In order to save food and avoid drinking and making mistakes, the 41st Group Military Judicial Department has strict regulations on the consumption of alcohol by soldiers and soldiers. Zheng Weiguo took responsibility for them, and there was no wine on the table, but they just picked up more than a dozen good dishes with big fish and meat, and then swept away like a whirlwind, and they ate very happily.

Originally, I thought that I was rich, and I didn't need to be so ugly. For example, when the 97th Army first arrived, the food of the troops was quite good, and each person had two taels of meat or an egg every day. However, with the rapid increase in troops and the construction of several major fortifications, the cost was too great. Meat and eggs are not guaranteed, so the warriors can only be mixed with a round belly.

Commander Feng saw that several people were eating with oil on their faces, and said with a smile: "The main seat, the staff seat, and the pillar, how does this taste?" I'll just say that their craftsmanship is good! ”

"Well, that's not true!" Zhuzi swallowed a mouthful of red stewed chicken, rolled his eyes and said, "I don't know how this chicken is made, it's so fucking delicious!" General seat, let the old grandson of the cooking class come over to learn? ”

Zheng Weiguo scolded with a smile: "Nonsense! People live on this craft, and you learn how to do business for others? ”

The pillar nodded and said, "Yes!" There is a snack seller in our hometown, Tan Laofu, who will make pancakes and fruits in one hand for fear of being learned by others. It's just that it's too expensive here, and I can afford to eat a meal for a month. ”

Chief of Staff Zhou quipped, "Didn't you just get two little yellow croakers?" It's not enough to come every day, but once a week is enough for you to eat for a year. What are you doing with all this money? It doesn't mean that you want to save for a daughter-in-law! Tell me which girl you like? ”

Strictly speaking. Those two gold bars belong to the black money of bribery and should be handed over to the public. However, Zheng Weiguo once made a rule that anyone who offered bribes to outsiders could keep their property as long as they took the initiative to report it to their superiors, and if they concealed it and failed to report it, they would be severely punished. He believes that this will effectively avoid the enemy's sugar-coated shells, but the specific effect remains to be verified.

Zhu Zi smiled and said stupidly: "What kind of daughter-in-law is worth so much money!" I just wanted to wait for the devil to be driven away, and I also bought a house in the countryside of Fengtian, and then put up seventy or eighty acres of land. Hey, that's a little day, tsk! ”

Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they heard it. But after laughing, I was a little sad. Zheng Weiguo suddenly thought of the memories that this body brought him. It is also in the countryside of Northeast China, where the peasant woman has a little field and lives a free and stable life. It seems too prosaic, but only those who have experienced the war know its preciousness.

Commander Feng didn't know what he remembered. With a sigh, he suddenly became a little uninterested. Maybe I'm afraid of ruining everyone's interest. Diverted the subject and said, "The main seat." The Germans say that ......"

Chief of Staff Zhou coughed hurriedly and said in a low voice: "There are many people here, let's go back and talk about it!" ”

The environment of this restaurant is very nice though. But after all, it is a place to open the door and welcome guests, and it is obviously not appropriate to discuss confidential matters. Commander Feng also came to his senses, and when he saw that everyone had put down their chopsticks, he suggested: "General seat, assistant seat, I see that everyone has eaten almost, why don't we go back first?" Another day, I will come back to the east. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Okay, the pillar will go and settle the account!" ”

The shopkeeper of the hotel had already noticed them, and inquired that it was the commander-in-chief, where would he be willing to charge for the meal? was forced by the pillar to be in a hurry, so he said that he couldn't find it. The pillar was stupid and couldn't say that he was the shopkeeper, so he had to come back and report. Zheng Huzi and Chief of Staff Zhou also don't have the habit of bringing money, but fortunately, Commander Feng has money, otherwise he will have to look foreign.

