1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 90

He is also a veteran, so he is very sensitive to the feel and weight of a rifle. He finds it easy to use, especially the weight, which is only 3.8 kilograms. If the magazine is removed, it might be even lighter.

Furthermore, this gun uses mature designs and carries little risk. The Mauser rifles used by the National Defense Forces on the battlefield are far more reliable and effective than the Hanyang Type 88 rifle.

The military still had great faith in Mauser designs. The German-made full-power rifle cartridges had some ballistic issues, but they were not a major problem. The most important thing was that the cost had to be low.

The National Defense Army had many criticisms of the existing Hanyang rifle. The biggest problem with the domestically produced Hanyang rifle was that in high-intensity battles, after continuous firing, the rifle would jam and the bolt would be difficult to pull.

Moreover, the round-nosed bullets of the Hanyang rifle and the pointed bullets used by light and heavy machine guns were not interchangeable. The rifle could not fire machine gun bullets, and the machine gun could not fire rifle bullets. The logistics department caused a lot of trouble because of the wrong bullets. Therefore, Dai Mingde now attaches great importance to the problem of the interchangeability of rifle and machine gun ammunition.

The biggest drawback of this gun is that the barrel is a bit short, which does not meet the army's requirements for bayonet fighting. However, it is not a big problem because it is lighter in weight. Compared with bayonet tactics, the army attaches more importance to mobility.

Even if the main battle weapon were to lose half a kilogram in weight, or even just 100 grams, the army would be extremely pleased.

Don't underestimate the difference of a few hundred grams. When traveling long distances, no burden is too light. Being able to lose half a kilogram can save soldiers a considerable amount of energy on the battlefield.

“Very good. This rifle can be sent to the Army Weapons Testing Range for testing. As long as it can pass a series of tests, I believe the military will be very willing to accept it.”

"This magazine is such an eyesore; it's best to remove it before sending it over. What's needed most on the battlefield isn't innovation, but reliability. Technological advancements must be based on real-world needs."

"Therefore, Director Liu, you must be down-to-earth and not be overly ambitious. The country is facing difficulties right now, and large sums of money are needed everywhere. The arsenal also needs to consider the actual situation!"

Liu Qing'en remained silent, his neck stiff, but his expression clearly showed his resentment.

The two continued to inspect the development of new weapons, with the two most important projects being light machine guns and submachine guns.

Light machine guns are now the core of firepower for infantry squads in the National Defense Army. In every battle, the most basic squad and platoon level of infantry tactics in the National Defense Army has been constantly evolving, but the importance of light machine guns has become more and more important as the war progresses.

The Danish Armed Forces are currently the largest customer in the European light machine gun market, and the Danes are making a fortune selling Madsen light machine guns.

After the war, the military leadership would certainly not tolerate that the core firepower of the country's basic infantry forces would all have to be imported; domestic production was a must.

Whether it's a light machine gun or a heavy machine gun, it must be made in China. After all, we can buy weapons in China with Chinese yuan paper money, but imported goods all cost real money!

However, when Dai Mingde saw the first product that Liu Qing'en brought out, his face immediately darkened. The first light machine gun was a typical innovative work and also Liu Qing'en's masterpiece of high rate of fire.

After carefully studying the design structure of heavy machine guns from various countries, Liu Qing'en designed a new air-cooled general-purpose machine gun. As soon as Dai Mingde saw the machine gun covered with heat dissipation holes, he knew that this thing must be expensive.

What's even more deadly is that Liu Qing'en, this rate-of-fire maniac, not only adopted the already fast-firing short-recoil principle, but also added a powerful recoil spring to the bolt, directly increasing the machine gun's rate of fire to 1,200 rounds per minute.

Liu Qingen further stated that if the spring material could be improved, he was confident that he could increase the rate of fire of this machine gun to over 1,500 rounds!

This machine gun incorporates several innovative designs, fully demonstrating Liu Qing'en's talent in small arms design, but Dai Mingde's expression was very unpleasant.

This thing is a complete logistical black hole. With such an outrageous rate of fire, who can use it? Who dares to use it?

Light machine guns are currently the core offensive weapon for infantry squads. Once they are equipped, it won't be a few hundred, but several thousand. Just imagine how many bullets would be needed a day for several thousand light machine guns with a rate of fire of over a thousand. Dai Mingde simply couldn't accept such a thing happening.

For the National Defense Forces, which haven't even fully implemented the use of mules and horses, this machine gun is a money-devouring beast; it's unbearable even for training, let alone combat.

Not to mention, Liu Qing'en also adopted so many innovative designs, no one knows how this thing will perform in actual combat.

This new weapon didn't even qualify for the Army's testing range; it was directly incorporated into Dai Mingde's technology reserves.

