afterglow

Chapter 573 What to do; Modified vehicles and armored personnel carriers
"This is quite unusual."

After figuring out the whole story, Zhu Lingjing couldn't help but laugh.

It is an enviable anecdote that a wife actively accepts a concubine for her husband, but the latter refuses.

"Daizhao Zhou is the only child in the family. We should not take his son's affairs lightly. He has come to your Majesty for help. It can be seen that his wife is very anxious." Su Yiyi said with a smile.

"That's not funny." Zhu Lingjing frowned slightly and knocked on the table, "His family will be in chaos if it continues like this."

How can one's own household affairs be revealed like this? The dignified wife could not convince her husband about the matter of having an heir, and the seriousness of the problem had reached such an extent.

She has never been satisfied with Mr. Zhou's personal affairs, and feels that the way this guy handles things internally is very problematic.

Xia Xiaoshi was supposed to grow into a majestic, calm, and wise general's wife, and be a good wife of the famous generals of the country, but her performance was not satisfactory.

But this is not her own fault, it is largely caused by Zhou's pampering and indulgence. For example, if you are supposed to attend a banquet and Xia Xiaoshi complains about someone she doesn't like and doesn't want to see them, then Zhou Changfeng will usually agree and say just don't go, and so on.

This is what makes Zhu Lingjing feel speechless - Zhou Changfeng has coddled a smart and good girl into a maverick and arbitrary lady!
"It has to stop there. He's putting nails in his own coffin and he doesn't even realize it."

Not long after, the phone rang, and Zhou Changfeng, who picked up the phone, was surprised when he heard a familiar voice coming from it.

"You'll find out later." Xia Xiaoshi said mysteriously.

The latter argued aggrievedly: "I tried to persuade you in a good voice last night, but you just didn't listen. What else can I do?"

Of course Xia Xiaoshi knew that family scandals should not be made public, but in her mind, the emperor was an exception, so it was not surprising that she wrote a handwritten complaint.

After entering the room, he turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, then laid his wife down on his legs, then waved and took a picture...

Another person who was informed of the incident was Zhou's sister Zhou Roujia.

"That's the hard part. I'll think about what to do tonight."

Zhu Lingjing was very helpless about this. It was really inconvenient to interfere with this kind of thing, but she really couldn't let it go anymore.

After persuading him like this for more than a quarter of an hour, the phone call was finally over.

“Hard work pays off, so what’s the point?”

"Pia! Pia! Pia!"

Xia Xiaoshi was confused about the "seventy years" he specifically mentioned, but she didn't think about it deeply.

An eldest sister is like a mother, so Zhou Changfeng had no choice but to nod in agreement.

Loud, very loud!

Zhou Changfeng said sadly and angrily: "Today I will strictly enforce the family rules to strengthen my husband!"

"So proud? What happened today?" he asked curiously.

Zhou Changfeng, who had black lines all over his head, stared at his elated wife without saying a word.

"Using the power of the imperial court to help me find women. As you can imagine, I still want to lose face. If I dare to do this, I will definitely become a big black spot in seventy years."

He hurriedly asked: "Who else did you tell?!"

"That's outrageous! You're just playing the piano randomly!" Hearing this, Zhou Changfeng, who was making tea, was shocked.

He directly pulled Xia Xiaoshi up, hugged her right waist, and climbed the stairs to the second floor living room with her in his arms.

The latter smiled quite arrogantly and said: "I can't control you, Zhou Kexing, but there are still people in the world who can control you."

Ruined! This is embarrassing, I hope it hasn’t spread...

"Worried about chaos at home? There is no man who can't control his family. Don't worry. Make roads over mountains and build bridges over rivers. That's what you said when you were young. How confident you are."

He could only explain quickly, claiming that if there were too many women in the family, it would be easy for them to quarrel, become jealous and lead to chaos.

"If it doesn't get in the way, then forget it, but now there are already bad signs." Zhu Lingjing, who hated iron and not steel, shook her head slightly, "It's unreasonable for a highly respected minister to make a joke."

"I think this matter is more important than face, and my sister and Your Majesty are not outsiders." Xia Xiaoshi, blushing, still refused to admit defeat.

No, once this kind of thing goes out of the house, how can it be concealed? Judging from the attention it has received, I am afraid that it will be known to the whole city and even the whole country in a day or two.

"No, Xiaoshi, have you figured out the root cause of this?" Zhou Changfeng explained patiently: "The root cause is that the woman who takes the initiative to greet you is unreliable. I don't have time to pick or test women now."

Ever since, when Zhou Changfeng came home in the evening, he saw his wife looking very proud.

