Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 67: Difficult New Equipment
Under the small American-made desk lamp, Su Hongsheng lay on the table with his eyes shining, so excited that he wished he could project his excitement into the thick drawings.
Yang Qiu looked at him and didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry, because the ordnance issue had become a major concern, so he came overnight to ask in detail about the progress of the Hanyang Factory. However, he didn't expect that as soon as he came, he integrated into the several ordnance drawings he took out, and didn't let him say a word.
These military equipment drawings were carefully selected by him. There were three new equipment in total, namely the later Mosin-Nagant M1944, the classic German-made M24 grenade and 80mm mortar information.
Although military fans like Mauser 98K, M1 Gardner or Lee-Enfield, he has a special liking for the "stupid and rough" Mosin-Ganna. Compared with the old Mosin-Nagant, the M1944 is shorter and lighter, and retains the traditional advantages of being tough and simple in structure. It is easy to mass produce and most importantly, very suitable for soldiers with low literacy. The latter point is common in almost all Russian weapons, which is related to Russia's national conditions. China is just like Russia at present, with a low literacy rate among soldiers, so it is more necessary to ensure that the weapons are simple, tough and easy to use.
Of course, there is another important reason for choosing it, that is, the Russian 7.62×54R rimmed bullet has less recoil than the current German 7.92mm bullet, which is more suitable for Oriental people to use, and the rimmed conical shell is suitable for countries with poor basic industries, because the rimmed shell has relatively loose requirements on the chamber size, allowing for larger production tolerances, which is almost a blessing for Hanyang's industrial capacity. As for the M1 and Lee-Enfield, he didn't even think about it. The reason is simple. The faster the firing rate, the greater the consumption. He didn't even want many heavy machine guns because he didn't have the money and the strong logistics capabilities to waste them.
Of course, the M1944 is not without weaknesses. The most criticized ones are the buttstock and the bolt handle. The previous buttstock was straight below and curved above, which was not conducive to assassination. The bolt handle was too short and the head was round, which was very difficult to hold. Especially in winter, when wearing gloves, there was a high probability of slipping hands, which would directly affect the soldiers' combat. So he made some improvements. The buttstock was changed to the shape of a Type 38 rifle, and the front sight was changed to a peep sight, which made it easier for recruits to aim and shoot. The scale and rear sight were also improved accordingly. The Mosin-Nagant's iconic folding four-sided long bayonet was also abandoned and replaced with a removable bayonet. The bolt handle was lengthened and changed to fold down when locked instead of horizontally to prevent scratches during marching, and the head was changed to an oval shape.
As for the famous German M24 hand grenade, it has not been changed at all. In fact, they did not want to use wooden handle hand grenades at first, because although wooden handle hand grenades seem to be simple in craftsmanship, the wooden handle is actually more complicated to make, and the efficiency is far less than that of fully cast egg-shaped hand grenades. However, through the daytime fighting, it was found that the explosives currently manufactured by the gun factory are still problematic. Although the grenades are small in appearance and can carry more, the current explosives are definitely not lethal enough, and grenades are more suitable for street fighting. Therefore, the most classic German M24 during World War II was selected. Its charge is twice as large as that of grenades, and the long handle is also easy for untrained people to use.
There is no need to say much about the mortar. The only regret is that the optical sight is still very expensive at the moment. It is basically impossible to manufacture it in China, so we can only use the oldest mechanical sights. So when Su Hongsheng finally pulled his eyes away from the drawings, he immediately asked, "Mr. Su, how is it?"
How could Su Hongsheng not know his feelings? He had heard from Su Xiaohu that Wuchang refused to support him, but he did not expect that under such circumstances, he would choose to manufacture new weapons instead of continuing to manufacture Hanyang rifles. It was really bold. He hurriedly said, "Sir, forgive me for being blunt, but what the army needs most at the moment is probably the Hanyang rifle, not this new rifle, right?"
Yang Qiu knew that he had misunderstood, and said with a smile: "Mr. Su, you guessed wrong. At present, our army only needs the Hanyang-made gun. This kind of gun will be gradually manufactured and replaced after the situation is stable. I took it out now just to see if I can make a sample gun for experiment first."
Su Hongsheng breathed a sigh of relief when he heard about the experiment. He was afraid that Yang Qiu would point fingers at him and ask him to make dozens of new guns a day. He smiled and said, "With such detailed drawings, I think we should be able to produce a sample gun in two months."
There was no rush to make a new gun, and he was going to send the sample gun to Germany to find Mauser for further improvement, so he turned around and picked up the other two drawings and asked, "What about these two? Can they be made?"
"This hand...hand grenade is OK. The pre-engraved shell and fuse are not a problem. The main thing is...the wooden handle is not easy to process, which may slow down the speed." Su Hongsheng is indeed a senior gun expert. He quickly saw the biggest problem with the hand grenade. As for the second type of mortar that Yang Qiu insisted was a cannon, but it didn't look like a cannon, which made him feel troubled. After thinking about it, he said directly: "Sir, let me be honest with you. We can now produce 50 Hanyang-made mortars at the fastest speed every day, 20,000 round-headed bullets, and your pointed bullet has just started to be imitated, and the maximum is 3,000 per day, and 800 shells per day."
