I Built an Arms Factory in the 386th Brigade
Synopsis:
Lu Zheng opens his eyes to find himself lying in the back of a truck crossing the Yellow River eastward, his mouth full of sand and his mind packed with another person's memories. He's the commander of the 386th Brigade's independent reconnaissance company, which sounds impressive until you learn the whole company has fewer than forty men and a dozen guns, their rifling nearly worn smooth, and the previous deputy commander ran off just three days ago.
Chen Geng summons him to brigade headquarters, pours him a cup of boiled water, and says, “You have a month. If you can't whip them into shape, I'll break up the company and reorganize it.”
Li Yunlong is less polite. He kicks open the tent and yells, “Old Lu, what kind of trouble are you cooking up now?”
Lu Zheng says nothing. The thing in his head called the Anti-Japanese War Arms Factory System coldly displays a line of text: Current progress: zero. Complete the first live combat mission to unlock the basic module.
The reconnaissance company bares its fangs for the first time in the ambush at Qigeng Village. After the battle, the System lights up.
No steel? Take apart the temple's bronze bell, scrape saltpeter from the walls of people's homes, and build a clay furnace out of battered gasoline drums.
No blueprints? The System provides the basic specifications. The rest comes down to skill with your hands.
No one who knows the trade? Old Jia, a veteran craftsman laid off from the Taiyuan Arsenal, is hard of hearing and stubborn. Sitting by the campfire, he watches Lu Zheng draw a diagram on the ground with a branch, then asks, “Did you calculate the position of this gas port?”
Old Jia says, “Our crude iron can't make springs. They'll snap as soon as you temper them. We need to add chromium and vanadium.”
Lu Zheng says, “I'll find some.”
No one knows where he finds it. But a few months later, the first semiautomatic rifle rings out beside the campfire. The entire company crouches at the edge of the firing range. When they hear the shot, no one says a word. Ma Dabiao starts to
Unsatisfactory punctuation