In June, Li Guang secretly transferred the cannon barrel production equipment to Shixiang Island. Although the cannon design team had designed (copied) three cannons, a new problem arose. The cannon steel sold by the Soviets to the naval anti-Japanese forces was still in rough billets and had to be hot-forged into the appropriate size using a hydraulic press. Li Guang had no choice but to invest again to purchase a 2,000-ton hydraulic press from the United States. It would not arrive at Shixiang Island for another two or three months.
What's even more frustrating about the Soviets is that the steel ingots they sold were only 500 kilograms each. The yield rate for cannon barrels was generally below 30%, meaning they could only manufacture mountain gun barrels with a diameter of 20-odd cali
