Chapter 256 1.74 million

October 1901.

Hu Chuyuan's wife, the small Zhihuatang milk powder factory full of Ms. Pan Limei's love and hope, was established with an investment of only 300,000 yuan. In this era of big investment waves everywhere, it is really insignificant.

What a small investment.

However, it is full of the hope of Hu Chuyuan and Pan Limei.

From choosing a ranch to finding a factory, buying equipment and hiring people, Hu Chuyuan participated in the whole process. Although it was only a small milk powder factory, it also made him re-experience the fun of starting a business.

The name "Zhihuatang" and the entire trademark pattern were also designed by him.

The ranch chose near Duanzhuang and cooperated with the local Duanzhuang Agricultural Society. They introduced Holstein cows from the Netherlands, sent people to study in the Netherlands in advance, and selected several professional animal husbandry technicians, and the factory was also located nearby.

It is still in the research period. Some milk powder production processes have been introduced from the United States, and technicians have proposed to add some honey powder, fructose and nutrients as special infant milk powder.

Because the factory is not far from the urban area, Hu Chuyuan often takes time to have a look. The products here are exclusively for the Yanjing market.

He discussed with Pan Limei that if it was run well, he would immediately open a real big milk powder factory in Guihua City.

In this paragraph, the Russian-French coalition army obviously broke through the current deadlock in the northeast battlefield. The railway from Manchuria to Qiqihar was also completed, and a large number of Russian and French troops joined the battlefield.

On October 14, the Russian Far Eastern Army suddenly launched an attack on Jixi County from Mudanura. On the 15th, the western Russian-French coalition began to advance to Harbin.

Everything shows that Russia will launch a large-scale breakthrough war before the northeastern region enters the deep winter. In North Korea, the Japanese army has captured Seoul, and the Beiyang fleet has been forced to withdraw to Nanpu. Duan Qirui has arrived in Pyongyang to organize the defense, and the six main divisions of the Jianghuai Corps have gathered in Pyongyang.

With the change of the original strategic plan, Hu Chuyuan also adjusted his strategy to make Pyongyang a real main battlefield. The strategic task is to prevent the main force of the Japanese army and the Russian-French allied forces from joining in the northeast battlefield.

After the construction of railways in Shenyang and Pyongyang, it is not difficult to take advantage of the complex terrain of northern North Korea to fight a defensive counterattack war.

A whole year after the start of the war, using the strong domestic industrial production capacity, coupled with a large number of weapons and equipment purchased from Britain, Germany and the United States, on the front line of Pyongyang, Hu Chuyuan's six divisions all have more than two artillery regiments equipped with light and heavy machine guns.

The main force of the Beiyang Fleet is stationed in Nanpu Port, guarding the river, and then uniting with the Jianghuai Corps to follow each other.

That night, Hu Chuyuan Zhihuatang milk powder factory came back and brought two boxes of newly produced new milk powder into the office building of the State Military Commission in Yingtai. He asked Lv Han and Lu Guangwen to come quickly, and everyone took one home to drink.

He dares not say how the taste and nutrition are, but there are absolutely no additives, and it is still a pure natural pasture.

This...!

It's embarrassing enough.

Everyone is embarrassed to say anything. Anyway, each person divided a bag of milk powder.

After sending out the "welfare", Hu Chuyuan still has to do something, and he has to continue.

In the office of the chairman who specifically belongs to him, Hu Chuyuan carefully browsed all the new information today. Yang Zongli sent a telegram to the idea that Harbin could no longer keep it, unless...

In short, he had to withdraw to Changchun. He retreated while fighting, trying not to be entangled by the Russian-French coalition forces, and gradually withdrew the main forces to Changchun and Shenyang. He estimated that he would eventually withdraw to Siping.

After reading the telegram, he asked Lu Guangwen, "What do you think?"

Lu Guang Quan stood up with not very much approval. He walked around in the office of Chairman Hu Chuyuan, lighted a cigarette, and smoked for a long time before saying, "No, the construction of the fortifications in Harbin is much more complicated than that in Changchun, and the investment is also large. If he can't keep it in Harbin, he can't keep it back to Changchun.

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, but he was also thinking about it himself.

