Chapter 61: Loading the Barrel

Zhang Biao was also full of confidence in this training exercise. During the battle at Honghe Outpost, he had suffered heavy losses due to it—the Yellow Flag Army used wave attacks, disabling one wave of soldiers only for another wave to surge forward during the reloading interval. These successive waves of attackers cost his infantry platoon a great deal. After reflecting on the pain, Zhang Biao invested heavily in training, ensuring every soldier could quickly load rifle bullets. Now, his men could load seven bullets in just twelve seconds and fire them all off in another thirteen or fourteen seconds.

However, the difficulty of this exercise lay not only in rapid loading and firing but also in high psychological demands. Otherwise, even if one could fire three rounds per minute, missing too many shots would still leave them behind. This exercise was a near-realistic drill with high scoring value and was Zhang Biao’s most confident subject. He personally brought a Spencer rifle, determined to win first place.

If it came to infantry skills, Liu Yu was undoubtedly the best. But at his level, there was no need to showcase personal combat prowess anymore. He sat there as an umpire, watching his subordinates compete. He didn’t even say a word to Jing Shiyi, the representative of the left outpost, merely observing the eight target boards with an umpire’s gaze. “Pay attention! Don’t hit anyone else’s target. One-minute rapid fire, unlimited bullets—those with the most hits win.”

Fifty-meter rapid fire from a prone position was supposedly the simplest rifle exercise, but the unlimited-bullet rule made everyone serious. Jing Shiyi was one of the competitors. He adjusted his mindset again, lying prone and ready to grab bullets and load them at any moment. Before it officially started, he observed his opponent—Zhang Biao, though a brute, wasn’t a serious threat. But how to overcome Sima Tai was a question he needed to consider.

For this rapid fire exercise, he no longer focused on speed, as the final score depended on the number of hits. He resolved to shoot in the most precise manner possible to achieve the best result. Even if Zhang Biao could fire fourteen rounds, his shooting style lacked accuracy. It might work against clustered infantry but not against target boards. “I’ll aim for a nine-ring hit each time,” he thought.

He waited intently for the command. Over there, Liu Yu had already given the order: “Start!”

With empty barrels, both Zhang Biao and Jing Shiyi quickly grabbed bullets and loaded them. Zhang Biao was clearly faster than Jing Shiyi. After loading seven bullets, he aimed at the center of the target and fired. “Bang!” Bullets scattered on the ground, while Jing Shiyi, having just finished loading, fired without interruption.

Zhang Biao clearly didn’t prioritize accuracy. His goal was to fire as many bullets as possible in one minute. Ignoring his numb shoulders from the recoil, he kept firing in quick succession, shooting all seven bullets. As soon as he finished firing, he began reloading. Jing Shiyi, on the other hand, moved with greater elegance. After each shot, he adjusted slightly, striving for a one-shot kill.

