Mercenary’s War
Chapter 1202 - 1202 One Thousand One Hundred Eighty-Five The Correct Way to Use a Box Cannon

1202: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Eighty-Five: The Correct Way to Use a Box Cannon 1202: Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Eighty-Five: The Correct Way to Use a Box Cannon Gao Yang took out a gun from the box among many others.

It was German-made, from the Mauser Factory, the M712, fitted with a detachable twenty-round magazine.

The automatic pistol Gao Yang picked up was visibly old, with much of the bluing on the gun body worn off, especially at the junction of the barrel and the gun body, where it was so worn that the white steel color showed through.

Despite the heavy wear, the gun wasn’t broken, and it was evident that its previous user had been very careful with it.

What caught Gao Yang’s attention and excited him was that he noticed the sight had been grinded off the gun, leaving the area above the muzzle bare.

After taking out the gun from the box, Gao Yang said to Federer with a trembling voice, “Can this gun still shoot?”

Federer glanced at the gun Gao Yang was holding and shrugged, “I remember this gun can still be fired.

It’s a pity it has been damaged by someone.

I was originally going to disassemble its parts, but the rest of the gun is very intact and in good condition, so I didn’t take parts from it to repair other guns.

Obviously, after the sight was ground down, it could only be classified as a damaged firearm, so I stored this gun in the box for guns with poor appearance or damage.”

Gao Yang looked at Federer with a hint of surprise and said, “You have been collecting Mauser pistols for so long, have you only seen this one with the sight grinded off?

And, don’t you know why the sight was removed?”

Federer replied in amazement, “To be honest, this is indeed the only original Mauser factory rapid-fire model I have without a sight.

Such pistols with obvious defects are almost never imported.

So, why was the sight grinded off?”

Gao Yang took a breath, then he lifted his shirt and tucked the gun into his waistband.

After letting his shirt down, he said to Federer, “Do you understand now?”

Federer still looked puzzled and said, “Just for the convenience of carrying it close to the body?

Oh, I see, is it for a quick draw?”

Gao Yang nodded and said in a deep voice, “That’s right, for a quick draw.”

Federer frowned and said, “A quick draw doesn’t require grinding off the sight, right?

The speed difference can’t be much, but without the sight, you can’t aim precisely at a slightly longer distance.”

Gao Yang shook his head and explained, “No, no, you don’t understand the environment this gun is used in.

The difference in speed is very crucial.”

Cui Bo also looked puzzled and said, “Brother Yang, can you explain in detail why the sight had to be grinded off?”

Gao Yang patted the pistol at his waist and then said to Cui Bo and Li Jinfang, “Have you seen ‘Guerrillas in the Plain’?”

Cui Bo laughed and said, “Of course, I’ve seen it, that’s Li Xiangyang with his twin guns.”

Gao Yang nodded and continued, “Since you’ve watched it, did you notice a detail?

Li Xiangyang carried two guns, one fixed to the armed belt with a rudimentary clasp, and the other, angled in the armed belt on the right side of his stomach.”

Li Jinfang said in a heavy tone, “Yes, that’s right, I clearly remember, that’s how the guns were carried.”

Gao Yang sighed and said, “The film ‘Guerrillas in the Plain’ was shot in 1955, not long after the end of the war.

At that time, both the directors and the actors knew what they were doing, especially the props team who were striving for perfection with the prop guns, absolutely faultless.

Not like the crappy modern ones, where all sorts of guns are haphazardly thrown into the films.

Oh, I digress.”

After a pause, Gao Yang said solemnly, “Li Xiangyang used two big mirror Mausers with a fixed magazine, but if you paid attention, you could see there was a difference.

The one in his right hand had the sight grinded off, while the one in his left hand had a sight.

Do you know why?”

Cui Bo scratched his head and asked, “Why?”

Gao Yang explained with a smile, “At close range, you draw the right hand gun and shoot; back then, Huaxia People used to wear cloth belts, and the sight could easily get caught on it, especially when doing undercover reconnaissance or covert operations behind enemy lines, definitely couldn’t wear an armed leather belt.

With the sight grinded off, you wouldn’t get caught up in the belt or clothes when drawing the gun.

For the left hand, the gun with the sight can be used for precise aiming at a longer distance.

It can also be attached to the magazine case as a stock.

So, that’s the reason.

Many people who needed to operate deeply behind enemy lines back then required a concealed carry.

If something happened, they needed to draw quickly.

A few tenths of a second could determine who would fire first, so it was very necessary to grind down the sight.”

Li Jinfang looked enlightened and said, “I really didn’t know about such subtle differences.

I’ll have to watch ‘Guerrillas in the Plain’ again.”

Gao Yang smiled, drew the pistol from his waist, and said, “This is a short-barreled automatic, originally short enough, so there was no need to saw it down, and this is still a twenty-round big magazine, authentic German craftsmanship.

When pulled out for continuous rapid-fire, it’s much more precious than a semi-automatic with a fixed ten-round magazine.

So, this gun had to be used by someone who often conducted reconnaissance behind enemy lines and had to be a skilled person; otherwise, given the preciousness of a big magazine like that at the time, do you think anyone would carelessly grind off the sight?”