But the shopkeeper still refused to accept it, and said gratefully: "Your army is really benevolent!" Xiao Lao'er has lived for most of his life, what kind of army has never been seen, and he has only heard of it in the drama like Guijun, who has not committed any crime against the common people. However, Xiao Lao'er is sincere and exempt, General Zheng led the soldiers to fight devils, and he risked his life. What is the cost of a free meal? The guest officers all said, isn't this reasonable? ”

The rest of the diners also helped, saying that it was a little bit of the shopkeeper's heart, and General Zheng would accept it!

Zheng Weiguo waved his hand and said: "I have received the wishes of the villagers, but it is a military rule to give money for dinner." I can't take the lead in breaking the rules! In the end, I insisted on paying for the meal. Today the commander-in-chief can be exempted from the order, and tomorrow the regiment commander can also eat white food, and the military discipline will be wiped out the day after tomorrow.

Coming out of the restaurant, Chief of Staff Zhou asked: "General Seat, do you want to go to the General Headquarters or the Military Headquarters of the 63rd Army?" ”

Zheng Weiguo asked, "Are you all busy over there?" ”

Commander Feng hurriedly said: "When you're done, let's go to the head seat to talk!" Anyway, the 92nd Division has Deputy Commander Deng, and the 91st Division has Chief of Staff Yan in charge. ”

So the group went straight to the headquarters, mainly to figure out what to ask for from Germany. The first two transactions were for emergencies, and it can be said that there was some hunger. Now the situation is very good, and it is completely possible to wait for the price to sell. As soon as I entered the compound, I saw a big fat mule tied to the door, and there were two sacks next to it, which seemed to be not light.

The pillar was sharp-eyed, and he recognized the mule at a glance, and hurriedly said: "It must be Deputy Commander Cheng who is back, and he is the mule he rode when he left." ”

Some time ago, there was a meeting at the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army, and Professor Yang and Political Commissar Cheng both went. Originally, Zheng Weiguo should have gone too, but he really couldn't leave. He had to be present for the transfer of supplies, the transfer of penicillin, and the German oil fields.

As he was talking, Political Commissar Cheng and Professor Yang happened to come out of it. The two looked up and saw that Zheng Weiguo and others were also there, and said with a smile: "Say Cao Cao Cao has arrived!" Commander, we just talked about you! ”

Zheng Weiguo quipped: "It won't be bad for me!" Then he pointed to the sacks and said, "It's not easy for you to travel all the way, just go back, and bring so many gifts!" ”

Political Commissar Cheng smiled: "These two sacks were really brought back by the commander, but they are not the money from me and Professor Yang." ”

The pillar was young and curious, so he stepped forward and touched it with his hand, and said with a surprised face: "Hey, what kind of toys are they, how do they feel like weapons!" ”

"Hehe, you guessed right!" Professor Yang stepped forward to untie the bag and said with a smile: "This is a weapon, and it's a brand new guy!" These are all gifts that the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army let us bring to the commander. ”

Zheng Weiguo suddenly became interested and said with a smile: "Oh? Take it out and see what kind of treasures they have! ”

Everyone hurriedly stepped forward and took out the weapons in the bag one by one. There are three rifles, three mortars, and a number of bullets, grenades, and shells of various calibers and models. The three rifles are of different models, one of which is a bit like that made in Hanyang, but if you look closely, there are many differences. There is also a slender gun, which looks like a three-eight big cover, but it uses the bolt of Ma Sihuan. The last one is the most strange, there are two barrels, and I don't know what they are used for. Mortars are divided into large, medium and small, the largest should be 82 mm caliber, and the middle one is 60 mm caliber. The smallest with only 50 mm caliber looks more like a grenadier canister.

These weapons are all new from the outside. But the craftsmanship is a little rougher. Some of the details are well designed, and it seems to combine the advantages of some similar products. However, since there is no nameplate or stamp, it is impossible to tell where it was made.

