There are many towns called Springfield in the United States, but none of them are as famous as this one in Massachusetts.

In 1777, when Father Washington personally selected this small broken town as the Union's weapons warehouse, he probably did not think that the guns that would later be produced here would play a significant role in the Union's victory in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.

Located at the confluence of three rivers and four major roads, it is ideally located.

In 1787, a peasant rebel army led by Daniel Chess set their sights on the munitions stored here, but they were crushed before they could set off a fire.

Until 1795, the Springfield Arsenal had not produced a single rifle, at most a gun carriage.

Later, the head of the arsenal built a water-powered mill on the banks of the Connecticut River, and used this as an impetus to start mass industrial production of guns.

Chen Jianqiu, accompanied by Captain Rhodes, stood on the commanding heights of the river valley and looked in the direction of the arsenal.

The first four workshops have now expanded to about twenty; The hydro-powered workshops are still there, but they have long since lost their functionality and have been replaced by steam boilers.

White smoke came out of the chimney of the workshop, drifted into the air along the wind of the river valley, and then into the distance.

"Mr. Chen, how is it, our production scale is okay, right?" Lieutenant Rhodes touched the two mustaches on his lips and asked Chen Jianqiu proudly.

He was about forty years old, and he was also a quartermaster in the Northern Cavalry Regiment, and somehow managed to get the position of "director" of the Springfield Arsenal.

Chen Jianqiu nodded.

Instead of wearing his black cloth robe, he had changed into a fine suit and top hat, and he looked like a business tycoon except for his beautiful beard and fat body.

"Are you still using steam power?" He asked suddenly.

Lieutenant Rhodes was puzzled by the question, and he looked at Chen Jianqiu blankly:

"Well, is there any other power option besides steam power?"

Chen Jianqiu did not continue the topic.

He now somewhat understood why the state-run arsenal was so inefficient.

He did not tell the "factory director" that his branch in Liverpool, England, had all been replaced with machine tools driven by electric motors alone.

Milling machines, planers, grinding machines, and drilling machines are available.

Not to mention the main plant in Roswell.

It's hard to communicate with a frog at the bottom of a well.

Chen Jianqiu just smiled and said:

"Yes, yes, the Springfield Arsenal will surely return to glory under your leadership, Lieutenant, and the future is promising, the future is promising."

Being so complimented by the recognized arms tycoon in the American industry, Lieutenant Rhodes was a little fluttery for a while, quite top-heavy.

"Mr. Chen, let me take you to see the range where we test new weapons." Lieutenant Rhodes rubbed his hands excitedly.

Chen Jianqiu happened to be on the top of the mountain and had a headache from the wind.

"Okay, Lieutenant Law will show me around."

The two men got on their horses and slowly swayed down the mountain road, followed by a group of retinues.

Along the way, Lieutenant Rhodes happily briefed Chen Jianqiu on the operations of the Springfield Arsenal:

"Mr. Chen, this arsenal is now the only state-owned arsenal in the country, and the guns of the army are basically purchased from us."

"Oh?" Chen Jianqiu agreed casually, but his gaze turned to other places.

But to Rhode's ears, the other party seemed to have a strong interest.

"There used to be a Habersferry Arsenal, but it was destroyed by fire during the Civil War." He began to popularize science, "So now we are left alone." ”

"Don't look at the army's orders now, but maybe one day as soon as the war starts, it will come up in a flash. When the time comes, as long as we work together, we will definitely have a head start. ”

Rod winked at Chen Jianqiu.

Chen Jianqiu was introduced by the War Department, and there is a guarantee there, so he doesn't have to worry about quality and productivity.

It's all an empty glove white wolf errand.

Besides, he is Party B, and he is Party A.

According to convention, as long as the tycoon produces more and earns more, his share is also indispensable.

This kind of thing, why not do it.

For Rod's secret send-off, Chen Jianqiu returned with a polite smile.

He really didn't want to dismiss Lieutenant Rhodes' interest.

After all, he is still the "factory director".

A group of people swayed to a clearing outside the town.

It was close to the forest, and a boundary post was made every ten meters around it, and a wooden sign was nailed to it, which read:

Military shooting range, please do not enter.

On the periphery of the range, everyone dismounted and tied their horses to the outside of the range.

Rhodes took the lead and was at the forefront.

