Chapter 751 Field Military Training
"I heard that braised pork is available in the cafeteria today!"
"Is there such a good thing? You have to go quickly. If it's too late, the veterans will probably rob you all!"
When Sun Zhen heard the news, he didn't care about being tired from training. He led his team and ran back to the dormitory. He quickly picked up the bowls and chopsticks and rushed to the cafeteria. Although the food supply of the Haihan militia is good, and you can see oil and meat every day, most of it is cheap seafood, and there is very little poultry and meat. Meat dishes like braised pork can only be eaten once every ten days and a half. The last time the cafeteria served twice-cooked pork, Sun Zhen's recruit class was too slow. When they arrived at the cafeteria, there were only leftovers. In the end, each person only got a few fingernail-sized pieces of meat.
However, one learns from the experience, and this time Sun Zhen's quick reaction finally ensured that he did not miss the opportunity to fight the tooth again. And today, the cafeteria specially serves not only braised pork, but also two meat and two vegetable stir-fry dishes for each class. After each team had finished preparing their meals, they had to sit around the dining table and wait for the military disciplinary officer to announce that the meal was ready. Sun Zhen took advantage of this opportunity to ask a veteran he knew at the table next to him: "The food is so good today, could it be because of the holidays?"< br>
The veteran glanced at him and said: "What festival do you celebrate when you are not touching the world and not touching the ground? We are about to send out troops! Let's have a tooth ceremony first, and you will probably have to eat field rations for a while later!"
"Send...send troops?" Although Sun Zhen was very nervous, he couldn't help but become nervous when he heard this statement: "I haven't completed the training of new recruits, and I am about to go to the battlefield?"
The veteran smiled and said: "Sending troops does not necessarily mean going out to fight... Don't guess, General Qian is here, and there will definitely be something announced later."
Sun Zhen turned around and saw Qian Tiandun appearing in the cafeteria surrounded by several guards. It was unusual to see Qian Tiandun appearing at this time and place. After all, his three meals were prepared by the cook and delivered to the office alone, and he would not eat with ordinary soldiers in the canteen.
"General Qian is here!" With a shout, everyone immediately stood up and stood at attention, waiting with bated breath for Qian Tiandun's lecture.
"Before dinner starts, let me announce something." Qian Tiandun's voice was not loud, but everyone could hear it clearly: "After lunch tomorrow, the first company of the special operations battalion and the third company of recruits will arrive. We will gather at Magong Port Pier 7 for a week of wilderness survival training. The specific destination and training content will be announced later. Okay, let’s sit down and eat.”
After Qian Tiandun left, the cafeteria immediately became lively. Many people were speculating about the destination of this training and why two companies, one old and one new, were arranged to train together.
Although Qian Tiandun's announcement was about training rather than setting foot on the battlefield, Sun Zhen was not in a relaxed mood because he was currently in the third company of recruits that Qian Tiandun mentioned just now. Sun Zhen had already experienced a field survival training before, but at that time, except for the instructor who led the team, they were all new recruits, and there were no tactical target requirements. As long as everyone could complete the field survival within the specified time, they would pass. But this time he would actually act with veterans. Sun Zhen felt that this time it might not be as easy as the last training.
After dinner, I returned to the dormitory. Sure enough, the company commander arrived soon. The commander of the third company of new recruits was named Wu Mingqin. He was a naturalized officer of Annan origin and was Qian Tiandun's subordinate when he served in Annan.
Wu Qin came to the dormitory to give a supplementary explanation to what Qian Tiandun just announced: "Tomorrow morning, training will be suspended to clean up the housekeeping. This training requires all personal equipment. Brothers, pack it up early. Don't find out about this just before departure. I didn’t bring the unloaded ones. In addition, this training is an armed training, so three combat base ammunition will be distributed before departure. I would like to emphasize here that the results of this training may affect your future future. Everyone, cheer up, got it?”
The firearm currently used by the recruit company for training is the Type 28 front-loading flintlock gun. Each combat base is fifty rounds of ammunition. Calculated based on the average firing frequency of one round every two minutes, one base of ammunition is enough for a musket. The troops fought a low- to medium-intensity battle. The distribution of three base quantities of ammunition at a time has never happened in the past training of the recruit company. After all, recruits usually receive shooting training, and they only have ten rounds of ammunition each time. Just the amount of ammunition distributed made Sun Zhen smell something unusual. If it was just survival training in the wild, there would be no need to put on such a big posture.
