August 15, 1941, Taiyuan Weapons Experimental Site.

Today is the day when the previous stage of scientific research slots is unlocked, and Huang He invited the bigwigs to the shooting range outside the city early in the morning to observe the power of the new weapon.

The guards with guns and the well-guarded guard posts on the commanding heights all attest to the high level of secrecy of the proving ground.

At the target position, Political Commissar Zhu, who had returned with the infantry experts, was leading the soldiers to arrange artillery positions.

Although this man has not been exposed to new artillery for some days, no one will doubt that he is one of the most professional artillery commanders in the Eighth Route Army.

After all, he was an honor student at Krasin Artillery School, and when he graduated that year, he got the highest score in the same class in both the written test and live ammunition.

The word Nengwen Nengwu is almost tailor-made for Political Commissar Zhu.

When he learned that the big man came to Taiyuan with the deputy division commander for a physical examination, Huang He did not hesitate to invite the other party to test the artillery.

"Director Huang! We meet again. ”

"I never expected that the conditions at the headquarters would be so good, and there were four kinds of standard mortars of various calibers alone. When will we also transport a batch to the Shandong base area, they are all armed with the Eighth Route Army, but we can't be biased. ”

"We'll start the first round of test firings in five minutes, so you can rest for a while."

"Good! Good work! ”

After a brief greeting, Political Commissar Zhu returned to the artillery position to continue the unfinished work.

The busy scene of the experimental field intensified the curiosity of the deputy commander-in-chief, and he silently walked to the vicinity of the prefabricated position, ready to get closer to see what kind of surprise the Yellow River had prepared for everyone.

"Hiss"

"It's such a thick tube, it should be 120 mm by eye."

"To be honest, this is the first time I have come into close contact with a large-caliber mortar, and the visual impact is not ordinary."

Hearing this, the deputy general staff and his entourage also surrounded him.

That's right, today's protagonist is the "Brown Mle 1935 120mm Mortar" unlocked by Huang He with a scientific research trough.

Seeing the heavy pressure with the two-wheeled gun carriage installed, as well as the thick barrel and the huge and heavy shells, the bigwigs showed excited and excited expressions.

Compared to it, the 81mm mortars in active service in the army are almost like underage child labor.

This is not entirely unreasonable, after all, the 120mm can be regarded as an 81mm scale-up version in a sense, and the two have a lot in common in terms of design concepts and details.

Although Blund designed this cannon with the intention of adding a support weapon to the regimental infantry unit.

However, on the battlefield in North China, the appearance of 120 mm mortars can be regarded as dimensionality reduction strikes, both in terms of power and range, which are at the level of heavy artillery.

After all, the Eighth Route Army and the North China Front Army are still dominated by 75-mm body-barreled guns at this stage.

The enemy did have 105 mm howitzers, but they were only equipped at the division level.

What's more, the devils have lost air supremacy, and now every cannon is a treasure bump that is difficult to replenish, and they will not be used at all until the last resort.

After the troops had 120 mm mortars, the artillery system at the level of the Eighth Route Army could be regarded as beginning to take shape, and its strength could be said to have taken a big step forward.

Facing the fiery gaze of the bigwigs, Huang He walked to the rear of the mortar and began to introduce various basic data.

"Theoretically, this gun can be used as an enlarged version of an 81mm mortar."

"Its total combat weight is only 249 kilograms, and it can be disassembled into three parts during the march, and the heaviest gun body does not exceed 90 kilograms."

As soon as these words came out, countless possibilities for combat floated through the brigade commander's heart.

The weight of ninety kilograms can definitely be easily taken away by the Eighth Route Army at this stage, and it is very suitable for plain operations and mountain operations that require mobility.

What's more, the Blond 120mm mortar also carries rubber tires and can reach speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour when towed by trucks.

"It has a maximum range of 7,500 meters and a theoretical rate of fire of 10~12 rounds per minute. The shell weighed seventeen kilograms, and the radius of destruction was thirty-four meters. ”

Compared with the original French goods, the models provided by the Awakening Brave Tiger system have been slightly changed. It has not only been equipped with quite advanced observation and sighting equipment, but has also increased its range by 500 meters.

The above data once again caused the bigwigs to exclaim.

Although everyone present has seen the world, everyone's reaction is not uncommon and strange, mainly because the performance of Bronde's 120mm is too rebellious.

The current Republic of China is not incapable of producing mortars with a caliber of more than 120 mm, and the Mukden Arsenal and the Fifty Factories of Preserved Fruit have even made large pipes of 150 mm before.

