Chapter 235 Heavy Artillery and Artillery

Speaking of this 100mm cannon, we have to start from last year!

Last year, when Zhao Dongyun led his troops to attack the capital, although he fought smoothly in all aspects, he also suffered a lot of losses. For example, on the artillery, although Zhao Dongyun was equipped with a lot of artillery and a large number of mortars, which can be said to have occupied the advantage of artillery, but Feng Guozhang and Wang Shizhen are under the hands of The artillery did not have a living, and a large number of shelling put great pressure on the attacking Feng army.

At that time, Zhao Dongyun did not have long-range heavy artillery that could directly knock down Feng Wang's artillery, so Zhao Dongyun wanted to see if he could buy some long-range heavy artillery for nothing else but to defeat the enemy's artillery in the future.

After having this idea, Zhao Dongyun sent Zhao Dongping to negotiate with foreign companies, excluding all kinds of large-caliber artillery recommended by Yanghang, and finally chose the 100mm cannon of the German Krper factory.

The barrel is 30 times long and adopts the hydraulic spring-type retreat device that has always been used by German artillery. Although the combat rate is not too fast, there are also more than five rounds per minute. Compared with the 16 rounds per minute of the 1906 88mm rapid-fire cannon, Zhao Dongyun chose There is no reason to choose this 100mm cannon!

His reason is very simple, that is, among all the various cannons provided by arms dealers in various countries that can reach a range of more than 10,000 meters, this gun is the smallest in diameter, the lightest, and the price is also the cheapest!

To put it bluntly, Zhao Dongyun does not have too many requirements for caliber and rapid fire. He only requires a range of at least 10,000 meters, so that he can suppress the 75mm field guns widely equipped in the domestic army, especially in the Beiyang army, and there are little requirements for other aspects.

The maximum range of this 1904 100mm cannon is more than 12,000 meters, and its weight is only 2,100 kilograms, which is barely acceptable for modern Chinese transportation.

As for other artillery, such as 120mm field howitzers and even 150mm howitzers strongly recommended by the German Kronp factory, and other 120mm cannons, 150mm cannons were rejected by Zhao Dongyun for a simple reason, that is, either they either have insufficient range or It is too heavy to carry out maneuvers in China's backward traffic environment.

Of course, it is also related to the high price of these large-caliber artillery! Zhao Dongyun, who has little money in his pocket, only requires range, other rapid shooting, caliber and power are all floating clouds for him!

For example, the German 88mm rapid-fire field gun with 16 quick-fires per minute is powerful, but the range is only 7,500 meters, which is not as good as Zhao Dongyun's existing 75mm field gun. It can't suppress the enemy's 75mm artillery at all, and it is also expensive.

Another example is the 120mm field howitzer, which is not expensive. Japan bought a lot from the Germans and produced a lot of imitations, but the range of this gun is shorter, only about 56,000 kilometers, which is not better than the 120mm heavy mortars equipped by the Fengtian Army. How much, the rate of fire is not as fast as that of a mortar. If the two shells are loaded with the same kind of charge, the explosive power will be equivalent, that is, the accuracy of the howitzer will be better than the mortar.

In this case, Zhao Dongyun would rather be equipped with two more 120 mortars than spend valuable money to import 120mm field howitzers.

As for 120mm cannons and even 150mm cannons, these range are enough, but they are also heavy. It's okay in the plains, but the west and south of China are mountainous areas, and these five or six tons or even ten tons of guns are not mobile at all without railways.

And there is another most critical factor, that is, the price of cannons of more than 120 caliber is very expensive, and ordinary powers can't equip dozens of them. What's more, Zhao Dongyun, a small warlord, can't afford or even afford these expensive large-caliber guns.

Combined with range, quick-fire, weight and price factors, Zhao Dongyun chose this 1904 100mm cannon. Coincidentally, he also introduced a 100mm cannon from the Germans and imitated the 38-year-old 10CM cannon. Zhao Dongyun bought the 1904 model from the Germans.

In fact, Zhao Dongyun also tried to buy this artillery, but his own production was also low. After the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army was in the era of new and old clothes. Many classic weapons familiar to later generations could not be bought by Zhao Dongyun, such as his own series of 38-year weapons, such as 38-year rifle, 38-year-old 75mm field gun, 38-year-old mountaine, 75mm mountain gun, 38-year heavy machine gun, etc. The production of the new generation of weapons finalized in the Russo-Japanese War is limited, and it is difficult to obtain these new weapons from Japan in a short period of time, at least one or two years. What I'm buying now are all second-hand goods of the 30-year series.

