xymnovel Chapter 58 Teasing the Balance
Chapter 58 Teasing the Balance
The increased output of the Gongyi Blacksmith Shop also made the hidden transportation route connecting Shanxi and the Xingtai mountain area increasingly busy and important.
In Shanxi, whether it was the regular Eighth Route Army troops or local guerrillas and militia, the enthusiasm for sabotaging and collecting railway materials was unprecedentedly high, driven by the unspoken exchange rate of "one section of rail for a box of grenades, one fishplate for a bayonet".
Sabotaging the railway was no longer just about delaying the Japanese army; it became a direct means of obtaining valuable "hard currency." Rails, rails, spikes, wires... any metal that could be dismantled was transported away by all means of smuggling.
The hacksaw blades provided by Chen Yuan solved the problem of transporting long railway tracks. The tracks, cut into sections, were easier to carry on donkeys and people's backs, disappearing into the ravines of the Taihang Mountains.
Correspondingly, the amount of supplies shipped from Gouzi Village to Shanxi and then distributed to various military units began to rise sharply.
In the month following the completion of the mill and the initial relief of the energy bottleneck, astonishing production figures were recorded.
More than 3000 rifles and bayonets of various types were produced. This quantity was enough to equip several main regiments, allowing a large number of soldiers to bid farewell to their crude broadswords and spears and acquire reliable close-combat weapons.
More than 5000 stick grenade bodies were produced. Although the bases still needed to assemble the gunpowder and fuses themselves, the uniform, sturdy bodies with good fragmentation properties greatly improved the power and reliability of the grenades.
More than 400 cast iron anti-personnel mines. This type of defensive weapon was extremely rare before.
More than 1200 military shovels and pickaxes—these seemingly ordinary tools are crucial for building fortifications and setting up camps.
In addition, a small number of newly repaired rifles, mass-produced simple daggers, leather cutters, and other items were also shipped out along with the supplies.
High quality, large quantity, and stable supply.
As batches of "Gouzi-made" equipment spread throughout the troops, and as companies equipped with uniform, sharp bayonets and a sufficient number of "Border Region-made" but heavy-duty grenades entered the battle, the name Gouzi Village, and the mysterious "blacksmith shop" that could produce so much fine ironware, began to circulate among the middle and high-ranking commanders of the Eighth Route Army, especially the 129th Division and the Taihang Base Area.
Despite strict confidentiality requirements that limited the scope of knowledge regarding the specific location and details, the logistics departments of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters and the 129th Division Headquarters had already included the "Xingtai Third District Gouzi Village Ordnance Site" in their most important supply list and priority guarantee unit.
Not to mention, the Gongyi Blacksmith Shop also produces a large number of civilian ironware, and has become the largest commodity exporter in the western mountainous area of Xingtai.
Various supplies urgently needed by the base areas were continuously circulated to the base areas through various channels.
This not only provides the supplies needed by Gouzi Village.
The supplies needed by the anti-Japanese government, including sulfur and saltpeter, were also delivered to the base areas by various merchants who broke through the blockade of the Japanese and puppet troops.
This actually solved part of the base area's financial problems.
The Japanese military was not unaware of the anomaly.
The Zhengtai and Tongpu railways were frequently attacked, with an intensity and thoroughness far exceeding that of the past.
The Eighth Route Army seemed to have developed an unusual interest in the railway tracks themselves, and sometimes they were even willing to pay a considerable price for a section of track.
This led to frequent disruptions in railway transportation, severely hindering the movement of supplies and troops.
"The enemy's grenade throwing appears to be more frequent than before, and the fragmentation kill radius and power have increased."
"In close combat, the bayonets carried by enemy soldiers were more standardized and sharper, and when fighting against the bayonets of our Type 38 rifles, they were not at a disadvantage and even had an advantage at times."
"When the Communist army responds to our attacks, it often lays landmines, which are quite powerful and have caused a lot of casualties."
"The enemy's earthmoving efficiency has improved, and they commonly use standard shovels and pickaxes."
These sporadic reports initially did not attract enough attention, but as similar intelligence accumulated on multiple fronts, the Japanese military staff had to begin to examine the issue.