As for the others, they each used their own tactics—some focused on hitting targets with a single shot, while others aimed for high firing rates. Yet after this round of shooting, all eight contestants were eagerly loading bullets into their guns.
“Bang!” Zhang Biao was the first to fire, breaking the brief silence at the range. The intense recoil numbed his hand, but Zhang Biao knew that success hinged on this moment, so he kept firing at high speed, his hand moving like a machine.
Jing Shiyi fired slowly, striving for excellence with each shot. By now, Zhang Biao realized he couldn’t reload another round, so he grabbed three bullets and began loading them again. His speed was incredible, but in actual combat, it would be impossible to maintain such speed for long. Amidst the bursts of gunfire, he felt victory was within reach as the three bullets were loaded, and he aimed at the chest target.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
Almost as soon as he pulled the trigger, Liu Yu’s voice rang out: “Time’s up!”
He was the fastest, having fired three extra shots—17 shots per minute, a record for him. Zhang Biao thought he had won: “Three extra shots—each one counts as five rings, so that’s at least an extra 15 rings!”
“Count them!”
Jing Shiyi, holding his Spencer, also smiled, confident that he would surpass Sima Tai this time.
The scorer had already pulled back the target and was recording the scores with a pencil. Soon, Zhang Biao’s score was announced: “Zhang Biao from Crow Camp, 16 hits, 126 rings.”
This was an excellent score in the rapid-fire event, and the soldiers of Crow Camp cheered loudly. Ye Chenglin even came over to hug Zhang Biao.
“Crow Camp…”
“Xiliu Camp…”
Both scores were just over 100, and since they hit the targets, the soldiers of Crow Camp cheered even louder: “Squad Leader Zhang, first! Squad Leader Zhang, number one!”
Zhang Biao also thought he would surely win first place. Meanwhile, Jing Shiyi’s score was announced: “Jing Shiyi from Xiliu Camp, 14 hits, 127 rings…”
The soldiers of Crow Camp gasped in surprise—almost there! The soldiers of Xiliu Camp rushed over and hugged Jing Shiyi tightly, celebrating wildly.
Just one ring short! Seeing Jing Shiyi surrounded by the crowd, Zhang Biao felt resentful: “I think in rapid-fire shooting, it should be about firing speed and hitting targets, not just the number of rings—it’s unreasonable!”
Drawing on his combat experience, he said to his subordinates, “On the battlefield, enemies come in groups. If you can hit one with each shot, even with your eyes closed, then it’s about who can fire faster.”
He held his Spencer and said, “If it’s about firing speed, I’m definitely ahead of Jing Shiyi. Who doesn’t know Zhang Biao as a famous fast shooter? Add in this machine gun, and it’s even better.”
His voice was loud, but it was just grumbling. Unexpectedly, someone responded, “With your speed, do you really call yourself a fast shooter? Do you even know what a fast shooter is?”

At that outburst, Zhang Biao flew into a rage: “Firing seventeen bullets in a minute using a Spencer—how many people in the Xiliu Camp or the Crow Camp can do that? Huh?” It was only then that he realized the person who had picked up his words was a foreigner. He knew the foreigners in the old camp, like Colonel Jacken, but this one wasn’t in his memory. Some people recognized him as someone who had arrived in Shanxi a few days ago, bringing a whole shipload of foreign goods that he still hadn’t sold. His Chinese was excellent, but his blond hair and blue eyes made it clear he was a pure foreigner. Angered, Zhang Biao asked, “Are you a spy?” The foreigner immediately smiled, revealing a set of white teeth: “Of course not a spy—just a friend! But dear friend, you’re not up to the standards of a sharpshooter.” Seeing that the other person was belittling his proudest skill, Zhang Biao’s anger grew even more: “Impossible! No one is faster than me.” A record of firing seventeen bullets in a minute was basically impossible to maintain in actual combat. His hands still ached from the effort. “I’m the fastest sharpshooter.” “No! Your performance is too ordinary. You’ve never seen a real sharpshooter.” Their argument attracted Liu Yu’s attention. “Another foreigner?” He knew this was also part of a sales strategy—provoking a fight to draw everyone’s attention. “Foreigner, don’t just talk—prove it with a try.” “Squad Leader Zhang, show this foreigner what you’re made of.” “Foreigner, you can’t beat Squad Leader Zhang—he’s trained.” An expert could tell at a glance whether someone was trained—Zhang Biao’s thick calluses proved he had trained hard. As for this foreigner, dressed in a suit and tie, with fair skin and clean hands, although he had handled guns, he surely hadn’t trained as much as Zhang Biao. “How about a competition?” the foreigner continued to provoke Zhang Biao. “I’ve brought my gun—whichever one wins is the real sharpshooter!” Only then did everyone notice his bulging bag, clearly containing a firearm for the competition. “Let’s compete! What’s there to fear?” Zhang Biao resolved himself. “Even if you bring a Winchester, I can still beat you.” Liu Yu guessed this foreigner was an arms dealer, probably here to sell his repeating rifle. But Liu Yu couldn’t think of any good gun he might bring. The Winchester was good, but too expensive—too expensive for the Xiliu Camp to equip on a large scale. The Henry rifle was too old. There were only a few types of repeating rifles in that era; otherwise, it was all single-shot rifles that couldn’t compete with repeating rifles in terms of firing speed. The foreigner whistled. “Then I’m sure to win!” “Come on!” Zhang Biao was aggressive, not even bothering to inform Liu Yu. “Get two targets—let’s see who can shoot faster and more accurately.” But Liu Yu couldn’t help but take another look. This competition was a public drill, and it was normal for this foreigner to slip in through connections. It was just unclear what gun he wanted to sell. A full-body target fifty meters away had already been set up, and Zhang Biao remained confident.

