American Maxim heavy machine gun
Time back to November 1929, Yang Hucheng was stationed in Nanyang for the second time, and after settling down, he immediately invited Bei Tingfang to Nanyang to continue his old love. Yang Hucheng set up a banquet at the Dushan Hotel in Nanyang to entertain Bei Tingfang, and during the banquet, Yang Hucheng asked: "Commander Bei, your Inner Township Headquarters already has six regiments, do you have heavy machine guns?" ”
Bie Tingfang said: "Each regiment only has light machine guns, no heavy machine guns. ”
Yang Hucheng said, "I'll send you a few." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "Commander Yang, as far as you understand me, Bei Tingfang." ”
After the banquet, Yang Hucheng took Bei Tingfang to the East Campus to pay attention to the live fire of the machine gun. Yang Hucheng's heavy machine gun is the Maxim heavy machine gun, which was invented by the American Stevens Maxim in 1883 and is the world's first successful highly lethal automatic weapon with gunpowder gas as an energy source. The Maxim heavy machine gun uses a water-cooled barrel, which looks bulky and has a large gun body. But the Makqin heavy machine gun fired three hundred rounds of bullets at a time, which shocked Bei Tingfang. Bei Tingfang touched the thick barrel of the gun, touched the rack of Makqin's gun and said, "Commander Yang, this Makqin destroyed a knife bandit, and a few people took down a bandit's cottage." ”
Yang Hucheng said: "The Americans of Dog Day will build weapons. ”
Bei Tingfang asked, "We won't make Ma Qin?" ”
Yang Hucheng said: "The Maqin that we use in the northwest of the country is all copied by our arsenal. ”
Bei Tingfang said: "I don't want to make Ma Qin." ”
Yang Hucheng said: "I will give you a gun engineer, he can build you a Maxim heavy machine gun." ”
Yang Hucheng gave Bei Tingfang's gun-making engineer Hu Wanchun. This man's head is large, his memory is good, and his brain is filled with compositions of Maxim heavy machine guns and Czech light machine guns, and is filled with the construction and parts of the Eighty-Two Mortar and the 150 mm large-caliber artillery. Yang Hucheng said, "Hu Wanchun, if you build guns and cannons for other commanders, other commanders will not treat you badly." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "Master Hu Cannon, I will give you two hundred silver yuan a month." ”
When Hu Wanchun heard the title of Hu Cannon Master, he grinned so hard that his mouth grinned to the back of his head and said, "Two hundred silver rounds, not a lot." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "It is said that Yuan Datou, who has been in the Republic of China for three years, is the most true, and I guarantee that Yuan Datou for you will be three years old." ”
Hu Wanchun went to the mouth of the West Gorge and made guns and cannons in the tiger village of Bei Tingfang's hometown. Tiger Village has only one gate, and no one is allowed to enter the gate except for the workers of the gun factory. For the director of the gun factory, Bie Tingfang chose his son Bie Ruijiu. Went to Shanghai to buy German steel, and Bie Ruijiu followed Hu Wanchun. Going to the Hanyang Gun Factory to buy gun-making equipment, Bi Ruijiu still followed Hu Wanchun. Bei Tingfang said: "Baby, you follow well, the steel of the gun must be german, you don't follow, people drop the bag slightly, our guns will be melon." Remember, no one is yourself, only you are yourself. ”
Tiger Village South Gate
The gun factory needed four hundred people, and Bie Tingfang said, "Xue Zhongcun, your regiment of five thousand people, find four hundred people who have read books to make guns." ”
Xue Zhongcun said: "In the deep ravine of tiger village, I'm afraid." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "What am I afraid of?" Stationed at the mouth of the West Gorge, three silver yuan are given every month, and in Tiger Village, ten silver yuan are given every month. How much is ten silver circles worth? A piece of rice is ten buckets of rice. A person who grows rice near the mouth of the West Gorge can grow ten buckets of rice in a month? ”
Four hundred older men and horses who had attended middle school became The gun workers of Bei Tingfang. Hu Wanchun and Bie Ruijiu were in Hankou and encountered a problem, the price of a pot camel machine, can buy five wooden wheel hand cranks. Hu Wanchun said: "It is still good to buy a pot camel machine, burn a charcoal steam engine, and have a high speed." ”
Beruijiu said, "Let's buy five hand-cranked wooden turbines." ”
Back in Tiger Village, drive the machine with a hand-cranked wooden wheel, the speed is too low, and it can only be simple and similar to the Hanyang-made rifle earlier. Bei Tingfang returned to the tiger village and said, "Ruijiu, you still have to ask for a pot camel machine, don't you just spend more silver yuan?" ”