To cater to Federer, Gao Yang explained in English.

After the explanation, Federer also looked enlightened and said, “I see, now I understand.

Hmm, I am very interested in this gun, very interested.”

Fearing that Federer would put this gun back into his collection, Gao Yang immediately said anxiously, “Mr.

Federer, let’s go and test fire it a few times, shall we?”

Mr.

Federer hesitated for a moment as he watched Gao Yang clutching the gun he refused to let go of, but finally, he shrugged and said, “Alright, indeed we should do a test fire.

Let me see how you actually use this gun.”

Gao Yang was very happy, picked up a bunch of selected guns, and left the basement.

Taking the seven guns he had originally chosen, he called over Jack and the others, ready to go to the shooting range for a test fire.

Mr.

Federer’s house was very good, especially rare was that it came with a private outdoor small shooting range.

Right behind Mr.

Federer’s house, in a small grove, an open space about two hundred meters in length and about thirty meters wide had been cleared.

At the end of the open space was a slope piled up with earth; this was the shooting range.

In the shooting range, many iron targets were set up at various distances, big and small, and at the entrance to the shooting range, there was also a very large iron table placed.

Gao Yang and the others took their guns, while Mr.

Federer brought a roll of leather and a small basket carrying several boxes of bullets and bullet chargers for loading.

After laying the leather on the iron table and pouring bullets onto it, Mr.

Federer opened a box of bullets, poured them into the basket, then picked up a bullet charger with a smile and said, “Come on, bullets are on me.

Fire away.”

Gao Yang smiled and responded, “Then thank you very much.”

Mr.

Federer smiled and said, “Let’s see how well you shoot.

If your gunmanship stinks, I might not be so generous.

7.63x25mm Mauser bullets, these bullets are not cheap.”

Gao Yang also picked up a bullet charger, first loaded the bullets onto the charger, then used the charger to load the bullets into a long-barreled, big-mirrored Spanish gun, and then placed the gun into the original wooden gun case and slung it over his shoulder.

After loading one gun with bullets, Gao Yang took out the one without an aimer, removed the magazine, and because it had been a long time, to avoid damaging the spring, he only loaded fourteen bullets into the magazine.

Seeing Gao Yang finish loading the bullets, Mr.

Federer smiled and said, “Are you ready?

I’ll fire a few shots first.”

Mr.

Federer raised a Mauser C96 and began shooting.

His shots were accurate, but the rate of fire was slow.

The Mauser C96 had a lot of muzzle jump, forcing Mr.

Federer to readjust his grip and sight before he could continue firing.

After firing five shots and hitting five iron targets, Mr.

Federer put down the gun and turned to Gao Yang with a smile, “Come on, let’s see how you do with your gunmanship.”

Gao Yang opened the bolt, tucked the gun without the aimer into his belt, then took a few steps forward, stopping about ten meters away from a row of small iron targets.

Looking back briefly, Gao Yang nodded and said in a deep voice, “I’m starting.”

No sooner had he spoken than Gao Yang turned his head quickly, reached into his clothes, and drew the big-bellied magazine gun without the aimer.

He extended and tilted the gun forward, then pulled the trigger.

The sound of gunfire rang out in rapid succession.

The big-bellied magazine gun in Gao Yang’s hand swept from right to left, and the small iron targets in front of him immediately started making a continual clanging sound.

After firing about ten bullets and hitting four small iron targets, Gao Yang stopped firing with his right hand, slapped the gun case at his waist with his left hand to flip open the lid, then reached in and pulled out the long-barreled, big-mirrored gun and started shooting at an iron target more than forty meters away.

Gao Yang held the gun in his left hand in a crosswise position, aiming and shooting at a target forty to fifty meters away, in line with his line of sight.

The gun in his right hand started firing again, though held lower and also sideways, shooting at targets a dozen or so meters in front of him bullet by bullet.

Shooting with both guns continuously is easy to say but hard to do.

Randomly firing off one magazine doesn’t count.

It’s rare to find someone who can draw with their left hand and still hit accurately, let alone shoot at both distant and near targets that are not aligned.

The difficulty is even greater, and unless one has personally fired a gun, it’s impossible to imagine how hard it can be.

The gun in Gao Yang’s left hand was held at an angle, and he could adjust the aim much more quickly than Mr.

Federer could.

As for the gun in his right hand, there was no hesitation; he shot wherever he pointed and quickly emptied all the bullets in the magazine.

Gao Yang’s shooting style was astonishing, and his gunmanship was even more terrifying.

Those who had never seen Gao Yang fire a gun would definitely be taken aback.

After firing all the bullets, Gao Yang let out a satisfied exhale, turned around to walk back, but then saw Mr.

Federer giving him a thumbs up, then with a face full of emotion said, “Now I understand.

I finally understand the correct way to use this gun.

So that’s how you Huaxia people use the Mauser pistol.

No wonder, no wonder the Mauser C96 is only popular in Huaxia, no wonder.” (To be continued.

If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets.

Your support is my greatest motivation.

Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)