Chapter 14: New-Style Rifles and Mortars

  The next day after returning from the military camp, Huo Shan's life became a three-point line again, running between the army and the machinery factory. If the steel mill wasn't built in Keelung, it would be too far away, and if it weren't for the inconvenience of going back and forth, he might be even busier now! Of course, seeing his plan being implemented step by step every day still makes Huo Shan feel deeply satisfied!

  "This is our new rifle!"

  "Yes, young master! This is what we manufactured according to the blueprint you provided us. It has fully met the design requirements from back then and can be said to be a perfect weapon, at least one generation more advanced than the standard rifles of countries like England, France, and Germany!"

  Looking at the chief engineer of the arsenal he had personally appointed, who was introducing his new achievements non-stop, Huo Shan couldn't help but reveal a joyful smile on his face.

  He picked up the new rifle that had just been wiped with gun oil, weighed it for a moment, and then shook his head somewhat regretfully, tossing it to Huo Hu and others who were eager to try it out beside him! At his young age, he couldn't withstand the recoil of a 7.62mm caliber rifle!

  "Alas, it seems I'll have to wait a bit longer to get over the shooting habit!" But then he thought of his new rifle and got excited all over again.

  "What a pity it's not the Mauser 98k!" Huo Shan thought with some regret in his heart! German things are good, but there is one bad aspect, that is, they are made too finely, and the processing procedures and tools used are also many! Obviously, this rifle is a bit difficult for the newly established Huojia Arsenal, which has not yet had much equipment or skilled workers. Even if it can be produced, the output will not be high! Therefore, when choosing the standard equipment for his own troops, Huo Shan chose the simple and durable, easy to produce, and in combat performance, not inferior to the Mauser 98K Mosin-Nagant rifle! Moreover, the cultural quality of the soldiers of the Huojia army is almost the same as that of the Russian army, and using this simple-operated rifle is just right! Of course, Huo Shan also made further optimization of the shortcomings of this rifle.

  "According to the young master's request, we have redesigned the rifle's bolt handle and adopted the double-row fixed magazine design you requested, producing this new-style rifle with a simple, safe, solid and reliable structure!"

  After finishing, Mao Jin stared excitedly at the young man in front of him. Having worked at Anqing Arsenal for nearly twenty years, he still found it hard to believe that a rifle that even foreigners didn't have was designed by a twelve-year-old kid.

  To this day he still remembers how excited he was when he first saw that design blueprint.

  "What a waste of half my life! It's all gone to the dogs!" Old Master Mao muttered to himself.

  "Old Mao, introduce the performance of this rifle! Has it met our initial design requirements?"

  "We've succeeded! Following your orders, young master, we've adopted the newly developed 7.62mm×57mm pointed bullet, with a 5-round internal magazine that can be quickly reloaded using the soldier's portable clip. It weighs only 3.9kg, is 1.1m in length, and has a barrel length of 600mm, with a muzzle velocity of 755m/s and an effective range of 800m! Without a doubt, this is a masterpiece of a rifle that transcends the ages! You are truly a genius beyond compare, young master - I am but a humble old man, unworthy to stand in your presence!"

  Listening to Lao Yezi's praise, Huo Dashi, who had plagiarized others' achievements, revealed a self-satisfied expression on his face.

  "Master, this rifle is too good! My old tiger has never seen such a great rifle from small to large, compared with it, the German 71-style rifle is simply rubbish!" Huo Hu led a group of officers back to test the gun, and before he arrived, he began to shout excitedly at Huo Shan.

  "Do you want it?"

  "What?" Huo Hu's face was filled with eagerness, and he nodded his head repeatedly, like a little chick pecking at grain.

  "Not a chance, wait! It'll be your turn only after a month!" Hao Da Ye said with a smirk.

  Upon hearing this, Huo Hu's face turned red with anxiety. He didn't care about the many people watching and grabbed Huo Dashi's arm, wailing: "Why, Master! Our troops have been waiting for guns like they're waiting for the stars to align! Even if it's just a bunch of junk like the Mauser 71, we can't even get one per person! Now that we've finally got new rifles, you can't forget about us!"

  "Lei Zi, pull this guy away for me!" Huo Shan said with a headache, looking at the young man who was secretly laughing beside him.

  "Yes, young master!"

  "Fourth brother, quickly let go of the young master. The current production of new rifles is too low and ammunition is also in short supply. So, within a month, you won't be able to get new guns!"

