Chapter 107

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Lv Muzhi only now realized he had delayed too long with these old brothers of his, and hurried to find the Young Marshal and the Principal.

"Brother Wei Yue, finally willing to come see us?" Zhang Shaoshuai raised his cup with a smile.

Lv Muzhi lifted his wine cup: "I'm late, I'll punish myself with three cups first!"

The Principal held a cup of plain water, smiling: "Alright, alright, be careful that after getting drunk you don't blow your cover!"

After finishing the wine in his cup, Lv Muzhi let out a breath: "It really has been too long since I've seen these old classmates, Principal, Young Marshal, please forgive me."

Zhang Shaoshuai nodded: "No matter, just now the Principal was right, after getting drunk it's easy to blow your cover, that won't do. The industrial innovation plan you described when you came to my Northeast recently still has no outline; today you must lay it out clearly, otherwise I won't let you leave!"

Zhang Shaoshuai said this, pretending to grab Lv Muzhi's sleeve so he couldn't leave.

Hearing this, Lv Muzhi put down his cup, his expression serious: "Principal, Young Marshal, the industrial innovation plan is by no means empty talk, much less boasting. This matter concerns the industrial foundation of the Northeast for the next ten or even twenty years; how could I dare to trifle with it?"

Looking at Zhang Shaoshuai, his gaze sincere: "Hanqing brother, I saw with my own eyes in America that its industrial technology advances day by day, far beyond what our existing equipment can compare with, and is even more advanced than the Japanese by far."

The machines at the Fengtian Arsenal were mostly introduced around the time of the European War, used for seven or eight years; setting aside performance wear and tear, the specifications and quality of the weapons produced already lag behind Japan's latest equipment. As our most important military industry base, I propose we replace them as soon as possible."

Zhang Shaoshuai lowered his head; these words hit his sore spot. He and the Japanese had a blood feud, and he knew the Northeast Army's equipment lagged behind the Japanese army's. "The reasoning is sound, but full replacement—how easy is that? Funds, technology, time—all are problems."

"This is exactly where the Pacific Foundation can play a role," Lv Muzhi interjected. "The funds within the Foundation must, by regulation, be used to purchase in America. We can use this money to order a full set of America's most advanced machine tools for the Fengtian Arsenal."

The Principal coughed a few times: "Cough cough, Wei Yue, this is a huge sum of money..."

Lv Muzhi explained: "Principal might as well view this as an investment. Hanqing brother follows the Principal's lead—that we all know. Upgrading Northeast industry and producing fine weapons can consolidate national defense; this is a benefit to the nation."

"At the same time, the outdated equipment being phased out is not entirely useless. The industrial foundations of the inland provinces are weak; these pieces of equipment are still treasures to them."

"We can dismantle these old production lines and transport them inland, for example to the Gongxian Arsenal, expanding the scale of the Gongxian Arsenal."

"This way, we avoid wasting resources and support inland industry; in practice, we can save quite a bit of money."

Lv Muzhi looked at Zhang Xueliang and proposed a more specific plan: "Hanqing brother, I am currently investing in industry and mining in Sichuan Province, and there will be weapon production lines in the future. You gradually dismantle and transport Fengtian's old production lines to Gongxian, and at the same time send workers to my Sichuan Province to receive training from American engineers, so that once the new equipment arrives, production can begin immediately."

"Sounds not bad," Zhang Xueliang said slowly, "but after the old equipment is removed and before the new equipment arrives, during that gap, where am I supposed to get ammunition?"

"It can be done in batches: first dismantle and send one batch to the Gongxian Arsenal. All equipment produced at the Gongxian Arsenal using your equipment will be returned to you. By transferring in multiple batches, equipment production can continue uninterrupted."

"Then when can I see the new equipment from America?"

"Around September next year—less than a year away. During this time, first clear out space."

Zhang Shaoshuai looked meaningfully at the Principal and Lv Muzhi: "You wouldn't be planning to strip my production line and not return it afterward, would you? The old ones gone, and the new ones not coming?"

Lv Muzhi pointed at Zhang Shaoshuai and laughed: "Haha, Hanqing brother is drunk! This does us no good at all. If we really did that, over these old pieces of equipment we'd make enemies of three hundred thousand Northeast Army troops, causing chaos across the land—what would be the point? Isn't that lifting a stone only to drop it on our own feet?"

"Also, I'll immediately invite American engineers to come to the Northeast to discuss specific technical details, and ask the American Envoy to mediate and supervise. What do you think?"

Zhang Shaoshuai looked at the Principal again. The Principal thought for a moment: "If doing this can win Hanqing's sincere support, I have no objection. Let's do it as Wei Yue says."

Zhang Shaoshuai then held his forehead: "Haha, I was drunk just now and spoke nonsense—please don't take it to heart. Let's do it as Little Brother Wei Yue says!"

In the few days after the victory celebration, Lv Muzhi discussed matters in detail with Zhang Shaoshuai again.

