After receiving Yan Shao's telegram, Lihe & Co. quickly sent a deputy manager to Wuhu.

As the largest foreign company in the Far East, ordinary businessmen are not qualified, but Yan Shao is different, on the one hand, he is the biggest trading partner of Lihe Foreign Bank, and on the other hand, as the largest industrialist in the Far East, he is also a very good trading partner.

"I don't know what kind of business it will be when Lu Dao calls me over this time..."Standing on the deck of the passenger ship, Riddle was somewhat expectant in his heart.

After all, in the past, Yan Shao's business was rarely less than 1 million, and even the iron factory plan that made Lihe Foreign Bank lose money and make money also made Lihe Foreign Bank get a lot of false fame, and there were a lot more customers who came to the door every day.

Stepping off the liner, Riddle's first sight was a young man.

Of course, this youth refers to him.

"Mr. Riddle, please come here..."Seeing that Riddle saw him, Zhao Ming smiled and beckoned, and a carriage was parked there behind him.

"You are?" Although he had already guessed, Riddle was still a little curious.

"I'm the one who came to pick you up..."Zhao Ming said with a smile.

Today's Zhao Ming is somewhat proud, not only has he become the management of the group's public relations department, but also brought his recovered lovers and his family members from Tianjin to Wuhu to live, and the members of the Wuhu branch of the alliance are the best among him.

After arriving at the manor in a carriage, Riddle, who had come for the first time, couldn't help but admire.

"Long time no see, Mr. Riddle..."

I saw Riddle coming. Yan Shao, who was standing on the steps and waiting, said with a smile after walking down.

"It's been a long time..."

Hearing Yan Shao's words, Riddle also responded with a smile.

The last time the two met was when Yan Shao planned to buy guns for his patrol team, it was indeed quite a long time.

After walking into the house. The two exchanged pleasantries for a while and then got to business.

"I don't know what business you want to talk about when you came to me this time..."After taking a sip of the tea brought by the maid, Riddle said with some curiosity.

Seeing that Riddle went straight to the point, Yan Shao also put down the teacup in his hand. "That's right, I wanted to buy some guns for the patrol team this time, but it was only because it was more special that I found your Lihe foreign company..."

"Special?" Riddle frowned. "What gun?"

"It's this kind of gun...", beckoning casually, Lu Ying had already handed over a piece of information.

Madsen light machine gun. This is the reason why Yan Shao came to Riddle this time.

The Danish Madsen machine gun was the world's first mass-produced practical light machine gun, and from 1905 to 1950, the Madsen machine gun was mass-produced for domestic equipment and exported (although this gun was not very good, it was better than nothing). No less than 36 countries have been armed with Madsen machine guns, which have been widely used in armed conflicts around the world, and can still be seen in the 21st century.

In 1904, the Danish army was officially armed with the Madsen machine gun. And many European countries are also vying to buy and use. For example, Austria-Hungary, France, the Netherlands, Finland, the United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, Portugal and some other places, there are also some countries in South America and Asia that have purchased and used, especially in Latin America, and there are quite a lot of customers. This weapon was used by all warring parties during the First World War, and although the price of the Madsen machine rifle was high, its reliability was tested in muddy trench warfare.

In fact, China during this period was also equipped with such machine guns, as early as 1908. The Guangdong Manufacturing Ordnance Factory had already begun to copy the Madsen machine gun, which was called a "light machine fast gun" at that time. There are also imitations in the Kaifeng Arsenal and other places, but the number of these imitations is not too large.

If Yan Shao wants to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the troops, he can only start from three points.

Expansion, training and weapons...

The former doesn't need to think about it, even if the relationship between Yan Shao and Zhu Jiabao is good, he will not be able to let Yan Shao expand the establishment of the army to more than 1,000 people.

Therefore, we can only start from the last two points, that is, training and weapons.

As for training, as long as Qin Zhen's group returns from Algiers, they will be organized into patrol battalions and guards, responsible for the training of the two armies, so that they can at least not inferior to the new army, or even surpass the new army.

As for weapons, in any case, Yan Shao is also a person of later generations, and he is naturally very aware of the importance of weapons, especially during the First World War, the role of machine guns can be said to be unprecedented, which can be seen from the Battle of the Somme, which is also the reason why Yan Shao will find Riddle for something.

At this time, there were not many Danish foreign companies in China, and almost no were involved in the arms trade, so if you wanted to get this kind of light machine gun, you had to ask the Germans for help.

There are four main reasons for choosing Madsen, one is because it is the first practical light machine gun in this era, which can greatly enhance the firepower of the patrol team—————— in fact, Yan Shao also wants to buy some heavy machine guns like Makqin, but after all, the movement of this thing is too big, and it is easy to attract the attention of the government, so Yan Shao can only retreat to choose a more inconspicuous light machine gun...

