On May 12, 1917, He Rui walked into the party committee conference room in Siping. The comrades waiting inside immediately stopped talking. Cheng Ruofan immediately saluted and then said: "Chairman, I would like to ask a question on behalf of the comrades. Since the Tsar

Russia has fallen, why should we wait until winter to regain the Middle East?"

He Rui was very satisfied with this question and waved to the comrades to sit down. He Rui asked: "We need an external environment to regain the Middle Road. What kind of external environment do you think it should be?"

The comrades did not expect that He Rui would actually ask such a question. They frowned and touched their chins. While everyone was thinking, Xu Chengfeng replied: "We need the Allies to agree with our actions."

He Rui knew that Xu Chengfeng's answer was correct, but seeing that the comrades might not be able to understand Xu Chengfeng's point of view, He Rui simply remained silent for now, waiting for the comrades to ask questions first.

Sure enough, some comrades raised a question based on some of the knowledge they had learned, "We are attacking Russia. According to the principle of unity of powers, how can we agree with it?"

Xu Chengfeng immediately expressed his opposition, "The great powers are united and the main contradiction must be united. The reason why we are not taking action now is because Russia is still a member of the Allied Powers. What if Russia breaks away from the Allied Powers?"

Many newly joined comrades were stunned by Xu Chengfeng's judgment, "Will Russia really break away from the Allies?"

He Rui looked at the 'old comrades', well, the old comrades were all in their twenties and had only joined the revolution for two years. Although the 'old comrades' obviously agreed with Xu Chengfeng's views, there were still many

Doubtful and unsure. Finally, all eyes fell on He Rui.

"Comrades, why did the revolution break out in Russia? I have analyzed it in the relevant report." He Rui started to ask questions to see how these comrades were doing in advance.

Sure enough, someone remembered the content of the report and suddenly realized, "Russia suffered too many losses in the war, so the soldiers wanted a revolution."

"Without the possibility of victory in the war, the Russian army has lost interest in continuing the war, although it still wants to defend the country."

This is what He Rui wrote in the report, but it is not the complete content. He Rui waited until everyone had finished speaking, and then made an analysis, "The Tsar has fallen, and the new Russian government will continue the war in order to gain recognition from the Allies.

.But the Russian army is no longer willing to fight anymore, so the new government that persists in the war will also fall. But before the new government falls, and before Russia withdraws from the war, we cannot take back the Middle East Road, because the Allies cannot accept such a thing...

…”

"Why should we sympathize with foreigners?" a comrade asked.

He Rui looked at the comrades, and there were only a few who were not moved by such a question. For example, Xu Chengfeng just sighed slightly, with regret in his expression, but did not waver at all.

He Rui then replied: "When analyzing problems, we must seek truth from facts. Even if we are at a disadvantage, we must be realistic and understand our actual situation, otherwise we will be affected by wishful thinking. The central government will join the Allied Powers soon, and Russia's new

After the government falls, the next government that comes to power must be a government that responds to the Russian people's desire to withdraw from the war. At that time, Russia has reneged on its obligations as a member of the Allied Powers. If we regain the Middle East Road later, we can gain recognition from the Allied Powers."

Seeing He Rui's firm attitude, no one wanted to say anything else. Someone tried to smooth things over, "Since the chairman just predicted winter, it won't be long in fact."

He Rui sighed in his heart. If possible, He Rui hopes that comrades can understand international politics. Although the international society is a jungle society, the jungle society is not without its inherent order. In order to use power more effectively, some basic rules will still be in place.

be obeyed.

However, He Rui was not prepared to discuss this when he came to Siping. Now that the topic was over, He Rui started to make his own work arrangements.

"From now on, Fengtian, Changchun, and Harbin will start to establish local arsenals and start producing weapons. Once the current Russian government collapses, Britain and France will have to support local forces within Russia, and their orders for weapons will decrease.

By the end of this year, our weapons production will shift to the main direction of producing our weapons. There is still half a year left..."

This is a plan formulated by He Rui based on existing resources. Its content covers machining, weapon trial production and finalization, recruitment and retirement systems. It took a long time to briefly outline it.

After listening to this, different departments must discuss and learn based on the assigned tasks to clarify their own work.

During the break, Cheng Ruofan found Xu Chengfeng, "Chengfeng, who suggested adjusting the time? Didn't you say December before?"

Xu Chengfeng shook his head, "I don't know either, but from what the chairman said, it seems that the plan has changed a lot. Whether it is developing in a good direction or a bad direction, I can't be sure."

Cheng Ruofan couldn't be sure, "Previously we were considering using the Mosin-Nagant rifles we produced to arm the troops, but now we have to use our own weapons. Do you think that is a good thing or a bad thing?"

Xu Chengfeng thought for a moment before replying: "Ask Youping."

Wu Youping, as the mayor of Siping and now the person in charge of the largest industrial center in Northeast China, couldn't help but feel a little annoyed after hearing the questions raised by Xu Chengfeng and Cheng Ruofan, "How could it be bad if we use our own guns?"

Xu Chengfeng did not hide anything and gave a frank answer: "When new guns are assigned to the troops, it will take a long time to adapt. Have you seen the parameters of the new guns?"

