Chapter 82: Change of Clothes

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The isolation period is over.

Training would continue, but as Gao Yuan arrived at the training field today, he noticed something different from before.

There were many heavy machine guns laid out on the field.

Zhang Zhe turned his head, winking and grinning as he said, "What did I tell you? Look, they're letting us use machine guns now."

There were a total of five heavy machine guns, one for each of the five platoons to use for training.

Indeed, as Gao Yuan and his comrades were brought in front of the three heavy machine guns lined up together, a commanding officer spoke loudly, "First platoon, gather around me. Today we'll discuss how to operate heavy machine guns. The Type 85 anti-aircraft machine gun in front of you weighs 41.5 kilograms, with the gun body weighing 18.6 kilograms, and the mount 17.9 kilograms, caliber 12.7 millimeters."

Seeing the machine gun they were about to learn to use, the volunteers understood their role would be defense rather than offense.

When Da Hong Third Company mobilized, it took 88-type general-purpose machine guns and 89-type heavy machine guns. Why these two models? Because the 88-type, with its 5.8 millimeter caliber, is the lightest among general-purpose machine guns, and needless to say, the 89-type is the lightest in the 12.7 millimeter caliber category.

But for defending a shelter, establishing fixed machine gun positions is entirely feasible, so the heavier, less mobile heavy machine guns are more suitable.

The Type 85 anti-aircraft machine gun uses ammunition that is 108 millimeters in length; to put it into perspective, hitting a person with such bullets could actually tear them apart—the firepower is absolutely sufficient.

"A Type 85 machine gun crew consists of four members: the gunner, the assistant gunner, and two ammunition bearers. When moving the weapon, the gunner carries the gun body, the assistant gunner the mount, and the ammunition bearers are responsible for carrying the bullets. Now we will demonstrate the operation of the Type 85 heavy machine gun for everyone."

The gunner sat behind the machine gun, the assistant gunner simulated loading and firing, followed by the ammunition bearers supplying new belts of ammo.

The demonstration was just about that; it really was something one could learn at a glance.

Nominally, the anti-aircraft machine gun was for shooting at aircraft, but most of the time it was used for direct fire—that is, at people. Thus, an anti-aircraft machine gun crew could operate in the same way as a regular heavy machine gun crew, assuming they weren't trained to shoot at aerial targets.

After a simple demonstration of how to shoot and load, what followed was how to disassemble and then reassemble the machine gun.

Over and over, it was just demonstrating these things, and the gunner, tirelessly, repeated the same task over and over again.

"Anti-aircraft machine guns are only allowed to fire short bursts and are forbidden to fire long bursts, especially not automatic fire! This is absolutely not permitted!"

Finally, someone couldn't hold back any longer and asked loudly, "Instructor, what if there are a lot of zombies, can't we use automatic fire then?"

"Correct! You can fire short bursts frequently, but no automatic fire is allowed!"

"Why can't we use automatic fire?"

"Because this gun's firepower is very strong. If you use automatic fire, the bullets will go who-knows-where, only wasting ammunition."

The instructor was quite patient, willing to explain the volunteers' queries, even if some were naive, but he still answered each one.

Only when no further questions were asked did the instructor speak loudly, "Now let's start dividing into groups for practical operation, beginning with the two groups from the first squad."

Zhang Zhe took a long breath and, without any hesitation, walked up to the heavy machine gun, then he held the anti-aircraft gun with a look of deep affection.

"Comrade, surely you weren't in a machine gun platoon before?"

Zhang Zhe asked this perplexing question out of the blue. The instructor paused, then replied, "No, how could you tell?"

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"What you're saying is correct, but your handling... it's not proficient."

The instructor was taken aback again and asked, "Not proficient?"

"Not proficient, neither in loading ammunition nor in assembling and disassembling."

The instructor got somewhat angry, and with a stern face, he said, "From the sound of it, you think you're very capable?"

Zhang Zhe smiled and replied, "I'm not trying to challenge you, but hey, I am a machine gun shooter. Ah, I've done nothing else but serve it ever since joining the army."

Pointing at the anti-aircraft machine gun, Zhang Zhe said with an air of pride, "Not to brag, but I guess there aren't many here who can handle this better than me. Is there a quota for live ammunition shooting? How many rounds per person?"

The instructor paused for a moment and then said, "No wonder you are so arrogant, you are a machine gun shooter. Well, you don't need to be selected then, you're the main shooter."

"That's for certain. Is there a quota for live ammunition shooting? How many rounds?"

"Twenty rounds per person, but since you're an old hand, let's not waste any bullets. The rest of the people should each have a chance to shoot twenty rounds."

Zhang Zhe was taken aback, then he loudly protested, "Hey, I haven't fired live ammunition in such a long time, how can you not let me have a go?"

"Stop wasting time here, your group should start the practical operation, begin now."

Gao Yuan stepped forward, pushed Zhang Zhe aside, and laughed, "That's what you get for showing off, haha."

A group consists of five people, and not every one of them can be a shooter. The only suspense in Gao Yuan's group was who would be the assistant shooter.

Assembling, loading - that was all there was to it. But with a hundred people in a squadron and twenty groups, even if a group only took ten minutes, it would still take half a day just to get a turn to practice.

By the time they got to shoot the heavy machine guns with live ammunition, it was already afternoon.

After firing the bullets, no one knew whether their performance was good or bad, because the instructor wouldn't say. But it didn't matter; if the instructor didn't tell, there was still Zhang Zhe.

"This one is no good, absolutely not. Without mastering burst fire, you're no shooter at all."

"This one is even worse. If you ask me, this shooting training is just a waste of bullets."

Zhang Zhe only muttered under his breath, while Gao Yuan whispered beside him, "Captain, when do you think we'll get to use the heavy machine gun?"

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Zhe replied with a smile, "In my opinion, out of the five hundred people in our battalion, at most seven machine guns will be distributed. Any more would be a waste. From what I saw today, only six people seemed serious about shooting. So including us, a maximum of seven heavy machine guns might be distributed. But our group is different; we have me. So do you believe that we might have to intensify our training on the machine gun? Mainly, it will be training for the rest of you."

Li Changfeng said excitedly, "Does that mean our group won't have to use knives and shields anymore, switching to machine guns instead?"

Zhang Zhe hesitated for a moment, then said, "I think so. Machine gunners are in short supply. Now there are more guns than people, so there's no reason to waste a genius machine gunner like me. So, we should be switching to heavy machine guns. From now on, you'll be my ammunition handlers."

Li Changfeng was very happy and whispered, "If that's true, then it's great. Loading bullets is much better than wielding an ax."

Zhang Zhe seemed a bit displeased, but he opened his mouth and still said nothing.

As for Gao Yuan, he and Li Changfeng shared the same thought: being an ammunition handler was far better than wielding a long knife to hack at zombies, not only because it was less dangerous, but what delighted him the most was not having to disinfect after slicing through zombies and then getting sprayed with disinfectant to the point of bone-chilling cold in the middle of winter. That was a truly uncomfortable feeling.