He didn't have to get up to look at the map. The whole northeast topographic map had long been reflected in his mind. After a little thought, he said to Lu Guangquan, "Let the Zhili Corps pull out the engineers and transfer local labor to repair larger-scale fortifications in Changchun and Siping, so that Yang Zongli can stand up for a period of time. If he withdraws to Changchun in November, he can almost survive until the end of the year. At this time of next year, we will be almost ready.

At this point, he paused for a moment and continued: "Sacrificeing a Changchun is not a big problem. At worst, it is to rebuild. The key is to keep the main force. We don't have the final say. We don't doubt about using people, and we don't need to suspects. You tell him all my words and arrangements, and let him think about it by himself.

Lu Guang Quan gritted his teeth and said, "Ok, the war has been fought for this. It's nothing to sacrifice one more Changchun. OK, I'm going to call Yang Zong Li back and let him do not sacrifice the main force for a few more days. I will assign manpower to repair the fortifications in Changchun and Siping... I can just transfer an integrated infantry division here, and all of them will be sent to him.

Hu Chuyuan did not hesitate and said, "Sent it to him and tell him... The bottom line is to keep Shenyang and let the French and Russian artillery bomb Shenyang City, then he can't pass."

Lu Guangxuan hummed, but said, "This guy has the ability. I think he must have something to foreshadow... Otherwise, according to his surname, he won't let Harbin so readily. Let's wait and see!"

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly and asked Lu Guangzuan to go out to send a telegram first. By the way, he also gave him the last bag of milk powder, and casually said, "It's homemade, healthy and fresh. I've worked hard recently. Drink a few more cups to make up for it."

Lu Guang Quan took a skeptical look and asked suspiciously, "Isn't this what children drink?"

Hu Chuyuan said, "You don't understand. It's because it's for babies to drink, so it's nourishing... comparable to breast milk."

"This...?"

Lu Guang Quan's cold sweat on his forehead hurriedly ran away with two bags of milk powder.

As soon as he returned to his office and sat down, Hu Chuyuan called him again to let him remember to return the speech after drinking.

This...!

He didn't know that Hu Chuyuan had great hopes for this milk powder. China's Nestle is them.

When it is done in the future, he will also buy Nestle. By the way, let's see what Nestle's formula is based on infant milk powder.

Lu Guang Quan doesn't understand that war is for the next generation, and milk powder is not for the next generation.

Hu Chuyuan has thought about it. He wants every Chinese child to drink domestic Zhihuatang milk powder. Everyone is not short of nutrition or calcium.

Anyway, it's wonderful to open your own factory and participate in the life of starting and running your own business.

He seems to have returned to the day when he just founded Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. No, it's more interesting than in Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce. At that time, he mainly relied on the hard work of the big shopkeepers, but now he relies solely on himself.

He is going to set up a milk powder factory now, just like a martial arts master participating in the primary school sports meeting. It's better, but he just likes it.

... The war situation in the northeast is indeed entangled.

Hu Chuyuan got up and opened the curtain on the wall, looked at the northeast map hanging on the wall, and looked at the new deployment of the troops. He was a little nervous.

The reason why he can sit here is that the two divisions of the Zhili Corps and one of the Qingxu Corps have completed mechanized equipment deployment and training, hidden in Liaoyang, Fushun and Benxi respectively. By March next year, this scale will increase to six divisions.

The problem of personnel reserve has been basically solved. At present, there is a shortage of enough armored vehicles and auxiliary vehicles.

If Yang Zong Li really didn't resist, he could only launch a counterattack in advance.

This afternoon, Duan Qirui sent a new piece of information from North Korea, saying that the army used hot air balloons to detect the deployment and fortification facilities in Pyongyang, and urgently needed anti-aircraft guns that could shoot in the air.

This is a blank.

Hu Chuyuan calculated in his mind and called Huang Jianxun, who was in charge of weapons, equipment and logistics, to come over.

Huang Jianxun's office was on the second floor. He came quickly, but in a few minutes, he hurried to the door of Hu Chuyuan's office. He quickly walked in and saluted Hu Chuyuan.

"Your Excellency, are you looking for me?" He asked.

Hu Chuyuan nodded slightly, asked him to sit opposite him, and handed him the telegram sent by Duan Qirui.

