Chapter 97: Firearms

"This army gives me the feeling that a soul has been injected into it; every soldier knows what he must do, all soldiers share one goal, and everyone can direct their strength toward the same point. In comparison, soldiers from other tribes are dazed and completely unaware of what they should do. Actually, this is not their fault; aren't most tribal leaders just muddling along?" Subotai's viewpoint indeed made him see things in a new light.

Jebe, deep in thought, said, "From my perspective, that Soldiers' Committee sounds excellent; with it in place, we can prevent generals from beating or scolding soldiers and withholding their pay."

Others also voiced their opinions one after another. After they finished speaking, Temujin sighed and said, "Over this past month, my thought has been that we can learn many excellent aspects from them to greatly strengthen our own tribe, but no matter what, we cannot become as formidable as they are; the ultimate result would only be a mongrel that resembles neither."

"Great Khan, your words are a bit too absolute. With your intelligence and wisdom, if you can learn their ways, you are certainly capable of surpassing your teachers." Borjigin Borjighu, upon hearing Temujin speak thus, immediately refuted him.

"No, that is not right. During this time, I have studied the words spoken by the leaders of the Revolutionary Army. I particularly like that sentence: 'Military struggle is the continuation of political struggle.' And what is the core content of their politics? It is the so-called 'Serve the People,' making the entire tribe grow better and better."

"But to achieve this, what matters is not the intelligence and wisdom you speak of, but having little to no selfishness; ideally, having no selfishness at all. Only then can everyone believe in this ideal of eliminating exploitation and oppression. Yet, as long as one is human, there will be selfishness, right?"

"For example, I, Temujin, have become the tribal leader. Most of the tribe's wealth is in my hands. Relying on this, I could live a luxurious life and marry many beautiful women. But if a person who eats until grease drips from his mouth, with a potbelly, possessing countless gold and silver treasures and surrounded by countless beauties, shouts the slogan 'Serve the People,' how many people do you think would believe him?"

After Temujin finished asking, the generals were momentarily at a loss for how to answer. Temujin sighed and said, "Yet my selfishness extends far beyond these things. I wish to lead you to unify all the grassland tribes; I wish to lead the Mongol Iron Cavalry to conquer the Great Jin, destroy the Western Xia, and finally force the wealthy Great Song to surrender. At that time, all the land, wealth, and beauties under heaven will be mine. This is my selfishness: to make the entire world the property of one person."

Speaking thus, Temujin glanced around at the assembled generals and said, "You who follow me also have selfish motives. You understand that I am different from other tribal leaders; I am generous. In the past, when Zhabu and I attacked the Tatars, Zhabu kept the spoils of war for himself, while I distributed the spoils. As long as one follows me, I never hesitate to bestow rewards. Cattle, sheep, wealth, beauties, land—whatever you desire, I can give you. This is your selfishness."

"But if you are here, you cannot reasonably possess wealth, land, women, and so on, because to want these things requires exploitation and oppression. The reason this army is powerful is that its leaders constantly make them understand that they are fighting for themselves. Our soldiers, in the end, are still fighting for us."

After hearing Temujin's words, Khubilai, Borjigin Borjighu, and the others exchanged glances. They had originally thought that by studying here, they could make their own armies surpass their teachers, but who would have thought that in the end they could only learn the superficial aspects, while the core remained unlearnable.

"Then what should we do? Are we to stand by helplessly and watch him grow stronger and stronger until he destroys us all?" Borjigin Borjighu said with a look of distress.

"There is no need for that, Borjigin Borjighu. It is not yet a time of desperation. Although we cannot crush them on the open battlefield, we can corrode them with beauties, wealth, land, and status. By then, there will certainly be many people here who come to defect to us." Temujin smiled mysteriously.

After the one-day holiday ended, it was time for the new recruits to officially join their companies, and Temujin and his companions finally got their hands on the rifles they had longed for.

Touching this weapon of extremely powerful lethality in their hands, the group was momentarily intoxicated.

"Comrades, the weapon in your hands is something you have surely heard of before. Yes, its name is 'rifle,' its full name is 'Type 56 Semi-Automatic Rifle.' The empty weight is 3.85 kilograms. This rifle not only has good shooting accuracy; on the battlefield, it is not only a single-person weapon used by infantry but can also injure enemies through firepower, bayonets, and the rifle butt."

"Comrades, firing a gun is an activity requiring professional skills and strict safety measures. In actual operation, one must strictly abide by safety operating procedures and accept the guidance and supervision of veteran soldiers."

The veteran soldier responsible for teaching them explained the steps for using firearms to them in great detail.

One: Inspect the Rifle:

Upon hearing the command "Inspect the Rifle," step forward with the left foot, spread the feet about shoulder-width apart, and extend the rifle forward.

The left hand grasps the lower handguard, the rifle butt rests against the right shoulder, the right hand grasps the pistol grip, the left thumb disengages the safety, the magazine is removed and handed to the right hand to be held on the left side of the pistol grip, and the left index finger hooks the bolt handle.

When the commander inspects or when inspecting oneself, the left hand pulls the bolt back several times, then the magazine is inserted, the right hand pulls the trigger to fire, the left hand engages the safety, and the grip shifts to the lower handguard.

After the inspection is complete, the right hand grasps the carrying handle, and while bringing the right foot together with the left foot, the rifle is retracted, restoring the single-hand rifle-shouldered standing-at-attention posture.

Two: Load Bullets:

Press the magazine release button and pull the magazine out of the pistol.

Take out several bullets and load them one by one into the magazine.

*Reinsert the magazine, ensuring it locks into place.

Three: Cock the Firing Pin: Use the other hand to pull the firing pin; this action will push a bullet from the magazine into the barrel, preparing for firing.

Four: Aim:

Focus your gaze on the sight or front sight (if available).

Use one eye to look at the front sight and the sight, and use the other eye to observe the target.

Five: Prepare to Fire:

Gently touch the trigger with your finger to feel the force of the trigger spring.

Maintain steady breathing to reduce body sway and instability.

Six: Fire: Gently pull the trigger to complete the shot.

Although these six steps are very simple, the new recruits trained each step for one to two days until they achieved what is called muscle memory before stopping.

On the sixth day, they finally began target practice. After they pulled the trigger, the rifle shook with a bang, and the bullet flew toward the target at a speed they could not comprehend.

"Whoa, ten rings! Not bad! To score ten rings on your first time shooting a gun, you will represent our company in this sniper competition." The company commander, who had come down to inspect, patted Temujin's shoulder and praised him.

However, just as he finished praising him, a sudden clamor erupted: "Wow, this guy is too amazing! Ten shots, ten rings! Is this guy really shooting a gun for the first time?"

Upon hearing this, the company commander was startled inside. He had originally thought that producing a new recruit capable of scoring ten rings today was already impressive, but he never expected to discover a new recruit who could fire ten shots and hit ten rings.