Ouyang Jian spent the old calendar year in Ruijin before returning to Yunshui County. The first good news back in Yunshui County is that the first steelmaking blast furnace of Yunshui County Steel Mill was put into operation. The blast furnace is a small steelmaking furnace that Herman bought from the United States at the end of last year and smelts 10 tons of scrap steel at a time. This is the first phase of the project, according to the plan, the fourth phase of the project will be completed in three years, reaching the capacity of smelting 40 tons of scrap steel per day. The blast furnace also has the conditions to smelt iron ore into steel, but there is no iron ore in Jiangxi, so according to the plan, only scrap steel can be smelted.

On the morning of the next day after returning to Yunshui County, accompanied by Lin Yifan, director of the Metallurgical Research Institute, the group left Yunshui County and headed for the western mountainous area. Yima galloped along the mountain road in all directions for about an hour and came to a cliff. The height of the cliff is about seventy or eighty meters, and it is not steep, and in front of the cliff is a flat land, which is about the size of two football fields. The steel mill chose to be here because the topography here is smooth with the external passage, and secondly, there is a natural huge cave in the cliff that is hollowed into the cliff.

It was from this cave that the engineering troops built the first phase of the steel-making furnace workshop, and the entrance of the cave was built with stone blocks and formed an arched doorway. The construction troops on both sides are still working, which is the workshop prepared for the later steelmaking furnace. On the way, Lin Yifan introduced: "Chief of General Staff, the blast furnace was shipped back from the United States in October last year, and it was officially put into operation after half a year of intense installation and commissioning. At the beginning of the year, Herman brought back a shipload of scrap steel, about 10,000 tons of scrap steel. We picked out some of the scrap steel that could be used and sold some of it, and stored the rest of it. Scrap steel that cannot be used is remelted in a centralized manner. ”

"I want to know, what is the utilization rate of scrap steel shipped back from the United States?" "About 70 percent, 30 percent can't be reused, and it has to be recycled." The group arrived at the steel mill and entered the cave building, where the motor rumbled, a steam boiler was running and providing powerful power, and the workers around the steelmaking furnace were busy in an orderly manner. Under the introduction of Lin Yifan, Ouyang Jian met with the director of the steel mill to greet him. After the short introduction, the factory director personally accompanied and guided the tour.

Lin Yifan introduced while visiting: "The coke for steelmaking is produced in Pingxiang, and the coke plant in Pingxiang Coal Mine has been put into operation, and the coke it produces is specially supplied to the steel mill. The power of the steelmaking furnace mainly comes from two 20-ton steam boilers, which are backward but more cost-effective than preparing to build power plants, and the power plants cannot survive in a state of war, so the use of steam boilers as the power is very practical. Currently, all of our plants are powered by steam boilers and are self-contained. ”

Ouyang Jian nodded and asked, "Steam boilers cannot be purchased in wartime, when can we produce boilers ourselves?" "It is estimated that our boiler plant will be put into operation next year, mainly producing boilers of less than 20 tons, and there is no problem in meeting the needs of arsenals and important factories." In addition, our first machine processing plant is also ready to be put into production, and it is estimated that we will not need to import machine tools in 3 years. With the continuous expansion of our industrial system, there is an urgent need for various technicians. In order to meet the future industrial development, we have prepared a comprehensive technical school, which is expected to open by the end of the year. ”

Ouyang Jian put on special sunglasses and observed the smelting of the steel furnace, the beating flames and the rushing molten steel in the furnace showed a moving picture. Later, Ouyang Jian met with several engineers from Germany, and they all gave a thumbs up and praised the construction of a steelmaking furnace in such a simple and harsh place. And I sincerely admire the motivation and construction speed of the Chinese workers. After meeting with the German engineer, Lin Yifan said happily: "The Germans are indeed experienced in the fields of engineering manufacturing and machining, and their joining has greatly improved our manufacturing level." In particular, the meticulous and lean attitude of the Germans is admirable. ”

"Germany is an industrial power, full of talents, maybe it is providence, to catch up with the economic depression in Europe and the United States, otherwise we would not have such an opportunity. What's the most important thing? Talent is the most important thing! We must be strict with our engineers and technicians and learn from the Germans with an open mind. In the next step, our technical school will also hire German teachers, and reserve a large number of technical talents for better development in the future. At present we are in constant danger of war and are unable to carry out large-scale industrial production, but the war will end one day. As long as we have the talent and technology in reserve, the post-war industrialization process will develop by leaps and bounds. Perhaps in the future, China will take advantage of the opportunity of the war to quickly embark on the road of industrialization, and everything we are doing today is not only to prepare for the anti-aggression war, but to plan for a hundred years and a thousand years! ”

"Chief of the General Staff, your words are always so uplifting. I will not disappoint your expectations and I will go the extra mile! Lin Yifan was a little excited. Ouyang Jian continued: "Don't look at the arrogance of Japanese militarism, if he dares to launch a war of aggression, he will definitely fall into the vast sea of people's war." After all, Japan has a small territory and is desperately short of resources. In particular, his population is not enough to support the long-term war attrition, as long as we make up our minds to resist to the end, even if we fight him for ten years, we will let the Japanese army run into blood on the land of China, and the final victory will definitely belong to us. And everything in front of us is the minimum condition for us to achieve victory" Ouyang Jian's self-confidence once again infected Lin Yifan.

