Chapter 4: Military Industry

  After dinner, San Jie pulled me aside to chat: "Little brother, you're almost thirty now, right? You should get married too. Do you have someone in mind?"

  "Struggling." I couldn't help but think of that big-eyed fierce woman.

  "Who's so lucky?"

  "A friend's sister during my study abroad."

  "In the US? When will you return home and meet up?"

  "Have returned home, now should be in Jiangxi for exploration, will meet in Xiangshan after a while."

  "Exploration?"

  "My classmate is engaged in mining exploration and smelting."

  "Alright then, don't forget to bring it back for Third Sister to see."

  "If she agrees."

  Third sister smiled and thought for a moment before continuing to ask: "Your brother-in-law's intention is to appoint you as the deputy director of the Ministry of War, what do you think?"

  "Third sister should know that I'm going to start a factory in Xiangshan and won't be free for at least half a year; besides, I'm afraid I'm not the material for being an official."

  "It's okay, your brother-in-law just meant for you to help out with some planning, no need to go to the office."

  "That's no problem at all."

  The next day, after breakfast.

  "Little brother, it seems you're quite familiar with military equipment? I'll give you the position of Deputy Director of the Arsenal, would you like to accept?"

  "Hmm, this isn't good, I'm still too young now, and there's also the munitions factory to manage."

  "At a young age, it's nothing serious! Zhang Xueliang, the deputy commander, is also very young! You can still manage the arsenal."

  Third sister also said: "The military and industrial affairs are getting bigger and bigger, Director Yu is busy beyond measure, little brother going there will be just right to play his strengths."

  "Then let's go take a look first and try our best!"

  I went to the Arsenal Bureau that day to see Yu Dawei, Director of the Bureau. I looked at this old friend of Chiang Kai-shek, the founder of China's modern comprehensive ordnance industry, and my senior fellow student for two generations. I respectfully asked him: "Director Yu, hello! It's been a long time since we last met."

  Before I could finish, Yu Dawei smiled and said: "Younger brother is here, no need to be polite, we are still alumni after all, what's the politeness for? Younger brother is young and promising, the Arsenal will have to rely on younger brother more in the future!"

  "Yu Shu-chang was overly rewarded, it's just Chairman Mao's favoritism."

  Yu Dawei's face turned serious after a few pleasantries, and he sighed as he poured out his troubles to me: "Alas! Since the Northeast was occupied by Japan and we lost the Shenyang Arsenal, our national armaments production has plummeted. Although the new factory integration has made up for some of it, it's still far from what it used to be. If not for your two projects last year, I would have been at my wit's end! Here are last year's production figures and this year's plans - do you have any strategies?"

  Republic of China 23rd year Central direct subordinate various ordnance factories production summary: rifles 60174, light and heavy machine guns 598, 82 mortars 199, bullets 67072215 rounds, mortar shells 154500 rounds, mountain field artillery shells 72861 rounds.

  In the 24th year of the Republic of China, the production plan for each ordnance factory directly under the Central Government was: 60000 rifles, 600 light and heavy machine guns, 200 82mm mortars, 60 120mm mortars, 75 million bullets, 150000 mortar shells, and 75000 mountain gun shells.

  "Judging from the introduction of equipment from various factories, next year Zhongyang's direct subordinate factories will be able to produce nearly 100,000 rifles, 1,000 machine guns, 500 mortars, 200 heavy mortars, 300 dual-purpose guns, 100 million bullets and 500,000 shells. It should be said that the growth is still significant."

  "Brother Bai said that a full-scale war will break out in 2-3 years, and with this production capacity, even if imports are added, except for rifles, the second phase of the 20-division adjustment plan cannot be allocated within 2-3 years." Yu Dawei said with a bitter smile.

  "Hmm, let me calculate... 20 divisions, just machine guns alone would require 80,000? How many does a division have roughly now?"

  Weapon configuration:

  Old system: Each infantry company was equipped with 3 light machine guns, each infantry battalion was equipped with 4-6 heavy machine guns and 2 81 or 82 mortars. Each infantry regiment had 3 infantry battalions, each infantry brigade had 2 infantry regiments, and each infantry division had 2 infantry brigades.

  New system: Each infantry company is equipped with 9 light machine guns, each infantry battalion is equipped with 6 heavy machine guns and 2 82mm mortars. Each infantry regiment has 3 infantry battalions, each infantry brigade has 2 infantry regiments, and each infantry division has 2 infantry brigades.

  "Most of these divisions have already been supplemented with heavy machine guns, with each infantry regiment being equipped with 6 more, so only a small amount of replenishment is needed to make up for losses, which is not a big problem; however, light machine guns need to be increased from the current average of 3 per infantry company to 9, with an average increase of around 220 per division."

  "That is to say, just these 20 divisions need more than 4,500 guns? We produce 2,000 guns and import more than 4,000 guns to make up for it, but there aren't many left over for the other divisions."

  "Of the 500 Type 82 mortars, most regiments have been equipped with the Type 81 and only a few need to be supplemented. Two-thirds can be allocated to the remaining regiments."