It's a pity that due to materials and technology, the above-mentioned weapons are inferior in terms of range and other indicators, and their performance is often only about 70% of that of imported goods.

As a product of the old artillery powerhouse and the work of the mortar grandfather, even the power of the original version is far greater than the equipment of the Soviet Union and Germany at the same time.

After all, both weighed more than 280 kilograms, and their ranges were only 5,700 meters and 6,000 meters.

The basic data of the new artillery made the brigade commander's eyes light up again,

"Almost eight thousand meters of range? It's really an enlarged version of the 81-mm mortar. ”

"These seventeen-kilogram shells must have a three-kilogram charge, which is really a good thing."

Although the muzzle velocity of the mortar is not high, its powerful power is definitely not inferior to the devil's 105 howitzer, and ordinary civil and wooden bunkers are definitely one cannon.

The Type 92 infantry guns and Type 94 mountain guns could only be hung and beaten in the face of heavy pressure.

If there had been this thing in the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, the results of the soldiers would definitely be greater, and the corresponding casualties would have been reduced.

"How's that power?"

With the data, everyone present is looking forward to the upcoming test launch.

After all, the caliber and the weight of the shells are just a number, and the bigwigs who are doers want to see specific combat effects.

When the deputy general staff officer asked this question, Political Commissar Zhu had already completed the erection of the artillery position. A few kilometers away, a civil fortification was used as a target.

"Guys, the live-fire test is about to begin."

After speaking, the soldiers of the artillery company began to do the last check before shooting. They erected the barrels of their guns, and then brought out heavy shells for backup.

"Report!"

"Ready, ready to fire!"

"Good!"

Political Commissar Zhu used a portable communicator to determine that the target of the position in the distance had been put in place, and all the staff members had also evacuated the scene.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the intended target is a semi-buried civil bunker four kilometers away."

"The target bunker was built according to the standard structure of the devils, and in order to test the performance of the 120-mm mortar, the comrades also strengthened the fortifications to a certain extent."

"It has three layers of cross-horizontal pine beams at the top, and multiple wooden support posts on the bottom to defend against direct hits from multiple 81mm mortar shells."

"Let's get started."

The deputy commander-in-chief said.

Political Commissar Zhu ran to the artillery position and personally directed the soldiers to aim.

Today is the first time that artillery has come into contact with large-caliber mortars, and the performance of the new weapon is unfamiliar to everyone. In order to live up to the trust that Huang He placed in him, he decided to go out himself.

After confirming that it was correct, Political Commissar Zhu signaled that everyone present was about to open fire.

"Boom!"

The muzzle fireworks exploded, and the ground was shaken up with a cloud of dust.

A moment later, a loud explosion was heard in the distance, followed by firelight and smoke.

"Missed the target, the impact point deviated fifty meters to the right!"

Hearing the location of the shells reported by the observation post, Political Commissar Zhu adjusted the firing of Zhu Yuan without changing his face, and then asked the artillery crew to prepare for reloading.

With a new gun, it is quite normal for the first shot not to hit, nothing to make a fuss about.

Fifteen seconds later, another cannon shot flew towards the target fortifications.

Political Commissar Zhu deserves to be a high-achieving student who graduated from the artillery school, and he has already mastered the skills of using this gun after just one test firing, and the second shell accurately hit the bunker.

With the help of telescopes, everyone watched as a barely visible black dot plunged into a half-buried civil bunker in the distance. Then the smoke rose and scattered with dirt and broken wood.

In an instant, all the bigwigs, including the deputy commander-in-chief and the deputy general staff, were boiling.

The blasted wood chips and dust all proved that the solid civil bunkers in the distance had been completely destroyed.

One shot into the soul!

If the opposite side is really an enemy position, then the shelling just now has already killed a dozen devils and a strong fortification.

"Good cannon!"

The deputy commander-in-chief couldn't help but applaud, the explosion just now was definitely pleasing to the eye.

"It's a good cannon indeed."

The Deputy General Staff also nodded approvingly, and everyone was very satisfied with the power of the 120-mm mortar. With such a ferocious offensive weapon, the combat effectiveness of the Eighth Route Army will inevitably rise to a higher level.

While everyone was sighing with emotion, Political Commissar Zhu took a portable communicator and began to report a detailed battle report.

"The shelling just now completely destroyed the internal structure of the fortifications, and absolutely no one could carry that shell."

