What are the light weapons of the Red Army in the Long March?

Some light weapons used by the Red Army

★ rifle

Besides all kinds of Mao Se rifles and imitations, the rifles used by the Red Army include the Japanese March 8th rifle and the British Enfield rifle. The 6.5mm rifle, later called "38Gai", was a relatively advanced weapon at that time. 19 17, the Warfare Department of Beiyang Government purchased 40,000 rifles at one time through Taiping Company, and was later imported in large quantities by departments such as Fengxi, Guangdong and Shanxi. Shanxi Military Craft Practice Factory 1924 began to be copied, with a maximum monthly output of 3,000 pieces, and the arsenals of three northeastern provinces also copied. The Red Army came into contact with this rifle in the early days of its establishment. For example, the training regiment, the main force of the Guangzhou Uprising, was equipped with March 8th rifles seized from Feng Jun. Ma Bufang and Ma, who met on the way to the Western Expedition, were also equipped with some newly bought 38 rifles. The Enfield rifles used by the Red Army are mainly MK ⅱ or MK ⅲ models produced around the First World War. Before entering the preparation for shooting, they are designed with unique rear locking tenon and closed chamber, which are fast in firing speed, good in accuracy, durable and heavy. Because its caliber is 7.7 mm, it is rarely used in China, so it is not as widely used as German and Japanese rifles, or even as widely used as Russian "Shuilianzhu" rifles. Mainly distributed in the Yangtze River valley influenced by British colonial forces, local warlord troops in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Sichuan are equipped. In addition, Tibetan areas are adjacent to India and Pakistan, which were then British colonies, and it is convenient to import British weapons, so guns are used more.

★ Light machine gun

In the film and television works reflecting the Long March, we can see that the light machine guns used by the Red Army are all Czech ZB26. Because of the reliable locking and rapid barrel replacement, the gun quickly became the main variety of domestic light machine guns. At that time, ZB26 was not only imported, but also copied by Dagu Shipyard, Chongqing Ordnance Repair Institute, Guangdong Ordnance Factory and Gongxian Arsenal. Except for the products made by Changgong, the quality was very poor. In fact, the most light machine gun used by the Red Army at that time was Haqikas M 1922/26. This gun has a variety of calibers and ammunition supply methods, all of which are 7.92mm imported from China. The ammunition uses 25 rounds of ammunition plates, and the barrel can be replaced. This kind of gun is air-guided and reliable. The disadvantage is that it is heavier, exceeding 14 kg. Shanxi Military Craft Practice Factory also makes this kind of guns, with a monthly output of 20 guns. 1in June, 932, the ordnance department of the national government held a national conference on standard weapons, and it was planned to use its improved light machine gun as the standard. Although it was not realized because of the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, it was also an affirmation of the performance of the gun. Other light machine guns used by the Red Army include Browning, crooked stick and Lewis machine gun. "Browning" is a variety of imitation and improved products of Browning M 19 18. It is a light machine gun with the best comprehensive performance equipped by the Red Army, and its origin includes the United States, Belgium and other countries. Among them, the Belgian product is called FN M30, which is improved on the basis of M 19 18. Its appearance is quite different from the original American products, and its caliber is 7.92mm, which is popular in China, so it is more widely used. These machine guns are not only equipped in the Central Army, but also used by local troops, especially the Yunnan Army, which once imported a large number of Belgian Browning machine guns. After the Red Army entered Yunnan, it seized this weapon in the battle with the Yunnan Army, and the Red Fourth Front Army also seized a certain number of American Browning machine guns in the fourth counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression". The "crooked stick" is a 6.5mm light machine gun of Taisho 1 1 year-old in Japan, which is characterized by using a funnel for ammunition supply. The gun was equipped with Japanese troops in the mid-1920s, but it was copied in the arsenals of three northeastern provinces in 1924, and it was called 13 light machine gun. When the Red Fourth Front Army fought against the Central Army and the Northwest Army in the Soviet area of Hubei, Henan and Anhui, it seized many such machine guns, which played an important role in smashing the "three-way siege" after 1933 entered Sichuan at the beginning. Red 1 1 division used more than 10 "devious tactics" when attacking Jiziding, defeated a regiment of Liu Cunhou of Sichuan Army, and won a great victory in Zhuyuguan. Louis machine gun, also known as "rotary machine gun", was the standard equipment of the British army during World War I, with a caliber of 7.7 mm and a large aluminum sleeve outside the barrel. The Red Army Corps and the Sixth Army Corps had a small amount of equipment, and the Hong Jiu Army Corps also paid such weapons from Liu Xiang's men in the Wanyuan Defence War in 1933.

