At the end of 1938, the top management determined an urgent task: "Improve military technology, establish necessary arms factories, and prepare for counterattack strength."
In accordance with the decision of the meeting to "establish necessary arms factories", the Eighth Route Army Headquarters established a military industry department in May 1939 to vigorously develop independent military industries and effectively support the Anti-Japanese War.
There are currently four major arsenals in the Eighth Route Army's frontline base. Huangyadong Arsenal ranks first in terms of military personnel and mechanical equipment, followed by the three arsenals of Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei, Southern Hebei, and Eastern Hebei.
After returning from Yanzhou, Chief of Staff Teng once mentioned in public that if the Huangyadong Arsenal was fully powered, it could produce five million rounds of various types of ammunition every month.
Because a field force was to be formed, the headquarters had to issue some standard equipment and ammunition supplies. Originally, it only needed to send people to collect them. However, considering that Mr. Zhang Fangyin needed to be asked to go to Yamawang Mountain, Zhou Weihan had no choice but to do it himself.
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Zhou Weihan's car was a jeep sent by the Americans, and he was accompanied by a platoon of cavalry as escort. As he marched along the Handan-Changchun Highway, he could see strongholds and fortifications built by the Eighth Route Army everywhere.
In the area west of Handan, except for the three county towns of Shexian, Wu'an, and Wuyi, most of the remaining towns and rural areas were recaptured by the Eighth Route Army before the Spring Festival in 1942.
It was the end of February, the cold wind was still biting, and the Jeep was far less enclosed than later vehicles. Zhou Weihan changed into an American pilot's leather jacket before setting off.
Licheng is the headquarters of the primary regiment of the first division. As Zhou Weihan and his party approached Licheng, their whereabouts were reported in advance by phone.
The political commissar of the first division, Xiang Ying, went out of the city to greet him in person, but Ding Wei was nowhere to be seen.
"Why are you alone? Where's Ding Wei? Didn't you say you want to see me?" Zhou Weihan asked.
"Old Ding is gathering people who need transportation. Let's go to the city first!" Xiang Ying explained.
"Don't play dirty tricks on Ding Wei's behalf. If you can hide for a while, can you hide for a lifetime?"
Most of the land in Sanjin is mountainous, and there are only a few major transportation routes. One district guards the Handan-Changchang Highway. It has come from behind in terms of economic development, but has surpassed Pingshun, showing a somewhat prosperous scene.
"With the current results in the first division, you and Lao Ding have contributed a lot!"
The expression on Xiang Ying's face froze, and he thought to himself, Old Ding, you have done me a lot of harm: "We can't take the credit. This is all the result of the joint efforts of comrades!"
"Hey, I heard from comrades that since entering the city, this section has become the most luxurious. Some comrades live in small kitchens, wear leather shoes, and even use American products for shampoo!" Zhou Weihan teased.
"Comrade ***, we will hold a collective meeting later to review it in front of all comrades, but I still want to make two remarks!"
"explain!"
"The superiors asked the troops to reduce the burden on the local area, so we can only generate income ourselves. Lao Ding and I thought about it. There are only so many fields in the defense area. Even if we open up wasteland, it is all mountainous. We can't make much money from it!"
"Our first division guarded the Handan-Changchang Highway. There was no reason to just hold a golden nest and drink the northwest wind. The army sent special personnel to run the business. In the second half of the year, we not only supported ourselves, but also paid 120,000 yuan in taxes to the local government.
Yuanbian District Ticket!”
In Zhou Weihan's understanding, Xiang Ying was a principled comrade, but unlike Luo Benzhong who was able to restrain Li Yunlong, Xiang Ying, the political commissar, showed some weakness in front of Ding Wei.
Ding Wei pushed Xiang Ying out to take the front position, just to be sure that Zhou Weihan would not embarrass Xiang Ying, and to eliminate Zhou Weihan's anger in advance.
As the group said this, they entered the city. A gate with large blue bricks and tiles was the headquarters of the basic regiment. Many people came and went to greet Zhou Weihan one after another.
Zhou Weihan went straight to the main courtyard with a cold face. Ding Wei, who was arranging work, saw this and quickly dismissed everyone.
"Commander **, I miss you so much. We haven't seen you for more than half a year!"
"Don't do this. If you really want me, why don't you go up the mountain? Can I really hide behind closed doors?"
"Hey, aren't we afraid of causing trouble to you and Political Commissar Zhao? If anything happens, I, Old Ding, will bear the responsibility alone, and I will certainly not involve other comrades!"
Ding Wei's words were upright, but he still felt a little guilty in his heart. When Qu Kaiwen and his party came to the first subdivision to investigate, Ding Wei didn't give him any face and rejected him on the spot.
