#Historical Cold Stories##Those Things of the Republic of China##抗日战争 #
Rifle II of the Northeast Army:
In addition to purchasing at least 130,000 Japanese 6.5*50 rifles, 50,000 Italian 6.5*52 rifles, and 100,000 Russian 7.62*54 rifles, fengjun also purchased a large number of German 7.92*57 rifles.
After Zhang Xueliang took charge of the northeast, he vigorously promoted the improvement of weapons and equipment, and purchased and produced a large number of new weapons. One of the most important points is to set the standard caliber as German seven nine. In terms of quantity and quality, German rifles are the most numerous and best in the Northeast Army.
1. Imported German-style series rifles
Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the German-style rifle has been the most used by warlords in China, and this Fengjun is naturally no exception. Because of their wealth and ease of transportation, throughout the 1920s, about 40 percent of the guns and ammunition sold to China by Germany were purchased by the military.
During the Northern Expedition, german journalist Salzmann reported: "40% of the Arms Trade carried out by Germany in China was sold to Zhang Zuolin, Zhang Xueliang, Zhang Zongchang, and Sun Chuanfang. ”
At that time, Chinese liked to give imported guns a variety of "flower names", such as "three eight big covers", "water beads", "English seven seven" and so on, at that time, there were many varieties of German rifles, so they were also given a variety of common names. At that time, the main models of German rifles in the Northeast Army were:
1. German-made "single-shot Mauser rifle":
That is, the Mauser M1871 rifle, which fires 11.15 × 60mm smoke rifle cartridges, is characterized by a large caliber, and after firing it is a smoke filled with gunfire, the shooting speed is very low. The gun was a standard weapon issued to the army in the late Qing Dynasty, and before the Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang, who loved German-style weapons, once purchased 20,000 units for the Huai Army at one time.
By the time of the "918 Incident" in 1931, this gun was already a cultural relic, and there were still 67 old stocks left in the warehouse of the Shenyang factory, and it was estimated that it could only be used for exhibition or teaching.
2. "10-shot Mauser Rifle":
That is, the Mauser M1871/84 rifle, which is an improved version of the 1871, except that an 8-round tubular magazine is installed, plus a total of 9 rounds in the chamber, so it is called the "Nine Sons Company". However, the model used in the Bong Army is said to have an extended barrel, which can accommodate up to 9 bullets, plus a one-time shot of 10 bullets in the chamber, so it is also known as 10-shot Mauser.
Like the M1871, the gun was also the standard equipment of the new army at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and by the 1930s it was naturally a backward and obsolete equipment. At the time of the September 18 incident, there were only 144 left in the warehouse of the Shenyang factory, but there were still more than 100,000 rounds of 11 mm smoked rifle ammunition, which had been released for forty or fifty years, and I did not know whether it could still be sounded.
3. "79 Cartridge Gun":
This is known as the "old sleeve", the German-made 7.92 mm M1888 commission rifle, one of the earliest smokeless rifles. It is worth mentioning that the "old sleeve" imported from Germany was improved in the later period, which can fire 7.92 mm pointed bullets, and the 1888 committee rifles imported by warlords around the world after World War I are mostly new sleeve guns after this improvement.
The domestic imitation of the "Hanyang-made" rifle, but because of the process problem has not been solved, so it can only use the old-fashioned 7.92 round head bullet. This caused a certain amount of confusion in actual combat, and also confused some military history researchers in later generations, and even some people thought that the Hanyang-made rifle could also fire pointed bullets with a sleeve gun containing 7.92 pointed bullets, which was of course wrong. It should be known that in China, the 1888 Committee series of rifles actually has three types:
Imported "old sleeves" that can only fire round-headed bullets;
Hanyang Factory simplifies the process but can only fire round-headed bullets of the domestic "Hanyang-made";
Later, the Germans improved the imported "new sleeve" that could fire pointed bullets.
These three guns are similar in appearance, but the essence is not the same, especially the old sleeve and Hanyang-made rifle that have not been improved, they cannot fire 7.92 pointed bullets, and if they are blindly mixed, they will even cause explosions.
4. "79 Manlisha Rifle":
This was the Austro-Hungarian Manlisha rifle and one of the earliest smokeless powder rifles. It is worth mentioning that the gun actually has three models of 1888.1890.1895. This is mainly because in 1886, France built the earliest smokeless powder cartridge and its supporting Lebel 1886 rifle, and the Austro-Hungarians rose up to catch up and directly changed the caliber of their Own Manlicia 1886 smoked rifle to make the 1888 Manlicia rifle. However, this gun is a smoked rifle modification, naturally it is a variety of unsuitable, there is no way, Manlicia Company had to cooperate with Austro-Hungarian another arms giant Steyr Company, and finally launched the Steyr - Manlisha 1895 rifle, which is a formal solution to the problem.