★ Heavy machine gun

The heavy machine guns used by the Red Army are water-cooled and air-cooled. Water-cooled type is mainly Ma Keqin and 30-stage type. In addition to the original German products, there are two foreign varieties in Ma Keqin, where the Red Army has more contacts. One is the British Vickers 7.7mm machine gun, and the other is the Russian sokolov 7.62mm machine gun. The former has a transverse groove on the surface of the cooling water tank and uses a special cage muzzle flame arrester, while the latter uses a two-wheeled gun holder with a shield. Ma Keqin was the most popular standard machine gun in old China, and it was copied by Jinling Arsenal, Guangdong Arsenal, Gongxian Arsenal, Hanyang Arsenal, Dagu Shipyard, etc. Most of them copied M 1899 and M 1908/ 15, with similar structures, and the regular workers also copied the Russian wheel frame Ma Keqin. At that time, the latest model was a 24-year model improved by Jinling Arsenal according to M 1908/ 15, which was characterized by a circular shading sheet behind the flame arrester. After the gun was put into production, it was quickly put into the front line of "suppression * * *". When King De of Inner Mongolia 1935 went to Beiping in the summer to ask the government to allocate weapons, He Zeng said to him, "Now all the new machine guns are used. The number of domestic heavy machine guns is second only to Ma Keqin, and its manufacturers are not only Hanyang, but also Shanghai Beach and Huayin Arsenal. 193 1 annual national monthly output exceeds 140. The gun is copied according to Browning M 19 17 of the United States, and its appearance is similar to that of Ma Keqin, but the tail of the gun is a pistol-type independent small grip instead of a column-type double grip. The imported air-cooled heavy machine guns are mainly Haqika of France and Sanba and Taisho of Japan for 3 years. Haqikesi is one of the most widely used models, imported from the early years of the Republic of China. The common model is 19 14, with a diameter of 7.92 mm. It is characterized by the use of 30 rounds of elastic plates or 250 rounds of steel elastic chains for ammunition supply. There is a large heat dissipation device at the back of the barrel and a grip ring at the back of the case, which is convenient for operation. The gun is widely equipped from local warlords to the Central Army, and its model 1930 is expected to replace Ma Keqin as a national unified heavy machine gun. Both the March 8th Style and the Taisho Sannian Style are improved versions of Hatchikas, and Japan uses these weapons to support pro-Japanese local power groups. Therefore, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army used this gun in the early stage, and later it included Guangdong, Fengnian and Jin warlords, who also copied it respectively. For example, the 386.5 mm heavy machine gun copied by Guangdong Arsenal and Shanxi Military Technology Practice Factory, and the three-year heavy machine gun was produced by the three-year Arsenal in three years.

