The 12-type rifle developed by the Fuzhou Military Engineering, the 80-millimeter and 100-millimeter mortars are naturally good goods, but it is unlikely to be mass-produced for a while, at present, the main products of the Fuzhou Arsenal have three things, the first one is naturally a bullet, there are two production lines, one to make 79 pointed bullets, one to make 79 round bullets, the two add up to the current Fuzhou Arsenal has been able to produce about 500,000 yuan per month, and after the equipment is ready, it can increase to a monthly output of 1 million.

The second is artillery shells, at present the Nationalist Army imports several kinds of many artillery pieces, although along with the artillery purchased a lot of shells, but the consumption of artillery shells is not a small amount, if you can only rely on imports, the cost of artillery shells a year will be several million. At present, there are three main types of artillery shells manufactured by the Fuzhou Arsenal, mainly 75-mm mountain artillery shells, 75-mm field artillery shells, and 60-millimeter artillery shells. The main thing is the lack of equipment, and when the equipment arrives, it is possible to double the output to 10,000 rounds per month! In addition, the shells of the 105 light howitzers equipped in the Nationalist Army cannot be manufactured for the time being, and the technicians of the Fuzhou Arsenal are still in the process of overcoming difficulties, and they can only rely on imports for a while and a half to maintain their support.

The third is a newly developed grenade from the Fuzhou Arsenal.

The role of the grenade in modern times is not trivial, due to the basic lack of training in the domestic army, it can be said that the soldiers, including the Beiyang Army, can not shoot many bullets throughout the year, not to mention those recruits and the like, the soldier's shooting accuracy is far less than that of the army of great powers such as the Ben. In this case, the grenade has become the favorite of the domestic army, which is simple, as soon as the fire is thrown out, the only requirement is to throw it far, even if you want to train, you don't have to spend much, just throw the imitation of wood on the line, compared to the rifle shooting technology fed with real gun bullets, the grenade is really the best melee weapon for the third-rate army.

In the later Anti-Japanese War, the role of grenades in the hands of the [***] team was much better than those cannons, formal rifles, Hanyang-made, light and heavy machine guns, and the like.

Based on the grenade, a weapon that everyone loves, Chen Jingyun also asked Tang Huikang to step up research and development at the first time. Compared with mortars, this grenade technology is simpler, and within a few days the Kung Fu Arsenal came up with a sample, and then it was tested, and after a series of work to improve, it took a month of work to officially finalize it, with a wooden handle, a pull-type firing mechanism, a simple structure, and a lot of charges, and it is also easy to throw. After the formal finalization, mass production has been as high as 10,000 pieces per month, and the output is still being mentioned, and the hand grenades produced have also begun to be equipped with the Fourth Brigade, the Guard Regiment and other national army units in the surrounding areas of Fuzhou, and after the expansion of the arsenal, large-scale production will be as high as tens of thousands of pieces per month, and then it will be able to popularize the entire national army.

These three main products occupy more than eighty percent of the production capacity of the Fuzhou Arsenal, and the rest is used to repair rifles, repair guns, and produce a small number of pistols.

Overall, the current output of the Fuzhou Arsenal is not large, far less than the Hanyang Arsenal, which has been operating day and night, but after the arrival of a large number of machinery and equipment purchased by Tang Huikang, the output of the Fuzhou Arsenal will be doubled, and even if it cannot be compared with the Hanyang Arsenal, it can reach about half of the production capacity. More importantly, at present, the arsenal and the Chen family's recent investment of more than 2 million yuan have not been used, and this amount of money is also intended to be used to purchase machinery and equipment, and it is foreseeable that the production capacity of the Fuzhou Arsenal will continue to rise in the future, and will eventually bear the main ammunition consumption and light weapons supply of the national army.

After seeing the new guns and mortars, Chen Jingyun and others also continued to visit the production line of ammunition and shells, Chen Jingyun naturally had to do some superficial work at this time, such as shaking hands with the workers, taking a photo or something, in short, the atmosphere was good, the workers were elated to see the governor in person, and almost didn't directly say that we like to work day and night, work hard, do not ask for a wage increase, and dedicate ourselves to the ambition and hegemony of the governor.

After playing these superficial skills, Chen Jingyun and the others did not leave immediately, but came to the conference room in the arsenal, originally preparing to take a break or two, talk gossip and the like, but talking about the deployment of mortars in the army.

Lin Chengkun said: "In my opinion, although the six 60-mm rapid-fire mountain guns of the current brigade level are weaker, it is even more unsuitable to bring these 60-mm mountain guns down to the regiment!" ”

Lin Chengkun's remarks are not unreasonable, at present, the brigade-level equipment in the national army is six 60-millimeter rapid-fire mountain guns, and the number is limited, six infantry brigades and one guard brigade are just right, and there is no one more, in addition, for the current domestic army, the regiment-level equipment rapid-fire mountain artillery is still too extravagant, and no one in the Beiyang Army dares to play like this.