At an intelligence summary and analysis meeting at the headquarters of the First Army in Taiyuan, the staff officers argued endlessly over maps and reports.
"Judging from the methods used to sabotage the railways, the Communist army has an unusually strong need for metal, which is different from their previous purposes of sabotaging transportation lines," a staff officer in charge of logistics pointed out.
"Frontline troops report that the enemy is using more and better quality grenades and bayonets than ever before. This requires considerable steel and processing capabilities," an operations staff officer added.
"But according to the intelligence we have, the so-called arsenals of the Communist Army in the Taihang Mountains are nothing more than scattered repair shops with extremely rudimentary equipment, mainly relying on manual forging and black powder. It is absolutely impossible for them to mass-produce standard bayonets and high-quality cast iron bullets," the head of the intelligence agency asserted.
"There is no doubt that their base of operations lacks a decent industrial base."
The Japanese high command fully acknowledged this point, as they had already thoroughly investigated the situation in China and even used maps that were clearer than those made by the Chinese themselves.
The Japanese would never have imagined that such a factory existed in the Taihang Mountains.
This type of standard equipment cannot be produced by ordinary factories; it requires large, standardized factories.
The debate quickly centered on where these "extra" and improved equipment came from.
Several guesses have been put forward:
"Lucia is very likely," an advisor familiar with international intelligence analyzed.
"They have always provided covert support to the Comintern branch. Although the main aid was given to the Chongqing government, it is not entirely impossible that some light weapons and raw materials were infiltrated into northern Shaanxi through Outer Mongolia or Xinjiang, and then transferred to North China. Although the shape of those bayonets is similar to that of Shanxi-made bayonets, their manufacturing process may have shown traces of Soviet technology."
"We can't rule out the possibility of Chongqing's involvement either," another staff officer disagreed.
"The Chiang Kai-shek government was internally divided into factions. Perhaps some generals or departments secretly exchanged supplies with the Communists in order to contain our army in North China. The arsenals controlled by the Nationalist government were capable of producing these standard weapons."
"Perhaps the Communist army consolidated its scattered repair capabilities, established a relatively large stronghold in a safe area, and carried out centralized production and improvement by seizing our supplies and equipment?" Some people raised different opinions, but they were immediately refuted.
"Even so, the extent of the improvement in its production capacity and quality is hard to explain. It would be impossible without stable raw materials and electricity, and without decent machine tools."
Ultimately, the meeting tended to conclude that the slight improvement in the Eighth Route Army's equipment was most likely due to external assistance, whether from Russia or Chongqing, which, while limited in nature and scale, was sufficient to have a certain impact locally.
The meeting required intelligence agencies to strengthen monitoring of material distribution channels in relevant directions and to intensify reconnaissance of any potentially large-scale "weapon distribution centers" or "transport nodes" that the Eighth Route Army might establish.
As for the existence of a highly efficient, concealed, near-small-scale arms factory production site within the base area?
This idea went beyond their imagination based on their knowledge of China, especially the rural areas behind enemy lines and the "Eighth Route Army," and was considered "lacking in factual basis."
After the meeting, relevant reconnaissance orders were issued, and the Japanese army intensified aerial reconnaissance and ground espionage activities on possible transport routes and material stockpiles on the edge of base areas in an attempt to find the imagined "external aid channel".
Their attention was drawn more to the Yellow River crossings, flat areas, and regions where secret transportation lines were rumored to pass through.
They could hardly imagine, nor could they believe, that in a small mountain village deep in the Taihang Mountains, a "spark" ahead of its time was quietly shifting the balance of power in a way they could not comprehend.
However, this continuous output and increasingly frequent mobilization of resources are like a whirlpool that keeps expanding beneath a calm surface, and the disturbances it causes will eventually spread outwards.
Although Gouzi Village is located deep in the mountains and in a secluded location, with the surge in output, the increased frequency of transport teams and the increase in outside merchants, it is inevitable that more traces will be left behind.
The anti-Japanese regime had taken this issue into consideration and decided to strengthen the external management of the Third District to prevent enemy agents from entering Gouzi Village.
The military and civilian products produced in Gouzi Village do not come into direct contact with outsiders; they all have to go through the organization.