The expeditionary force began to dominate Southeast Asia by recruiting defeated soldiers

Chapter 363: The Stupid Engineer at Nanhua Shipyard (Part 1)

In a large industrial park on the southern outskirts of Myitkyina, on the banks of the Irrawaddy River, the roar of large machinery is endless, and the air is filled with the smell of engine oil and burning charcoal.

This is the Irrawaddy River No. 1 Shipyard in the Nanhua Industrial System under Zhang Chi (see Chapter 164 for its preparation). The factory was originally just a simple ship repair base, but now, thanks to the efforts of a large number of Italian engineers, it can produce landing craft of hundreds of tons and civilian transport ships of thousands of tons.

Among them, the newly launched ships can go directly to the estuary of the Irrawaddy River, the largest river running through the north and south of Pegu, and enter the Andaman Sea. Therefore, even if it is located inland, transportation is very convenient.

In Zhang Chi's view, the Irrawaddy River is like the Yangtze River in its vertical direction, connecting many major cities in Bago. River transportation must be vigorously developed.

At this time, in an engineering conference room in the factory, several Italians sat around a huge square table, holding a newly bought South China Morning Post. The headline on it read:

"Great victory in Chittagong! The People's Army defeated John's army and captured tens of thousands of enemies!"

"Damn, this is such an interesting world." Antonio Riva, whose hair was already graying, frowned and shook the newspaper in his hand.

He was originally the chief shipbuilder at the Ansaldo Shipyard in Italy, but now he has become a senior technical consultant here.

He was wearing a suit that his wife had ironed for him. Since he had the highest position, the most experience and the oldest age, he had become the boss of all the Italian engineers in the Irrawaddy River First Shipyard.

Different from the usual sloppy Italians, Antonio is not only serious and responsible in his work, but also as rigid as Hans.

Next to him, his colleague Luigi Ferrara was holding a cup of black coffee. He was an engineer specializing in ship propulsion, and there was a playful smile on his face.

"Look at the data, 7 to 129, 129 planes shot down? Aren't they as reporters afraid of exaggerating too much?" Antonio shook his head, spread the newspaper on the table, pointed at the battle report data on the front page with his finger, half believing and half doubting.

In the early stages of the war, the mouthpieces of the big-butt Mexicans in the country also advocated this, saying how great the achievements of the Italian army were in North Africa.

In the end, the victory was won by the Afika Legion of the ally Desert Fox, and the Italian army was the one that got beaten up.

Now even Mo Dabuti himself has become a puppet in Xier's hands.

"Maybe..." Luigi shrugged, blew on the steaming coffee, and took a sip. "But you have to admit, the guys in the Security Army are really not vegetarians."

"How can I describe that kind of spirit? I've only seen it in Hans."

Next to them, the younger Giuseppe Mattia also came over. This middle-aged man in his 40s was originally a civilian cruise ship designer at the Ansaldo factory. When he first came to Myanmar, he was not used to the hot and humid climate here, but now he is used to it.

Being a greedy person, he especially likes the local specialty, the latest variety cultivated by South China Agricultural College, the 'Golden Light No. 1' pineapple.

"I say, haven't you ever thought about this?" Mattia grinned. "These Johns aren't the veterans from the three islands. They're basically colonial troops. Their training level isn't very high to begin with. It's no surprise that they were defeated by the elite of the Anmin Army, right?"

"Oh?" Antonio raised an eyebrow, "Go on."

Mattia spread his hands and said, "The Sindhu colony has always been the rear base of the United Kingdom. Most of the John Army stationed in Sindhu are second-line troops. Their combat effectiveness is not on the same level as the John Army that our army has seen in North Africa, Sicily, and the Apennines."

Luigi nodded and then shook his head. "That's true, but there are quite a few white people among these colonial troops, and their weapons are not too bad. Now they've been defeated first by the Japanese and then by the People's Army. I think their king's reputation has been thrown to the ground."

"That's why their army doesn't have the royal title in front of it, hahaha." Mattia pushed his glasses and took the opportunity to joke.

"I think Luigi is right." Antonio knocked on the table. "Even if they are second-line troops, their equipment is still John-style equipment, and their supply chain is not as ridiculously poor as our Italian army. But what about the Security Army? How did they do it?"

"Well..." Mattia flipped through the newspaper and pointed to a certain paragraph. "This report mentions that the equipment level of some elite units of the People's Army is close to that of the mainstream forces of the European powers."

"Hahaha, are you kidding me?" Luigi laughed and shook his head. "We're all shipbuilders. In the field of mechanical manufacturing, the most advanced technology in the world is only mastered by a few countries. How can the People's Security Army's industry compare to Europe's?"

"But the problem is..." Mattia lowered his voice, a meaningful look in his eyes. "We've been working in this shipyard for so long. Don't you find it strange? The equipment, materials, and production methods here... they don't seem like something you'd find in a less developed country."

"Especially those large equipment, all of them are White Eagle goods. The dates on the nameplates are very new. They are all brand new first-hand equipment!"

The meeting room suddenly became quiet.

Indeed, the Anmin Army's industrial system has left a deep impression on these Italian engineers.

Although this place does not have a complete heavy industrial base like Europe itself, its technological level, especially in new materials, precision processing and production organization, has far exceeded their expectations when they first arrived.

What frightened them most was the eagerness of the workers to learn.

Nowadays, even ordinary workers in the Irrawaddy River First Shipyard can speak a few simple words of Yidai.

Those senior engineers were even more hardworking. Not only could they speak, read and write Japanese, they also looked through all the ship information they brought from the Ansaldo Shipyard and even translated it into Chinese.

"Perhaps the Anmin Army truly possesses some special technological advantage," Antonio said slowly, his tone more serious than before. "Or perhaps these Chinese are more hardworking than us?"

Italians are famous in Europe for their laziness and romanticism. Antonio felt a little embarrassed when he said this.

"Or..." Luigi put down his coffee cup and whispered, "There's some power behind them that we don't know about yet."

Several people looked at each other and understood each other tacitly.

This rising force may be far more terrifying than they imagined.