Chapter 4: Republican Artillery
Today, we were unexpectedly able to see the big guns. General Yin ordered us students to learn about artillery fire, so Wang Mingchang and others were overjoyed.
They immediately went to the drill ground with Wang Mingchang, where they saw several artillerymen standing on a large cannon. A military officer who looked like an official proudly said to everyone: "Everyone, look at this British-made quick-firing gun. It can shoot far and has strong firepower. Look at that house in the distance, it's far away and sturdy, but if I use my quick-firing gun to blast it, that house will be instantly destroyed."
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At the sound, unexpectedly this great cannon is so majestic and looks so beautiful, immediately bursting into waves of applause.
Someone couldn't help but get excited and reached out to touch the quick-firing cannon, but the officer wouldn't have it. He immediately waved his hand to stop the trainee: "Don't touch this! This cannon is my treasured possession. If you mess with it and it doesn't work properly or can't aim accurately later on, who will I go looking for?"
Everyone was amazed when they heard that this big cannon actually had such a delicate mechanism.
"This officer looked at the students below, who were so admiring of him, and became even more excited, puffing out his chest and proudly saying: "Do you know, artillery is a treasure, and the British quick-firing gun is the most precious among them. If it weren't for the commander-in-chief asking me to bring one over for everyone to see, I wouldn't have brought this treasure here for you all to take a look. Now that you've seen it, you'll gain some experience when we go into battle."
As soon as they heard that artillerymen were so precious, someone couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Sir, how can we become artillerymen?"
The officer glanced at the student and said with disdain, "Want to become an artilleryman? Don't look at what kind of military academy you're from, as soon as you graduate, you'll be a platoon leader or company commander. It's not easy to become an artilleryman."
Everyone was puzzled, and they all asked why and how to become an artilleryman. The officer said with great satisfaction: "The Minister of Military Affairs, Hu Jingyi, ordered the school's principal, Luo Yi, to set up an artillery department in this military academy, and then select ten students to study artillery knowledge."
Everyone was shocked upon hearing this. The military academy currently has over 200 students, and with a selection ratio of 40 to 1, many immediately raised their hands to request participation in artillery studies.
"This isn't something you can just sign up for, I'm not responsible for recruiting students. It's Luo Duoban and General John who will be in charge of recruitment together, that foreign military officer, isn't it ridiculous?"
Everyone was shocked and looked in the direction of the pointing finger, only to see General Roy, the school's supervisor, and a group of military officers accompanying several foreign military officers on a tour of the military academy.
The crowd's gasps of amazement grew louder, and the proud artillery officer was even more pleased with himself, boasting to everyone about the power of his cannon and his own military achievements.
As a traverser, Yang Xingke had no mind to listen to the officer's nonsense, squeezed in and carefully examined this big cannon.
The whole cannon weighs over 1 ton, and the barrel is as high as half a person. The surface of the entire cannon has been treated, giving people an inexplicable sense of awe.
While everyone was listening to this officer boasting, Yang Xing occasionally walked around the big gun, carefully examining it.
It wasn't until now that I realized how bad the situation was. Although from a distance, this big gun looks very powerful, but upon closer inspection, there are places inside the cannon where oil and water are leaking, the internal parts of the cannon body that should be cleaned haven't been cleaned, the parts that should be lubricated haven't been lubricated, and some parts even have obvious rust marks. This is no different from the poor management of workshop equipment in the past.
Although he was boasting, Yang Xing also noticed that he had been admiring the big gun for a long time, and his initial excitement turned into disdain.
This proud artillery officer could hardly tolerate others' contempt, and immediately pushed with his hand, almost pushing Yang Xing who was approaching to take a closer look: "Get out of the way, don't interfere with my training. I didn't just say not to move randomly, or it won't work. On the battlefield, who will I find?"
Seeing a student being pushed and making a silly face, the crowd was initially slightly angry. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Yang Xing, who had been injured by a hand grenade earlier, and the crowd immediately burst into laughter filled with schadenfreude.
Since he was being ridiculed by this military officer, he stared back calmly and asked, "Sir, is there a manual for using the cannon?"
The officer was astonished and asked foolishly, "What? Instruction manual? What instruction manual do I need? My elder brother taught me everything, the tall one who accompanied the inspector. John Gentleman personally instructed me, what's this about an instruction manual? Never heard of it!"
"Captain John, where is he? Didn't he teach you how to take care of the cannons?" ?? Patriot warlord 4
The officer was furious: "You little brother, how dare you speak like that? Didn't Lord John teach you anything? I am his personal disciple, he has entrusted everything to me. How can you speak to me like this? Are you jealous of my good treatment as an artilleryman and trying to find trouble for me?"
Seeing Yang Xing being wronged, Li Jiayu beside him couldn't bear it and said: "This officer, my brother just asked if Mr. John had taught how to maintain the big gun, just like we use the Hanyang model, there is a manual for its use, why scold people?"
Unexpectedly, a few rookies dared to question him. The officer was furious at the time and said, "The question isn't asked like that! This little kid seems to be blaming me for not taking good care of this big gun, what's the logic?"
