Nineteenth Section

  The Chinese nation has always been short of skilled craftsmen.

  Since ancient times, old China has been a land of skilled craftsmen.

  They have all sorts of skills. These skills were considered to be strange and cunning in the ancient scholar-official class, and were looked down upon. But it is precisely these strange and cunning skills that are driving human progress.

  In this era of scarce equipment, some people could make a fine breech-loading rifle with just an iron hammer, a bellows and a few simple tools.

  Some of them can carve out any seal you want with just a small knife.

  Some of them rely on their own craftsmanship, using any materials you provide to replicate anything you want.

  Under the tacit consent of the captain of the Second Dog District, Li Tie widely disseminated heroic posters to society: Sincerely recruiting social elites, with no restrictions on age or sex, industry, and treatment. Insurance is comprehensive, supplies are fully provided, guarantees are in place, single-person apartments, free food and accommodation, water, electricity, and heating are all free, and cars (bicycles, as long as you know how to ride) and houses (a thatched hut or a separate courtyard, with a fence wall) etc. The only requirement: having a special skill.

  If you are a gentleman of leisure, able to open the safe of the commander of the Kuomintang army (or anyone else's), if you are being pursued by the devils or someone and fleeing in disarray all over the world, if you want to get a job with the most promising prospects - then please find Fox and report for duty. You will enjoy all the above-mentioned treatment. If you have family members, they can join the army unconditionally, be arranged to work, and enjoy regular military treatment.

  If you are an old man who has been hammering iron all your life, anything that comes into your hands can be hammered out with a similar shape as long as it looks like something. At this time, the coffin money you have accumulated for a lifetime was robbed or squandered by unfilial children and grandchildren. Then the Fox Team welcomes you, here is a good place for you to spend your old age.

  Similarly, if you are a craftsman of any other kind, as long as you have a skill that can be shown off, the Fox Team welcomes you just the same.

  Here is the translation:

  There's no exploitation here, no ghosts or traitors to bully you. Everyone will treat you like their own family, respect and love you, let you have a good old age and a peaceful death.

  No matter the background, no matter rich or poor, no matter the industry, no matter the past record, no matter male or female, no matter old or young, no matter... Only one thing matters: having skills, regardless of what kind.

  What if there is no skill? Is there any strength? Okay, take it down, the treatment is the same; Not? Then is there a good face? Okay, take it down, the treatment is the same; Also not? Is there a mouthful of skills? Okay, take it down, the treatment is the same; Also not, really nothing, then don't come. This place doesn't raise idle people either. After all, having strength can do work, having a good face can make beauty plans, and having a good tongue can go negotiate, what's the point of coming if there's nothing?

  The heroic poster has been sent out.

  Heroes from all sides have arrived.

  The troublemaker has arrived.

  The first to arrive was a gunsmith. Of course, he claimed that he could repair firearms and had previously repaired revolvers, Type 38 rifles, pistols, Hanyang-made guns, and other weapons for many mountain bandits. Li Tie found a broken Type 38 rifle and asked him to repair it, and indeed, it was fixed in no time. Li Tie was overjoyed and took him on board. He appointed him as the head of the armory's repair unit, which, for the time being, consisted only of himself.

  Soon, another person came to find him. This man looked like a thief at first glance, with a sly and cunning appearance, and it was clear that he wasn't anything good. Li Tie personally received him and carefully asked if he really wanted to join the Eighth Route Army. Li Tie told him that as long as he had skills, broadly speaking, as long as he wanted to resist Japan and do things for the people, he could join the Eighth Route Army; narrowly speaking, as long as he listened to Li Tie's commands, he could join the Fox Team. After hearing Li Tie's response, this man carefully handed over a shotgun shell, which Li Tie recognized at first glance - it was an empty gun case. He was overjoyed and with a wave of his hand, accepted him and appointed him as the head of the Intelligence Unit, also serving as its sole member.

  In just a few days, more than ten people joined Li Tie's team through underground organizations or by asking around. Some of them could speak fluent Japanese, some could cook delicious dishes with color, fragrance and flavor, and also use food to counter each other, cleverly matching dishes to kill enemies in the shadows. There was even a family that used to make a living by making fireworks, and all sorts of people from different walks of life.

  Li Tie arranged all these people in the newly built barracks outside the cave, and ordered that without command, no one was allowed to enter the cave. Those who violated this rule would be treated as Han traitors. At the same time, he told them that there were landmines buried on the surrounding hillsides, and no one was allowed to go for a stroll. Otherwise, they would have to bear the consequences themselves. After seeing a gray-yellow wild rabbit accidentally blown up by a landmine into a bloody mist, some of these people immediately gave up their idea of going for a stroll on the hillside.

