A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Based on the opinions of Huaxia Industrial experts, Song Hongfei, through careful calculation and design, minimized the difficulty of production and processing in the design process.

The rifle uses a large number of precision casting processes for its parts. Except for the barrel, gas piston, and precision steel spring, other parts can be produced in-house.

The barrel can be based on the barrel of the Mauser M1924 rifle, requiring only minor adjustments and modifications during production. This will also keep the overall production cost of the rifle as low as possible.

Regarding the receiver, Song Hongfei listed and compared various advantages and disadvantages to the ordnance experts, insisting on adopting an upper and lower receiver structure similar to the Type 03 automatic rifle. However, due to the immaturity of stamping and welding technology at the time, Song Hongfei changed the stamped receiver to a forged receiver.

The moment the test prototype of the rifle appeared, it immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. Everyone stared intently at the beautifully designed rifle.

This rifle features a pistol grip, and apart from the grip, handguard, and stock being made of wood, there is not an inch of wood in the entire gun. This elegant design with "more steel and less wood" was a groundbreaking and avant-garde design at the time.

The gun has an extremely simple mechanical structure design, with excellent reliability and serviceability. The long-stroke bolt guide and the three locking lugs design ensure the reliability of the action, while also greatly improving shooting accuracy.

Yu Dawei, director of the China Ordnance Industry Bureau, personally test-fired the rifle.

Yu Dawei holds the gun in a standing position, with the unloaded weight kept below 4 kilograms. The gun's center of gravity is well-distributed, giving it a premium feel. The pistol-style grip is comfortable and ergonomically sound.

Yu Dawei loaded a 10-round magazine, pulled the bolt, chambered a round, and aimed—his movements were clean and efficient. Everyone present held their breath; the room fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

With a "bang," Yu Dawei felt a slight push on his shoulder, followed by the recoil of the bullet leaving the barrel and heading straight for the target 100 meters away.

"Got it!" Yu Dawei was overjoyed. He was a very good shot, and he felt that the bullet would hit the target as soon as it left the barrel.

He couldn't wait and fired repeatedly, "Bang bang bang bang..." A burst of gunfire, the semi-automatic firing mode firing at a tight rhythm, quickly emptied the 10-round magazine.

"The shooting feels fantastic!" Yu Dawei couldn't contain his excitement and joy, carefully examining the rifle in his hands with great affection.

"All 10 shots hit the target!" At that moment, the signal to report the target came from afar.

"Whoosh—" The scene instantly erupted in cheers. People could no longer contain their emotions, jumping and shouting excitedly.

This is the first rifle independently developed and produced by China! It's even the most advanced rifle in the world! And a state-of-the-art semi-automatic rifle at that!

The long-standing situation of being poor and weak, where even light weapons were controlled by others and we had to rely on others for everything, can be swept away!

The defense experts could no longer hold back their tears.

"I want to recommend Song Hongfei for commendation!" Yu Dawei said excitedly, tears welling in his eyes.

What followed were various rigorous tests.

The Central Military Commission and the Ordnance Department implemented the strictest secrecy measures, and all aspects of research, development, production, and testing were carried out by strictly selected and organized personnel.

The gun performed exceptionally well in a series of rigorous tests, including extreme cold, scorching heat, heavy rain, sandstorms, river crossings, and immersion in muddy water. It is a high-performance weapon characterized by high accuracy, reliable operation, light weight, and ease of operation and maintenance.

Subsequently, the Ordnance Department immediately organized relevant experts to compile production drawings.

The results of the prototype gun's range test came back quickly, and Song Hongfei was overjoyed. He was extremely pleased and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Long-term hard work has finally yielded fruitful results, and all efforts are moving towards the envisioned goal.

In a few years, China will enter a difficult and protracted full-scale war of resistance against Japan. What role will this rifle play?

Song Hongfei felt even more urgent. He knew that in modern warfare, the biggest difference in strength between the two sides lay in heavy equipment, in the aircraft, tanks, and artillery that relied on modern industry.

A regular division of the Japanese army had an artillery regiment with 48 mountain guns and field guns of 75mm or larger caliber. In addition, with the independent heavy artillery attached to it during combat, a division had more artillery than a war zone of the Chinese army with hundreds of thousands of troops.

东洋军师团的每个步兵联队至少也有一个4门炮的山炮兵中队，每个步兵大队还有2门70mm口径的92式步兵炮，东洋军队一个营级的大队自身都能有2门身管火炮的配属重火力。

At the beginning of the total war, the best-equipped German-trained divisions of the Chinese army had a 12-gun mountain artillery battalion on paper, but in reality, they were lucky to have one company. Moreover, due to heavy losses of artillery, they were quickly consolidated into several independent artillery brigades and regiments, which were in high demand across all war zones, and the number of shells had to be carefully counted.

Later, the adjusted divisions didn't even have a single mountain gun; the division level only had mortar firepower, which was really too meager.

Without the suppressive firepower of heavy weapons, the Chinese army could only tragically pay the price with the lives of its soldiers.

Given China's industrial capabilities at the time, developing heavy equipment was a pipe dream, and Song Hongfei had no other options. He could only do his best in light weapons to reduce unnecessary casualties and sacrifices among Chinese soldiers.

"To do a good job, one must first have the right tools!" Song Hongfei thought to himself.

After the successful development of the semi-automatic rifle, Song Hongfei accelerated the development of a dual-purpose "general-purpose machine gun" that could be used for both light and heavy tasks.

Heavy machine guns are the mainstay of firepower for the basic infantry units of the Chinese army. Having weapons capable of suppressing enemy heavy machine gun fire is crucial for the Chinese army, which lacks artillery and heavy weapons.

With the successful practical experience of semi-automatic rifles, the research and design of general-purpose machine guns became much easier.

As an automatic weapon that fires full-power ammunition, the general-purpose machine gun has higher requirements for reliability, barrel strength, and component durability compared to the semi-automatic rifle.

Song Hongfei referenced two famous guns from later generations—the Soviet Union's PKM general-purpose machine gun and China's domestically produced Type 67-2 machine gun—as models, and made careful improvements to their designs based on their advantages and disadvantages.

The general-purpose machine gun designed by Song Hongfei also adopts the gas-operated working principle, long-stroke piston, and bolt rotation locking mechanism, and its parts are designed to be as compatible as those of semi-automatic rifles.

Featuring a quick-detachable barrel assembly design with a folding carrying handle for easy portability and rapid barrel changes. A long-stroke gas piston is located below the barrel and is equipped with a two-position gas regulator.

Limited by the materials technology at the time, the gun was slightly heavier than the PK machine gun, weighing about 9.5 kg unloaded.

This gun is an open-bolt firing mechanism with a highly efficient flash suppressor and muzzle brake. It fires the same 7.92x57mm ammunition as semi-automatic rifles and uses belt-fed ammunition, the same type as the Maxim heavy machine guns used by the Nationalist Army.

The theoretical rate of fire is 600 rounds per minute. Generally, after firing two belts of ammunition, totaling 500 rounds, it is necessary to replace the barrel or allow it to cool down to prevent overheating and wear.

The effective range is 800 meters in the light machine gun mode using a bipod and 1000 meters in the heavy machine gun mode using a tripod.