At the shooting range, Commander Feng picked up a rifle and aimed at an empty wine bottle 100 meters away. Almost at the same time as the gunshots rang out, the wine bottle on the other side shattered.

"Good fight, Commander Feng is good marksmanship!" Everyone applauded.

Commander Feng smiled, waved his hand and said, "Luck, luck, of course, this gun is not bad." As he spoke, he pulled the bolt and fired four more shots, hitting three bottles. Only one did not hit the target, but the warhead also grazed next to the bottle, sweeping it off the stake and falling to the ground.

This rifle was made by the Jinchaji Arsenal and was called the May Fourth Rifle. While combining the advantages of various 79-caliber rifles, the concept of strong reliability of Russian-style weapons was introduced. Although it looks a little rough, the accuracy within 400 meters is very high, and the performance is not inferior to that of the formal rifles produced by Gongxian, Jinling and other arsenals.

At that time, after the prototype gun was made, it coincided with the Eighth Route Army's Commander-in-Chief Zhu's visit to the arsenal. In order to express their admiration for the boss, the workers proposed to name the new rifle the Zhu D rifle. Mr. Zhu felt that it was inappropriate, and said that he was ashamed and refused to agree. Later, someone played a round and said that Mr. Zhu had just passed his fifty-fourth birthday, so it was called the 54-style style, and the name was decided.

This can be regarded as a little butterfly effect brought by Zheng Huzi. Originally, the construction of the arsenal in the Jin-Cha-Ji base area was relatively late in history, and the scale was relatively small during the Anti-Japanese War, which could not be compared with the famous Huangyadong Arsenal. But in this time and space, Zheng Huzi teamed up with the Eighth Road and General Fu Zuoyi to carve up Yan Lao Xi'er's Taiyuan Arsenal. Jinchaji is the closest to Taiyuan, and the benefits are also the most. The better machines were almost all moved.

Due to the large number of machinery and workers of the former Taiyuan Arsenal, the Jinchaji Arsenal was large in scale and capacity. So far, tens of thousands of pieces of this May Fourth rifle have been produced, and if it were not limited by raw materials, more could be made. And through the battlefield test and continuous adjustment of the process, the performance is getting better and better.

After Commander Feng finished fighting, Zheng Weiguo took it and looked at it, lightly touched the barrel with his fingers, and said approvingly: "Well, it's really good!" And who will demonstrate the second rifle? Political Commissar Cheng hurriedly said: "I'm familiar with this gun, just let me come!" As he spoke, he picked up the second rifle and pressed five rounds. Bah, Bah, Bah. Three shots were fired in a row. Very clean and neat, three cities in a row. When he was ready to kill, he suddenly roared and threw the gun. A Mitsubishi bayonet flashed out.

Chief of Staff Zhou's eyes lit up. Laughing: "This design is good. White-knuckle combat can save a lot of time. ”

This rifle is a Type 81 horse rifle produced by the 129th Division Arsenal, and the caliber is the Mauser Type 79, but it absorbs a lot of Japanese rifle characteristics in terms of technique. For example, the body of the gun is slender. Similar to the 38 big cover; The bayonet is similar to the Japanese-made four-four-step rifle, which is usually folded and closed under the barrel, and it is very convenient to hold down the button and throw it out during battle; The sights also use the Japanese machine rifle's shutter, which allows you to shoot with a general sight, and at the same time absorbs the advantages of the Czech rifle's crosshair, and can also correct the wind deviation when aiming accurately. As far as mechanical sighting equipment is concerned, it has almost reached the point of reaching the peak, so Mr. Peng called it "the first crosshairs in the world".

According to the original historical trajectory, the Bayi horse rifle will not be successfully developed until 39 years. At first, it had no name, and the length was between a carbine and a rifle, so it was called a nameless carbine. It was not until August 1, 40 that it was exhibited in Yan'an, and it was well received by the participants, that it was named the Bayi Horse Rifle.

