Chapter 1: Gongxian Arsenal

  Our story begins in September 1937, when the flames of war were raging across China.

  On the railway dedicated line platform of Gongxian Ordnance Factory in Henan, Li Zhenyuan had just gotten off the train carrying special supplies when he saw Li Daichun, the factory director, leading a group to greet him.

  "Ah, Director Li, you've come in person, this is great! With the military situation being so tense, I was worried that you wouldn't be able to send an expert to help us. This batch of equipment is so important, I don't trust anyone else with it. The country spent a lot of money on these things, and they finally arrived after crossing the ocean, I don't want them to get damaged because of improper handling. You know that in the future, we might not even be able to get spare parts, the great powers are imposing an embargo on both China and Japan due to the war, and many of the equipment our government ordered before the war can't arrive now. Dr. Li, this batch of goods of yours doesn't seem simple at all, there are 8 anti-aircraft guns on the train!"

  Director Li saw the high cannon and gunners on the car, he was so excited that his eyes were almost gone, and he hastily waved to the captain of the guard team behind him, He Wu Ting: "Quickly, call the high cannon troops, get off the car with people and cannons, and hurry up to build a defensive position in the north of the factory." "Director, those artillerymen don't know which part they belong to, can they listen to our command?" "What do you mean by not knowing which part? Quickly go and pass on General Ben's order to that artillery lieutenant colonel. I have incorporated his men and horses into the factory guard team, and appointed him as the high cannon squadron lieutenant colonel. You ask for his name, and then send him a letter of appointment. Let him get off the car immediately and defend. All new high-cannon troops will receive 10 taels of silver each." "What... what if they don't obey orders?" "Fool! Don't you know how to capture prisoners? Remember not to hurt these brothers!"

  Li Zhenyuan watched as He Qiang led his men to take over the new troops, and smiled: "You, Dr. Li, have become a lieutenant general, but you're not reasonable like those Japanese devils? Did you learn this from your time studying in Japan?"

  "Go away, brother! We've been friends since childhood, grown up together, don't you understand me? I'm also helpless - my huge munitions factory, which occupies 700 mu of land, only has an air defense school's high-angle machine gun company with four high-angle machine guns. Even relying on the terrain and fortifications, it's hard to defend against air raids. What's more, I have to be prepared to relocate at any time - once we leave the factory buildings and mountain caves, our air defense mission will become even heavier.

  The equipment in the factory from Germany's Siemens company, Denmark's Vendsyssel company, and America's Bradley company are currently the most advanced domestically. In one year, we can produce enough rifles, light and heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, mountain cannons, hand grenades, and rifle grenades to equip 100,000 soldiers. Now we're working around the clock, and our production of various products has exceeded design capacity by more than double.

  We need to produce as much as possible before relocation. Brother, you must prepare vehicles for me - don't waste them on the front lines, we can't make them ourselves. I estimate it won't be long before this munitions factory will have to move house - this is a huge family business, and we can't let it be destroyed in our hands. If that happens, we'll become sinners of the nation.

  War may drag on for a long time - what does this family business mean to us? Brother, you should understand. What a pity this munitions factory can't produce tanks or armored cars! Alas, why didn't the Northeastern Army move the Shenyang Munitions Factory inland back then? Putting fat meat in front of wolves will only lead to trouble!"

  When it comes to the Gongxian Arsenal, some readers may feel unfamiliar. The factory was a large-scale military enterprise built by the Beiyang government in the inland areas. It started construction in 1912, with Admiral Sa Zhenbing as its first director and General Jiang Tingzi as the head of the general affairs department. Many people may have heard of Sa Zhenbing, who had served as the commander of the Northern Navy during the Qing dynasty and was a colleague of Deng Shichang. In the early years of the Republic of China, he was promoted to Admiral and later served as the Minister of the Navy during the National Government period. After the war, he proposed an ambitious plan to build a blue-water navy for China, including the construction of 12 aircraft carriers.

  The factory's subsequent directors were at least Major Generals. Although it was not as large as other arsenals such as Taiyuan, Hanyang, Hangzhou, and Fuzhou, its equipment was advanced, management was good, and products were excellent, enjoying a high reputation domestically. Before the war, its production of rifles and machine guns was exported to multiple countries including Turkey.

