Chapter Six Western Zhou

  Half a year later, the prosperous Xizhou Town.

  Sitting on Tiger Mountain, I looked at the arsenal and torpedo factory that had been built below, each producing weapons. My heart was still not calm, thinking about the half-year struggle with everyone, how many days until the full-scale war broke out? How many more days did I have to prepare?

  "I thought you were going to build the factory near Xiangshan County town."

  Turning back to gaze at those familiar big eyes, the absolutely similar round and plump face, now and in the past, a fierce collision between 1930 and 2010, I got lost again.

  "Oh dear." The beauty in front of me waved her hand: "Spaced out again?"

  "Ga..." I had just uttered a single word when it was forced back down my throat.

  "If you dare to mispronounce my name again, I'll immediately go back to my cousin's place and never come back!"

  "Can't we just use an abbreviation?"

  "Huh? Come clean and tell me, who exactly is that Yan person?"

  "What wild goose? Aren't you Wild Goose Miss?"

  "Don't interrupt, I understand clearly what you're saying, and you're calling Yan Yun again."

  "It's all you, geese in the clouds, geese flying in the clouds. Its shape is like a startled goose."

  "You're being slippery with your words again. Fine, I won't bother you about it anymore. So, I'm asking you, why did you build the factory here instead of near the county town in the east as previously mentioned?"

  "It's too close to the open sea, within range of the main fleet's guns."

  "A Japanese battleship? What would a 30,000-ton vessel be doing in a place like this?"

  "There is a gun factory and a torpedo factory, next to which Minister Chen Shao-kuan is also building a submarine spare base; if I were to start a war, I would come and kill them."

  "Come and kill? Cannon fire? Bombardment? Or landing?"

  "Within three months after the outbreak of war, there will definitely be bombing, and then possibly shelling; as for landing, it depends on how many achievements Minister Chen's submarines can achieve. If we can really sink Kaga or Akagi, let's hurry up and escape!"

  "So most of the equipment needs to be arranged in Shangrao?"

  "Of course, this is just a simplified version, the purpose is to rush out a large number of howitzers and mines before the war, otherwise why would I spend so much money buying a complete set of equipment from American specialized cannon and mine factories?"

  "At first, Americans recommended the production equipment of howitzers which was not much more expensive but had greater power. Why didn't you buy it?"

  "Is this a leftover from the last war? It's cumbersome, has a low rate of fire, and most importantly, we don't even have qualified steel to manufacture it, relying entirely on imports. Once the blockade is in place during wartime, we're done for."

  "Oh, I see, so the American is a swindler, cheating us."

  "Of course, you think you can cheat me? Not even a door exists."

  The cloud goose sat down beside me, little "goose" relying on people!

  "Has Mr. Bai and Minister Chen arrived yet?"

  "Haven't seen the boat, they certainly haven't arrived yet, don't you know?"

  "I just came from the county town, didn't you see?"

  "In a few days I'll be going back to Nanjing, can you go with me?"

  "What's there to do? Nanjing is so boring."

  "First go to Shanghai to see second sister, then go to Nanjing to see third sister, and then..."

  "Uh-huh, first go pay respects to Madame Sun, then go take a look at Madame Chiang, not bad, I can go myself. How about you, still going to the naval dock to dig rocks? Hahaahaha!"

  Watching the familiar figure jumping and running down the mountain among the rocks, I was distracted again. Same place, same people, different time and space intersecting each other. Heaven, how could this be? A visit to my "ancestral home" in San Francisco led me to encounter a similar girl, a girl I loved but lost; a momentary stunning beauty, years of fruitless searching, yet she appeared again beside me.

  When I came to again, I lifted my head and saw a boat slowly sailing in from the outer sea. Knowing it was Jiang Baili and Chen Shaokuan's boat, I walked down the mountain.

  Standing on the simple wharf of Xizhou, looking at Director Chen and Mr. Bai's small warship slowly approaching, waving to the two generals.

  "The naval survey fleet, the 'Hao Ri' survey ship, with a displacement of 500 tons and a speed of 14 knots." My assistant, a ship enthusiast, Little Ma, said to me with a smile: "Little Ma is all-powerful."

  A group of people were holding a wooden plank bridge in their hands. I quickly walked up a few steps and stretched out my hand, "Good day to you two gentlemen! Sorry for not coming further to greet you!"

  "Minister Chen came to see his new water cannon, and I'm here to enjoy the autumn breeze. Unfortunately, the boat had some issues on the way, so we're late, haha." Jiang Baili replied with a smile, holding my hand.

  "I see, I guarantee to satisfy both gentlemen, please!"

  Accompanying the inspection of the entire plant area, I saw the rumbling and producing full set of American imported 120 recoilless rifles. Turning out to go to the naval mine production area, I respectfully said: "Director Chen, in our ordnance factory, the naval mines have already been trial-produced. Except for the inspectors dispatched by the director, I hope the director can dispatch some personnel who understand naval mines as soon as possible, preferably from the troops to come to the factory directly to receive and train, which not only saves transportation costs but also facilitates cooperation between the two parties to solve specific deployment issues."

  "Alright!" Minister Chen agreed readily.

  "I hope Minister Chen can withdraw a regiment from the Marine Corps to reorganize into a torpedo warfare team." I lowered my voice as I saw Mr. Bai looking at the newly produced heavy howitzer.

