afterglow

Chapter 581 I’ll give you a…Wu Wang Sword; Type all-terrain multi-purpose vehicle
When asked about this, Zhou Changfeng briefly described the situation to her.

Then he spread his hands very innocently and said: "I didn't expect it at all, Your Majesty. At first, I thought it was just the newly appointed general who got carried away and arrogantly came to the front line to show off his power. This... I feel bad if I don't reward him with a few shots."

"It turns out that you are the son of an earl and the husband of a princess. Princess Mary is the only daughter of King George V. Now the British hate you even more." Zhu Lingjing laughed dumbly.

"If you hate it, hate it. The relationship has been established a long time ago." Zhou Changfeng said nonchalantly: "Who told him to run to the front line without disguise."

"However, the British don't seem to know the reason now? I'm afraid they think it was just accidentally affected by German artillery fire."

"It seems so. Only we know the truth."

The British 2nd Armored Division subsequently captured nearly a hundred people for German combat reconnaissance. Through their confessions, everyone knew who the unlucky guy who was bombed was.

As for the British army, they naturally did not know who was behind the scenes. They only knew that the new division commander and the son of Earl Harewood were injured and the other died due to the sudden artillery fire of the German 12th Motorized Infantry Division.

"It's really pitiful to lose a husband in middle age, especially when the cause of death is unknown." Zhu Lingjing pondered for a moment and said leisurely: "I want to send a letter of condolences."

"Your Majesty, aren't you being sarcastic? It's so inappropriate to rub salt into the wound like this." Zhou Changfeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"My intention is good. If you think this is sarcasm, it's because they misunderstood and judge a gentleman with a villain's heart." She said in a calm tone: "The British attacked and killed our country's North Korean inspection team. This group of people is despicable and shameless, and it is enough for me not to be indifferent to them."

No, why are you so full of bad ideas?

Zhou Changfeng suddenly realized that the Zhu Lingjing in front of him was different from before. She seemed to have gradually let herself go after her father passed away.

The fun is great now, and I am afraid that in the future, whether at home or abroad, I will be tortured and have no peace of mind.

He thought for a while, then changed the subject and said, "Your Majesty, the scabbard of my saber was broken. Can I get a new one?"

Zhu Lingjing said "Oh" indifferently and sneered: "Isn't the request too low? On the contrary, it seems that the country is stingy and gives little reward."

Then, as if she thought of something, she stood up and walked around and said, "Come, let's see something good."

But when she opened the door, the cold wind blew against her face, making her shiver and immediately gave up the idea.

"It's so cold. I won't go now. Come back tomorrow."

"Uh...yes." Zhou Changfeng felt confused, but didn't ask any more questions.

The two chatted casually for a few more words, and the brief meeting ended.

nice one? What on earth could it be?
The next day.

The arrest of a congressman usually requires complicated procedures - the Criminal Division must give joint consent from one of the persons involved, the Deputy Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Minister of Internal Affairs.

However, as someone Zhou said, wartime is not ordinary time, and extraordinary measures must be used in extraordinary times.

The foreign police department chose to pick up the person first and then apply for a driving warrant, which is a high-level arrest warrant.

At dawn that day, Zhang Xucheng, an elected member of Zhejiang Province, was successfully arrested and brought to justice at his private residence in Yangzhou.

Zhou Changfeng had been handling various military affairs in the Governor's Mansion for the first half of the day. When he was busy, he forgot about many things.

It wasn't until the afternoon that he remembered the inexplicable "good things" Zhu Lingjing said last night.

After entering the palace, Zhu Lingjing just finished her meal, the timing was perfect.

The group took the shuttle bus first to the east and then to the south, passing by the three main halls, and finally arrived at the Wenzhao Pavilion on the left front of Fengtian Hall.

A side room here seems to have been converted into a private museum, which contains various cultural relics and antiques preserved in glass boxes.

"Your Majesty, do you still have this interest?" he asked curiously.

"No, these are all my father's favorites, and they are concentrated here."

In a corner, Zhou Changfeng saw several bronze swords, which showed a unique metallic luster under the light.

Zhu Lingjing pointed at them casually and said generously: "It's useless to keep them in the snow. I'd better give them to the museum in the future. And you, pick a handful."

what?
"Are these true?" Zhou Changfeng felt incredulous.

"Can we still have a holiday?"

"I don't recognize these..."

"Two swords of the King of Wu and one sword of the King of Yue." Zhu Lingjing thought for a while, pointed to the bronze sword on the left and said, "I won't give you the sword of the King of Yue, but you can choose the other two."

"Where did these two swords of King Wu come from? Were they found in ancient tombs?"