  By the 1930s, the factory was able to produce almost all infantry weapons, with the Type 79 rifle being one of the most advanced in the world at that time. In 1935, when Chiang Kai-shek inspected the factory, he suggested improvements to the Type 79 rifle, including lengthening the bayonet and shortening the stock. The factory renamed the modified rifle as the "Zhongzheng", which became a famous weapon nationwide. The Zhongzheng had many indicators that were superior to the Japanese military's "Type 38 Arisaka".

  This Director Li had studied in Japan at an early age, majoring in weapons manufacturing at the Imperial University of Tokyo. Later he went to study in the United States and obtained a Ph.D. After returning home, he first worked at the Shenyang Ordnance Factory, which was the only ordnance factory in China that could produce tanks and armored vehicles at that time. Later, he transferred to work at the Shanghai Ordnance Factory, and later served as the deputy director of the Weapons Research Department of the Whampoa Military Academy and a senior instructor. Before the age of 40, he wore the rank badge of lieutenant general and sat in the position of factory director of the Xingtai Ordnance Factory.

  That He Wu Ting team captain, the troops under his command at most is a reinforced regiment, and the glory of the soldiers' factory, also wearing the rank of colonel. However, his guard team was one of the best in the country at that time in terms of equipment, training, and personnel quality: light and heavy machine guns, infantry cannons, German-style submachine guns, and grenade launchers were all available, and there was even a high-altitude machine gun company within the organization. The sufficiency of ammunition was unmatched by other troops, and communication and mobility capabilities were also higher than those of other troops. The guard team's motorcycles outnumbered those of an entire Central Army division.

  In the autumn of many things in the Central Plains, which of the various lords did not covet this large arsenal? Even the bandits from western Henan wanted to take advantage of Gongxian Arsenal. That year, a general under Bai Lang led an army of nearly 10,000 men to Gongxian Arsenal to "borrow ammunition". They were given a demonstration lesson on modern warfare by the arsenal's security team. First, they were blocked by artillery fire, then by the crossfire of Maxim heavy machine guns and the precise firing of Type 79 rifles. When that mob gave up their plan to "borrow ammunition" and only wanted to run away from here as fast as possible, the security team did not want to give up this rare opportunity for actual combat training, and also to give a deep impression warning to other guys who coveted the arsenal. In short, the security team of just one battalion had no intention of stopping after repelling the enemy. While pursuing with artillery fire, dozens of three-wheeled motorcycles suddenly rushed out from the position, each carrying a Czech-style light machine gun spitting fire, and two car handlers were each armed with a so-called "flower machine" imitation German submachine gun. A company of cavalrymen killed from both wings, first with rapid-firing rifles, then with flashing sabers. After the artillery stopped firing, the battlefield was completely controlled by the security team's submachine guns and sabers. In this battle, nearly 10,000 bandits escaped with only a few hundred men, and from then on they were terrified when mentioning Gongxian Arsenal. Later, the bandit army dared to harass Luoyang and Baofeng, but did not dare to harass Gongxian.

  Li Zhenyuan gave a detailed introduction to the plan for unloading these special materials to Song Jianyan, the head of the factory's engineering department, and several other technical personnel in the factory. The tense and orderly unloading operation began.

  "Reporting to the officer, 74th Army Lieutenant Colonel Chen Hao is here!" "Oh? Have you completed the deployment according to my orders?" "Officer, please let us go back!" "Go back? Where are you going back to?" "Back to Shanghai! Our brothers are fighting the devils there, and we want to go back and fight with them!" "How did you become infantrymen?" "Reporting to the officer, I was in the artillery department at military school. A month ago, I was still a lieutenant and an artillery platoon leader. These anti-aircraft guns were donated by overseas Chinese through the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce." "Why is that?" "Because we have never abandoned our positions without orders! Our regimental and battalion commanders led their brothers in counterattacks with bayonets, hand grenades, and devils. But the devils' planes and tanks are too powerful, and many officers and brothers sacrificed themselves for the country. We newly formed an anti-aircraft artillery battalion from artillerymen and machine gunners, but we've had to replenish our troops several times in less than a month, and now there are only eight guns left." "Have you shot down any of the devils' planes?" "No, the devils' planes flee as soon as they're hit. Our brothers aren't skilled at operating the guns, and we don't have many shells either. However, I used the anti-aircraft gun to fire horizontally and destroyed over a dozen of the devils' tanks in their first wave of attacks. The infantry brothers were thrilled." "Haha, you artillerymen are clever! You can't shoot down planes with anti-aircraft guns, but you can use them to attack tanks? Hahaha... Listen, Chen Hao, the situation on the Songhu battlefront is so tense that our superiors have taken your anti-aircraft guns away to escort these supplies. You should understand the importance of these supplies."