But now that the military strength of the Eighth Route has increased several times, it is not surprising that it can be done in advance without technical obstacles. Coincidentally, although this is two years ahead of time and space, it is still named the Bayi Style, and it seems to be related in the dark.

Hearing Chief of Staff Zhou's appreciation, Political Commissar Cheng was slightly surprised, put away the bayonet and fired two more shots in succession, but this time it was a missed shot, and he didn't even wipe the edge of the wine bottle. "Huh? It shouldn't be! Political Commissar Cheng felt a little strange and reloaded five bullets, but still failed to hit.

Everyone also felt strange and gathered around, but after studying for a while, they didn't see a reason.

Zheng Weiguo said: "Let me try!" ”

Political Commissar Cheng hurriedly loaded the bullets and handed them over.

Bang! Zheng Weiguo's first shot was also missed. Bah, bah, two shots in a row. This time, however, it was accurate, and the remaining two bottles were shattered.

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled: "The general seat must have found the reason." ”

Zheng Weiguo nodded and said: "Well, it's actually nothing, the main thing is that the track steel is too soft, and the sight is deviated after throwing the bayonet, and it must be corrected significantly." ”

Commander Feng was a little annoyed and said, "Alas, after talking about it for a long time, there is still a shortage of steel. It's not difficult to school guns, but I'm afraid that I won't have time to adjust them when I fight continuously. ”

Zheng Weiguo comforted: "I'll figure out a way to deal with the steel matter, let's continue to shoot, let's not talk about these troubles!" As he spoke, he picked up the last rifle, the one with two barrels.

Professor Yang pushed his glasses and asked with a smile, "Has the commander seen the mystery of this gun?" ”

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "Guess a little, and verify it." As he spoke, he took out a row of bullets from the magazine and pressed them, unlike the two previous rifles, this rifle used six or five rounds of Japanese production.

Bang! The bottle that had just been placed was shot down in an instant. At the same time, a shell popped out of the magazine.

The pillar had been staring at it, and couldn't help but exclaim: "This gun can automatically unload!" Could it be a semi-automatic rifle? ”

Commander Feng suddenly came to his senses, stroked his palms and smiled: "I just said that this gun looks strange, it turns out that the other barrel is used as a gas duct." It's a wonderful, wonderful design! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou was also surprised, and hurriedly said to Political Commissar Cheng: "No wonder Deputy Commander Cheng said that the Eighth Route Military Industry has outstanding design, and it is so." ”

Political Commissar Cheng nodded and said, "Well, there are indeed several very good weapons experts, which should not be underestimated." ”

Chief of Staff Zhou said in a low voice: "Can you dig it up?" ”

Political Commissar Cheng smiled, snorted at Zheng Weiguo, and said with a smile: "Then it depends on the commander's ability." ”

As he spoke, there was another cheer. It turned out that after Zheng Weiguo hit all five shots, he was loaded with bullets and fired five rounds. And hit all again in full. It proved that this rifle not only has a novel design concept, but also meets the requirements of real combat.

Chief of Staff Zhou asked again: "Lao Cheng, who designed this gun?" ”

Political Commissar Cheng said: "It was developed by Comrade Wen Chengding, an engineer of the 120th Division Arsenal, on the basis of the Type 38 rifle. ”

Historically, this rifle was not developed until 44 years, and soon after the finalization, Guan Xiangying, the political commissar of the 120th Division, unfortunately died, and in order to commemorate the political commissar Guan, it was named Xiang Yingshi. Now that the political commissar Guan is alive and well, he named the Chengding semi-automatic rifle after the inventor Wen Chengding.

At that time, Wen Chengding estimated that he wanted to manufacture a Czech-style light machine gun, but because of the poor conditions of the arsenal in the base area, he could not produce a gas duct, so he could only replace it with a waste barrel, and use the principle of piston air conduction to directly push the pull handle back into the load. In order to cope with the problem of muzzle jumping. An anti-jump device was added to the muzzle position.

