In the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, there were not many artillery units in the Kuomintang army system; in the vast majority of infantry divisions and regiments, only mortars could be used, and only a few mountain artillery could be used in some elite divisions or miscellaneous divisions for special reasons, and the models were often outdated.
At that time, the mountain howitzers were all equipped in independent artillery units, usually organized as artillery regiments, and used as subordinates.
However, before and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang army received a large amount of American aid, and the number of howitzers, mountain artillery, and anti-aircraft artillery increased rapidly, and it also received about 1.3 million Japanese troops and a considerable number of weapons after the surrender of the puppet army.
Of course, it is impossible for the puppet army to be equipped with too many artillery, but there are quite a few types of artillery retained in the devil's establishment.
Therefore, in the reorganization of the army from the second half of 1945 to the first half of 1946, the Kuomintang Army built a US armament unit with US aid equipment as the core, a Japanese armament unit with Japanese armament as the core, a national armament unit with national armament as the mainstay, and of course a miscellaneous armament unit with all kinds of weapons.
In the configuration of artillery fire, corresponding adjustments were made.
For example, in the US armament unit, an American-style 105-mm howitzer battalion is established at the infantry corps or integrated division level, and an American 75-mm mountain artillery battalion is established at the infantry division or integrated brigade level.
In the Japanese armament units, a Japanese 75-mm field artillery battalion is established at the infantry corps or integrated division level, and a Japanese 75-mm mountain artillery battalion is established at the infantry division or integrated brigade level.
In the national armament troops, they are mainly equipped with field artillery and mountain artillery equipped during the Anti-Japanese War, and in principle, there must be corresponding artillery battalions at the army, division, or integrated division and brigade level.
In addition to artillery deployed at the division and brigade level, large-caliber howitzers and field artillery are still equipped with independent artillery units for support in strategic directions.
Of course, these are the state of preparation in theory, and when they are put into practice, there are various situations.
For example, the famous reorganized 74th Division, because the unit first encountered the Battle of Xiangxi when it was refitting American weapons, and then after Japan surrendered, this unit was urgently transferred to Nanjing, so its redress was not completely completed.
A more typical situation is that this integrated division is not equipped with a battalion of American 105-mm howitzers.
When the division attacked the liberated areas, the American-style howitzer battalion that supported it was attached from an independent artillery unit and did not belong to the division in terms of organization.
This is fundamentally different from the new 1st Army, the new 6th Army, the 5th Army, and the integrated 11th Division, all of which have American-style howitzer battalions within their headquarters.
However, although the reorganized 74th Division lacked divisional howitzer battalions, its three reorganized brigade mountain artillery battalions were complete, and all of them were American-style mountain artillery.
According to the establishment of the American-style mountain artillery battalion at that time, a battalion had three companies under its jurisdiction, with a total of 12 75-mm mountain guns, and the three battalions had a total of 36 guns.
The American mountain gun was lightweight, maneuverable, and had good performance, which made it very suitable for the domestic battlefield, and the shells were relatively well supplied; to a large extent, this kind of artillery was more suitable than the American 105 mm heavy gun, especially in mobile combat.
When the East China Army first fought against the reorganized 74th Division, the latter frequently used American-style mountain artillery, which caused a lot of pressure on our army.
However, in the Battle of Menglianggu in May 1947, with the destruction of the reorganized 74th Division, its three divisions of American-style mountain artillery battalions were also destroyed.
According to the statistics of Huaye after the war, a total of 28 mountain artillery pieces were captured in this battle, because Huaye's mountain artillery at that time was deployed at the column level, so it could meet the formation of several column artillery battalions at once.
Therefore, the reorganized 74th Division is in Menglianggu, and it can be said that it also served as a wave of transport brigades.
Of course, you may wonder why there are 36 guns in the establishment and 28 guns captured.
Because one gun was buried on the spot, it was not discovered during the time constraints of cleaning the battlefield, and was later found by the integrated 9th Division that rushed to the battlefield; the other 7 guns were not brought out due to damage and lack of repair, and later these guns and the newly replenished mountain artillery formed the artillery foundation of the reorganized 74th Division after the reconstruction.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the establishment of the American-style artillery battalion is very different from that of the previous national artillery artillery, and its auxiliary forces are also quite high, especially with light machine guns and submachine guns.
According to the schedule at the time, one American mountain artillery battalion was equipped with 24 light machine guns, 65 submachine guns and 212 rifles, while three American mountain artillery battalions should have 72 light machine guns, 195 submachine guns and 636 rifles.
In addition, because it is a mule and horse mountain artillery battalion, there are 266 mules and horses in one battalion, and the three battalions are about 800 mules and horses.
Of course, since all the mountain artillery of the reorganized 74th Division has not been brought out, then its artillery battalions must also be dissatisfied with the formation.
But even if most of the weapons and mules and horses of the three artillery battalions were captured, this was a significant gain.
In addition, there are two points worth noting: First, there are still a large number of communications and sighting equipment in the artillery battalion structure, which are also very valuable to our army; second, the artillery battalion is not a melee unit, and after annihilating it, it is bound to capture a large number of gunners, and winning liberation fighters to become the artillery of our army is also a measure that makes our army's artillery grow rapidly.
Therefore, the battle of Menglianggu annihilated the three American-style mountain artillery battalions of the 74th Division, and it can be said that the harvest is far more than the 28 mountain artillery, and the benefits in other aspects are also very great.