Chapter 46: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa Chapter 46 Improved Bayonet Drill

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Seeing Lin Shirong was displeased, Lv Muzhi hurried forward to explain: "Master Lin, please don't mind. Our revolutionary soldiers only have one cold weapon, the bayonet; carrying other weapons would only be redundant."

Saying this, Lv Muzhi took a Mosin-Nagant Rifle from the soldiers, removed the bullet, and drew the Four-edged Bayonet from his waist.

"Master Lin, please look. This Four-edged Bayonet is made by the old Russians and is the only sharp weapon our army relies on in close combat."

Master Lin took the Four-edged Bayonet and saw it was rough, with some pits on the surface and some foreign markings on the bayonet base.

"This old Russian stuff isn't very refined... this bayonet has no edge on the side, cannot cut, and only has the one function of thrusting."

Lv Muzhi took back the bayonet, attached it to the rifle, and according to the bayonet drill taught at the Military Academy, thrust forward and then drew back. "Otherwise, how could it be called a bayonet?"

Lin Shirong snatched the rifle with the bayonet attached, mimicked Lv Muzhi's thrust and draw, then weighed the Mosin-Nagant Rifle in his hand: "This rifle with a bayonet is no longer than a red-tasseled spear and no heavier than a Broadsword. With your thrust, if you hit, fine; if you miss, your gate is wide open, and you can only wait to be stabbed..."

"Naturally. Bayonet fighting values speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness. I invited Master Lin here to work on speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, to see how to seize the initiative in bayonet fighting."

Lin Shirong nodded, looked back at the soldiers in the platoon, and said: "This bayonet charge isn't very complicated. Speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness still depend on the individual quality of the soldiers. What matters is seizing the timing. If there is good timing, unite waist and horse and thrust forward with full force; just pay attention to the way you exert power."

"Then how does one get good timing?" Zhang Fei, a Squad Leader in Lv Muzhi's platoon, asked.

"Right, that's what I want to say. In bayonet fighting, launching an attack first doesn't necessarily seize the initiative; instead, it leaves openings. So I suggest you all wait for the opponent to strike first, reveal an opening, and then you strike."

"But what if we get stabbed to death?"

"Tsk~ Can't you dodge or block? Cough, this is also what I'm going to teach. The bridge hand from Hong Family Fist can be flexibly applied to bayonet fighting. If the enemy's bayonet thrusts straight at the front, use an 'Outer Blocking Bridge.' It's like pressing down a pig when slaughtering it for the New Year: the pig kicks its leg, you deflect outward, and the main butcher gets a chance to strike..."

Lin Shirong explained while waving the bayonet to demonstrate, then combined the bridge hand from Hung Gar Iron Wire Fist with bayonet fighting techniques to create a set of bayonet fighting methods, engaging in mock drills with the soldiers.

"I've roughly figured out some tricks. You all come one by one. Let's see if my bayonet fighting technique is better, or if you soldiers are superior."

Lin Shirong held a wooden stick, preparing to duel the thirty-three soldiers in Lv Muzhi's platoon one by one, using the wooden stick to simulate a bayonet, and carrying out one-on-one or one-on-many bayonet fighting drills.

Lv Muzhi stood to the side observing, to see if Lin Shirong's bayonet fighting technique was actually effective.

Unexpectedly, his own Squad Leader Zhang Fei, after five exchanges with Lin Shirong, was knocked to the ground by Lin Shirong's wooden stick 'thrust,' and the other soldiers couldn't last three exchanges.

During the drill, Lv Muzhi watched his soldiers one by one being 'thrust' down by Lin Shirong's wooden stick, while Lin Shirong himself wasn't hit once, leaving Lv Muzhi scratching his head and ears in anxiety.

"You two, go together! Attack his lower body!"

"Zhang Fei, go again, try cutting his center!"

"Usually, the last three go up together!"

Lin Shirong defeated all the soldiers in the platoon using a war of attrition in bayonet fighting, leaving Lv Muzhi utterly amazed.

"You come too!" Lin Shirong, in high spirits, called for Lv Muzhi to join the drill.

Seeing the soldiers in his platoon being knocked down one by one, Lv Muzhi secretly resolved to regain face, picked up a wooden stick, and faced off against Lin Shirong.

Lin Shirong repeatedly prodded forward with the front end of the wooden stick, constantly probing and testing Lv Muzhi.

But Lv Muzhi wasn't so easily fooled. Earlier, Lin Shirong had fought the entire platoon of soldiers in rotation, using all the moves he had, and Lv Muzhi had seen them all and was on guard.

"Heh, brat, motionless as a mountain, huh? Let me see if you're steady or just slow-witted and haven't reacted at all!"

Whoosh~

After probing several times, Lin Shirong suddenly thrust forward.

Lv Muzhi sensed the change in Lin Shirong's force, his mind flashed, he stepped back to the left, and simultaneously drew the front end of his wooden stick to the right, trying to slap away Lin Shirong's thrusting stick so he could attack while Lin Shirong's center was wide open.

Unexpectedly, Lin Shirong's force was very skillful; it seemed strong but he hadn't used full force. Lv Muzhi's wooden stick just happened to slap against Lin Shirong's wooden stick.

Lin Shirong immediately withdrew his force, effortlessly retracted his attack, and immediately launched a second thrust.

Bad! This Lin Shirong is very cunning. It seemed like a full-force strike but was actually still a probe. This second thrust was powerful and heavy. Lv Muzhi had just launched a block, and now it was too late to bring his stick back to deal with the second thrust.

If he continued to retreat, his steps would be thrown into disorder, Lin Shirong would seize the momentum to press forward, and he still couldn't avoid being stabbed.

"Hehe~ Where are you running!" Lin Shirong thought to himself, and the front section of the wooden stick solidly struck Lv Muzhi's chest.

"Hehe~ Little friend Muzhi, how is that?" Lin Shirong laughed proudly.

But the smile on his face froze in less than half a second, and Lin Shirong's belly was also stabbed by Lv Muzhi!

"Hehe, Master Lin, look at your center?" Lv Muzhi retorted.

Lin Shirong withdrew the wooden stick, clasped his hands, and said: "Interesting. Choosing mutual destruction when there's no way to avoid it—I'll count you as the winner."

Lv Muzhi hurriedly demurred: "After sparring with the whole platoon, Master Lin must be somewhat exhausted. So to end it quickly, you forgot I still have plenty of energy, which is why you revealed an opening."

Lin Shirong wiped the sweat from his forehead: "Indeed, I am somewhat spent. But you've watched for so long by the side, you must have learned something."

"It's just copying the gourd to draw the bottle. But this time I'm convinced; our whole platoon is convinced. My thirty-plus soldiers have been learning bayonet fighting since September, and now four months have passed. Unexpectedly, you defeated them all, including me."

Lin Shirong stood with hands on his hips, obviously also quite tired: "You flatter me. If your soldiers had rushed me all at once, I'm afraid I'd have been stabbed into a hornet's nest long ago!"

"If everyone learns even half a move from Master Lin just now, the soldiers' bayonet fighting technique will greatly improve. I think we should improve our bayonet drill based on Master Lin's moves just now. The Principal will definitely be satisfied if he knows."

Lin Shirong nodded with a smile, one hand supporting his waist, the other patting Lv Muzhi's arm, and tilted his head toward the small grove: "Come with me!"

Lv Muzhi followed, feeling Lin Shirong had some secret words to say.