He led Chen Jianqiu into the shooting range.

Not far away are two wooden tables, and next to them are several long wooden boxes.

Several employees of the Springfield Arsenal were already waiting for them there.

"Allow me to introduce you to our products." Captain Rhodes took a rifle from an employee and held it in his hand.

Chen Jianqiu glanced at it.

This gun he naturally recognized, the Clarke-Jonathan rifle that was loaded by the shots.

When the Union Frontier Army surrendered before, this gun was piled up in the warehouse at Roswell Farm.

Except for the leaders, the ones who were prosecuted and put in prison, whose guns were still lying there eating ashes, the others were given to the soldiers at the same time as they were released.

This broken gun, Chen Jianqiu looked down on it in his heart.

I haven't even touched it.

Because it had to be reloaded one by one, the rate of fire of this gun was too slow.

Needless to say, compared to the semi-automatic, automatic weapons in his hands, even compared to the conventional bolt-action rifles of the Roswell Arsenal, they are very outdated.

But Lieutenant Rhodes didn't feel that way.

He proudly introduced the rifle to Chen Jianqiu.

"Mr. Chen, do you want to try this gun, this is a standard weapon for the army, and it can't be found on the market outside." Rod handed over the gun.

Chen Jianqiu was not interested and shook his head.

Seeing this, Captain Rhodes thought that this Chinese businessman could not use a gun, and he couldn't help but laugh secretly.

He suddenly had the idea of showing off his marksmanship in front of Chen Jianqiu.

"Give me the bullets." He extended his hand to the employees around him.

The employee took a few rifle rounds from the box on the table and handed them to Captain Rhodes.

Rod opened the magazine lid on the side of the gun and slipped the bullets into it one by one.

Since the captain was in a hurry to shoot with his gun, he was a little hasty when loading the ammunition, and accidentally dropped a bullet on the ground.

The scene was a little awkward at one point.

The employee next to him was just about to come up to pick up the bullet, but was pulled by another one with a slightly higher emotional intelligence.

The man took out a new bullet from the box and handed it to Captain Rod.

The captain's face turned red and white.

He peeked at Chen Jianqiu next to him.

Fortunately, Boss Chen didn't seem to notice, just smiled and looked at the bottle that was the target in the distance.

Captain Rhodes quickly slapped the lid of the magazine on the shoulder, raised his gun and took aim.

He solemnly adjusted his breathing, and his eyes were fixed on the crosshair.

The people around him also held their breath.

At this distance, a target like a wine bottle is not very large, and it is not easy to hit.

The captain finally pulled the trigger after aiming for a while.

In fact, he couldn't eat accurately, but in front of Chen Jianqiu, he didn't want to show his timidity.

I only heard a "bang".

The glass bottle in the distance was clearly hit and exploded.

"Good!"

The employee who handed him the last bullet was the first to applaud and applaud.

The other employees quickly reacted and applauded and slapped their hands.

"Captain, good marksmanship!"

"Worthy of a warrior who has fought with the Indians!"

Captain Rhodes let out a sigh of relief.

There is no shame in it.

He glanced with satisfaction at the stone in the distance, where the glass bottles had been shattered.

The captain was a little complacent.

The shot just now is definitely his own strength, and it has absolutely nothing to do with luck.

He turned around and found that Chen Jianqiu was looking around with his hands behind his back.

"Mr. Chen, I really suggest you give it a try, it would be a pity for people like us who run an arms business not to experience the joy of using weapons." Captain Rhodes handed over the gun.

He didn't mean to make Chen Jianqiu ugly, but to better highlight his outstanding marksmanship.

"I'm not very good marksmanship." Chen Jianqiu waved his hand happily, "Moreover, I have never used this gun." ”

As soon as he said this, Captain Rhodes insisted even more.

Haven't used this gun? Standard goods, I haven't used it normally.

Bad marksmanship? That's right, otherwise how can I show my awesomeness?

"It's okay, just play, just play." Captain Rhodes simply shoved the gun into Chen Jianqiu's hand.

Chen Jianqiu looked at the gun in his hand.

It was the first time he had seen the gun up close.

The materials used in this gun actually look quite elegant, but from the bolt and bolt, it does seem that the workmanship is a little rougher.

