Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 177 This is an order
It was supposed to be coffee, but actually it was just a group of people boiling water in an aluminum lunchbox on an alcohol stove, pouring in several packets of instant coffee, stirring it well, and then each person sharing a little in a ceramic teacup.

Fearing that the firelight would reveal their location, the group dug a shelter in the trench and covered the entrance with blankets so that they could cook or smoke inside without being seen.

That's how it is in the military. After a cup of hot coffee, they start thinking about smoking something. Since it was already the end of the month, everyone's stockpile was exhausted. The seven of them pooled together three cigarettes and started puffing away in the bunker.

After a few people finished a cigarette, everyone's spirits immediately lifted. Someone said, "Old Cao... I heard that old guy is really lucky. He ran into the CEO while smoking a cigarette and even got a lighter as a reward. His luck is unmatched."

"That is."

At this point, Old Cao involuntarily puffed out his chest, pulled out a bright orange Zip lighter from his pocket, waved it in front of everyone, and said proudly, "See that? It's made of brass, a genuine American product, and it's worth a fortune."

Many people looked on with envy at the bright orange lighter in Lao Cao's hand.

"Old Cao, are you selling this thing? I'll offer three silver dollars," someone suddenly asked.

"Three silver dollars, Old Ma, don't you have a conscience? How can you even say that price?" A bystander glared at him disdainfully, then raised a hand.

"Five silver dollars... I'll offer five silver dollars!"

I'll pay ten!

A group of soldiers started arguing over a lighter, leaving the other soldiers dumbfounded.

Someone couldn't help but say, "Hey guys, if you really want a lighter, go buy one at the military service center after the war. They only sell them for three silver dollars. Why spend ten silver dollars on this?"

"You know shit."

Someone nearby gave him a disdainful look, "Can the lighter in the military service center compare to the one in Lao Cao's hand?"
The lighters there are made of steel, but the one Old Cao has is made entirely of copper. How can they be the same?

Most importantly, this lighter was a gift from the commander-in-chief, which makes it all the more significant. Showing it off to the brothers like that, everyone in the militia, from the regimental commander down to the lowest soldier, will look at you with newfound respect.

The man who had been looked down upon paused for a moment, then slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That's right... Old Cao, give me... give me... I'll give you twelve silver dollars..."

Just as the group was making a huge fuss, an angry voice came from outside.

"What are you all doing? Are you trying to attract the Japanese devils?"

"Oh dear... the second row is here."

The blanket was pulled back, and a cold night wind was brought in. Then a captain walked in, cursing coldly, "Damn it, I could hear you bastards from far away."

Instead of sleeping at night, you're hiding here making a ruckus. Believe me, I'll lock you all up for ten days or half a month, so you can talk your fill!

Upon seeing the company commander arrive, the noisy sounds in the bunker ceased abruptly, and everyone lowered their heads.

Seeing the group of people looking dejected, the company commander was furious. "You bunch of bastards, how did I end up with people like you?"

"Can't sleep, huh? Fine...all of you come with me to move some things."

"what……"

When they heard that they had to move things, everyone was stunned. Although it was already the end of July, the valley was still quite cold at night. There were cigarettes and coffee in the bunker, so who would want to move things in the cold wind in the middle of the night?

A private timidly said, "Company commander...we were wrong. You can scold us however you want, but we don't need to move the stuff, right?" "Bullshit...you dare disobey me? You've got some nerve! Come with me, or I'll kick your ass!" the company commander cursed without any politeness.

Seeing their company commander lose his temper, the group of soldiers could only obediently get up and follow him out of the warm artillery shelter.

More than ten minutes later, a group of people followed the company commander to the highway at the foot of the mountain, where they saw a row of heavy trucks parked there. In addition to the trucks, the highway was crowded with people, and a group of people were carefully unloading things from the trucks.

Upon closer inspection, everyone was startled.

Those who knew their stuff immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Hey... isn't this the small anti-aircraft gun from the air defense battalion? Why are we being equipped with it too?"

"You little brat." The soldier had barely finished speaking when he got a kick in the backside. "You're such a blabbermouth, hurry up and move the machine guns to the position! Our company has been assigned six!"

"Six gates?" The soldiers' faces instantly fell, and many began to wail, realizing they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

The soldiers were right. That night, Lao Cao and his platoon were all busy moving anti-aircraft guns and ammunition, and they didn't stop until dawn.

In fact, what Lao Cao and his men were moving were Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft guns, which were part of the air defense battalion's equipment.

Despite its obscurity, this thing played a crucial role in World War II.

This small-caliber machine gun, developed by the Swiss company Oerlikon, was widely purchased or copied by Germany, the United States, Britain, Japan, and other countries during World War II.

The Americans, in particular, were ruthless, producing more than 122,400 copies of these aircraft during World War II, causing great suffering to the Japanese kamikaze pilots.

According to statistics, by the later stages of the war, 32% of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the Pacific Fleet were thanks to Oerlikon.

Of course, the Japanese weren't stupid either; they also copied this anti-aircraft gun, which became known as the Type 94 20mm autocannon.

However, due to technical deficiencies, the Japanese forcibly modified the original 60-round drum magazine into a 20-round magazine, which also suffered from various problems such as jamming and component wear, resulting in an extremely high failure rate.

"Phew..." Old Cao let out a long breath, looking at the Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun on the newly dug machine gun position, and a sense of envy welled up in his heart.

This thing looks incredibly cool, way cooler than his M1919 Browning.

“Cao Dawang…”

"Hey... Company Commander."

Old Cao turned his head and saw the company commander standing behind him, pointing at the machine gun in front of him and saying, "From today onwards, this cannon is yours. I'll give you two more men later. The three of you will form a machine gun team. If the Japanese planes come, you'll use this thing to beat them to a pulp, understand?"

"Company commander... but I've never used this thing before." Old Cao was getting anxious.

"If you don't know how, then learn. There's still about an hour until dawn, so use this time to learn."

"I……"

"This is an order!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)