Chapter 330 is in full swing
Chapter 330 is in full swing
Hailing, Haoguozi Arms Company.
This arms company is a huge military-industrial complex.
It includes two-thirds of the former Krupp personnel and mechanical equipment, and an equal number of personnel and equipment sent by American arms companies, including Springfield and Winchester.
Together with the former Ren’s Arms Company and Wen’s Arms Company, the four companies merged into this huge joint factory.
Ren Jun, the former chairman of Ren's Arms Company, was appointed as president, and Wen, Springfield, Winchester each had one vice president, and Krupp had two.
Ren Jun never understood why Shao Quanzhong gave this majestic and huge military-industrial complex such a strange name. Fortunately, it is very elegant when translated into English and German. Americans, in particular, have a preference for naming things after fruits.
In the spacious and bright president's office, Ren Jun was presiding over a production meeting, holding the telegram sent by Shao Quanzhong four days ago, plus the hand-drawn drawings of Shao Quanzhong that had just been delivered in an expedited manner over 800 miles.
The vice presidents of the Prussian side were the Mauser brothers. The eldest brother, Wilhelm Mauser, stood up arrogantly.
"Our company is now concentrating on producing the Mauser bolt-action rifle I designed. Not only did the Huai Army order 60,000 rifles in the first phase, but Prussia has also ordered 100,000 rifles. I also have orders for 70,000 rifles from Paraguay and 10,000 rifles from Cuba."
"In the future, the Qing Dynasty's Thirty-Six Regiments will have a large demand for bolt-action rifles. The order volume of bolt-action rifles will exceed 500,000 within a year. To be frank, the Mauser bolt-action rifle will become the mainstream of the world's firearms."
"The first batch of Krupp gun steel made from Shilu's high-quality iron ore is already at sea. We will soon have the important task of producing a large number of Krupp's most advanced breech-loading guns."
"At this time, Shao asked for a shotgun design, and the request was so urgent. This is just blind command without any knowledge."
"Shotguns are for hunting by the nobles, while bolt-action rifles are for use on the battlefield. The nobles actually asked us, a world-class arms factory, to develop this civilian product just for hunting. I am against us accepting this development and production task."
Ren Jun smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to refute William's statement. In his heart, he also blamed Shao Quanzhong for making a fuss out of nothing.
Although, as a super gun enthusiast, he personally likes shotguns, which are close-range, high-powered weapons.
There was a moment of silence, and John Browning, the technical vice president sent by Winchester, stood up.
"I personally like Shao's design very much. It is exactly what I want. This lever-type repeating shotgun is simply a stroke of genius. I think Shao is an absolute arms expert."
"Although our production tasks are heavy, our processing capabilities are also strong. Moreover, the Mauser rifles and Krupp cannons can be followed up by your Prussian technical experts. Our American weapons experts can take over the design task."
"Our American expert group is currently only digesting the technology of the Gatling gun and developing the Colt breech-loading revolver. This is easy for us."
"There are a large number of potential customers for shotguns in the western United States. In addition, as Shao promised, once the design and trial production are successful, the first-phase order will be 60,000. The new shotgun will sell well and continuously generate profits for our company."
"I think that as a powerful military-industrial complex, since we have sufficient technical strength, we need to walk on multiple legs, and civilian weapons should also be put into use."
"Besides, Shao has drawn the blueprint so clearly, it won't take much effort or time to implement the process."
Ren Jun immediately made the decision, "Okay, the design of the new shotgun will be completed by the American expert group. I will allocate production resources so as not to delay the production of bolt-action rifles over there, and strive to complete the production task of 60,000 shotguns within half a year."
The meeting was over, and the Americans took Shao Quanzhong's drawings to trial-produce and implement the production process. Ren Jun skillfully arranged the machine tools, workers, and raw materials, but he was puzzled.
Brother Shao has nothing better to do than go hunting. Why did he purchase 60,000 shotguns? And he also installed bayonets on the shotguns. Is he going to fight against the black bear? However, the No. 12 shotgun is really powerful. I want to be the first to try it.
…………
Hailing Wenshi Steam Tractor Manufacturing Factory. The technicians in the factory were puzzled when they got the drawings drawn by Shao Quanzhong.
"My son-in-law hasn't shown any interest in our production design recently. He sent us this thing after rushing for 800 miles? We have already made this thing, so why do we need him to design it?"
In the drawing, a big shovel was added to the front of the steam tractor, which made it a bulldozer.
I don't know what you need this thing for, son-in-law. We have a river diversion project here and this thing is used on site. Son-in-law, you are such a country bumpkin.
"Okay, my son-in-law only wants ten. We have enough in stock. Ship them to Guangzhou right away. Maybe they need infrastructure construction there too? Let's focus on the production of tracked tanks and wheeled personnel carriers."
…………
At the Lanzhou Arsenal, director Ding Shoucun personally supervised the packing and transportation of boxes of huge artillery shells filled with TNT gunpowder and detonator delay fuses.
"Master Ding, haven't the Huai Army's heavy artillery always been eight inches? What are those nine-inch and seven-inch shells used for?"
Lord Ding smiled and twirled his beard. "Your information is outdated. The Huai Army is already preparing to equip itself with 150mm Krupp heavy artillery. Although it is six inches, its rate of fire is nearly twice as fast as the Armstrong cannon and is easier to transport. There is no fortress stronger than Jijin Fort. It is enough."
"So what we're going to mass-produce in the future are 150mm caliber -pound guns. The production of -pound shells will be greatly reduced, and those Armstrong guns will become fortress guns."
"These nine-inch and seven-inch shells are for the naval guns on the Minotaur-class ships Ding and Zhen. With the new gunpowder shells, our warships will probably be invincible."
"Marshal Yu is really an expert in fighting. He uses the most advanced weapons in the world. I wonder who he will fight next."
"I don't think he will stay in Guangzhou forever. We need to keep up with the production of grenades, barbed wire, explosive packs, and grenade launchers, and don't let Yu Shuai down."
…………
One month later, Nanning, Wangxianpo, Liugong Temple.
On the wide playground, rows of four-story temporary buildings were built. They were undecorated, rough and plain.
Lin Bozai, the new governor of Guangxi, was not doing his job properly and did not sit in the court to serve as a director. Instead, he personally trained the new Guangxi army here.
The soldiers under his command were divided into small platoons and kept throwing grenades into the windows of the makeshift buildings.
Several teams quickly rushed into the building, and without going through the door, they installed explosives on the side of the house where the "enemy" troops were. With a "bang", a big hole appeared in the wall, and the soldiers broke in.
What Lin Bozai did was even more mysterious. He led his men to rush onto the roof and rappel down.
The governor kicked open the window, jumped into the room, raised his rifle, and shouted, "Kill!"
Lin Bozi likes this kind of street fighting the most, and the superiors are also forced to take the risk and join in the battle.
Lin Bozi fired a shot at the dummy, and he was quite dissatisfied. "The breech-loading rifle is not powerful enough, it's not satisfying. I need a more exciting high-powered close combat rifle. When the time comes, I will lead the charge myself."
(End of this chapter)