"Mr. Chen, there are still four bullets left in the gun, you don't need to reload, you just need to follow the crosshair, aim at three points and one line, and adjust your breathing"

Captain Rhodes unconsciously talked about his "marksmanship experience", but he didn't notice that Chen Jianqiu was just playing with the gun, and he wasn't listening to Rod at all.

"Thomas, you go get a bottle and rearrange it." After saying more or less that, Rhodes ordered one of his employees.

"No, no."

Chen Jianqiu suddenly spoke.

He waved his hand, then pointed farther away, "Or maybe it's just those three tin cans." ”

Everyone looked in the direction pointed by Chen Jianqiu.

Farther away, there was only a big tree, and there was no tin can.

Captain Rhodes and the others were a little unsure, so they didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Chen Jianqiu's gourd.

Only Thomas raised his hand.

"Well, I did have three tin cans hanging on that tree." "However, it was for testing the scope, not for naked-eye shooting, and it was written on every tin can." ”

As the head of the range, no one knows better than Thomas what is being targeted.

The crowd looked in that direction again.

There was something hanging under the thickest branch of the big tree, but it was very, very small and I couldn't see it clearly unless I looked closely.

Thomas picked up a telescope from the table and handed it to Captain Rod.

Captain Rhodes held up his binoculars.

"It seems to be there, but, this seems"

Before he finished his words, the gun in Chen Jianqiu's hand had already gone off.

Not a single sound, but a continuous sound.

"Dang!"

"Click!"

"Dang!"

"Click!"

The crisp sound of a bullet hitting a metal object in the distance, accompanied by the crisp sound of a bolt being pulled.

Two flashes of fire appeared in mid-air.

It was the flash of fire from the bullet hitting the can, indicating the hit of two bullets.

Everyone stared into the distance with bated breath.

They're waiting for the third shot.

After the third bullet was fired, the fire did not appear.

Is it a shortage?

But before everyone could figure it out, while they were speculating, Chen Jianqiu pulled the trigger for the fourth time.

A crisp sound was heard, the fire reappeared, and the fourth hit hit.

The crowd had recovered from the shock.

Four shots and three hits, this distance is already a miracle, and seeing the marksmanship of this Chinese boss is indeed very amazing.

Everyone also applauded and admired.

Except for one person.

Captain Rhodes held the telescope and did not put it down for a long time, and stood on the spot like a plaster statue.

Because apart from Chen Jianqiu at the scene, he was the only one who knew:

The third shot just now was not empty, but directly broke the rope that tied the iron can, and then, before the can landed, Chen Jianqiu's fourth bullet hit it.

"Oh my God!" Captain Rhodes muttered to himself as he was still reminiscing about what he had just seen through the binoculars.

Chen Jianqiu walked to the side of the employee and handed the gun back to him:

"The loading speed is too slow, and this kind of gun will suffer on the battlefield." Truth be told, he commented, "The barrel is made to be meritorious, but the other details are very crudely handled. ”

Hearing Chen Jianqiu speak, Captain Rhodes recovered from the shock.

He finally put down his binoculars and looked at Chen Jianqiu in disbelief.

This is what "bad marksmanship"?

"When I first came to the United States, I worked as a cowboy for a while, so I practiced my marksmanship a little bit, which made you smile." Chen Jianqiu laughed.

Captain Rhodes clearly hasn't relented.

He really didn't know how to use words to describe and describe, which made his already poor vocabulary and expression skills even worse.

At that moment, another man galloped in the direction of the town's factory on horseback.

He approached Captain Rhodes and whispered something in his ear.

"No just no way! I can't pass the customs! And I haven't received any directives from the War Office on this matter. Captain Rod's attention was quickly diverted and he started a fire.

And Chen Jianqiu, who was watching from the sidelines, suddenly interjected: "What makes you so irritable?" Mr. Rhodes? ”

Rod suddenly realized that Chen Jianqiu was talking to him, and immediately put a smile on his face.

His admiration for Chen Jianqiu now is like a turbulent river, out of control.

How else to say why people sit firmly in the first place in the US arms industry, with strange abilities and mastery of marksmanship.

Regarding Chen Jianqiu's questioning, he told the truth:

"A foreigner wants to buy our guns, but we can't sell them to him."

"Oh?" Chen Jianqiu was really interested this time, "Why?" ”

Captain Rhodes shrugged:

"He's from Cuba."

(End of chapter)