  However, attention should be paid to the differences between the 81 and 82 mortars. As more 82 mortars and shells are produced, the existing 81 mortars and shells should be concentrated in a few units, preferably unified into one caliber within the division or even the army.

  "Heavy howitzers and dual-purpose guns can equip more than 30 divisions, with 12/6 pieces per division. The remaining dual-purpose guns can also be organized into 2-3 regiments."

  "Except for the equipment of the Central Army, we also have imported 37 war defense guns and 20 high-altitude guns that can be used as substitutes for dual-purpose guns to be distributed to collateral units."

  As the conversation deepened, I inadvertently let slip words from later generations, causing Yu Dawei to look up at me?

  I hastily changed the subject: "Mr. Bai thinks that the Japanese army has already transformed its tactics from nibbling to swallowing, and once the Pingjin war breaks out, we will have no room for retreat, and a full-scale war will inevitably erupt; at that time, not only our North China but also the coastal areas of East China will all fall, and not only the Jin factory will be lost, but also the Shanghai factory and the Nanjing factory will be difficult to preserve. If these ordnance factories are lost, it will plunge our ordnance production into a great disaster; therefore, I think that we should now make preparations to move them to areas where they can possibly be safe."

  Yu Dawei asked: "I've heard this view before, it's really hard to believe! But I don't know where you think these factories should be moved to?"

  "I think the third-phase equipment of Gongxian should be moved to Xi'an or further west along the Longhai Road, such as Baoji; the new equipment prepared by Jinling Factory and Shanghai Factory should also be moved to the vicinity of Gqìng. Because if war breaks out, these places will not be safe. Moreover, I think the renovation and expansion of Han Factory should be stopped, and it's better to move it to Gqìng as well. Director Yan's place should also be notified, and various factories in Taiyuan should prepare to move west after the outbreak of war. Please consider these suggestions, Director Yu."

  "Your suggestion is good, then what about your Xiangshan munitions factory?"

  "The Xiangshan Arsenal is located by the sea and provides weapons and equipment for the navy, so it will not be moved for now. During wartime, a mine zone can be set up in Xiangshan Bay to defend against naval attacks; however, subsequent equipment preparations are being made to move to Shangrao to establish a second factory, and later the Xiangshan factory will also be relocated."

  "If we move, I'm afraid we won't be able to complete next year's production tasks."

  "The relationship is not big now, it can be imported from other countries, and the suppression of communism in Jiangxi and other places has almost stopped? The demand for ammunition has also slowed down. Most of the old factories continue to produce weapons, and the director can take this opportunity to build new factories in Xi'an and Gansu to prepare for the relocation of the old factories. When the war starts, the new factory will be put into production and then relocate the old factory; if it is delayed until 1937, it will be too late!"

  "Let me think about it and discuss with the gentlemen presenting the document."

  "That's good. And then," I continued, "about the high machine gun mounts and anti-tank grenade launchers, I have brought along the drawings and production materials, please take a look, Director."

  Yu Dawei quickly gathered a few experts, and after everyone had taken a look, they said, "Both of these projects are very good, completely within our existing production capacity, we can quickly start trial production."

  "After trial production, use as soon as possible. If no problem, please equip the troops quickly. If necessary, the former can be handed over to civilian factories for production, and the latter can also occupy a share of hand grenade production."

  "Not bad, this way it's both public and private."

  After the experts left, I said to Yu Dawei: "Director, at present, our country's military industry technology level is not high, and the production of weapons, especially heavy weapons, cannot be greatly increased in a short time. It can only produce low-tech weapons and equipment based on existing technical levels to cope with the large-scale war that will occur. Therefore, I think that explosive production is the bottleneck of our country's military industry. If we can increase explosive production, we can correspondingly increase ammunition production. Think about the huge difference in demand for ammunition before and during World War I, and it's hard to imagine the demand for ammunition in future wars!"

  "Hmm... Younger brother is right! I also think so, but the chairman's place doesn't approve the funds. The chairman approves the expenses related to bandit suppression quickly, and those unrelated to bandit suppression can be delayed!"

  Looking at Yu Dawei's bitter smile, I took out another set of materials.

  "A proposal, to recycle shell casings and bullet shells, re-load bullets and artillery production projects; this is the main way for China's ordnance industry with no money or materials to cope with the massive ammunition consumption of future full-scale wars! This is technical data."

  Yu Dawei lowered his head to scan through the materials, then looked at them carefully for a long time. He raised his head and stared at me for a while: "Where are you from?"

  I came from afar, but all I could think of was a bitter smile: "From wherever I came."

  "Hahaha" We burst out laughing together.

  Just finished speaking, Yu's secretary knocked on the door. It turned out that Xiao Ma was looking for me, obviously there was an urgent matter. I could only say to Yu Dawei: "I have something on my hands, so I'll take my leave first. I hope Director Yu won't mind."

  "Little brother, if there's something going on below, it's not good to detain you. I'll have the experts at the office take a look at these materials and then make a decision."

  "Sorry, I can only wait until Xiangshan enters orbit before coming to ask for guidance."

  "What's there to teach? We should be the ones seeking your advice, younger brother!"

  "We don't need to flatter each other anymore, let's work for the country!"

  "Serve the country!"