Upon hearing the officer's words, Yang Xing also became enraged and said: "You say you maintain it well, who can prove that? Look at this roller, the wear is so severe. Look at this place, rust spots everywhere, no lubrication at all. And look here, it's actually leaking oil! How could a foreign expert teach you like this?"
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Everyone looked and also noticed the state of the cannon, suddenly bursting into loud laughter, no longer respecting this artillery officer as they had in the past.
The officer looked at him with disdain and asked the artilleryman beside him, "Does this need maintenance?"
The gunner saw this and hesitated for half a day, not knowing what to say.
Yang Xing asked back: "Doesn't this need maintenance? If it's not maintained, how can it be used normally during combat, and won't it affect the firing effect?"
The students were surprised, originally dissatisfied with the officer's boasting at first, unexpectedly a classmate knew the method of operating and using artillery, and suddenly asked the officer, who immediately became excited.
The dispute between the students and the artillery officer alarmed Yu Changheng, the Grand Governor who was accompanying several foreigners to visit the Military Academy, and Luo Yun, the supervisor of the school.
A group of students over there were making a ruckus, and Director Yin's brow furrowed. School Supervisor Luo Lin saw the situation and immediately left the crowd, telling everyone not to make any more noise, lest they be laughed at by the foreign instructors.
Assemble the troops at once and say: "The military school must have military discipline. General Yin has brought a British quick-firing cannon for everyone to see, why are you making a fuss?"
The artillery officer, as if grasping the handle, reported to Luo Yun: "Report to Director Lu, just now a few kids didn't pay attention to the observation and actually pretended to understand, saying that our big gun was not well maintained!"
"Who is it? Who dares to spout nonsense and say that my brother's cannon hasn't been properly maintained?"
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Yang Xing stepped forward and said, "Reporting to the supervisor, the students think that the cannon has not been properly maintained. Although the surface of the cannon is very clean, key parts such as the breech, barrel, etc. have not only not been maintained, but here it's leaking water, here it's leaking oil, and here it's rusty. Moreover, there is a lot of mud on top. The students think that this must affect the performance of the cannon, so they asked the official about the maintenance method."
It turned out to be the poor guy who was injured by a hand grenade a few days ago. It seems that this poor guy is still a troublemaker, and he actually told the foreigners that the big gun was not well maintained, which made him feel a bit resentful.
Although he was angry, thinking of this young child coming to Chengdu to study since childhood wasn't easy. Moreover, everyone was from Shunqing, so he patted Yang Xing's head and said with sympathy: "Zheng Dong, after being stunned by the explosion, how come you still don't have a plan? How can you say such unreliable things? Officer Wang has been training with cannons for years, why isn't he as good as you, a young whippersnapper?"
The artillery officer was overjoyed and smiled all over his face as soon as he heard this.
Yang Xing's face turned stern and he said: "Governor, the foreigner is over there, just ask him."
Luoyun shook his head and said, "How can such a thing disturb the foreign master? It won't be your own sophistry. I see that this big gun is well maintained, why ask foreigners?"
Seeing his superior like this, Yang Xing had no choice but to stand alone in front, with tears welling up in his eyes.
Seeing his good friend being wrongly blamed, Wang Mingzhang, who had always been like a knight of ancient times, immediately stood up and said: "Report to the supervisor, students can prove that Yang did not make a mistake. Just now, I saw Yang dismantling the Han Yang stove."
"Dismantling the Hanyang Arsenal", Director Luo Lin was shocked, wanting to know that the Hanyang Arsenal rifle was a new weapon of the Republic of China era. This student who looked unremarkable dared to dismantle it, and immediately asked in doubt: "Can you dismantle the Hanyang Arsenal?"
Yang Xing puffed out his chest and replied: "Students can disassemble firearms."
Lu Daji was surprised, thinking to himself that it would be difficult for him to disassemble this Han Yang rifle. This foolish kid actually managed to do so, and immediately said: "You really are a blockhead! If you can disassemble and reassemble it within 30 minutes, and after reassembling it, if it still works, I won't punish you. But if you're just causing trouble, then you'll be locked up for three days."
Yang Xing was overjoyed and immediately sat down cross-legged. Following the same pattern as before, he disassembled each part of the firearm and then reassembled them in a very short time.
Take a deep breath, load the bullets, aim at the target in front, and fire three shots in a row, hitting the bullseye every time.
The whole process was completed in less than twenty minutes, and it seemed to be a perfect success in everyone's eyes, which led to rounds of applause from the crowd.
Yin Changheng, the Grand Commander, and a group of foreigners had already rushed over. Seeing that a primary school student actually had such magical powers and could reassemble a rifle, they were amazed and applauded along with the crowd.
That Lieutenant John was particularly excited, repeatedly giving a thumbs up, and said in mixed English and Chinese: "Chinese students, very good."
When he heard the foreign officer praising him in public, Yang Xing could only smile and reply: "Nothing!"
A group of foreigners were shocked and couldn't believe that this primary school staff member could utter two sentences in English. They were amazed and curious, so they asked Yang Xing's name, position, and what he was doing there in English.
Although I wasn't very good at spoken language in my previous life, simple communication was still unimpeded. At that time, I informed the foreign military officer in English.
