RPAGF #249 - New difficulties in industrial upgrading
#249 - New difficulties in industrial upgrading
Ren Zhong felt a surge of excitement upon hearing the news of the recovery of Hedong. The mineral resources there were exceptionally rich. According to the main world's exploration data, the reserve list included metal mineral resources such as coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, cobalt, and molybdenum. Among them, aluminum, zinc, lead, cobalt, and molybdenum were urgently needed metal varieties essential for many alloys.
Furthermore, Hedong had abundant mountains, well-developed river systems, and significant elevation differences, making it ideal for developing small hydropower plants to provide on-site electricity for smelting.
Compared to thermal power plants, small hydropower plants could be constructed much faster.
Ren Zhong wasn't worried about Li Yunlong and his men being unable to defend the area.
Now, in Jin Province, the industrial base of the Eighth Route Army was growing stronger day by day. The production capacity of various military products was increasing rapidly. The Eighth Route Army's strength was growing at an unprecedented rate. It could be said that at least one powerful mechanized infantry brigade was being added every month.
With the rapid assault capabilities that Li Yunlong had demonstrated, the average Japanese division was no match for the mechanized infantry brigade.
The firepower intensity had formed a completely overwhelming advantage.
Such field battles would undoubtedly result in a major victory for the mechanized infantry brigade.
Under these external conditions, the Eighth Route Army was neither afraid of attacks from the Japanese nor worried about any ideas from the GMD. Furthermore, they could outlast anyone, especially with Ren Zhong's knowledge advantage.
However, Ren Zhong was now in a race against time to prepare for the decisive battle in the Northeast, which was why he seemed so anxious. He hoped to quickly transform all the resources at his disposal into combat power for the Eighth Route Army. As long as he equipped 15 mechanized infantry brigades, Ren Zhong would dare to push for the liberation of Northeast China.
He was even willing to let the Japanese in North China live a few more days for this goal.
Therefore, the acquisition of Hedong was another important bargaining chip for Ren Zhong.
Soon, Ren Zhong compiled the resource information obtained from the main world and a new Hedong industrial development plan, handing it over to Chief of Staff Ye. Now, they needed to gather the manpower and resources of the entire base area to quickly turn resources into combat power.
Chief of Staff Ye had no doubts. This had always been the case: after occupying a new area, large-scale construction work would immediately commence.
In the Hedong region, which now had ample manpower and a relatively larger population, the development plan was finalized without much discussion.
While the fighting against the Japanese continued at the front, the construction plan was finalized in the rear. Relevant workgroups and technical support teams were quickly established and dispatched to Hedong.
On the other side, Kong Jie stayed in Hedong to reorganize the city. Li Yunlong led the majority of the infantry battalions from two brigades, along with the 107 heavy mortar and mountain artillery battalions. After a fierce battle, they annihilated the two Japanese infantry battalions left behind as a rearguard. Marching through the night to Pinglu, they intercepted the two Japanese regiments that had not had time to retreat: the engineer regiment and the supply regiment.
After swallowing the 41st Division's reserve forces in one bite, Li Yunlong could only sigh and look up at the sky as he looked at the Yellow River. When the Japanese left, they had scoured all the surrounding boats and crossed to the south bank. Seeing that the logistics troops couldn't escape, Mano Goro ruthlessly destroyed all the boats on the riverbank.
He then led the remaining 2 infantry regiments and 1 mountain artillery regiment to flee east. The Japanese, who had already lost an infantry regiment in the river crossing and rearguard action, now had the 238th and 239th Infantry Regiments left, plus the 41st Mountain Artillery Regiment, which they had painstakingly preserved. Although the 41st Division was severely weakened, it was like a wounded lone wolf, even more terrifying to the GMD troops along the way.
Mano Goro gathered his remnants, which numbered over eight thousand men. After looting seven days' worth of food in Shanzhou, he immediately left Shanzhou under the cover of night and headed east. Along the way, the Japanese had food in hand and did not attack any cities, so their march was very fast. They traveled over a hundred li a day and arrived near Mianchi.
The GMD had deployed two divisions in Mianchi to await them in a defensive posture.
However, Mano Goro detoured through a place about ten kilometers south of Mianchi County, leaving the two GMD division commanders in a dilemma. After hesitating for a long time, they did not dare to pursue.
It wasn't until the Japanese reached Xin'an territory that two GMD divisions rushed up to intercept them. Who knew that the Japanese would not get entangled and directly head south to Yiyang while the GMD had not yet formed an encirclement, shaking off the pursuing troops before heading east again.
The enraged Commander Chen sent five divisions to encircle and block the remnants of the 41st Division near Luoyi. However, Mano Goro once again went south, passing through Yichuan to Dengfeng, where he joined up with the main force of the Japanese army, escaping from the GMD's dragnet and becoming a miracle of retreat that the Japanese boasted about.
In comparison, the luck of Andachi Nijusan was not so good. After escaping from Hedong, he traveled east along the riverbank but missed Mano Goro's last boat. Instead, he encountered Li Yunlong's troops who had chased him there.
