Chapter 29 Harvest
Although the huge gains of this trip had been anticipated, when Mao Bang handed over the list of materials that had been cleaned up to Zhou Zhi Rou, Zhou Zhi Rou was still shocked by the rich variety and large quantity.
First, there were the rifles in boxes in the transport vehicles, including over 1 million French MAS-36 rifles and over 700,000 British Lee-Enfield No. 3 rifles. There were also over 30,000 French MAS-38 submachine guns and over 20,000 British Sten submachine guns. Additionally, there were over 10,000 French MAC M1924/29 light machine guns and over 10,000 British Browning light machine guns. Furthermore, there were over 3,000 French Hotchkiss Mle 1914 and MAC 1931 heavy machine guns and over 1,000 British Mark I heavy machine guns. The rest included a large quantity of handguns, grenades, and various types of ammunition. Since the war in Europe had already ended for more than a month, the German army, in order to guard against resistance organizations, had concentrated almost all of the captured light weapons at the logistics base in Strasbourg, where they were packed into boxes and prepared to be transported back to Germany. This greatly benefited the 1st Marine Regiment, who simply loaded the neatly arranged boxes of weapons onto transport vehicles and then transported them to the floating airbase.
Regarding the handling of these firearms, Zhou Zhi Rou agreed with Mao Bang Chu's suggestion. In order to ensure uniformity in bullet caliber and reduce logistical pressure, the air force would retain half of the French military weapons for the 1st Land Warfare Brigade to re-equip, which would also be used for future consumption and personnel expansion of the brigade. The remaining French military weapons and British weapons were handed over to the Military Commission for distribution.
The equipment of automatic firearms made it a nightmare for the Japanese army when they encountered the 1st Land Warfare Brigade later on. Firstly, they were beaten badly by the brigade during the charge, and just as they reached the defensive line ready for close combat, the officers and soldiers of the brigade pulled out their pistols and started shooting at moving targets with "bang, bang, bang". This tactic made many Japanese commanders vomit blood and die later on.
Apart from small arms, the 1st Marine Regiment also utilized transport vehicles to tow various artillery pieces, including hundreds of cannons, howitzers and even more mortars and anti-aircraft guns. For example, the British had abandoned MK2-type 25-pound howitzers at Dunkirk, along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition. Zhou Zhiyou had never seen so many artillery pieces concentrated in one place before; it was a truly spectacular sight. Since the 1st Marine Regiment needed to be airborne and belonged to a rapid reaction force, Zhou Zhiyou decided to leave behind mortars and some anti-aircraft guns to strengthen the regiment's heavy firepower, while giving the other artillery pieces to their army brothers who needed them more.
Guns and cannons are currently the most urgently needed by the Chinese army, so they were also the priority targets for looting when the strategy was first formulated. After these things were looted, the soldiers of the 1st Marine Division went to loot other equipment piled up in the open space. So now, various types of tanks, armored vehicles, self-propelled guns and other vehicles are parked in Base No. 1. The most numerous are Panhard 178 light armored cars and Gendron AM39 armored cars, which were heavily equipped by the French army and will be used by the German army to attack the Allies in history, but now more than a thousand of them have been captured again by the Chinese army. In addition, more than 300 Renault R-35 light tanks, hundreds of SOMUA S-35 medium tanks, Hachette H35H38H39 tanks and Char B1/B1bis heavy tanks were looted, as well as several British Matilda I tanks. These tanks even fired shells at the Allies in history after the Normandy landing, but that's not possible now. Due to the weight of these tanks, they are difficult to tow, and the load-bearing capacity of the floating base is limited, so the number of tanks transported to the floating base is relatively small. However, a large number of remaining tanks were burned down at the material base, which was a big loss for Germany. The Chinese army made a huge contribution to the European battlefield!
These heavy equipment were originally difficult to use on the Chinese battlefield due to lack of oil. However, now that the Yumen Oil Field has begun to expand production and other oil fields are under secret exploration, China will soon have its own armored forces, and these equipment can be used for training purposes. In the suggestions of Mao Bangchu and He Junci, it was clear that the 1st Land Warfare Brigade would be built into a rapid reaction force, so most of the tanks were not needed and could be handed over to the Military Commission for use in training and equipping armored forces. Zhou Zhiyou finally left enough Panhard 178 light armored cars and Gendron AM39 armored cars to strengthen the defense and firepower of the 1st Land Warfare Brigade and the air defense and logistics transportation of various airports. Some "Renault" R-35 light tanks were also left behind, which would be used by paratroopers as an armored assault force. It is worth noting that the "Renault" R-35 light tank was very small, and in France, some people even replaced it with oxen for plowing fields.
This time, the 1st Land Warfare Brigade also seized several British and French aircraft at a logistics base in Strasbourg, including two "Hurricane" and "Spitfire" fighter jets of the British army, one old-fashioned Morane-Saulnier MS225 fighter jet of the French army, as well as several MB.151, MB.152 fighter jets and newly produced MB.155 fighter jets that were heavily equipped by the French army. Although there were also reconnaissance planes and bombers left at the logistics base, these guys were too big, and the soldiers of the 1st Land Warfare Brigade couldn't handle them, and the floating airbase didn't have much space to accommodate these big guys, so they had to be abandoned. These fighter jets were handed over to the Equipment Department, allowing the Aviation Research Institute to dismantle and study them, as British and French fighter jets were worth learning from in terms of engines, weapon systems, and sighting devices.
