Chapter Seventeen: Challenging the Bottom Line

  "Conflict refers to the mutual interference of opposing, incompatible forces or natures (such as ideas, interests, wills)."

  Lying on his bed, Lin Xuewen was reading his beloved dictionary. From the dictionary, he had learned many new characters and a lot of English and German vocabulary. All of this was thanks to the dictionary in his hand, which was created by Zhang Yu and included traditional Chinese characters, simplified Chinese characters, pronunciation, and annotations in both English and German. The reason for using English and German was that many workers employed by the group were Germans or people who used English as their daily language. It was necessary for employees to learn various languages, including those who carried guns.

  "Isn't it just a fight? Why write so elegantly?" The butcher had always felt uneasy about Lin University's elegant writing, and among all the people, Lin Xuewen's cultural achievements were the best, and he naturally occupied the position of Lao Mo.

  "So your literacy test can't even pass, there's a reason for that. If you wrote this on the exam paper, the instructor wouldn't give you an X, it's weird!" Lin Xuewen habitually turned to the next page when his ears received an unexpected message - the long wail of an alarm. "Damn, quick quick quick!!" Realizing something was happening, Lin Xuewen immediately threw aside the dictionary and jumped down from the top bunk with a thud, while the butcher on the bottom bunk was also packing up.

  The two of them had formed a study mutual aid group, so Lin Xuewen quickly tidied up his own luggage after jumping down and hurried to help his teammate Shi Dayong tidy up his luggage. "Something big must have happened, the alarm is ringing loudly!! Hurry up, hurry up!" Tang Renhui was the first to finish equipping himself, and he rushed over to help others tidy up, of course, without stopping talking.

  One minute later, the three dormitory buildings of the Zhongzhong Security Company began to pour out fully armed personnel, and two minutes later, the U-shaped central square surrounded by the three dormitory buildings in the southeast, northwest, and west directions was filled with all the fully armed personnel. This is the usual assembly ground before roll call, and the early training assembly ground. Behind each company, a green-painted truck or jeep roared to life, ready for the personnel to board at any moment.

  "Today is the time to test the results of your three months of training. Three minutes later, start receiving ammunition, five minutes later, each company commander will receive a task list from the battalion commander, and twenty minutes later, everyone must rush to their designated location." As soon as the order was given, the commanders of the three battalions quickly ran over to Zhang Yu to salute and receive the task list, while the rest of the personnel began to receive ammunition in an orderly manner. Twenty minutes later, one by one, trucks and jeeps drove out of the camp and rushed to their respective mission locations.

  "The morning sunshine forever matches the sweat of running, and the evening sun's beauty definitely accompanies the marching bugle. In a swaying car, team members who can recognize 1,000 basic Chinese characters started teasing each other."

  "I didn't expect your literary foundation to be so profound, and of course, the thickness of your face is also the same. I reckon even the Mark IV heavy machine gun from our Firepower Class can't penetrate your thick skin, surely the class leader shares my opinion, right?"

  The cunning of the skinny monkey is still there, but he no longer uses dirty words when speaking. This can't be said to be a huge progress. "Can you all keep it down? The car is already shaking tightly, and you're still bragging loudly. If you have extra energy, get off the bus and run ahead!" The class leader who received the task assignment definitely doesn't want to dampen everyone's morale at this time, preserving more physical strength to complete the exercise mission is the most important thing.

  "Rustle!" A simultaneous cry, a series of vehicles almost simultaneously issued such a cry, and then all the vehicles stopped. Later, team members who jumped down from the carriage began to gather and form teams nearby, unfolding an ambush exercise in this hilly area, which was their main content for today, of course, the opponent was still unknown at this time.

  "Individual fortifications are very important, what saves your life is not the helmet on your head, but that breastwork, that trench, and those artillery shelters." The squad leader quickly summoned everyone to start construction work, while the mortar squad in the rear was also busy building positions.