In the case that I can't buy it from Japan, Zhao Dongyun is imported from Germany, and the price is naturally much more expensive!

After waiting for half a year, these twelve 100mm cannons finally came back, which made Zhao Dongyun a little excited. The 75mm wild cannon and roller coaster guns played a lot, but this 100mm cannon was still the first equipment.

And Zhao Dongyun paid the price of nearly 400,000 taels of silver for these 12 100mm cannons. If he didn't look at it, he really couldn't afford his own money.

So, a few days later, on a sunny morning, Zhao Dongyun arrived at the barracks outside Shenyang with a group of generals.

The barracks in the southern suburbs of Shenyang, where a large number of troops of the Feng army are stationed, including two infantry regiments of the 10th Division, an artillery battalion and a cavalry regiment. A patrol regiment stationed in the western suburbs barracks and an army infantry battalion project formed the main guard force of Shenyang.

In addition, the Fengtian Army Heavy Artillery Battalion, which has just been formed, will also be stationed here, and today Zhao Dongyun is going to see this newly announced heavy artillery battalion.

"A month ago, we began to draw officers and backbone artillery. Although some artillery and soldiers of the heavy troops are still newly recruited, with a large number of original backbones, this shelf can also be set up. At most three months, the battalion can have preliminary combat effectiveness!" Fang Biyong walked beside Zhao Dongyun and introduced, "This is Lieutenant Colonel Wei Anpo, the battalion commander!"

When Fang Biyong introduced, Wei Anpo also took two steps forward, and then stood up to salute Zhao Dongyun. Zhao Dongyun, dressed in military uniform, carefully looked at Wei Anpo and slightly recalled the resume of this person in his mind.

If Zhao Dongyun remembers correctly, this person should have followed his old artillery since the era of the Third Association. I remember that he was the first to form a mortar force, but after these years of the district deputy military academy, he obviously climbed to a lieutenant colonel, and now he is now serving as the commander of the heavy artillery battalion. Obviously He is more senior than the battalion commander of an ordinary artillery battalion.

"Well, Anpo, you have also become mature and stable in the past few years, okay!" Five or six years have passed in a flash. Many of his subordinates who have been with Zhao Dongyun in those years are only 20 years old, but now they are all in their 30s, and even Zhao Dongyun himself is approaching the third year. This time has passed and many people have changed a lot. The original team officers and battalion officers have also become high-level soldiers one by one, and they can't see the youthful vitality of the past.

"How's the training going these two days? Do you have the confidence to complete the next exercise!" Zhao Dongyun stepped forward, took Wei Anpo's hand, and then looked at him with an encouraging look.

Wei Anpo's face was a little excited: "Although the training days are short, most of the subordinates are elites in the army, and they will never live up to the trust of the general!"

This is indeed a heavy trust. There are many artillery troops in the Feng army. These days, the Beiyang Army is not the National Revolutionary Army or the People's Liberation Army in later generations, and tens of thousands of divisions can't pull more than a dozen artillery pieces of fire. Today's Beiyang Army, whether under Zhao Dongyun or Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui's troops, are still Keeping a large amount of heritage of Yuan Shikai's era, coupled with their vigorous foreign purchases in the past six months, the number of artillery is actually not large.

After the fifth brigade of the third division under Zhao Dongyun was fully organized, not to mention the mortars. There were 14 artillery battalions with 75mm traditional barrel artillery alone, and there were more than 200 spare guns. Although Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui are not so many, they are certainly more than a hundred or dozens, which are much better than the artillery troops of the Southern Federation.

However, there are so many artillery units in the Feng army, and there are dozens of intermediate artillery officers, but Wei Anpo is the only battalion commander of the heavy artillery battalion. If this is not a heavy trust, what is it?

"Well, that's good!" Zhao Dongyun said casually, and then looked left and right. Seeing that the people below were also ready, he immediately said, "Since everyone is ready, let's start!"

With Zhao Dongyun's order, today's artillery exercise has also begun, but it is called an artillery exercise. However, since a drill has been made, the staff will naturally not let go of the opportunity, so they temporarily joined a battalion of infantry and a cavalry company to make a complete infantry and artillery. The joint exercise.

The first to appear were naturally cavalry and infantry troops, but soon artillery balloons were raised on both sides, and the 75mm artillery of both sides began to fire training bullets to provide cover for the infantry in front of them.

However, soon, a huge artillery balloon rose further behind the battlefield.

Fang Biyong also explained to Zhao Dongyun in time: "That's the position of the heavy artillery battalion. They have raised more balloons, and it is expected that it won't be long before they can shoot Zhuyuan."