Chief of Staff Zhou said enviously: "Talents are rare! ”

When whispering here. The mortars were set up one by one over there, ready for test firing. The first test shot was the 82 mm mortar developed by the Jinchaji Arsenal, which is a copycat product of the 82 mortar of the Jinling Arsenal. The post came up with a triple shot, and the rate of fire and the percentage of hits were very good. Even more rare. The shells were also produced by the Jinchaji Arsenal. The only flaw is that the bump fuse is not up to par. Only timing fuzes can be selected. In actual combat, it is possible to explode earlier or later.

Zheng Weiguo looked at it and observed it, and said with appreciation: "In addition to being a little heavier, and the shell fuse needs to be improved." Elsewhere it is no longer under the 82 mortars produced in Jinling. ”

Commander Feng nodded and said, "Well, this mortar has a slightly longer barrel, and its accuracy is better than that of the Jinling Arsenal." It would be nice if rifling could be added. ”

Professor Yang explained: "In fact, the Jinchaji Arsenal has the ability to process rifling, but the service life of rifled mortars is short, and the cost is much higher, so after comprehensive consideration, the design of smoothbore mortars is followed. ”

After trying the 82 guns, the 129 guns produced by the arsenal of the 60th division were tested. This mortar is characterized by its ability to fire both in a curved and flat fire. When the mortar method is used in curved firing, the angle between the barrel and the ground is more than 45 degrees, and the shell can be fired by its own gravity. In the case of flat firing, the tail pipe at the lower end of the barrel is used, and the tail pipe is equipped with a pulling device. Tilt the barrel and slide the shell in slowly, then pull the string and the firing pin in the tailpipe will fire the primer on the shell.

Political Commissar Cheng personally demonstrated to everyone that the rate of fire was very fast when firing in a curved manner, and it was very accurate when firing horizontally, and it even flew into the shooting hole of the turret accurately within 100 meters.

The 120-mm mortar, developed by the 50th Division, had similar capabilities. Of course, it may be more accurate to call this weapon a grenadier, since it is fired by pressing a button rather than a mortar (using the weight of the shell to hit the firing pin to fire a primer, hence the name of the mortar). Compared to the 50-mm ultralight mortar, this weapon has the advantage of being curved and flat. Compared to the Japanese 50 mm grenadier canister, it has better stability and accuracy.

Chief of Staff Zhou was stunned for a long time before he smiled and said, "No wonder Lao Cheng dares to bet with me, we workers can't come out of such an idea." Then he instructed an officer in the armament department: "Go, bring up the equipment produced by our arsenal!" ”

Since there was no shortage of rifles, the Ping'an County Arsenal produced only four types of grenadier equipment and mortars of 60 and 82 calibers. The elastic performance of the mountain cannon is still unstable, so it has not been demonstrated.

The first to test the mortar. What made Zheng Weiguo feel relieved was that the products produced by the Ping'an County Arsenal were slightly better than those produced by the Eighth Route Army in terms of accuracy, range, and weight, but they did not have the function of flat fire. It's not that it can't be built, but because the 41st Army has anti-aircraft guns.

It can be seen that the overall industrial level of the Ping'an County Arsenal is still slightly stronger. In terms of the level of workers, there is not much difference between the two sides, and the main body is the workers of the Taiyuan Arsenal. There were experts in the Eighth Route Army who had drunk foreign ink, and there were also technicians from Germany in the Ping'an County Arsenal, although they had been clamoring to return to China recently. The Eighth Route Army has skilled craftsmen from all over the world, and Zheng Huzi has also recruited a lot of masters everywhere, like some time ago, a master polished a key cannon by hand, and was stunned to repair a 41-style mountain cannon. This craftsmanship is probably no worse than that of the handmade submachine gun.

When it comes to the degree of advanced machinery, the Jinchaji Arsenal is the best, followed by the 120th Division, and the Ping'an County Arsenal may only be stronger than the 129th Division's Arsenal. I think that Zhou Gong moved more than 1,000 machines from the Taiyuan Arsenal, which was more than ten times that of Zheng Huzi, and there was no shortage of new equipment. It is said that at first, he planned to move back to Yan'an, but later found that it was difficult to move, so he had to move nearby. Since the two major base areas of Jinchaji and Jinsui (i.e., the territory of the 120th Division) are the closest to each other, they have gained the most benefits. Commander Nie once said that there were more than 200 new equipment alone. Master He doesn't say anything, he is also a master who makes a fortune in a muffled voice.

