Rebirth of the 1980s: The Military Industry Empire

Capital City Agricultural Tool Factory, production workshop.

"Uncle Liu, how is the production of the Type 80 heavy machine gun going?"

Workshop Director Liu Yong beamed: "Our production is going smoothly. The first batch of one hundred heavy machine guns has been crated and can be shipped to the troops at any time."

They were able to produce hundreds of them not long after the design was finalized. This was unthinkable in the past, after all, it's a completely new process!

"Shipped to the troops? Which unit? Is it the 136th Division?" Qin Yang thought of Lin Heping, the good brother he met a few months ago. Now that he's delivering equipment to the troops, he could go and see him. If he encountered an emergency, he might even be able to personally take down a few monkeys…

"I'm not too sure about that," Liu Yong said. "We're only responsible for production. If you want to know, you can ask the military representative…"

Gao Mianren, the military representative from Factory 960, should be the most frustrated person. He wasn't allowed to see many of the secret processes. He was only responsible for the final testing. This used to frustrate Military Representative Gao Mianren, but he's used to it now. After all, Factory 960 is indeed very strong in research and development. All kinds of problems that other factories can't solve can be easily solved by Factory 960, and the specifications are even higher than required.

Military representatives have both power and responsibility. If the product is unqualified, the first to suffer is the military representative. Therefore, the military representative of Factory 960 is relatively comfortable because he doesn't have to worry about quality issues.

"Well, since we're producing military products, we can't avoid dealing with military representatives. We must maintain a good relationship with them." Qin Yang's words made Liu Yong a little helpless. You, this big cannon, used to fire at the military representative, but now you're saying you want to have a good relationship?

"Okay, then I'll call him out. How about we have dinner and drinks together tonight? Our factory's military representative has been complaining that you're always not in the factory and rarely see you," Liu Yong suggested.

Just as Qin Yang was about to nod in agreement, someone rushed in: "Section Chief Qin, someone is looking for you outside, saying they're from Factory 618!"

"Factory 618? Okay, I'll go take a look." Qin Yang wondered, could there be a problem with the production of the Type 63 armored vehicle?

"Director Qin, we have an emergency in our factory and can only ask for your help. In our system, you're the only one with a lot of ideas, so you have to help us solve the problem!" Cui Yucheng, the director of Factory 618, said anxiously after meeting him.

"Director Cui, don't worry. Even if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up. What big deal could it be?" Qin Yang said.

"Don't worry, I'll go with you to take a look."

"Thank you, Director Qin!"

Since becoming the head of Fangbei Industrial Company, Qin Yang's work has increased. He no longer has as much free time as before. Sitting in the 212 Jeep and looking at the scenery outside the window, Qin Yang suddenly missed the good old days when he was a chicken thief in the factory.

Factory 618, the armored plate production line was completely stopped, and everyone was looking at the large hydraulic press.

"This crack is too big. I don't know if it can be used after welding."

"How is that possible? The thickness of this oil cylinder is at least one hundred millimeters. The electric welder can't penetrate it at all! Even if it is welded, it will still burst open during the next test run, and it may even hurt people."

"Yes, this oil cylinder is scrapped and needs to be replaced with a new one!"

"A new oil cylinder? Then we have to go to Yizhong Machine for procurement. However, the journey is too far, and it's almost the end of the year. Yizhong Machine has a lot of orders and may not be able to produce it for us!"

"This is troublesome!"

Amidst the discussions, Qin Yang and others walked in.

In later generations, a 1,000-ton hydraulic press only needs an oil cylinder with a diameter of 700 millimeters, and the internal pressure can reach 25 MPa. An ordinary machine factory can produce it, and even buy parts to assemble it themselves.

But now, this kind of hydraulic press is still rare in China. Only Yizhong Machine can mass-produce it, and its size is not small.

Looking at the hydraulic press with a main cylinder diameter of more than one meter in front of him, Qin Yang also sighed in his heart that the technology of this era is too backward!

"The main cylinder body has a crack more than one meter long. It can't be repaired, so let's replace it with a new one." Qin Yang knew at a glance that this thing had no repair value.

"We have contacted Yizhong Machine, and their production orders have been scheduled until March next year. It's too late for us to ask them to produce a brand new cylinder body!" Cui Yucheng said, "If we can't deliver the goods to foreigners on time, we will lose the face of our military workers."

This is the first time doing business with foreigners. What will foreigners think if the delivery time is delayed? Will they still do business in the future?

Thinking of the big pie of thousands of Type 63 tank orders, Cui Yucheng was anxious.

"Our Capital City Agricultural Tool Factory's current steelmaking furnace is very small, and there is no large hydraulic press, so we cannot produce this kind of forged blank at all," Qin Yang said. "This time, I'm afraid we can't help."

"Director Qin, can you negotiate with Yizhong Machine in the name of Fangbei Industrial Company and let them help us produce this forged blank first?" Cui Yucheng asked. This was also the idea he came up with.

"Negotiate? Do you think Yizhong Machine will pay attention to us?" Qin Yang said, "We are not in the same system. How many people are jealous of us for doing foreign trade recently? It would be good if they didn't trip us up."

"Then what should we do?" Cui Yucheng was completely out of ideas.

"What to do? Book a plane ticket to Qishi, the sooner the better."

Book a plane ticket? Go to Qishi? Yizhong Machine?

"Director Qin, didn't you say that Yizhong Machine won't pay attention to us at all?"

"Yes, but if they don't produce the blank for the main oil cylinder body for us, they should let us pick up scraps, right?"

"Pick up scraps?" Cui Yucheng couldn't understand even more.

"There are many good things in Yizhong Machine's scrap yard. If we are lucky, we may be able to find suitable waste products and process them ourselves!"

Qin Yang had full confidence because he had remembered some things in his memory. He had visited Factory 618 that year, and an old worker told this story! The scraps of Yizhong Machine are also good things for them!

Hydraulic press structure diagram, the middle is the main oil cylinder, and the surrounding is the return oil cylinder.