Chapter 2 Nanjing

  The Shanghai-Nanjing "express" journey finally came to an end, and I couldn't help but think of my high-speed rail in that life. In retrospect, I arrived in Nanjing and was escorted by a special person sent by the Chairman's residence to take a special car to the Presidential Palace, which I had visited in my previous life - this life is still called the Chairman's residence building complex.

  As I walked through the grand entrance of the official residence, the neatly dressed presidential guards in their Zhongshan suits bowed politely and led me into the luxurious "Presidential Palace". However, my entourage and various items were subjected to a thorough "big cleanup".

  As soon as I opened the door of the side hall, I saw my third sister - Soong Mei-ling.

  As soon as she saw me, San Jie grabbed my hand and said: "It's been a few years since we last met, I didn't expect little brother to grow up into an adult."

  I also smiled and said: "Third sister, these years drifting outside, I miss you so much! Third sister, how have you been living recently? How is your husband?"

  "It's all good."

  We were chatting and laughing as we followed San Jie into another room, where the Chairman was sitting in a chair looking at something. When he looked up, I quickly bowed my head to greet him: "Chairman, good day!"

  Chiang Kai-shek stood up and said with a smile: "Ah, we're all family now, little brother doesn't have to be so polite."

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, I reported on the gains of the past few years in the US. "…Overall, the returns are still pretty good."

  "My brother-in-law praised: 'Really good! Last time, avoiding the stock disaster won a lot for the family, and predicting the trend of silver prices helped the country recover a lot of economic losses. Brother-in-law, how should I reward you? How about working in the Ministry of Economy?"

  "I've been tired of the financial world for a few years and want to do something else, such as starting my own business or opening an arms factory. I wonder if Chairman Xu would approve?"

  "Call brother-in-law!"

  "Yes, brother-in-law! Third sister. Just right to exercise myself and see if I have any entrepreneurial talent."

  "Your third sister has already discussed this with me. Although the armories are nominally state-owned, in reality there are also private ones. Little brother wants to start one, of course it's no problem, can cooperate with Zhengfu to set up a factory."

  "Thank you, Chairman!"

  "We're all family, call him brother-in-law!"

  "Yes, brother-in-law."

  "Where is Xiao A Di's ammunition factory going to be opened?"

  "I entrusted a friend to investigate and thought that Xiangshan was good, with convenient transportation by the sea, and it's also close to my brother-in-law's hometown, which is just right for development there."

  "Alright! What is your munitions factory preparing to produce?"

  "I plan to start with power generation and smelting, manufacturing explosives, mainly producing heavy mortars at first; Our country's industry is backward, the structure of mortars is simple, can be mass-produced, and our country's terrain is mostly hills and mountains, big guns are easy to be destroyed by the enemy, mortars are small, can be carried by people or horses, it is also suitable for hilly terrain."

  "Hmm... it seems that the German adviser has a different opinion." Chiang Kai-shek paused for a moment, then turned to an attendant and said: "Please ask Mr. Bai and others to come over."

  A few minutes later, several middle-aged and elderly gentlemen came together, led by Mr. Bai Li. As soon as I saw him, a sense of respect arose in my heart. He was the greatest military theorist in China at that time, the person I admired most. Seeing him arrive, I hurried forward, bowed and said: "Mr. Bai Li, hello."

  Director Song: "This is Zian, Wen's younger brother. He just returned from the US and has some different views on military equipment. May I let him share his thoughts?"

  "Zi An, my younger brother, please speak."

  "Gentlemen, please forgive my impertinence! I think there is a problem with the reform plan for our troops. Here, I would like to express my opinion. Our greatest enemy now is Japan, and if we engage in battle with them, we will face an air force disadvantage of five to ten times their strength. In such a situation, heavy artillery and other heavy weapons cannot be effectively used on the battlefield. Once used, they will soon be destroyed; even if not destroyed, it will be almost impossible to withdraw from the battlefield. If most of our heavy equipment is lost in one battle, our troops will find it difficult to continue fighting. Therefore, I think that our troops can only be reorganized into a light infantry army; not to mention that our financial resources cannot support equipping most of our troops with heavy weapons."

  "We have considered the disadvantage in the air, so we imported two 28cm SKC/34 guns from Germany; it is also necessary to consider that the enemy army has not only an advantage in the air but also on the ground, our army cannot counter them even without considering their air superiority if we do not have heavy artillery."

  "Not bad, but each of the shortcomings can be largely made up for with other equipment, and it's not easy to have a limited number of heavy weapons being easily destroyed."

  "What weapon?"

  "First is the 120mm mortar, weighing only 350 pounds, which can be carried by a mule. If necessary, it can be disassembled into three parts for manual transportation. The cannon can fire up to 10 miles away, with a shell weight of 30 pounds and a killing area exceeding 120 x 60 feet. It can fire 6-8 rounds per minute; this is the production drawing and data I obtained in the United States, completely surpassing the old mountain cannons currently used by our troops."

  Experts gathered together to study: "Good, new design, long range, high speed, great power, and in reducing the weight of the cannon, it is even more ingenious."

