To the west of Pingshun City, in the camp of the Second Regiment.
After retreating from Changzhi, Zhou Weihan was most concerned about the twenty-four heavy artillery pieces captured from the Japanese army. At dawn the next day, he quickly got up and came over to take a look.
Twelve 150-caliber howitzers and twelve 105-caliber cannons were displayed on the school grounds. This momentum alone shocked everyone present.
Zhou Weihan, Zhao Gang, Xing Zhiguo, Jing Dagang, Xu Dali, Yang Han and the commanders of two artillery battalions gathered around.
I saw Zhou Weihan touching the barrel of the cannon with both hands and saying: "Good thing, good thing. Our Eighth Route Army will also have its own heavy artillery group in the future. This was something I never dared to think about before!"
Previously, the Tainan Military Region had two German-made Krupp 105-caliber howitzers, but they were too bulky compared to Japanese mountain cannons. The weight of one howitzer was approximately equivalent to the weight of four Type 94 mountain cannons.
In addition, it is difficult to replenish howitzer shells. The Central Army and the Shanxi-Sui Army did have such shells in hand, but the control was too strict, so Zhou Weihan could only ask Temple Yong to do some secretly.
"It's good, but it's too bulky and the shells are a little short. Why did I hear comrades say it only has 300 rounds?" Zhao Gang said unsatisfied.
After hearing this, Zhou Weihan looked at Dong Jiang who was following him: "Didn't you say that Lin Zhengxiong hid the cannonballs? Where are the cannonballs?"
"Detachment leader, don't worry, four hundred rounds of artillery shells are placed at the camp of my reconnaissance company, a lot of them!" Dong Jiang immediately replied.
"That's good, that's good!" The smile on Zhou Weihan's face did not disappear. He turned to Chen Feng and said: "Chen Feng, these two types of heavy artillery and the two 105 howitzers currently in the artillery battalion
How does the performance compare?"
The Eighth Route Army has always been short of artillery. Although there are many mountain artillery and field artillery in the Tainan Military Region, they have always been used intensively. Except for the battalion commanders of the two artillery battalions, most of the people present were laymen.
After hearing Zhou Weihan's inquiry, Chen Feng thought for a moment and then said: "Captain of the detachment, from the perspective of being suitable for our Eighth Route Army, the heavy artillery captured from the Japanese army this time is probably not as useful as the existing mountain artillery and field artillery!"
"Whether it is the Type 96 150mm howitzer or the Type 92 105mm cannon, the weight has almost reached four tons. This weight requires the use of a special artillery tractor. Manpower and power storage are not enough, and it must go on a relatively spacious road.
Avenue, in comparison, the two Krupp 105-caliber howitzers already installed in the artillery battalion weigh 2 tons and can be towed by mules and horses!"
"This is also the reason why the Japanese army did not use the accompanying heavy artillery when they were ambushed by our army many times along the Handan-Changchang Highway. In the final analysis, mobility limits the use of heavy artillery!"
Throughout the battles commanded by Zhou Weihan, as the scale of the battles became larger and larger, the infantry artillery could no longer meet the combat needs, and two mountain artillery companies were always accompanying them for mobile operations.
The reason is very simple. After the mountain cannon captured from the Japs is disassembled, it can be mounted on a mule horse and marched quickly. All it takes is time for disassembly and assembly.
"I have never practiced the actual power of these two heavy artillery pieces, and I don't even know them in my mind!" Chen Feng finally said.
Zhou Weihan's heart kept sinking when Chen Feng was talking, and he said hurriedly: "Then if you say so, it's become a decoration, right?"
"That's not the case. Commander Xu can be transported back to Pingshun from Changzhi, which shows that at least he is still useful in the base area!" Chen Feng continued.
Xu Dali, who was on the side, had the same feeling: "Detachment leader, what we seized from the Japs was a complete set of equipment, including artillery, surveying equipment and tractors. When transporting them back, they came out from the suburbs of Changzhi to Pingshun City.
Outside, I have been taking the main road, which is quite smooth along the way, and the road can meet the traffic requirements!"
"Based on the current situation, the main highways between counties and branch highways between towns are passable, but our troops usually operate far away from densely populated towns. Even if we ambush the Japanese troops on the highways, these
Where should the heavy artillery be placed? It can't be placed openly on the highway, right?" Zhao Gang raised a question.
After Zhao Gang finished speaking, everyone present looked at Chen Feng again. Chen Feng gave a wry smile: "The range of these two heavy artillery is very long. Like this 105-caliber cannon, the longest range can reach 18 kilometers. How to choose the battlefield in advance? Or
You can give the little devil a surprise!"
When Zhou Weihan heard this, his expression softened slightly: "Come on, I listened for a long time and finally understood that if these 24 captured heavy artillery were sent to other base areas of our Eighth Route Army, they would be useless and of no use. At most, they would be little devils.
