Chapter Eleven Training

  "In this age, I saw for the first time in my life the perseverance of an Oriental person on a youth who was less than sixteen years old - perhaps it was precisely because of this perseverance that in the following years, this insignificant army began to expand after nearly ten years of dormancy. Using a Chinese phrase, this is "accumulating strength and then making a sudden move"... However, I couldn't help but admire the wisdom of this youth. During my time in China, I learned a phrase used to describe young scholars like him - 'not enough strength to tie up a chicken', yet it was precisely by adopting his methods that this small army trained at an unprecedented speed..." - "My Days in China", Friedrich, 1927, published by Qiangxue Book Society.

  With Friederich's personality, it can be imagined how uninteresting it is to get along with him. To say that Tan Yanqun and he have only one common language, which is shooting targets. In his previous life, Feng Wenyu saw many treasures of Ma Biao, but never used them for real shooting. Ma Biao's antiques were mostly delicate goods, if used for target shooting, he would have to squeeze Feng Wenyu to death. After coming to this era and possessing Tan Yanqun, the only benefit is that he can use these antiques to shoot freely.

  Friedrich was able to serve as a lieutenant in the strict German army system, which was entirely due to his own abilities. As a basic skill of an excellent soldier, his shooting technique can be said to be extremely sophisticated. However, he unfortunately encountered Tan Yanqin, who had practiced with tens of thousands of bullets and achieved an extremely high level of marksmanship that was rare in this era. Although initially awkward using the 1888 rifle, after adapting for a period of time, his shooting skills returned to their previous level, almost hitting every target, and were on par with Friedrich's marksmanship.

  In order to convince this orthodox Tartar descendant, Friedrich also hoped to subdue this Eastern scholar with his marksmanship. The two of them tacitly came up with various ways to test their shooting skills. If there was nothing special going on, Tang would come to the military camp every day to take a look at his soldiers, but the main event was competing with Friedrich in marksmanship, which also opened the eyes of those soldiers who had just started their military training. When these soldiers saw that the two men's shooting skills were exceptionally accurate, some brave soldiers even dared to stand on the shooting range with an orange on their heads, allowing them to test their marksmanship. After a period of "hands-on experience", these soldiers would no longer tremble with fear when they heard the sound of gunfire, and even when bullets flew past their ears, they would not faint. Having an orange on their heads was still a bit psychologically stressful for them, but they trusted the two men's marksmanship more.

  When Friedrich and Tan Yanqian were competing in marksmanship on the training ground, they could always win the cheers of the surrounding soldiers. They did not expect that the young governor's son, who was a little younger than them, would have such good marksmanship skills, even surpassing their foreign instructor. Unconsciously, they had great confidence in Tan Yanqian.

  In Tan Yanqing's armed forces, the soldiers were treated very well, with a monthly salary of ten taels that allowed them to live in peace. Although discipline was extremely strict in this armed force, living conditions were also very good, which made the soldiers feel very satisfied. The shooting competition between Friedrich and Tan Yanqing continued, which also had an invisible impact on these soldiers who were undergoing training, making their training more intense, especially in terms of marksmanship, they also hoped to practice accurate marksmanship like their instructors and the governor's son.

  Although bullets also need to be imported, Tang Jiyao did not mind the cost of training soldiers. As long as his soldiers were willing to train, bullets were supplied as much as possible. Almost every soldier consumed nearly 500 rounds of ammunition per month, which was a terrifying number at that time. Perhaps in the entire Asia, there is no army that has fired so many bullets in live-fire training.

  Tan Yanqian had heard that the Japanese military placed great emphasis on marksmanship training for their soldiers, due to Japan's lack of resources. Even in World War II, the Japanese military was primarily equipped with rifles, and weapons like submachine guns that "ate" bullets were almost nonexistent. They emphasized the idea of "one bullet, one enemy," believing that the Western approach of using large amounts of ammunition was inefficient. Regardless of whether this ideology is right or wrong, in terms of individual marksmanship, Japanese soldiers were still very strong during World War II. Currently, Tan Yanqian could only focus on strengthening his soldiers' training, and given the limited scale of manpower, he could only try to improve their individual combat capabilities, especially their shooting skills, so that this small armed force could unleash its maximum potential.