  "What's to be done? I promised Second Brother that if I couldn't bring this gun back, he'd fix me! Now look at the state of it!" Huo Hu complained to Huo Lei while eyeing Young Master's expression.

  "Alright, stop pretending to be pitiful. Later, I'll let you bring back ten new guns to satisfy your cravings!" Lord He said with a mixture of laughter and tears as he saw him push Huo Shi out as a human shield.

  "Ten poles are too few, at least we need to get more than 18,000!" Huo Hu grumbled in dissatisfaction.

  "Stay honest with me, or you won't even get a new rifle!" Lord Huo shouted at his rascal-like appearance.

  "Master, would you like to name this new gun?" said Old Mao with a smile after the commotion just ended.

  "Let's just call it the Taiwanese Type 80 rifle, abbreviated as 'Type 80'". Upon hearing this new name, the people around him couldn't help but murmur in agreement, and soon everyone had a look of satisfaction on their faces.

  "By the way, Mao Lao, what's the production volume of this new rifle?"

  "With the new-style machine tools invented by Master, we can currently produce 1,500 units per month. Of course, as workers become more skilled in operation, production will increase to around 2,000 units per month. If you want to equip a large number of troops, it may take some more time?"

  "Uh, I see. I'll get the machinery factory to speed up production of new military equipment. Now that they have design experience, a new set of machine tools will be delivered here every half month. They will fully support the production of new weapons in the ordnance factory!"

  "Thank you, young master!"

  "Hmm, how's our ammunition production?" Ho Shan asked immediately after.

  "The situation is not very good, we have improved the nitroglycerin explosives according to Young Master's formula and process, and it has reached the standard of smokeless powder! However, the production of new-style ammunition requires a lot of copper, but Taiwan lacks copper and does not have corresponding bullet processing equipment, so the current production of pointed bullets is very low, with less than 100,000 rounds produced per month!" said Mao Lao.

  "I've got it, I'll take care of the copper and machine issues. By the way, have the other weapon developments you handed over been successful?"

  "We have successfully developed the wooden-handled grenade and the mortar that Young Master mentioned, but we still need to purchase seamless steel pipes from outside, so we only made a few 60mm caliber mortars for testing! As for other things like submachine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns and the 70mm infantry gun that Young Master mentioned, we haven't figured them out yet!"

  Looking at the old man's face with a sense of guilt, Huo Shan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Although his laptop had the most advanced weapon design drawings of this era, the lack of talent and backward production technology made it impossible to quickly turn these designs into advanced weapons and put them in the hands of soldiers.

  "We still have to wait!" Huo Shan thought to himself.

  "Hmm, don't be too hard on yourself, Old Mao. It's already quite impressive that you can do this much! Let's go to the testing grounds and see the power of the mortar."

  The artillery testing ground is not far away, and after walking together for five or six minutes, they arrived!

  "Is this a cannon?" Huo Hu was very skeptical of the thing, which used a tripod to support a thick pipe with a large tray behind it, and whether it could fire! Because, apart from that thick steel pipe, it really didn't have much resemblance to what was known as the god of war - the cannon.

  "Boom!..."

  Watching the smoke and debris flying in the distance, everyone except for Huo Shan and the factory workers involuntarily opened their mouths wide!

  "This is indeed a cannon!" Hu Hu smacked his lips, and his expression couldn't help but become excited. This was new equipment for their army!

  "The mortar has a caliber of 60mm, an initial velocity of 200m/s, a maximum range of 2000m, a firing rate of 30 rounds per minute, weighs 15.6kg, and the projectile weighs 1.4kg, with an effective killing radius of 8.5m. It's simple to operate and can be carried by a single soldier, making it highly mobile." Old Mao looked at the mortar in the distance, his expression excited as he introduced it.

  "Forward-loading recoilless cannon!" thought Huo Shan.

  The troops in the military base behind the mountain have been secretly trained for more than two months and will soon be officially formed to rush to various places. At this time, the successful birth of mortars solved the army's demand for heavy firepower.

  Watching Huo Hu surround the howitzer and turn around, with a look of urgency on his face, Huo Shan couldn't help but smile faintly.

  "Mortars can wait for now, what we need to guarantee first is the production of new rifles and ammunition!!"

  "Understood! Young master!"

  "Alright then, let me know if anything happens! Leizi, go get Lao Hu, we're leaving!"