At that time, Ding Wei had already sensed that something was wrong with the limelight, but he had such a temper. But strangely, the military region had no follow-up, and even the Eighth Route Army headquarters seemed to have no intention of making a decision.
This strange situation made Ding Wei feel a little unsure, but he did not dare to directly ask his superiors about the matter, and the stalemate continued until Zhou Weihan returned.
"The right is given to you, but don't go too far. You and Xiang Ying will review it in public, and then conduct an internal self-examination. The results of the investigation will be reported to the military region, and the Political Department will send someone to deal with it!" Zhou Weihan finally raised his board high.
, put it down gently.
Hearing Zhou Weihan set the tone, Ding Wei felt relieved and kept going. He originally thought it was at least a dismissal and probation.
At noon that day, Zhou Weihan had dinner in the first division and showed up in front of his comrades, which also calmed down the restless hearts of the commanders and soldiers in the first division.
There is a car company in the first division, with about 40 cars, most of which were seized from the Japanese army, and the rest were purchased from the Chinese and Japanese troops.
When I have nothing to do, I go to Handan, Changzhi, and Linfen for transportation. I can make a lot of money just by relying on this business.
"Commander, how much ammunition has the headquarters allocated this time? Why did I hear that a batch of new rifles will be equipped?" Ding Wei asked anxiously.
"It doesn't matter how much weapons and equipment are distributed to your local troops, don't worry about it!" Zhou Weihan said.
"What!" Ding Wei became even more anxious when he heard this: "How come we become a local army? As soon as the field force is established, we become a local army?"
"Yes, *** member, what exactly is the organization of this field force? How many troops need to be mobilized so that we can have a good idea!" Xiang Ying echoed from the side.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Don't say you are incompetent, I am incompetent in my heart. If your staffing quota cannot be reported, this matter will not be implemented. Do you understand?"
Huangyadong Arsenal is just a general name. The real Huangyadong Arsenal, Shuiyao Arsenal, is a military industry facility located in northwest Lebanon, within the Taibei Military Region.
Since the Shigejie Coal Mine in Lucheng produced coal and Wu'an produced iron, the Second Military Industry Institute was later moved to southwest Li and was guarded by the First Division, the Third Military Industry Institute was located in Shexian County, and the Fourth Military Industry Institute was located in Liao County.
These military industrial plants are responsible for the production of standard rifles and other firearms, 50-caliber cannons, 50-, 60-, 82-, and 75-caliber shells, and grenades. There is also a specialized chemical factory responsible for the production of detonators, fuses, primers, propellants, etc.
The arsenal has accumulated a total of seven months' production, which is about 35 million rounds of ammunition. Zhou Weihan can receive three months' production, which is 15 million rounds of ammunition. These ammunition are in the warehouse of the Second Military Industry Institute.
In addition, the Jinan Arsenal also supported 10 million rounds of ammunition, but the Hebei, Shandong and Yu Military Region needed a batch of minerals and grain in exchange.
On the same day, Zhou Weihan rushed to the Huangyadong Arsenal with the same divisional car company. Director Liu of the arsenal had already received the telegram and had been waiting for a long time. Zhou Weihan was stunned by the huge welcoming scene.
"You are a rare visitor this week. This means that our arsenal does not have an art troupe, otherwise we would have to give you a good shout-out!" Director Liu said with a smile.
Although the headquarters approved the note, the managers of the arsenal were very happy to agree. The reason is very simple. Although the arsenal had no shortage of technical personnel at the time, it did not have the corresponding machinery and equipment.
Thanks to the Tainan Military Region's seizure of the Japanese arsenal in Jinmen, the Eighth Route Army established the situation of the Eighth Route Army's four major arsenals.
"Don't say that, I don't dare to show off in front of you, Director Liu. If it weren't for the comrades in the arsenal, the guns in the hands of the soldiers on the front line would be fire sticks!" Zhou Weihan said with a smile.
"Okay, let's stop being polite and let me show you something good!"
Factory Director Liu said and asked someone to bring over a new rifle. Zhou Weihan carefully examined the rifle in his hand and couldn't help but said: "Is this the original horse rifle?"
"Look again, this is an improved model, its performance is far better than before!"
The Eighth Route Army studied a horse rifle in 1939, and was awarded the first-class award at the "Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Industrial Exhibition" that year. Later, combined with the advantages and disadvantages of Type 38, Hanyang and other rifles, in August 1940
On March 1, an improved version was launched, called the "August 1 Horse Rifle"
The Type 81 horse rifle has been in large-scale production since it was developed, but the output is not high. The Tainan Military Region also distributed some of them.