★ submachine guns and automatic pistols

"The Long March: An Unprecedented Story" talks about the 17 warriors who forced the Dadu River, saying that they were "each equipped with a mauser gun, a flower organ, a sabre and eight grenades ...". The "Flower Organ" here refers to the German MP 18/28 submachine gun, whose official name is "Bergman Portable Machine Gun". 1925 Hanyang Arsenal took the lead in copying MP 18, but the caliber was changed to 7.63mm 1926 Shanghai Arsenal and Jinling Manufacturing Bureau also began to copy MP 18. In two years, * * * produced 6,000 guns, and Guangdong, Gongxian Arsenal and Dagu Shipyard successively copied these guns and made some improvements, including 9mm, 7.65mm and Dagu Shipyard. These weapons are generally called "flower mechanism" because they are the same shape as wooden stock, with round holes in the left magazine and barrel sheath. "Flower ware" is no stranger to the Red Army, because it was widely used in China before. Among the enemies encountered by the Red Army in the Long March, even weak local warlords such as Sichuan, Guizhou, Gansu and Qinghai were equipped with various "flower organs". "Journey to the West with the Army" even mentioned such weapons owned by ethnic minorities: "Yi people are all armed, with thousands of fast guns and several portable machine guns, all handed over by the Han army ...". The Red Army captured some "flower organs" in the operation of establishing base areas. For example: 193 1 During the third counter-campaign against "encirclement and suppression" in September, Gongsijun captured more than 20 "flower organs" in Han Deqin, the 52nd division of Fangshiling, Xingguo. In order to meet the urgent needs of the army, the arsenals of Honghu, southeastern Hubei, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi copied a small number of "flower organs", and Yinkeng Ammunition Factory also changed submachine guns from rifle bullets to submachine guns. When the Central Red Army left Jiangxi, it carried 27 1 hand-painted organs and 67,000 submachine guns. After living in the Long March Team of the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps for one year, R.A. Bosat, a foreign missionary, wrote a book "The Hand of God" in June 1936+00. In the book, a little soldier of the Red Army was nicknamed "Little Organ" by his comrades-in-arms kindly because he was pockmarked when he came out of smallpox. German M 1932 automatic pistol is a new weapon on the way of the Red Army's Long March. The gun is equipped with a single-shot firing mechanism designed on the basis of Karl Westinger's patent, and it uses an extended magazine of 20 rounds, so it is usually called "fast machine" or "20 rings". The appearance and firepower of the wooden holster are close to those of a submachine gun, and it is indeed used as a submachine gun in actual combat. Long March: An Unprecedented Story 1936 In March, the Sixth Division of the Red Second Front Army 18 Regiment had an encounter with the enemy's ten thousand columns near Zhangba. At the expense of great sacrifice, the Red Army seized eight "speed machines" that the enemy had just equipped. At that time, the 18 regiment met Wan's headquarters, although there were 10,000 troops. However, it is not the first time that the 18 regiment has encountered such weapons. In the west of Shiqian, when he broke through the enemy blockade and annihilated a battalion of the 23rd Division, he captured a "slow plane". General Liao Hansheng, then the political commissar of the division, said in his memoirs: "In the past, our mauser guns were all single shot, but this time, the 20-gun mauser guns turned over can be single shot or multiple shots. Fingers hooked on the trigger, screaming. This is the first time that our army has paid 20 rounds of mauser guns. I was so happy that I couldn't put it down, so Cheng Jun, head of the delegation and political commissar of Yu, gave it to Guo. " The "speed machine" captured in various battles has actually become one of the important equipment in the Red Army's Long March. In a series of battles such as Loushanguan, Dadu River and Luding Bridge, the commandos relied on their blazing firepower to successfully lead the Red Army out of the dead corner again and again. The Red Fourth Front Army was the most fully equipped and was captured many times in the battle with Hu Zongnan in the Long March. These weapons later played an important role in a series of tragic battles such as Nijiayingzi and Shiwo of the West Road Army. According to Cheng, then acting commander of the Red 30th Army, in April of 1937, the last large-scale battle in the history of the marked army-a bloody battle took place. At that time, the rest of the marked army was divided and surrounded by two brigades of Ma Jiajun cavalry. When the enemy cavalry had rushed to the critical moment within 30 meters, Cheng and the guard relied on the firepower of seven "speed machines" sent by 65438.

