In fact, in the history of the Republic of China, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out in the early days of the Republic of China, the armies of various forces and warlords in China were equipped with very few American weapons. Why is this? Are American weapons bad?
It should be mentioned here that in the decades from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, Western powers imposed a total of three arms embargoes on China for various reasons and considerations of their own interests.
Let’s leave aside the first two times and only talk about the third time.
In 1918, the U.S. Minister to China sent a meeting to Britain, France, Japan, Italy and other countries to discuss stopping the export of weapons to China. The reason is also ridiculous. It is said that China is in the midst of a "civil war between the north and the south" and there is no unified government. And out of humanitarian considerations, we should promote the peaceful reunification of China as soon as possible and so on.
But it is actually aimed at Japan, which almost monopolizes the Chinese arms market.
Due to the previous two arms embargoes imposed by Western powers on China and the First World War, Japan, which did not sign the convention, took advantage of it.
During this period, Japan continued to sell weapons to support warlords of various factions in the Republic of China for its own development and to obstruct the unification of China. Among them, the larger Anhui, Feng, and Shanxi cliques all established their own military industrial systems based on Japanese weapons. .
After World War I, these Western powers suddenly discovered that the entire Chinese arms market was almost monopolized by Japan.
This is so fucking okay, your Japanese military-industrial system was built with my help, and now you won’t even give me a sip of the fucking soup.
Therefore, in line with the mentality that you can’t eat what I can’t eat, and the Western powers are not willing to see Japan’s influence in China deepen day by day, the United States was the first to jump out and call for an arms embargo against China. . Naturally, Britain, France and Italy, who were also unable to eat meat, hit it off.
By 1919, Japan finally could not resist the pressure of the great powers and had to sign the "Prohibition of the Sale of Arms to China" convention.
By the way, let’s talk about the terms of the embargo agreement.
The definition of this clause is unclear, and the participating countries have ulterior motives. It itself has great flaws, and the Beiyang government, which nominally represents China, has never accepted the agreement. Therefore, the great powers can only legally restrict the arms sales of their citizens, but they do not have the right to ban all arms sales to China.
Therefore, this convention is not a global and comprehensive embargo treaty, and a large number of Western countries such as Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Belgium have not signed it.
By 1924, although the United States and the United Kingdom used their influence to try to contain it, a large number of arms from non-embargoed countries such as Germany and the Czech Republic were still shipped to China.
Now, weapons sales from Germany and the Czech Republic have occupied a large part of the market in China.
France, which was eager to restore its economy after World War I, saw that its opponents and neighbors were eating meat. Naturally, it couldn't sit still and began to sell some weapons to China half-coveredly that were not specified in the treaty. Such as mortars and light mountain guns.
However, as the initiator of the "Prohibition of the Sale of Arms to China" convention, the United States, no matter how coveted the arms market of the Republic of China, could only quietly bite its teeth and swallow it, stubbornly insisting on not selling any weapons to China.
However, despite the tough attitude of the United States, a lot of aircraft that were not included in the embargo list were sold to China at that time. The Air Force of the Republic of China was equipped with many American Hawker fighter jets, which can be said to be another milestone. What do you want to do again?
Zhou Wen's previous purchases, such as the American Colt pistol and Thompson submachine gun, were all purchased through Mandel on the international smuggling market, which naturally left the American guy speechless.
However, due to strict prohibitions by the US government, such as gunboats and large-caliber heavy machine guns, it is difficult to buy them in large quantities even on the smuggling market. Therefore, even if Zhou Wen had money, he would not be able to get his favorite weapon for a while.
The gunboat was just a return. What Zhou Wentu wanted was that second-hand goods were cheap and delivered quickly, so they could be used as soon as they were available. It is mainly used to escort Yangtze River shipping, and its performance does not need to be very advanced.
But the 'Lao Gan Ma' heavy machine gun was different. Zhou Wen not only wanted to buy it ready-made, but also thought about whether it could be copied. At least he had to get a production line for the ammunition.
Otherwise, with the mercenary group's tactical thinking of putting firepower first, no matter how many bullets and machine guns they import, it will not be enough to consume in a few battles. It will be a bottomless pit that swallows gold.
So, how advanced is the 'Lao Gan Ma' heavy machine gun that makes Zhou Wen so fond of it?
The full name of the 'Laoganma' heavy machine gun is the M2 Browning air-cooled heavy machine gun. It has a caliber of 12.7 mm and fires 12.7×99mm caliber bullets, including ordinary bullets, armor-piercing incendiary bullets, armor-piercing bullets, tracer bullets, Armor-piercing tracer bullets, armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullets, training bullets, etc.
More than 90 years after its development and launch in 1921, the gun is still widely welcomed by various countries. According to statistics, more than 100 countries have purchased this heavy machine gun, and the total output has reached 3 million.
It can be said that the M2 heavy machine gun is one of the few "antique" weapons in the world. The M2 heavy machine gun has been welcomed by the US military since its introduction. Some people even affectionately call it "MaDeuce", which means "Lao Ganma". This is enough to show the deep affection of the US military for it.
When the gun fires M2 ordinary bullets, the maximum range can reach 2,500 meters, and it also has an effective range of 1,800 meters when mounted on an M3 tripod.
The M2 Browning large-caliber heavy machine gun has a net weight of 38 kilograms, and its M3 tripod weighs 20 kilograms. The V-shaped trigger is installed at the rear of the receiver and is equipped with two grips. The shooter can adjust the automatic or automatic mode by locking or opening the bolt. Semi-automatic firing.
The M2 has a wide range of uses. In order to adapt to different equipment, it can be changed to feed ammunition on the right side of the receiver in a short time without the need for special tools.
It is worth mentioning that the core of its warhead is a lead alloy wrapped in a brass casing, and the warhead weighs 45.94 grams. Therefore, at the effective range, its penetrating power far exceeds the ordinary 7.62 and 7.92 mm. Machine gun bullets.
For example, the warhead of a 12.7 mm machine gun bullet can penetrate a 30.48 cm thick sand layer and a 60.96 cm thick clay layer at a distance of 600 meters. If the enemy is concealed behind trenches and wall bunkers, he is likely to be hit by machine gun warheads that penetrate the trench defense soil and walls, causing death or injury.
What if armor-piercing bullets are used? Hehe... It can directly penetrate the frontal armor of all active armored vehicles and tanks of the Japanese army at a distance of 500-800 meters. Even the Type 97 tank, which was only equipped by the Japanese army in the late World War II, has side and The rear can also be penetrated easily.
This is only its penetrating power, what is even more incredible is its accuracy.
