The Huangshi Artillery Factory is one of a series of military industrial enterprises built by Su Tong under the orders of the Ministry of Military Industry in Huangshi, Hubei. Huangshi is located on the bank of the Yangtze River south of the Yangtze River. The military equipment and materials produced here can be easily transported to Shanghai via waterways.
Fujian, Guangdong and other coastal provinces. In the first five-year plan formulated by Su Tong, Huangshi was an important rear industrial base.
At this time, Su Tongzheng and the person in charge who accompanied him to visit the Huangshi Industrial Base slowly walked around the factory. Accompanying him were Lieutenant General Liu Yecheng, commander of the newly established Fifth Group Army, Lieutenant General Lu Gang, chief of staff, and the 129th
The new division commander, Major General Xu You, and others.
Su Tong specially asked these generals from the Socialist Party to accompany him to visit the military industrial enterprises today, not only to express his new responsibility to them, but also to let them know more about the development and importance of modern military industrial enterprises.
In the barrel workshop of the artillery factory, accompanied by the hammering sound of the thousand-ton free forging press, the red columnar steel ingot hung by the steel chain sling became increasingly finer in texture under the hammering of the thousand-ton free forging press.
Up. Thousands of hammer forgings like this are needed to produce a usable artillery barrel. The artillery barrels manufactured by Huangshi Artillery Factory are first cast into cylindrical barrel blanks by special steel plants, and then
If there is scum on both ends of the cut, the cannon blank is placed in a free forging press of 100 tons, 1,000 tons or even 4,000 tons and is repeatedly hammered into shape. After the rigorous hammer forging process is completed, the barrel is forged into shape.
It is sent to the polishing workshop to polish the surface, then to the quenching workshop for hardening, and finally to the deep hole processing workshop to process the gun bore of the appropriate caliber.
Because the gunpowder package in the gun barrel burns violently when the artillery fires, a very large chamber pressure will be generated. In order to ensure the strength of the artillery barrel, engineers came up with the idea of binding layers of casings or gun barrels outside the inner tube.
The larger the caliber of the artillery, the greater the amount of propellant used, so the outer casing hoop becomes thicker and thicker. The inner diameter of the casing and casing will be slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the inner tube. When installed
It is first heated at high temperature to expand and then put on the inner tube. After cooling, it will naturally be tightly tightened.
"Zi"
When the thousand-ton free hammer press stopped working, the gun barrel blank that was initially processed into a round shape was lifted into the cooling pool. With a thick mist of water, the originally hot barrel was immediately cooled down. Then
The artillery barrel was hoisted into a rail cart on one side, and then two workers pushed the cart containing several short and thick gun blanks toward another workshop. These short and thick barrels will be used in
The next process is completed there.
Workers are doing the same work repeatedly every day. A large number of artillery pieces are manufactured day after day in the Huangshi Artillery Factory. Although no one knows why so many artillery pieces are manufactured, for the workers in the artillery factory, the
The more artillery, the higher their income will be. This is what workers in the artillery factory need to care about.
In the finished artillery workshop, several blond Jewish engineers were communicating with several officers with artillery marks on their armbands. Several officers patted the artillery mount with satisfaction and said to an engineer with a smile:
"Mr. Spohr, congratulations, the first batch of artillery trials of this model have been successfully trial-produced. I believe they will be officially put into production soon."
The Jewish engineer's expression was quite solemn. He took out a large caliper and measured the caliber of the artillery. After observing the threads in the barrel for a while, he shook his head and said in blunt Chinese: "This batch of artillery has a large diameter from the surface.
It doesn't look any different from the 105mm howitzers produced by our Chahar Artillery Factory, at least on the surface. However, the hammer forging process of the barrels of this batch of artillery is still not up to standard. I can guarantee that this batch of artillery
The barrel can never reach 500 rounds. So I think the hammer forging workshop should immediately stop production for inspection and find out the reasons. Otherwise, sending such a batch of unqualified artillery to the hands of the frontline artillery would be a sign of irresponsibility on our part.
"
An officer said with some embarrassment, "Mr. Spohr, there are a hundred gun barrels in this batch. Isn't it a pity that they will be scrapped if they are just a little short of it?"
Spohr said bluntly: "No, even if it's just a little bit, it's a waste product. I will never allow any substandard items in my hands to flow out of the door of the gun factory."
"But Mr. Spohr, now the troops are urgently waiting for these artillery to be replaced." These officers were anxious.
Upon hearing this, Spohr turned around and roared loudly: "The urgent need to wait does not mean that it can be shoddy. These artillery are related to the lives of those soldiers in the future. If we send these substandard artillery to the troops, then
It’s like murder, you know?”
