lerbook Chapter 24 Krupp of the East
Chapter 24 Krupp of the East
Shanghai. Shiliupu Wharf.
Six o'clock in the morning.
A thin layer of mist floated on the river. But the dock was already bustling with activity.
Four thousand dockworkers, dressed in uniform gray overalls, lined up to load equipment onto a giant cargo ship moored at the shore.
Each piece of equipment was bigger than the last.
The smallest was a cast-iron gear set, taller than a person; the largest was the main body of a blast furnace, requiring four military trucks to tow it. These colossal steel structures all bore the same emblem—
"Krupp".
Krupp.
Germany's top defense industry giant.
Standing on the dock control platform, Feng Yong shouted at the top of his lungs, "Turn the crane boom around at berth number three! Load the furnace body first! The furnace body is the heaviest, it must be placed on the bottom of the hold! Then stack the gun barrel blanks and the rolling mill on top!"
He's now completely in charge and acts like a proper manager. He still has that bandit-like air he had when he was a gangster at the docks, but when he uses it to manage the loading and unloading of four thousand people for heavy military equipment, his efficiency is astonishing.
Several black cars were parked quietly by the dock.
Felix stood beside his car, his gaze complex as he watched the Krupp equipment being hoisted onto the ship.
Behind him stood two senior agents from Sassoon & Co. All three men looked rather grim.
“Mr. Felix,” one of the agents said in a low voice, “are we really going to use our own ships to transport this stuff for him? This is military equipment. In the future… the shells made from these things might just be used to shoot at us.”
Felix slowly turned his head and glanced at him.
His gaze was very calm.
But deep in his eyes lies a despair and numbness born from being completely tamed.
Do you think you still have a choice?
Felix's voice was hoarse and deep.
"The bonds we owe him are in his hands. He bought our seven warehouses for a pittance. His woman squandered our credit line at HSBC overnight."
"Now he's asking us to transport his weapons in our own ships. You say no?"
Felix smiled.
"Go talk to that young marshal surnamed Chen and see if he lets you walk out standing up or carry you out lying down."
The two agents fell silent.
On the dock, cranes rumbled and churned. One after another, steel behemoths bearing the "Krupp" logo were loaded into the holds of cargo ships owned by Sassoon & Co.
It was incredibly ironic.
The once most arrogant Jewish tycoons are now personally supplying more weapons to those who defeated them.
three days later.
Yangtze.
A massive fleet of 23 fully loaded cargo ships is sailing upstream along the Yangtze River.
Leading the way was a gunboat flying the flag of the Chen Family Army. Following behind were giant cargo ships piled high with industrial equipment secured by canvas and chains.
The fleet stretched for nearly two miles.
The sound of ship horns rose and fell across the river.
In every city along the way, the warlord spies and merchants on the shore would stop what they were doing and stare in amazement at this unprecedented fleet.
The local security chief in Wuhu held the binoculars for a long time, and his hands were shaking when he put them down.
"That's... a complete set of steel mill equipment? My God, what is Chen Jiajun trying to do?"
The adjutant next to him swallowed hard.
"Commander, I heard that Marshal Chen has acquired a piece of land in Ma'anshan. He's going to build... he's going to build an arsenal."
"arsenal?"
"It's said to be a complete Krupp system. It can manufacture cannons."
The security chief was stunned for a while, then slowly put the binoculars back into their case.
"Send a telegram to the province immediately."
His voice trembled slightly.
"So... a fleet of ships appeared on the Yangtze River."
Ma'anshan.
Site selection for the base.
Chen Zijun stood on a huge rock halfway up the mountain.
Before us lay a valley that had been leveled. Bulldozers and manual labor worked together to flatten and compact the ground over a radius of two square kilometers.
At the distant Yangtze River dock, the first batch of cargo ships were unloading. Giant cranes lifted pieces of Krupp equipment from the ship's hold and placed them onto military flatbed trucks waiting on the shore.
Shen Li stood beside him, holding a construction plan in her hand.
"Young Marshal, the foundation for the first blast furnace has been poured, and the steel structure can be erected today. According to the construction team's estimate, if we work around the clock, we can produce the first batch of steel within three months."
