Chapter 24: Another Transaction

August 31, 1938, Umbrella Corporation, Jiangcheng.

It must be admitted that Xu Zhongyi is quite resourceful. He actually managed to get the Ministry of War to authorize the takeoff of a Potez 36 transport plane from the school playground. While its cruising speed of just over 100 kilometers per hour is a bit lackluster, it is more than enough to fly from Jiangcheng to Qifeng Town in a single night. Given that neither warring party possesses night combat capabilities, flying at night is quite safe.

As for the pilot, there is no need to look for one. Although the original owner did not know how to fly fighter jets or other aircraft, he really did know how to fly the Potez 36. He and Xiao Liuzi used to take turns piloting it every week when they went to Tianjin to enjoy themselves. Xiao Liuzi was a skilled pilot and taught the original owner many techniques; after absorbing the original owner's memories, Wang Yue also gained the ability to fly this machine.

The Potez 36 transport planes purchased by the Northeast Army were naval variants. Their difference from the standard model was not limited to folding wings; the most significant feature was a simple radio navigation system. By referencing signals from Japanese radio stations, finding the approximate location was not a problem. Reaching Shanxi Province was easy, provided there was no heavy fog, as the landmarks were easy to spot.

Over the past few days, Wang Yue returned to Qifeng Town once to organize the weapons and ammunition purchased by Alexei. He also took the opportunity to install the steam engines and torpedo launching systems that had been stored there. The torpedo fleet recently established by the Ministry of War had already begun patrols; although they hadn't engaged in combat with the Japanese, they put considerable pressure on the Japanese military, and it was evident that the Japanese fleet was no longer as active as before.

Ouyang Ge even dispatched torpedo boats to prowl downstream under the cover of night, forcing the Japanese to increase their defensive efforts for their transport convoys, which placed significant strain on Japanese logistics. It was rumored that the Ministry of War intended to reallocate some torpedo boats to the Third War Zone, which would make the current fleet of fifty boats insufficient.

Having tasted success, the Ministry of War was willing to support Ouyang Ge in acquiring more torpedo boats. However, the situation was no longer something that could be handled behind closed doors. The Naval Headquarters had intervened, demanding control over the torpedo fleet or a share of the boats. Even if that failed, they insisted that any subsequent procurement be led by the Navy.

Later, the Ordnance Bureau also stepped in, demanding to participate. The most frustrating part was that the Ministry of Finance stood behind the Ordnance Bureau; if the Ordnance Bureau were not allowed to participate, the Ministry of Finance would withhold funding. It was a chaotic mess.

Left with no choice, the Ministry of War turned to the Umbrella Corporation, cautiously inquiring whether it was possible to exchange supplies for the torpedo boats in the company's possession. The price was raised to 50,000 silver dollars per boat, citing increased transport costs. The Ministry of War expressed understanding, as the Japanese blockade of the Yangtze River was extremely tight, and twenty-meter-long warships were large items that could not be moved by sea or land. Otherwise, the Ministry of War would not have been so interested in them.

Additionally, the Umbrella Corporation indicated its willingness to provide key components to help the government achieve small-scale "domestic production" of torpedo boats and torpedoes. Although the military government was deeply tied to the Ordnance Bureau, no one was a fool; they understood what kind of people they were dealing with. Thus, they wanted to establish a naval shipyard under the umbrella of the Electric Torpedo School. For a ten-ton wooden-hulled torpedo boat, manufacturing was truly not difficult as long as the key parts could be acquired.

Consequently, both parties quickly finalized the deal for a second batch of 30 torpedo boats, completing the transaction with supplies valued at 1.5 million silver dollars. The high-ranking officials of the Ministry of War were quite satisfied with this trade, as most of the supplies used for the exchange were considered "worthless" by them.

The details were as follows:

21,480 Hanyang-made Mauser 1871/84 rifles, valued at 500,000 silver dollars. Few people know that before the Hanyang-made rifles became famous, the Hanyang Arsenal had been producing the Hanyang-made 1871/84 rifles on a large scale for many years, only switching production to the Hanyang 88 in the early 20th century. Note that it was the Hanyang 88, not the old "Old Sleeve" model. The Hanyang 88 went into production in 1904, while the Hanyang-made Mauser 1871/84 should have been produced in 1888. It was manufactured for over a decade, so it is not surprising that there was a certain stockpile. It is just unclear why they were kept until now without being disposed of. The compradors of the Ordnance Bureau may be poor managers, but the Northern Warlords shouldn't have been like that, right?