It can be used as a defensive heavy artillery for mopping up, but it will still die in the face of light. Once the little Japanese planes are targeted, they will definitely not be able to escape!"
"But, when we get to Tainan, we still have a place to play. At least in Pingshun, Lucheng, and Licheng counties, the control of the highways is completely in our hands. If we get to Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, which are mostly plains,
area, the effect will be better!”
After Zhou Weihan finished speaking, Shen Yulin, the commander of the Jiluyu Artillery Battalion on the side, chuckled. It was he who brought these heavy artillery back with some soldiers from the artillery battalion, and he had some ideas at that time.
It's just that Shen Yulin's qualifications are still relatively low, so he can't talk to everyone present.
"Detachment leader, we don't know how powerful this little devil's heavy artillery is. Why don't we fire a few shots to try it out? If we encounter each other in the future, it would be better to be prepared, right?" As soon as Jing Dagang said these words, he immediately won the victory.
echoed by those present.
Zhou Weihan has never been a picky person, so what Jing Dagang said made sense, so he simply agreed.
The manpower is naturally soldiers from the artillery battalion, but the location cannot be chosen in the second regiment's camp. If it were here, a single artillery shell might hit a nearby village.
In the end, the test site was chosen on a nearby flat land next to a mountain forest. Two heavy guns were set up on the flat ground, and the target range pointed directly at the mountain forest opposite.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In order to ensure safety, at the request of Chen Feng, the observation position of Zhou Weihan and others was one kilometer southeast of the artillery position.
Then, the Second Regiment dispatched a battalion of troops to conduct a large-scale search of the target range to ensure that no fellow villagers from nearby villages stayed within the shooting range.
The two heavy artillery quickly adjusted the firing parameters. Since they only wanted to test the power of the heavy artillery, not to test the level of the artillery, the mission could be completed with one test fire.
On the artillery position, Chen Feng, who was in charge of the command, saw that all the gunners were in place and immediately ordered: "Get ready to load and fire!"
"Tong Tong!" Two artillery shells were ejected from the barrel in no particular order, one to the northeast and one to the northwest. The scream of the cannonballs piercing the sky resounded in the sky.
"Boom!" The explosion of artillery shells sounded.
Even though Zhou Weihan was standing at the observation position, he still heard the roar of the explosion.
Even without using telescopes, everyone could still clearly see two groups of fire rising into the sky in the forest opposite.
"The target range this time is ten kilometers. If we calculate it from our position, it is twelve or thirteen kilometers. How did the national army in Changzhi hold on? Even if we faced the heavy artillery of the Japanese army, we built defenses in advance.
There is no way for the artillery holes to withstand the indiscriminate bombardment!" Seeing such power, even the always brave Jing Dagang began to worry.
"What? The kid's plane can withstand the aerial bombs, but not the heavy artillery!" Zhou Weihan joked.
In fact, what Zhou Weihan said was biased. The Japanese bombers had insufficient load capacity and could not carry aerial bombs on a large scale.
In addition, the bombing is from the sky. If the defending side builds an air raid shelter in advance, there is actually no way to cause large-scale destruction.
This is not the case with the Jaap's heavy artillery. As long as there are enough shells, even if the defending side moves its position, the firing parameters can be adjusted to carry out continuous bombardment.
The effects of the two are completely different.
"Let's go, it's too far here. Let's go and see the effect on the spot!" Zhou Weihan suggested, and the group gathered with Chen Feng and Shen Yulin to go to the impact point.
Near the impact point, Zhou Weihan suddenly felt a rush of heat. The soldiers who arrived first were extinguishing the flames caused by the explosion of the shell.
There was only a piece of charred land within a radius of 20 meters from the center of the explosion. Within a radius of 50 meters, there were still intact woods. Wherever Zhou Weihan looked, there were the remains of broken trees everywhere.
Zhao Gang stepped over from the periphery of the aftermath of the explosion step by step, and then said with a clear mind: "Just now I found a big tree on the periphery that was affected by shrapnel and started to measure the distance. It was a full 132 steps. In other words, the explosion
The range of residual power is at least about 150 meters, and this is still an experiment in a dense forest!"
"If it were on the battlefield, the exploding shrapnel would probably penetrate the bodies of multiple soldiers, causing their speed to slow down!"
On the other side, Chen Feng was also collecting data based on the actual situation at the scene, and came over to report shortly: "Detachment leader, what we are looking at now is the explosion site of the 150-caliber howitzer shell. According to our field collection, if the shell hits the target, even if it hits the target,
Even concrete walls will be penetrated, and any solid fortifications and the people inside them will be blown to pieces and buried alive!"
