The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 256 Project 541
Reform and opening up is not something that can be achieved overnight.

If we invite a European or American economic master to preside over the meeting, then in all likelihood, shock therapy will be used.

As for the effectiveness of shock therapy, it is absolutely amazing.

Those who have not used it all say that the "shock therapy" is good, effective and highly recommended.

Anyone who has personally experienced "shock therapy" will detest it and hate it to the core.

If you don't believe it, just look at those countries that have personally used "shock therapy" in the future. They have the most say.

Although the reform has only been in place for more than a month, Liu Tao has deep feelings about it.

It can be said that no one can match his prestige in Panshan Machinery Factory. Even Wang Tiezhu, the first director of Panshan Machinery Factory, has far less prestige than him.

However, during the reform, the employees who usually respected him would lose control of their emotions and question him: After signing the labor contract, is this still their home? Are they still building socialism? Will he become an evil capitalist in the future?
There were even cases where some employees wanted to commit suicide.

It was even no longer called a "state-owned factory" but a company, and he was no longer the factory director but the general manager. Many people were repulsed by this and even felt disgusted with these titles.

The reform group often holds lectures and debates, but the debate continues to this day.

Liu Tao once said this to employees on the radio: "Socialism also has a market economy, and capitalism also has planned control. Poverty is not socialism, and socialism aims to eliminate poverty."

That's it. Many employees are still very resistant to the reform.

The restructuring of Panshan Machinery Factory has encountered so many problems and is so difficult. It is conceivable that if other state-owned factories were to be restructured, there would be more problems and greater difficulties.

The leaders took notes and wrote down their most valuable assets.

"This afternoon I met with the Persian Mohammed. Persia purchased 200 Type 80 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 400 Type 80 main battle tanks and the corresponding base shells, and 800 'Vanguard' portable air defense missile launchers, each equipped with 5 air defense missiles. The total contract is 52 billion US dollars." Liu Tao reported on the order. "In view of our current lack of production capacity, please coordinate more technicians to support us."

"And other tank manufacturers that produce light tanks, heavy tanks, and amphibious tanks!" Liu Tao asked for help.

Other leaders came to learn more and Liu Tao answered their questions one by one.

"We must win this huge contract from the Persians. $52 billion is no small sum. The deposit alone is $26 billion!" The leader said, "If there are any problems, we can work together to solve them. If we don't have people, we can mobilize people from other places. The people from Project 541 can be transferred to you first, or they can help produce some parts."

"As for producing tanks, forget it. It would be even more troublesome if the tanks produced were unqualified." The leader was somewhat helpless.

Liu Tao's heart moved.

Project 541, he knew something about this project.

In the 70s, the state deployed a major weapons manufacturing project in Shanxi Province - the Second Tank Production Base!
This is Project 541!

Project 541 was a massive undertaking, with plans to build eighteen sub-command stations, which were to be named the First Sub-Command Station, the Second Sub-Command Station, etc. Once completed, the sub-command stations would stretch for 130 kilometers.

As for why this project was established, it all started with the Zhenbao Island incident in 1969. From that time on, Baotou Factory 617, my country's first tank production base, and Datong Factory 616, which produced tank engines, were directly threatened, so the country decided to establish a second tank production base in Shanxi Province, namely Project 541.

Project 541 is located in the Zhongtiao Mountain area of ​​Shanxi Province, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. In wartime, the Zhongtiao Mountain Defense Line can be established here.

各分指挥部职工主要是全国各大中城市企业支援三线建设的工程技术人员、大中专毕业生、复转军人、留苏工程技术骨干、我国第一代坦克技术专家等。根据最初规划，541工程初期计划建有1个坦克总装厂、1个车体炮塔铸造厂、3个坦克机械零件加工厂、2个坦克炮厂、3个580马力坦克发动机厂、3个炮弹厂、3个光学仪表厂，后来补增发电厂、大型职工医院、铁路专线运输指挥部等。

As far as Liu Tao knows, Project 541 has not been completed yet.

I didn't expect the leader would have this idea and directly transferred the technical personnel of Project 541 to support Panshan Machinery Factory.

But it's normal to think about it. The investment in the new tank manufacturing base of Factory 256 is even higher than that of Project 541, and the technology and machinery and equipment are more advanced.

Project 541 can only produce Type 59 tanks, but now the Type 59 tanks are outdated and there are more advanced tanks.

现在部队更爱81式轻型坦克、81式中型坦克、81式水陆两用坦克以及80式主战坦克，对于59式坦克已经不热衷了。

Although the First Machine Factory and other factories are still producing Type 59 tanks, the tanks they produce are mainly used to replace tanks that have been in service for a long time. The tanks that have been in service for a long time are refurbished and then exported.

It remains to be seen whether Project 541 is still necessary.

"Has your tank manufacturing base been completed?" the leader asked.

Liu Tao said: "In another month, the first phase of the project will be completed."

A large number of people have been invested in the construction of the tank manufacturing base. At present, the road project has been connected to the main road, the factory’s railway has also been built and connected to the railway network, and two berths have been built at the dock.

"That's good, that's good!" The leader nodded.

The completion of the first phase of the project means that the production of Type 80 main battle tanks and Type 80 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns can be increased.

The leaders are very confident about Panshan Machinery Factory, or more precisely, Liu Tao.

This was proved by Liu Tao with one victory after another. Who could have imagined that the production of tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns would be so high to date.

You should know that it took the First Machinery Factory 20 years to complete this step.

The First Machine Factory also has design data for several other tanks, but so far, not a single qualified tank has been produced.

Even other tank and gun factories cannot produce tank and guns that meet the requirements, and engine factories cannot produce engines that meet the requirements.

It was also for this reason that the leaders realized how terrible the damage to the military factories was in those ten years, and they were determined to let the First Machine Factory produce these advanced tanks.

It’s not that I don’t want to, but I have no choice.

It would be better to mobilize technical personnel to support the Panshan Machinery Factory so that more tanks and armored vehicles can be produced, thereby training more qualified workers in the process.

The current Panshan Machinery Factory has the highest industrial level in the country and owns a large number of high-precision machine tools.

These high-precision machine tools are still kept confidential. In addition to Panshan Machinery Factory's own production and processing, it also processes some individual parts, such as aerospace engines, submarine propellers, etc.

(End of this chapter)