Bright Sword: The Flowers of War

Chapter 25 The Problem of Military Strength
"Chu chu... Chirp chirp..."

The distinctive sound of the Type 11 light machine gun immediately caught Su Yaoyang's attention.

He pointed to a distant firing position where the soldiers were firing breathlessly and asked curiously, "Old Li, is that the Japanese crooked-neck machine gun?"

"Twisted neck?"

Li Gaoyuan was slightly taken aback, then seemed to remember something and couldn't help but laugh, saying with a forced smile, "What you said is quite accurate, that thing does look a bit like a crooked neck. But its official name is the Type 11 Taisho Light Machine Gun."

"How's the performance of this thing?"

"Well, to be honest, its performance is really terrible, far inferior to our Czech ZB26 light machine gun. Our Czech machine gun has far more advantages than the Japanese crooked-neck machine gun..."

Perhaps it was because such small-scale battles did not attract Li Gaoyuan's attention, or for other reasons, Li Gaoyuan was now trying his best to find opportunities to instill some basic knowledge about the battlefield and firearms in Su Yaoyang.

Under Li Gaoyuan's explanation, Su Yaoyang also realized his past mistakes regarding war and firearms.

Take the Czech-made light machine gun, which was the most commonly used weapon in the Chinese army during the War of Resistance against Japan, for example. It used a 20-round magazine feeding system, and the magazine was always straight.

The Czech light machine guns depicted in later films and television shows, equipped with long, curved magazines, never actually existed.

The magazine of the Czech light machine gun shown in the picture above is actually the magazine of the Type 56 submachine gun. Because my country stopped producing 7.92mm bullets after the 1950s and 1960s, the magazine of the Type 56 submachine gun was used instead.

The two chatted as they watched the battle, but to their surprise, even with the addition of the Japanese Type 11 light machine guns, the four defenders on that wall were not at all at a disadvantage against the Japanese offensive and were still fighting quite well.

Even Li Gaoyuan was taken aback when he saw this. He observed it carefully for a while and muttered, "Good heavens, this is amazing. Brother Su, the firepower of this rifle you got is really fierce."

"It's a semi-automatic rifle," Su Yaoyang reminded him.

"Alright, whatever kind of rifle it is, in short, with this rifle, we'll have even less of a problem repelling the Japanese attacks."

Su Yaoyang was still somewhat unsatisfied: "By the way, Brother Li, the Japanese machine guns have already opened fire, shouldn't our machine guns also be ready to fire?"

"What are you in a hurry for?"

Li Gaoyuan shook his head and patiently explained, "Have you noticed that the Japanese have only used one machine gun so far? The other machine guns and grenade launchers are still not moving. They're all waiting for us to make the first move."

As soon as we expose our firing positions, I guarantee that the Japanese grenade launchers and other machine guns will come at us immediately.

The battle has only just begun. If we lose too many of our strongpoints, how will we continue fighting?

"Oh... there are so many intricacies involved." Su Yaoyang scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly. They say that every profession is like a mountain to climb. When he used to watch movies and TV shows, he always just charged in without thinking. It turns out that all of this was a lie.

Seeing the fierce fighting going on ahead, Su Yaoyang had another idea.

My biggest problem right now is that I have too few troops. A little over a hundred men is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of Japanese troops in Nanjing. Once the Japanese reinforcements arrive, it will only be a matter of time before my side is wiped out.

Where can I recruit people?
"No... There are still many scattered and defeated soldiers in Nanjing, and even quite a few captured soldiers. It would be great if we could bring some of them over."

Thinking of this, he asked Li Gaoyuan, "Old Li, where did you run into Lu Shaobin and the others last night?" "I ran into them near the Japanese embassy." Li Gaoyuan looked at him in surprise and explained, "They were being chased by a group of Japanese soldiers. My brothers and I went to help them, and after we got to know each other, I brought them here."

"Then tell me, is it possible that our battle here could attract other Nationalist soldiers over?"

"Well... it's hard to say." Li Gaoyuan slowly shook his head and said with a wry smile:

"You have to understand, we fought this battle so hard. Many troops were routed from the front and even fought several times in order to escape. When they saw the fighting here, they didn't even have time to run away. Why would they come here on their own initiative?"

"Yes!"

Su Yaoyang also sighed. Even he himself was eager to escape this city that was about to become hell.

However, he was unwilling to simply watch as Japanese reinforcements arrived, surrounded, and annihilated him.

His mind raced, and Su Yaoyang suddenly remembered a scene from a movie he had watched before.

When tens of thousands of troops from various units who had retreated from Nanjing arrived at the Xiaguan ferry crossing, they were stopped by officers and soldiers of the 36th Division. A fight even broke out between the two sides, almost causing an internal conflict.

In the end, these people were slaughtered by Japanese patrol boats and planes with machine guns and bombs, their blood flowing like a river, turning the entire riverbank red.

If I'm not mistaken, there must be a large number of defeated soldiers gathered at Xiaguan right now, right?

Thinking of this, Su Yaoyang's heart immediately became excited.

With so many people gathered in the church, especially the female students and women like Yu Mo from the Qinhuai River, it's definitely unrealistic for them to break out of the church and reach the Xiaguan ferry crossing.

But what if I led my own men to the Xiaguan ferry crossing to recruit some defeated soldiers?

He immediately patted Li Gaoyuan on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Old Li, I have an idea here. Let me tell you, what do you think?"

He immediately shared his thoughts with Li Gaoyuan, concluding, "Old Li, there are so many civilians and defeated Nationalist soldiers at Xiaguan Ferry and along the riverbank. We don't need to bring them all here; just bringing a portion of them would be a huge boost to our strength. What do you think?"

Li Gaoyuan pondered for a moment, "What you said is a feasible idea, but I don't know under what pretext you want to recruit those defeated soldiers?"

"I……"

Su Yaoyang was dumbfounded. Before today, he was just an ordinary citizen. Why should those defeated soldiers believe him and listen to him?

Seeing Su Yaoyang's dumbfounded expression, Li Gaoyuan couldn't help but shake his head. This young master Su hadn't experienced enough; he just did whatever came to mind.

He thought for a moment and said, "Well then, I am, after all, the captain of the instructor battalion of the Central Military Academy's Training Corps. I still have the right to appoint an instructor in an emergency."

I'll issue you a temporary appointment document right away, appointing you as the major deputy captain of the instructors' brigade. That way, you'll have a legitimate reason to recruit people. What do you think?

(End of this chapter)