Drive! Qin'an County, Tianshui, Longnan, Gaojiamiao, Jiang Li was dressed like an ordinary soldier, and his epaulettes had been taken off, just among the congested soldiers. For the heads of other armies and important generals, the special forces of the 15th Route Army are not in the open system, but the core generals know that there is such a thing. This is also to prevent enemy snipers from infiltrating the ground in the northwest. The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, and there are now many refugees, coming and going, and it is impossible for the 15th Route Army to do everything.

"It's four or five miles ahead." Zhao Yi said to Jiang Li on Ma Bei.

"Well, I can't wait. People are iron, rice is steel, and if you don't eat a meal, you will be hungry. This steel is the food of industry, and with this thing, we will be able to produce our own guns and cannons in the future. ”

Jiang Li nodded, and said with great interest, in comparison, even if Jiang Wenhao's mixed fourth brigade was beaten into an empty shelf, it was nothing, with this steel, the arsenal and some small mechanical processing factories could be started smoothly. Input the first booster for the development of Northwest industry. Whether it is machining, military industry, or infrastructure construction, steel is indispensable, otherwise World War I, World War II countries will not list a country's steel production as one of the most important indicators of a country's comprehensive strength.

In order to avoid accidents, Jiang Li deliberately transferred Zhao Yi's mixed brigade to Tianshui, Qin'an, and Qingshui counties. The aim is to protect the safety of the steel plant. At the same time, it also deterred the Shaanxi garrison sent by Yang Hucheng.

It's the same with the cement factory in Lanzhou. There is a lot of traffic at the gate of the steel mill. Half of the ground is already being built with concrete roads. The railway built in the future will be planned in Tianshui, but after all, the construction of the railway is a long-lasting thing, and it cannot be counted on for the time being, Jiang Li can only pin his hopes on the construction of the highway for the time being.

In the midst of the convoy that came and went. Some pull iron ore into the plant, while others pull the first steel out of the plant. For the arrival of the army, although these convoys were somewhat surprised, but there was no commotion yet, Jiang Li nodded secretly, it seems that the military discipline of the mixed brigade is quite well restrained.

"I can't imagine that the commander can take time out of his busy schedule to go to such a remote place as Tianshui, it is really an honor for the whole Tianshui Iron and Steel Plant." Yu Zhonggang greeted him from afar, and among the few people who approached, Chen Jingguo, who was in charge of the production of the arsenal, was also there.

"Steel was the foundation of industry in the Northwest, before new iron ore was found. Those mechanical processing, the arsenal can only count on the steel mill here in Tianshui. How could I not come and see such an important event as the commissioning of the steel plant. Why did Director Chen come to Tianshui? Jiang Li smiled and turned over and dismounted, he had seen the steel mill in his previous life, but unfortunately he didn't understand steelmaking, otherwise it would be good to improve the smelting level.

"The arsenal will point to the steel plant in the future, and the mortar factory planned to be built in Tianshui has been completed, and I am running back and forth several places. If you don't look at the steel coming off the assembly line on the side of the steel plant, you will always be unsure. Unexpectedly, I happened to meet the commander who also came to inspect the steel plant. Chen Jingguo said with a smile.

"I'm even more anxious than you, the mixed fourth brigade was beaten into an empty shelf by the Japanese in Shanghai, the original ordnance has been used to the bottom, and the expansion of the army must be produced by the arsenal, otherwise this day will be more and more difficult day by day." Jiang Li said.

"This is not in a hurry, the plant is repaired quickly, but the supply of raw materials can not be fast for a while, the bullet factory has now begun production, the trial production of steel bullets is not qualified, the arsenal has hired several German technicians from the German side, it has passed Shanghai, and the German technicians should be able to solve the problem of steel bullets. There was no way to use the guns for a while, and in terms of artillery, there were still some original cannon steels, and there were also some artillery components, and then production could supplement some of them. A lot of them are still heavy artillery. Chen Jingguo shrugged his shoulders, the arsenal doesn't mean that you can do things well if you build it, Jiang Li's requirements for the arsenal are much higher than before.

