Duan Qirui looked over and over with the gun, and finally turned to Xiao Yimin and asked curiously, "What is the range of this gun?" ”

"The effective range is 1,200 meters, but the accurate shooting cannot reach this distance, if the quadruple scope is installed, our sharpshooters can complete the accurate shooting of the chest target within 500 meters, and the ten bullets hit 80 rings to pass, Ziyue and his brother are more powerful, they can accurately shoot the head target within 800 meters, and the hit rate can reach more than 80 percent." Xiao Yimin said proudly.

Duan Qirui didn't believe it at all, thinking that Xiao Yimin was exaggerating, so he turned around and immediately handed the gun to Peng Ziyue, and then pointed to the big tree one hundred and fifty meters south of the camp gate:

"There's a bird's nest on it, and you have the ability to ask your little brother to shoot it."

Xiao Yimin said with a smile: "It's too close, it's too close and it's a dead thing, even I can shoot it down with one shot, let alone my brother, haha!" Deputy Commander Zhong ......"

"Here!"

Zhong Ying stood up happily, with a bright smile on his face, and the look in the tiger's eyes flashed with Duan Qirui's jokes, Peng Ziyue was the favorite general he specially asked Xiao Yimin for, and he had seen the Peng brothers' spears more than once.

"See if there are any moving targets? Let Ziyue shoot a few shots to correct Brother Duan. Xiao Yimin asked with a smile.

"Yes!"

Zhong Ying smiled and turned to several of his guards: "Go, there are more than a dozen wine bottles under the bed in the east wing of the headquarters, you go and get five or six out, then ride on your horse, run past the big tree in the south, and then throw them into the sky, and come back after throwing them." ”

"Yes!"

The five guards ran into the camp happily, they had all played this game more than once, and they lost a lot of money to Zhong Ying, who came up with this bet method.

The more than 100 civil and military officials who saw off the people around them saw it clearly, heard it clearly, and were very happy to see the excitement, and began to bet with each other, and soon spread the word to each other, so that the people around them and the officers and soldiers who were marching were all itching, and they all stretched their necks to watch the excitement.

The five war horses quickly ran out of the camp, and immediately the five fierce guards each carried a blue and white wine bottle, and under the gaze of thousands of soldiers and civilians, they rode majestically to the south tree.

The young Peng Ziyue had no stage fright, such an experience was definitely trivial for a murderous gunman like him, he finished sorting out the rifle, loaded the bullets, didn't even bother to install the scope, facing the south, his legs were slightly separated from the front and back, casually holding the rifle with the muzzle facing down, black and white shrewd eyes, staring at the war horse running farther and farther away in the south, the temperament of the whole person changed, standing majestically like a statue.

"Whew-pop-"

"Whew-pap-pap-"

The blue and white empty wine bottles without stoppers were thrown by horse speed and arm strength, and one after another made a "whirring" sound and flew into the sky, with five gunshots, the five blue and white wine bottles in the sky were smashed in the air one after another, and the smoke emitted by the bullets shattering the ceramics was still floating in the air.

From the sound of the gun to the disappearance of the wine bottle, it took only 15 seconds, and more than 20,000 spectators were stunned and silent, followed by thunderous laughter and applause.

The young shooter had already put his rifle on his back, hurriedly saluted Xiao Yimin with a red face, and immediately ran away, and in the blink of an eye, he merged into the cheering team.

Zhang Lan and the others gave a thumbs up, discussed enthusiastically, and were full of praise for a while, Duan Qirui was still opening his mouth wide, with an incredible look on his face.

Zhong Ying laughed gloatingly, and when she saw Bao Jiqing looking at her viciously, she hurriedly closed her mouth and retreated to the back, and then saw Xiao Yimin's indescribable look looking up at the blue sky, and couldn't help but laugh again.

This anecdote that happened during the expedition was quickly moved to the newspaper by dozens of reporters who covered the expedition ceremony, and soon caused a sensation throughout Sichuan, becoming the focus of tireless heated discussion among tens of millions of people, and the name of Peng Ziyue, the sharpshooter, spread all over Sichuan overnight, and even Zhong Ying, the deputy commander of the border army with a discerning eye, also lost a lot, and Xiao Yimin benefited immensely, and it was rumored that he was rumored to be a sharpshooter's master

At nine o'clock in the morning of July 7, 1915 in the new calendar, the upsurge of public opinion caused by the Sichuan border army's expedition had not yet subsided, and the news of the "great victory of physics and chemistry" came from the camp in Kangding, Xichuan -- Zhong Ying, a fierce general who was familiar with the terrain and quick to act, drove to Kangding, and finally showed his tiger-like fangs again, and after learning that the main force of the rebels besieging Kangding had retreated to Lihua, this warlike general did not give the soldiers who were marching continuously a minute of rest, and ordered the soldiers under his command to abandon all baggage under the pretext of "the soldiers are fast and the attack is unprepared". Grab three days' worth of dry food and set off immediately.

In just three days and two nights, more than 5,000 soldiers walked 190 kilometers of difficult distance, the last of which was in the middle of a mountain road with no people.

All the officers and men rested for two hours in the valley thirteen kilometers southeast of Lihua City, finished their meal at four o'clock in the morning, and immediately made preparations for the battle.

