Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 120 Practical Training
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Stop dawdling! You're all wearing gloves! They won't chafe your hands!"

Wang Gensheng watched as the soldiers slowly descended, and couldn't help but urge them on loudly.

After the wooden wall was built, Wang Gensheng naturally had to train in rope climbing and rope rappelling.

Almost everyone experiences intense fear; it's unavoidable, an instinct ingrained in our genes. After all, without intense fear, young children would jump around carelessly.

Of course, this fear is suppressed by reason as a person matures. Wang Gensheng himself has gone through a long period of training, from trembling legs at the beginning to being able to slide down calmly now.

Now, Wang Gensheng naturally had to train these thousand or so men to be just like the previous cavalry company, so that they would no longer be afraid of heights and could stand steadily even when facing a height of more than ten meters.

Of course, there are some techniques to be aware of when rappelling.

First, a person's center of gravity or balance point should be located in the lower abdomen. Therefore, no matter what is used to tie the body, the best "holding point" should be the abdomen, which is the most comfortable and suitable. Ideally, there should be a metal ring at the holding point for easy operation, but it can also be used if there is no metal ring.

However, the best option is still the figure-eight metal ring, which is more convenient to use. So Wang Gensheng had one made for each of the soldiers. Anyway, there are more than 30 tons of iron reserves, so making a figure-eight metal ring won't consume much iron.

Then, tie one end of the long rope to a fixed object and swing the other end down. Grab one end in your hand, fold it up, pass it through the upper hole of a figure-eight metal ring, and then fasten it backwards to the "waist" of the figure-eight metal ring.

Next, the lower hole of the figure-eight ring is connected to the abdomen of the person.

After making these preparations, put on a glove with your left hand, hold the rope, and place it on your left rear side, next to your buttocks, to act as a "brake" for descent.

Of course, the brake gloves also need to be very thick, otherwise they can easily hurt your hands. So Wang Gensheng used linen gloves, since linen is much stronger than cotton gloves, and linen is also very easy to obtain.

Then, the right hand lightly holds the rope in front of the chest. However, beginners in rappelling training are not confident in controlling the rope with their left hand and always grip the rope tightly with their right hand, which affects the speed of rappelling and the performance of the movements.

It's important to know that in actual combat, the right hand can be completely freed up, and it can be used for many other things, such as holding a gun, carrying a child, or picking up objects.

This means that even during rappelling, a counterattack can be launched.

Unlike the veterans of the special cavalry company, these new recruits had never undergone this kind of training, so naturally they dared not speed up.

That's why Wang Gensheng started urging them loudly. You should know that in order to ensure the safety of these soldiers during their descent, Wang Gensheng had placed thick stacks of dry hay under the wall.

Not to mention rappelling, even jumping directly off the wooden wall is fine, as the more than two-meter-thick layer of dry grass effectively reduces the impact upon landing.

As Wang Gensheng watched the soldiers rappelling and climbing training, Baili Xiu, who was also watching from the side, said to Wang Gensheng with some concern:
"Commander, the rappelling training is complete, and they've gone through all the training our special cavalry company has gone through. The only thing they're missing is real combat! But real combat training is not easy to do! I asked around before, and although the soldiers we recruited this time are all in good physical condition, none of them have seen blood on the battlefield. They are all new recruits who were just recruited not long ago, and some have only just completed basic drill training."

Wang Gensheng waved his hand in response to Baili Xiu's words:
"What can we do? Soldiers who have been on the battlefield and killed the Japanese devils are considered experienced veterans. Do you expect those regimental commanders to send you experienced veterans?"
Besides, physical fitness is the most important thing. You can gain experience by fighting more battles, but physical fitness isn't something you can improve just by fighting more battles! If you don't have physical fitness, how can you wear 30 or 40 pounds of bulletproof gear or lift a machine gun weighing over 10 pounds?

After thinking for a moment, Wang Gensheng continued:

"How about this? Let's divide this group of soldiers into three parts. I'll lead them in some real combat, kill a few Japanese devils and puppet troops to toughen them up, so they won't hesitate when there's a big operation to be done in the future." Baili Xiu naturally didn't object to Wang Gensheng's suggestion. However, just as Wang Gensheng and Baili Xiu were thinking about how to train the soldiers, Li Xiu handed Wang Gensheng an internal newspaper of the Eighth Route Army.

After reading the internal newspaper, Wang Gensheng realized that the plot of "Bright Sword" was progressing very quickly, and he hadn't expected that Qian Bojun's rebellion had already occurred.

Indeed, the newspaper that Li Xiu handed to Wang Gensheng was about Qian Bojun, the battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of Chu Yunfei's 358th Regiment, who had defected to the enemy.

The message of this internal newspaper was quite simple: all regiments of the Eighth Route Army should do a good job of ideological work among the soldiers and key personnel, and never repeat the same mistakes.

However, as Wang Gensheng looked at the newspaper report, he suddenly had a great training ground in his mind.

That's right, the destination is naturally Heyuan County, where Hirata Ichiro is stationed.

Wang Gensheng still has a relatively deep memory of the plot of "Bright Sword," even though Chu Yunfei successfully thwarted Qian Bojun's rebellion.

However, Qian Bojun's death also dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the entire 358th Regiment.

Most importantly, Li Yunlong transported all the disarmed weapons and equipment back to the Independent Regiment, which meant that Chu Yunfei's First Battalion had no combat capability whatsoever for a short period of time.

Faced with the encirclement and suppression by the military police battalion led by Hirata Ichiro and the mixed forces of the puppet army, they had absolutely no chance of winning.

Therefore, Chu Yunfei had no choice but to take a risky approach. He invited Li Yunlong to join him in taking down Hirata Ichiro and all the high-ranking commanders attending the birthday banquet.

This is how the encirclement and suppression operation was stopped, but Wang Gensheng felt it was a real pity.

It should be noted that in addition to killing Hirata Ichiro, the military police captain, Chu Yunfei and Li Yunlong also dealt with many high-ranking officials at Juxianlou, such as squad leaders and company commanders.

This effectively paralyzed the entire military police force.

What is there to fear in a brigade whose command system is paralyzed?

However, the attackers numbered only four: Chu Yunfei and his bodyguards, as well as Li Yunlong and Wei Dayong.

Therefore, no matter how powerful they are, it is impossible for four of them to fight against hundreds or thousands of Japanese soldiers.

Therefore, if Wang Gensheng were to launch a surprise attack at this time, even if he didn't capture Heyuan County, defeating a large, uncommanded brigade shouldn't be a problem.

Of course, Wang Gensheng would never occupy Heyuan County, since occupying Heyuan County would be tantamount to making it a live target for the Japanese heavy artillery.

What Wang Gensheng really cared about was the armory in Heyuan County.

(End of this chapter)