"Within a radius of 15 meters, even in fortifications, they will still be killed by the aftermath of the explosion. If it is in an open field, it is absolutely difficult for soldiers within 50 meters to survive. I have estimated that the killing range is at least 150 meters.
, if you want to avoid being affected, everyone must be 200 meters away!"
As soon as Chen Feng said these words, even though they witnessed the actual situation at the scene, everyone present still took a breath of air.
"Damn it, even if we were standing on the iron position, we would be blown to pieces!" Zhou Weihan said solemnly: "The 27th Army is really tough. It was able to withstand the Japanese heavy artillery bombardment.
Five or six days long!”
"Yes, this kind of strategic weapon can no longer be resisted by human power. Perhaps, only troops with extremely strong will can bear heavy casualties without collapse under such artillery fire!" Zhao Gang said with the same expression on his face.
He said in surprise: "When will our Eighth Route Army be able to produce such powerful heavy artillery by ourselves!"
"There will be such a day, and I believe that one day we will be at the forefront of the world!" Zhou Weihan said firmly.
"Let's go back!" At this time, Zhou Weihan was not in the mood to see the explosion effect of another 105 cannon.
Zhou Weihan knew in his heart that the performance of the Japanese 150-caliber howitzer was not comparable to the 150-caliber howitzer imported from Germany by the Chinese army.
During the battle of Changsha, the Japanese army's howitzers only had a range of ten kilometers, while the Chinese army's howitzers had a range of fifteen kilometers. The little Japanese suffered a lot due to their range advantage.
On the way back, Zhou Weihan, Zhao Gang, and Xing Zhiguo were walking behind, and the three of them talked about the fate of these twenty-four heavy artillery pieces.
"Old Zhou, can these heavy artillery be kept in our hands? The superiors may be dissatisfied with Hu Nong?" Zhao Gang said.
After hearing this, Zhou Weihan glanced at Zhao Gang and immediately caught Zhao Gang's slip of the tongue: "Why do you, a political commissar, think of the superiors of Hunong at this time?"
Xing Zhiguo on the side also had a smile on his face.
Zhao Gang was stunned and retorted: "I'm just talking nonsense, tell me what you think?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. Anyway, the headquarters can't hide it. The 18th Regiment and the Special Agent Regiment were there at the time. If these heavy artillery weren't too heavy, they would have found a way to get rid of them early, and it would be our turn.
Can you get everything back to normal?"
"I guess the headquarters is also thinking about this matter. However, as a few of us said before, these heavy artillery are probably just decorations in other base areas, which are in Tainan or Hebei, Shandong and Yuneng.
Make a difference!”
"Boss, they can't take it back to show off. Besides, they can't take it away, right?" Everyone present was from his own family, so Zhou Weihan didn't have so many scruples when speaking.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! At the same time, the 18th Regiment of the 386th Brigade of the Taiyue Military Region is stationed.
Since the Taiyue Army fought a blockade and captured very little, the brigade headquarters still suffered a loss after the war.
There was only one exception. The brigade commander had long known that the 18th Regiment had reaped a lot of benefits by ending the battle in Changzhi early.
Of course Qian Youyi, the commander of the 18th Regiment, knew the style of the brigade. When he was in Changzhi, he gave an order to all the commanders and soldiers of the regiment to keep their mouths shut.
"Brigadier Commander, I didn't mean to hide it from you or the brigade headquarters. It's because before I came back, Chief of Staff Xing of the Tainan Military Region specifically confessed that these weapons and equipment were specially given to our 18th Regiment to thank us.
The 18th Regiment supports our brother troops!" Captain Qian explained.
The brigade commander nodded after hearing this: "Well, this matter is handled like Zhou Weihan's style. Then you really don't get a dime and make a fortune by yourself?"
"Brigadier Commander, I'm thinking that I can't ruin your reputation. What if I sent it to the brigade headquarters and someone was talking outside, saying that it was for the 18th Regiment? Why did I end up at the brigade headquarters again? What do you think?
Woolen cloth?"
"Don't talk to me about this useless thing. I have already investigated clearly. The 38-type guns you brought back this time are at least five or six hundred, and there are also several Type 92 heavy machine guns. Why, you still want to expand
The strength of a regiment?" the brigade commander said with a smile.
Captain Qian wailed in his heart when he saw this. Seeing that he couldn't handle it, he said silently in his heart: Lao Zhou, brother, I can only forgive you.
Then Captain Qian came up to the brigade commander and said something. The brigade commander stood up immediately after hearing this: "What? Heavy artillery? At least twelve?"
Then the brigade commander pointed at Captain Qian's nose and cursed: "Damn it, Qian Youyi, Qian Youyi, Zhou Weihan gave you a little hush money to keep your mouth shut. Why didn't you tell me about this situation earlier?"
