After returning from his studies in Huaxia, Kiwete, only holding the honorary title of "General", had no real authority. The only people he could command were his personal soldiers, essentially a "tribal army", because in Africa, tribes formed the most basic "governments", and several tribes would compromise in conflicts before finally forming a nation. So, Kiwete's main support came from his tribe.
"Instruct the port personnel to immediately transport the goods to the outskirts military factory, ensuring secrecy and security along the way."
"These goods must not encounter any issues!"
Instantly, Kiwete became excited and stood up, giving direct orders.
Currently, due to his studies in Huaxia, he had lost all official positions, and the appointment letter had yet to come. This was undoubtedly due to multiple parties vying for power, as Tanzania was also divided into numerous factions and tribes, and holding powerful positions was like a game of musical chairs. For Kiwete to occupy a seat, someone else had to give theirs up.
At this critical stage of the stalemate, if he could gain some advantage through the gas cylinders, perhaps everything would change. How could Kiwete not be excited?
"Yes, General!"
This soldier nodded and left.
After the soldier left, Kiwete paced around the office excitedly. A plan had already formed in his mind; he intended to use the gas cylinders to stage a political show, helping him regain his position of power!
Time always seemed so long when waiting. Kiwete was completely disinterested in working in his office until 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Once again accompanied by the knocking, Kiwete was startled, then called out, "Come in!"
It was the tall and muscular soldier who entered. He saluted and said, "Reporting, General, the goods are about to arrive at the military factory."
"It'll take about another hour."
Upon hearing this, Kiwete, who had been anxiously waiting, stood up directly. As he fastened his equipment belt, he waved and said, "To the military factory! Depart immediately!"
A moment later, Kiwete's convoy set off, heading straight for the outskirts of Dodoma, the capital. After more than an hour's drive, the convoy completely left the city and entered the flat wilderness.
Finally, after an hour and a half, a "military factory" surrounded by thick earth walls came into view!
At the gate, many large trucks were parked, and busy workers were unloading metal-colored gas cylinders one by one and transporting them inside the earthen walls.
"General! General!"
As Kiwete's convoy entered the walled compound, numerous black-uniformed soldiers, armed with rifles, saluted and greeted them. Inside the walls, there were only numerous brick-and-mortar structures, at most "mud workshops," which were far from actual factories.
This was one of the few "military factories" that Kiwete currently controlled. Of course, it was almost impossible to manufacture any weapons from scratch here. Instead, they repaired weapons and vehicles for Kiwete's personal soldiers, assembled weapons and vehicles from parts, and produced some simple explosives.
"Report, General! Half of the goods have been unloaded and will take another half an hour to finish."
"We found this among the goods."
When the car stopped, Kiwete got off and a man at least two meters tall, unusually burly, approached and said so, handing Kiwete a small booklet with "Instructions for Prohibited Use" written in black letters on a white background on the cover, along with the corresponding English translation. Upon flipping through it, Kiwete found it was similar to the documents Wang Ye had given him before, but more detailed.
"Did you show this to Old Kwele? Is there any difficulty in production? Can it be produced quickly? How long will it take?"
Suppressing a smile, Kiwete asked. The burly man nodded and said, "Old Kwele has seen it. He said there's no difficulty."
"It'll take at most half an hour to produce one, and it can be done even faster once they're skilled."
Hearing this, Kiwete directly waved and said, "Start production immediately. I want to see the test!"
With Kiwete's command, the entire "military factory" began to bustle. Perhaps to ensure nothing went wrong, the chief engineer of the military factory, Old Kwele, also appeared.
Meanwhile.
As Old Kwele was manufacturing mortar bombs in violation of the instructions, the burly man who managed the entire military factory, along with a group of black-uniformed soldiers, was setting up the test site. In essence, it was an open space next to a large earthen mound, with many wooden posts embedded in the ground, showing bullet holes, used to simulate human targets.
Finally, at four o'clock in the afternoon.
All the gas cylinders on the truck had been unloaded and transported to the warehouse, and the first bomb had finally been produced!
"Prepare for testing!"
Seeing the bomb assembled, almost indistinguishable from the gas cylinder, Kiwete nodded and said.
"Yes, General!"
The burly man nodded, picked up the bomb, and loaded it onto the already fixed launcher. Then he walked towards Kiwete with a flattering expression, saying, "General, it's been installed. All we need to do now is light it, and the bomb will fly toward the target."
"As the first weapon produced by our Harihado Military Factory."
"I believe it should be you who lights it!"
Hearing this, Kiwete almost couldn't resist pulling out his pistol and shooting him. Wasn't this too terrifying? Testing such a powerful thing for the first time with himself as the target? Wasn't this an enemy's attempt at assassination?
However, Kiwete restrained his impulse and understood that this muscular man had probably not thought so much!
"Cough! As the person in charge of the military factory."
"I think it's better for you to light it. Muhha, go ahead!"
Upon hearing Kiwete's words, the man named Muhha didn't even think much about it. He nodded with great honor and said, "Yes, General!"
Then he directly walked over, took out a match, lit it, and ignited the fuse behind the gas cylinder!
With a sizzling sound, he calmly walked back. Seeing this scene, Kiwete sighed inwardly. How had his subordinates become so foolish after only a year away?
"Boom!"
Just as Muhha stepped out of a distance of not even ten meters, an explosion occurred behind him!
With a loud bang, the gas cylinder soared into the air, heading straight for a target over 500 meters away!
"Boom!"
The next second, a violent explosion occurred in front of the earthen mound!
The earth was thrown into the air, wooden fragments turned into a storm swirling around, and the sound of wood breaking was incessant, with a powerful shockwave rushing toward them!
"Damn! Is it too powerful?"
After the smoke settled, Kiwete and his men walked onto the target range. Dozens of wooden posts stuck in the ground were all broken within twenty meters of the center, and even those within a hundred meters were leaning over, covered in iron nails and steel balls!
"Pali, how do you feel?"
Seeing this scene, Kiwete asked his personal guard, an old soldier who had experienced battles. Pali, too, was amazed and couldn't help nodding, saying, "Too powerful! Even if it's a tank, anyone inside, even if hiding in a car, would die!"
"This is definitely a reaper of infantry lives!"
Hearing his personal guard's praise, Kiwete couldn't help but laugh heartily and say, "Good! Very good! My friend didn't deceive me!"
"It's a powerful weapon indeed!"
"Muhha, order Old Kwele to lead the workers in continuing to produce these bombs."
"I need at least ten by tomorrow!"
Muhha quickly nodded in agreement. At the same time, Kiwete turned to his guard, Pali, and said, "Let's go back to the city. When we return, you, in my name,"
"Invite the President, the Grand General, and other high-ranking officials,"
"Say that today, Tanzania's independently manufactured heavy mortars have succeeded!"
"Invite them to observe the test!"
Pali also doubled as Kiwete's secretary and nodded, saying, "Yes!"
Then Kiwete left the military factory. He planned to use this observation event as a stepping stone to return to the political center!