"There are quite a lot of King Wu's swords. There are five in total in the country. Some are from tomb robbers, and some are from unintentional archaeological excavations." Zhu Lingjing introduced proudly: "The characters cast on it are 'attack King Wu Fu Chai and make his own way. Use', mentioned in my graduation thesis."

Many years ago, her history thesis at Jianye University was about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which was a very rare topic.

Zhou Changfeng hesitated: "Uh... this bronze material will rust, and it is brittle, making it inconvenient to carry around."

Take it with you?

After hearing this, Zhu Lingjing almost couldn't help but want to punch him.

"This is for your collection! Want to take it with you? Find someone to make a replica." She said angrily.

"Really? This is too expensive."

"It should be." Zhu Lingjing said calmly.

"Then I want this one." Zhou Changfeng, with a tangled look on his face, pointed at one of the Wu Wang Fuchai swords, and then pretended to bow to him seriously and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the ancient sword!"

Zhu Lingjing glanced at him and uttered two words, "Pretentious."

"It's unfair, I am sincerely sincere!"

Rewarding and promoting someone Zhou has always been a headache for her.

In particular, the Battle of Oahu was of decisive significance and contributed greatly to the Ming Dynasty's invincibility on the Pacific battlefield.

Zhu Shiyan's previous plan was to transfer him back to his hometown and serve in the General Staff Office of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion for a period of time, while hiding in hiding while accumulating work experience in the General Staff Headquarters.

Facts have proved that there are many jealous people. Regarding the Battle of Molokai, there are rumors that this is because Zhou passively avoided the battle and was reluctant to let his 1st Marine Brigade attack, otherwise it would not end in failure at all.

Another argument is that the Battle of Molokai can obviously continue, but the attack was frustrated and there was no obvious disadvantage. The situation can still be saved. However, someone Zhou came to the conclusion that the troops must be withdrawn and evacuated. He must have selfish motives. . What is even more alarming is that some people with ulterior motives are binding the 1st Marine Brigade to someone Zhou, thereby subtly building a common understanding - the 1st Marine Brigade is only a subordinate of someone Zhou. Even just obey his orders.

It doesn't matter if you are isolated by either the political or military circles, but being hostile to both at the same time is a recipe for self-destruction - Zhu Lingjing is worried about this situation.

After comprehensive consideration, she decided not to make any decisions on this matter for the time being, and followed her father's plan to deal with it gently and coldly.

What makes her amused is that the current situation in the strategic stalemate stage has stabilized. Zhou's important responsibility as a front-line commander no longer exists, and the heaviest burden on his shoulders has actually become... giving birth to a son.

How hilarious!

Zhou Changfeng himself would certainly not admit this.

Damn it! There are so many things that I need to worry about, why do I focus on the issues of my children and future generations?

The first day of mid-December.

Hangzhou Huifeng Tractor Manufacturing Factory was busier than usual, crowded with people, and the employees lining both sides of the factory road were beaming with joy.

The first batch of Type 40 all-terrain multi-purpose vehicles has officially rolled off the production line. After being accepted by a group of commissioners from the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of War, they will be directly shipped and shipped overseas.

Zhou Changfeng also came to watch the excitement in person. On the one hand, he planned to experience this high-quality and low-priced car, and on the other hand, he came to inspect the conditions of this tractor factory.

Huifeng Factory is a tractor factory jointly established by Zhejiang merchants with the aim of improving the farming efficiency of local farmers. It has a history of about 20 years.

Since its completion, this factory has been continuously producing various types of tractors for the bottomless private market. The first time it received an order from the military was in the 32nd year of Zhichang, when Sunchon First Heavy Machinery Company was operating due to many internal and external reasons. Due to poor performance, production capacity dropped, so some orders for Sanyi-type guerrilla combat vehicles were outsourced to Huifeng Factory.

Since then, Huifeng Factory has tasted a different taste and gradually shifted its production capacity to this aspect.

Today, except for the production capacity of large die-casting parts, this factory is fully capable of producing various light or medium tanks.

It is worth mentioning that the Ming Army had an inherent negative impression of the Huifeng Factory because it was the first to manufacture military-standard tanks. It lacked experience, had poor quality control, and had a much higher failure rate than other manufacturers, so it received a lot of bad reviews.

Zhou Changfeng, who was very interested, got on a small four-wheel tractor and asked, "What is the maximum annual output of your tractor?"

The manager, Cheng Bingsheng, was worried that he would not be well received and was afraid that he would be injured due to a bump, so he nervously replied: "The annual production capacity of crawlers is 10,000, and the annual production capacity of wheeled ones is 30,000."

"Oh? It's quite a lot."

