Chapter 48: Base Development Strategy (I)

  "The second thing is about the development of the base. The troops have expanded, and the required weapons, equipment, uniforms, etc. will all be three to five times more than before. So each factory must increase production capacity, otherwise it will not be able to meet the needs of the troops. So let's talk about the situation of each factory now, starting with the steel mill." Chen Feng said.

  When Chen Feng was nominated, the director of the steel plant, Xue Zhiping, pushed his glasses down and said: "Our steel plant currently has 3,444 workers, 121 foreign technicians, four high-quality steel blast furnaces with an annual output of 125,000 tons, and a design capacity of 500,000 tons per year. However, due to the lack of raw materials, only one of the four blast furnaces in the steel plant has been put into use, and so far, more than 20,000 tons of high-quality steel have been produced. In addition, there are also some derivative metals, mainly including 800 taels of gold, 30,000 taels of silver, 9 tons of copper, 19 tons of tin, and a small amount of other rare metals."

  Xue Zhiping is 55 years old, from Northeast China's Shenyang. He was originally a professor of metallurgy at Beiping University and had worked at the Anshan Iron and Steel Factory in Japan before being invited by Chen Feng to take up the post of factory director.

  This old man was originally unwilling to come to Chen Feng, this small warlord, to take office, but was tied up by Chen Feng. However, when the old man saw the four huge blast furnaces on the mountain and Wilhelm, a German steel expert, he gladly agreed to stay and serve as the factory director.

  "There is only one blast furnace in production, and the monthly output of steel is around 10,000 tons. This output can temporarily meet the needs of the troops, but next we need to produce our own artillery, tanks, and even aircraft, which will require a terrifying amount of steel. The current monthly output of 10,000 tons of steel will not be enough to meet the needs of the troops. I wonder if Old Xue has any way to increase the production capacity of the steel plant." Chen Feng asked.

  Xue Zhiping thought for a moment and said, "Actually, there are two factors that limit the production of steel mills. One is raw materials, and the other is workers. Our production equipment is far more advanced than that of other countries in the world. Although I don't know where this set of equipment came from, I can give you a guarantee. As long as the raw materials can meet the supply and the labor force is sufficient, producing 500,000 tons per year will not be a problem at all. Moreover, the quality of the steel we produce will far exceed that of other countries in the world. At that time, whether it's for making weapons or armor, they will be stronger than those of the little devils."

  "I'll get the workers for you as soon as possible, now every day a large number of refugees are fleeing to our place, don't worry, at most ten days I can send two thousand workers here. But the problem with raw materials has to be asked from the mining site, I personally can't produce iron ore." Chen Feng said with a smile.

  Mining manager Xu Dagen hastily stood up and said: "Master, our mining area currently has over a thousand people, but due to the lack of mining equipment on the mountain, coupled with the rugged road conditions, large vehicles and mechanical equipment cannot enter, so production is very limited. For the time being, I also can't think of any way to increase production."

  After finishing speaking, Xu Dagen lowered his head and didn't dare to look at Chen Feng. He had indeed done his best, but due to the limitations of the conditions, it was almost impossible to increase production capacity in a short period of time.

  Chen Feng knew that Xu Dagen was indeed in a difficult situation. Although Daqing Mountain is an independent peak, it stretches about 30 kilometers from north to south and about 15 kilometers from east to west. The cliffs on both sides are over 400-500 meters high, with steep walls that make it hard for birds to fly over. Only the southern side is relatively gentle, but even so, transporting large machinery and equipment up the mountain would be extremely difficult. Moreover, the mining area relies entirely on human labor and horse-drawn carts to transport iron ore, which has low efficiency.

  In fact, this matter is also easy to solve. Chen Feng's reward this time includes a mining permit, and according to the system information, as long as the mining permit is placed in a mineral-rich mine area, the annual output will reach tens of billions of tons, which can fully meet the demand of 500,000 tons of blast furnace.

  However, what troubled Chen Feng was that the mineral resources of Daqing Mountain were rich, but not an open-pit mine. All the mineral resources were underground, and the cost of mining was high, not to mention the large number of people needed. However, 45 kilometers away from Daqing Mountain, in Cao Siyao Township, there was a huge mining area, where the mineral resources were extremely rich, with reserves hundreds of times that of Daqing Mountain. In addition to the main metal tungsten, there were also large amounts of other metals such as iron, gold, and copper. Moreover, it was an open-pit mine, easy to mine, and Chen Feng had his eyes on the tungsten there.

  Molybdenum is an essential trace element for the human body and plants, a silver-white metal that is hard and tough. In the metallurgical industry, molybdenum is used as an additive in the production of various alloy steels or forms high-alloy steels with tungsten, nickel, cobalt, zirconium, titanium, vanadium, and rhenium to improve their high-temperature strength, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance. Molybdenum-containing alloy steel is used to manufacture transportation equipment, locomotives, industrial machinery, and various instruments.