Commander Feng squatted down and looked at it for a long time, and said with a puzzled face: "Which country is this?" Why haven't I seen it before? ”

Chief of Staff Zhou didn't understand either. Speculation said: "Could it be that the Soviet Union gave aid products?" ”

Zheng Weiguo smiled: "This looks like something made by Lao Maozi." I think it was built by the arsenals of the Eighth Route Army! ”

Political Commissar Cheng and Professor Yang smiled at each other and explained: "The commander still has the right vision, these are all samples of munitions produced by various arsenals of the Eighth Route Army. It was specially sent to the headquarters for inspection. When I came back, Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo asked me to bring it back to the commander to see, saying that it was necessary to strengthen military exchanges. ”

Commander Feng was taken aback when he heard this, hurriedly moved a small mortar, gestured at the muzzle, and said in surprise: "Can the Eighth Route build mortars behind enemy lines?" It's a six-zero cannon! ”

Political Commissar Cheng nodded and said with a smile: "Well, this is a 60 mortar produced by the 129th Division Arsenal, with a total weight of 20 kilograms, a maximum range of 1200 meters, and a maximum rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute." ”

Zheng Weiguo also stepped forward to take a look, and now the 41st Group Army lacked suppressive firepower at the company and platoon levels, and it was perfectly suitable to use 60 mortars. The Ping'an County Arsenal has also developed one, but it will take some time to equip the troops.

Political Commissar Cheng asked: "Commander, how does this 60 cannon compare with the trial production of our arsenal?" ”

Zheng Weiguo lifted it with one hand, felt a little heavy, and said: "The range and rate of fire are okay, but it's a little heavier." A fighter still struggled to carry it. ”

Political Commissar Cheng explained: "The main reason is that there is no good steel, and if the rail steel is too thin, it will be easy to blow up, and the service life will be low. ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Well, our arsenal is actually facing this problem as well. It's too difficult to build a steel mill now. ”

The base arsenal was built for such a long time, and Zheng Huzi searched for workers and machines again, but the steelmaking plant still did not start. So far, only white and gray iron can be produced. White iron is the raw material for steelmaking, and a lot of it is produced, but it cannot be turned into steel, so after that, it mainly produces gray iron. Although gray iron is also a type of pig iron, it is relatively soft and has good casting properties. Now this kind of cast iron is used for base grenades and mortar shells, and the fragmentation rate is quite good.

It's a pity that most of the body-barreled artillery (mountain, field, heavy, and high) are made of steel shells, so it's useless to just smelt gray iron, and steel must be available. At present, the arsenal uses rail steel to produce mountain artillery shells. This steel is much softer than breech steel and is also easy to process. It's just not that easy to get back from the railroad. The railway is the lifeblood of the Japanese army, and if you want to pick it up, you have to fight with the devil. It is no exaggeration to say that every section of track is exchanged for life.

Political Commissar Cheng said: "Didn't the commander ask for a batch of steel ingots from the chairman? ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said, "Well, I asked for a lot." But that fat man is too unhappy, and now the goods are only a dozen tons. As he spoke, he was a little annoyed, and couldn't help but spread his hands and scolded: "Do you say this kind of person harms people?" ”

The steel ingots were actually bought by Yan Laoxier from the Czech Skoda Arsenal before the war. Originally, I wanted to build a batch of artillery before the Japanese army invaded China, but I didn't expect that the war broke out as soon as the supplies arrived in Hong Kong. It didn't take long for Taiyuan to fall. Although more than a thousand small machines were rushed out of the arsenal, it was impossible to build artillery. Lao Xi'er thought that he couldn't cheapen the Japanese for nothing, so he gave it to the central government as a favor.

The quantity of these ingots is huge, and some sources say that it is as high as 250,000 tons. Judging from the steel production of various countries at that time, this data seems to be exaggerated, and Lao Xi'er is still entering cannon steel, and Skoda is afraid that it will also take out so much. Of course, even if there is no 250,000 tons, it is not a small number.

A few years before the Anti-Japanese War, the Ordnance Industry Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs could still make some weapons, artillery shells or something, and this steel was used. The quality is okay, and the output is acceptable.

