Source: Learning Corps, People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center
Author: Han Jie, Wang Fei, Song Yi
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the victory of the Long March.
The Long March, which took place from 1934 to 1936, is a magnificent epic written by the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army with faith, ideals, courage and will.
During the Long March, the heroic and fearless Red Army won victory after victory again and again under extremely difficult conditions with rifles, pistols, light and heavy machine guns and other weapons.
Today
The Legion takes you on a retrospective
Weapons used in the Long March of the Red Army
Relive this great victory
Draw on the strength to forge ahead
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Rifle: The Warrior's "Second Life"
In the Long March of the Red Army, the "Hanyang-made" rifle was the rifle with the largest number of equipment and use. It is durable and durable, can accurately hit the target from 300 meters away, coupled with the length of the gun, it is more advantageous in white-knife combat.
▲ "Hanyang-made" rifle
The Red Army's more used rifles were the Type 38 6.5mm rifle (Type 38 rifle), which was stable in long-range ballistic flight.
The Type 38 horse gun, also known as the Type 38 mounted gun, is specially designed at the request of the cavalry unit, and its basic structure is the same as that of the Type 38 rifle.
▲The 38th type riding gun was used by the Red Army when crossing the Jinsha River.
Submachine Guns: Narrow roads meet, firepower wins
The most used submachine gun in the Red Army was the MP18 Bergman. The Bergman submachine gun was born during the First World War, with a simple structure and good stability.
▲ MP18 Bergman: The gun is 815mm long and weighs 4.17kg.
In the red army's previous anti-"encirclement and suppression" operations, commander-in-chief Zhu Dechang led the guard unit equipped with MP18 Bergman and threw himself into key battles. In the battle to capture the Luding Bridge, the Red Army warriors carried MP18 submachine guns and large knives, and captured the bridge to ensure the advance of the large troops.
▲Shen Yaoyi's painting "Dadu Bridge Cross Iron Cable Cold"
Pistol: A great melee weapon
During the Long March, the automatic pistol used by the Red Army was an excellent weapon for close combat.
▲ The pistol that Zhu De began to use in the Nanchang Uprising, which has always accompanied Zhu De. It has a caliber of 7.63mm, a barrel length of 100mm and a total length of 263mm.
▲ Chen Geng used the American-made Smith Wesson 0.38-inch revolver during the Long March.
▲ The M1932 automatic pistol used by Nie Rongzhen, political commissar of the Red 1 Army.
Light and heavy machine guns: the "sharp blade" that breaks through the blockade line
The Red Army is more equipped with the Swiss Qilari 7.92mm light machine gun, although the accuracy of continuous shooting is poor, but it is easy to carry and simple in structure.
▲ On May 25, 1935, the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of the 1st Red Army used a light machine gun imitating the Swiss Qilali when forcibly crossing the Dadu River.
On May 25, 1935, Red Army soldiers approached Anshun Field on the banks of the Dadu River. In order to cover the commando team's seizure of the ferry, six special archers of the Red Army, armed with captured Qilari machine guns, used fierce fire to make the enemy unable to lift his head, and effectively supported the battle of the warriors crossing the river.
▲ The Swiss-made Kirari 7.92mm light machine gun used by the Red Army when it forcibly crossed the Dadu River.
The heavy machine gun used more by the Red Army is the Maxim and the imitation, which is the world's first machine gun that can automatically shoot continuously, with fierce firepower and a total gun weight of 62kg.
▲ German Maxim MG08 heavy machine gun, caliber 7.92mm.
Heavy machine guns used by the Red Army also included the "Thirty Knots" type. The "Thirty Knots" heavy machine gun made a great contribution in the Long March. On March 18, 1935, the Red Army marched to the town of Moutai in Guizhou, where three Kuomintang planes followed and bombed. The air defense company of the guard battalion of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission fired fiercely at the enemy planes with four "thirty-knot" heavy machine guns, and one enemy plane was immediately hit with "upside-down onions."
Horsetail Grenade: The Red Army's earliest homemade "heavy" weapon
A rounded projectile is tied behind a thick hemp rope, much like the ancient Chinese meteor hammer, which is a ponytail grenade.
When the warriors drop the bomb, they hold the "horsetail" and spin it a few times before throwing it out, and under the action of centrifugal force, the grenade can fly farther. At the same time, the "horsetail" plays a balancing role, which can ensure that the warhead lands first, which greatly improves the probability of explosion.
▲ Horsetail grenade, outer diameter of about 55mm, length of about 93mm, the appearance of prefabricated vertical and horizontal grooves, equipped with a firing mechanism composed of a firing pin, a firing needle spring, a primer, etc., with a safety bolt insurance, no shell protection. The bottom of the bullet is knotted with a hemp and brown hemp tail, which is about 700 to 900 mm long.
"Seven Lives and Five Mountain Cannons": The only mountain cannon that arrived in northern Shaanxi with the Red Army's Long March
The Qisheng Wugaoshan Gun was manufactured by shanghai arsenal in 1927, with a caliber of 75mm, a gun body length of 1050mm, a weight of 386 kg, and a maximum range of 4300 meters.
▲ Seven-life five-over mountain gun, the gun mount is two-wheeled single-legged, wooden wheels, and the barrel is short and thick. "Sheng" is a transliteration of the English "centimeter", and "seven births and five passes" is 7.5cm.
The Red Army captured two such mountain cannons during the Long March, only one of which remained. In order not to let the mountain cannon fall behind, the soldiers broke it down and transported it to northern Shaanxi in the form of loose pieces. Since then, this mountain cannon has participated in many battles and made great achievements.
In 1959, the mountain cannon, numbered "587", was housed in the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution.
Some other weapons -
Wind and rain, blood quenching
85 years
The back of the Red Army faded away
Their great spirit shines forever
A new journey
Let us remember the great deeds of the Red Army
Carry forward the spirit of the Great Long March
Don't forget your original intention, keep moving forward
Take the long march of the new era!
(Produced by the Media of the Learning Corps and the People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center)