Although they saw the bunker collapse with their own eyes, such a serious internal damage still surprised the bigwigs, and they immediately walked towards the artillery position.

······

After the test firing, Huang He followed the bigwigs to the office of the test site.

In addition to observing new weapons, there is another big thing to draft today. That was to establish the artillery academy of the Eighth Route Army and elect its first president.

At present, troops at all levels have successively installed 50, 60, and 81 French mortars, plus the 120 mm mortars to be installed in the second half of the year and the 75 Miss that will be delegated to the regimental level, and the artillery of the Eighth Route Army has been initially concretely systematized.

The current picture seems perfect, but one problem is gradually emerging.

That is, the speed of training of artillery is far from being comparable to the production of new weapons, and if this continues, there will be an embarrassing situation in which the troops will have a large number of equipment and other people.

In order to speed up the training of artillery cadres and vigorously develop the artillery of the main forces, both the border region and the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army considered it necessary to establish an artillery academy in Shanxi.

In the original plan of the deputy commander-in-chief, he was going to make the artillery chief of the 129th Division the principal.

After all, Director Zhao is an old veteran, and he has followed the troops to climb the snow-capped mountains and walk through the grasslands, and he is a veteran who has grown up from the grassroots level step by step and relied on his military exploits.

In the Dadu River back then, if he hadn't killed three firepower points with three shells, the soldiers would definitely have suffered heavy casualties.

Although his level of education is somewhat low, he has a lot of experience and talent in actual combat. In today's special period, the speed of Yeluzi may be faster.

However, the deputy general staff officer has his own ideas, Director Zhao is indeed the artillery god of the 129th Division, but he spends most of his time manipulating mortars.

If it was the previous bitter haha period, there was nothing wrong with letting the other party be the principal, after all, the troops could only use mortars most of the time.

But now the Eighth Route Army has not only mortars of various calibers, but also 75 mm barrel guns and Red Arrow self-propelled rocket launchers. Even in another year or two, it will be able to be equipped with 155 large-barreled howitzers.

At this moment, the artillery school needs a founder of systematization, modernization and theorization.

From a strategic point of view, Political Commissar Zhu, who graduated from the Krasin Artillery School, is the best candidate for the principal. Suitable for Director Zhao's position, he should be the head of the school's training department.

After everyone arrived, the deputy commander-in-chief signaled Huang He to close the door, and then said straight to the point:

"Xiao Zhu, the border area and the headquarters have an important task entrusted to you."

"I am going to set up an artillery academy in Yangquan, and after many organizational discussions, the superiors have decided that you will be the first principal."

"Except for the teaching materials, which need to be written by yourself, all the teaching aids are in charge of the military industrial zone in the southeast base area of Shanxi. I have only one request for you, and that is to start the course as soon as possible! Produce the first batch of graduates as soon as possible! ”

After hearing the arrangement of the deputy commander-in-chief, Political Commissar Zhu immediately stood up and saluted and replied:

"Yes!"

"Guaranteed to complete the mission!"

Although Political Commissar Zhu promised happily, there was still a trace of hesitation in his heart. On weekdays, he is mainly responsible for presiding over the overall work of the anti-Japanese base area in Shandong, and there are many things that are actually inseparable from him.

For example, most of the national troops behind enemy lines in Shandong were the troops of Yu Xuezhong of the Northeast Army.

Due to the existence of Political Commissar Zhu, the Shandong Eighth Route Army and the Northeast Army have always maintained good cooperation, and there have hardly been any friction incidents between the two sides.

If he comes to Shanxi to become the principal, it is very likely that his previous efforts will be in vain.

As if seeing the other party's scruples, the deputy general staff said very intimately:

"We left you and Lao Xu in Shanxi, and we must have thought about who to send to Shandong to take over."

"Don't worry, the headquarters won't keep you in the school as a teacher. The desperate war fox asked me to bring you a message, he said that there is an artillery marshal in the north, then you will definitely be the artillery marshal of our Eighth Route Army in the future!

"Besides, as the principal of the Artillery Academy, it is definitely not too much for you to arrange a few actual combat training sessions for the students."

"Good! It's better to be respectful than to obey! ”

Looking at the two of them, Huang He said silently in his heart:

"Principal Zhu, there is no shortage of artillery in the army now, and you no longer need to go to the battlefield to capture weapons in person. The current situation is very good, and no enemy is qualified to let you go to the battlefield! ”

Another uneasy character

(End of chapter)