  At this time, the deputy officer came in: "Commander, telegram."

  Li Daichun took over the telegram and after reading it, he said to his deputy: "You go and invite Li Zonggong from the Bianluo Road Bureau to come over. Oh, also call Song Shuzhang."

  At that time, the Bianluo Railway had been extended east to Haizhou and west to Baoji, and the Longhai Railway had basically taken shape. However, the people of Gongxian Arsenal were used to calling the Longhai Railway Bureau as Bianluo Railway Bureau because when they built the factory and repaired the special line, they dealt with the Bianluo Railway Bureau, and all the railway facilities and equipment in the factory had the words "Bianluo Railway Bureau".

  Li Daichen said to Chen Hao, who was still standing upright: "Young man, your task is not yet complete." He waved the telegram in his hand. "The Military Affairs Department has ordered that the materials you transported are not to be opened and used for the time being, and are to be prepared for transportation to the rear at any time. Before you arrived, there were several columns of equipment that had been transported here but not yet unpacked and installed, all of which are stored in our factory's air raid shelters. However, since this batch of yours has anti-aircraft guns escorting it, it can be seen that this batch is the most important. Therefore, when it is transported again, you will still have to escort it. During this period, you will serve as the commander of the high artillery squadron of our factory's guard team, and I will issue a letter of appointment immediately and report it to the higher authorities."

  Alright, this Chen Hao, in just over a month, he was promoted three ranks, from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel. However, he didn't seem to be particularly grateful, standing straight as a rod, saying: "Sir, as a soldier, I cannot only think of promotion and wealth, when the country is in danger, it is a soldier's duty to sacrifice himself on the battlefield, please let us return to the front lines."

  Li Daichun didn't get angry after hearing the young man's disobedient words, and instead smiled slightly: "Your accent sounds like you're from Henan?" "Yes, sir, I'm from Kaifeng, Henan." "What's wrong with returning to defend your hometown?" "Chairman Chiang said that land is not divided into north and south, people are not divided into old and young, everyone has the responsibility to defend their homeland, my brothers shed blood in Shanghai, now I'm running back to my old home in the rear, what kind of thing is this?"

  At this time, Li Zhenyuan walked in and asked: "Dr. Li, what brings you here?"

  Li Daichen picked up the telegram and handed it over: "Take a look."

  Li Zhenyuan finished reading the telegram and exclaimed: "So soon?"

  Song Jianyan, who was following behind Li Zhenyuan, took over the telegram: "Make preparations for relocation?" A look of anxiety and worry appeared on his face.

  This Gongxian Arsenal has been actively building air defense facilities since the "9.18" Incident, and the completed air raid shelters are tens of kilometers long, with complete facilities, including underground live-fire shooting ranges, ammunition depots, and stores for highly toxic chemicals. The main workshops, toilets, and offices all have entrances to the tunnels nearby, which can accommodate 10,000 people entering within 5 minutes in case of an air raid. The tunnels are fully equipped with communication systems, offices, lighting, toilets, and other facilities, with complete road signs at intersections. The main roads all have separate tunnel entrances several kilometers away.

  The production workshops in the factory were all reinforced concrete frames, which were exceptionally strong and were called "big iron houses" by local people. Later, after the factory moved to the rear on March 3, 1938, enemy spies infiltrated the 700-acre factory area, which was left with only one class of guards, and launched a balloon on the water tower in the field to command artillery to fire at this target with heavy guns, from 7 am to 4 pm. The employee dormitories and other auxiliary buildings in the factory were severely damaged, while the "big iron house" was slightly damaged. Until now, more than ten "big iron houses" and relatively intact underground air defense facilities still exist on the original site of the factory.

  So at that time, the factory was only defended by an anti-aircraft machine gun company during production, and the factory was not particularly worried about the Japanese air raid. However, once all equipment and materials were dismantled, packed, and transported from underground and buildings to be loaded onto trains, the factory would be in a very fragile state, vulnerable to attack. Song, the head of the engineering department, who had studied in Belgium as an ordnance engineer, felt the severity of the problem and asked: "Is the war situation in the north so unfavorable?"

