"Knock, knock, knock" Huangshi artillery factory is one of a series of military enterprises built by Su Tong under the order of the Ministry of Military Industry in Huangshi, Hubei, Huangshi is located on the bank of the Yangtze River south of the Yangtze River, and the military equipment and materials produced here can be easily transported to Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong and other coastal provinces by water. In Su Tong's first five-year plan, Huangshi was an important rear industrial base.

At this time, Su Tongzheng accompanied himself to visit the Huangshi Industrial Base, and the person in charge slowly walked in the factory to visit, accompanied by Lieutenant General Liu Yecheng, commander of the newly established Fifth Group Army, Lieutenant General Lu Gang, chief of staff, and Major General Xu Bai, the new division commander of the 129th Division.

Today, Su Tong specially invited these generals from the Social Workers Party to accompany him on a tour of the military industrial enterprises, which was not only to show their new appointment, but also to let them know more about the development and importance of modern military industrial enterprises.

In the body tube workshop of the artillery factory, accompanied by the hammer forging sound of the 1,000-ton forging press, the red-colored column-shaped steel ingots that were hung by the steel chain sling became more and more dense under the hammer forging of the 1,000-ton forging press. Hammer forging like this would take thousands of times to create a deemable artillery barrel. The artillery barrel manufactured by the Huangshi Artillery Factory is first cast into a cylindrical barrel blank by the special steel mill, and then there is scum at both ends of the truncated barrel, and the cannon blank is repeatedly hammered and forged by a forging press in 100 tons, 1000 tons or even 4,000 tons.

After the rigorous hammer forging process is completed, the body tube is formed. It is sent to the polishing workshop to polish the surface, and then into the quenching workshop for quenching hard, and finally the deep hole processing workshop is processed into a suitable caliber breech.

Because the gunpowder bag in the barrel burns violently when the gun is fired, the pressure will be very large, in order to ensure the strength of the gun barrel, the engineers came up with a layer of gun holsters or hoops that are bound outside the inner tube. The larger the caliber of the gun, the greater the amount of projectile used, and thus the thicker and thicker the outer holster. The inner diameter of this kind of hoop and gun sleeve will be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the inner tube, and when installed, it will be heated and expanded with high temperature and then put on the inner tube, and it will be naturally tightly bound after cooling.

"Wow!"

When the 1,000-ton gun barrel blank was initially processed into a round after the hammer press stopped working, it was lifted into the cooling pool, accompanied by a dense water mist, and the originally hot barrel was immediately cooled down. The barrels were then hoisted into a railing cart on one side, and two workers pushed the cart with several stubby billets towards another workshop, where the next process would be completed.

Workers are doing the same job every day, the Yellowstone Artillery Factory is making a large number of guns day after day, although no one knows why so many guns are made, but for the workers in the artillery factory, the more guns are made, the higher their income, this is what the workers in the artillery factory need to care about.

In the finished artillery workshop, several blonde Jewish engineers were exchanging something with several officers with artillery markings on their armbands. Several officers patted the gun carriage with satisfaction and said to an engineer with a smile: "Congratulations, Mr. Spoh, the first batch of guns of this model has been successfully trial-produced, and I believe that it will be officially put into production soon." ”

The Jewish engineer looked quite solemn, he took out a large caliper and measured the caliber of the gun, observed the threads in the barrel for a while, shook his head and said in stiff Chinese: "This batch of artillery looks no different from the 105mm howitzers produced by our Chahar Artillery Factory on the surface, at least on the surface, but the hammer forging process of the barrel of this batch of artillery is still not up to standard, and I can guarantee that the barrel of this batch of artillery will definitely not reach 500 rounds." Therefore, I think that the hammer forging workshop should immediately stop production for inspection and find out the reason, otherwise it would be irresponsible for us to send such a batch of unqualified artillery to the hands of the front-line artillerymen. ”

An officer said with some embarrassment, "Mr. Spoh, there are a hundred barrels in this batch, and it is a pity that they are just a little bit close to being scrapped?" ”

Spoh said stiffly: "No, even if it's almost a scrap, I will never allow anything unqualified in my hands to flow out of the door of the gun factory." ”

"But Mr. Spoh, the troops urgently need to wait for these guns to be reequipped!" The officers were in a hurry.

