Resistance against Japan: Starting with the local militia

Chapter 18 Flying Thunder Cannon

A week later, news came from the arsenal that the Flying Thunder God was completed, and Tang Weiguo rushed over to take a look.

"The regimental commander is here." Old Li ran over to greet Tang Weiguo as soon as he saw him.

"Well, thank you for your hard work, Lao Li. You've really done a great job this time," Tang Weiguo asked.

"I, Lao Li, mean what I say. It was finished a few days ago, and I've been busy testing the weapon these past few days to see what problems might arise," Lao Li explained.

"Very good, I like your rigorous work style." Tang Weiguo replied affirmatively.

"This must be the finished Flying Thunder Cannon," Tang Weiguo said, pointing to a Flying Thunder Cannon made from a gasoline drum that was hanging on the side. It was decorated with red cloth strips and looked festive.

"Yes, this is a completed flying thunder cannon," Old Li replied.

"Let's go, how about we do an actual test?" Tang Weiguo asked.

"No problem, I'll go to the test site to set things up first." After saying that, Old Li called to several soldiers to carry the flying thunder cannon to the test site.

"Communications officer, call Tang Xiaohu, Zhao Zhu, Tang Dazhuang, and the two deans, Chu Yu and Chu Xin, over as well," Tang Weiguo said to the communications officer beside him.

Tang Weiguo waited a while and, seeing that everyone had arrived, led them to the testing site.

"Commander Tang, why did you call us here?" Chu Xin asked curiously.

"Let me show you a real gem," Tang Weiguo said with a smile.

Tang Weiguo led everyone through the path to a relatively open area on the back of the mountain, which Wang Qiang and his team used for weapons testing.

At that moment, several special operations platoon soldiers were firing continuously at the weapons testing range. Tang Weiguo asked Wang Qiang, "Director Wang, are we testing the pass rate of reloaded bullets?"

Several days ago, Wang Qiang reported to Tang Weiguo: "The bullet reloading line is running smoothly and is now producing reloaded bullets."

“That’s right, Commander, you guessed it right away,” Wang Qiang praised.

"What's the pass rate?" Tang Weiguo continued to ask.

"Currently, due to the wear and tear on the cartridge cases, the pass rate for the first reassembly is 90%, the pass rate for the second reassembly is 80%, and the pass rate for the third reassembly is only around 50%," Wang Qiang replied.

"This data is not bad." Tang Weiguo nodded.

On the other side, Old Li had already installed the flying thunder cannon and waved to Tang Weiguo and his group.

"Commander, this way."

Tang Weiguo and his group then went up to the tank. Tang Weiguo pointed to the gasoline drum in front of them and said to everyone, "This is the secret weapon that the arsenal has been researching recently."

"Commander, isn't this just a gasoline drum?" Tang Xiaohu spoke first.

Tang Weiguo did not answer, but turned to look at Zhao Zhu.

"Commander, could this be a cannon?" Zhao Zhu said hurriedly when he saw Tang Weiguo looking at him.

"As expected of someone who works with cannons, you guessed it right away. This is the homemade cannon we've been researching; it's actually similar to a projectile launcher," Tang Weiguo said with a smile.

"My goodness, this caliber is way too big." Zhao Zhu was shocked when he received the commander's confirmation.

"Old Li, demonstrate for everyone," Tang Weiguo said to Old Li.

"Alright everyone, please make way."

Old Li then took out a round, pancake-like object, slightly smaller in diameter than a gasoline can. Anyone who knew what it was would recognize it as a bomb.

Then Lao Li stuffed the explosive pack inside, lit the fuse next to the gasoline can, and with a "bang," the contents of the gasoline can were launched.

A loud "boom" came from afar, and a plume of smoke rose from where the explosive charge landed.

"Wow, isn't this a big firecracker? I used to play with it a lot when I was a kid." Tang Xiaohu immediately realized.

"Haha, Little Tiger, you're quick-witted and have a sharp mind. Yes, this is a large-sized firecracker," Tang Weiguo said with a laugh.

"Come on, Lao Li, let's introduce the performance of this weapon." Tang Weiguo called to Lao Li, asking him to give a presentation.

"Sirs, this weapon is called the Flying Thunder Cannon. The idea and name were both given by the regimental commander. I, this old man, just did a little work and didn't contribute much."

"The principle of this weapon is the same as the firecrackers we set off, and it launches the object through the explosives at the bottom."

