No matter how much Wu Ming doubted Maeda Akio's true identity, he had to put it down temporarily after returning to the barracks, Fang Youchun's adjutant Li Qian, quartermaster chief Gu Yueheng, and the new regiment commander Xie Zixuan and other seven good brothers had been waiting for a long time, and even Chen Zhaoxian, the adjutant of the deputy commander Tang Yuntao, had also mixed into this circle.

When the brothers saw Wu Ming enter the courtyard to park, they hurriedly shouted for him to turn around and drive into the city. Wu Ming immediately turned off the fire and put away the key, and said solemnly that he would rather ride a horse into the city than drink and drive, the streets and alleys in the city are narrow and crowded, in case there is a mistake, maybe the brothers' reputation will be ruined on drunk driving.

A group of brothers had to continue to ride their horses into the city, and Steve, who lived in Wu Ming's courtyard and was busy writing work plans, did not like to drink, and politely declined the invitation.

Dai Ziran and Zhang Dongning cherished the opportunity to make friends in the army very much, and agreed without hesitation, and went to the backyard together to lead out the war horses, followed by a group of Shangguan who were talking and laughing, and marched towards the time-honored restaurant on North Street.

The next morning, Wu Ming, who had a headache after a hangover, took a well bath to relieve his breath, and heard Zhang Dongning say that he drank three people alone after the most unpleasant, and half of the others vomited on the spot, and he came back on horseback before he began to vomit, but he still insisted on getting home after the worst.

Hearing this, Wu Ming smiled bitterly for a moment, and called Dai Ziran to go to the metal products factory outside the camp together.

At this time, the Belgian partner Celeron, the Austrian little man Schlins Wilber, an expert in the imitation of small arms and light weapons, and six other senior technicians were all there, some were testing the newly installed stamping machine and horizontal machine tools, and some were discussing things with Bao Yaoyuan and Liang Baoqi, the two masters who controlled the core of the whole factory's technology, and hundreds of workers were working in their respective positions, but Zhong Changqing, the general manager of the company, was holding a purple clay pot and wandering around with a smile on his face.

Bao Yaoyuan was the first to see Wu Ming, and hurriedly stepped forward to say hello, first congratulated Wu Ming on his promotion to a lieutenant colonel, and then told Wu Ming that he and Liang Baoqi's three sons and nephews had been here for three months, and now they are all under the command of Cao Tou, the director of the Ordnance Institute, according to the drawings drawn by the Austrian little foreigner and the testing mold made, he has mastered the imitation technique of the Colt pistol, and mass production has begun at the beginning of the month, and it is estimated that the output in the first three months can reach 500 pieces, after being fully proficient, as long as the amount of raw materials is sufficient, The monthly output can be stable at about 500 pieces, and the cost will also be greatly reduced.

Wu Ming was very happy, asked about the physical condition of the two old men, and then stretched out his hand to the Austrian little man who was less than one meter six and a half tall: "Mr. Wilber, in just two and a half months, you have brought me so many surprises, thank you!" ”

Wilber, who had already received a high salary for two months, shook hands with Wu Ming warmly, quickly turned to Saiyang beside him, and complained in extremely fast German: "You bastard, you dare to say that Mr. Lieutenant Colonel is not as tall as you...... Look, he's at least two inches taller than you. ”

"No, no, it's just over an inch at most, and if you look closely at his platform military shoes, it's almost an inch, isn't it?" Celeron didn't blush and couldn't tell.

A few foreign technicians on the side laughed loudly when they heard this, and Wu Ming and the others couldn't understand German, so they had to grin and laugh.

Just when Wu Ming wondered if he would call Steve, who was proficient in English, German, and Chinese French, to come over to help, Dai Ziran translated in a low voice behind Wu Ming, and finally explained embarrassedly that he understood German, but he couldn't speak it well, so he didn't dare to show off, which made Wu Ming laugh, making a group of foreigners look at each other, and I don't know what Wu Ming was laughing at.

Wu Ming didn't explain, and when he saw that Old Man Cao was leading three men in their thirties over, he knew that he was the nephew of Bao Yaoyuan and Liang Baoqi, so he hurriedly stepped forward to meet each other cordially, and after greeting everyone into the office for a meeting.

The machinery and equipment of the metal products factory are all in place, the first installation of a German Moore-type electric furnace for alloy smelting, a small ferrosilicon furnace has been successfully put into trial production, and other new equipment in addition to the production and processing of weapon parts for the repair of weapons, there is also great production potential, such as the production of steel helmets, the manufacture of bayonets and other knives, the production of horse-drawn carriage transverse shafts using imported bearings, the trial production of load-bearing carriages, and so on.