Huang Jianxun took a general look and said, "The General Intelligence Agency has notified the General Assembly Department in advance that we have developed an anti-aircraft gun with an extreme range of about 2000m on the basis of a 47mm caliber rotary machine gun. It is not very difficult, and it will take about a month to get results."

Hu Chuyuan nodded and said, "That's good. You can arrange it within the General Administration of Military Industry to make a new model change between Shandong and the Yangtze River, and strive to realize the mechanized modification of the machine gun. In addition, I said that I gave us a demonstration. We also need to do similar work in detecting enemy intelligence. You can arrange it now. One is the study of high-altitude hot air balloons, and the other is the study of airships.

Huang Jianxun said, "We haven't studied hot air balloons too much. The airship project is followed by the Germans. Originally, hydrogen was used as filling gas, but recently we are considering helium. Helium purification is a derivative found by Wanqi Company in asphalt refining technology, and the relevant technology and equipment have been transferred to Zibo Chemical Factory. If you consider that the opponent also has anti-aircraft guns... Helium is the best. Although it is a little heavier than hydrogen, the chemical surname can be more stable and not easy to explode.

Hu Chuyuan thought about this series of questions in his mind.

Zibo Chemical Plant is currently the largest petrochemical and coal chemical base in China, where the National Chemical Research Institute is set up. Zibo is also a research and development and production base for the aluminum industry. Considering this, the current domestic aircraft and airship research projects are also concentrated in Zibo.

The aircraft project began pre-research in 1893 and was established in 1897. The airship project was established in 1898. The former started from scratch, and the latter absorbed some research theories of the Germans.

Compared with the armored vehicle project, Hu Chuyuan did not pay much attention to these two projects.

At this time, he found that these two projects were also very important. The plane did not have much role and significance at present, and the airship was different.

He immediately asked Huang Jianxun to send someone to submit the information and report of the airship project, and he wanted to see it in person.

These materials are all in Huang Jianxun's safe. Huang Jianxun has to pick them up in person, but they also come and go quickly. In a short time, as many as two cartons of research reports and technical reports were sent to Hu Chuyuan.

Hu Chuyuan turned over the most important report and checked it carefully. Germany had completed the construction of the Zeppelin airship last year. The design of the Qingzhou airship and the Zeppelin airship of Zibo Aircraft Manufacturing Factory is almost the same.

Although the project was established late, thanks to the perfect foundation of domestic aluminum industry and aircraft research, Qingzhou Fly now has the ability similar to the Zeppelin airship. Because the military does not pay much attention to this, it has not received the support of more scientific research units and arsenals.

Judging from the design drawings of the Qingzhou airship, Hu Chuyuan is not very satisfied.

He pulled out a pencil from the pen holder, took out a new drawing and ruler, and redrawed a new design.

and so on to draw the new design drawing, Hu Chu Yuancai and Huang Jianxun asked, "Who is the person in charge of the 9813 project?"

Huang Jianxun said, "Zhou Wanpeng, a native of Shanghai, is also the chief engineer of the 9710 project, who is also the chief engineer of the 9710 project... There is no way. There are too few technicians engaged in aircraft projects in China. He takes care of aircraft engineering and airship engineering alone. He originally majored in mechanical power in Germany, specializing in shipbuilding and internal combustion engines. After returning to China, because the number of shipbuilding workers was relatively abundant, after consulting him, he was asked to lead a team alone to carry out aircraft engineering in Shandong. His group of people in Zibo Aircraft Manufacturing Factory can be said to be the only technical engineering team that focuses on aircraft internationally.

Hu Chuyuan said a slight hum.

Speaking of Zhou Wanpeng, Hu Chuyuan was impressed.

He thought for a moment and told Huang Jianxun: "From this year on, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Army will invest more money in both aircraft projects... I will also increase my personal investment. In terms of talents, you should pay close attention to the deployment and give priority to the deployment of aircraft projects. Now it is necessary to increase the training, let them do more experimental research, and accumulate enough experimental data on aircraft-specific power engines and aerodynamics.

Huang Jianxun claimed that it was, and then asked, "Is there going to be a big change in the airship project?"

"Huh?"

