A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Even Hitler, the usually serious and rigid leader of the Hansbrücke, showed a look of emotion and amazement. Song Hongfei's shooting performance was truly spectacular and had left a deep impression on him.

In fact, around noon, after Blomberg and Himmler urgently reported the morning's events to Hitler, he suddenly became extremely interested in this young Chinese man, whom the experts on supernatural abilities and several high-ranking officials described as unfathomable.

Hitler pondered, "It seems that the emotions of the Chinese people also need to be appeased."

After thinking for a long time, he said to his office director, Martin Bowman, "Immediately inform the Chinese delegation that I will personally participate in the shooting demonstration this afternoon."

“Your Excellency, I will make arrangements immediately and inform the Chinese delegation,” Martin Bauman replied.

The astute Martin Bauman understood perfectly well that with the head of state personally participating, the accompanying personnel and the arrangements related to the event's scale would naturally be of a higher rank.

Hitler was a fanatical believer in racial superiority and superiority. He had always touted the nobility and superiority of the Aryan race. But today, this young man from China, Song Hongfei, and this semi-automatic rifle from China impressed him greatly, and the surprise and shock he felt were extraordinary.

"Excellent rifle, excellent marksman!" Hitler smiled and nodded repeatedly, his eyes showing admiration. He then turned to the people around him, praising them and clapping vigorously.

The people in the stands, observing the expressions on the faces of the spectators, then erupted in thunderous applause.

Song Hongfei demonstrated once again how to change a magazine with one hand and fire rapidly without interruption. After emptying the third magazine, there were another 10 shots, and the target fell to the ground.

This time, there was finally a brief pause in the gunfire. After all, even someone as skilled as Song Hongfei would need to take a moment to aim at a full-body target at a distance of 200 meters to ensure a perfect shot. This shooting demonstration was of great significance, and he dared not be careless.

In just over a minute, the shooter disassembled and reassembled the gun, loaded and changed magazines twice, used three magazines with 30 rounds of ammunition, and hit every target at 30 different distances. This spectacular shooting demonstration won over everyone, and the entire audience stood up and erupted in applause.

The members of the Chinese delegation had already heard about Song Hongfei's exceptional marksmanship, but seeing is believing. No matter how fantastical the rumors, nothing beats the awe and wonder of witnessing it firsthand. They were completely captivated, clapping excitedly until their hands were red.

Even the on-site commentators were so shocked that they forgot to commentate.

"All 30 bullets hit the target!" The sound of the target report rang out from afar, but the target reporter felt that his report was now superfluous.

Song Hongfei has completed shooting and gun inspection.

Martin Bormann, Hitler's chief of staff, ran down from the stands and told Song Hongfei, "Dr. Song, the Führer wants to see your gun. Please come with me."

After saying that, Martin Bowman took the gun and led Song Hongfei up to the viewing platform.

"A sharpshooter!" Hitler praised Song Hongfei with a smile.

Hitler had the typical features of a Germanic person: fair skin, blue eyes, brown hair, and a short stature. Song Hongfei never imagined he would stand so close to this world-famous historical figure!

Hitler took the gun in his hand and examined the Type 24 semi-automatic rifle with great interest.

Hitler was secretly surprised. The pistol grip and the reasonable design of the gun's center of gravity made it easy to hold and comfortable. Compared to the old bolt-action rifles with their full-length wooden barrels, it felt simple, harmonious, and cool to him!

This is a rifle with a beautiful design and excellent performance, which is very popular with this "failed art student".

"What a beautiful rifle! It's full of artistic and industrial design aesthetics!" Hitler couldn't help but praise it. Then he raised the rifle, squinted, and made a shooting motion.

Hitler's action caught the surrounding Han Chinese high-ranking officials completely off guard, and Song Hongfei was also taken aback. He couldn't recall any historical record of Hitler aiming a gun. At that moment, he even thought of the 64 military competition, and the only historical photograph of that great Eastern man aiming a gun. In a daze, Song Hongfei felt that this was a moment of astonishing historical recurrence!

Hitler looked at Song Hongfei with an appreciative expression and said, "Excellent! Doctor, you are a remarkable man! You and the rifle you designed are amazing!"

"Thank you for your praise, Your Excellency!" Song Hongfei said.

Song Hongfei never expected that he would actually have a conversation with Hitler.

He immediately noticed that the Nazi leader's deep, clear blue eyes were particularly striking, his piercing gaze fixed on him as if trying to see right through him.

That clear, deep blue seemed to possess a bewitching magic; its fervent, spirited, and unwavering gaze carried a unique infectiousness and charm that would undoubtedly strongly attract those fervent admirers and followers.

