Chapter 49 - Bullying the Veteran
On his first day at work, Zhou Lin was assigned a second lieutenant by Captain Zhou to practice at the artillery position.
Every person entering the artillery division had to practice at the artillery position, regardless of rank. Even political officers had to obediently go to the artillery position.
An officer who doesn't understand artillery isn't good.
Entering the position, Zhou Lin saw the renowned heavy artillery.
In 1930, the Nationalist Government in Nanjing controlled the arsenal but could only produce six and two-gunned artillery. After the "September 18 Incident," the Shenyang Arsenal, controlled by the collaborating forces, could imitate the Japanese heavy howitzer but fell into Japanese hands.
Faced with inadequate resources to produce urgently needed heavy artillery, someone thought of a solution – former German Minister of Defense, Sect. It was following his advice that they decided to build a heavy artillery unit, coincidentally, in early 1934 when Sect assumed the role of the German Military Advisor.
Top officials promptly ordered twenty-four 32x15cm heavy howitzers from Rheinmetall, Germany, along with two types of shells for armor-piercing and ground destruction. This would serve as both an anti-ship weapon and a mobile fortress, tailored for the Japanese army.
The 32x15cm heavy shell, FH18 in German, was a 150mm heavy howitzer developed in the late 1920s. Its maximum towing speed was 60 km/h, firing approximately four rounds per minute. In World War II, it served as the main heavy field gun for the German army, nicknamed the "Evergreen Tree."
In 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident and the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport Incident erupted simultaneously, escalating anti-Japanese sentiment. On August 11th, the artillery division was ordered to Shanghai, and on the 12th, they rushed to Zhenru, ready for action.
On the 14th evening, the "32x15 shells" rained down on the Japanese Marine Corps, causing significant damage.
The Japanese attempted to establish a makeshift airfield in Shanghai's Horseracing Hall to shorten the time between air raids on Nationalist positions. The artillery division received orders to destroy this temporary airfield, initiating bombardment at 10 PM and withdrawing after a fierce 40-minute firefight, unharmed.
This was the heroic Nationalist army! Consequently, the Japanese viewed the artillery division as a significant threat, deploying spies multiple times to collaborate with their artillery and aircraft, intending to destroy the Chinese artillery division.
The espionage plan aimed to weaken our artillery division, thereby diminishing the Nationalist army's strength, and providing strategic advantages for the Japanese forces.
Many Japanese spies infiltrated the Nationalist ranks, not only that, but the town surrounding the artillery division housed numerous Japanese spies and collaborators.
Military intelligence had an action team in the town, comprised of over twenty people, arresting several spies. However, despite losing agents upfront and subsequent Japanese reinforcements, the mission continued.
Internally, the artillery division underwent three purges, eliminating more than ten Japanese spies and collaborators.
In essence, joining the artillery division was no easy feat. If not for this cook-off, Zhou Lin and Zheng Sanfu wouldn't have made it.
Many joined the artillery division, mostly engaged in business in the town, rarely serving in the artillery division.
Feeling the artillery barrel in front of him, Zhou Lin caressed it like a woman.
The 32x15cm heavy shell is nicknamed the "32x15 shell."
Caliber: 150mm
Barrel length: 4.5m
Full width: 2.26m
Full height: 1.71m
Weight: 5530kg
Maximum firing rate: 4 rounds/min
Effective range: 13250m
After the artillery commander briefed Zhou Lin on the situation, he instructed Zhou Lin to join artillery training.
Artillery training primarily covered:
Shooting, weapons, and operations (including artillery, ammunition, technical equipment performance, structure, operation principles, usage, and maintenance).
Artillery reconnaissance (observation, sound reconnaissance, technical reconnaissance, aircraft reconnaissance, geodetic, meteorological, and photographic duties).
Artillery communication, engineering support, driving, etc.
Don't underestimate artillery training; it's much more complex than infantry training.
Artillery shooting was the focus of training, divided into officer shooting training and artillery unit, and platoon shooting training.
Officer shooting training covered shooting theory, rules, and command. The training method involved theoretical learning, indoor practice, small-scale shooting range practice, field practice, and live ammunition shooting.
For seven consecutive days, Zhou Lin trained with the artillery team. Any tough or dirty work fell on Zhou Lin.
In the eyes of the veterans, he was just a recruit. Recruits had to learn the rules.
On the fifth day, Zhou Lin spent 200 points to have the system complete officer shooting training and artillery unit platoon shooting training in one go. He reached an entry level in both.
On the sixth day, Zhou Lin began challenging the veterans, proposing a competition.
This caused quite a stir.
A rookie who had only been there for seven days dared to compete with veterans with three to four years of experience.
So, many gathered to watch, and a company commander acted as the referee.
To everyone's surprise, Zhou Lin won against the veteran.
After the competition, Zhou Lin sat there and said to the veteran, "Bring me a cup of warm water, not too hot."
"I asked you to light a cigarette, and you ended up burning your nose."
"I'll leave the task of cleaning the gun to you."
That's how the military works; if you're better, you get to enjoy their services.
But after just one day, Captain Zhou ordered Zhou Lin to leave.
Captain Zhou said, "You've passed the artillery practice. You're qualified in other courses. Stay in the regiment as a duty soldier."
Zhou Lin had to nod; after all, the captain held a higher rank.
The duty soldier's requirements were minimal. Usually, you didn't have much to do.
But whenever the captain ordered you to drink, you had to drink like there was no tomorrow.
This duty soldier was essentially a substitute drinker.
On the second afternoon of becoming a duty soldier, Zhou Lin was called into action.
That day, Captain Zhou, with his guards and Zhou Lin, arrived in the small town.
Just like the market outside the Seventh Division, there were many Zhejiang restaurants. In this small town, there were many Hunan cuisine restaurants.
There were seven or eight small and large Hunan restaurants. The big ones were for officers, and the small ones were for lower-ranking officers and soldiers.
Once in the artillery division, even if you weren't from Hunan, after trying their cuisine, you'd develop a taste for it. If you were asked to eat your hometown food again, you'd probably find it distasteful.
Therefore, those Hunan restaurants were always bustling with business.
Thanks to the support from "Mind Control Flesh,"
(End of this chapter)
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