Although the last wilderness survival training that Sun Zhen participated in was also equipped with muskets, each person was only equipped with five rounds of ammunition, and it was stipulated in advance that no fire was allowed without extreme special circumstances. Throughout the training process, there was indeed no use of muskets. After all, the previous training place was arranged on Wangan Island, south of Penghu Island. There were no ferocious beasts or potential enemies there. The purpose of carrying guns was more to keep the trainees in a state of simulating combat, rather than self-defense or killing.
At noon the next day, after the third company of recruits completed their assembly in the camp, they immediately rushed to Pier 7 to stand by. In addition to personal weapons, the recruits also brought some luggage, such as thin blankets, instant dry food, drinking water, tents, military flags, bugles, etc. Although Sun Zhen is a new recruit, he can also feel that this training is a bit unusual. If it is a simple wilderness survival training, there is no need to bring so many things out. It's more like daily armed training than survival in the wild.
Soon another company of veterans also came to the dock to stand by. The First Company of the Special Operations Battalion was the unit that Qian Tiandun personally formed in Annan, and it was also the prototype and template of the Annan Special Operations Force. This company is almost equivalent to Qian Tiandun's personal guards, and it is also the elite of the Annan militia. At present, all the officers above the platoon level in the special operations battalion led by Qian Tiandun are basically from this company.
And the personal equipment of this company is undoubtedly outstanding among the Haihan militia. My main weapon is a large-caliber version of the Type 30 breech-loaded flintlock. The barrel is about a quarter shorter than the model installed by the militia army, but the caliber is nearly a third larger. At close range, is more lethal. The secondary weapon is the Type 31 flintlock pistol. Although it is a single shot, it can still play a life-saving role in critical situations. It is worth mentioning that the Type 31 flintlock pistol is a copy of the original historical M1836 flintlock pistol. This type of pistol originated in Massachusetts, North America, from 1836 to 1844. A total of more than 40,000 were produced, and it was also the last one in the United States. A military flintlock pistol in service. The shooting accuracy of this pistol is quite good within 10 meters, and the reloading speed is relatively fast. A skilled gunner can reload three to four times per minute. In a close combat environment, its combat effectiveness even exceeds that of a rifle.
After Haihan Ordnance produced this pistol in small batches, it was handed over to Qian Tiandun's special operations battalion for trial use. Later, a smaller-caliber police version with a shorter barrel was developed for use by the Ministry of Justice's police force. Among the entire Haihan Militia, only some companies under Qian Tiandun's command were equipped with such flintlock pistols on a large scale. In other units, at least the platoon leader was qualified to be equipped with such weapons.
In addition, the soldiers' tactical daggers, personal backpacks, and short leather boots were all uniform equipment, which made the recruits very envious. Of course, what makes the recruits most envious is the conspicuous armbands on the uniforms of these veterans. Although the military uniforms of the new recruits and veterans are the same, the "Special First Company" armband with red letters on a black background illustrates the unusual identity of this team.
Sun Zhen looked at the weapon in the veteran's hand, and then looked at the fire stick in his own hand, feeling a little emotional about the gap between the two sides. However, he also knows that this gap only exists at the current stage. If he can successfully pass the recruit training, he will have a certain chance to become one of these majestic veterans.
Two "Exploration-class" sailboats have set up a springboard, but neither company has received the order to board the ship. After nearly three hundred people stood on the pier for about an hour, Qian Tiandun, dressed in military uniform, finally appeared on the pier. At the same time, he also brought a slightly unexpected news to the soldiers present, that is, he would personally lead and direct the training. However, Qian Tiandun still didn't mention a word about the destination of this training.
The two companies quickly boarded two sailboats respectively, then unmoored and hoisted the sails. After leaving Macong Harbor, they passed through the waterway between Penghu Island and Baisha Island and turned to sail northeast. This course also made the soldiers on the ship a little confused, because Jibei Island, the northernmost point of the Penghu Islands, is directly north of Penghu, and the distance is only about ten nautical miles. The outline of Jibei Island can be seen on Baisha Island. , obviously not consistent with the current direction of travel.
