A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

In the afternoon, everyone at the shooting training range of the Training Corps was in high spirits.

"Standing firing position! Ready—!" the officer in charge shouted.

The soldiers in the first group already had their guns in hand, their eyes sharp, and they were in a lunge position with their knees bent, ready to fight.

"Start shooting!"

Soldiers, armed with Type 24 semi-automatic rifles, began firing from a standing position at a 100-meter target, and a barrage of gunfire erupted across the shooting range.

Amidst the crisp sound of gunfire, spent cartridges flew from the chambers, muzzles spraying flames and smoke. The soldiers fired 10 rifle rounds each in standing, kneeling, and prone positions, raising clouds of dust over the earthen mound behind the target.

Every now and then, tracer rounds would fire out beautiful red and green arcs, as the machine gun company's Type 24 general-purpose machine guns fired in tripod mode, with the heavy machine gunners adjusting the trajectory according to the tracer rounds.

Song Hongfei walked among the various companies, observing them carefully.

The soldiers in the sergeant battalion have good military skills and a high level of training. They are very proficient in using the "Min 24" semi-automatic rifle and their shooting skills are also good. Song Hongfei was quite satisfied with what he saw.

The soldiers in the sergeant battalion were highly enthusiastic about training, shouting and yelling, and several companies had already secretly begun to compete with each other.

After the soldiers finished firing, the officers fired; after the rifles, they moved on to pistol and Mauser C96 pistol shooting. The company and platoon leaders and sergeant squad leaders of the training corps were all equipped with original imported Mauser M1932 pistols, and the officers were also engaged in a fierce competition.

No one was willing to be outdone, everyone was eager to show their skills, and everyone wanted to use their actions to tell their battalion commander that their company was the best in the sergeant battalion!

Company Commander Zhang Yi was having a blast, shouting and laughing from ear to ear. He was an excellent marksman and had a wild, exuberant personality. He was extremely excited about the lively scene today; in fact, he hadn't had such a satisfying fight in a long time.

Each soldier received at least 30 rifle bullets during this training session, something unthinkable in other units. Even the division commander would probably tremble with worry over it.

"The new battalion commander has a lot of influence; the brigade commander is really supporting him..." Many shrewd people had already begun to have deeper thoughts.

Song Hongfei watched and chuckled to himself, thinking, "Zhang Yi has really gotten into shooting. His marksmanship seems to have improved since West Point. He's definitely one of the best in the training corps."

"I heard the battalion commander is an excellent marksman! We've finished our competition, how about the battalion commander shows us his skills too?" shouted Liao Jianchu, the cadet company commander.

"Yes! Yes!"

The soldiers from several companies were shouting excitedly, their faces full of anticipation.

Several company and platoon leaders had heard Zhang Yi embellish his account of how superb Song Hongfei's marksmanship was, and they had thought Zhang Yi was just bragging. Now, they were all eager to see for themselves.

"You're trying to trip me up," Song Hongfei laughed. "Get me some spent bullet casings!"

Song Hongfei naturally knew that he wouldn't be able to control the situation if he didn't show off his skills. Although he was the battalion commander, he couldn't win over these arrogant and fierce soldiers with his official authority alone; he needed to demonstrate his strength.

The soldiers quickly gathered a pile of bullet casings, but everyone was puzzled as to why the battalion commander wanted to collect them.

Song Hongfei gestured and demonstrated, saying, "Like this, tie six bullet casings together with thin string in a plum blossom shape, and make 10!"

Everyone suddenly understood and quickly made 10 in the same way.

"Place them on top of the 10 50-meter targets!" Song Hongfei said.

Some people stared wide-eyed at their battalion commander in astonishment. Each of these "shell-filled volleyballs" was about the size of an egg in diameter. Hitting an egg from 50 meters away! This was no joke.

Looking at the surprised yet expectant gazes of everyone in the camp, Song Hongfei seemed to have his pride roused, and he was full of confidence—his strong self-confidence seemed to be innate.

"Give me a rifle!" Song Hongfei shouted. "Watch closely, standing firing!"

Standing! This surprised everyone even more.

Some of the best shooters in the sergeant's battalion had secretly put themselves in the shoes of the officer and realized that they themselves wouldn't be confident in the situation.

A soldier handed a rifle to Song Hongfei. Song Hongfei took the rifle, aimed at a 100-meter target in the distance, and fired a shot, hitting the bullseye!

Song Hongfei had a good idea of ​​what he was doing with the rifle in his hand.

"Whoosh—" The entire battalion erupted in applause. The battalion commander's shot was incredibly skillful; his marksmanship was truly superb. Everyone couldn't help but secretly admire him. Experts can see the difference; in fact, some skilled shooters had already discerned from his aiming motion that his marksmanship was definitely not bad!

Fifty meters away, ten "shell plum blossoms" stood upright atop ten targets, so visible from a distance that those with poor eyesight couldn't see them at all. The entire sergeant's battalion held their breath, staring intently at Song Hongfei; the entire area was deathly silent.

Song Hongfei switched to a full 10-round magazine, raised his gun, cocked it, his piercing eyes became incredibly sharp, aimed, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Clang clang clang clang clang..." A series of rhythmic gunshots rang out. After each shot, the bullet casings in the distance were hit and scattered in all directions, like flowers suddenly blooming, which was quite a beautiful sight!

In just over ten seconds, ten flowers 50 meters away burst into bloom—a truly spectacular sight!

Precision rapid fire! Everyone was stunned, their hearts trembling; this marksmanship was truly divine.

"Whoosh—" The entire battalion erupted in thunderous cheers and applause. The soldiers were completely won over, cheering and clapping with all their might! Many of the younger lads looked at Battalion Commander Song Hongfei with burning eyes, their admiration turning into worship.

"The battalion commander is amazing!"

"That marksmanship is incredible!"

"Haven't you heard? This gun was designed by the battalion commander himself!"

"50 meters, I can't even see clearly anymore, and it's still standing! Amazing! Absolutely amazing!"

Zhang Yi clapped excitedly, glancing at the people who had accused him of bragging, his expression seeming to say, "You all saw that I wasn't bragging, right? You're just making a fuss over nothing, aren't you? There's something even more amazing that you haven't seen yet!"

The company and platoon leaders were already convinced.

Zhang Yi was also known as a "sharpshooter" in the training corps, but he could only occasionally manage to hit an egg at 50 meters. He could never do what Song Hongfei did—shoot rapidly and hit the target every time. He had long admired Song Hongfei's marksmanship to the point of prostration. He also recalled Song Hongfei's amazing feat at West Point, where he said "man and gun are one" and demonstrated how he could hit the letters of a newspaper headline at 50 meters. He felt even more inferior to him.

"Sharpshooters are made by being fed bullets! I guarantee you'll get plenty of bullets for training from now on, until your arms are swollen and your ears are ringing!" Song Hongfei shouted, already commanding great respect among the soldiers.

"Clap clap—" The soldiers in the sergeant's battalion clapped even more enthusiastically, unable to contain their excitement any longer, and cheered joyfully.