Chapter 1,653 The Backbone

Nowadays, a steel plant has been established in Jinju. With an ore dressing plant, the selected iron sand can be obtained at the bottom of the centrifuge tower using slurry centrifugal separation technology, greatly increasing the production capacity.

Nowadays, Da Song's steel base is being renovated. In addition to crushing equipment and mineral processing equipment, it is also equipped with a spherical hot blast stove at the blast furnace air inlet. Gas is used to heat refractory clay balls, and the air is heated to a high temperature of 900 degrees before entering the furnace. This

Several improvements have brought the production capacity of each base to a higher level again.

Jinju's equipment is not the most advanced. Three blast furnaces can produce fifteen tons of steel per day.

However, Su You knew that this was nothing to Shen Kuo. He was more concerned about the biggest engineering problem on this railway - the Shilingguan Tunnel.

This was the first time that the Song Dynasty people needed to build a tunnel with a length of nearly 400 meters in a mountain and capable of erecting rails and passing trains.

In order to build this tunnel, Suyou mobilized powerful forces from the Sitong Mining and Metallurgical Department, the Beiyang Navy, and the Army Artillery to dig this passage.

Without staying in Taiyuan City, Su You arrived at Shiling Pass that night.

Shiling Pass, the northern throat of Taiyuan City, is a natural pass left at the intersection of Taihang Mountain and Luliang Mountain in the northern part of Jinzhong Plain.

Shilingguan is past Xinzhou, and you can reach Dingxiang by the Hutuo River by traveling dozens of miles along the Muma River Valley.

That is the terminus of the Zhentai Railway Northern Line.

According to Su You's wishes, this railway will also build a branch line in Xinzhou, heading north directly to Daizhou, completely changing the logistics situation of the Yanmen Pass defenders.

"Shilingguan Tunnel, the 116th blast, prepare to detonate!"

"Boom——"

A muffled sound erupted from the formed tunnel, followed by a wave of air carrying smoke and dust sprayed out of the hole.

Before the smoke cleared, several sergeants rushed in wearing pig-nose masks.

After a while, several sergeants rushed out again, their bodies no longer visible: "Construction is ready, iron truck, come in!"

A long iron bucket truck was pushed in along the rails laid on the ground, and workers began to enter and carry stones to the iron bucket truck.

Song Yongchen's voice was a little low: "Since the excavation, five soldiers have been sacrificed, two were crushed to death by the landslide rocks, and three were detonated, so tragic..."

Su You asked: "Where is their cemetery?"

Song Yongchen said: "At the exit of the tunnel under Shiling Pass, their heroic spirits will guard this place forever."

Su You took the helmet from Song Yongchen's hand: "Let's go in and take a look."

"This..." Song Yongchen was a little flustered: "There may be danger inside..."

"Danger is divided into stages." It's not easy to hide it from an engineering dog like Su You: "I won't go back to the most dangerous place."

"Then let's go." Song Yongchen had no choice but to put the safety helmet on his head.

The tunnel has been dug for a hundred meters, and on the other side of Xinzhou, the project is also in progress. In total, half of it is completed.

But the remaining half will only get harder and harder.

Fortunately, the engineering team is gaining more and more experience.

The captain of the demolition team was a man in his thirties. When he saw Su You and Song Yongchen walking over carrying a lantern, he was happy and surprised: "Young Bao! Why are you here? It's dangerous here!"

The person named Su You Shaobao was probably an old Western Army soldier. Su You picked up the lantern and said, "You are..."

"I'm Wang Liang! I'm Wang Liang from the artillery team directly under the Xuexi Corps!" the bearded man shouted happily.

Su You took a towel and poured water on it from a kettle, then reached out and wiped it on the man's face: "Damn Wang Liang? No one would recognize you with your big beard! Why are you here?"

Song Yongchen said: "It is too difficult to build the Qinlan Railway, and there are many tunnels that need to be blasted. Wang Liang was specially transferred from the army by Ambassador Gao. He later made great contributions in building the road and is a heroic blaster of the Qinlan Railway."

Su You nodded: "So I transferred you here again this time? Good steel should be used on the blade! It's just a bit bitter."

Wang Liang said with a smile: "You have food, drink, meat every meal, and the allowance is higher. Compared to the past, how can this be called hardship? By the way, thank you Shaobao for allocating electric detonators to us, blasting is much safer now."

Su Youyou looked a little sad: "It's a pity that the previous brothers..."

Wang Liang said: "You are all good..."

After saying that, he laughed again: "There is no immortal soldier. Look, I'm being pretentious. Shaobao, why don't we go out and talk?"

Su You looked above his head: "It's actually quite safe here. Please ask the brothers to stop for a moment and gather together. I'll say a few words to everyone."

Wang Liang had a loud voice and raised his head and shouted: "It's stopped, it's stopped, come here quickly, Shaobao is here to visit everyone!"

Song Yongchen finally couldn't bear it any longer and reminded him in a low voice: "Now that he is Situ, he can be called Commander-in-Chief."