  Because the landmines produced by this small soldier factory were really powerful, so the superiors simply gave their own small landmine workshop to the Mong County District Team. The district team leader Er Gou didn't say a word and let them all go find Li Tiebao to report. All of it was transferred under the name of the Soldier Factory.

  With this, the strength of the arsenal has increased greatly. Because these people have been working in the military industry for a longer time, they can be called old-timers, and it was only because of the explosives that their products were not as good as others. Now, with the addition of these people, plus Li Tie's explosives, the quality of landmines has improved first. Furthermore, since nitrocellulose can be synthesized here, bullet propellant can be made. These old-timers used to reload bullets, but due to the limitations of gunpowder, many reloaded bullets misfired, whereas using the nitrocellulose products from this place not only reduced misfires but even performed better than original bullets.

  The head of the repair group was named Shi Yuliang. According to the underground party organization's intelligence, this person could almost be confirmed as reliable and had no history of colluding with the Japanese or traitors. Of course, it was understandable that he had dealings with bandits, after all, it was for a living. As it turned out, this Shi group leader really had some skills. After Li Tie assigned two old soldiers to his team, he followed Li Tie's thinking and in just a few days, with the cooperation of other team members, he transformed a scrapped light machine gun into a shotgun that appeared in front of Li Tie. The test results were quite good, one shot could cover at least several meters in front. After testing, combined with five rounds of ammunition, this was a secret weapon for fighting against the Japanese, and even if they didn't die, they would likely have no spirit to fight against the Eighth Route Army. Similarly, to defend the mountain cave, Li Tie ordered the production of two oversized shotguns, but it might be more appropriate to call them "shotgun cannons" because their effect was similar to some guerrilla groups' "broom cannons", but much more advanced, at least able to fire rapidly and continuously. One shot could cover the entire entrance of the cave.

  Then there is the mass production of iron thunder. Because these old military industries have experience in making iron thunder, the iron thunder produced has much greater power than stone thunder. An iron thunder with fragments explodes and no one within tens of meters can survive. Then to solve the problem of insufficient iron materials, for every landmine that leaves the factory, the recipient must exchange it for at least an equivalent amount of steel, some troops and guerrilla units that cannot produce weapons themselves go to dismantle the enemy's railway tracks, turn them into scrap metal and send them over in exchange for landmines. As a result, the stored iron in the ordnance factories not only did not decrease but instead increased. Thus there is more steel to make other weapons.

  With sufficient steel, more shotgun shells and landmines, bullets were produced, although still not enough to meet the needs of the troops, but solved a big problem for the troops after all this is just a small arsenal.

  Those who came to join the army after screening disappeared a small number, most of them joined the arsenal, and a few joined the Fox Team, becoming an honorable Eighth Route Army soldier.

  June 8, 1940, Mengxian Ordnance Factory was formally established.

  On June 8th, the captain of the Second Dog District personally came to the Arsenal in the midst of his busy schedule to unveil the Arsenal and deliver an important speech.

  The first military representative of the Ordnance Factory, Li Tie, delivered an important speech.

  Attendees at the founding meeting included: Chen Hai, captain of the first battalion of Meng County, Wang Fei, captain of the second battalion, Zhang Dazhu, captain of the fifth battalion, Wang Wei, captain of the sixth battalion, and militia captains Chang Fugui and Yu Yishui. Also present were some local figures, such as the owner of a certain restaurant who was actually an underground party liaison officer.

  Militia captain Chang Fu Gui represented local people to express congratulations to the Arsenal factory.

  The full text of the speech by the captain of the Er Dog District team is as follows for everyone to learn and understand:

  Comrades, ah~, this, ah~, that thing~, our own munitions factory has been officially established, ah~, I announce, ah~, Meng County Munitions Factory is officially established, ah~, applause. Thank you.

  The important speech of Li Tie, the first military representative

  Comrades, the arsenal has been officially established. I just have one request, that is to have three hearts and two intentions for the arsenal. The three hearts are: first, we must have the confidence of winning, the Japanese devils are autumn grasshoppers, they will not last a few days, victory is definitely ours; second, we must have the perseverance to overcome difficulties, no matter what difficulties we encounter, we must unite and work together to overcome all difficulties and win over all challenges, resolutely complete our tasks; third, we must have the determination to serve the people, the people are our parents, we are serving the people, we are the people's public servants. As for the two intentions, one is that all actions must listen to commands, and the other is to keep secrets. All matters of the arsenal are our secrets, please note that those who leak secrets will be severely punished.

  Li Tie knew his own abilities, so he didn't become the factory director, but instead took on a military representative role. In reality, this military representative position was just a title, and for his own convenience, he basically didn't manage anything, belonging to the type that only eats without working. The factory director, under his recommendation, appointed an old military worker to take over.

  Li Tie divided the arsenal into departments for weapon design, weapon production and repair, gunpowder production, logistics, bullet reloading, and external liaison.

  The arsenal gradually entered the regular track.