"However, we are launching explosive charges. After repeated testing recently, the most suitable weight of the explosive charge is 10-15 kilograms, with an effective range of 150-200 meters. The disadvantage is that the aiming is too poor."

"However, the power of the explosive charge can effectively reduce the disadvantage of poor aiming. Just imagine a 20-kilogram explosive charge exploding on the enemy's position. The scene is exciting just thinking about it," Old Li said excitedly.

"What do you all think of this weapon?" Tang Weiguo asked.

"Commander, although this weapon has a short range and low aiming, it is very powerful. If our infantry advance to within 200 meters of the enemy's position and establish a Flying Thunder God Cannon position, we can use this cannon to bombard the enemy's position directly. That would be an amazing weapon for attacking fortified positions," Zhao Zhu said.

“Yes, Zhao Zhu’s analysis is correct. So this artillery needs to be used in conjunction with the infantry. I have decided to establish a new flying mine artillery company in each battalion to provide fire support to the infantry by combining long-range and short-range fire with the mortar company.”

"Zhao Zhu, you'll have to work harder and start training the Flying Thunder Cannon," Tang Weiguo said to Zhao Zhu.

"Yes, Commander, mission accomplished!"

"Director Wang, Lao Li, I'll leave the production of the flying thunder cannon to you, as well as the production of explosives," Tang Weiguo said to Wang Qiang.

"Yes, Commander, our arsenal will definitely complete the production of the flying thunder cannon."

"Alright, Tang Xiaohu and Tang Dazhuang, go back and immediately form the Flying Thunder Artillery Company," Tang Weiguo ordered.

"By the way, reloaded bullets have started production. I have ordered that all shooting training use reloaded bullets, and the number of shooting training sessions for the soldiers should be increased. You can discuss the specific training details and the amount of ammunition used with Director Wang."

"receive."

"Everyone must intensify training and improve combat effectiveness."

"receive."

"Alright, you guys get ready now." Tang Weiguo told Tang Xiaohu and the others to leave first.

"Commander, did you really invent this weapon? You're amazing!" Chu Xin's eyes were practically sparkling with admiration.

"I didn't invent this; it was invented by a great man. I'm just borrowing it," Tang Weiguo said with a smile.

"Who is that?" Chu Xin pressed.

"Haha, that's a secret." Tang Weiguo chuckled, not revealing anything.

"Hey, Brother Tang, doesn't this weapon need to be kept secret?" Chu Yu asked curiously.

"No need to keep it a secret, it's just a homemade cannon, anyone can make it, there's no technical difficulty, anyone who's interested will understand it at a glance," Tang Weiguo said.

"Besides, regular armies have cannons and such, and they wouldn't even look at our homemade cannons. Our regiment has no choice but to use these. If I had cannons, I wouldn't use these things either," Tang Weiguo explained.

"Besides, the person who gave me the blueprint will also give it to someone who needs it, right? Other teams don't seem to be making a fuss about having this weapon."

Tang Weiguo winked at Chu Yu.

In fact, Tang Weiguo deliberately revealed the Flying Thunder God to Chu Yu, hoping that she could spread the word about this homemade cannon to Yan'an so that they could produce it ahead of time and make it more effective in the future enemy-occupied battlefield, thus reducing casualties among the soldiers.

"Oh, I see. I understand now." Chu Yu looked as if she had just realized something.

"Alright, it's getting late, let's go back." Tang Weiguo called to Chu Yu and Chu Xin to go back.

That evening, Chu Yu came to Chu Xin's room.

"Chu Xin, go down the mountain tomorrow morning and deliver this letter to the organization. Tell them it's extremely urgent," Chu Yu instructed Chu Xin.

"Sister, what is this? Is it important?" Chu Xin asked.

"This is a sketch I drew based on the Flying Thunder God we saw this afternoon, along with some weapon data," Chu Yu replied.

"Ah, aren't we being unfair to Commander Tang by doing this?" Chu Xin asked, somewhat shocked.

"The regimental commander said this afternoon that it's not a secret, and others have it too, so we can report it to the organization and see if they need it."

"We'll make it up to Commander Tang properly later," Chu Yu explained.

“Okay, sister, I’ll go down the mountain first thing tomorrow morning and deliver the message,” Chu Xin said seriously.

.....

The next morning, Tang Weiguo saw Chu Xin coming down the mountain with the logistics company soldiers and looked pleased. His efforts yesterday had not been in vain.

"I borrowed something invented in Yan'an and then returned it to Yan'an. What a brilliant idea!" Tang Weiguo thought to himself with pride.