Chapter 6: Chariot Factory

  May 11, 1914

  Money is almighty, early this morning people from all over the village gathered in the empty land where seeds were scattered yesterday, some came to watch the excitement, and some really wanted to come and find something to do. Two sets of tables and chairs had already been placed on the empty land, Chen Shao sat on the chair, asking each villager who came to sign up in detail.

  James was selecting security team members on the other side, Chen Shao thought that the security team didn't want to recruit too many, about 120 would be enough, and there were more than 500 people signing up, those with bad records were not allowed, those in poor health were not allowed, and only children from single-child families were not allowed.

  The recruitment went very smoothly that day. Chen Shao recruited more than 200 employees, and the security team recruited about 100 people, led by Chen Shao himself. Chen Shao served as the captain of the security team.

  At night, the ore refinery and fertilizer plant were completed on schedule. Chen Shao inspected the Chinese barracks and garment factory, both of which were also completed in one day. After the inspection, there were 2300 gold coins left in the base. As soon as the mining cart came out, it automatically ran to the mountain to mine by itself. Chen Shao ordered the base to sell all mines except iron ore and phosphate ore to the base. Phosphate ore was needed for the fertilizer plant, and iron ore would be essential later on, so it's better to reserve it early to avoid not having enough in the future.

  "Quick march!"

  The place where the base is located is relatively quiet, and behind it is a big mountain. Since there are no barracks yet, except for the construction unit, the remaining land has been temporarily developed into a training ground.

  Chen Shao knew more or less about how the military trained in later generations, so he taught the security team with a model. Wang Yunshan was originally the head of Qinghe Village, and at the age of 15, his height was similar to that of Chen Shao. As soon as he heard that Chen Shao had established a security team, he refused to read books and directly participated in the training of the security team. He also brought two older children who studied with him, one named Wang Jie and the other Huang Bai, both of whom were children who studied with Chen Shao before. Among them, Wang Yunshan was the fastest learner. In half a day, he memorized all the simple military commands. Whether it was marching in step, standing at attention, turning around, or lying down, he did everything to the standard. Even James praised him highly.

  James naturally took on the responsibility of guiding basic training, as for Chen Shao, he has been busy with something these two days. His requirement for the joint defense team was only one: absolute obedience to orders.

  "Alright, let's put it here then." He patted his hands and had Kong Wenhong take the two carpenters downstairs to rest and have some tea. Chen Shao looked at the 100 wooden rods laid out on the ground with satisfaction. For now, they couldn't produce any weapons, so these rods would have to do as substitutes.

  Calling them sticks is not quite accurate, long tubes with wooden stocks, they are actually wooden guns, there's no way to produce weapons now, so we can only use wooden guns as substitutes.

  "Wang Yunshan!" Chen Shaozheng shouted the order, he had set down a rule that on the training ground there was no distinction between teacher and student, only superior and inferior ranks.

  "Yes!" Wang Yunshan was extremely serious in his work and he was also the only one who could fully adhere to all military regulations.

  Bring people to take the wood away.

  It is.

  Wang Yunshan ran up and gave a standard salute, then immediately received the order and went back to shout out several people to carry away the wooden frame.

  It has to be said that although the team is small with only around 100 people, under James' efforts, it's quite similar.

  "Today's training is over, everyone take the training equipment well, from today on, we will train some new things." Wang Yunshan handed out wooden guns to the crowd, and Chen Shao took out a manual for James to explain.

  "Take aim... three o'clock one target... reload..."

  The entire afternoon, the security team was conducting these very basic trainings, although they were wooden guns, but they were completely imitated from Mauser 1898 rifle, even the magazine was made with great care, thanks to Chen Shao's invitation of several carpenters.

  The security team was made up of poor peasants, with three students among them. The villagers not only did not slack off but were also afraid of being outdone by the few students, so they trained diligently and never violated Chen Shao's regulations for the joint defense team.

  Everything is difficult at the beginning, and the premise of a good team is that people's hearts are aligned, rules are strict, and a good framework is established from the start. Therefore, Chen Shao attaches great importance to the security team's affairs, personally serving as the captain, not to mention the oral orders that James will shout out, many things are done in person.

  Although Chen Shao's physical quality was also average, he still led the way and persisted. He was very clear that in a chaotic world, what was most important besides fists was still fists. Without one's own strength, it would be impossible to survive, let alone if one were to travel through time from decades or even thousands of years ago, where the only outcome would likely be death.

