As for the equipment, this is very sophisticated. Zhou Wen combined the experience of two generations, plus he was an international mercenary, and he had seen and heard a lot.
The first is mountain artillery. In view of the fact that the main combat environment in the future will basically be mountainous areas, those that are too heavy and have too large a caliber are not suitable. It is best to be easy to disassemble, and individual parts can be carried by manpower. The range is more than five kilometers, and it can be used for both direct and indirect fire.
Direct firing artillery.
At that time, domestic imitation mountain cannons were first eliminated by Zhou Wen. There was no way, let alone accuracy and range, the weight was daunting. Even the Type 94 mountain cannon, which was developed by Japan four years later, has the lightest single component.
It has also reached nearly 60 kilograms, and it is basically impossible to move long distances by human power.
During this period, there was only one little-known mountain cannon that met Zhou Wen's requirements. That was the French Schneider 1928 75mm S.E.L. "Light Mountain Cannon", also called an infantry cannon.
The most significant advantage of the S.E.L. infantry gun is its range. Due to factors such as weight, the barrel of the S.E.L. has to be considered as short as 710 mm (9.4 times). When using a general charge (weak charge), the muzzle
The muzzle velocity is 175m/s, and the maximum range is 2560 meters, which is roughly the same as an ordinary rifle howitzer. However, S.E.L. uses a strong charge, but it can reach a muzzle velocity of 300m/s and a range of up to 6000 meters!
A 75mm light gun with a barrel of only 9.4 times can actually hit 6,000 meters. Schneider's strong charge shooting was the most powerful technology at the time. And the two kinds of charges can also ensure that S.E.L. can shoot at various distances.
accuracy. Later actual combat proved that the S.E.L.'s accuracy was no less than that of a flat-fire cannon.
However, S.E.L.'s design miracle has just begun. A deflection infantry howitzer that was almost destined to only fire low-power artillery shells was actually designed by Schneider to be an anti-tank gun that can shoot tanks!
Combat defense artillery pays attention to high muzzle velocity and very low trajectory in order to exert the penetrating power of penetrating armor. Therefore, the barrel of combat defense artillery must be long and the trajectory must be low. The design requirements are exactly the opposite of those of infantry anti-tank guns. No matter how brilliant it is,
It was impossible for designers to use a 9.4 times short barrel to fire a gun with a high muzzle velocity. So the designers started thinking. Since they couldn’t use a 9.4 times short barrel to fight a tank, they had to change the barrel.
Schneider adopted the "double barrel" concept that was very popular at the time. Using the same gun mount and breech, two barrels with different calibers and functions were prepared. In battle, two barrels that can be quickly replaced are equivalent to making the artillery more powerful.
It has two completely opposite functions. So Schneider designers added a slender 24.7x47mm barrel to the S.E.L. to become a part-time anti-tank gun.
In terms of surface muzzle velocity alone, the S.E.L. with a 47mm barrel was only a barely qualified anti-tank gun. At that time, anti-tank guns from various countries had muzzle velocities as high as about 700 meters per second.
The shells accumulate kinetic energy that can penetrate the armor. However, the muzzle velocity of the S.E.L. is only 600m/s. It is used to hit guns, so it may not be able to effectively penetrate the steel armor of the tank.
The reason for the poor muzzle velocity of S.E.L. is easy to speculate. The barrels of the double barrels use the same breech block. The breech block of the infantry howitzer needs to control the weight, and the strength and tightness are bound to be inferior to that of a specialized anti-tank gun. Moreover,
The decomposable gun mount is fixed with cylindrical bolts and cannot withstand too much recoil. Therefore, the gun of the 47 mm barrel cannot be too strong, and the muzzle velocity is not as good as that of ordinary anti-tank guns. In order to reduce
For recoil, the S.E.L.'s 45mm barrel even used Schneider's masterpiece muzzle brake. The muzzle brake back then was still the latest technology.
However, Schneider's designers did not succumb to the inherent limitations of the breech block. The muzzle velocity of 600m/s cannot exert the power of armor-piercing bullets, so they dropped the armor-piercing bullets and let the 45mm barrel fire brand-new armor-piercing bullets.
!
Therefore, S.E.L.'s anti-tank projectiles are "semi-explosive armor-piercing projectiles" that can "break steel armor", which are also known as conical charge armor-piercing projectiles today. This is another one of the world's leading projects.
Ultra-new technology. With ultra-new armor-piercing bullets, no tank of the year could withstand the power of S.E.L.
Armor-piercing shells allow S.E.L. to completely break through the limits of infantry howitzers. Infantry howitzers are all high-elevation cannons. Although all countries want to have rifle howitzers with flat-firing functions, the results of various attempts are not ideal. Take Japan.
As for the famous Type 92 infantry gun, the function of Type 92 is theoretically capable of both horizontal and curved fire. The Japanese used four incrementally changing charges to increase the muzzle velocity and lower the ballistics, but even if the four
Even with the full charge of the ** package, the muzzle velocity of the Type 92 can only reach 197m/s. It may be okay to build a brick house, but it will be helpless when encountering a tank.
However, these top technologies can only be regarded as S.E.L.'s gimmicks. S.E.L.'s human mobility concept is the most outstanding feature of this strange gun.
To accompany the infantry in combat on any terrain, infantry artillery must be very light. During this period, Germany's lightest mountain cannon had a total weight of only 440 kilograms, and Belgium's had a total weight of 243 kilograms (the anti-tank 47mm barrel was slightly heavier).
to 275 kilograms), and the later Japanese Type 92 infantry gun was even more incredibly light, only 204 kilograms, hardly like a cannon.
Secondly, to be closely integrated with the infantry, infantry artillery must get rid of mules and horses. Only artillery that can be directly transported by manpower can closely follow the footsteps of infantry on the battlefield, climb over rugged hills, and sneak into craters and trenches. Therefore, most infantry artillery
Human harnesses can be added to allow soldiers to tow the cannon. However, there are still limitations to towing the cannon. For example, how to tow the cannon when climbing a mountain wall with both hands and feet?
As a result, Schneider launched the ultimate concept of human mobility: a super lightweight gun that can be carried on people's backs.
The total deployed weight of the S.E.L. is 345 kilograms (slightly increased to 361 kilograms by using a 47mm barrel). Compared with ultra-light infantry guns such as the Type 92 infantry gun, the weight is not outstanding, but thanks to Schneider's delicate
Due to the arrangement, S.E.L.'s 345 kg has become the lightest 345 kg. Because S.E.L. can be broken down into 12 parts, and the weight of each part is only about 35 kg, which is simply incredible.
Even more exciting is S.E.L.'s human-powered pack rack. The pack rack is an iron frame that fixes the gun parts to the saddle, and its shape is tailor-made according to the shape of the gun parts. Schneider designers applied the pack rack to soldiers. The human body is the least taxing
The only way to transport goods is to carry the goods on your back, so Schneider carefully built a carrying rack for human carrying.
※※※
Note: Many of the data descriptions in this chapter and the next chapter are recorded in Mr. Huo Anzhi's article "The Perfect Mountain Cannon for the Anti-Japanese War Artillery - Schneider's 1928 75mm S.E.L. "Light Mountain Cannon"."