"Well, how many heavy guns can be produced with existing components?" Jiang Li asked with interest.

"Before the 918 Japanese attack, the young marshal had imported several batches of artillery steel materials from abroad, but later it happened to meet the Central Plains War, and the production of the arsenal was filled with other 75MM, slightly smaller caliber, and flexible artillery, and the imported components were not produced for a while. AFTER COMING TO GANSU, HE SORTED OUT ALL THESE THINGS, AND USING THE EXISTING MATERIALS, HE COULD PRODUCE 59 BEILU 105MM HOWITZERS. 22 Meiji 105MM Cannon guns. 27 Meiji Type 38 150MM howitzers. 17 BEILU 105MM CANNON GUNS. (Thank you for the information provided by the book friends who have been defeated and fought repeatedly, there are slight discrepancies in the data, understand) "Chen Jingguo reported these data to Jiang Li like a few treasures, and was going to mention these things when he reported to Jiang Li in a few days, but he didn't expect to directly meet Jiang Li who came to inspect in Tianshui, so he said it by the way.

"Well, these cannons will be assembled as soon as possible, I need these big guys." Jiang Li's eyes narrowed when he heard this, according to the telegram sent by Jiang Wenhao, the reason why the mixed Fourth Brigade fought so hard in Shanghai was because the Japanese heavy artillery had the upper hand in the artillery battle, whether it was suppressing the artillery regiment mixed into the Fourth Brigade or attacking the infantry, it was a sharp weapon for the town army. RELATIVELY SPEAKING, THE DETERRENT POWER OF HEAVY ARTILLERY IS NOT COMPARABLE TO ORDINARY 75MM GUNS, AT THIS TIME JIANG LI ALSO HAD TO SIGH AGAIN ABOUT THE RICHNESS OF THE NORTHEAST FAMILY IN THE PAST, ZHANG XUELIANG IS ALSO A PERSON WHO SPENDS A LOT OF MONEY, BOUGHT SO MANY SEMI-FINISHED PRODUCTS BACK, AND FAILED TO PRODUCE THEM IN TIME, FORTUNATELY SNATCHED THEM FROM THE JAPANESE. It seems that it is not for nothing that the Kwantung Army in history can quickly rise to become a behemoth in the Japanese military system.

"By the way, when will the copper smelting plant here in Tianshui be able to produce copper?" Jiang Li looked at today's main master, Yu Zhonggang, and said. In addition to iron ore in Tianshui, some non-ferrous metal deposits have also been surveyed, including a moderately sized copper mine, which can be regarded as a solution to the problem of raw materials for wires, some machine tool parts, and electrical components, of course, the largest head is still used as a bullet consumed by the war at this time.

"The mining of the copper mine is still recruiting some migrant workers in Tianshui, temporarily solving the labor problem, and the first batch of copper can be produced next month, but because the means of mining are relatively primitive, the output of ore can not be increased for a while, and the production of copper is affected by it, unless you find a more convenient copper mine, it is difficult to increase the temporary output."

Yu Zhonggang said, and glanced at Jiang Li with a little worry, lest Jiang Li be angry, but this is indeed the difficulty he is encountering at the moment, and he can't help but say it. Otherwise, he will only talk about the optimistic side, and then blame him for the lack of production, what will he do to deal with Jiang Li?

"This is also a matter of no choice, for the time being, the work on the side of the steel plant will be done, what equipment is needed for copper mining, how much money is needed, you make a report to me." When I go back to Lanzhou, I will think of a way to squeeze out some funds to buy the machinery back. ”

Jiang Li touched his head, the funds in his hand were not small compared to any other province in the Republic of China, even for Nanjing, but the industrial base before Gansu could be said to be a blank, and the transportation base was not much stronger than the blank. The construction was almost from scratch, and the cost of rebuilding the factory alone was as high as tens of millions, and the army had to be expanded, and the memorial compensation for the fallen soldiers was also required. The money in his hand was spent unconsciously. (To be continued.) )