Although Liu Qing'en knew this was the most likely outcome, his face still darkened with anger after hearing Dai Mingde's announcement!

Why did my painstaking work keep hitting roadblocks with Dai Mingde?

Continuing to examine the submachine gun project, Liu Qing'en rudely threw the new submachine gun in front of Dai Mingde, expressing his dissatisfaction both openly and covertly.

This new submachine gun was merely an amateur project by Liu Qing'en, whose main focus was on rifles and machine guns, so he was very perfunctory in designing the submachine gun.

The new submachine gun is a completely unacceptable and substandard product.

The all-steel structure made it easy to manufacture, but the gun body was covered with ugly welds. The arsenal had introduced new German welding technology, but they were still somewhat unfamiliar with its application.

The submachine gun's main body is just a round iron tube. The magazine is located at the bottom for easy gripping. The gun's mechanism is so simple that it can be described as rudimentary, relying entirely on spring-loaded return. The safety mechanism is also unreliable, relying on the ejection port cover and the bolt handle to achieve the safety function, making accidental discharge highly probable.

The submachine gun ammunition was also imported from Germany as pistol ammunition, 9mm caliber, which was the only way that the magazine could hold thirty rounds.

The rate of fire remained consistent with Liu's style, incredibly fast. After pulling the trigger, a magazine of bullets was emptied in less than three seconds.

The gun body exudes a cheap feel, lacking any industrial aesthetics and instead resembling a style of industrial garbage.

"We've tested this gun, and it has a lot of problems. It's prone to accidental discharge, jamming, and damage, almost like a disposable one. It needs further improvements."

Because of the tight schedule, we can only produce this semi-finished product right now.

Liu Qing'en felt a little embarrassed. Seeing Dai Mingde fiddling with it repeatedly and then going outside the factory to find some sandbags for live-fire shooting, Liu Qing'en's conscience got the better of him, and he emphasized to Dai Mingde that this thing was very unreliable.

But Dai Mingde took a liking to the thing at first sight. After tinkering with it repeatedly and even firing live ammunition at it, he excitedly asked, "This thing must not be expensive, right?"

Liu Qing'en replied, "If the order quantity is large, the ex-factory price can be reduced to eighteen yuan. This thing is not difficult to manufacture. From design to production, it only took three days."

"With further improvements, the performance will be much better, but the factory price will likely be..."

Dai Mingde waved his hand and said, "No need to change it, this price is fine, this gun is fine, no need for testing, I've made the decision!"

Liu Qing'en's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "What?! You want the soldiers to use this kind of gun?! Where's your conscience?!"

“What do you know about military matters? Just focus on making guns, you don’t need to worry about anything else!” Dai Mingde said.

Submachine gunners in the military are usually either members of commando units or members of the SS.

The commando members are much like the submachine gun in Dai Mingde's hand now; they are disposable, with a very high casualty rate. There is not much need for the durability of the weapons, because the commando team itself is not a durable product. If the people are not durable, then what about the guns?

The commando team needed a weapon that could unleash high-density firepower at close range in a short time. The previously deployed Type 2 Republic submachine gun was too expensive, and it used 11.43mm caliber bullets with a pitiful magazine capacity of only twenty rounds.

In Dai Mingde's view, this submachine gun is perfect: cheap and sufficient. That's perfection.

At this stage, what the national defense forces need is not high-tech products, but simply cheap and sufficient products. If these two points are achieved, the military will have no other problems!

Dai Mingde, who was initially very disappointed, found a bright spot in the submachine gun, so it wasn't a complete loss.

As for the light and heavy machine gun project, Dai Mingde planned to visit the Jinling Arsenal and the Jiangnan Gun and Cannon Bureau. He would purchase from whoever offered the lowest price.

Chapter 156 The Advancement of Heavy Weapons

Shanghai Longhua Road, late at night.

A horse-drawn carriage sped through the rain. Inside sat Lieutenant Colonel Liu Ting, Director of the Army Technical Equipment Bureau of the Joint Logistics Department. He was gazing at the road outside through the carriage's glass window, his eyes filled with worry through the rain-drenched glass.

A few minutes later, the coachman skillfully parked the carriage in front of the hotel, got out, and opened the door.

"Cheng Hui, five cents!"

Liu Ting took out his wallet, counted out the money, and handed it to the driver. The driver was very grateful: "Thank you, sir. If you need the car again tomorrow, I can wait at the door in advance."

Lieutenant Colonel Liu Ting thought for a moment, but ultimately declined with a pained expression: "No need, your carriage is too expensive!"

The coachman smiled and explained, "It's the middle of the night, and it's raining, so how could it not be expensive? You're a military officer, how can you go out in the rain? Riding in a carriage is much more prestigious."

Liu Ting waved his hand: "Let's see!"