As for the price, it wasn't particularly cheap. One must remember that when the government purchased 100,000 brand-new Liaoning Type 13 rifles from Xiao Liuzi, it only cost 2.5 million silver dollars, and even then, some thought the government had been cheated. Who knows? In any case, the Northeast Army definitely couldn't have produced the Type 13 for 25 silver dollars.

5 million rounds of 11mm Mauser ammunition, valued at 150,000 silver dollars. Most of these bullets were produced during the Xuantong era. Although they were well-preserved, their ignition rate had dropped to about 50 percent. Wang Yue bought them intending to use them as raw materials. Before long, the Ministry of War would have to tap into the old Mauser rifle stocks stored across the country, and by then, he could sell them directly without losing money. The Ministry of War wouldn't lose out either; since there were no plans to relocate these stocks, whatever they sold for was pure profit.

4 Hanyang-made 120mm howitzers, valued at 100,000 silver dollars. These were copies made by the Hubei Bureau, likely modeled after the sFH 02 howitzer. The Japanese also produced a version they called the Type 38 120mm howitzer. However, for various reasons, China never mass-produced this artillery. After the Hubei Bureau finished these few prototypes, there was no follow-up, yet they unexpectedly ended up in Wang Yue's hands.

208 rounds of 120mm howitzer shells, valued at 20,000 silver dollars. Wang Yue was curious why there were so many shells for prototype artillery, only to realize these were captured Japanese shells. Anyone would be conflicted in this situation; these four guns could indeed be sent to the front, but the problem was that once these shells were fired, the guns would be useless. You couldn't just throw the guns away after firing, could you?

385 scrapped barrels for 150mm Liaoning-made mortars, valued at 100,000 silver dollars. Wang Yue figured the officials at the Ministry of War would laugh at Alexei for being a fool, but they didn't know that after losing access to the sea, these were absolute treasures.

Speaking of which, there were many domestic manufacturers of 150mm mortars—Shanxi, Shandong, Liaoning, and Shaanxi—and the costs varied. The cheapest Shandong version seemed to cost only 750 silver dollars, while the most expensive Liaoning version cost several thousand. Regardless of the type, the most expensive part was always the barrel, as it was the only component that could not be 100% domestically produced at the time.

100 Hanyang-made 57mm mountain guns, valued at 250,000 silver dollars. These were copies of the Krupp M1893 57mm mountain gun made by the Hubei Bureau. The cost at the time seemed to be only 1,414 taels of silver. They were standard equipment for the Qing imperial army. It was remarkable that the Hubei Bureau's warehouse could still produce a batch of "new" guns after several decades to fool people. Then again, they had been producing at least a hundred a year for decades by the 16th year of the Republic. It was just the shortsightedness of the fools at the Ordnance Bureau; otherwise, they wouldn't have preferred to discard them rather than use them.

10,000 rounds of 57mm high-explosive shells, valued at 200,000 silver dollars. Thankfully, these were produced during the Central Plains War, which was probably the newest item in this transaction.

100 Type 20 82mm mortars, valued at 100,000 silver dollars. The Ministry of War folks were truly good at business—an artillery piece with a cost price of 360 yuan was valued at 1,000 yuan. And that 360-yuan cost was in fiat currency; even in 1937, fiat currency was still fiat currency, wasn't it?

10,000 rounds of 82mm mortar shells, valued at 80,000 silver dollars. This wasn't expensive; the Ordnance Bureau's factory price seemed to be 5.8 silver dollars, though some factories claimed to produce them for as little as 3.5 yuan. The main difference lay in the choice of cast steel materials and explosives, ranging from TNT to hydrolyzed starch to picric acid.

While these weapons seemed numerous, the only things of real value to the Ministry of War were the 100 Type 20 82mm mortars and their shells. The rest were things the Ministry considered useless or necessary to discard. Exchanging these for useful torpedo boats was the best possible outcome.

After the Electric Torpedo School was almost completely decimated, the Ministry of War, previously ignorant of naval warfare, finally began to grasp the reality: the idea of using torpedo boats to attack warships was delusional. Deploying them in the vast inland waterways to combat Japanese transport ships, patrol boats, and ground forces was the true path. A single torpedo boat could tie down at least one squad of troops; eighty torpedo boats, in addition to containing surface naval forces, could tie down at least one Japanese regiment. If the operating range of these torpedo boat units could be expanded, the number of Japanese ground troops they could contain would increase geometrically.