  Chen Shaokuan asked in a lower voice: "Why?"

  "News from the official residence, I heard that someone is interested in the Minister's Marine Corps. The Navy has only four battalions of Marines, but they are divided into two brigades. Since there isn't much to do in Fujian, it would be easy for someone to find an excuse to transfer one brigade away. Why not form a brigade with three battalions and reorganize the remaining battalion as a torpedo warfare unit? Hehe!"

  (In fact: After the war of resistance against Japan began, the central government took away one division of land warfare troops to Hubei in the name of anti-Japanese and did not return after becoming an anti-Japanese front line in Fujian. At the end of the war of resistance, it was incorporated into Chen Cheng's troops.)

  Minister Chen and I burst out laughing together, leaving our entourage around us bewildered.

  In the torpedo production area, everyone watched as a batch of cylindrical torpedoes was assembled. Jiang Baili asked: "Younger brother, what types of torpedoes can be produced here?"

  "At present, only two types are planned for production. One is a medium-sized contact mine, 3 feet 6 inches high and 3 feet in diameter, with six trigger horns, containing 400 pounds of explosive, which can be used as both anchor mine and drifting mine, and most surface warships can lay them; except for the main armor belt of battleships that can defend against it, all others can be destroyed. Another type is a small-sized mine, specifically designed for use by submarines, mainly for laying mines, and is still in the trial production stage."

  "How's the yield?" Chen Shaokuan asked?

  "Torpedo production can be fully self-sufficient. However, the Shangrao factory has not yet been put into operation, and at present it is only in trial production with limited output; if full-speed production is carried out during wartime, monthly production can reach over 200 units."

  "How about the heavy assault gun?"

  "The Shangrao steel plant has not yet been put into production, and the current use is imported American steel, which is also a trial production, with a monthly output of 20 doors. When the steel and **production are normal, it can produce more than 60 doors per month."

  "Not bad, younger brother has worked hard. What project will you visit next?"

  "Heavy gun firing test, and if Minister Chen permits it, a torpedo explosion experiment can also be conducted."

  "May I? Of course, you may."

  "Please follow me."

  Three newly-made heavy howitzers are placed on the artillery firing range, with three gunners standing in formation.

  "Hello, sir!"

  "Hello everyone."

  "These three artillery groups have different sources, the first group is an artilleryman sent by the Ordnance Department; the second group is an artilleryman sent by the Artillery Monitor; and the third group, haha, the third group consists of technicians and masters from the arsenal, amateur artillery enthusiasts."

  "Today's test sequence is as follows: The first item is mortar marching and firing in a state of transmission."

  "Is everyone ready?"

  "Ready!"

  "Ready, set, go."

  Three teams of men quickly assembled the three large components of the heavy howitzer and soon distinguished themselves as superior.

  "1 minute and a half, 1 minute and a half, 2 minutes and a half, almost 3 minutes. As you all saw, the experienced gun crew completed the assembly in just 1 minute and a half, even newbies who lacked practical training finished within 3 minutes."

  "Very good, deployed quickly, I see that in an ideal state it can be controlled within 1 minute?"

  "Not bad. Next is shooting? What's the target?"

  "The shooting has three items, single cannon single shot using training ammunition for accurate shooting, single cannon using training ammunition for continuous shooting, and double cannon using live ammunition for triple rapid fire; the targets are respectively at the front yellow flag, white flag, and green flag."

  "Alright, begin now, each gun will conduct ranging."

  "Two rounds completed, 550 meters, 1020 meters, 1270 meters."

  "One shot completed, 570 meters, 1010 meters, 1260 meters."

  "Three shots completed, 590 meters, 990 meters, 1300 meters."

  "First item, start firing, one shot, two shots, three shots."

  Three cannonballs fired in succession, crossing over in the telescope.

  "Item two..."

  "The third item..."

  Within 18 seconds, I experienced 6 rounds of intense cannon fire, and my ears were ringing nonstop. I felt a strong sense of dizziness and almost fell over, stumbling and staggering. Looking around, everyone else seemed normal, leaving me speechless.

  "Please."

  Slow.

  Everyone was about to head towards the target area, but Jiang Baili went to take a look at the mortar that had just finished firing and even touched it with his hand; only then did he follow everyone into the target area where the smoke was gradually dispersing. He carefully checked each hit point in the target area and the final live round's crater, watching as the ordnance and artillery monitoring officers signed off with satisfaction. Jiang Baili smiled: "Looks like your troops still need more practice, the shells may have landed within the designated range, but they're still far from the target."

  Hahaha.

  "What else is there to see?"

  "Look at the water surface, 2 o'clock direction, distance 2200 meters, a red flag is inserted on the mine."

  Just as everyone found the red flag, a dilapidated large sailboat drifted down from upwind. Suddenly, with a loud "boom", a huge splash of water splashed out, and pieces of wood flew out amidst the fluttering debris. After the light smoke dissipated, the wooden boat had vanished without a trace, leaving only the tattered remains of the wind sail on the water's surface.

  I smiled and said, "No aircraft carrier for experimentation, haha, let's find the Japanese Navy to try it out in the future!"

  Haha.

  Having seen another batch of 120 mortars completed, I feel relieved and both Chen and Chiang are very satisfied.

  "Next project, everyone goes to the restaurant, accompanying Mr. Bai Li 'hitting the autumn wind'."