  The security personnel of the Zhongzhong Group Security Company have only one regimental scale, adopting the classic 三三制 as the basic organizational structure. A company has three platoons and a company command department, and each platoon has three infantry squads with 12 people and a firepower squad with 12 people. Therefore, Shoupihou and his comrades in their platoon also have their own firepower squad, and their own squad has its own machine gun. Although the Maxim is too cumbersome to be used as a squad machine gun, who made them security personnel? With defense as the main goal, they can use this infantry killer.

  The fire power class directly under the security company is different from the infantry class. The weapons they are equipped with, except for the Colt pistol that can be purchased overseas, belong to the security company's direct military factory. The unique structure of the mortar, simple manufacturing and other characteristics, quickly became the first product after the establishment of the direct military factory, and two types of mortars were produced and tested in less than two months. After testing, the mortar showed rapid loading, high firing rate (28 rounds/min), light weight, simple operation and other characteristics, especially its curved trajectory is very suitable for hitting targets behind hidden objects, and its direct shooting ability is also exceptionally excellent. Therefore, it quickly became a combat weapon of the security team and was soon equipped with corresponding units.

  The mortar squad, which was quickly setting up a firing position, was just a small squad of six people, but no one underestimated the two 60mm mortars in their hands, let alone the larger 81mm caliber mortars and 75mm field guns. These things were unimaginable killing machines in western China at this time, but all of this existed within a small regiment.

  The exercise began quickly, with a convoy of transport vehicles dressed as the 1st Company approaching from afar along the highway. The mission of the 2nd Company was to launch a swift ambush on this convoy, while the mission of the 1st Company was naturally to ensure that the convoy avoided being ambushed.

  The "war" between the two sides quickly escalated with mortar shells exploding among the transport vehicles, leaving many of the trucks at the front and rear of the convoy covered in red paint. This signal marked the official start of the attack and defense exercise, after which mortar shells continued to fall into the convoy while the transportation soldiers quickly jumped out of their vehicles and took cover behind them to return fire, with both light and heavy firepower pouring onto the hillside.

  Rubber-made bullets may not be fatal, but they still feel extremely painful when hit on the body. Especially those colored smoke bombs and shells, as long as you are hit, you will definitely leave obvious "wounds" or "killed" marks on your body. The team members who did not participate in the exercise were between the two sides as judges, and at any time, they would penalize the team members who had been obviously blown to pieces out of the battlefield.

  The two sides' battle time was not very long, and the second company, which had geographical advantages, quickly eliminated the motorcade. However, the first company, which was not weak in combat power, also inflicted casualties of nearly half on the second company. One was completely annihilated, and the other was almost dispersed. The result of this exercise was almost the same as before, but the result of another exercise elsewhere was different.

  The exercise site of the Second Battalion was set up in a old residential area that had been marked with the character "拆" (meaning "demolish"), where brick and tile houses and thatched cottages stood densely together. After some renovation, it became an excellent venue for the Second Battalion to practice urban defense combat. The Second Battalion was responsible for defending, while the Third Battalion naturally took on the attacking role. The First Battalion's Third Company was in charge of refereeing, and the battle began almost simultaneously with the outdoor ambush and anti-ambush warfare on the other side.

  "The best defense is a good offense" seems no longer applicable in this "city", as the defenders can hide inside buildings, or establish strongholds in key areas to stubbornly resist, and of course, they can also disperse to launch layered attacks on the attackers. In short, there are many ways to defend, but the attackers are often exposed, while the defenders are in a hidden position. This kind of offensive and defensive battle is definitely advantageous for the defense, but the rules have changed all this.

  Since it's already a city defense, it means the attacking side has established a significant strategic advantage, and the defending side will definitely have many resources in short supply. According to this rule, the attacker's ammunition is almost unlimited, while the defender must always pay attention to their limited bullets or shells.

  The battle was extremely fierce, with shells and sniper bullets flying everywhere. When the defending team members ended their training covered in red paint, everyone felt a bit unfair. For example, when a mortar shell hit a thatched hut, all the hidden personnel inside would be judged as seriously injured or killed, while a sniper bullet hitting a soldier's chest left a big red mark but was only judged as seriously injured. Where did such powerful mortar shells come from? And where were there 7.62mm bullets with such little power?

