Before the First World War, different theories were formed in various countries about the use of artillery, taking France as an example, it had the best 75 mm rapid-fire gun in Europe and the world at that time, that is, the M1897 rapid-fire gun known as "Miss 75", with a rate of fire of 15-18 rounds / min, which was the German FK96 77 mm caliber field gun (6 to 8 rounds / As early as during the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the French artillery relied on two M1897 rapid-fire guns to alternately design to cover the advance of the infantry, defeating hundreds of Boxers and Qing troops, which attracted the attention of the great powers at that time, and developed their own 3-inch rapid-fire guns.
However, after the start of the war, after a short period of mobile warfare, the two sides soon fell into terrible positional warfare on the Western Front, with trenches and constantly reinforced underground fortifications, making 75 mm caliber guns almost useless, and unable to play any lethal effect on the enemy troops hiding in strong fortifications.
As for the British army, although it has experienced the lessons of the Boer War and is equipped with a certain number of large-caliber artillery, it is also insufficient, coupled with the problems of British domestic arms production, it is impossible to supply enough shells to the front line, and it is almost difficult to have a say in the artillery battle.
However, the German army developed a series of heavy artillery before the war, which was originally intended to be used against fortresses, but at this time it was used for positional warfare, and with its high power and long range, it was almost invincible.
After the end of World War I, countries began to pay attention to the development of large-caliber heavy artillery, especially 6-inch caliber heavy artillery, at this stage, European and American countries developed a series of 6-inch heavy cannons, generally with a range of more than 20 kilometers. At the same time, the old Japanese Army, which has been paying attention to the development of the world's advanced artillery technology, also developed its own product during this period, that is, the most powerful 6-inch heavy gun in the history of the old Japanese Army: the Type 96 150 mm caliber heavy cannon.
The Type 96 150mm heavy cannon is an improved version of the Type 89 150mm field cannon, which is only equipped with the heavy artillery wing of the permanent division, that is to say, those divisions and regiments newly formed after the outbreak of the war of aggression against China were not equipped with this heavy artillery, at most they were equipped with the old Type 89 150mm field cannon.
The Type 96 heavy cannon was one of the most powerful 6-inch caliber cannons in the world at that time, and the firing range was farther than the Italian 150 mm caliber cannon and the 155 mm caliber cannon of the U.S. Army when firing ordinary shells; in addition, the shell was the heaviest, heavier than the current 155 mm caliber bottom row projectile, and the firing range was as high as 26,200 meters, only the old Japanese Navy's Type 98 155mm cannon could exceed the performance of the Type 96 150 mm caliber heavy cannon, and the 155 mm caliber cannon of the old Japanese Navy had a longer range and greater power, but they were all naval guns or coastal guns, and ground mobile artillery bombardment was never carried out during the war.
The Type 96 150mm heavy cannon has only one actual combat record in the Pacific Theater, that is, in the general attack on Bataan Fortress, the Japanese army transferred two Type 96 150mm heavy cannons from the heavy artillery unit of the 1st Division in the mainland to participate in the shelling. As for the Chinese battlefield, although some people claim that it was used in the Chinese battlefield, they do not explain its origin, especially considering that after the rapid advance of the Japanese army in the early stage of the war, it entered the hinterland of China, especially in the complex mountains in the south and the southern China region where the water network is intertwined, and the Type 96 heavy cannon with difficult mobility is almost impossible to move an inch, but the relatively lighter Type 96 150mm howitzer is more widely used.
The power of the heavy artillery machine of the Japanese army is generally not strong, and it usually only mobilizes heavy artillery units to shell when it encounters a strong defensive line, and the Type 96 heavy cannon is divided into two types: mobile and fortress, but it can be towed and maneuvered by the whole gun. The production of Type 96 heavy cannons was not large, of which only 30 were fortress types, and most of them were deployed in the Heilongjiang fortress area of the Kwantung Army during the war, while the mobile ones were mainly equipped with heavy artillery wings deployed on the mainland.
At the time of Japan's surrender, in addition to the Type 96 150mm heavy cannon deployed on the mainland, the other Type 96 150mm heavy cannons were deployed in northeast China to defend against the Soviet Red Army. After the Japanese surrendered, the whereabouts of these heavy artillery pieces are unknown, and it is said that the Soviets transferred these heavy artillery to Lin Biao's Northeast Field Army, but there is no definite evidence, especially photos.
However, after the Eighth Route Army entered the Northeast, not only did the size of its personnel expand sharply in a short period of time, but its firepower also increased violently, even in the artillery battle with the Kuomintang Army equipped with American-made 155 howitzers, it did not fall behind at all, and most of the time even the PLA had a firepower advantage, and there is reason to believe that the Northeast PLA may be equipped with a certain number of Type 96 150mm heavy cannons. As for the entry into the customs, it may be that this kind of heavy artillery is difficult to maneuver, the PLA lacks transport and towing tools, and the firepower of the Kuomintang troops in the customs has decreased, so there is no need to dispatch this kind of weapon. After the PLA achieved Sovietization, these heavy artillery are likely to find their final home in the large-scale steel smelting after the founding of the People's Republic of China.