Although the arsenal of the 129th Division was nominally a headquarters arsenal, it only got more than 100 lighter pieces of equipment, which was similar to the batch that Zheng Huzi originally moved back, and it may not be as complete as Zheng Huzi moved back. After all, Zheng Huzi moved it step by step and purposefully at that time, and all kinds of machinery were reasonably configured, and it could come in handy when he moved back. At that time, Balu was a little greedy, catching what to move, resulting in too many types of machines, some less, and some rare goods like bullet machines at all. What made Commander Nie even more depressed was that most of the new machine workers would not use it.

The degree of modernization of that batch of machinery was very high, and it was only bought back by Yan Laoxi'er in 36 years. Historically, the workers of the Taiyuan Arsenal did not master this technique until the fall of Taiyuan, and nearly 4,000 new machines could only be used as decorations. Although Balu is accustomed to overcoming difficulties, it will take at least a year or two or even longer to get these new machines moving.

Although the Ping'an County Arsenal was all light equipment at first, it was successively replenished from Tianjin, Hankou, and even Germany several times, and the industrial level has been greatly improved. Take the mortars developed by the two sides as an example, although they are all made of rail steel, the Ping'an County Arsenal can be made lighter and thinner, and the ability to withstand chamber pressure is greater. With the help of German technicians, the arsenal even applied the principle of high and low voltage launch, not to mention all kinds of domestic goods, and even similar foreign products are not comparable.

In addition to mortars, the new generation of grenadier equipment made by the arsenal is also very distinctive. The first type of grenadier is a suspended grenadier, which is very small in size, and when used, it is directly put on the barrel of a rifle and fired with empty cartridges; The second type is very similar to the first, but the propellant is carried by the projectile, and only uses the rifle to stabilize the trajectory and provide aiming; The third is an improved version of the Japanese-made grenadier canister, which is equipped with two corner frames and sights, which can be aimed as accurately as a German-made 50mm ultralight mortar; The fourth is a bit exaggerated, looking like a huge revolver that can be loaded with a total of six grenades and a continuous pull of the trigger like a revolver. In a very short time, it was possible to carry out a small fire coverage of the enemy's positions.

When Political Commissar Cheng saw it, he said with novelty: "This design is also quite novel, no worse than the military industry of the Eighth Route Army!" ”

Commander Feng also nodded and smiled: "Yes, I don't think the Western powers have such equipment. It's just that in this way, the bet made by the two chiefs is not sure whether they will win or lose! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou shook his head and smiled: "Actually, these equipment are all ideas set by the general seat, and the engineers of the arsenal are just drawing scoops from gourds." If you want to talk about the level of design alone, it is naturally better in the eight-way aspect, so I will invite you to have a good meal tomorrow. ”

During the war, Lixian, as the capital of central Hebei, had to carry out light control, and it was inconvenient to have dinner at night, so Chief of Staff Zhou set it for the next day.

Zheng Weiguo said with a smile: "Okay, then it's still in Juxian Tower!" Today, Professor Yang and Deputy Commander Cheng came back one step late, which is considered a bad luck, and they will go to make up for it tomorrow. ”

Political Commissar Cheng hurriedly said: "How embarrassing is this? Let the chief of staff suffer a little loss, let's settle it as a tie! ”

Chief of Staff Zhou smiled: "Lao Cheng, don't be busy being polite, I still have something to ask for!" ”

Political Commissar Cheng smiled and said, "I know that you are worried about those military industries, and I can help thread the needle, but I dare not say if it will succeed." ”

Chief of Staff Zhou explained: "It's not just a matter of the military industry, my idea is to integrate all the manpower, materials, technology and other resources in the hands of both sides!" Then he raised his right hand and said, "Make a fist!" (To be continued......)