  Of course, there are many problems with these training rules, but through such training, many people have quickly learned to adapt to the battlefield and apply what they have learned in peacetime to actual situations, which is very beneficial for rapidly improving a unit's combat effectiveness. This type of training has continued until the founding of the Republic and has been used in various major battles, including field operations by the Field Army, urban warfare by the Garrison Army, and counter-terrorism operations by the Public Security Forces, all of which are evolved versions of these original trainings.

  Here is the translation:

  On this side, military training was in full swing, while on that side, the first party congress was also held with great enthusiasm. Not long after settling down in the United States, Zhang and his wife directly expressed their purpose to all Chinese workers, which was to not trust various domestic political parties and military groups, but instead establish a strong republic through their own strength. Many people worked even harder after that, and when they returned home today, with various developments unfolding favorably, the establishment of a political party finally made it onto the agenda two months after the group's founding.

  On February 25, 1914, the Revival Party, with the political goal of "Science and Technology Strengthening the Country, Education Consolidating the Foundation, All-People's Republic, and Reviving China!", established a new Chinese struggle program with efficient administrative government system and sound legal social governance, steady progress in science and technology and industry, strong development in medical education and public welfare undertakings, harmonious progress in economic and social livelihood, and strong national defense and cultural prosperity. Of course, more content is no different from the establishment of other political parties around the world, and the party's constitution, organization, etc. are all strictly formulated according to Zhang Yu-sheng's plagiarized content.

  In short, the establishment of the party did not excite Zhang Yu, but instead gave him a greater sense of responsibility. However, what interested him most was the sentence in the party constitution "the party's absolute leadership over the military", this was what he needed most.

  After the exercise, Zhang Yu still made it a habit to go back to the military factory to take a look after arranging for the team members to clean up. After all, since his falling out with Lu Rongting, Zhang Yu had been mentally preparing for a large-scale conflict with him at any time. However, apart from mental preparation, he also needed strong personal strength. Group restructuring, taking control of Liuzhou, and establishing a political party were not things that Zhang Yu was good at; those were Zhang Yusheng's expertise. What Zhang Yu needed to do was to supervise the normal operation of various productions in the group, focusing on the development of the security company and the military factory.

  The security company became a regular army, Zhang Yu didn't know when it was officially established, but he knew that once the security forces were renamed as troops, all the meanings would be different. Especially for the Zhongzhong Group in Liuzhou and throughout Guangxi, their status and image would undergo earth-shaking changes. The leader of the masses who had become rich would soon become their ruler, and the group's employees who had always gotten along harmoniously would quickly become government officials. Of course, these changes would take some time for the people to adapt to, but the premise was that the Zhongzhong Group had the ability to let others allow these changes to happen. The biggest obstacle, of course, was Lu Rongting.

  The military power was inherited from Lu Rongting of the former Qing dynasty, but in fact, it had little impact on local management and influence. The group's investigation results showed that many people were willing to follow the group to get rich and did not want to bear the endless exploitation of the warlord government. Therefore, once a political disturbance occurred in Guangxi, the masses would definitely stand with the group. However, it was still difficult to ignore the military power from Lu Rongting.

  Before the Xinhai Revolution, the Qing dynasty's military strength in Guangxi was only 63 teams of patrol troops with 20,000 soldiers. Among them, Lu Rongting had only 17 branches and was stationed in the remote Nanning, far inferior to Wang Zhiyuan who was stationed in Guilin at that time. However, heaven pitied him and let him rise to the position of governor after some integration, he then owned a troop of 20,000 people, naturally becoming the most powerful organized bandit within Guangxi territory. Guilin and Nanning were his main garrison points, but unfortunately, Liuzhou was sandwiched between the two places, and Liuzhou had become the territory of the Asia-America Group after more than a year of operation, even many areas along the railway and highway were also loyal supporters of the group.