  "I think it's entirely within the production technology range of Zhengfu Arsenal, and can be completely self-produced."

  "Good, good, good! Younger brother has achieved another great merit!"

  "Shanghai Factory or Jinling Factory?"

  No way! If we give it to these two factories, the war of resistance will be over as soon as it starts. I wanted to interrupt but couldn't get a word in edgewise.

  Fortunately, the director spoke up: "Let's just give it to Han Factory! They're already preparing to expand their construction; Xiao A'di's own Xiangshan Factory can also produce it." This concluded the topic.

  "Did little brother bring back something?"

  "Even with this 120mm howitzer, direct fire and anti-aircraft are still unresolved." Jiang Baili said bluntly.

  "Not bad, I know the German advisor recommended 37 anti-tank guns and 20 high shè cannons to us, which have already started equipping troops; but I know the German army also uses another type of 37 high shè cannon, and in the US, I got a new design that combines the high shè cannon and anti-tank gun into one multi-purpose cannon." As I spoke, I took out the drawings and manufacturing plans. "We can purchase the barrels from Germany or Czechoslovakia and manufacture the rest of the parts ourselves."

  "How about it? Can we produce it ourselves?" asked the chairman of the committee to the experts.

  "No problem, as long as the barrel is solved, the rest of the production will not be a problem." The experts replied after some discussion.

  "Actually, gun barrels can also be self-produced, but the quality is a bit poor."

  "This plan is good, notify Da Wei immediately and take action right away," said the Chairman.

  "Yes, this method can be adopted, and we should put it into trial production as soon as possible," said Mr. Jiang Baili.

  After the old gentlemen left, I presented various gifts: this oil painting was painted by Mr. Malanthe, a portrait of Wesleyan Female College; this watercolor painting was painted by Miss Elena, a portrait of my third sister studying abroad; and this silver statue of Zeng Guofan was made by Mr. Diger.

  Sanjie reminisced about her girlhood for a while. At Sanjie's invitation, I stayed at the Chairman's house temporarily.

  Now, San Jie is sitting across from me and we are chatting about some family matters: "I heard that sister has become an advisor to the Aviation Committee? How's the aviation industry doing? Is there any progress?"

  Third sister heard this and couldn't help but show a difficult expression, she said: "Alas, it's easy to talk about but hard to do! Sister has a difficult situation, now we can't manufacture airplanes, we can only ask other countries to buy them, but after buying them back, they become outdated in a few years. So the air force and I discussed that every year we would purchase a small number of airplanes just for show and training pilots, and put most of the military expenses into foreign banks in Hong Kong to earn interest. When war breaks out, we can go buy advanced airplanes again and even get a few more. But I also feel uncertain, there's a problem, it's hard to explain."

  "Not bad, this approach has problems. From the time the enemy attacks us, even if we buy off-the-shelf goods from Europe and America to China, it will take more than three months, and pilots need to adapt to new aircraft models, so it's likely to take at least six months to form combat effectiveness; let alone it's more likely that we can't buy off-the-shelf goods, and add production time, it's hard to say if we can use them within a year!"

  "Yes, in case the enemy attacks, we won't have enough time if we do it this way."

  "In that case, San Jie, who is in charge of air force supplies procurement, will suffer a great blow!"

  The third sister turned her head and said: "Is Director Zhou of the Air Force still at the official residence? Come over and talk about it!"

  In a moment, Zhou Zhi Rou appeared before us. He bowed respectfully and said: "Good day, madam!" My sister introduced him to me: "This is my third brother, Song Zi An. He has some views on the air force."

  I bowed to Director Zhou and said, "Hello, Director."

  Director Zhou said to me: "Good brother, please speak."

  I went on and on, repeating the drawbacks of purchasing fighter jets from abroad: “...and since our country is unable to produce its own fighter jets, once existing ones are lost, they cannot be replenished in a short period of time. If there's only a small-scale conflict, it's still okay, but if the war expands, the air force will really become an 'empty' force, and the leadership of the air force will become the target of public criticism!”

  Director Zhou thought carefully and said: "Younger brother, you are right. We were neglectful before. Do you have any other insights?"

  I said: "In this regard, I see that the major powers have begun to equip themselves with large-caliber anti-aircraft guns on a large scale. The German advisers also recommended that we equip our army with 20 high-caliber anti-aircraft guns. The air force can also be equipped, and I recommend equipping it with 37 high-caliber anti-aircraft guns. We can also buy some 88 high-caliber anti-aircraft guns like the army. A few days ago, the chairman of the committee and the military discussed purchasing 37 caliber gun barrels to manufacture dual-purpose high and flat cannons. The air force can take advantage of this opportunity. As long as the air force is equipped with several high-caliber anti-aircraft artillery teams, even if there are temporary losses in aircraft, it will be enough to demonstrate its combat effectiveness and get through the difficult period without planes."

  Sister said: "I think this is feasible, you Air Force people discuss it and see if this suggestion can be adopted."

  "Alright, I'll go back and make arrangements right away," said Director Zhou Zhi Rou.

  Looking at the scene in front of me, I couldn't help but think: History has finally started to turn around!