"Chief of General Staff, at the beginning, I was resistant to you preparing to build a steel mill, because Jiangxi does not have rich iron ore resources, and preparing to build a steel mill is equivalent to cooking without rice. But your eyes are actually aimed at the scrap steel in the United States, especially in Europe and the United States during the economic depression, it is the smartest way to spend a small amount of money to hoard a large amount of steel, and now I understand that your purpose is to hoard a large amount of scrap steel to prepare for war. "Yes, in the next few years, I will go all out to import American scrap steel, as much as I can." "At present, all walks of life need money, and I am worried that there will be a shortage of follow-up funds."

"Forest worker, the days when we make money are behind, you don't have to worry about money. Although I am not a businessman, I am sure that I can take money out of the pockets of foreigners. Now for the import of scrap steel, you have to set up a special organization to classify the steel that can be used directly, and store it in a centralized manner for mechanical processing. As for the steel that needs to be smelted from the new, it is also necessary to smelt new varieties with a purpose. In addition, your metallurgical research institute wants to develop manganese steel, and the advantages of manganese steel need not be said by me, you should be clear. "It is no wonder that the German ordnance department needs a lot of manganese ore, manganese steel not only has the characteristics of high temperature resistance, but also the barrel and barrel made of manganese steel can prevent rust and double its service life."

"In addition, the corrosion resistance of manganese steel can reduce the cost of weapon maintenance and extend the life cycle of weapons." Speaking of professional knowledge, Lin Yifan talked eloquently. "Forestry workers, now that we have steel raw materials, your steel research institute will start to develop steel helmets and military kettles. In particular, steel helmets can ensure the safety of soldiers and reduce battle damage in wartime. The challenge of a steel helmet is the frontal and flank protection, in addition to being lightweight. "I immediately set up a research and development team to produce results as quickly as possible!" The two talked while visiting, and visited every department of the steel mill. ”

When the last rays of the sun were submerged in the western horizon, the two rode back to Yunshui County. The next day, Ouyang Jian took advantage of the east wind of inspecting the steel mill and decided to systematically integrate various departments to hold a meeting. Mao Zetan, secretary of the prefectural party committee, Zhang Hanfu, chief head of weapons, Lin Yifan, chief head of metallurgy, and heads of special fields were present. This meeting is very important, he wants to formulate a three-year development plan, and issue hard targets to various departments, urging them to complete their tasks. There were two special research project personnel who were not present, one was the penicillin research team and the other was the atomic energy research team, and these two projects were highly classified and could not be exposed in public.

Ouyang Jian's three-year plan is naturally well-founded, and although the Japanese army has stepped up the pace of aggression, the international situation and Japan's internal situation do not have the conditions to launch a large-scale war at present. What is a Japanese devil is shrewd, and their ambition is developed step by step with the ripening of the conditions. Therefore, it is by no means accidental that Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China in 37. First of all, the Japanese Kwantung Army became more and more stable in the three eastern provinces, and the three eastern provinces played an increasingly important role as Japan's logistics base, and the international situation was the strong rise of Germany, the old empire Britain and France continued to retreat, and at this time the United States unilateralism was in vogue, which gave Japan the ambition to annex China.

Ouyang Jian knew very well that the rapid rise of Germany and its ambitions gave the Japanese confidence. As a result of the appeasement policy adopted by Britain and France, the ambitions of the Germans gradually swelled. Next year, Germany will take action to recover the Saarland, and with the continuous concessions of Britain and France, Germany will send troops to occupy the Rhine demilitarized zone the year after tomorrow. Germany's military presence in Europe naturally set an example for the Japanese, so it was only natural that the German-Italian-Japanese Axis would emerge later. Japan is provoking the bottom line of the Chinese government step by step, and at the same time preparing for an all-out war of aggression against China, along with the maturity of internal and external conditions, the outbreak of a full-scale war of aggression against China by the Japanese army in 37 is by no means accidental, it is completely premeditated and inevitable.

Although Jiangxi's history has changed, it is not enough to affect the overall situation. Although peace talks were held between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party ahead of schedule, Japan held that China's current situation was still a situation of warlord separatism, and to put it bluntly, the Nationalist Government was at best the largest warlord, so it did not affect the overall situation of Japan's plot against China. In this situation, the Japanese government and the opposition did not care much about Jiangxi, and the Communist Party in Jiangxi was not enough to influence the overall strategy. The Japanese were very wrong because a key figure in the Communist Party later changed the pattern of the entire Chinese battlefield.

After the expiration of the personnel, Ouyang Jian said straight to the point: "Comrades, at present, Jiujiang Yunshui County has initially formed an industrial system. Our weapons industry and important factories have initially formed a scale, which can be described as a small sparrow. In order to prepare for the brutal war, it is imperative that we make breakthroughs in key development areas, so I have drawn up a three-year development plan. The three-year development plan requires that everything be implemented, and I have to come up with a timetable. Let me explain the details of the development plan one by one・・・・・・ ”

"Comrades, we are in a race against the Japanese army. In the future, the role played by the Yunshui county base will determine the stability of the Jiangxi base area, which means the question of whether we can hold Jiangxi. At the moment our small base is insignificant in the eyes of the world, but I am sure that it will play a huge role. The burden on your shoulders is very heavy, so please keep in mind. At present, we already have the conditions for rapid development, and we should come up with a feasible plan as soon as possible according to ・・・・・・the three-year development plan after we go back. ”

Although the pace of steel is belated, it has injected new blood into all walks of life and made all walks of life enter a stage of rapid development. At present, the world measures the strength of a country, and steel production is an important measure, which is the general rule in the world. At the peak of World War II, Japan produced 7.6 million tons of steel, 150 times that of China, and the United States produced 1,200 times as much steel as China. In terms of steel comparison, what qualifications does China have to confront Japanese militarism, armed to the teeth? This was the prevailing international view at the time. But is that really the case?