  So, while Zhang Yu-sheng was constantly challenging Lu Rong-ting's bottom line, he might only need to move his mouth and pen to establish a political party, reform the group, win over the people, etc., but in the end, it was Zhang Yu who had to face Lu Rong-ting's temper explosion. Therefore, he could not help but make good use of the more than 1,000 people in his hands, and the ratio of one to ten troops could only let Zhang Yu think of other ways to make up for his own disadvantages. The best way was to improve the quality of individual soldiers and equipment, and the military factory was where Zhang Yu's efforts were directed.

  "After repeated drills, it has been proven that mortars and Maxim machine guns are highly effective combat weapons. The mortar's simple operation, powerful firepower, fast firing speed and deployment speed, etc., are all in line with the future development of warfare." Zhang Yu looked at a brand new mortar that had just come off the production line, and said to Wang Hanming beside him with great satisfaction.

  The entire firing process of the mortar is exceptionally simple. After discovering and aiming at the target, the mortar shell is slid into the barrel from the muzzle, relying on its own weight to strike the firing pin at the bottom of the barrel or relying on its own weight to slide to the bottom of the barrel. The firing pin strikes the bottom fire of the shell after the gunner operates to release the firing pin. After the bottom fire is ignited, the basic propellant tube at the tail of the shell is also ignited, and the propellant package tied outside the shell body is also ignited. Although there is a certain gap between the shell and the barrel to ensure that the shell falls, the closed gas ring on the outer surface of the shell can still form an extremely high chamber pressure, pushing the shell out of the muzzle and flying towards the target.

  The simple launching principle of the mortar determines that the mortar shell cannot be tightly attached to the barrel, so it cannot rely on the rifling to make the projectile rotate to stabilize its flight direction. Instead, a tail wing stabilizer is used to ensure its flight attitude. Therefore, when the war starts, the gunner can quickly set up the barrel, base, and support mechanism, and after a brief test, they can quickly fire, so this kind of weapon naturally became a powerful tool for infantry combat in the early 20th century. It also became a must-have weapon for Zhang Yu and others. The medium-heavy group, which inherited from the Asia Group, did not disappoint and quickly completed the design, production, testing, and mass production of 60mm and 80mm mortar weapons.

  "The mortar is good, but the power and range of the shells are not satisfactory. In the era of hot weapons, it's still necessary to test the firepower and striking speed of both sides, and artillery is naturally indispensable. Zhang Yu thought for a moment and stopped stroking the mortar, then asked Wang Hanming: "How's our infantry gun coming along?"

  "The steel provided by Liu Gang has sufficient strength and pressure resistance to meet the requirements for making gun barrels for mortars and light artillery, but it cannot be used to make gun barrels for artillery with a caliber of 105mm or above, which requires even higher internal pressure. However, the steel company has already begun to concentrate on researching better artillery steel."

  The military factory was established, and the group quickly assembled many technical personnel to build the first military factory belonging to the Republic. Chemical and steel companies also strongly supported the production of weapons. Wang Hanming became the person in charge of the military factory at that time, and soon after taking office, he received two tasks: the first was to solve the problem of rifles and bullets, and the second was the research and production of various types of artillery. With the transportation vehicles returning from Europe with various types of cannons from European countries as a reference, the progress of the factory was very fast, but it still encountered bottlenecks, that is, material problems.

  "105mm field guns, 155mm howitzers and the like can be put on hold for now. Our current opponents don't even have many machine guns, what's the point of having so many big guns?! It's better to design our own rifles and light and heavy machine guns first. Ah, go call them over, I've got some blueprints here that we can study together!!"

  All along, Zhang Yu has been constantly plagiarizing, and it's become a habit. This time is no exception, after all, habits are hard to break. Of course, during these times, Zhang Yu doesn't need to consider his brother's actions, as he would say, both parties are not good people. One side is greedy and insatiable, while the other is plotting and scheming, even wanting to take over. The final explosion was triggered by a small matter, and it ended with one side falling down and the other standing up.

  Zhang Yu just hopes that the one who falls is not his own side, of course it's best if it's not his own side, otherwise all the hard work before would be in vain.

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