The products of Huifeng Factory include: crawler tractors, which use 70-horsepower diesel engines, and are called Dafeng by the people; wheel tractors, which use 25-horsepower diesel engines, and are called Xiaofeng; and a smaller 15-horsepower wheel tractor. tractor, called Xiaoxiaofeng.

Because the terrain characteristics of southern China are not suitable for large-scale mechanized farming, there is not much demand for large crawler tractors, and the market has gradually become saturated in more than ten years.

Small and medium-sized wheeled tractors have always been popular because they are convenient for working in complex and scattered farmland and are easy to maintain, and demand exceeds supply.

In this market environment, the production capacity of crawler tractors cannot be left idle, right?

As a result, Huifeng Factory gradually transformed after taking over the tank manufacturing outsourcing business.

After visiting several factory buildings, the group came to the crawler vehicle assembly workshop.

What comes into view is a row of low rectangular vehicles. These are the Type 40 all-terrain multi-purpose vehicles that the Ming Dynasty Army has high hopes for.

Based on more than a year of experience and lessons, the Ming Army proposed at the beginning of this year to equip a large number of multi-purpose vehicles, which must be crawler-type, with good passability and low cost.

The muddy and bumpy South Asian subcontinent and the Pacific battlefield are extremely unfriendly to wheeled vehicles, and it is very easy to get stuck in the mud. Only tracked vehicles can ensure passability.

The Bren machine gun trucks widely equipped by the British Commonwealth Army are very popular with the Ming army and are sought-after trophies. It takes two or even three trucks to exchange for one from friendly forces.

Huifeng Factory believed that the British Bren machine gun vehicle was too petty and had a fragile suspension. After participating in the bidding, it designed a larger and stronger tracked vehicle and successfully won the production contract.

四〇式全地形多用途车空重5.1吨，长4.3米、宽2.3米、高1.52米，发动机为一台92匹马力的直列六缸风冷汽油机。

It adopts independent leaf spring suspension, four road wheels on each side, no idler wheels, the driving wheels are in the front, the engine and gearbox are in the front, and there are four forward gears and one reverse gear.

Because it is not designed to be a frontline combat vehicle, the armor is only 6~10mm thick and can only withstand medium-caliber rifle rounds and artillery shell fragments. However, what is interesting is that because there are too many old Oerlikon cannons in stock, the first batch of these cars are equipped with an Oerlikon Ms-cal.60 20.8mm anti-aircraft gun, which has quite powerful self-defense firepower.

Its towing capacity is unsatisfactory - after all, it is designed to be used for chores. It can easily tow a 1720mm howitzer with a total weight of 112kg. It can also tow an 800kg small trailer even in bad road conditions.

"The first purchase price is 30,000 yuan. How much can it be reduced in the future?"

Zhou Changfeng couldn't wait to turn over and sit in the driver's seat, ready for a test drive.

He shifted the gear lever to neutral, and the attendant next to him took the crank and started to start the engine.

"Reporting to Zhou Qianshi, it is not difficult to build this car. It is a very mature skill. It will not be a problem to go down to 25,000 or 26,000 in the future." Cheng Bingsheng answered with cupped hands.

"What about the production volume? How many vehicles can be produced this month?"

"There are three hundred vehicles."

"Can you mention 800 vehicles by June next year?"

Cheng Bingsheng was startled by this number and said awkwardly: "This... I'm afraid it will be difficult to handle."

An official from the Ministry of War who was traveling with him said calmly: "If you have any difficulties, just bring them up. The court will support you. From now on, we must give priority to supplying the war."

"If gearboxes and engines can be supplied in sufficient quantities, our factory can produce seven to eight hundred vehicles per month in two shifts."

With a "boom", the engine was started, and the inline six-cylinder engine roared, resounding throughout the entire workshop.

Zhou Changfeng stepped on the clutch, stared at the tachometer and directly shifted into second gear. Then he pushed the left and right joysticks with both hands. However, because the starting resistance was too great and the second gear torque was low, the car stalled on the spot.

He awkwardly changed the subject and said: "We must maintain quality and quantity, and cannot make things shoddily. If you have any difficulties, don't hide them. Report them in the morning and solve them early."

Didn’t this sense of leadership appear all of a sudden? It's different when you become deputy chief of staff.

The Ming Army was very optimistic about this type of vehicle and placed an order for 20,000 vehicles at once, which was unprecedentedly arrogant.

Zhou Changfeng also supports this plan. There is no more cost-effective solution than this. The Army really needs a snake oil vehicle.

"Okay, everyone, please pack up. It's time to see the big aircraft carrier."

[Picture below]

(End of this chapter)