It is a pity that Kong Fatzi only cared about making the country difficult to make money, and he did not rush such an important strategic resource to the rear. Every time the Ordnance Department had to use it, it only pulled back a little from Hong Kong, and as a result, a large number of the remaining ones were all cheaper to the Japanese after the fall of Hong Kong in 42. A study of military production during the Anti-Japanese War will show that steel products could still be made 42 years ago, but after 42 years, they almost suddenly came to a halt because of the loss of this most important raw material.

After Zheng Weiguo heard about this situation, he made a batch of deals with Kong Fatzi and asked him to ship them to North China at ten times the freight rate. After obtaining the consent of the chairman, Kong Fatzi immediately agreed happily. Now some of these ingots have been sent to the Ping'an County Arsenal, and their performance is still being tested.

When Commander Feng heard this, no matter what the fat man was, he first said happily: "Boss, so we can also build a six-zero cannon?" ”

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "You ask the chief of staff, he is in charge of this matter." ”

Chief of Staff Zhou explained: "Our staff summed it up and thought it was a pity to make such a good mortar made of steel (Skoda's cannon steel was the first in the world). Now we are trying to build an infantry cannon or a mountain artillery. Of course, we are also building mortars, there are 60 guns and 82 guns, and they are also made of rail steel, and their performance is estimated to be similar to that of the Eighth Route Army. ”

Political Commissar Cheng nodded and said, "This is also what Deputy Chief of Staff Zuo meant. The commander and chief of staff should not underestimate the arsenal of the Eighth Route Army, because the production capacity is not as good as ours because of the uneven mechanical configuration, but the design capacity is only above us. ”

Zheng Weiguo smiled, nodded and said, "Well, I believe this!" ”

It is said that the Eight Roads of the Dirt, the Eight Roads of the Dirt, in fact, the Eight Roads are very foreign, and the experts in the team who have drunk foreign ink are much stronger than the uncoordinated guys in the Ordnance Industry Department. Take the military industry of the Eighth Route Army as an example, its members come from all over the world, including students returning from Europe, overseas Chinese returning from Nanyang, professors and students from domestic institutions of higher learning, technical personnel from industrial industries in big cities, and skilled craftsmen born and raised in the base areas, among which there are more than 100 well-known names alone.

For example, Guo Dongcai, a graduate student of the Internal Combustion Engine Research Laboratory of Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, Zhang Huaqing, a doctor of metallurgy who studied in the United Kingdom, Cheng Mingsheng, an electrical engineer who graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering of Waseda University in Japan, Lu Da, who graduated from the Department of Steel of the Technical University of Berlin in Germany, Zhang Fang, a graduate student of the Department of Physics of Yenching University, Zheng Hantao and Niu Zhihua, graduates of the School of Engineering of Peking University, Gao Yuan and Li Shouwen, students of the School of Engineering of Tsinghua University, and so on. There are too many people, so I won't list them all here.

In addition to these "foreign experts," there were also strange people collected by the party organization from all over the country, such as Han Zhongwu and others from the Yangcheng Yujin Guerrilla Detachment Repair Institute, and others even cut out a few hand-held submachine guns by hand. If this level is placed after liberation, it is estimated that it is also the level of the legendary "eighth-level worker".

Zheng Weiguo knew about these situations, but Chief of Staff Zhou was a little unconvinced, and said: "The scale may be a little larger than our arsenal, and the design ability and process level are only inferior!" Deputy Commander Cheng may not know that our arsenal has German technicians! ”

Political Commissar Cheng didn't think it was angry, and said with a smile: "I don't believe it, do you want the chief of staff to try these weapons made by the Eighth Route Army?" ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said: "Okay, it just so happened that the arsenal sent a batch of samples to the equipment department, why don't you take them for a test?" Let's talk about it, if the samples brought by Deputy Commander Cheng are not as good as our homemade, you can have dinner. ”

Political Commissar Cheng smiled: "Okay, if the things produced by our own arsenal are better, I will be happy to lose." (To be continued......)