Su Hongsheng continued, "If the carpentry problem can be solved, this kind of grenade is simple. It is no problem to make two or three hundred a day. But the cannon may be too difficult! You know, although the steel mill is temporarily under military control, the steel cannot be used for military purposes. It can be used to make the outer shell and lining of grenades, but it is impossible to make the barrel. There is no seamless steel pipe technology in the country, so we have to use the oldest casting method to make the barrel, and then grind it out bit by bit by hand! In addition, the workers in the cannon factory have all returned, but it costs a lot of money to reopen the furnace at the steel and ammunition factory, and good steel is even rarer. Even if we cast the mold, it will take some time. Moreover, we have never made this kind of cannon and shells. I am afraid that it will take more than two months..."
Yang Qiu rubbed his temples after hearing this. He already knew some of Hanyang's technology. It was basically made by hand-polishing. If the high-strength seamless barrel for mortars was cast and polished by hand, even if there was no shortage of equipment and materials, it would not be possible to produce a few in a month. It seemed that another way had to be found. So he thought for a while and said, "Don't worry about the money. I will ask Zhang Wenjing to allocate 1 million yuan to you for turnover. It will not let you go hungry. As for this kind of cannon...you can try to make it first. I will find a way to get the materials and other things."
After saying this, he temporarily put aside these annoying things, stared at Su Hongsheng and suddenly smiled and said, "By the way, has Mr. Su ever copied the light machine gun that I showed you last time?"
"Sir, how did you know?"
Su Hongsheng blushed when asked this question. Ever since he saw the drawings of ZB-26 last time, he had been itching to imitate it secretly. Since he had made a light machine gun before, he had made five sets of parts in more than a month. But what surprised him was that all the parts were there and the dimensions were exactly the same after he checked them many times by hand. However, they could not be used after being assembled. In addition, he didn't know what was wrong after the drawings were returned, so he had been absent-minded recently and hadn't even had time to pay attention to the changes in the three towns.
Yang Qiu had guessed that he would copy it, and he took out another blueprint from his pocket with a smile: "Don't blame me, Mr. Su. People's minds are hard to predict, so I have to be careful."
Su Hongsheng took the blueprint and finally understood why he said that. It turned out that the data in the previous blueprint had been deliberately tampered with in several places. Although the size was slightly different, it was a huge difference for a machine gun. No wonder he couldn't find out where the mistake was no matter how he checked. The deliberate tampering of the blueprint did make him a little dissatisfied, but he returned to normal in an instant, because Yang Qiu was right. If he had really imitated this light machine gun before the change of the situation, it would probably not have escaped the surveillance of Zhang Biao and others, and there would be no right-wing army today.
"Take it... I hope you can make it soon." Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Hanyang can't stop making it, 50 per day must be guaranteed! We also need to increase the production of bullets, especially pointed bullets. Not only should the speed be increased, but the quality should also be guaranteed. We have tried it out in the past few days and found that many of your pointed bullets are not suitable for the chamber. They need to be screened before they can be used as machine gun bullets. The artillery shells can't be stopped either, we need them urgently. You can rest assured about the carpenters of the grenades. Tomorrow morning I will have someone gather all the carpenters in Hanyang and Hankou for your deployment. Anyway, just ask Zhang Wenjing for whatever you need. If it doesn't work, I can recruit thousands of people from the two towns to help!"
Su Hongsheng was so happy that he got 1 million yuan at once, solved the key problem of the new machine gun, and got the blueprints of three new weapons. Yang Qiu took out the blueprint of the small wheel frame used by the Maxim machine gun, which is common in toy models in later generations, and handed it to him: "This is the small wheel towed heavy machine gun frame I designed. My heavy machine guns will be equipped with this within ten days. Is it okay?"
It's just a small trailer with a gun rack connected to it. It will be no problem to make it in ten days. After Su Hongsheng finished speaking, he immediately hugged the blueprint and left, preparing to work overtime to make the grenades first, while he would deal with the machine guns and new rifles. As for the mortar... it seems that he has to send a telegram to those old friends who studied in Germany with him and are now scattered all over the country.
After he left, Yang Qiu sighed quietly, took out the data machine and smiled bitterly. What he wanted most now was to have a scanner. You know, it's just a light weapon needs an aircraft carrier or something one day... he will be exhausted sooner or later. And it seems that the information here will not be used in nine out of ten cases, because the current domestic technology level and processing capacity are too sad. A mortar barrel has to be cast! It may become the biggest joke in the future.
"Commander, what are you doing..." Zhang Wenjing saw Yang Qiu holding a flat silver metal box and looking worried when he entered the room. He thought something had happened. Yang Qiu didn't expect that his biggest secret in his life would be seen by others. He was shocked and quickly changed the subject to ask, "What's the matter?"
Zhang Wenjing actually didn't care about the box at all. He said anxiously, "The German envoy is here. He seems to be in a hurry. He said he must see you tonight."
"Finally here." Yang Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, stuffed the file machine back into his chest pocket, and grabbed the bag he had prepared long ago.