After the recent training, the speed of his hand had reached its peak, almost reaching the state of perfect mastery over the gun. This time, he was confident he could shoot 18 rounds at top speed. In excellent form and with a gun he had used for over a year, he felt he had every advantage. He even believed that even if the foreigner brought out a Winchester-style 16-round rapid-fire gun, his superior skill might still ensure his victory.

The foreigner, on the other hand, seemed distracted, looking around restlessly, not at all like someone about to engage in a competition. Yet Liu Yu didn’t dare underestimate him. The foreigner must have a trick up his sleeve; by deliberately provoking a fight, he surely intended to sell his weapon at a high price. No matter what kind of weapon it was, he would grit his teeth and slowly drive down its price.

The man in suit and tie had already taken out his weapon, causing a stir among the crowd, which quickly fell silent. Was he going to use this to compete with Zhang Biao? The gun was good, excellent—even blindfolded, one could disassemble it. But the problem was—it was a Spencer. He was using the same type of carbine as Zhang Biao. After some thought, everyone concluded the foreigner was doomed to lose—he had no chance. If he had used a Winchester with a larger magazine, he might have had a 70% chance of winning, but now he had none at all. After all, Zhang Biao could fire 17 rounds per minute—a record that would rank him among the top three in the entire Xiliu Camp.

The foreigner remained distracted, while Zhang Biao grew even more confident upon seeing him pull out a Spencer. Let’s see who’s the faster shooter! Everyone focused on these two men. The target was set, and Liu Yu glanced at his watch before shouting, “Start!”

Zhang Biao moved swiftly, already familiarly loading bullets into the barrel—one, two, three. His speed was astonishing, and he was quite proud of himself. “Bang!” A gunshot rang out. It couldn’t be Zhang Biao’s own Spencer; it must have been the foreigner’s gun. Impossible—how could anyone be that fast? He had just loaded three bullets when the other man had already fired. Zhang Biao thought to himself, “Don’t worry. Even if you’ve hidden seven bullets in the barrel, I can still beat you!” Unperturbed, his fingers flew, loading seven more bullets. He glanced at his opponent, who had already fired seven shots and seemed ready to reload, still looking distracted. “Fine! Let me show you what a real fast shooter looks like.”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!” Zhang Biao ignored the recoil from continuous firing. He fired five shots in a row. Just as the shells were ejected and he prepared to reload, he heard those familiar gunshots again. Impossible! There couldn’t be such fast reloading! He must be using two Spencers alternately. Zhang Biao felt a bit discouraged, but his hands remained quick as he started loading the remaining two bullets.

It still hadn’t finished loading, and his confidence took another severe hit. “Bang! Bang! Bang!” The foreigner loaded bullets into Spencer as if time didn’t exist, acting as if he were strolling leisurely, yet he fired another round.

Now Zhang Biao could no longer hold back. He put down Spencer and glanced at the arms dealer, only to see chaos in the fighting arena as everyone gathered around the arms dealer. There was a large ammunition box at his waist; he took a tube from Spencer and inserted it into the box, then pulled out another tube from the box and inserted it into Spencer, followed by loading, aiming, and firing.

“Is this even possible?”

Zhang Biao had never seen this before. He only saw the foreigner fire seven shots in quick succession, finishing a round in just over ten seconds, then taking another tube from the ammunition box. Each tube contained seven pre-loaded bullets. Now, there was no need to load them one by one—just swap in a new tube.

“It’s not fair!” Zhang Biao was instantly struck. “This isn’t fair.”

The other guy got seven bullets just by swapping in a tube, while he had to painstakingly load seven bullets into the barrel one by one. “I protest!”

But the crowd surrounding the foreigner paid no attention to his protest. The regular combat couldn’t continue; they were fascinated by these magical tubes.

What was Spencer’s biggest weakness? Its long loading time after firing seven bullets, allowing the Yellow Flag Army to launch waves of attacks against Spencer, nearly breaking through its defenses.

But now it was bizarre—no need to load seven bullets; just swap in a tube, and they were ready. Come on, Yellow Flag Army, charge at the muzzle!