It's just that many soldiers looked down on this horse rifle at that time. Because there was no high-quality steel, railway tracks could only be used as materials. In addition, the mechanical equipment used for production was not matched and most of it was polished by hand. Therefore, the performance of this rifle was very poor.
I can only say that in general, many soldiers would rather use Hanyang-made rifles than new-style rifles.
Although Zhou Weihan was not an expert in using guns, he was at least good at military service and could still tell the quality of a rifle from bad.
"Although it is a little short in length, it is light in weight and is suitable for our army's rapid march. In addition, the three-edged bayonet on the front is a sharp weapon for bloodletting. If the little devil gets hit by it, he will definitely not survive!" Zhou Weihan said.
"Hey, you are really an expert. Will this new rifle satisfy the comrades in the Tainan Military Region? You can't still dislike it, right?" Director Liu joked.
Zhou Weihan smiled sarcastically and said to himself, "Yes, it's true that good things never go out and bad things travel thousands of miles."
"How can it be possible? If these good things don't know the treasure yet, I'll break their legs! I'm a layman in front of you, so I won't try the gun, just introduce it to me!"
Every firearm is more precious to a designer than his or her own child. Zhou Weihan gave this opportunity to introduce to Factory Director Liu, which immediately made Factory Manager Liu feel good about him.
"Let me tell you, even though this gun is short, it is only 15 to 20 centimeters shorter than ordinary rifles and weighs only 3.36 kilograms. It is very suitable for guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare."
"Using 79-caliber bullets, the effective range is 350 meters. The size of the closed gun body is 1120 mm. The total length of the bayonet is 1510 mm. Did you see this lock? It is specially used to fix the tip of the knife."
"You can imagine that during hand-to-hand combat on the battlefield, the soldiers do not need to put away their guns and change their posture to install the bayonet. They only need to press the bayonet buckle under the butt of the gun with their left hand to quickly throw out the bayonet. The actual combat effect is far better than that used by the little devil.
Thirty-eight big covers.”
"Hey, look at this triangular spur. Not only is it easy to bleed, other bayonets equipped with rifles tend to have obvious blade reflections in the sun, but our spur is easy to conceal."
Zhou Weihan listened to Factory Director Liu's explanation with a smile on his face, giving him enough face, until he finally said: "How many stocks are there in total for this Type 81 rifle?"
After hearing these words, Director Liu woke up from his excited state and couldn't help but show a vigilant look: "Say, Lao Zhou, I'm a bit dull and have no intentions, but I'm not easy to fool!"
"According to the order from the headquarters, there are only 3,000 cigarettes. One more won't do. Okay, let's not stand there and finish loading the car. You'd better go back quickly. I won't leave anyone behind tonight!" Liu Chang
Soon we will drive people away.
"No, Brother Liu, you were joking just now, now you want to kick me out? Who said just now that you are a rare guest and a great contributor to the arsenal, now you will turn your back on me?" Zhou Weihan pulled.
He grabbed Director Liu's arm and became very angry.
"I didn't say it, I didn't say it, but I know it now. Why are all your comrades in the Tainan Military Region acting like scoundrels? Comrade Ding Wei relied on the Second Military Industrial Zone in his defense zone and took advantage of convenience to go there.
I draw it in my own pocket, I learned my feelings from you!"
"Ding Wei did something wrong. He has no organizational discipline. I will criticize him later. However, Brother Liu, I came here in person today. Isn't it just to ask for more weapons and equipment?" Zhou Weihan said.
A group of comrades around him suppressed their laughter. Factory Director Liu was a tough-faced man, and many of the people who came to the arsenal to fight against the autumn wind did not give him a good look.
"Go, go, go, get busy!"
Factory Director Liu pulled Zhou Weihan aside and said softly: "Brother, it's not that I don't give you face. If you want to fight against the autumn wind, you can go to the logistics department and find the head of the headquarters. What's going on with you coming to my arsenal?"
"Once I open my mouth, it won't be easy for me if other comrades come over in the future, so don't make things difficult for me!"
Factory Director Liu had a clear face, and Zhou Weihan also understood the reasoning behind it. To be able to get the share he has now in front of the boss, Zhou Weihan had tried his best.
The boss even said, "No matter what, you will find a solution on your own. Zhou Weihan can only come to the arsenal to find a solution."
"In this way, I will also make it difficult for you. I will add 500 more rifles, and give me 30 more Czech light machine guns, and 10% more artillery shells!"
"To be honest with you, brother, our unit is going to make big moves next, and it is indispensable to attack fortified positions and fire more artillery shells, which can also reduce the casualties of comrades."
"I don't want it in vain. It's not easy for the comrades in the arsenal to generate income, and the living conditions are too difficult. It just so happens that the breeding industry in our Tainan Military Region is doing well. I'll have someone get a batch of meat for the comrades later!"