Everyone had no objection to the readjusted production plan of the metal products company, Wu Ming took out a document from his briefcase, opened it and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the most important thing now is the production of two kinds of rifle bullets and American-made 45-inch bullets, all the equipment has been shipped to Maoliangwu, a small mountain village more than 100 kilometers away from here, including a Moore-style electric furnace and copper rolling mill, and is waiting for everyone to install."

"Maybe you have already seen the factory built on the east side of the village across the river and close to the mountain, and our plan is to complete the installation by the end of the year, and strive to be able to put it into operation smoothly when the new year comes."

"Wait, dear lieutenant colonel."

Celeron stood up and asked, "We all have a question, why did you put the bullet production line in that remote valley?" Relatively speaking, isn't Quzhou's environment and traffic situation better? We all admit that it is a beautiful mountain village, with a few streams flowing from the mountains to the east, which can ensure that there is enough electricity after the installation of hydroelectric generators, and you can also use the local coal-fired power generation, but don't you think this is a very irrational choice? ”

"I'm sorry, please forgive me for being blunt, dear lieutenant colonel, this is not only our opinion, but also the opinion of all the Chinese experts here...... Of course, you're the boss and we'll all have to listen to you. ”

Wu Ming motioned for Saiyang to sit down, looked around and asked, "Why, everyone has such questions?" ”

Bao Yaoyuan, Liang Baoqi, Cao Shixiong, and Zhong Changqing all nodded, and Liang Huchen, the son of Liang Baoqi, who resolutely joined the army and entered the ordnance repair institute and obtained the position of captain and deputy director, also loudly echoed Saiyang's opinion, and several foreign technicians nodded frequently in the stammering translation of the two young men from the ordnance institute.

Wu Ming hesitated for a long time, but finally told the truth: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Sino-Japanese war that took place in Shanghai and the surrounding areas this time, I think everyone knows the outcome of the Dao...... Here, I would like to ask you, what is the straight-line distance in the air from the sea in the east of Shanghai to our Quzhou? ”

Everyone looked at each other, but no one noticed this problem, and all of them looked at Wu Ming in confusion.

Wu Ming looked left and right: "It seems that no one knows the exact number of Ludao, then I can tell you that the exact number is 380 kilometers, if you count from the sea surface of Hangzhou Bay, the distance is even closer, only about 250 kilometers, and the most backward planes of the Japanese army can easily bomb Quzhou after an hour's flight." Now you understand why I put the bullet production line in the mountains to the west, right? ”

Everyone was extremely moved, and Saiyang couldn't help asking: "Wu, do you still think that the Japanese army will really invade China in an all-out way?" ”

Everyone immediately looked at Wu Ming, and Wu Ming smiled bitterly: "Saiyang, do you remember that when we sat down and drank together last year, you didn't believe my judgment and thought that the Japanese were just threatening China with force, and they wouldn't risk offending Britain, France and other countries to send troops to invade Shanghai?" But it turned out that I was right, and I firmly believed that in less than five years, maybe even shorter, Japan would launch a full-scale war of aggression against China. ”

The exclamation suddenly sounded, and several foreign technicians who listened to the translation shrugged their shoulders, all of them felt incredulous, only Saiyang had experienced Wu Ming's demonic prediction, and closed his mouth after thinking about it, Bao Yaoyuan and other Chinese technicians almost opened their panicked eyes and looked at Wu Ming with a helpless expression on his face.

Wu Ming quickly puffed up his chest: "Based on this judgment, I have to arrange the arsenal in the mountains. As long as our factories are cleverly located and add some necessary air defense facilities in the next few years, we don't have to worry about Japanese aircraft bombing, and we can produce weapons and ammunition that can resist the invaders after the Japanese warships block all sea routes. ”

"Although I know that the yield is small and will not be decisive for the whole war, we must try to do it. Okay, you don't have any opinions now, right? ”

Seeing Wu Ming looking at him, Saiyang had to cheer up and explain: "Okay, I will strive to transport two 150 kilowatt hydro-generator sets within 40 days, and before the arrival of the machines, I will dispatch a professional construction company from Shanghai to Maoliangwu in accordance with the provisions of the contract, and strive to build the hydropower station before the arrival of winter, as well as the contract project including the substation and 20 kilometers of power supply lines." ”

"However, since the generator set was purchased from the United States, I need you to pay up to 50 percent of the equipment and construction advance, which is 48,000 US dollars."

"No problem, tomorrow morning, after signing the contract supplement, I will hand over the money to you." Wu Ming agreed without hesitation, but then admonished him lightly: "Saiyang, I was disappointed with what happened last time, and I hope there will be no more accidents this time." ”