Hu Chuyuan handed over the new design drawing to Huang Jianxun and said, "You should let Zhou Wanpeng pay attention to it. There are several foundations that must be paid attention to. The first is the payload, the second is the flight speed, altitude and control surname, and the third is armored defense. The payload should not be less than 3 tons, the rated flight speed should reach 50 kilometers per hour, and the stable altitude should be between 600 meters and 1,000 meters. The key is that the defense ability should also be high.

Huang Jianxun thought for a while and said, "This is relatively difficult... However, we can adopt a multi-layer compartment design, similar to the watertight cabin on the ship. Even if several compartments are broken through, the airship will not fall."

Hu Chuyuan said, "Your design is okay, but my requirements must be realized, otherwise don't take risks on the battlefield."

Huang Jianxun said, "It has to be made very big... It's very expensive, especially the use of some special aluminum alloys is very important."

Hu Chuyuan said, "The key is here. We can make it thicker and thinner under the airship. At present, the weapon that can really threaten the airship is the anti-aircraft gun. If it really doesn't work, add a harder layer of steel plate.

Huang Jianxun scratched his head and felt very difficult, but he could only nod his head and said, "Ok, I'll go to Zibo in person tomorrow and let them redesign it."

Hu Chuyuan added: "Note that this new model can be used not only for reconnaissance, but also for bombing and even airdrop... Yes, airdrop. Different designs are carried out according to different functions, and the airship used for bombing must ensure a safe surname. It's cheaper to use it for airdrop and reconnaissance.

"Airdrop?"

Huang Jianxun only felt that one head was two big, and he was more and more puzzled.

"Yes, it's an airdrop!"

On the contrary, Hu Chuyuan became more resolute. He carefully elaborated the significance of the airdrop effect. For the besieged troops, they can airdrop ammunition supplies, and for the enemy, they can also airdrop part of the troops and launch attacks from behind.

At this time, Hu Chuyuan did not place his hopes on this sudden thought.

He knows that fantasy is meaningless. Even if the research of this weapon is successful... it lacks a large enough scale. Its cost determines the scale, and the scale determines the combat value.

A key surname problem of the airship is that if it flies too low, it is easy to be attacked by anti-aircraft guns, and if it is too high, it is easy to be destroyed by impercible rapid air currents and storms in the sky.

So, he hopes to concentrate on building 20 airships that can be used for bombing, gather the number, and give the enemy a sudden critical attack.

After thinking about it, the best target is still ships, especially giant warships.

No matter which level of battleship, there are two common shortcomings, that is, underwater and deck. The armored defense of these two areas must be relatively weak. Otherwise, it is a real water steel armored bunker. The speed is amazingly slow, and the stability is poor.

After finalizing this issue with Huang Jianxun, he asked Huang Jianxun not to wait until tomorrow and arrange a special train to Zibo in the afternoon.

As for the issue of funds, he will borrow the bill for the time being. The specific cost can be calculated after the end of the war... This is the main reason why China can go to war with the Three Kingdoms at the same time. No matter how much money has been spent this year, Hu Chuyuan can spread the accounts and let the political axe gradually repay it over a few years. Also.

As long as he can win, Hu Chuyuan will definitely do anything.

It doesn't matter even if he scatters his wealth. With his ability and status, as long as China overcomes, it will only take ten years for him to start from nothing and become the richest man in the world again.

The richest man in the world.

After Huang Jianxun left, Hu Chuyuan continued to sit in the office silently, thinking about those complex data and how long the Northeast Front could last.

The total strength of the domestic army has expanded to 1.74 million, and 14 divisions have been concentrated in the northeast, with a total of 443,000.

This number looks very high, but compared with the Russian-French coalition, it is almost half less. What's more, six divisions are not in a hurry to go to the battlefield and are secretly training in Shenyang and Jinzhou.

The situation in the Korean battlefield and the Northwest battlefield is basically the same.

Fortunately, the Northwest battlefield is completely at the stronghold. In the Korean battlefield, there are North Korea's own troops fighting on the edge battlefield, and there are a large number of militia and regimental training troops in the Northeast battlefield.

Hu Chuyuan's heart is anxious. As long as he lasts for a few more months... As long as he lasts for a few more months, he can survive for another year until winter. In March next spring, he can fight back.

(to be continued)