Wang Yue had 40 110-horsepower triple-expansion steam engines in storage in Qifeng Town, along with 50 sets of torpedo launching systems and 100 "black-head" torpedoes with their warheads and fuses removed. Besides a few steam engines intended for the arsenal's power supply, the rest were merely raw materials. Now, with no shortage of raw materials, he could naturally sell them.

He didn't intend to squeeze money out of the Ministry of War for these, so he offered a discounted price of 500,000 silver dollars. Don't let the fact that these were old relics from the last century fool you; the current Ordnance Bureau couldn't produce anything, not even the 110-horsepower triple-expansion steam engines—they could only manage to produce spare parts, failing to build the main structure. Since they couldn't build them, the price was set by the Umbrella Corporation. Of course, at this price, the Ordnance Bureau couldn't find them anywhere else.

They continued to use supplies for the exchange. Considering the previous transaction for the 30 torpedo boats had been a bit lopsided, the Ministry of War finally provided some good items this time, including:

1,000 barrels of diesel (180-liter drums), valued at 90,000 silver dollars. Diesel had very little consumption in China, and since the war began, the Ministry of War's diesel reserves in Jiangcheng had hardly been used. Rather than exerting the effort to ship them west, it was better to dispose of them to Wang Yue. As for why they had stockpiled so much "useless" diesel, that remains unknown.

400 barrels of gasoline (180-liter drums), valued at 80,000 silver dollars. In fact, aircraft before the 1930s all ran on regular gasoline, and the Potez 36 was no exception. Storing the fuel in his space and refueling the plane as needed was necessary, or the small aircraft would never reach Qifeng Town.

2,000 rounds of 75mm Krupp mountain gun shells, valued at 80,000 silver dollars.

43 11mm ten-barrel Gatling machine guns, valued at 20,000 silver dollars. Since the ammunition had already ended up with the Umbrella Corporation, these machine guns were naturally recommended to them as well.

20,000 bolts of "Double Dragon" brand 20-count fine white cloth, valued at 200,000 silver dollars. Each bolt was 40 yards, about 110-120 feet, and the factory price was a little over 11 silver dollars. It was only 1938, and cloth prices were still stable. This was a better financial asset than anything else. He later found out these bolts were confiscated from the Japanese concession; they had been stockpiled in Jiangcheng because the dyeing factories had moved away, and they were likely sold to Wang Yue cheaply because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to transport them in time.

200 7.92mm Chauchat light machine guns, valued at 30,000 silver dollars. With their trapezoidal magazines, you could identify their origin at a glance. They were ordered by the Americans during the Great War, but they used 7.62mm ammunition and 16-round magazines. Because they performed poorly, the order was canceled, and many of the new guns were left sitting in the arsenal. After the war, they were rechambered and sold to us. Since the Ordnance Bureau only started producing 7.92mm pointed bullets in 1934, these rechambered machine guns still used 7.92mm round-nosed bullets.

Wang Yue didn't feel any particular disgust toward these guns. Given the environment of trench warfare and the quality of the American soldiers at the time, no other machine gun would have been reliable either. With careful maintenance, they could be used, especially the versions with the trapezoidal magazines, which were decent. If you ask why Wang Yue knows this, it's because he had used them himself. Needless to say, these were also pieces of junk that didn't catch the eye of the Ordnance Bureau.

It is remembered that when many troops left Sichuan to fight the war, a single division might only have a few machine guns. Even if they were poor machine guns, they were still machine guns. Reinforcing the front-line troops would always be useful, and there was no scenario where troops would refuse them. But the Ordnance Bureau simply wouldn't provide them. What could you do?

There were still surplus supplies from the Great War for sale in Europe at very cheap prices, held by many small arms dealers. In the current state of the war, shouldn't you be out buying them? No. The compradors insisted on their own values, failing to provide the troops with suitable weapons, preferring to let soldiers go to the battlefield with broadswords and spears rather than change.

Take the Chauchat light machine gun—at the very least, it was the service machine gun of Europe's top land power. It is hard to understand how an agricultural nation could afford to be so picky. A Czech ZB-26 cost 700-1,100 silver dollars; you could buy 5-10 Chauchat light machine guns for that price. It is not hard to tell which is better.

Performance? Stop deceiving yourselves. Given the training level of most of our machine gunners, the difference between using a ZB-26 and a Chauchat isn't really that significant. High precision? Our actual combat distances don't really demand much precision. Slow rate of fire? Ask any front-line commander; which one doesn't prefer a lower rate of fire? Given our logistical supply status, a lower rate of fire is actually more advantageous, not to mention that these machine guns used more easily accessible round-nosed bullets.