Su You stopped Song Yongchen and said: "This is my subordinate in peace and summer. The old Western Army loves to call me Shaobao, and I also like to hear it. Old Song, please don't give blind advice."

When the workers and soldiers in the tunnel heard that Su Shaobao was coming, this man who was the leader of the capital and spoke like a fairy, they all gathered around.

Su You said: "Thanks to everyone for the hard work on this road."

Everyone kept saying it was not hard.

Su You said: "Hard work is still hard work. Today I just want to tell everyone why we have to work so hard."

"The reason is very simple, because our biggest enemy is the Liao Kingdom; and Hebei and Hedong Fourth Road are the line of defense against the iron hoofs of the Liao people."

"Xiongba, once the Yanmen is broken, there will be thousands of miles of plains behind, and there is no way to stop them, so we can only hold them here!"

"Now that our lives have improved and our military strength has become stronger, the current situation of Hebei and Hedong must be seen by everyone."

"These are the wealth created by the hard work of the people of the Song Dynasty. Can the Liao people come and snatch it away like they did decades ago?"

"No!" Immediately some workers and soldiers shouted.

Su You said: "Everyone should know how sharp our new army is. I see that many brothers here are originally from the new army. They are familiar with this detonator and explosive pack."

There was low laughter underneath.

"But what makes the new army so sharp? It's the divine machine gun, the continuous machine gun, the thunder cannon, and the ambush cannon!"

"But if there is not enough ammunition, these guys will be all iron lumps and decorations, even worse than the bows and arrows of the Liao people!"

"The old manager and prime minister was boasting wildly in Xiongzhou, saying that the salary was only short of a wife, and the food was only short of seasonings, but he didn't dare to boast, saying that the guns and cannons were not short of ammunition!"

"Dominating the front line, there is no shortage of food, clothing, and riding. But the new army is still in the fields, and they are still training on horses, playing with bayonets, and crossbows. They only dare to train with live ammunition once a year!"

"What's stuck in our necks is ammunition!"

"What's there in Taiyuan? There's copper! This is a necessary material for making bullet casings."

"So what is the purpose of our road? It is to bring the copper from Taiyuan to Zhending Mansion to produce ammunition that is urgently needed by the new army."

"Brothers, think about it, if Taiyuan Copper can reach Zhending, we can make ammunition in Zhending. What is the concept?"

"This saves more than a thousand miles of transportation costs, which is equivalent to pushing the arsenal to the front line and behind the new army."

"Our sixteen new armies will be able to train vigorously from now on, prepare ammunitions vigorously, and defeat enemies who dare to attack! Why should we be so picky as now?"

"So even though money is needed everywhere today, His Majesty still allocated 15 million yuan to the four roads for revitalization."

"So although the four roads require money, I still squeezed out more than one-third of the fifteen million miles to build this road!"

"So you should know how heavy the responsibility is on your shoulders!"

"I have sacrificed several brothers for this road, and I am very heartbroken. But in addition to emphasizing safety, I will try my best to ensure your needs and improve technology. In addition to dragging a dozen pigs and a group of sheep for you this time, I will allow you to simply drive.

Just to express my opinion, there is really nothing I can do to ease you on the task."

"Because this is the battlefield! It is the battlefield that changes the offensive and defensive pattern of the Song and Liao Dynasties, ensures the safety of the people of the Song Dynasty, turns the tide, and determines the world!"

"The sooner this road is built, the sooner the Song Dynasty's national borders will be safe, the sooner Hebei No. 4 Road will be safe, and the sooner Bianjing will be safe!"

"Brothers on the front line will be able to get rid of the embarrassment of empty drills one day earlier, and get rid of the danger of fighting with the Liao people on bayonets one day earlier. They can use the copper we sent to create fierce artillery fire and blast their mothers.

The thief is a hundred steps away, a thousand steps away!"

"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world. I can only ask everyone to be patient, because - you are the backbone of the Song Dynasty!"

"Thank you for your hard work, please!"

After saying this, he bowed deeply to everyone.

The workers all burst into tears when they heard this. No one had ever told them that they were so important to the Song Dynasty.

The retired soldiers all knew the routine. They all held their heads high, beat their chests with their right hands, and shouted loudly and forcefully: "Dare to die for the Emperor Song!"

At the foot of Shiling Pass and by the Muma River, five simple tombs lie quietly here.

Su You stood in front of the grave and sighed deeply: "Have you declared yourself a martyr?"

Song Yongchen hesitated: "They have changed their jobs and were affiliated to the Railway Bureau during their lifetime..."

Su You said: "In addition to military generals and civil servants, there are also ordinary warriors and rural archers in the Martyrs' Shrine, who are brave and righteous."

"As long as they die for the country, no matter where the battlefield is? No matter what their status is? So of course they are martyrs."

"We were sorry for them before they were alive, and we cannot let them rest in peace after death."
Chapter completed!