Bie Ruijiu and Hu Wanchun went to Hankou again, bought back three pot camel machines, the speed was much faster, and several light machine guns were imitated in three months. Bei Tingfang asked Hu Wanchun: "Master Hu Cannon, the light machine gun is made, there must always be a standard." ”
Hu Wanchun said: "The light machine gun fires one hundred and twenty bullets in a row each time, and it can penetrate the steel plate at a distance of one hundred meters, which is qualified." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "Let's try." ”
Hu Wanchun said: "It is definitely qualified, the steel of our Tiger Zhai Gun Factory is German, and there is no half a pound or four or two fakes." People in Germany made steel barrels, and after firing a few hundred and twenty rounds, the barrels were not hot. ”
Hu Wanchun stretched out the two legs of the light machine gun, lay on the ground, and fired one hundred and twenty rounds at the steel plate a hundred meters away, leaving a large piece of gun hole on the steel plate. Bei Tingfang patted the steel plate and said, "Good gun, good gun, light machine gun made by Hu Cannon Division, is a good gun." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "I'll also hit one hundred and twenty rounds." ”
Hu Wanchun said, "Okay. ”
Bie Tingfang pointed his shoulder at the butt of the light machine gun, pulled the trigger, and fired one hundred and twenty rounds. Bei Tingfang even said five: "Addiction, addiction, addiction, addiction, addiction." ”
Bei Tingfang asked Hu Wanchun: "Can you build heavy machine guns and mortars?" ”
Hu Wanchun said: "To build heavy machine guns and mortars, we need German high-speed diesel engines. ”
Bei Tingfang said: "Germany, Germany, have to get by, who knows that People in Germany can't get over, just rolled firm, the diesel engine to make a good." ”
Hu Wanchun said: "The main reason is that the speed is high. ”
Bei Tingfang said, "If you are a person, you will not be dizzy." ”
Hu Wanchun said: "The machine will not faint. ”
Betingfang said: "How many German diesel engines are needed?" ”
Hu Wanchun said: "One, the German machine is too expensive." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "To make guns and cannons, no matter how expensive they are, they must be bought." If you say one, I'll buy you two. ”
Hu Wanchun and Beruijiu went to Hankou and bought two German diesel engines, and the gun factory in Tiger Village began to manufacture heavy machine guns. When the first heavy machine gun was test fired, Bei Tingfang returned to tiger village. He glanced at the heavy machine gun made by his gun factory and said to Hu Wanchun: "Master Hu, you are a capable person, you are a capable person, and the heavy machine gun built is exactly the same as the Maqin that Yang Hucheng sent me?" ”
German vintage diesel engine
Hu Wanchun said: "The size principle and shape are all imitations of the Maqin heavy machine gun, which can be different." ”
The heavy machine gun fired two hundred and forty rounds of ammunition at a time, leaving many holes in the steel plate one hundred and seventy meters away. Bei Tingfang said, "Master Hu Cannon, give you a reward of a thousand silver dollars." ”
Hu Wanchun said: "Two hundred silver dollars in January, not a lot, what do I want you to get with a thousand silver dollars?" ”
Bei Tingfang said, "The silver circle is in my hand." ”
Hu Wanchun said: "There are too many silver rounds, and if you can't grasp them with your hands, people will soon be silent." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "You people who have a bit of skill, like the readers, have a little two goals." Suspect that the silver circle has more people with hands, there are, I have seen few, you Hu Cannon Division count one. ”
The Tiger Zhai Gun Factory made a 150-millimeter cannon, and after four unsuccessful tests, BieRuijiu was annoyed and had a dispute with Hu Wanchun, so he bundled up Hu Wanchun and sent it to the Xixiakou Headquarters, where he handed it over to Bei Tingfang and said: "If you want him to get a mile, a lot of steel is wasted, and the 150-millimeter cannon has not yet been completed." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "Bei Ruijiu, if you are my son, you will personally loosen the shackles of Master Hu." ”
Bie Ruijiu was helpless and loosened Hu Wanchun's ties. Bei Tingfang pulled Hu Wanchun to sit down on the Taishi chair and said to Bie Ruijiu, "If you are my son, you will kneel down to Hu Cannon and apologize." ”
Bie Ruijiu did not want to kneel, and Bie Tingfang said, "You must kneel." ”
Hu Wanchun said, "Don't be a commander, kneel down and do something, saying that being obedient is not equivalent to kneeling." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "No, he can tie you up, I can make him kneel for you." ”
Bie Ruijiu was stubborn but Bei Tingfang, so he knelt down for Hu Wanchun.