"That's very well said." At this time, Su Tong walked over and praised: "Very well, Mr. Engineer, your behavior makes me very happy. It shows that you are a very upright and professional person. Your
His conduct deserves our praise and encouragement."
Suddenly I saw several people who looked like senior leaders walking over. Gunner Spohr said with some embarrassment: "Sir, I just fulfilled the duties of an engineer."
Liu Yecheng and others who were following Su Tong also came over. Major General Xu You touched the barrel of the brand new cannon and couldn't put it down, "Hey, what a good guy, it turned out to be a 105mm howitzer. This is a treasure. I thought.
At the beginning, we were so indifferent to even the Japanese 92-mm infantry artillery, but now we are about to be equipped with a 105mm heavy artillery. It makes me excited just thinking about it."
Spohr smiled and corrected: "Mr. General, this is only a 105-caliber light artillery. Only artillery with a caliber of more than 150 mm can be called heavy artillery."
Xu You said casually: "I think we would have been thankful to have a cannon when we were fighting guerrillas. There was still so much to worry about. Besides, what about this artillery? What does it matter if we fire more rounds and less rounds? If we scrap it, we can do it again."
Just change the barrel."
An angry look appeared on Spohr's face after hearing this. For an engineer known for his strict prohibitions, such remarks were absolutely treasonous. He was about to say something but was stopped by Su Tong.
Su Tong said seriously: "General Xu, I know that you are a Shaolin monk and you are also known for your bravery in the army, but today I want to criticize you. Engineer Spohr is right, making artillery is a very rigorous science.
, it is not just a matter of firing a few fewer artillery shells as you said. If such a problem is brought to the battlefield, it will be at the expense of the lives of soldiers. We casting artillery are not going to the streets to buy cabbage.
, It doesn’t matter if you pay a few cents less or more, this is science. Science is a very rigorous knowledge. Now you are already a mid-level and senior general of the National Defense Forces. This kind of thinking is very undesirable. If you put such
If the thoughts spread to the troops below, the harm will be even greater." After saying this, Su Tong took the lead and walked forward.
Xu You felt a little dizzy after hearing this. Didn't he just say a few words unintentionally? As for training himself like this?
Before Xu You could think about it, Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang walked up to him and glared at him fiercely. Liu Yecheng said in a low voice, "Monk Xu, you are shameless and we are still shameless.
If you continue to say such nonsense in the future, I will transfer you to the local garrison."
Su Tong walked for a long time and sighed and said sincerely to Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang behind him: "General Liu, General Lu, although the equipment of our army has become stronger after being replaced, some officers in our army still have no ideas.
Change it. I know that your army was poorly equipped before it was reorganized, so you were particularly eager for weapons and equipment, and the management of the army was not so formal. But now that the army has been reorganized into the National Defense Force, the training and ideological education of the army must be in accordance with
We will carry out unified operations according to military doctrines, so that we can fulfill the great trust entrusted to us by the benevolent people."
Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang blushed, knowing that Su Tong was taking the opportunity to beat them. The Fifth Army was adapted from the former Socialist Workers' Party troops. In terms of the regularization and military discipline of the troops, they were worse than those of the former Central Army, let alone the former Central Army.
The former Chahar's army, and Chief Su repeatedly raised the requirement to build an army with quality and science at a high-level meeting of the entire army. That monk Xu just jumped out and said something that almost didn't matter.
, isn’t that putting eye drops on the president in front of him? This seemingly amiable president in ordinary times would hit them like this now.
Liu Yecheng said with a red face: "President, please rest assured that we will pay close attention to the construction and management of the army after we return, and we will definitely train a well-trained and disciplined army in a year."
Su Tong said sternly, "Commander Liu, I know that you are a top student who graduated from the Frunze Military Academy of Soviet Russia. You were a famous tiger general in Sichuan during the War to Protect the Country. I believe this little thing will not trouble you. But I can't.
I’ll give you one year. Don’t say I’m unkind. I’ll only give you half a year. Within half a year, you must train me a tiger and wolf warrior. Can you do it?”
Liu Yecheng and Lu Gang were shocked. They didn't understand what Su Tong meant by what he said. However, facing Su Tong's serious expression, they stood at attention solemnly and said, "Yes, please don't worry. We promise to complete the task."
Su Tong nodded and walked outside without saying anything. It was already February 1939, far from the world's largest war with the largest number of participating countries, the longest duration, and the largest number of casualties.
It is getting closer and closer. All Su Tong can do now is to race against time to buy time. Whether the Chinese nation can change its destiny depends on this time. If we cannot seize this opportunity, it will undoubtedly be much more difficult for China to rise, so this opportunity