The second is because of Madsen's caliber problem, this Danish light machine gun can adapt to most calibers, whether it is 6.5mm or 8mm, and the 6.8mm light machine gun currently used by the patrol team is naturally no problem.

The third is the weight of Madsen, the weight of this machine gun is generally only 8 or 9 kilograms, if necessary, even if it is changed to more than 7 kilograms, it is undoubtedly the lightest compared with the machine guns of the same era and later more than ten or twenty kilograms, and compared with the Mauser rifle of more than three kilograms, it is only half the weight more.

The last point is the firepower of this machine gun...

The machine gun could use not only a 25-round magazine, but also a 100-round drum, which was quite ferocious, at least for this era.

Of course, this machine gun is not without its shortcomings, on the contrary, the shortcomings are obvious.

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"Madsen machine gun..."Riddle had also heard of this machine gun. It is also clear how well this machine gun is, the performance of this machine gun is very good, but not without drawbacks. On the contrary, the disadvantages are obvious. The Madsen machine gun has high shooting accuracy and reliable performance, but the main disadvantage is the high production cost, which is related to its small tolerance requirements, complex structure and excellent manufacturing, but he also knows that this shortcoming is nothing to Yan Shao, after all, Yan Shao is too rich. "Then I don't know how much you're going to want..."

"One hundred..."After thinking about it for a while, Yan Shao gave this number.

Yan Shao plans to equip each class with one. At present, the patrol has one battalion and two companies of the guard, and the total number of guards is 54. Counting the spare, 100 is enough.

"100 pieces..."Riddle silently calculated, a light machine gun would cost at least 5 or 600 silver dollars, and a hundred would cost 5 or 600,000 silver dollars. Although not like an iron mill or a textile mill. But it is also a big business for the foreign company, not to mention that the profits on arms are very high.

After thinking about it, Riddle looked up and asked. "When?"

"Of course, the sooner the better..."From the second batch of people to France, to Qin Zhen, it only took more than two months for them to come back from France, so this batch of machine guns is indeed as fast as possible." Also, do you have stock in your dealership? “

Hearing Yan Shao say this, Riddle shook his head slightly. "This kind of machine gun is relatively popular in Europe and other places, but few people still buy it in China, so we don't have much inventory. There are only seven or eight for customers to see, so if it is 100. We need to pick up the goods from Denmark as well..."

"Since that's the case..."Yan Shao thought about it in his heart. Can you send a few of them first? I'll familiarize my men with it first. ”

Riddle smiled, it was a trifle for him. "It's no problem with this, I'll send a few when I go back to Shanghai..."

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The efficiency of the Lihe Foreign Company was very high, and after Riddle returned, he sent over a few light machine guns that Yan Shao needed almost the same day.

Looking at the machine gun placed in front of him, Yan Shao nodded slightly.

"Leave two of them, and send the rest to the patrol and guards, so that they can familiarize themselves with this weapon first."

"It's so good...", nodding his head, Lu Ying hurriedly instructed the people below to do so.

After instructing the two people to load the machine guns, Yan Shao rushed to the research institute that was not very far away in a carriage.

Today, the institute is on the right track, especially after the staff has reached more than 50 people, and the research projects have become much more than in the past. For example, synthetic rubber and internal combustion engines, etc., some time ago, the institute even assembled a relatively simple four-wheeled car, which opened the eyes of many people in Wuhu. It's just that this kind of car is still in a very rudimentary stage, and it doesn't have practicality at all, so it can only be taken out and seen...

After learning that Yan Shao had rushed over, Li Yin, the director of the institute, hurriedly rushed out.

"Boss..."

With a wave of his hand, Yan Shao pointed to the box behind him. "I remember all of you scientists who also have research on the military industry, right?"

"That's right..."Li Yin, who had guessed Yan Shao's intentions, nodded. There are indeed a few people who have studied this aspect, should I call them over now? ”

"It's okay, just say that I have important things to hand over to them, let them come over as soon as possible..."

With Yan Shao's orders, Li Yin didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly ran to the building to find the scientists who also studied the military industry, and it didn't take long for three white men to appear in front of Yan Shao.

"Boss!"

It is naturally impossible for these three people not to know the people who pay their salaries, so after meeting Yan Shao, the three of them hurriedly used a relatively standard Chinese language. This is also something they learned after they came to China and spent some effort.

Seeing that the three people were coming, Yan Shao didn't talk nonsense with them. "I heard that you also have research on the military industry..."

Hearing Yan Shao's words, although the three of them didn't understand a little, they still nodded.

"Okay, you guys disassemble this machine gun first, and see if there is a way to imitate it..."Seeing that they confessed, Yan Shao motioned to the two behind him to open the box, and then faced the three humans.

Seeing the two machine guns in the box, the three white men also hurriedly approached. It was a little before a researcher spoke. "This must be a Danish Madsen machine gun..."