As he got up and stepped out of the carriage, Liu Ting put on his officer's peaked cap, still thinking about running into the hotel to avoid getting his woolen officer's overcoat wet.

But the driver had already put up an oil-paper umbrella and placed it over Liu Ting's head, while he himself stood outside the umbrella getting soaked in the rain.

After being thoughtfully escorted to the hotel lobby, Liu Ting was finally convinced: "Alright, wait for me at the entrance at 6:40 tomorrow morning!"

"Understood, sir. I guarantee I'll arrive ahead of time and won't delay your business!" The driver left with a happy expression.

As a lieutenant colonel in the army and the director of the Joint Logistics Department, Liu Ting would have been entitled to a double-carried sedan chair in the Qing Dynasty. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhao Yan abolished the official sedan chair system and replaced it with horse-drawn carriages.

In theory, Liu Ting should also have the privilege of a private car, but the army simply didn't have the money to provide carriages for mid- to high-ranking officers. Usually, they would only provide horses, not carriages, and officers would ride horses for short trips.

Long-distance business trips are covered by a travel allowance, which averages 30 cents per day. Even at Liu Ting's level, the allowance is only 57 cents per day.

But in Shanghai, the starting price for a rickshaw is one cent, and a ride in a horse-drawn carriage starts at three cents. Hotels and inns cost several cents a night, and higher-end hotels and luxury inns cost several dollars a night.

Liu Ting is currently staying at an ordinary hotel. The owner, Jack, used to be British but has now become a Chinese citizen. However, he still feels inferior to others. Despite the hotel being quite nice, he doesn't dare to raise prices for fear of being targeted.

“Lieutenant Colonel, your dinner is ready and will be served hot. Would you like it served now?” Jack offered a towel with a fawning smile.

His hotel used to be in the British concession, and under British rule, Chinese guests had to pay double the price.

However, after the British concession was abolished and the republican government took back the concession, Jack became a phoenix with its feathers fallen. Although the republican government re-registered the legal assets of foreigners without depriving them, it levied additional and heavy foreign taxes.

Forced into a corner, Jack applied for a People's Republic of China citizen ID card, becoming a dual citizen in order to evade taxes. He also changed the hotel's English sign to Chinese: Yingjie Hotel!

Because Yingjie Hotel is close to the Jiangnan Gun Bureau, many military officers on business trips often stay here. After all, it's relatively cheap; a night's stay costs only 70 cents, and it's a single room with a dinner included.

"Please bring the food to my room. The room fee will be settled tomorrow. Please remember to get the receipt."

"Understood, Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Oh, by the way, you don't need breakfast tomorrow!"

"As you wish!"

Liu Ting planned to go to the gun and cannon bureau for a free meal. He couldn't afford to eat out anymore. The travel expenses were only a few cents a day, which was not enough to support him. He would have to pay out of his own pocket every day. His monthly salary would be spent on business trips!

A lieutenant colonel's monthly salary was only about fifty-five yuan, which was really not much in Shanghai.

After returning to his room, Liu Ting took a shower and lay in bed thinking about work.

He was ordered by Major General Dai Mingde, the minister, to come to the Gun and Cannon Bureau on a business trip to inspect the design of the army's new artillery.

Logically speaking, it should be Dai Mingde who examines the deployment and finalization plans for these high-value heavy weapons, while Liu Ting, as a subordinate, should be examining other light weapons.

But Liu Ting is more technically savvy; he's a graduate of MIT, having studied in the US.

Originally working in the mining sector, he resigned after the revolution broke out. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhao Yan took control of the capital, and Liu Ting rejoined the new government.

Liu Ting held several key positions in the Ministry of Industry, but was inexplicably transferred to the Joint Logistics Department this year, transforming from a civilian official into an active-duty lieutenant colonel, in charge of various affairs of the Army Technical Equipment Bureau.

Liu Ting's superior, Dai Mingde, valued him highly and took great care of his abilities. He personally helped Liu Ting obtain a lieutenant colonel's rank from the Ministry of National Defense. At only 33 years old, Liu Ting became a de facto lieutenant colonel and top officer as soon as he entered the military system. This treatment and rank were well commensurate with his abilities and education.

In front-line troops, lieutenant colonels are all real regimental commanders. Without experience in the Changsha Uprising or the Northern Expedition, they simply cannot rise to the rank of regimental commander!

"Sigh, the higher-ups only allocated so little funding for this project, it's a tough situation!"

Liu Ting lay on the bed sighing, feeling that the task at hand was too difficult.

The Joint Logistics Command attaches great importance to the modernization and deployment plan of the Army's heavy weapons. The infantry's light weapons are required to be low-cost and cheap enough to be effective. As long as the performance is not too far behind the international mainstream, it is acceptable.

However, the top leadership attaches great importance to heavy weapons, especially artillery, and believes that there must be a real and substantial improvement.

