sjar Chapter 1191 A Different Kind of Gun
Chapter 1191 A Different Kind of Gun
In fact, these militiamen were all extremely intelligent people, but they just didn't usually have this opportunity. Now that they had it, they naturally wanted to learn properly. Today, these bandits were just a training exercise for them. Fewer and fewer bandits were fleeing into the distance, and the last few were picked off by Liu Qingyuan with a gun.
"Uncle Qingyuan, your gun is much more powerful than ours. We have to pull the bolt to fire a single shot, but yours can fire several bullets at once. When will we be able to have a gun like this?"
From the very beginning of training, the village boys noticed that Liu Qingyuan's gun was different from theirs, mainly in the firing rate. When those three men were fleeing, they were also firing, but by the time they pulled the bolt back, Liu Qingyuan had already taken them all down. Liu Qingyuan assumed a firing stance and fired three shots in quick succession, instantly felling three men to the ground – his efficiency was far superior to theirs.
“Mine is called a semi-automatic rifle, and yours is called a bolt-action rifle. They are completely different. The Japanese use the same rifles as you, but all the militia captains use semi-automatic rifles. We will also have time to use semi-automatic rifles in the future, but there is a requirement: when the Japanese come, whoever kills five Japanese soldiers first will get a semi-automatic rifle, and I will personally apply for it for him. Here, we all rely on military merit.”
Liu Qingyuan said with a smile, adding that his men were also overjoyed upon hearing the news. Although they weren't yet qualified soldiers, the number of bullets fired per unit of time was enough to determine their military merits on the battlefield.
Take that scene just now, for example. Their movements were very fast. Pulling the bolt, aiming, and firing were all done in an instant, but they could only kill one person. The other two had long since escaped.
But with this semi-automatic rifle, things are different. It has a full eight bullets, allowing you to fire them calmly and methodically. Coincidentally, if there are eight people in front of you, and you remain calm enough, you might be able to kill all eight with those eight bullets.
This is something that bolt-action rifles could never accomplish.
"Alright, alright, stop dreaming. Go out and see what these people have on them. Take everything that's usable. Throw their bodies down to the riverbank downstream and have a few people bury them all."
A skirmish lasting less than 20 minutes wiped out a whole band of bandits from the surrounding area. Before, nobody would have believed it, but now, without requesting outside support, the village militia alone had handled it. Liu Qingyuan and the others were greatly encouraged. If the Japanese really came, their fighting strength would certainly be stronger than these bandits, but we weren't completely helpless; we couldn't just let the Japanese bully us.
"Erniu, your shots just now were pretty good."
When Liu Qingyuan returned, he saw Erniu still lying on the ground, probably reflecting on his shot.
Erniu scratched his head somewhat sheepishly, thinking about avenging his family every day. "Our combat skills are getting better and better," he thought, "we're just waiting for the Japanese devils to come. When they do, our machine guns will teach them a lesson. Don't think that just because no one can do anything to you on this land."
More than 30 bandits were killed in total, and the rest escaped. However, a lot of valuables were found on the bandits, enough for the villagers to buy some food and such. Anyway, after this incident, the villagers were generally a little bolder. Those bandits they used to be afraid of were no match for them.
When the head of the county's security regiment learned of this, he immediately began to publicize it extensively, urging all the local militia to stand firm. He assured them that as long as they could meet the training requirements, they wouldn't need to worry about being outmatched by bandits and the Japanese.
Of course, there were rewards for the victory; everyone in the militia received 10 jin of flour as a reward. They also had two semi-automatic rifles; it was up to Liu Qingyuan to assign them to someone, but it was best to use them with the better marksmanship in the team.
Militia training was in full swing across the region, much to the dismay of the Japanese spies. They had already completed their reconnaissance of the area, finding no resistance beyond a few regular troops. Now, however, these militia units were springing up everywhere like mushrooms after rain.
Meanwhile, the Japanese spies were also busy, gathering intelligence on the militia's combat strength. Initially, they thought it was just a ragtag bunch, but after their analysis, they discovered that the militia's combat strength was almost 65% of that of the Central Army.
Although their combat capabilities were still inferior to those of the Japanese army, consider this: there were simply too many militiamen. Almost every village had its own militia unit. If all the militia and security forces in the area were mobilized, each county could gather seven or eight thousand troops. How would the Japanese fight them then?
Although seven or eight thousand ragtag troops might not seem like much to the Japanese, if each county had seven or eight thousand, then with over 30 counties in southern Shandong, that would amount to more than 20 extra troops. Even if the Japanese army was relatively strong, in the end, it would take nearly 5 lives to wipe out all of these 20 troops.
The losses so far have already far exceeded initial estimates, and now this has happened again. Many Japanese officers are so worried they can't sleep. Back home, everyone is pushing for victory, but our casualty figures are also constantly rising. I wonder if those back home will be able to handle the truth when they learn the actual casualty numbers.
72nd Group Army Fourth Army Headquarters
The Battle of Huaizhou has already begun, but according to Ma Leizi and his men, they believe they cannot withstand the Japanese army. We had already announced our withdrawal from the Fifth War Zone, so the Fifth War Zone has not requested anything from us.
Zhang Haiguang had just arrived at the military headquarters by car. Along the way, he passed through some of the Nationalist army's defense zones. When he saw Ma Leizi, he seemed hesitant to speak.
"Just say what you want to say, it's not like she's that old woman."
Ma Leizi guessed what Zhang Haiguang was going to say.