According to the information returned from the reconnaissance, Zhong Ying decisively ordered the main force of the first regiment to slowly press the county town of Lihua (now Litang) garrisoned by 4,000 rebels from east to west, and the second regiment bypassed the south of Waka Mountain in the south and went straight to the east bank of the Wuliang River, and then turned around and went north to attack Lihua.

Zhong Ying personally led the cavalry regiment over the Benla Mountain Pass in the north, and then quickly moved south along the river valley without stopping, and at 8:40 a.m., together with the two main regiments in the east and south, successfully surrounded a calm Lihua City from three sides.

The more than 4,000 rebels in the city were shocked when they found the figures of many border officers and soldiers, arguing endlessly about whether to fight or flee, and missed the opportunity to break through the siege with the slightest hesitation.

Before the rebel commander could lead the hastily assembled artillery to the firing position of the sixteen new British-made guns, they were torn apart by a mortar shell flying from the east of the city.

The rebels in the fortifications in the east and south of the city raised their guns and fired at them, but they faced a never-before-seen onslaught of 60 mortars and a rain of machine-gun bullets, and before they could withstand half an hour, the rebels who had suffered heavy casualties left hundreds of corpses and wounded soldiers and fled.

More than 10 rebel officers who stood on the top of the bungalow and brandished their sabers to stop the escape were smashed in the heads one after another by the dummy bullets that flew accurately, and more than 3,000 officers and men of the Zhong Ying Brigade who were like wolves and tigers shouted in unison and rushed towards the scattered enemy group.

After the charge was launched, the officers and men of the Western Expedition subconsciously opened up their formations in accordance with the training method, and staggered their shots while charging, completely embodying the tactics of rapid shooting at close range that had been practiced for months of hard work, and the advantages of the rifle with a ten-round magazine were brought into full play by the soldiers.

Under the protection of more than 700 rebels, seven military advisers and 14 geological prospectors sent by the British army in India rushed to the southwest desperately, trying to break up Zhong Ying's cavalry and flee to Bomi in the southwest.

The cunning Zhong Ying had already set up ten light machine guns on the high ground by the Wuliang River, and saw the enemy rushing on horseback from a distance, so he smiled and ordered the cavalry regiment to spread out to both wings, and raised the horse pistol one hundred and fifty meters away, and launched free fire at the enemy troops who were not afraid of death to break through.

As soon as the enemy army passed, Zhong Ying left a cavalry company to clean up the battlefield, besieged and killed more than 100 rebels who fell off their horses, and led 500 cavalry to follow the pursuit of more than 400 cavalry rebels who fled for their lives.

The rebels in front of them, who were gradually losing their horsepower, were shot one after another and fell off their horses, and as many as 100 landed rebels were trampled to death by the 500 iron horsemen who were chasing at full speed before they could get up.

The remaining 300 rebels scattered scattered in spite of the 21 Britons fled to the immeasurable river in the distance, and 200 meters in front of them ten light machine guns that were condescendingly swinging left and right roared in unison, and 70 rounds of drums provided ammunition at a rate of 500 rounds per minute, and in an instant, the whistling warheads converged into a dense rain of bullets, beating the rebel horses and horses that rushed quickly into pieces, and the horses and human bodies that fell to the ground at high speed rubbed violently against the dark brown surface, raising dust and smoke mixed with blood mist and rising into the sky. The wails of the horses and the screams of death resounded through the valley.

“dontfight――”

“stopit――”

"Stop fighting, surrender—"

In the midst of the fallen men and horses, a rifle shook with a blood-stained white cloth, and the ten machine guns immediately stopped firing, and more than 600 cavalry surrounded the 300 remnants of the enemy who suffered heavy casualties from the north and south, and the battle of Lihua ended.

When Xiao Yimin saw that it was already the morning of the telegram, the report on the battle situation of "destroying more than 4,270 enemies, capturing 19 British [***] officers, and seizing a batch of weapons, ammunition, and materials" made the excited smile on Xiao Yimin's face turn into a bitter smile.

Bao Jiqing, who had read the message, flicked the cigarette ash and said lightly:

"The rebels met Zhong Ying, this kid, none of them could survive, if you hadn't repeatedly explained before leaving, I'm afraid these dozen Britons would have been slaughtered by him a long time ago, as for the telegram that 'a batch of weapons, ammunition and materials were seized', it was completely a trick of Zhong Ying's kid, think about it with your ass, the British supported the rebels to build the Lihua City military camp for a year and a half, how could there be a 'batch' of supplies?

"Also, the large and small monasteries within the physical and chemical range must have suffered, whether it is Zhao Dashuai and Zhong Ying leading the troops to the west, they are never polite to the monasteries where the rebels gather and give advice and pass on information for the rebels, at least the food and money are to be looted, so Zhong Ying must be rich now, we have to send a telegram to knock on him."

"Good! Grandma's, this time the guns and materials are all left to him, and Lao Tzu wants gold! ”

Xiao Yimin viciously turned the cap of his pen and quickly drafted a message of instruction, and the last one clearly ordered: "Within five days, all the captured Britons must be escorted to the Ya'an Camp!" ”

(To be continued)