The Manlisha rifle entered China very early, in 1895, Yuan Shikai imported 5400 Manlisha rifles and 700 Manlisha rifles of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the channel of the instructor Hannagan (Prussian veteran), completing the initial renewal of equipment. The rifles are said not to be the older 1888/1890, but the latest Steyr-Manlicia 1895, and China was the first overseas user of the gun.
In the 1900 Eight-Power Coalition Invasion of China, the most elite of the Qing army's armed forces, Nie Shicheng's troops, the main weapons were 10,000 Steyr-Manlisha 1895 rifles, and 1400 Steyr-Manlisha 1895 cavalry rifles, and 10,000 German Mauser old rifles were only spare weapons.
By 1905, the strength of the Beiyang New Army had expanded to six towns, and the number of rifles used had increased to four, one was the Manlisha rifle of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the second was the Mauser rifle of Germany, the third was the Mosin Nagant rifle of Tsarist Russia, and the fourth was the domestic rifle of the Hanyang Arsenal. Among them, the amount of equipment of the Manlixia rifle is the largest, which shows that the Beiyang Army is still very satisfied with its performance.
However, the gun also has many shortcomings, and the straight-pull bolt pulling bolt used is laborious and the stroke is too long, resulting in a slower rate of fire. Moreover, the leaky clips used were also prone to failure, so in 1907, when the Beiyang Army was re-equipped, the Manlixia rifle was gradually replaced by the Mauser rifle.
However, the 8 mm Manlisha rifle cartridge used in this gun can be used with the 7.92 Mauser rifle cartridge, so it was still used in the late Qing Dynasty and early Min. By the time of the 918 Incident, there were still 79 Manlisha and 146 in the Shenyang factory warehouse.
5. "79 Monotube Mauser":
That is, the Mauser M1898 rifle, generally referred to as the G98 rifle. This gun can be said to be one of the classic masterpieces in the history of rifles, its rotating pull-up Mauser bolt is famous for its safety, simplicity, robustness and reliability, and most of the subsequent bolt-action rifles are actually applied or improved according to their design. The Mauser G98 was one of the iconic weapons of German soldiers from 1898 onwards, until the famous 98K in 1935. Throughout the early 20th century, the Mauser rifle and its variant became almost the standard army equipment worldwide.
It is worth mentioning that the Mauser 1898 of that year had a long body of 1.25 meters and a long barrel of 29.1 inches (29.1 * 25.4 = 740 mm), which was not only convenient for stabbing, but also conducive to the advantages of its 7.92 light pointed bullets. And because many of them were surplus materials from the War, the price was also cheap, which was actually the most suitable rifle for the Nationalist Army that year. However, at that time, the National Military Engineering Bureau was very ambitious, and regardless of the actual situation, it chose a short rifle that was convenient for maneuver, which not only greatly reduced its power, but also directly castrated the power of the 30 million armor-piercing "K bullets" imported by it, resulting in the seventy-nine armor-piercing bullets that could have penetrated the armor of the Japanese bean fighting vehicles, which were purchased at a huge price and were able to penetrate the armor of the Japanese bean fighting vehicles.
The Feng army also purchased many Mauser M1898 rifles, and at the time of the September 18 Incident, there were still 9932 guns in stock in the warehouse of the Shenyang factory, enough to equip two divisions of original imported German goods that were robbed by the Japanese army.
6. "79 Mauser":
i.e. Mauser M1898a carbine. The gun was because the G98 rifle was too long to be used in trench warfare, and it was inconvenient to use and carry, so the barrel was shortened from 740 mm to 600 mm, becoming a cavalry rifle with a total length of only 1.1 meters. The biggest difference in the shape of the gun, in addition to the short body of the gun, its pull handle is changed from a straight type to a downward bend, and the strap ring is changed to the side of the gun body for easy carrying.
The 98b carbine produced later is still the 740 mm barrel of the G98 rifle, and its length is the same as that of the G98 rifle, but it is still a long rifle. The Northeast Army purchased the 1.1-meter-long 98a carbine, which was mainly used to equip cavalry units. At the time of the September 18 Incident, in addition to the weapons in active service, the gun was looted by the Japanese army in the Shenyang factory warehouse.
7. "79 Long Barrel New Rifle":
It is the Czech VZ-98/22 rifle, which is a 1922 Czech imitation of the German Mauser G98 rifle. It fires 7.92×57mm Mauser rifle cartridges like the original G98, with a magazine capacity of 5 rounds, and the specific performance parameters are similar. Unlike other warlords who were keen to buy original German goods, the Bong army preferred the Czech imitation Mauser rifle.
This is mainly because the Czech Republic at that time was inheriting the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was a well-known military manufacturing power, and the steel used in the manufacture of Czech rifles came from the country's Skoda Steel Mill, which produced steel quality that was listed as the world's first. With the best steel as the material in the world at that time, the brno arsenal was also very strict in quality control, and the rifle barrel steel port produced was the best, the overall structure was the strongest, the most wear-resistant and durable, and it was the best of the many models of the Mauser rifle.
