Chapter 86 The Moon of Yesteryear

The base now has three sources of weapons.

One method was to send people to conceal their identities, disguise themselves as merchants or gentry, and secretly purchase weapons by crossing layers of blockades. With the help of the Dixia Party, the Dixia Party purchased weapons through various connections and channels. However, this required a lot of funds, as the weapons were expensive and not the lowest price Xie Ning had given them before.

A Type 79 rifle produced by the Hanyang Arsenal cost 25 silver dollars, while a Mauser C96 pistol cost as much as 120 silver dollars. Given these exorbitant prices, the poor and struggling Labour Party simply could not afford them.

Alternatively, they could buy from Kuomintang soldiers, but because they bought too much, the Kuomintang discovered it, and due to strict controls, they could no longer buy much.

Xie Ning was incredulous when he heard that they were actually buying from Kuomintang soldiers. "This? The enemy would sell their guns to you, no, to us?"

This use of "we" pleased the leaders well. One of them explained that many of the Kuomintang soldiers were conscripted and joined the army only to get paid. They had no intention of fighting the Hong Kong army. Losing a gun would at most result in a reprimand, but since they would get a few silver dollars for free, many people would choose to sell it.

It was much cheaper to buy from soldiers; sometimes you could buy a gun for just two or three silver dollars.

Xie Ning shook his head slightly in his heart. This showed that the cohesion of the Kuomintang army was not very good. Also, the soldiers did not cherish things that were easily obtained, which was completely different from the situation here.

Due to a lack of weapons and ammunition, headquarters repeatedly issued orders to all armies to strengthen shooting training and to carry out in-depth education on cherishing weapons and conserving ammunition. Looking at the entire base area, there wasn't even a single mountain gun. Xie Ning looked at the information in his hand and couldn't imagine what they were using to fight.

The remaining two ways to acquire weapons are by capturing them and by producing them yourself.

Capturing enemy weapons was the mission of every soldier in the Hong Army, as the saying goes, "If we have no guns or cannons, the enemy will make them for us."

Capturing a gun meant acquiring one's own weapon. This wasn't limited to soldiers; many commanders also obtained their weapons through capture. After all, many who joined the Hong Army initially received only a red-tasseled spear or a broadsword, as those guns were primarily supplied to the main force.

Moreover, for many units, the spoils do not replenish their losses, but only break even.

The production process itself is still a blank slate here, waiting for Xie Ning to write on it. This is one of the reasons why they are willing to reveal so many military secrets to Xie Ning. As the saying goes, "Trust those you employ."

Being trusted so much, Xie Ning naturally lived up to the trust placed in her. She had started preparing long ago and had anticipated the difficulties she would face in the future. But after actually arriving here, Xie Ning realized that she had been too naive. But it was alright, she could only take things one step at a time.

The meeting discussed the decentralized operation of arsenals in various base areas, proposing a development process from nothing to something, from small to large, from repair to manufacturing, from simple to diverse, from mobile to fixed, and from decentralized to centralized.

Xie Ning agreed, and someone opposite her stood up and asked, "Ms. Xie, would you be willing to lead a group for teaching? As you know, many people here don't know much about military equipment."

“Okay.” Xie Ning looked at the rather refined leader opposite her, pondering the word 'Madam'. She had never paid attention to how others addressed her before. Whether it was 'Mr.' or 'Miss,' it expressed respect for her and did not involve any other feelings. Because they did not understand, she had met too many people, and she could not explain to everyone she met that they should not call her 'Mr.'

Here, "先生" is a respectful term, and it is also used to address people in certain professions, such as teachers.

It does not refer to all adult men. However, many people assume that "Mr." is male when they hear the word "sir". The reason for this is simply that in this society, almost all those who work outside are men, and many professions are also male-dominated.

This is a gender stereotype, such as men being managers and politicians, and women being nurses.