Chen Zijun nodded.
"Have the workers arrived?"
"They're all in place. Mo Huixin has transferred 800 experienced steelworkers from the Shanghai arsenal, plus 2,000 local laborers, for a total of 2,800 people. Wages are paid monthly, and resettlement allowances are paid in a lump sum. Morale is currently very high."
"Where are the German technicians?"
"The six senior technicians sent by Krupp have arrived. The one leading them is named Schmidt; he's been in the steel industry for thirty years and knows more about blast furnaces than all of us here combined. However..."
"But what?"
"Schmidt said this is just a very small steelmaking unit at the Krupp steel plant, with an annual output of at most 500,000 to 600,000 tons!"
"Heh, I knew the British wouldn't be so kind. It's alright, we still have the French for the rest of the equipment, don't we? Besides, now we have one Schmidt, and later we'll have countless Schmidts. Germany right now..."
Chen Zijun's lips twitched slightly.
A German engineer with thirty years of experience in the steel industry.
A complete set of top-of-the-line Krupp equipment.
Ma'anshan has inexhaustible coal and iron ore resources.
All three items are now complete.
He knew what this meant.
"Let's go. Let's light the fire."
The groundbreaking ceremony for the blast furnace.
3 PM.
Two thousand eight hundred workers and a German-trained infantry battalion stood in neat rows in front of the newly built blast furnace.
The blast furnace wasn't large, only fifteen meters high. But it was the culmination of Krupp technology. From the furnace body to the air supply system, from the refractory bricks to the taphole, every part was made in Germany.
Chen Zijun walked to the front of the blast furnace and took a torch.
Two thousand eight hundred people watched him in complete silence.
He did not give any speech.
He simply stuck the torch into the ignition port.
boom--
The coke inside the blast furnace was ignited.
Orange-red flames erupted from the furnace opening, and a huge wave of heat rushed towards us. Thick smoke billowed up, shooting straight into the sky.
At that moment, two thousand eight hundred people erupted in thunderous cheers.
They weren't cheering for the lighting of a blast furnace.
They were celebrating the beginning of a new era.
From this day forward, Chen Jiajun will no longer need to purchase a single bullet or shell from any foreigner.
From this day forward, they will forge their own weapons with their own steel.
Chen Zijun stood in the firelight, his face flushed red from the heat.
He gazed at the thick plume of smoke rising into the sky, with only one thought in his mind.
This is the true foundation of war.
Guns can be bought. Soldiers can be trained. But steel must be our own.
Whoever controls the steel industry controls the discourse in this chaotic world.
Less than an hour after the lighting ceremony ended.
Chen Zijun was drinking tea and looking at infrastructure blueprints in the temporary command post when Zang Keping hurriedly pushed open the door and walked in.
The battalion commander of the special operations company had a very serious expression.
"Young Marshal, urgent telegram!"
Chen Zijun took it and glanced at it.
The telegram was sent by Moranzhi from Shanghai.
He read it twice, then put the telegram on the table, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip.
Shen Li could tell from his expression that this was no small matter.
"Young Marshal... what happened?"
Chen Zijun pushed the telegram over.
Shen Li picked it up and looked at it; his pupils suddenly contracted.
The telegram read:
"Sun Yuanfeng, stationed in Fujian, has secretly allied with Qi Yingcai in Jiangsu. According to intelligence, the two are plotting an attack at the opening ceremony of your Paramount Ballroom. The specific method is unclear, but it has been confirmed that assassins have infiltrated Shanghai. Please return immediately, Young Marshal."
Shen Li gasped.
"Sun Yuanfeng and Qi Yingcai? When did these two get involved together?"
Chen Zijun put down his teacup, a slight smile playing on his lips.
What do you think?
He stood up and walked to the window.
Gazing at the distant glow of the burning blast furnace, his tone was indifferent:
"I set a fire in Ma'anshan. The fire burned too brightly."
"Those with ulterior motives have been exposed."
He turned around.
"Let's go. Back to Shanghai."
"Are they planning to cause trouble at the Paramount?"
Chen Zijun narrowed his eyes slightly, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"Then I'll turn the opening night of the Paramount into their funeral night."