Over there, Liu Yu also couldn’t help slapping his thigh. “Ah, how could I forget this?”

He had seen such interchangeable tubes in a Western novel, described as a very important accessory for the Spencer rifle. With these tubes, bullets could be loaded in advance and stored in the ammunition box, to be swapped in during battle. Although the tubes were heavy and soldiers complained about them, they would bring as many as possible on each sortie.

Each tube held seven bullets. Usually, Western riders would carry thirteen tubes, allowing them to fire ninety-one bullets at once—rarely were battles on the battlefield this intense.

The foreigner, surrounded by everyone, unbuttoned one of his suit buttons, smiled at Liu Yu, then took out a tube to demonstrate it to everyone.

The Spencer was the most familiar weapon in the Thin Willow Camp, but no one had imagined it could be used this way. With these tubes, its combat effectiveness doubled.

Zhang Biao also came to his senses. He pushed through the crowd and shouted, “Sir, how many tubes do you have? I want them all! I want them all!”

In the last battle at the Red River outpost, he had suffered because of the slow loading time. If he had had these tubes back then, he would have dared to charge out and fight against the Yellow Flag Army.

The suited foreigner smiled again. “Move aside! Move aside! There are more good things to see.”

He treated Liu Yu’s competition like a street stall, but he indeed had some items from the Xiliu Camp that weren’t commonly available elsewhere: “Isn’t a Spencer a great rifle? Better than my wife, right? But she gets angry sometimes—women, you know…”
“When she gets angry, the bullet gets stuck inside. It’s easy. I have a set of tools here…”
He had prepared thoroughly. The small items he brought, like Spencer rifle barrels, could be directly obtained from the French customs, but they wouldn’t significantly boost the combat strength of the Xiliu Camp.
Over there, Zhang Biao had given up the idea of competing with his opponent for the title of fastest shooter. He took out a handful of silver coins and placed them in his hand: “How much is each of these barrels? I’ll buy them all. Guys, I won’t give you any extra money; use this to buy the barrels.”
“Great! We don’t need the squad leader to pay. We’ll pay for the barrels ourselves.”
Everyone was very enthusiastic. Even Sima Tai surrounded him, asking about prices: “How many barrels are there? What’s the price?”
Liu Yu remained calm. He said to Jiang Ningxue, “The advertising was good. Now it’s time for me, the real deal, to take the stage.”
Jiang Ningxue asked doubtfully, “Is this still advertising?”
It had to be admitted—his advertising was truly excellent. The competition between the Xiliu Camp and the Crow Camp had stopped, and everyone wanted to get some barrels to equip themselves. On the battlefield, such a barrel could mean the difference between life and death.
Seeing that the time was right, the arms dealer finally spoke up: “I’m sorry, but I only do bulk business, not retail. Where’s your boss? I want to meet him.”
He untied his tie—now the real business would begin.
“I don’t do small deals; I only do big business.”
Liu Yu smiled at Jiang Ningxue: “It’s time for me, the real deal, to appear.”
He walked over smiling: “Dear sir, I’m Liu Yu, the supreme commander of the Xiliu Camp. I’d like to talk to you.”
The arms dealer shook Liu Yu’s hand: “It’s an honor! I’ve heard of you in Hong Kong. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last.”
His hand was pale but strong. Like all arms dealers, he was meticulous in his actions but always willing to take the greatest risks: “You’ve been one of my biggest clients in recent years. I’m very sorry for not providing services to you earlier.”
“Hm?” Liu Yu didn’t understand his words.
The arms dealer continued, “All the Spencer rifles, most of the Remington rifles, and other weapons in your army come from my company in Hong Kong. I’m very glad to see that the weapons I sell are well maintained and used.”
Liu Yu understood. This was the supplier behind Deng Cunyu and Liu the Importer’s arms smuggling operations: “Thank you very much for your help over the years.”
“I should thank you too!” the arms dealer replied. “You’ve purchased tens of thousands of taels’ worth of arms from me. You’re one of my biggest clients lately.”
“Our company’s motto is to provide top-notch service!” The arms dealer had thrown his tie aside and eagerly took Liu Yu’s hand. “Let me talk to you about the plan I’ve prepared for you. You’ll definitely be interested.”