Zhou Roujia on the other end of the phone said sincerely: "You have become a big deal now. I can't say anything else, but you must not neglect important private matters."

"You have taught after all, think about what will be written in the textbooks in the future!"

In an instant, he understood why Xia Xiaoshi looked so confident before, and now he was filing a complaint.

"Oh, I even wrote a letter to the palace. Your Majesty must be very concerned about this matter."

Xia Xiaoshi curled her lips and said, "I don't need to bother you, General Zhou. You just need to speak, and someone will do it for you. Isn't this a piece of cake for the imperial court?"

Zhu Lingjing only felt that it was quite difficult, but she knew that this matter could not be tolerated any longer - everything goes well with a good wife, and there must be a limit to doting on your wife!
[Organize a guidance group on how to correct General Zhou’s personal life style. 】

Xia Xiaoshi was startled for a moment, "Just...just these two."

"Isn't this easy to solve?" Su Yiyi hesitated: "After all, it is Zhou Taizhao's private matter..."

"So you're going to file a complaint? How can you just talk about family matters to the outside world?"

"But Your Majesty, if we intervene abruptly, it will appear too strong..."

"My wings are hard, Xiaoshi, you dare to complain."

After such a fuss, Zhou Changfeng put his wife back on the bed.

I saw her cheeks were red, her deep eyes were reflecting the sunset, and she was curled up looking pitiful.

prey! Greedy prey!

Intrigued, he leaned over and pounced directly!

After a while, the sun sets over the western mountains and the red clouds fly.

Zhou Changfeng leaned in front of the window and said helplessly: "It's so embarrassing. I'm afraid there will be an uproar. I'm going to find a place to hide from the limelight." Thirty-six strategies are the best way to go.

At first, he even planned to take a plane and fly away to the front line thousands of miles away under the pretext of inspecting the defense situation on Oahu.

But now there are still many important plans and ideas on hand that have not been arranged, so I gave up the idea.

The Ordnance Bureau today preliminarily determined the technical specifications for the continuous-use general-purpose machine gun and the intermediate-power ammunition squad-use light machine gun. This is roughly the plan for light weapons.

So next... we should consider armored personnel carriers and various self-propelled artillery.

In this case, the next journey... is Suncheon!
The next morning, a special passenger plane modified based on the Type 35 transport aircraft took off from the Gyeonggi No. 2 Air Force Base and flew north.

Shuntian was once the northern imperial capital among the two capitals and thirteen provinces, the core of the Ming Empire, and was later occupied by the two major regimes of Shun and Qing.

The reason why Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty chose to move the capital to Shuntian has been an important topic of discussion since ancient times. It has been a hot topic for a long time and has continued to attract debate for hundreds of years.

Some people say that this is because Zhu Di's base is in the north and he cannot live well in the south.

Some people say that this is the core of the emperor's defense of the country, and the important military town must be at the emperor's feet.

Some people say that this is due to the poor in the south and the rich in the north. If the whole country is unified, the North and South list case is likely to happen again. The short-sighted people in the government and the public may be encouraged to abandon the land of Yanyun in the north. In order to continue the strategy of Ming Taizu and avoid division, the only choice is The capital was moved to Shuntian.

There are different opinions on the above.

As for the Later Ming Dynasty, Xianzong after Shizu stayed in Shuntian all the year round. He did not return to Yingtian until he pacified the northwest and recovered his hometown in Anxi. During these more than 20 years, Shuntian still shouldered the important responsibility of the imperial capital.

Since modern times, Yanyun land, which is rich in coal and iron resources and has advantages in port and shipping, has become a hotbed for the development of heavy industry.

After a few brave pioneers invested in heavy industry and made a fortune, powerful people with land and wealth continued to try to change careers, and bit by bit they transformed from the land-occupying rentier landlord class to the bureaucratic bourgeoisie.

At present, nearly half of the steel produced in the Ming Dynasty is smelted in Shuntianfu and Beizhili. In these steel plants, tens of thousands of tons of molten red-hot molten steel are poured into crude steel ingots every day, and then loaded onto trains and transported to rolling mills.

“I think steel output is still too small, just over 10 million tons, which is not enough.”

On the way to the No. 1 Heavy Machinery Company, Zhou Changfeng complained to the chief of Shuntianfu Military Department who came to pick up the car.

The latter sighed and replied: "Who says it's not the case? It's a pity that the quality of the iron ore in our country is not good, and the iron yield is low. Three thousand kilograms may not be worth another thousand kilograms."

"But our country also has high-grade iron ore, right? The ones in Hainan are said to be very good?"

"Exactly, but not all the mined ores were used, a large part was stored."

"Isn't this a joke? The war is in full swing, why are you saving up? After the war, you can buy as much as you want."