  In the morning, he took time to instruct the production of chemical fertilizers, and in the afternoon, he was busy with the security team's affairs. Fortunately, he had previously hired a rural teacher, so Chen Shao didn't have to teach himself. Chen Shao began to get busier, but in order to expand his influence as soon as possible, he could only work harder.

  By nightfall, the second bio-person was also coming out, but this time Chen Shao's character didn't hold up, just a mid-level scientist, with a Western face like James Bond, and exactly the same as a normal person, probably not perfect, no name, only a number.

  "Reporting to superior officer, Science Number: 055, reporting in."

  Although he is only an intermediate scientist, he is a scientist after all, and it's better than nothing. Now Chen Shao first needs to know what field this scientist is in.

  "What have you been studying?"

  "Reporting officer, I am studying rifle weapons."

  "What kind of weapon can you make now?"

  "Report to the superior officer, I am now mainly developing the M1 Garand rifle, and it has already shown initial results. I guarantee to the superior officer that in just 5 more years, we can formally start mass production."

  Upon hearing the response from the intermediate scientist, Chen Shao's face lit up with excitement. The M1 Garand rifle was a standard-issue weapon for the US military during World War II. In 1920, Garand began designing a semi-automatic rifle at the Springfield Armory (also translated as: Spring Field Arsenal). Who would have thought that this intermediate scientist was studying this very same weapon? Currently, it's 1914, and in five years' time, it will be 1919. The US successfully developed the M1 Garand in 1929, a full decade later than China. No wonder Chen Shao is so excited. However, for now, the most pressing matter is to immediately produce this weapon using modern technology.

  "So what kind of rifle can you take out now?"

  "Reporting officer, Mauser 98K"

  Mosina Gan

  Springfield M1903

  Lee Enfield

  Type 97 Sniper Rifle

  "The Type 38 rifle, I am familiar with these rifles, as long as there is equipment, they can be produced immediately"

  "These are the main equipment of various countries in the world now. You immediately draw out the drawings, and from now on you will be called Gun 55, specializing in rifle design. For the time being, you will temporarily live in the base, and after some days when the combat laboratory is built, you will move there."

  "Reporting for duty, sir."

  Arrange gun 55, Chen Shao walk bring command platform, barracks and garment factory have been built, raised head looked at money, last night's 2300 today has become 4000, money still gets back pretty quickly.

  "Chen Hong, did you earn 1700 gold coins from mining today?"

  "Report to the commander, yes."

  "What about the separated phosphate and iron ore, can I get someone else to pull it?"

  "Report to the commander, in the mineral refining plant, the commander can have someone pulled out at any time."

  "Now point out what the tank factory can produce."

  "Report to the commander, as long as there are drawings and workers, production can begin."

  "If it's a rifle, how many can be produced in one month?"

  "Report to the commander, a tank factory with a 12-hour workday can produce 4,000 rifles per month and 4 million rounds of matching ammunition. If there are technical workers stationed at the tank factory, production can be increased."

  "If the second shift of the tank factory is added, can't 8,000 rifles and 8 million bullets be produced in a month?"

  "Report to the commander, yes."

  "How much can technical workers increase production?"

  "Report to commander, all technical workers can increase production, primary 20%, intermediate 40%, advanced 60%, perfect 100%"

  It seems like I need to create more technical workers in the future.

  After asking, he spent 2000 gold coins to start building a tank factory, and then spent another 1000 gold coins to build an iron factory. The construction time for both the tank factory and the iron factory is two days. He also clicked on an infantry instructor and spent 500 gold coins. Looking at the remaining 500 gold coins, Chen Shao felt a pang of pain: not enough money to spend!

  May 12, 1913

  Early in the morning, each household was notified to send a representative, and after breakfast, they gathered on the barren land reclaimed behind the village.

  "Mr. Chen is a knowledgeable person with a good heart, after providing free lunch for the children, he also set up a fertilizer factory outside. Now he has brought back new seeds from abroad. Today, I will witness the fertilization and planting, to see if Mr. Zhang's seeds and fertilizer are useful or not."

  Village chief Kong Hong gave the order, and the base fertilizer for half of the land was quickly applied. Then new potatoes and new rice were planted, using primary seeds brought from the seed base by Chen Shao. Fortunately, the primary seeds were provided free of charge by the seed base, unlike high-level seeds which require scientists to develop on their own.

  The remaining half was naturally planted with ordinary seeds and no fertilizer was applied. Only by comparing the two can we see the results.

  The surrounding villages are also sowing good seeds in their own fields, and everyone is looking forward to a good harvest at the end of the year.

  After finishing, I specially instructed someone to take care of it every day, and the matter of fertilizer and seeds was temporarily settled.