After another two hours of sailing, the officer finally informed the soldiers on the ship that the place they were going to this time was somewhere on the west coast of Taiyuan Island. Of course, according to the standard Hai-Han place names, this place should be called Taiwan Island.
For the veterans who have been stationed here for several months, Taiwan Island has certainly long been one of the topics they talk about after dinner. Although the Executive Committee has never issued an order to invade Taiwan Island, these old subordinates have seen Qian Tiandun express his willingness to occupy Taiwan Island in public more than once. As for this secret trip to Taiwan Island, it was obvious that Qian Tiandun was going to take action. Most of the veterans are very excited about this. After all, opening up new territories means there are military merits to be won, but some people still can't help but wonder - why do we need to bring a bunch of companies with us for such a military operation? A rookie who hasn't even finished training yet?
Sun Zhen was naturally very excited after hearing the news. After all, he had been here for almost two months and had never left Penghu. He just wandered back and forth on several adjacent islands. But what makes me even more uneasy is that I heard that Da Yuan Island is not an uninhabited land. There are not only red-haired people and Folangji people from the West on the island, but also indigenous people who drink Maoru blood. It's no wonder that so much ammunition was distributed before departure this time. The commander must have been worried about encountering enemies that suddenly appeared on the island.
The speed of the two sailboats was not very fast. It was not until dusk was approaching that the people on the deck finally saw the outline of Taiwan Island. After determining the current position, the crew traveled further north along the coastline and saw the mouth of Zhuoshui Creek.
The two sailboats slowly stopped about three to four hundred meters away from the estuary, and then lowered the small boat from the ship. Several sailors rowed a class of militia soldiers to explore the way to the estuary.
The maps and hydrological data in Qian Tiandun's hands are from hundreds of years later, and there are certain errors from the current actual conditions. Therefore, path exploration must be carried out to determine the hydrological conditions.
About an hour later, the exploration team returned to the ship. The initial investigation revealed that the situation was not very good. The water depth at the mouth of Zhuoshui Creek was relatively shallow, and there were many gravel deposits on the water bottom, making the channel condition more complex. Although the draft of the "Exploration Class" sailboat is not very deep, there is still a risk of being scratched on the bottom of the ship.
There are not many warships in Penghu, and the military supporting dock in Penghu has not yet been completed. Once the ship is damaged, repairing it will be a troublesome matter. Therefore, Qian Tiandun did not plan to let the sailboat risk sailing into Zhuoshui Creek. Instead, he chose to anchor on the seaside south of Zhuoshui Creek and use small boats to transport people and materials to the shore.
In later generations, this place was the industrial zone of Formosa Plastics, and a large-scale dedicated port was built. However, Haihan currently does not have such engineering construction capabilities, and it is estimated that it will not even be able to build the pier for a while. Having said that, there are indeed no very good natural harbors on the west coast of Taiwan Island. The only ones that are attractive to the military are the estuary of the Tamsui River in the north, Damuan Port in the south, and the location of the later Kaohsiung Port further south. .
However, the location of Kaohsiung Port is separated from the Penghu Islands by Damuan Port, which makes it inconvenient to develop the area before the Dutch are dealt with. The Tamsui River section in the north is also very close to the Jilong Port occupied by the Spanish. They are only separated by Yangmingshan on land, and the straight-line distance is only a few dozen miles. Although the environmental conditions of the two alternative locations are not bad, there are two stumbling blocks in the Netherlands and Spain. After all, it is not convenient to settle down. This is one of the main reasons why Qian Tiandun and other military leaders wanted to find a reason to drive away the Western colonists on the island of Taiwan.
By the time all the people and supplies on the ship were transferred ashore, it was already dark. Qian Tiandun detached a platoon from the first company of the special operations battalion to set up security posts on the periphery, while the others were responsible for quickly setting up the camp. In previous wilderness survival training, trainees did not have the facilities to enjoy tents and collective camps at night. Regardless of whether they were new recruits or veterans, they could all feel the difference between this "training" and the usual.
(End of chapter)