When Spoh heard this, he turned around and roared loudly: "The urgent need to wait does not mean that these artillery pieces can be shoddy, which is related to the lives of those soldiers in the future, if we send these unqualified artillery guns to the troops, it is tantamount to murder and freeze to death, you know?" ”

"Well said!" At this time, Su Tong walked over and praised: "Very good, Mr. Engineer, your behavior makes me feel very gratified, which shows that you are a very honest and professional person, and your conduct is worthy of our praise and encouragement." ”

Suddenly, I saw several people who looked like senior leaders coming over, and several gunners Spoh said with some embarrassment: "Sir, I just did my duty as an engineer.

Liu Yecheng and the others who followed behind Su Tong also walked over, and Major General Xu Bai touched the barrel of the brand-new cannon and couldn't put it down, "Hey, the good guy turned out to be a 105mm howitzer, this is a baby." Well, at the beginning, we didn't even seem to have any of the 92 infantry guns of the Japanese themselves, but now we are about to be equipped with a 105mm heavy gun, which makes me excited to think about it. ”

Spoh smiled and corrected: "Mr. General, this is only a light artillery of 105 caliber, and only artillery with a caliber of more than one hundred and fifty millimeters can be called heavy artillery." ”

Xu Bai said casually: "I think we would have a cannon when we fought guerrillas, thank God" There are still so many things to care about, besides, this artillery, what does it matter if you shoot a few more shots or a few fewer shots? Scrapped, we'll change the barrel and leave. ”

Spoh's face was faintly angry after hearing this, for an engineer known for his strict prohibition, such a statement was definitely a big rebellion, and he was about to say something but was stopped by Su Tong.

Su Tong Zhengse said: "General Xu, I know that you are a Shaolin warrior monk and are also known for your bravery in the army, but today I want to criticize you." Engineer Spoh is right, making artillery is a very rigorous science, it is not a matter of firing a few shells as you say, and if such a problem is brought to the battlefield, it will be exchanged for the lives of the soldiers. We don't go to the street to buy cabbage when we cast artillery, it doesn't matter if it's a few cents less or a few cents more, this is science, science is a very rigorous science, and now you are a middle and senior general of the Wehrmacht, this kind of thinking is very important, and if you spread this kind of thinking to the troops below, it will be even more harmful. After finishing speaking, Su Tong took the lead in walking forward.

Xu Bai's head was a little dizzy when he heard this, didn't he just say a few words unintentionally, as for himself?

Before Xu Bai's mind turned around, Li Yecheng and Lu Gang beside him walked to his side and glared at him fiercely, Liu Yecheng whispered fiercely, "Monk Xu, if you don't want to be ashamed, we still have to be embarrassed." If you continue to say such foolish things in the future, I will transfer you to the local garrison. Su Tong walked for a long time and sighed and said sincerely to Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang behind him: "General Liu, General Lu, although the equipment of our army has become stronger after being redressed, the thinking of some officers in our army has not changed. I know that your troops were poorly equipped before they were reorganized, so they are particularly eager for weapons and equipment, and the management of your troops is not so formal. However, now that the troops have been reorganized into the National Defense Forces, the training and ideological education of the troops must be carried out in a unified manner in accordance with military regulations, so that the great trust entrusted to us by the people can be fulfilled. ”

Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang blushed, knowing that Su Tong was taking the opportunity to beat them. The Fifth Group Army was reorganized from the former Socialist Workers' Party troops, and in terms of the regularization and military discipline of the troops, they were worse than those of the former Central Army, not to mention the former Chahar Army. Just now, that Monk Xu jumped out and said something that didn't matter at all, wasn't that giving eye medicine to the president in front of him? The president, who usually seems to be kind, would only beat them like this now.

Liu Yecheng said with a red face: "Please rest assured, the president will definitely pay close attention to the construction and management of the army after we go back, and we will definitely train a well-trained and well-disciplined army in one year." ”

Su Tong Zhengse said, "Commander Liu, I know that you are a top student who graduated from the Frunze Military Academy of Soviet Russia, and you were a famous tiger general in Sichuan during the Protectorate War, I believe that this little thing will definitely not be difficult for you." But I can't give you a year, don't say I'm not kind, I only give you half a year, within half a year, you must train me a tiger and wolf division, can you do it? ”

Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang felt a pang in their hearts, and they didn't understand what Su Tong meant when he said this, but in the face of Su Tong's serious expression, the two of them also stood solemnly, "Yes, please rest assured." We promise to get the job done! ”

Su Tong nodded, walked outside without speaking. It is already February 1939, and the world war with the largest scale, the largest number of participating countries, the longest duration, and the largest number of casualties in the world is getting closer and closer. If you can't seize this opportunity, it will undoubtedly be much more difficult for Huaxia to rise, so Su Tong must not miss this opportunity! ~！