Chapter 58: Under the Hand Grenade

  "A row of 9, 49361 boxes of hand grenades, a total of 36,100 boxes of hand grenades, that is 3,600 boxes, averaging 3 per person for each member of the guard team."

  Simaqing counted the first batch of one hundred boxes of hand grenades, smiled and opened one box with a crowbar, lifted the layer of oil paper on top, counted and said.

  If it weren't for the fact that this thing is quite dangerous, Sima would have liked to take one out as a memento. This was the first weapon produced by Sima's Northwestern General Machinery Company. He ran his hand over the rough, pockmarked surface of the grenade's shell, which was full of pre-formed fragmentation grooves.

  In order to save time, the hand grenade shell was not painted with black paint, but only a layer of sealant was applied at the joint between the wooden handle and the shell. The iron-gray hand grenade shell had a strange luster that made Sima look a little fascinated.

  "Maybe later we can make hand grenades to sell."

  Now because of the European war, domestic sources of weapons have become a problem. I don't know if throwing this kind of grenade into the domestic market will be very popular at that time. Sima doesn't know why he thinks so, but it seems that producing this kind of grenade is a good business.

  "Within thirty meters, anything that can be thrown into the white lime line is considered qualified."

  On the training ground, Sima pointed to a white line drawn with lime powder thirty meters ahead and said loudly that this is the mark line for standing posture throwing and blocking.

  Although Sima had never been a soldier in the past, he had received military training twice (in high school and college) and had practiced throwing grenades several times. At this time, Sima didn't care whether he was capable or not, and temporarily became an instructor for grenade-throwing.

  In shot put training, standing throw is usually done by athletes who can also do the glide or spin technique. The athlete chooses to either stand and throw from a still position or use a short approach run-up before throwing.

  "Everyone has noticed that the small finger is pressed against the pull ring of the grenade. If it's a real hand grenade, use your little finger to press the water ring and the other four fingers to hold the bottom of the handle like this."

  Simar held up a trainer bullet and said loudly that in order to facilitate training, Simar had someone leave a few centimeters of cotton thread at the tail end of the trainer bullet to simulate pulling the fuse.

  With four fingers grasping the bottom of a hand grenade, only about 60% of the strength can be exerted. The hand grenade is in a virtual holding state and seems to be hooked by four fingers. As long as you throw your arm forward with force when throwing, the hand grenade will be easily thrown out.

  "Take care."

  As soon as the voice fell, Sima took a few meters forward and swung his arm to throw out the shot put he was holding. The shot put drew an arc in the air, and when it saw that it had crossed the white line marked with lime, Sima finally breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was thrown over, not lost as a person.

  "Alright everyone, pay attention and practice in separate classes."

  Simar let out a sigh and said, "Now that the real bullets are being thrown, the security team has more than 1,100 people, which is an expansion of five times or more compared to the past. The previous configuration of medium-sized teams and small teams is no longer suitable for the expanded security team."

  To facilitate management, Sima changed the protection team into six companies, with more than 180 people in each company. To facilitate defense, the entire factory was divided into four defense zones, with one company in each zone and two other companies as reserve teams.

  Simazhen now personally took over as the captain of the expanded Huafang team, which had grown more than five times its original size. The original captain, Ma Si, stepped down to become the deputy captain.

  "Ah! Good! Good!"

  It is clear that people of this era had arms far more powerful than those of later generations. At least their arms were much stronger than Sima's. If compared with them, Sima would probably feel ashamed. The vast majority of them threw a 16-kilogram (about 603 grams) training shot at least 50 meters away, and several people even achieved a good result of throwing it more than 60 meters.

  More importantly, the people who threw hand grenades were generally quite accurate, at least throwing them straight ahead, which completely made up for their relatively poor marksmanship.

  "Come! You come over and tell me your name. Are you from that place?"

  Watching one of the four teams throw a grenade about twice as far as himself, Sima opened his mouth and called this person over.

  "Reporting to the superior, I am Li Lai Shun from Dezhou, Shandong."

  When he saw the superior, Li Lai Shun ran over and saluted loudly. In the factory team, it was Ma Si who decided to call him "superior" and use military salutes. As for Sima, he also followed the local customs and was called "superior". Of course, calling Sima that wasn't inappropriate after all, since he himself was the highest superior in the entire company.

  "Hmm! Take a break."

  Simultaneously, Sima Yi, who was not used to being saluted, was stunned for half a second before hastily returning the salute. Fortunately, he had laid the foundation during his military training in the past, and this salute, which would evolve into dozens of variations in later generations, was far more standardized and formal than it was at that time. Seeing Li Come Shun still maintaining his standing-at-attention posture, Sima Yi gave him an order.

  "Your grenade throwing is not bad. See that white rock? Can you throw all the grenades next to it?"

  Simar pointed to a small boulder about 70 meters away, roughly the size of a child, and said that at this time, if one could pick out a sharp point to stimulate everyone, it would be more effective in arousing people's competitive spirit than such dry and dull training.