Even during the period of the great powers embargo of 1919-1929, the Bong army still tried every means to buy in large quantities from the Czech Republic through middlemen such as Norway. Later, on the basis of this gun, the Eastern Three Provinces Arsenal combined the advantages of the Japanese Type 38 to produce the Liao 13 Type 79 rifle. At the time of the September 18 Incident, 1568 Czech Type 98/22 long rifles were lost in the warehouse of the Shenyang factory. The 7th Brigade of the North Battalion also had a small number of old 79 rifles, losing 18 rifles at 918, worth 1620 yuan, an average of 1620/18 = 90 yuan per gun.
8. "79 Czech Riding Gun":
The VZ24 rifle is also known as the "Czech short-barrel rifle" in the Northeast Army. This is a Czech improvement on the basis of the VZ-98/22 rifle in 1924, mainly to shorten the barrel length from 740 mm to 600 mm, and the length of the gun body from 1.25 meters to 1.1 meters, which is more convenient for cavalry.
In addition to the short body of the gun, the gun also has a special four iron rings that fix the strap, which are set on the lower side of the gun body and the side of the gun body. In this way, when the cavalry is used, the side iron ring can be used to tie the strap, which is convenient for the rifle to be more close to the body when riding. When the infantry uses it, it uses the iron ring under the gun body, which is more convenient for the infantry to carry the gun.
The production of the Ma Sihuan rifle Czech Brno factory, which was the highest level of small arms manufacturing on the eve of World War II, produced the Ma Sihuan rifle was called the best quality rifle at that time, and the manufacturing tolerances and meticulous craftsmanship were better than the M1924 of Mauser's contemporary period. In the army of old China, having a "Ma Sihuan" rifle in good condition was the treatment of the most warlike veterans.
Because of its good quality, high precision, and short body, the gun quickly became the most equipped rifle in the elite units and cavalry units of the Northeast Army. At the time of the September 18 Incident, the 7th Brigade of the North Camp was mainly equipped with "Czech-style short-barreled rifles". In the incident, the brigade lost a total of 1074 Czech short-barreled rifles, worth 85920 yuan, with an average value of 85920/1074 = 80 yuan per gun. In addition, the Shenyang factory warehouse at that time lost 450 Czech mounted guns, the cavalry team lost 144 Czech mounted guns, and the Guard Command Department lost 145 Czech mounted guns.
At the same time, the second-line troops in Shenyang, such as the garrison and the curved artillery team, were mainly equipped with the domestic Liao thirteen rifle and the Japanese three-eight rifle. Even the Zhang Xueliang Guards Command Department in the expanding army had 709 Type 38 rifles and 117 Type 38 carbines, as well as 661 Liao Thirteen rifles, and they also used weapons of different calibers, the Seven-Nine and six-fives. In terms of equipment alone, the Seventh Brigade of the North Battalion, which also possessed the Ma Sihuan rifle, the Hatchkes light machine gun and the Renault tank, was indeed the best equipped unit in the Northeast Army.
9.79 short-barreled new rifle
The German M1924 rifle, which was later adopted by the Germans, became the Standard German rifle Mauser 98K in World War II. However, although the gun is claimed to be a modification of the Mauser 98B carbine, its range, caliber, rifling structure and other performance elements are almost exactly the same as the Czech "horse four rings", the standard weight of the empty gun is only 20 grams, and the length of the gun is 1100 mm, which is added to the similar production era. One cannot but question the relationship between these two half-siblings.
Of course, it's speculation that you say who plagiarizes who. In a sense, the German M1924 rifle is actually a commercial competition product of the Czech horse four rings, and the subsequent 98K is only a mass production model of the M1924. The relationship between them is actually more similar to the Mauser M712 box gun and the Spanish MM31.
Although Spain was the first TO produce the MM31 with a fast and slow machine, its appearance is derived from the former Mauser C96 shell gun. The Germans, who were not willing to give up the market, launched the M1930 and M1932, and the final official model was the M712 fast and slow machine, which was more famous than the Spanish goods.
Understanding this, we can understand the intricate, sheared and chaotic dog-blood relationship between Ma Sihuan and M1924, which actually has no lingering grievances, but is actually just pure commercial competition. However, both guns performed well, and not only were they procured in large quantities by the army, but other warlords in the country also competed to buy them. The Nanjing State Government Military Engineering Bureau later imitated the Mauser M1924 and became the standard "medium official rifle" at that time.
Of course, as mentioned earlier, what was suitable for the Chinese battlefield at that time was actually the G98 series long rifle with a longer barrel, greater power, and easy to fight. China does not have a motorcycle, and the imitation short rifle is actually not very suitable. At the time of the 918 Incident, there were 7932 Mauser M1924 short rifles in the Shenyang factory warehouse, second only to the Liao Thirteenth and the original G98 rifle.