Bei Tingfang said, "Ruijiu, who made our light machine gun, it was the Hu Cannon Division." Who made our heavy machine gun, the Hu Gunner. Who made our hand-held eye machine gun, the Hu Gunner. Who made our Eighty-Two Mortar, the Hu Artillery Division. People have built a lot of weapons for us, and if you don't admit it, you don't build a one-hundred-and-fifty-millimeter cannon, and you tie up the Hu Cannon Master, and you are considered a person. ”
Hu Wanchun stood up from the Taishi chair, pulled up the kneeling Biruijiu, and said, "Don't be commander, this matter is over." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "Master Hu Cannon, the last time I rewarded you with a thousand silver dollars, you don't want it, this time I will give you another thousand silver dollars, a total of two thousand pieces." Even if I don't Tingfang accompany you for Bie Ruijiu, it is not. ”
Hu Wanchun said, "Don't command, I Hu Wanchun took advantage of this to ask for silver yuan, but it will become extortion." ”
Bei Tingfang said, "No, no. ”
After the third 150 mm cannon was made, Hu Wanchun returned to Xi'an and never returned. The two thousand silver yuan that Bei Tingfang gave more, Hu Wanchun did not take a single piece. Hu Wanchun left, but left the blueprints and techniques for making these weapons to Wu Maosheng, who was shrewd at the Tiger Zhai Gun Factory. Bei Tingfang said: "Hu Wanchun is gone, you Wu Maosheng is the artillery division of Tiger Village, that is, the artillery division of my Tiger Village." ”
Wu Maosheng said, "Don't be a commander, I am a gun maker, and the artillery division is not an artillery division." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "The artillery division is not sealed by me Bei Tingfang, follow hu Wanchun to learn the gun-making technology, six or seven people, you put Hu Wanchun's technology in your stomach, you should not be a cannon master, who is the artillery division?" ”
Wu Maosheng said, "Thank you Commander Bei. ”
Bei Tingfang said: "Hu Wanchun has two hundred silver yuan a month, and he will also give you two hundred silver yuan." ”
Wu Maosheng said, "Don't be a commander, I only need twenty yuan a month." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "I met another person who suspected silver rounds." ”
Wu Maosheng said: "The Hu Cannon Master was read all the way, and the technical people who made guns and cannons danced for more than twenty years, and I studied with the Hu Cannon Master for six years, and then I learned the craftsmanship of others, which belongs to plagiarism, and is only worth twenty silver dollars." ”
Bei Tingfang said: "Whether it is plagiarism or plagiarism, it is all a kind of gun-making. ”
Wu Maosheng said: "It's different. What is in the stomach of the Hu Cannon Master is alive, and what is in my stomach is dead. Hu Cannon Master does not want the gourd to draw his own scoop, I will only draw the scoop compared to the gourd left by the Hu Cannon Master. ”
Bei Tingfang said, "Even if it is compared to the painting scoop, it is worth fifty silver dollars." ”
Wu Maosheng said, "It's worth twenty yuan." ”
Hu Wanchun did not go two or three miles, but never returned. Bei Tingfang sent someone to Xi'an to look for it, but to no avail. Bie Tingfang said: "I have not owed an account in my life, but I owe the others two thousand silver dollars to the Hu Cannon Division." ”
Bei Tingfang had a telephone bureau, a gun factory, the first hydropower station in Henan Province, and the Establishment of the Xixiakou Electric Light Company, which had street lights in the early 1930s. When buying a water turbine, Bei Tingfang asked Chen Fengtong, who studied water conservancy and hydropower in Neixiang, "Which country has the best water turbine?" ”
Chen Fengtong said: "The first is Germany, and the second is Japan. ”
Bie Tingfang said: "If you want Japanese scratching balls, if you want to buy them, we will buy German ones." ”
Chen Fengtong asked, "Don't command, why?" ”
Bei Tingfang said: "When making guns, Yang Hucheng said to me in Nanyang that Germany's steel is the best and Germany's machinery is the best. ”
Group photo of Yang Hucheng Zhang Xueliang