Chen Weihua on the side said: "There are 100 mm mortars now, and in the future, it is best for this brigade to be equipped with these 100 mm mortars, if the existing 60 mm mountain guns are not replaced, the logistics supply will be much more complicated at that time, and it is better to directly use 100 mm mortars." ”

At this time, Lin Zhaomin, who had not spoken, spoke: "Do I think, the 60-mm mountain gun is indeed not suitable for the regimental level, but it is not appropriate to mix it with the 100-mm mortar at the brigade level!" ”

Although Lin Zhaomin is still the deputy commander of the National Army, he has always been a marginal figure, and he usually doesn't talk much when he participates in meetings, but today he suddenly spoke, which made Chen Jingyun feel strange. But after thinking about it, it is clear, people are ambitious or self-motivated, in the past, because he was sandwiched between Lin Wenying and Chen Jingyun, and his standard identity was too sensitive and Chen Jingyun was jealous, now Chen Jingyun's position is stable, he Lin Zhaomin may feel that the time has come, and he also wants to do a career, otherwise it is really difficult to explain his current seemingly unintentional, but extremely eye-catching behavior.

At this time, Yuan Fang said, "What does Brother Lin mean?" ”

Lin Zhaomin said: "I think this is the case, when the mass production of 100-mm mortars in the future is enough to equip the troops on a large scale, we can transfer the 60-mm mountain guns of some units and hand them over to other units, and then let two to three brigades concentrate on the use of them to set up an artillery battalion of 18 60-mm rapid-fire mountain guns." ”

Chen Jingyun on the side also felt that it was reasonable, and after the 100-mm mortars in the Fuzhou Arsenal were mass-produced in the future, the status of the existing 60-mm rapid-fire mountain guns would indeed be a little embarrassing; on the one hand, because of the old imported goods, it was impossible for Chen Jingyun to continue to purchase in large quantities, and on the other hand, there were dozens of cannons, and it would definitely not work to throw them away like this. If it is said that it is centralized for the use of the receiving brigade, it can also simplify the logistics work.

"This idea is indeed feasible, and the specific compilation will have to be studied later!" Now the 100-mm mortar has not yet been mass-produced, and it should be two or three months later if it is really possible to equip the troops on a large scale.

"Since we have said it, we will also take advantage of the fact that everyone is gathering to talk about the preparation of this mortar in the future, and only with a clear establishment can we determine the order quantity and let the Fuzhou Arsenal arrange production!" Chen Jingyun continued: "Chief Ouyang, you are in charge of the equipment department, you can talk about it first!" ”

Ouyang Tiandao: "Okay, I'll throw bricks and lead to jade first!" Due to the hurry of the incident, although Ouyang Tian had considered the preparation of mortars before, he had not thought too much about it, and what he wanted to say today had to be filtered through his mind now, and after pondering for a while, he continued: "In terms of cost, mortars have advantages. The cheap cost can also make mortars equipped in large quantities, and if the military budget is sufficient, even if it is equipped to the battalion level, it is okay!

I think so, with the current arrangement of a brigade, it can be equipped with 18 100-mm mortars to form an artillery battalion under the jurisdiction of a brigade, and then the regimental level will be equipped with a company of 6 80-mm mortars, and if the 60-mm mortars can be successfully mass-produced, each battalion can be equipped with three or even six 60-mm mortars at that time. In this way, a brigade has 18 100-mm mortars, 12 80-mm mortars, and 18 60-mm mortars, which is far more than an 18-gun battalion of mountain guns in terms of firepower. ”

At this time, Lin Chengkun said: "Such a brigade has three mortar models, will it cause complicated logistics supply at that time?" And it's a bit of a hassle for the production of the arsenal, right? ”

At this time, Chen Jingyun looked at Tang Huikang first, and Tang Huikang also nodded: "If all three models are mass-produced, it is naturally not cheaper than just producing one." If only one type is produced, the yield can be higher and the cost can be reduced! ”

Chen Kui on the side said: "According to what I said, anyway, we still have four artillery regiments on our side, and on average, there will be one artillery regiment for the two brigades to support, which is no worse than the Beiyang side." So I don't expect these mortars to have too much range and power, so I think this 100 mm mortar is really useless, not only is it too heavy and not easy to maneuver, but the range power does not have to be 80 mm stronger, just cancel this 100 mm, and combine the two into one with 80 mm! ”

Lin Chengkun shook his head: "The range of eighty millimeters is too close, and it is simply not feasible to use it as brigade-level fire support!" ”

Chen Kui said: "There is still an artillery regiment!" ”

"But the artillery regiment belongs to the reading force establishment, and if it is not a big war in peacetime, it has to be mobilized, how can it provide support for the brigade in an emergency?" Lin Chengkun said a very real problem.