African Nationhood

Chapter 69 Secret Weapon
  (Thanks to book friend Caiyun Xianmu for the tip, thank you puppet!)

Anhai Town (Swakopmund), Anhai Reservoir.

Since the military headquarters of the advance battalion is located on the right bank of the Swakop River, the side of the right bank near the seaside has become a military restricted area, and prying eyes are strictly prohibited.

Since the dam of the Anhai Reservoir can serve as a bridge across the river, there are usually soldiers standing guard on the right side of the dam.

Since most of the soldiers of the second advance battalion were released to arrest the natives, this military headquarters was vacant most of the time.

But there is one unit that has basically never left here, and that is the artillery company of the second advance battalion.

This company has never left the military headquarters since its establishment. In addition to training every day, they study mathematics.

Quadratic functions, parabolas, and conics are the focus of their research.

In addition to mathematics, this unit will also practice gunnery, using British standard artillery, three-pounders and six-pounders.

After long training, these four artillery pieces have been thoroughly studied by these guys in the artillery company, and the artillery textbooks are memorized by heart.

In addition, they also have another identity, that is, new weapons researchers and manufacturers.

Shi Jintang made intention training when he established the artillery company, and soldiers who were willing to spend time in the research room were given priority to be assigned to the artillery company.

Therefore, everyone in the artillery company from company commander Qi Lin on down has a part-time job. They implement a strict rotation system on weekdays. The artillery company must ensure that two platoons of soldiers are on duty every day.

One squad was left to guard the military headquarters, while most of the others went into the secret workshop to make new weapons.

Today, company commander Qi Lin happened to be leading the team. He left the family area on the left bank early, jogged to the Swakop River, and looked up at the weather today.

I can't help but sigh that this place is really nice. It has 300 sunny days all year round and it's like spring all year round.

It's much better than back home in Tianjin during the Qing Dynasty. I can't feel the cold here at all.

Coupled with the beautiful scenery near the sea, it is really a paradise-like place!

Mr. Shi is really amazing. He has turned this desert-like place into a fairyland on earth.

In addition to Mr. Shi's courage, Mr. Shi's knowledge is even more admirable.

Every lecture he gives is engaging and interesting. Moreover, he is knowledgeable and can explain everything in any subject.

Especially in the research and development of new weapons, Mr. Shi used his connections in Europe to dismantle the new weapons and process them into semi-finished products.

When assembled in the military's secret workshop, it can become a new weapon with huge destructive power.

Every time Qi Lin thinks of Mr. Shi, he feels that he is not a human being, but more like Prime Minister Zhuge who is "very wise and almost demonic" in the storybook.

When the second advance battalion was formed, Mr. Shi stayed in the military camp every day and never went back. He ate and lived with everyone, and the training was also conducted together.

When we first entered the camp, everyone was very stupid. It was Mr. Shi who took the trouble to teach the details of various movements and strictly required himself to meet the same standards as everyone else.

Although many people had complaints, when they saw Mr. Shi training with everyone, most of their resentments dissipated and they trained even harder.

Those guys who were kicked out of the team because of their stupidity were reluctant to leave, but in the face of the cold-faced Mr. Shi, they could only retreat to their places and use their remaining energy as militiamen.

After forming the army, when Mr. Shi was looking for someone to talk to, Qi Lin was the first to be interviewed.

When asked if he was willing to immerse himself in being an unknown soldier, he gave an unequivocal answer: Yes.

Mr. Shi nodded and patted his shoulder and asked him to go back and wait for the news. After going back and waiting for nearly a week, he was notified that he had become the new artillery company commander.

I was so excited that I almost couldn't stand still. I just remembered that I had to be loyal to Mr. Shi from now on.

When the artillery company was formed, Mr. Shi personally took them to the secret workshop.

Mr. Shi first patiently taught everyone to wear protective equipment, thick canvas gloves and all-inclusive gas masks. Mr. Shi requires that everyone’s skin should not be exposed, otherwise they will be poisoned.

Everyone was frightened, and then helped each other check whether their equipment was missing.

After everyone confirmed, Mr. Shi took a transparent glass bottle from the side in front of them.

He pointed to the yellow powder inside the bottle and said: "This contains TNT, a yellow dye.

But this thing is very explosive, so everyone should be careful when handling it. "

With Mr. Shi's warning, everyone was frightened and became even more overwhelmed. They subconsciously stepped back for fear of being blown up.

Seeing this, Mr. Shi couldn't help laughing, "I just scared you. This thing is very safe, even if you hit it with bullets, it will be fine.

You have to use a detonator to detonate this thing, so everyone can rest assured. "

Mr. Shi's comfort did not dispel everyone's wariness, so Mr. Shi asked everyone to stay away and wear gas masks.

He also put on a mask, then poured the yellow powder in the bottle on the ground, and finally hit the powder with a hammer.

"Bang bang~"

After several hammerings, the yellow powder showed no change, let alone exploded, and everyone felt relieved.

"Look, is everything okay? This thing is safe.

The only danger is that this stuff cannot be inhaled into the human body, let alone get on the skin, so you are asked to wear gas masks and thick canvas gloves.

In this way, the toxicity of this explosive can be shielded. "

After the demonstration, Mr. Shi collected the powder and put it into the glass bottle again, and then taught everyone how to purify and shape it.

That is to use water vapor to heat the medicinal powder. When it reaches 80 degrees, the substance will become damp and thicken, which can be called xanthate.

Then you can shape it as you please. Do not heat this thing to 240 degrees Celsius, as it will really melt.

Just dry it after shaping, no additional operations are required.

After the shaping is completed, it is time to charge. This is very simple. Just stuff the shaped xanthate into the thin iron ring, then connect the xanthate to the pull-tab detonator, then screw on the wooden handle and cover the tail cap. , a complete new weapon is considered to be assembled.

After Mr. Shi finished, everyone asked what this new weapon was called, and Mr. Shi told everyone that it was a "grenade."

Everyone shouted grenades in a vague way, and then Mr. Shi took everyone to the artillery field demonstration area.

There, Mr. Shi demonstrated the whole process of how to open the tail cap, pull the detonator and release the bomb.

There was a "bang" as smoke rose, and looking at the air waves and craters caused by the explosion, everyone couldn't help but feel admiration.

Then it was training time for all staff. Mr. Shi very cleverly divided everyone into multiple groups.

Each team is only responsible for one link, such as shaping, assembly, and debugging, and each link has different responsibilities.

Everyone’s assembly efficiency has also been greatly improved, so everyone’s professionalism has also been improved as their proficiency increases.

Because of the toxicity of xanthate, Mr. Shi very considerately arranged for everyone to take turns off work to prevent them from being poisoned.

Because of his love for his brothers, the production of this new weapon has not increased.

Now that September has arrived, Mr. Shi suddenly issued an order to cancel the rotation of holidays and accelerate the production of new weapons.

Judging from the tone of the notice, does Mr. Shi expect a war to break out?
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  (End of this chapter)