"That's right, I'm here to let you think about it, is there a way to imitate this machine gun."

It's better to buy than to build. Yan Shaoke, who came from later generations, would not have this kind of thought, for him, only what he could master thoroughly was the best. That's why he asked Riddle to send a few to see if he could get his men to copy it.

Now that the iron factory has begun to partially put into operation, and the annual output of crude steel is more than 30,000 tons, Yan Shao can take this opportunity to build a small arsenal dedicated to the production of some machine guns and other weapons. After the success of the revolution, the scale of the arsenal was expanded. This is also a foundation for training.

But before that, the first thing to do is to figure out the structure of the weapon.

"If you can give us some time," said ...... white man named Hart, who was led around the machine gun. It should be fine. It's just that the structure of this machine gun is more complicated, and we don't have special equipment and molds, so it's better not to expect too much in terms of output and quality..."

"It's okay with this..."Yan Shao shook his head. I'll get my hands on the equipment in other ways. You just need to understand the structure of these weapons first. Then it's okay to make a copy..."

The problem of equipment is indeed more troublesome, after all, the sensitivity of this thing is higher than anything else—————— a businessman has nothing to do with building an arsenal.

Therefore, Yan Shao can only get the equipment needed by the arsenal through smuggling, and he must not reveal his identity. Fortunately, after a period of development, the Special Affairs Section has also reached a certain scale, so there is no need to worry about whether this thing will be done...

Seeing that Yan Shao said this, the three white men nodded, and then asked someone to help carry the machine gun into their research room.

After some disassembly, the three white men soon disassembled one of the machine guns into parts.

"It's more troublesome than you thought..."

Look at the machine gun that has been disassembled into parts. One of the researchers whispered.

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Yan Shao made a special trip to the research institute this time, not just for the sake of machine guns. If it's just for the machine gun, he can let his men do it.

This time he came back, and in addition to the machine gun, he had another thing to tell them to do.

The power of machine guns in this era is undoubtedly very terrifying, basically if a squad can be equipped with a machine gun, then his firepower is definitely stronger than a platoon of infantry. If Yan Shao's patrol team is equipped with a light machine gun in each squad, then even if the training is relatively scummy, as long as it does not collapse at the touch of a touch like the puppet army of later generations, it is still easy to crush the same number of patrol battalions—————— the reason why it is not counted as a new army is because the new army has a considerable number of artillery, although the machine gun is also considered an offensive weapon, but after all, it is still more used in the defensive surface, if the opponent only uses artillery bombardment, even if there are more machine guns, it is useless, after all, the range of machine guns is not likely to be farther than artillery.

However, although the firepower of the machine gun was already very powerful, Yan Shao still hoped that this power could be strengthened a little more.

In other ways...

Artillery is obviously impossible, after all, Yan Shao is just a businessman anyway, just buy some rifles and machine guns, if you even buy artillery, it is definitely an act of looking for death.

However, artillery is not the case, and it is not necessarily impossible to use another weapon that was very common in later generations.

Let's say, a grenade or something...

The grenade was first invented in China, and in the 17th and 18th centuries, the grenade was a common weapon used in European armies, and there were even professional grenadier units at that time. However, in the 19th century, due to the development of guns and the reduction of castle offensive and defensive battles, grenades were once given a cold reception.

Later, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, grenades played a role on the battlefield again. In the First World War, grenades were widely used due to the rise of trenches.

In Yan Shao's time, the grenade had become the most common weapon, and the popularity may even be higher than that of the pistol, after all, this kind of thing is cheap and powerful, and it is really a very practical weapon.

In addition to the machine gun, Yan Shao came this time in the hope that the researchers at the institute could develop a grenade, a weapon similar to the later German wooden-handled grenade.

There was already this kind of weapon in Europe, and there were even professional types of troops, so Yan Shao only explained a little and the three of them understood what Yan Shao meant.

"A grenade..."

Compared with the machine gun, this job is much simpler, so the three of them agreed without hesitation in this matter.

"Then I'll leave it all to you." As he spoke, Yan Shao took out a bill with a denomination of one thousand pounds from his pocket and put it in front of the three of them. "The machine gun thing aside, this thousand pounds is the research fund for the three of you to hand the grenade, I don't care how much the grenade will cost, but as long as you can research a product that satisfies me, then the rest of the money is your reward..."

A thousand pounds, equivalent to more than 10,000 silver dollars, is obviously not enough for a grenade, so just like Yan Shao said, he doesn't care how much money it takes for three people to study this thing, as long as he can research something that satisfies him, then the rest of the money is a reward for them...

Hearing Yan Shao's words, the three people's eyes also lit up.

What did they do when they crossed the ocean to China? Isn't it money? This form of reward is just too much for their appetite.

"Don't worry, boss, we will definitely research it out as quickly as possible!"

After patting his chest, the white man named Hart at the head said with a bright smile on his face. (To be continued......)