Although the attitude is very important, when it comes to specific funding, the Ministry of National Defense still provides very little money, which is typical of the idea of ​​doing a lot with little money.

Liu Ting has been inspecting the Jiangnan Arsenal for four days, but has not yet made a decision. It's not that the Arsenal can't manufacture artillery, nor that it lacks the technology and equipment; it's simply that the price doesn't meet the funding requirements.

The Jiangnan Arsenal is no longer as dilapidated as it was during the late Qing Dynasty. With the strong support from higher authorities, it has received more than seven million taels of silver in funding and imported a large amount of advanced equipment and technology from Germany.

The factories have now been moved to the banks of the Yangtze River estuary and are still expanding. Even shipyards and docks are under construction.

During the Qing Dynasty, the Jiangnan Arsenal was able to build some small warships, as well as cannons and shells for the navy, and even torpedoes, but core components still relied on imports.

After Zhao Yan took office, he repeatedly demanded that local industries increase their localization rate, and he also gritted his teeth and provided funds to import equipment and technology, and continuously sent technical personnel abroad for exchanges and learning.

Germany, as the main country sending and importing technology, has made a lot of money and is very willing to open its technology and equipment to the Chinese market. As long as there is money, it will give anything.

Jiangnan Gun and Cannon Bureau is one of only two companies in China currently equipped with a 10,000-ton forging press. It cost a full 3.1 million yuan to buy it from the Germans, and even that price was a fair one given by the Germans because they were long-time customers.

In addition to the 10,000-ton forging press, the Germans also sold a lot of other metal processing equipment to China, such as steam hammers and hydraulic presses. China's military manufacturing industry has initially acquired the ability to process large-caliber artillery, but the specific production process still relies on the guidance of foreign technicians.

It's not that there aren't enough local technical personnel, but rather that there are too few local technical personnel; the scale is too large, and there aren't enough.

The cost of bringing in foreign technical personnel is also quite high; otherwise, why would foreigners travel across the ocean to see you?

The costs of equipment, technology, research and development, manufacturing, and salaries are all there, which makes the price of high-tech weapons and equipment manufactured in China very expensive, even more expensive than the landed price of imported goods.

If the army could purchase thousands or tens of thousands of artillery pieces at once, the cost could be significantly reduced after being spread out. However, the army clearly does not have this capability, nor can it afford such a sum.

The military budget for 1908 was already limited, and the military allocated only four million dollars for artillery procurement. This amount might be sufficient for other purposes, but when it came to artillery, it was a drop in the ocean.

The army plans to use the money to purchase 1,000 artillery pieces to strengthen the heavy firepower of the ten standing armies, with each army needing at least 100 artillery pieces.

The artillery previously equipped by the army included a wide variety of cannons, including those imported during the war preparation period, those purchased at high prices during the war, those manufactured domestically, and those captured from the Beiyang Army. Over a thousand of these cannons were destroyed on the Korean Peninsula. After the war, these cannons were either lost or had to be retired due to their nearing the end of their service life.

Four million Han Yuan to buy a thousand cannons? That price wouldn't even buy mortars, let alone artillery.

After learning the purpose of Liu Ting's inspection, the Jiangnan Arsenal directly criticized the army for being unrealistic. They told him that if he didn't have the money, he should go to the Hanyang Arsenal to buy mortars to play with, as they were much cheaper there. The Jiangnan Arsenal would never sell its artillery at a low price.

The Jiangnan Gun and Cannon Bureau is currently on very good terms with the Navy's Sa Zhenbing and his group. Although they are also envious of the Army's orders, the prices offered by the Army are simply unacceptable.

Currently, the three leading military manufacturing enterprises in China, Hanyang Factory, Jinling Factory, and Jiangnan Factory, have received the most financial support from the central government and have all been acquired into state-owned enterprises. However, Zhao Yan does not treat state-owned enterprises like his own sons, but rather as mere laborers and beasts of burden.

With so much money coming in, the central authority has indicated that there will be no further support. What has already been given is the initial capital for these three major companies, and they will be responsible for their own profits and losses from now on.

If money is made, it's easy to split it 30/70: the central entity takes 70% to recover its losses, and the enterprise takes 30% to continue its development.

As for the loss, well, sorry, everyone got an admission notice for the reformatory, and the factory leadership and their families were all sent away!

Under immense pressure, state-owned enterprises dare not engage in favoritism or personal relationships; everything must be geared towards profit.

Lieutenant Colonel Liu Ting repeatedly appealed to the factory's emotions and reason, explaining in detail the current predicament facing the Army's development. Today, he stood outside the director's office of the Gun and Artillery Bureau for more than two hours before the director finally granted him a meeting.

But the factory manager remained adamant and refused all of Liu Ting's offers of credit, installment payments, and other methods.