The nearly thousand vehicles used for loading materials during the transportation greatly enriched the Chinese army's transport capacity, especially since some of them were supplemented to the Southwest Transportation Station (also known as Xingyun Company, and later the predecessor of the China-Burma Transportation Company) for transporting materials on the Burma Road. Although the Burma Road had been closed by the British in mid-July, this was only temporary. By September, when the Tripartite Pact between Germany, Italy, and Japan was signed, the British would realize that their appeasement policy in the Far East was also a joke.
The large quantities of fuel transported by the vehicles also greatly alleviated the Chinese army's fuel shortage, although the Yumen oil field had already begun to expand production, but for the time being it was still difficult to alleviate the fuel shortage situation, and suddenly increasing so many armored vehicles and cars was a bit tight.
Most of the materials were handed over to the Military Commission, and the Chairman smiled when he received the list of materials. It is worth noting that in the early days of the War of Resistance, the Chinese army was extremely short of supplies. Now with such a large batch of supplies coming in, several armored infantry divisions can be expanded. Finally, we don't have to use lives to make up for the lack of equipment.
"Hundred Blessings (Chiang's nickname for his wife), this time the air force has achieved a great merit! When we first established the air force, there were many controversies. Some people thought that it was not worth investing so much money in developing the air force, because everything related to our air force, including fuel and ammunition, had to be imported. They looked down on the air force, saying that its role was only auxiliary, and that capturing cities and territories still relied on the army. But I have personally experienced the bombing by the Japanese, so I knew the importance of the air force and strongly supported its development. Hundred Blessings, do you know? I also felt uncertain and uneasy, although in recent years our air force has been able to fight against the Japanese, but I still wasn't satisfied. This time, the achievements of the air force have finally proven its strength, and now I can rest at ease." Chiang Kai-shek said with a sigh.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for your praise. The achievements of the Air Force today are all due to the cultivation of the Chairman. I still remember the encouraging words of the Chairman when I went to Europe and America to inspect aviation in the past. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance, people from all walks of life donated money and materials, and the Air Force was built with this money." Zhou Zhiyou can be said to be a veteran of the Chinese Air Force, and he is also clear about these things.
"Don't thank me, you have to thank someone else."
"Who is Director He?" Zhou Zhirou asked.
"It was this person, who returned from Nanyang with many secrets. The Air Force Headquarters must make good use of him. Especially note that we must win over his heart, he will be the 'great savior' of China's air force." Chiang Kai-shek did not dare to tell Zhou Zhirou about the crossing matter, but strictly ordered Zhou Zhirou to respect He Junci's opinions. A conversation made Zhou Zhirou have a different understanding of He Junci and attach great importance to his opinions, almost listening to him unconditionally.
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After returning to Chongqing, He Juncai slept for a whole day before recovering his energy. He called Zheng Shaoyu to understand the air defense situation in Sichuan over the past week of executing the Europa trip plan.
After the Japanese army's successful surprise attack on July 31, they organized several sporadic attacks. However, the Fourth Flying Group had unified command over the Sichuan region and concentrated its faster I-16 fighter jets, using reconnaissance radar, airport intelligence personnel, and ground anti-aircraft sentries in coordination. Neither the Japanese Navy's 96 land-based attack aircraft nor the Japanese Army's 97 heavy bombers were effective, and several were shot down by the Chinese Air Force, with several pilots killed or captured. The Fourth Flying Group lost only two I-16 fighter jets, and its pilots suffered only minor injuries.
For this small-scale, low-loss battle, He Junkai actually hoped for more, as long as the loss rate was maintained at 3% to 5%. The third, fourth and fifth squadrons of the Fourth Flying Group would quickly grow up, especially those fledglings who had just graduated from flight school, could quickly adapt to the rhythm of war under the leadership of experienced pilots. It is necessary to know that in a few days, the "Zero" fighter will appear, breaking the balance between the Chinese and Japanese air forces, and the Fourth Flying Group must be brought into shape as soon as possible.
He Juncai and Zheng Shaoyu still faced the problem of updating their fighter jets. The original three, four, and five squadrons' six I-152 squadrons were gradually being replaced by I-16s. New I-16-24 and I-16-29 series fighter jets were constantly arriving at airports in Sichuan from the Soviet Union via Urumqi and Lanzhou, with the Soviet Volunteer Air Corps responsible for these transportation tasks. The I-16 series of fighter jets was notorious for being difficult to control, and it took some time to adapt after switching from the I-152 to the I-16. During this period, in addition to performing air patrol missions, the original I-16 squadrons of each squadron temporarily took on the task of training, responsible for the other two squadrons' tasks of replacing their planes with I-16s. The original three squadrons' I-16-10 aircraft were also modified by the equipment department, replacing the two ShKAS machine guns on the wings with heavy machine guns to enhance firepower. This move received unanimous praise from all I-16 pilots, as the larger caliber of the machine guns not only increased firepower but also extended the effective range of fire. Originally, they had to close in to within 100 meters to open fire and effectively damage enemy planes, but now they could open fire at a distance of 400 meters, and entering a range of 200 meters would even more demonstrate the powerful force of the large-caliber machine guns. In fact, this enhancement of firepower proved to be very successful.
In the next few days, the main task of the Fourth Flying Group was still to receive new equipment and training, but this brief calm would soon be broken.
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