Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 152 Experimental Explosives

Since the Japanese troops suffered a major defeat in Sanjiaji last time, they have been entrenched in the county town, licking their wounds and replenishing their troops, and have not sent any combat troops to the Sanjiaji area.

Thus, Wolong Mountain enjoyed a brief period of peace, and the various battalions of the militia were using this precious time to train their troops and expand their size.

That day, Wang Qiang, along with several heads of the arsenal, was heading towards the test site on the back mountain, where they were preparing for another round of explosive tests.

Since they received Tang Weiguo's orders, they have been researching the Japanese "fertilizer powder". With the help of Lin Zhenglei, a student majoring in chemistry, and several other chemistry students assigned to them by the regimental commander, they quickly discovered the potassium sulfate component mentioned by the regimental commander in the Japanese "fertilizer powder".

However, because the potassium sulfate component in "fertilizer powder" is too diluted, they have been trying to find a way to purify the potassium sulfate component from fertilizer.

During this period, Lin Zhenglei wrote to his mentor many times to inquire about related issues. In order to avoid being discovered by Japanese spies and causing trouble for his teacher, Lin Zhenglei never wrote any words related to explosives in his letters, but instead used chemical equations.

Lin Zhenglei's mentor knew that Lin Zhenglei was currently working for the cause of resisting Japan, so he answered Lin Zhenglei's questions one by one in the letter.

Only recently have they made a breakthrough, starting to purify potassium sulfate from "Feitian powder" and using the purified potassium sulfate to make explosives.

Since purifying potassium sulfate, they began developing new explosives. However, they had recently tested many of their newly developed explosives, but all of them had failed. Undeterred by these setbacks, they carefully analyzed the reasons and improved the formula step by step.

"Xiao Lin, how's it going this time? Are you confident?" Wang Qiang asked patiently.

"Factory manager, based on the lessons learned from so many failures, we have improved the proportions of the explosive components. I am 4% confident that we will succeed this time," Lin Zhenglei replied.

"Well, a 40% chance of success is quite high. Xiao Lin, don't worry about the experiment. There's no pressure on you. We old men can't help you with the explosives; it's up to you young people." Wang Qiang said to Lin Zhenglei and the others beside him.

"Factory manager, shall we begin the experiment now?"

"Alright, the same old rules apply. We old guys will handle the work of lighting the fuse and igniting the explosives. You young people are the treasures of our factory, and we can't afford to have any accidents."

"Director!"

"Alright, that's settled then. Stop arguing. Old Li, you should decide. You're the fastest runner among us brothers," Wang Qiang said with a smile to Old Li.

"I knew all this hard work would be mine. Alright, I'm off." With that, Old Li patted his backside and headed towards the fuse.

With a "sizzle," Old Li lit the match, ignited the fuse, and ran towards Wang Qiang and the others. At that moment, Wang Qiang and the others were patiently awaiting the results of the experiment.

Lin Zhenglei was anxiously awaiting the test results, silently praying that this time he must succeed, he must succeed. Although the factory director and others never urged him to speed up the test, the increasingly fierce anti-Japanese struggle put him under immense pressure. He wanted to succeed as soon as possible so that he could contribute to the war effort.

Unbeknownst to him, his tightly clenched hands were sweating even in the dead of winter.

As the fuse burned out, a violent explosion followed, blasting the test explosives attached to the fuse into the air and leaving a deep crater.

"We did it! We finally did it!" Several young people cheered and jumped for joy, hugging each other and shedding tears of happiness.

"Xiao Lin, you guys did a great job!" Wang Qiang looked at the group of young people with satisfaction. They had put in so much hard work for this new type of explosive during this period.

"Factory manager, thank you for your trust in us." Lin Zhenglei hugged Wang Qiang excitedly.

"You are trustworthy." Wang Qiang had seen everything they had done for the explosives.

"Alright, kids, go check the effects of the explosives and make sure you record the results," Wang Qiang reminded them.

"Yes, yes, yes, the test results are important." Lin Zhenglei let go of Wang Qiang's hand and quickly led a few people over to record the explosion effect.

"Brother Lin, the explosive effect of this is estimated to be five times that of our current explosives."

"The result is even higher than I expected. Let's hurry up and collect the data, then go back and conduct research and make a summary."

"Yes, Brother Lin."

"Hey Lao Wang, should we notify the regimental commander now?" Lao Li, who was standing to the side watching the group of young people busy at work, asked.

"Let's not notify the regimental commander yet. This is only the first test. We need to test it several more times to make sure that there are no problems with the new explosive before we notify the regimental commander."

"Old Wang, we'll listen to you on this matter. You're the most reliable person." Old Li nodded affirmatively.

"Factory manager, we've finished collecting the explosion data."

"Okay, let's go back to the arsenal and summarize the test data first." After Wang Qiang finished speaking, the group hurriedly returned to the arsenal.

Meanwhile, Bi Shoucai and his men finally arrived at the Second War Zone's base located on the banks of the Yellow River.

"Damn it, Yan Laoxi ran really far, but he picked a safe place for himself," Niu Dali complained from the side.

"However, this is my first time seeing the Yellow River, and it is truly magnificent," Niu Dali exclaimed, looking at the great river before him.

"Hahaha, Battalion Commander Niu, you may not know this, but Commander Yan chose this place for a reason. The Yellow River has always been a natural barrier. If the Japanese invaders come, Commander Yan can cross the river on the spot and move to the other side. As long as we control a few crossing points, it will be difficult for the Japanese to cross the river."

"So what if you're a coward? Look at our regiment, we're surviving just fine behind enemy lines." Niu Dali said with a look of disdain.

“Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang, you’re cultured, do you know what ‘Jerry from Jiangdong’ means? The regiment commander sometimes calls them ‘Jerry from Jiangdong’? This old Niu just doesn’t understand.”

“I understand ‘Jiangdong rat’, but I’ve never heard of ‘Jiangdong Jerry.’ Does ‘Jerry’ mean ‘rat’?” Niu Dali left Zhang Haoshan speechless.

"Haha, the regimental commander is truly cultured." Seeing that Zhang Haoshan couldn't express it, Niu Dali praised Tang Weiguo, who was far away in Wolong Mountain.

"Battalion Commander Niu is right, that's why the regimental commander deserves to be called a hero."

"Now that we've reached the vicinity of the county town, Battalion Commander Niu, find a secluded village outside the town to settle down. Send a few soldiers to accompany Bi Shoucai and me," Zhang Haoshan said.

“Alright, Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang, I’ll have Qin Yang go with you.”

"Qin Yang, you take a few soldiers and follow Deputy Regiment Commander Zhang on this mission."

"Yes, battalion commander."

"Thank you, Battalion Commander Niu. We'll be going now."

"be careful."

After saying their goodbyes, Zhang Haoshan led Bi Shoucai and Qin Yang and a few others to the county town. For safety reasons, Bi Shoucai brought two small boxes and another 100 goldfish.