  Some stainless steels containing 4% to 5% molybdenum are used in the manufacture of precision chemical instruments and equipment for use in seawater environments. High-speed tool steels containing 4% to 9.5% molybdenum are manufactured for making high-speed cutting tools. Alloys of molybdenum with nickel, chromium are used in the manufacture of aircraft parts, corrosion-resistant parts in engines and automotive parts. Alloys of molybdenum with tungsten, chromium, vanadium are used in the manufacture of alloy components and parts for ships, tanks, guns, rockets, satellites.

  If the mining permit is issued to Cao Siyuan, the steel mill will get molybdenum ore, and the production of steel containing molybdenum elements will be much better than the current steel quality. If the mining permit is issued to Daqingshan, it will not be beneficial for the later development of the mine and the steel mill.

  But if the raw materials of the steel plant are not used, this problem cannot be solved, and it's a dilemma. Suddenly, Chen Feng realized that he was now in the Republic of China era, not in the 21st century, and everything he did now was for survival, with safety being the top priority, followed by other aspects.

  Cao Siyao mining area is indeed good, but there are no dangers to guard against, and the distance from Zhangbei and Guoyuan under Japanese puppet control is not far. From a safety perspective, it is not as good as Daqingshan. Moreover, the Daqingshan mining area is only less than one kilometer away from the steel mill, which is very convenient for transportation. In contrast, Cao Siyao mining area is 45 kilometers away from the steel mill, and without large-scale engineering vehicles, transportation will be a huge challenge. After careful consideration, Mu Chenglin decided to use the local mining site to build the order.

  "Da Gen, don't blame yourself, I know you've done your best. Leave the rest to me. Tomorrow, I'll get you a large-scale mine, sit down." Chen Feng said confidently.

  "The factory director, Nangong, stood up and said: 'The arsenal has a gunpowder factory, a Mauser 98K rifle production factory, a hand grenade factory, an ammunition factory, and a firearms repair shop. The gunpowder factory has over 800 workers and produces 3 million tons of gunpowder per year. The Mauser rifle factory has over 1,300 workers and produces over 8,000 rifles per month, with a current inventory of 12,120 Mauser 98K rifles. The hand grenade factory has over 600 workers and produces 180,000 grenades per month, with a current inventory of 330,000 German-style long-handled grenades. The ammunition factory has 1,080 workers and produces around 50 million rounds of ammunition per month, including 14,000 artillery shells, with a current inventory of 130 million rifle cartridges, 90 million machine gun rounds, 6,000 mortar shells, and 9,000 infantry cannon shells. The firearms repair shop has 350 workers, including 110 foreigners, who are responsible for repairing and improving the army's firearms."

  "Uh, the situation at the ordnance factory is not bad, but the production structure is a bit single-minded. First of all, we can't produce our own machine guns and artillery, let alone our own armored vehicles and tanks, and aircraft are even more out of the question. Of course, this isn't anyone's fault, it's just that our country is too backward. Being backward isn't our fault, but if we lose confidence in challenging ourselves because of it, then that's our mistake. So, the ordnance factory has been working hard to catch up, and now they can produce rifles, hand grenades, and ammunition. The steel mill's production capacity may not be sufficient, but supplying the ordnance factory should be more than enough. Therefore, your adjustment of the industrial structure, adding another machine gun production plant, I'll take care of the equipment, I believe you can do a good job." Chen Feng said.

  "As long as Master can get the production equipment, I guarantee to complete the task." said Nangong loudly.

  "Great, we've been waiting for this sentence from you!" Chen Feng burst out laughing.

  "Now the field hospital of our troops has a total of 114 doctors, 513 students, and 447 medical staff, including 88 foreign doctors. In addition, the field hospital has 1,220 beds, with 2,124 wounded soldiers currently receiving treatment."

  "The field hospital is very important, now you are on the mountain, maybe after a while you will move to the city, and there is also a possibility of going out with the troops, so you must make psychological preparations."

  "The Japanese bandits are rampant, we have all made preparations to sacrifice our lives for the country, as long as the commander gives the order, I, Hu Jishi, this old bones will be ready at any time."

  "Old Hu is so generous, haha. By the way, Old Hu, your field hospital not only needs to be responsible for treating illnesses and saving lives, but also has the responsibility of cultivating qualified military doctors for our army, you personally need to take charge of this matter."

  "It's okay, no problem. The batch of young men sent by the instructor not long ago are quite good. Within a year at most, I can train them into qualified military doctors. At least they won't have any problems dealing with external injuries and performing small operations like removing bullets."

  "Good!"

  Finally, Chen Feng's old father stood up and said: "The warehouse on the mountain is managed by me, divided into grain area, medicine area, weapon equipment area, treasury and living supplies area. The specific warehouse management is handled by the general manager of each district, let them report to you personally."