  "Reporting to the superior is no big deal, I can go give it a try."

  Following the direction of the officer's pointing finger, it was about twenty or thirty feet away. It should be possible to do so. Li Lai Shun, who had a bit of confidence in his heart, replied loudly.

  "Alright! If you can throw ten hand grenades in a row and hit that rock within two arms' length, your squad gets an extra meal tonight."

  It is more appropriate to reward the entire team with a meal than to give individual rewards. After all, sometimes relying solely on monetary rewards is not as effective as relying on stimulating honor awards. For example, at this time, if Li Lai Shun succeeds, then the entire team will earn honor.

  "Yes!"

  As soon as they heard that they were going to get a bonus, the eyes of the entire squad lit up. Throwing ten hand grenades for the squad's teammates was worth it for a big meal. More importantly, from now on, he and his squad could hold their heads high in front of those old team members.

  Veterans always look down on new recruits, even if they are in the same military unit.

  "Come on, come on, come on"

  Li Lai Shun brought a hand grenade to the training ground, and the new recruits of the factory team who had just joined began to cheer him on loudly.

  "Huff...huff"

  Staring at a boulder twenty zhang away, Li Lai Shun calmed his nerves and slowed down his breathing. With a sudden burst of strength from his right calf, he charged forward several meters.

  "Whoosh"

  A one-catty heavy training grenade was thrown out heavily. The grenade drew an arc in the air, and everyone's eyes followed the arc of the grenade.

  "Good!"

  When the grenade accurately hit that stone, the entire training ground was quiet for a moment and then suddenly everyone, regardless of new or old team members, shouted "good" in unison. The troops have their own rules, if someone really has skills, no matter who it is, they will be respected.

  "Good!"

  Li Lai Shun barely paused before throwing out a second grenade from his hand, although the next few didn't hit as squarely as the first one did on the boulder twenty yards away, but mostly within arm's length.

  When the ten hand grenades were thrown, whether it was an old team member or a new team member, they all had only one view of Li Lai Shun, which was admiration. Throwing far and throwing accurately, Li Lai Shun obviously did both. Of course, he also won other people's respect.

  "Tonight Li Lai Shun's squad is having a midnight snack!"

  Simida fulfilled his promise, a sumptuous dinner was nothing, what's most important is that Sima saw the look of discontent and eagerness to try in many people's eyes. It seemed like in the past when he was in military training, he had also practiced hard for several days because of such competitions just to win an argument, or simply put, it was all about saving face.

  "Boss, this move is too good! Now these little rascals have something to worry about, especially those old team members. They'll be cheering soon. Wait a while and they won't even be in the game anymore. At that time, it won't even be worth playing."

  Ma Si has been leading these soldiers for so long that he can be said to understand their temperaments better than anyone else. However, at this moment, these old soldiers are calling out for Li Lai Shun, and it's not just a matter of winning back the scene, but also about finding what was lost there.

  "Ma Si said today let everyone practice first tomorrow afternoon will be the real thing at that time don't be arrogant."

  For the real throwing, Sima had been looking forward to this batch of hand grenades coming out of the factory. In order to ensure safety, more than a dozen hand grenades were tied to wooden pillars and then pulled with a rope from tens of meters away. It was impossible for people to experience the thrill of throwing hand grenades.

  In the shooting ranges that are open to the public in later generations, you can shoot guns at will, but it is impossible to have the opportunity to throw hand grenades. So much so that later generations came up with a kind of simulated hand grenade firework that allows people to satisfy their craving for throwing hand grenades. Sima personally once bought dozens of these large firecrackers and indulged in his craving for throwing hand grenades.

  The live grenade throwing training ground was set up in a wasteland outside the factory, where a trench several meters long and over one meter deep had been dug in advance. The gravel and soil excavated from the trench were piled up on the outside of the trench to form a half-person-high bunker. If someone accidentally dropped a hand grenade on the ground, they could jump into the bunker to avoid being blown up by the grenade.

  Throwing grenades and shooting targets are different. When you shoot a target, the target won't shoot back at you. Whether you hit it or not, you won't get hurt. But throwing grenades is different. If you're not careful, you might end up blowing yourself up. Holding a grenade with 150 grams of explosives in your hand, who wouldn't be nervous when they first start out?

  Not to mention hand grenades that can kill people, even when playing with firecrackers that imitate hand grenades in the past, Sima's heart would tremble with fear, afraid that if he wasn't careful, his own hands would be blown off.

  It was at night after the end of training in the guard factory team, Sima deliberately left Ma Si in the training field. There was still a box of opened hand grenades inside, with several live hand grenades.

  What's the most exciting? What's the coolest?

  If someone asks Sima, he will say that the most exciting and coolest moment is when you throw a grenade with all your might and it flies out of your palm with a "bang" and white smoke.

  After throwing out the hand grenade and lying on the ground with a "boom" sound, it was a relief to find that I hadn't died yet, and the hand grenade had been thrown out without exploding near me.