Although Andachi Nijusan relied on the speed of his cavalry to escape Li Yunlong's pursuit and fled into the mountains to the east, the entire eastern region was a base area for the Eighth Route Army. The fate of Andachi Nijusan's cavalry regiment was already sealed. Even if the old devil eventually dispersed his troops and tried to disguise himself to sneak out of the base area, he was eventually captured by the vigilant Yuanqu guerrillas. At that time, the old devil had been wandering in the mountains for more than ten days before he made it to Yuanqu County.
However, the guerrillas did not know that they had caught a big fish at the time. They only heard that the old devil's accent was very strange, and it was only after he was sent to the county for interrogation that they discovered that he was a high-ranking Japanese officer.
The entire 37th Division was thus annihilated, leaving not a single hair for the Japanese. Andachi Nijusan's "striving" to revive the Locust Army's equipment could only remain on the interrogation record.
After completing the Hedong campaign, the ten C-class regiments that the brigade commander had conjured up from Taiyuan were stationed in various counties, replacing the three main force units of Li Yunlong and others, who returned to Zezhou to continue their rest and replenishment.
After the test of actual combat, the brigade commander had a better understanding of the application of the mechanized infantry brigade, and a deeper understanding of the experimental plan proposed by Ren Zhong. After some bargaining with the headquarters, the brigade commander prepared to reorganize the 771st and 772nd regiments according to Li Yunlong's independent mechanized infantry brigade model.
It's just that all the equipment would be produced by the brigade commander himself at the Fourth Heavy Machinery Factory in Lu'an Prefecture.
At present, among the heavy machinery factories capable of producing both tanks and automobiles, the Border Region has the First Heavy Machinery Factory, Jiuyuan has the Second Heavy Machinery Factory, Taiyuan has built the Third Heavy Machinery Factory, and the one built in Lu'an is the Fourth Heavy Machinery Factory.
Yunzhong has built the Fifth Heavy Machinery Factory. Now the tank production capacity of the First Heavy Machinery Factory in the Border Region has reached more than 20 vehicles, but the production of core tank components has exceeded 300 sets, the tank main gun is 200, and the automobile production capacity is outstanding with a monthly output of 100 trucks and 200 jeeps.
For example, in Hedong, tank production may be difficult, but truck and jeep assembly and production can still be worked on. The Border Region will produce key components such as engines, gearboxes, and tires, and other heavy machinery factories will produce ordinary parts such as car bodies and load-bearing steel plates according to molds.
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Then assemble them into shape. The technology is much simpler than engine production, and it does not require much mechanical equipment.
Due to the unification of production standards and dimensions, the parts produced by various base factories can now be interchanged, which is also a huge advantage for battlefield maintenance.
The military standard concept that Ren Zhong put forward in advance, although it is not yet perfect, every basic product produced has begun to have standards before production. This allows local areas to spontaneously join this system. For new components produced by the local areas themselves, Ren Zhong cannot control them now, but in terms of steel, the steel for important structural parts can only be used by the Border Region Steel Plant, Jiuyuan Steel Plant, and Northwest Steel Plant, the three steel plants with electric furnace steelmaking.
Baiyunebo's mineral resources, after controlling the grassland, Ren Zhong began to release a certain amount of production capacity, and upgraded the Jiuyuan-Baiyunebo mineral smelting plan to a million-ton level for planning and construction.
The current capacity expansion can be let go. For Jiuyuan and Baiyunebo, the biggest limitation is the support of human resources.
The land outside the Great Wall is bitterly cold, and not many workers are willing to go.
However, now is a special period. Relying on excellent mobilization capabilities, the Border Region organization is constantly mobilizing and organizing young workers to go north in the Jin area and the Border Region. According to Ren Zhong, that will be a good place for young people to make contributions. If you don't go now, you will regret it later.
For this era, that is a huge mineral resource, much larger than all the mines in the Jin area.
Several thermal power plants have now been built. Jiuyuan's power supply has reached 50MW, which can support a steel plant with an annual output of 400,000 to 500,000 tons. If the construction goes smoothly, Jiuyuan Steel will complete the plan within three years and become the second largest steel plant in the base area.
However, Jiuyuan's power construction has not slowed down, because more high-energy-consuming industries will be invested in next, such as the refining of rare earths.
At present, this aspect is still in the laboratory researching the rare earth refining technology route provided by Ren Zhong. Once the production line of the Liangjian world is designed, the power consumption in this area will be considerable.
The role of rare earth elements in modern industry is beyond doubt. This is definitely a new industry in the future.
However, it seems that the current progress is still relatively slow. The sulfuric acid roasting process and the caustic soda method through chemical methods are relatively simple to implement, but the metal thermal reduction process for more refined extraction is quite complicated.
It needs to extract medium and heavy rare metals at high temperatures in a near-vacuum environment with inert gas, such as samarium Sm (for manufacturing laser materials, microwave and infrared equipment, and the atomic energy industry), europium Eu (fluorescent powder for color TVs, laser materials, and atomic energy industry applications), terbium Tb (terbium is required for X-ray photography), and dysprosium Dy (an additive for neodymium iron boron magnets on motors).
These rare metals are very difficult to prepare. It is necessary to produce commercial-grade rare earth compounds and metal-related fine chemicals together, and valuable rare earth ores are usually composed of multiple rare metals, such as niobium, tantalum, indium, and nickel. Valuable elements appear together, which increases the complexity of refining and separating them.
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