During this conversation, the convoy arrived at the eastern suburbs of Shuntianfu City.

Numerous buildings of the First Heavy Machinery Company came into view, with large red brick factory buildings one after another.

This giant government-owned enterprise has a wide range of business operations, manufacturing artillery, tanks, armored vehicles, locomotives, carriages, cranes, bulldozers, tractors, etc.

"See Zhou Qianshi. The new factory is in the northern suburbs. This place is an old factory. It has been around for three generations. It looks a bit run-down." The person in charge introduced it with his hand.

"It's okay, just lead the way." Zhou Changfeng waved his hand nonchalantly.

While passing through many workshops, he saw rows of tanks parked under simple sheds. They were all Type 37 light tanks and Type 38 medium tanks painted with orange anti-rust paint. They seemed to have been parked for a long time. .

Why! A shameful waste!

As one of the few companies that owns a 10000-ton hydraulic press, a 4000-ton hydraulic press, and a 5000-ton rolling mill, there is no doubt about the production and processing capabilities of First Heavy Machinery Company.

Before seeing its appearance, I heard its sound first. The huge roar reached my ears first, and then I saw the huge steel body of the large equipment. Being in such a workshop, I couldn't help but feel excited.

In times of peace, money and possessions provide comfort.

But when war is raging, only steel, explosives, and oil can make people feel at ease.

Later, Zhou Changfeng and his party took a car to the administrative office area on the edge of the factory.

Stepping into the elegant and simple courtyard, crossing the threshold and walking into the room, I saw six or seven engineers and executives waiting here.

"I've kept everyone waiting, so I'll get straight to the point." He glanced at everyone present and elaborated: "First, idle tanks cannot be wasted and must be utilized to the maximum extent. The statistics I have found so far show that there are about five hundred Various combat vehicles are stranded in the port and factory area, and they must be used as soon as possible. "

Then, he roughly listed the types of vehicles needed and the modification strategies.

He had discussed these contents with Luo Fu many times before and knew them well.

The Type 9.9 light tank, which has an empty weight of 38.4 tons and uses a mm tank gun, is outdated and should be discontinued. Those that have been produced will be immediately refitted and can be converted into light self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and self-propelled anti-tank guns.

The first type is equipped with a twin-mounted Type 20.8- mm anti-aircraft gun. It is not specially designed and manufactured to rotate the turret. It is directly installed on the vehicle body, but it must be protected by surrounding armor steel plates and has an open roof.

The second type is equipped with a 48-type mm anti-tank gun, which is also directly installed on the vehicle body. It uses a fixed fighting chamber and the top cover can be opened and closed.

Then there is the Type 18.1 medium tank with a better load capacity. It weighs 48 tons empty and uses a mm tank gun. Although it is still the backbone of the Ming Army's armored forces, its potential is limited and not worth exploring further. It can be converted into a self-propelled howitzer. .

The third type is equipped with a Type III-IV 112mm howitzer, which is still mounted directly on the body, using a fixed combat chamber and an openable top cover.

"Determine the purpose first," Zhou Changfeng warned in a serious tone: "The essence of this kind of modified vehicle is 'simple and efficient', using idle things to play a role. If it is made too complicated, the original meaning will be lost."

Someone immediately responded: "Zhou Qianshi's instructions are correct!"

There are no technical details to talk about when converting existing chassis into various vehicles - after omitting the rotating turret, the modification work can be said to be simple and crude.

Later, the meeting came to the armored transport vehicle that Zhou valued very much.

Because of the different national conditions and combat areas, the armored personnel carriers needed by the Ming army have their own characteristics.

Take the German army as an example. In their armored force combat theory, they emphasize that tanks should not operate independently, but must be accompanied by highly mobile infantry, engineers, and artillery. They should be equipped with a light armored vehicle that can carry personnel.

As a result, the German army developed the Sdkfz250/251 half-track vehicle based on this, which became a major iconic equipment.

However, there are differences in the purposes proposed by Zhou Changfeng. Generally speaking, they are:

Personnel carriers can quickly transport infantry to any location - neither artillery blockades nor streams or lakes can stop them. The armor can withstand attacks from small arms, and the weapons can support infantry combat in low-intensity battles.

"In this case, it is not enough to be able to wade through water alone. This type of tank must be able to float. If the design of a temporary floating tank is allowed... it will not be difficult." An engineer said.

"It would be best to be able to launch directly into the water, but if you can't do it technically, you can settle for the next best thing. You can't delay the construction. I hope..." Zhou Changfeng suddenly changed his mind and said categorically: "No, I want to have the prototype car ready within a year. Get it out.”

(End of this chapter)