At the end of 1934, Bei Tingfang asked his master Cheng Bing to pass on the ghostwriting and wrote a letter to Yang Hucheng: "Commander Yang: Although Xixiakou to Xi'an is a long way, it is a step away. Although the West Gorge is small, it is a beautiful mountain and water. Bie Tingfang rarely wandered away from this place in his life, and he loved this place also. Nanyang parted, six years, flashed by. In this small place at the mouth of the XixiaKou, I often miss Commander Yang of Xi'an and often recite your "Self-Oath Poem". In particular, the mountains and rivers in the northwest are high and long, and the boy can not say two sentences about his hometown, which often makes Tingfang burst into tears. The boy is old in his hometown, it is the sadness of the boy, but I don't want Tingfang to be older than my hometown, and I don't want Tingfang's sorrow. In the years of chaos, I had the privilege of encountering General Yang three times, and each time I benefited a lot. You sent twelve people to help form a telephone bureau, and the total line has reached more than 2,000 kilometers, reaching the thirteen counties of Nanyang. In the territory of Nanyang, when encountering bandits and enemies, within eight hours, no matter the day, 100,000 armed forces could be mobilized, and General Yang's contribution to helping set up the Xixiakou Telephone Bureau was indispensable. The thirteen counties of Nanyang set up a joint defense headquarters, with Bei Tingfang as the director, and also relied on the merits of General Yang in sending Hu Wanchun to set up a tiger village gun factory. The rifles manufactured by the Tiger Zhai Gun Factory are manned by the joint defense team of the thirteen counties of Nanyang; the flower-eyed hand-held machine guns, light machine guns, and heavy machine guns manufactured can be equipped with each battalion company; the eighty-two mortars manufactured can be formed into four artillery battalions; and the one hundred and fifty-millimeter large-caliber artillery made can be equipped with each regiment. There are two gun factories in Henan Province, and the gun factory in Tiger Village at Xixiakou is comparable to the Gongxian Gun Factory of the Henan Provincial Government. It seems to be made by Bei Tingfang, but it is actually the work of General Yang. In his heart, Bei Tingfang was grateful to General Yang, general Yang, and General Yang. You are a big man and want to stay in history. I am a small man with a small face, as long as the place remembers. In time, Xi'an will meet or Nanyang will listen to General Yang's teachings in person, and Bei Tingfang will look forward to this day. Grace does not say thank you. You can only record your "Self-Oath Poem", which is a distant tribute to General Yang:
The northwest mountains are high and long
How can a boy be old?
The yellow river after the wave pushes the front wave,
Jump on the waves and do it!
General Yang, Bei Tingfang is waiting for you to jump on the wave and do it. The untalented brother Bei Tingfang prostrated. ”
On December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang launched the Xi'an Mutiny, and since then, Bie Tingfang's contact with Yang Hucheng has been interrupted. The Beiting Fangtuo people found two poems of Yang Hucheng and read them to show their nostalgia. The first song is "Return My Old Mountains and Rivers":
Northwest winds,
There are many wars in the southeast.
The wind blows iron horses,
Return my old mountains and rivers.
The second is "Untitled":
Chongren upstairs sighed a lot,
The world is full of things!
Great rivers and mountains are now safe?
Hate does not kill the enemy to play a triumphant song.
Bei Tingfang had read it many times, and Yang Tian sighed: "General Yang, you can no longer jump on the waves and do a battle." The ancients said: Before the master dies, the hero is full of tears, general Yang is: can not go out of the division first to sleep, helpless boy tears ah. ”
Once, when Bei Tingfang and Xue Zhongcun talked about Yang Hucheng, Bie Tingfang said: "Chiang Kai-shek did not do anything righteous in this matter, and people have locked you up and released you, but he Chiang Kai-shek is going to close Yang Hucheng for a lifetime." ”
Xue Zhongcun said: "This pass has put Yang Hucheng in the pages of history books, and Chinese must always remember him." ”
Bie Tingfang said, "Yes. ”