  In the process of continuous training of this small armed force, Tan Yanqian recruited a dozen or so soldiers who barely met the conditions to supplement them. These new recruits were mostly local young men from Fuzhou, and they all had a common experience - their families had been affected by opium addiction. Because Tan Yanqian was conducting "welfare detoxification" in Fuzhou, their families were beneficiaries and were very grateful for this kindness. Although they were still quite young, they joined the armed force with great enthusiasm, and the attractive salary of being a general's personal guard was also a draw. However, what made Tan Yanqian particularly happy was that although these new recruits were only 16 or 17 years old, several of them had a relatively good cultural level. Although in the eyes of those who took the imperial examination route, these people were already considered useless, Tan Yanqian's requirements were not high - as long as they could recognize characters and write, it was enough.

  These soldiers would also study at night. In Tan Yanqing's view, a qualified soldier should not be illiterate. Although the requirements for soldiers' quality were not as high as they would be a hundred years later, having good marksmanship and physical fitness was enough to make one a very good soldier. However, Tan Yanqing believed that the military should be a highly disciplined place, and a cultured soldier's self-discipline should be much stronger than an illiterate person's. Moreover, with only 120 soldiers in total, this educational investment was negligible compared to the money spent on their training. Furthermore, these people might not necessarily become professional soldiers in the future. From Tan Zhonglin's perspective, if the guards of the Governor's Mansion had some culture, it would not only make him look good but also enable them to better understand their superiors' intentions when doing things and avoid ridiculous situations like arresting anyone who smoked opium during the crackdown on opium dens.

  Anyway, after two months of hard work, Tan Yanxin's small armed forces finally had some shape and became regular. The guards were not only intensively trained but also well-fed and treated, with high morale and a more military appearance every day. Tan Zhonglin would occasionally ask about it, having seen the Hunan Army and Huai Army before. In his opinion, although this guard team was smaller in number, it was absolutely more powerful than any army he had ever seen before, and this army had just started to be formed and not yet fully trained. He also looked forward to seeing what this guard team would look like after being fully trained.

  By the end of September, Tan Yanxing finally received a response from the German Mauser weapons manufacturing plant. The Mauser company sent a technical engineer and a manager to Fuzhou, along with many weapons and equipment - 10 Mark IV machine guns, 150 improved 1888-style rifles, over 100 boxes of matching ammunition, and 200 Mauser pistols with their required ammunition, all manufactured according to Tan Yanxing's drawings. Unlike before, these weapons and equipment were free of charge.

  The gift from Mauser was obviously very heavy for Tang Shengzhi - in this era, the Maxim machine gun was a rare weapon equipment, not to mention the Chinese army, even the major powers of today's land-based equipment is not many. Now China has not experienced the defeat of the Jiawu War, the establishment of the new-style army has not even been qualified to stay on paper, only some faint voices, and strong equipment like the Maxim machine gun can be said that there will not be many in the whole of China, Mauser brought ten this time, this gift is indeed very heavy.

  The two engineers and managers of the Mauser weapons factory were named Schmidt and Frens, and Tang Yanqun smiled slightly after hearing this - the names of the Germans he met were all quite characteristic, Friedrich was a symbol of Teuton; This Schmidt and Frens have the meaning of craftsman and strictness in German, and when combined with their profession, it is really a perfect match.

  Tan Yanqing initially chose the German Mauser weapons manufacturing plant as a partner, not only because the box cannon and 98-style rifle were classic works of the factory, but also because of a special emotional factor that Chinese people had towards Germany - perhaps in the era of Feng Wengu, Japanese goods flooded the market, but "Made in Germany" represented precision, durability, and was synonymous with quality. Perhaps because Germany launched two World Wars, many people around the world did not have good feelings towards the German army, but in the eyes of Chinese people, the German land army was always the strongest, as if to say "although defeated, still glorious". In the eyes of Chinese military fans, the German army during World War II held this position. Sometimes, Feng Wengu, who possessed Tan Yanqing's body, even maliciously thought that it was precisely because Germany launched two World Wars that it alleviated the pressure of Western powers invading China, although Japan took advantage of the situation to gain great benefits, but facing one enemy was much better than facing a group of Western powers...

  When the two engineers from Mauser Weapons Factory arrived in Fuzhou, they found that the equipment they brought was a bit too much - although Mauser Weapons Factory is an arms manufacturer, it is also a business, and its products are just a little special. It needs a market, and apart from Germany's traditional market, China is also a good choice. Because introducing German weapons in this era is not many, Mauser company needs to expand its Chinese market, and it is precisely because of Tan Yanqian's order that it sees some possibility - Tan Yanqian's order may be insignificant for Mauser company, but it stands out in China's overall orders. Apart from seeking the rumored rifle design drawings, Mauser company also hopes to expand its market through this trip to China.