Of course Wu Youping had seen it and memorized it by heart, so he replied unhappily: "Among the standard weapons, individual weapons are divided into three types: semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and submachine guns. Semi-automatic rifles use 7*45 mm ammunition, and pistols and submachine guns use 9*

25mm ammunition. The machine gun is 11mm. Is there any problem with this? I heard the chairman said that we don’t want full-power ammunition.”

Xu Chengfeng felt that Wu Youping was really a military layman. In the entire Northeast, only He Rui had considered the issue of full-power ammunition. Military students who graduated from the Baoding Army Military Academy, including Xu Chengfeng, Cheng Ruofan, etc., did not even think of this issue. Even

Zhou Yinshan, a former instructor at Baoding Military Academy, never thought about this problem.

The problem now is not the power of the gun, but the time it takes for the troops to become familiar with the new rifle. Although the basic tactics have been completed, the basic tactics have to be adjusted according to the different weapons. Such adjustments take time, even a relatively long time.

Just as he was thinking about how to make Wu Youping understand military knowledge, Xu Chengfeng heard Cheng Ruofan say: "I just want to ask a question, how long will it take to deliver the first 10,000 guns to the troops?"

Xu Chengfeng immediately felt that what Cheng Ruofan said was good. Even if Wu Youping understood the military, it would actually be of little significance. The troops in charge were soldiers like Xu Chengfeng and Cheng Ruofan, and what the army now had to consider was the equipment delivery time.

Wu Youping thought for a while and said, "November at the latest."

"It will take another half a year?" Cheng Ruofan frowned, "Then when will the first thousand rifles be delivered?"

"The earliest is early October." Wu Youping answered simply this time.

Cheng Ruofan stopped talking at this time. He can now confirm that the time to regain the Middle Road will be in 1918, not the end of 1917. Unless He Rui changes his mind now and allows the troops to equip the Mosin-Nagant rifles on a large scale according to the original plan.

.But it can be seen that He Rui has made up his mind to use the new self-produced rifle.

Xu Chengfeng broke the brief silence, "We understand, let's say goodbye."

Cheng Ruofan felt that he could understand He Rui's thoughts. It was certainly a good thing to use self-produced rifles to fight. But in comparison, it would be even better to regain the Middle East Road as soon as possible. So before leaving, Cheng Ruofan couldn't help but ask one more question, "New rifles"

Is the cost of the Mosin-Nagant cheaper?”

Wu Youping shook his head, "The chairman and I have discussed this issue. We both believe that it would be cheaper to sell those weapons directly to the Russians. Second-hand rifles cannot be bought at a high price!"

After leaving Wu Youping's place, Cheng Ruofan sighed: "I really didn't think about the problem of second-hand rifles. According to what Youping said, it's not wrong."

Xu Chengfeng hummed, but he actually disagreed a little in his heart. It was not that he disagreed with Wu Youping's views, but that he felt that Wu Youping's thinking was completely inconsistent with military common sense. The benefit of the military thinking is that the confusion caused by the change of uniforms is minimized.

weaken.

If those Mosin-Nagant rifles were just a transitional state, there would really be no need to equip them. Changing to three types of rifles would only increase the confusion of troop equipment changes.

Of course Wu Youping didn't know what his comrades in the army thought. At this time, his attention was focused on the industrial field. Even if he didn't understand military affairs, Wu Youping understood industry. The bullet shells used in the new gun are made of common brass, but the warheads are made of brass.

Copper steel core.

The benefits of this design are undoubted, cheap!

Whether it is a pure copper bullet or a lead core bullet, it is easy to process, but the price of copper and lead is much more expensive than steel. There is also a supply problem.

However, cheap does not mean simple. According to the bullet design, each steel core must be manufactured with a lathe. The steel columns are cut to the specified size. In addition, the outer copper parts need to be stamped.

Stamp the copper into a suitable copper cap. The steel core must be well combined with the copper cap.

Just thinking about these things already gave Wu Youping a headache. As for equipment time, it was not at all among Wu Youping's priorities.

Due to its single use and the large quantity of bullets required, Wu Youping has started the research and development of special equipment, and with the efforts of engineers and technicians, he successfully produced three steel core processing prototypes. But this is Northeast China after all.

This is the first truly self-developed equipment in a machine tool factory. What Wu Youping is concerned about is whether the machine tool can produce products as designed.

Once the product is compliant, mass production of this warhead processing equipment will begin. This pressure is really extraordinary!

Wu Youping felt uneasy, so he went to find the person he had to find at this time. After listening to Wu Youping's words, Xu Jia, director of the Bureau of Statistics, smiled slightly and replied in his pleasant baritone: "Mayor Wu, do you know how many people we have now?"

Cadres, how many of them have already established files?"

Wu Youping was a little surprised by Xu Jia's answer, so he followed Xu Jia's words and asked, "How many?"

"Under the rotation training system, there are now more than 64,000 rural and land reform cadres. The number of personnel establishing files exceeds 500,000. How many people are needed in the arsenal?"

Wu Youping really didn't expect that the Bureau of Statistics in charge of personnel files could complete such a huge task, and was stunned for a moment. But looking at Xu Jia's serious eyes, Wu Youping forced himself to think and recalled the numbers, "Five thousand people are needed at this stage."
Chapter completed!