Lv Muzhi proposed: To unify the caliber of firearms and ammunition nationwide, for light weapons, the newly ordered equipment will no longer use the Fengtian Arsenal's 6.5 caliber, but rather 7.92 caliber; other light and heavy weapons will also adopt the caliber fully unified with Lv Muzhi's arsenal in Sichuan Province.

This proposal won Zhang Shaoshuai's approval; he had long wanted to decouple from the Japanese.

After the Beiping victory banquet, all matters were concluded. Lv Muzhi bade farewell to the Principal and the Young Marshal and set off southward.

The train reached a station within Hebei Province, where it happened to encounter a unit briefly resting there—Song Xilian's regiment.

Only to see on the open ground outside the station, hundreds of Shanxi Army soldiers captured in the Central Plains War squatted in a dense mass. Song Xilian stood on a dirt platform, hands on his hips, lecturing this group of prisoners.

"Listen up! We've already negotiated with Yan Laoxi; in two days we'll send you back. All of you behave yourselves, and don't cause trouble anymore!"

Lv Muzhi walked to the edge of the platform. Song Xilian also jumped down from the platform, came up beside Lv Muzhi, and waved the roster with a smile: "Brother Weiyue, look—there really is a Whampoa elementary school junior in here! Too bad he followed the wrong person; this time he's become a prisoner."

Lv Muzhi casually flipped through it; names were densely packed, with unit designations, ranks, and native places clearly listed.

Song Xilian's finger stopped on one name: "Look, Chu Yunfei, Whampoa Fifth Phase, company commander with the rank of captain."

"Chu Yunfei?" Lv Muzhi murmured the name once, then understood—it was his own student. But back then Lv Muzhi had been busy with the Northern Expedition and hadn't gone to teach.

This really was a film-and-television crossover world!

Lv Muzhi turned and ordered: "Go, bring that Whampoa Fifth Phase Chu Yunfei over here."

Soon, a captain-rank officer was brought over.

Chu Yunfei's uniform was somewhat damaged, but his posture was upright, and between his brows was a calmness unlike ordinary prisoners; his face still showed some unwillingness to submit.

Lv Muzhi sized him up: Like him! So much like him!

He asked directly: "You are Chu Yunfei? From Whampoa Fifth Phase? I'm from the First Phase, and I once served as Whampoa's Topography Instructor!"

"Reporting to Instructor, yes!" Chu Yunfei's voice was loud and clear.

"How is the treatment in the Shanxi Army? Why did you join Commander Yan's command?" Lv Muzhi asked casually.

Chu Yunfei answered frankly: "Reporting to Commander, a soldier's duty is to obey orders; serving in any unit is serving the country. As for treatment, I have nothing to report."

Song Xilian snorted from the side: "Still quite stiff-necked."

Lv Muzhi nodded instead: "Since you applied to Whampoa Fifth Phase, why didn't you stay on in the Central Army?"

Chu Yunfei lifted his head and said nothing.

Song Xilian laughed: "No need to ask—Yan Laoxi is fickle. Chu Yunfei is a Shanxi man; how could we dare retain him? He could only go back and be a Shanxi Army soldier!"

"Kill me if you want, stop wasting words," Chu Yunfei shouted.

"Little school junior, you're still full of spirit! I said I'd send you back to your Commander Yan—you want to die? Not a chance!" Song Xilian laughed.

"Whampoa Fifth Phase—what a pity. Graduated in Year 27, and after three years you're only a company commander. Interested in following me? You're my student; I can't bear to see you die." Lv Muzhi stepped forward, deliberately making his Major General rank insignia clearly visible.

Hearing this, Chu Yunfei was visibly stunned, looking at Lv Muzhi's gleaming general's star: "Commander is?"

"Whampoa Class 1, Lv Muzhi."

"Don't Know it's that Lv Muzhi Lv Commander who backed the Principal in the Hua Yang Battle and was a Ten Thousand Man Enemy in the Nanchang Battle?" Chu Yunfei said in surprise.

"What, someone impersonating me?"

Chu Yunfei at this time had his hands bound behind his back, walked quickly to Lv Muzhi's front, lowered his head: "Request Senior Classmate pull Junior Classmate a hand!"

Lv Muzhi and Song Xilian smiled at each other, "Xilian, I take him away no problem, right?"

"In principle no, but you take him away no problem, just a small Company Commander, no one notices him."

"Thanks, next time I treat you alcohol."

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Lv Muzhi brought Chu Yunfei onto the train, together returned to Sichuan.

"Commander, don't know how you arrange me?"

"I guarantee you be Regiment Commander how about? Promote two levels in a row."

"Willing for Lu Commander go through soup and tread fire! May I ask in which unit serve?"

"Police Force..."

"Police?! How come still have Regiment Commander?"

"Police General Regiment, help me watch the minefield, what do you think of the name Central Mining Police Corps?"