  However, when two German Mauser company personnel saw Tan Yankai's armed forces of only 120 people, they knew that their plan to open up the Chinese market was in vain. It wasn't until they asked Friedrich, a German instructor, that they learned why Tan Yankai's order was so unusual. The live-fire training of this miniature army was astonishingly high, even surpassing the average number of shots fired by German soldiers themselves.

  "This is the rifle I mentioned in my letter, which I designed myself. Unfortunately, my motherland currently does not have the ability to produce and equip it, but even so, I will not doubt its strength, and I believe that a series of design changes can also be recognized by fellow professionals from Germany!" Tan Yanxin spread out the drawings on a table and said to the two Germans.

  Tan Yankai lived in Germany for a period of time, although not in the same industry, but as technical personnel, they all liked to get straight to the point. For these two seemingly very rigorous Germans, he felt that there was no need to beat around the bush. Moreover, even if they looked at the drawings and did not agree to cooperate with him, people under Li Hongzhang had already arrived in Germany several days ago, and it is estimated that they have now begun to apply for patents. Not only in Germany, but also in major Western countries such as Britain, America, and France, Tan Yankai will register patents. The classic design of the Mauser 98 has epoch-making improvements in many places on the rifle. If it's not used thoroughly, it would be a waste of this generation's gun king.

  The German engineer named Schmidt came forward to carefully examine the drawings, and at first he was a bit reserved. However, as a technical person, when encountering new technologies in his field, there is always a little excitement, and this German engineer was no exception. Tan Yankai stood beside him, introducing the characteristics of the 98-style rifle in German, but unfortunately, Tan Yankai did not have the ability to produce a sample gun for the 98-style rifle, which would likely have had a greater impact on the German engineer.

  Flinn's estimate was that he came to open up the Chinese market and specifically to negotiate the technical transfer of Mauser pistols and 98 rifles. It can be seen that his proficiency in firearms is far inferior to Schmidt, and for him, it is enough to be able to understand Schmidt's introduction to this gun. However, as a member of the Mauser Weapons Manufacturing Company, Flinn was not unfamiliar with firearms. Although there was no physical comparison, he could see from the drawings that this rifle had made significant improvements in design and was relatively simple in structure.

  "Safe, simple, robust, reliable!" These were the four words that Schmidt used to introduce the 98 rifle to Flinns. Schmidt had easily understood the drawings and for him the rifle on this drawing had made a huge breakthrough in design, so when introducing it to Flinns he did not hesitate to lavish praise on this rifle.

  "With all due respect, you have also seen the training of the Fujian-Zhejiang Governor's Guard, which uses the 1888 model rifle produced by your factory. This rifle has exposed many problems during training, such as safety issues and durability issues with the entire gun and its components, which do not match its relatively high price. As the first smokeless powder rifle used by the German army, I believe that your country's military also had similar complaints when using it. Therefore, I designed this new type of rifle. Unfortunately, my country's industrial level is very backward, even the smokeless powder bullets used in the guard training have to be imported from your country across the ocean, and I do not have the ability to produce a prototype of this rifle..."

  Fleins and Schmidt nodded in understanding, for them, the task given by Mauser was to identify whether the rifle in Tan's hand was advanced, how much difference it had with Mauser's 1888 model, and then negotiate business cooperation. If this rifle was very advanced, they could spend a relatively high price to compete for its production. Schmidt and Fleins were not low-ranking officials at Mauser, and when they came, they received authorization from the company's top management. The reason why Mauser attached great importance to Tan was that the bait he threw out was too tempting. Germans were very satisfied with the box cannon, but unfortunately, it also responded to Tan's thick words - the application range of the box cannon was indeed a problem, and the production cost was also high. However, these shortcomings could not conceal the design of the box cannon. Mauser gave a very high evaluation to the design of the box cannon, which made them attach great importance to Tan.

  Perhaps because Tan's 98-style rifle design far exceeded Mauser's expectations, Flins and Schmidt were not qualified to haggle with Tan, and Flins had also thought of using business means to achieve his own goals. Unfortunately, no one in this world could understand the status of the historical Mauser 98, nor did anyone have as much confidence in this rifle as Tan did. Of course, as a long-time player in the arms industry, the Mauser weapons manufacturing company must have had this vision, but unfortunately, they encountered Tan.