“He has a habit of staring at people he’s meeting for the first time,” Song Hongfei thought to himself.

"Capturing souls with eyes? Soul-capturing techniques? Could it be that he also knows such skills?"

After the mental battle that morning, he couldn't help but have doubts. In a flash, he suddenly realized that his idea was completely unfounded and quickly suppressed the strange thought.

Hitler stared intently at him and said, "Young strongman, tell me, how did you manage to design such a superb rifle?"

After a moment's thought, Song Hongfei answered loudly, "I am a soldier. Whatever rifle soldiers need on the battlefield, I will design that rifle!"

Hitler, the Führer of the Hansbrücke, laughed loudly, then turned to his left and right, saying, "Strong man! Strong man's answer! This is a strong man's answer!"

Many high-ranking officers were already itching to try it out for themselves. They immediately went to the firing positions, picked up the rifles, examined them thoroughly, inserted magazines, and aimed. They found the rifles to be of excellent quality and ergonomically designed. After emptying a magazine, the accuracy was very high. These meticulous and rigid Han Chinese officers were completely convinced and full of praise for the rifles.

Song Hongfei was also somewhat impressed; after all, they were battle-hardened German generals, and their marksmanship was excellent.

He couldn't help but feel a little proud, and casually praised his own rifle, saying, "The generals' marksmanship is superb! This is the first time they've ever used this rifle, and they haven't had any training, yet they can achieve such good accuracy. That's truly impressive!"

Hitler and the crowd in the stands burst into loud laughter.

The Supreme Leader's message was very clear, and all the high-ranking leaders of the Hans Kingdom understood it perfectly. The cooperation negotiations between the Chinese government and the Hans Kingdom were a great success, achieving a series of results that were even more surprising than originally expected.

During this time, Hitler gifted Song Hongfei a pair of Walther PPK pistols. The pistols were decorated with engravings and gold plating, and the gun bodies were engraved with exquisite patterns and decorations. They were extremely beautiful and Song Hongfei loved them very much. These two exquisite pistols made everyone in the European inspection team extremely envious, even Kong Xiangxi, who had never been fond of firearms, extremely envious.

Marshal Blomberg, the Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Hansin State, presented Song Hongfei with a Zeiss 8x30 telescope and a 4x and a 6x optical sight. These were the latest products developed by the Hansin State and represented world-class optical technology.

Some gun enthusiasts kept pestering Song Hongfei to let them play with the guns that Hitler had given them. Song Hongfei cherished these two guns like treasures and refused to give them away. He firmly refused, saying, "They were given to me by the head of state, so I should cherish them."

Later, they figured out his tricks. Whenever they needed something from Song Hongfei, they would first ask to play with guns. Song Hongfei naturally refused, but after some gentle persuasion, they would bring up the real matter, stating that they were settling for second best. The shrewd old foxes were secretly pleased, while the inexperienced Song Hongfei, still somewhat naive, often found it difficult to refuse and had no choice but to agree. These seasoned veterans used a "roundabout" tactic that worked every time, leaving Song Hongfei extremely frustrated.

Song Hongfei recalled the scene in the later TV series "Bright Sword" where Chu Yunfei, the commander of the 358th Regiment of the Jin-Sui Army, presented Li Yunlong, the commander of the Eighth Route Army's Independent Regiment, with a Browning M1910 pistol: "These two guns were a pair when they left the factory, one male and one female, Browning brand..."

He was smug, thinking that Hitler's Walther PPK was much prettier than Chu Yunfei's Browning pistol, and he couldn't help but let his imagination run wild: were these two pistols also a male and a female?

With his business settled, Song Hongfei was eager to return to China.

In late June, at the invitation of the Chinese government, the head of state of the Hans country sent General Lecherau, a senior official of the Ministry of Defense, as a special representative to visit China.

Song Hongfei and several members of the expedition team who had completed their missions embarked on a voyage from Bremen, Germany, to Shanghai, China, together with General Lesherou and his entourage.

The journey took a month, passing through the North Sea of ​​the Atlantic Ocean, the Strait of Dover, the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca, Hong Kong, and the Taiwan Strait before finally arriving in Shanghai.

postscript:

After General Lechero arrived in China, in order to expand the export of arms from Germany, he proposed in talks with the Chinese government that Germany directly equip China with sixty German-style army divisions, and suggested that Germany send all its military advisors to be in charge of the training.

Although this idea ultimately failed to materialize due to various factors, it demonstrated the Han Chinese government's intention to expand arms exports and military cooperation with China.