  Li Daichun walked to the front of the map, picked up a pointer: "I'll correct Chen Zhongxiao's statement first. We're not in the rear here, we're already on the front line. Everyone please look, the north bank of the Yellow River, east of Pinghan Road, or east of Taihang Mountain is an endless vast plain. Before the 'July 7th' war began, the enemy had stationed troops in Pingjin and northeast to Tianjin. Our army did not have a central main force in Pingjin and Hebei, and only the original Northwest Army's 29th Army was the main force in Pingjin. Along Pinghan Road to the south, our military strength is not strong, and the quality is not comparable to the Songhu Front Line. The million-strong National Army on the Songhu Front Line are all the elite troops of our country. Therefore, for now, the only thing we can do is to quickly withdraw our regular army's main force north of the Yellow River, strengthen the river defense, blow up the Yellow River Bridge, and defend the river. The Yellow River cannot navigate large-tonnage vessels, and the enemy's naval advantage cannot be exerted. This way, we can stabilize the situation for a considerable period, gain time. Based on this, it is expected that the enemy will soon occupy the north bank of the Yellow River. At that time, our factory will not only be bombed by air raids but also shelled by enemy artillery across the river. Although the terrain of our factory is not conducive to accurate shooting by enemy artillery, we will inevitably be unable to produce normally. At that time, retreating and relocating will become even more difficult. Therefore, we must make preparations for immediate withdrawal to the rear. These are important assets for our country to persist in resisting the war."

  "What did you say, sir? Are we just going to hand over the thousand-mile territory on the north bank of the Yellow River to the enemy like this? This...this...losing a thousand miles of land and fleeing at the sight of the wind, the people on the north bank will curse the National Army to death, and the soldiers will be left with no face!"

  Li Daichun looked at him with a cold face: "A thousand miles of flat land, only infantry and a small amount of artillery, no advantage in troops, no terrain to rely on. Once the enemy's reinforcements from Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, and North Korea arrive, the enemy will complete the encirclement and annihilation of our army under the support of air force with its superior mechanized forces. The outcome will not be much different from when we used cannons, machine guns, and motorcycles to hunt down bandits in the past."

  "Our superiors are wise, our National Army in Shanghai is the most capable of fighting. But the devils' air and ground coordination, infantry-artillery cooperation, armored units charging, firepower is really too strong! Our regiment went up, in less than two days the number of people was less than two companies, some troops sacrificed entire divisions and regiments, the battle was fought too miserably!"

  "We are the regular army of the country, not bandits. Fighting requires bravery, but also brains; it can't just rely on a burst of blood and energy. You can't fight with bare fists and flesh against the enemy's tanks, can you? Once the war becomes prolonged, if our coastal ports are blockaded or occupied by the enemy, then the importance of this arsenal's production equipment to our country's perseverance in the war is obvious, not to mention those even more important materials and equipment that have just arrived."

  Li Zhenyuan said, "Please wait, Brother Chen. Let your subordinates make a report on the transportation needs for the relocation of the railway, and we will fully cooperate with the railway aspect. We should try to move as many locomotives, vehicles and equipment across the river as possible when withdrawing from the north section of the Pinghan line. Although we can preserve our strength by retreating quickly, the enemy army will also advance quickly, and there may be enemy air raids here while you are speaking! In addition, we should also pay attention to preventing sabotage by enemy spies and traitors."

  "Don't worry, Zhenyuan brothers, we can handle it. Captain Chen, I order you to make immediate preparations for anti-aircraft combat. As for the training of the gunners, I'll assign Deputy Captain Xu Liang to assist you. He was originally the principal of the anti-aircraft school here and is a professional high-caliber artillery instructor."

  "Yes, sir!"

  8 German-made high-altitude cannons, 4 high-firing machine guns, the equipment of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion plus officers and soldiers with strong combat will, sufficient ammunition and a professional anti-aircraft instructor. With these, Li Daichun's anxiety about air raids was greatly alleviated.

  "Report to the superior officer, Station Master Liu requests an audience." The deputy officer comes in to report.

  "Oh? Come quickly!"

  Deputy officer Liu said that the head of the station, Liu Wanqi, was a lieutenant colonel and head of the radio station in the Military Intelligence Bureau. He was 27 or 28 years old, with a calm face, walking slowly and steadily. After entering, he saluted Li: "Reporting to Officer Li." "Does Station Master Liu have something?" "Officer, we discovered an enemy's hidden radio station when it was broadcasting today. One spy was killed and one captured. The situation shows that this enemy agent came specifically for your factory. I am here under orders from my superiors to report to you." "Oh, Station Master Liu, please sit down and talk about the situation in detail."