★ Grenade

Grenade is one of the important equipment of the Red Army, and it is also the only weapon that the Red Army can manufacture equipment in large quantities except broadsword, spear and reloading bullets. When the Central Red Army set out, it carried 76,526 pieces, almost reaching one person. There are two kinds of grenades commonly used by the Red Army-wooden handle grenades and hemp-tailed grenades. At that time, there were four styles of wooden hand grenades: Gong, Han, Jin and Ning. "Red soap" is copied from German M 1924, but cast iron shells and K-TNT explosives are used instead. Jinzao, Hanzao and Ningzao are similar in structure to Gongzao, but their individual sizes are different. Among them, the golden stove is divided into several sizes according to its size. Although the base arsenal of 1934 can manufacture wooden hand grenades, almost all the wooden hand grenades used by the Red Army have been seized due to the high manufacturing requirements and costs, and the hand grenades produced by the Red Army are all hand grenades without handles and hemp tails. China also used hemp-tailed grenades in the early days. It was used on a large scale during the Northern Expedition, and it was also produced in Shanghai, Jinling and other arsenals for a short time. Guangxi Bomb Factory has been producing until 1936, mainly for local warlords, so the opponents of the Red Army often use this weapon in the Long March. There is no uniform model of horsetail bullets produced by the Red Army. All the bases organize their own production, but they all use cast bullets. Shell shells are egg-shaped, pear-shaped and bottle-shaped, with different sizes. The appearance is generally cast with vertical and horizontal grooves, and some are beautifully made, with sickle and axe patterns and slogans. The larger end of the shell is equipped with an ignition mechanism consisting of a striker, a striker spring and an ignition contact. The firing pin is usually fixed with a safety pin or a safety piece made of iron sheet, and the other end is generally cast or welded with a ring, which is tied with a rope braid made of hemp, brown or leather strip nearly half a meter long, hence the name "Mawei". When used, the method is similar to riprap belt. Grasp the tail end of the rope braid by hand and throw it around. Throw the projectile directly at close range. When the projectile flies in the air, the rope braid is dragged behind to ensure that the front end of the projectile touches the ground and ignites. In addition to cast iron casings, there are a large number of cast copper casings for horsetail bullets made by the Red Army. Because copper has a slightly lower melting point and is easy to cast, its material is mainly copper coins, which are widely available. Moreover, copper is soft, and the thread of the shell mouth can be processed by hand. During the Long March, the machinery repair institute of the Red Fourth Army insisted on producing such grenades to meet the needs of the troops. Even in the difficult environment where Nijiayingzi was surrounded, the marked army did not stop production. However, the hemp tail bomb is inconvenient to carry, especially its performance is relatively backward. Because the fuze is partially exposed, it is easy to get wet and have accidents, and its firing mode is very unreliable. When it landed in water and soft ground, it could neither detonate normally nor explode in the air, so it was gradually stopped after the Long March. The battle that used grenades the most in the Long March was to seize Lazikou. Lazikou is the most difficult natural barrier for the Red Army to overcome. It is only ten feet wide. The enemy set up machine gun fortifications at the pass and blocked it with crossfire, and arranged a company of defenders on the mountainside. When the Red Army attacked, they dropped grenades. The red army failed to attack for a day and a night, and suffered heavy casualties. 1936 Yang Dinghua's "March on Snow Mountain Grassland" describes the postwar battlefield scene like this: "... within 50 meters around the pass, there were one or two hundred grenades that didn't explode, and all the trees were blown to ashes ...". The magic weapon for the Red Army to win the battle in the end is also a Grenade. Chen Guang, the commander of the Second Division of the Red Army, led 17 soldiers to climb the mountain from the left at night, then detoured to the enemy stronghold on the right-wing mountain and stormed with grenades, resulting in successive losses of the enemy defenders. The enemy in the pass was afraid of being surrounded and immediately retreated. The Red Army pursued them and occupied Lazikou.