The foreign officer was overjoyed, and repeatedly shook Yang Xing's hand, saying to the accompanying Governor Yin Changheng and Minister of Military Affairs Hu Jingyi: "Chinese students are really great."
A group of officials were overjoyed when they saw Yang Xing making such a good impression in front of the foreigners, and humbly expressed their gratitude.
The artillery officer saw Yang Xing getting familiar with foreigners in a short time and exclaimed "not good".
Then General Luo asked about the method of cannon maintenance, and without a doubt, Lieutenant John leaned towards Yang Xing.
Besides, Lieutenant John had already informed the middle team of how to maintain the cannons and had taken them to maintain several times. However, these artillerymen were not serious about their work, so the recoil cylinder was not lubricated, and some places were even rusty.
The British are not as meticulous as the Germans in doing things. When I handed it over to you, you didn't follow the requirements and made discounts on the spot. You also let the Chinese manage and use these quick-firing guns according to their own methods.
This led to the poor maintenance of this large cannon, and these superior artillery officers were publicly exposed by Yang Xing.
Yin Changheng was overjoyed to see that this student could converse fluently with foreigners, and that he had gained the praise of the British people.
It turns out that Yin Changheng was once the head of a military school and is quite familiar with the students. In the past, when he saw Yang Xing, this young man would always be studying or training diligently, without paying much attention to him. But today, taking another look, he unexpectedly found that Yang Xing was actually a talented individual - not only could he speak simple English, but more importantly, he had even surpassed a veteran military officer in the use of artillery. Thinking about this, Yin Changheng felt quite pleased with himself.
It is worth noting that the ancients were fond of being teachers, let alone Yin Changheng, who was once the principal of Sichuan Army Primary School and taught Yang Xing for 4 years, can be said to be a legitimate teacher.
After inquiring about the situation, I felt that most of these artillerymen were half-baked, their tactics were extremely monotonous, often with many cannons not hitting the mark, far from the legendary Beiyang artillery, let alone the artillery of European and American powers.
"Yang Xing, tell me how to maintain this big gun and what tactics should be used for artillery training?"
After a moment of contemplation, he replied: "To answer the Grand Commander, the structure of cannons is very complicated. To grasp their performance, students need to have the cannon's manual, and they need to disassemble the cannon to study its performance. Only then can they understand the method of maintaining the cannon, and only then can they practice artillery tactics."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Lieutenant John, "Disassembling firearms is child's play for a junior officer in my Britannic Majesty's service. But disassembling cannons? I've never even heard of it!"
Yang Xing immediately replied: "Sir, the reason why the gunner often misses the shot is that he is not familiar with the cannon. The students need a manual for using the cannon and need to study it carefully."
"Manual for the use of artillery," replied Lieutenant John at once. "I have it here, but it's in English; will that do?"
Yang Xing was overjoyed and said: "No problem, if there's anything unclear later on, I'll ask the adults for guidance again."
General Yin Changheng heard this and immediately stopped Yang Xing, saying: "Yang Xing Yang Zhengdong, I usually think you're stupid, but it turns out you're a talent. Not only can you speak English, but you also know how to disassemble the Hanyang Arsenal cannon. How is that possible? Were you blown smart by a hand grenade or something? Why do you want to disassemble the cannon?"
When Yin Changheng asked this, Yang Xing hastily saluted and said: "Reporting to the Grand Commander, if one wants to become an excellent soldier, how can he not be familiar with his own weapon? Only then can he kill the enemy, only then can he easily eliminate malfunctions on the battlefield, and only then can he protect his own life."
It's the same principle. Now that the Sichuan Governor's Office has just been established, it lacks all kinds of talent. When he heard that this student under his command was so progressive and had shown his face in front of foreigners, he was overjoyed: "Having many skills is not a burden, learning more is always a good thing. However, don't dismantle this British quick-firing gun. If you dismantle it, you won't be able to reassemble it, that would be troublesome. Let's do it this way, eat one mouthful at a time, don't come and dismantle my quick-firing gun all at once. You should know that in our Sichuan, there are only 4 quick-firing guns.
Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Suddenly, General Yin turned to Minister of Military Affairs Hu Jingyi beside him and said: "Wenlan, aren't there several damaged small steel cannons? Anyway, no one can repair them well. Bring two over and let this student study them. Maybe they can really be repaired. Now that the revolution has succeeded, we shouldn't suppress revolutionary enthusiasm like the corrupt Qing dynasty."
Hu Jingyi nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Yin Changheng was overjoyed and thought to himself, if he could really repair the damaged small cannons, it would greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of the Sichuan Army. He immediately turned around and asked warmly: Yang Xing, do you have confidence in repairing those small cannons?
Overjoyed, if it's about truly disassembling and maintaining that big cannon, Yang Xing didn't have any confidence, but if it's about those legendary small steel cannons, he still had the heart to give it a try. Immediately overjoyed, he said: "Alright, Great Commander, I'll take care of this. The student guarantees completion of the task."
Yang Xing was overjoyed and immediately paid respects to the Grand Commander to express his heartfelt gratitude.