, just on a different day and in a different place, moving from a fancy restaurant to a café near the headquarters of United Textile Technologies. In the past, Japanese spies and ronin could always be seen here, but now, these people are extinct.

They were scared away. Not because of the police, although the police in Zhanjiang -- whether they were American sheriffs or hired Chinese patrol officers -- were very fond of interrogating Japanese people and those who looked Japanese, and if they showed the slightest resistance or were just unpleasant to the officers, they would immediately arrest him, take him to the police station, and beat him repeatedly. Many people were unlucky, both Japanese and other Cantonese-speaking Chinese, but Japanese spies and ronins were not frightened away by this rough behavior.

What scared them was the security of United Textile Technologies. The police are at least subject to the law, and these fast shooters can be called lawless: within their jurisdiction, they will not hesitate to shoot anyone who detects an unauthorized intruder.

"Shoot first, kill one enemy, kill one enemy, kill all enemies and then ask them questions", this is the code of conduct of the security guards, although the Japanese spies and ronins are very fanatical, they are brave and determined patriots, and they are also terrified in the face of these guys, and finally, after the militants strafed the backbone of the Black Dragon Society and used bombs to attack the dojo of the Black Dragon Society, the Japanese spies and ronin completely disappeared from the sight of the security guards.

"Maybe that's what you Americans like to say, the flower of freedom needs to be watered with the blood of patriots." Graham's tone contained an undisguised mockery, and Messerschmitt could guess what he meant: the flower of freedom in the United States, the blood of Japanese patriots.

is like a joke that Qin Lang once said: "General Blood Gall".

"Next time, when you quote a quote, remember to finish the sentence." He smiled and threw out an envelope like he had done last time, "How's the Japanese doing?" ”

Graham put the envelope away and said, "The situation of the Japanese Navy is not yet clear, but the Japanese Army is rapidly expanding its forces - the first phase of the replenishment plan will call up 150,000 soldiers, replenish the previous seven divisions to full strength, and form six new full divisions." ”

As a result of Qin Lang's plan, the situation in the world once again changed markedly -- if we follow the history of another world, the Japanese Army would already have 12 divisions: the first, the 1st to 6th Divisions, which were established in 1888, the Guards Division, which was established in 1891, the 7th Division, which was established in 1896, and finally, the 8th to 12th Divisions, which were established in 1898. However, Qin Lang's plan caused the Japanese government to not have enough financial resources to maintain such a large standing force, and could only control the army to the size of seven divisions, and it was still less than a full force. This would not have changed if it had not been for a loan from an American consortium – but Messerschmitt did not know this.

"It's just the first installment?"

"Well-informed sources claim that the Japanese Army intends to take advantage of the war with Russia to increase the size of the standing force to twenty-one divisions, but the whole plan can only be divided into two or three steps, given the economic affordability. Of course, Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito and the Japanese Navy strongly opposed the actions of the Japanese Army. ”

Graham looked at Messerschmidt and waited for his reaction. However, Messerschmidt did not seem to hear the latter sentence, and thought silently, and only raised his head after a long while. "Twenty-one divisions." He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, "Is the message reliable?" ”

"Not sure." Graham told the truth - he felt that there was no point in telling lies in front of Messerschmidt, except to get himself in trouble. "However, there is no doubt that the Japanese Army will be expanded to thirteen divisions, and the list of commanders has been announced."

"Really?" Messerschmitt seemed intrigued, "Who are they?" ”

"How much do you know about Japanese generals?"

"Except for one named Nogi Noshinori, I don't know anything else. But I want to know. ”

“…… Well, Friedrich, since you want to know. Graham shrugged. The six newly formed divisions, the commander of the 7th Division, Lieutenant General Shotoshi Osako, the 8th Division, Lieutenant General Tachimi Nafumi, the 9th Division, Lieutenant General Hisunao Oshima, the 10th Division, the division commander was a member of the Imperial Family, Prince Fushimi Miyasadai, the 11th Division, Lieutenant General Okihara Mitsufu[Note], and the 12th Division, Lieutenant General Hikaru Inoue. That's it. ”

Messerschmitt thought for a moment. "Their character, and their family ......"

"If you want to know this, then it's best to investigate it yourself." Graham raised his hand, "I can't answer your question. ”

"Why?"

"That's a very thick piece of paper, Friedrich, do you think I'll be able to memorize it all?"

"Well, you can give me that information." Messerschmitt demanded, but Graham was not expected to agree - the guy didn't have the courage to resell top-secret documents.

So without waiting for him to answer, he continued: "How are the Japanese going to solve the weapons problem?" As far as I know, they don't even have that many rifles. ”

"It's very simple, buy from the United States." Graham blinked his little eyes, "The first stop is the Umbrella Military Industries Group in San Diego. ”

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Note: Historically, the first division commander of the 11th Division was Nogi Noshinori (to be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )