A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Following the Kwantung Incident, Japan gradually advanced, revealing its ambition to annex the entire country of China. The Chinese government was well aware that a major war between the two sides was inevitable, and industrial preparations for war were now urgent.

The Chinese government then strengthened the construction of modern defense industry, increased arms production, stockpiled military ammunition and equipment, and gradually renovated 17 arsenals in Hanyang, Jinling, Gongxian, Huayin and other cities.

At that time, Germany regarded the Chinese government as a strategic partner in opposing the Soviet Union and communism, and also regarded China as a dumping ground for its products and a source of strategic minerals. On the one hand, China met the needs of the Chinese government for German arms and modern industrial equipment, and on the other hand, it also solved the problem of Germany's need for strategic raw materials for military preparation.

With the help of German advisors, the Chinese National Government carried out a military reorganization plan and issued the "Provisional Organization Table of Army Divisions". The National Army was reorganized according to the equipment, organizational structure and training methods of the German army, and modern infantry, artillery, engineer, supply, armored and communications branches were established.

In the same year, a national conference on standard weapons was held to unify and select standard weapons and equipment for the National Army. In the following two years, army reorganization conferences were held to adjust the vast and diverse forces across the country.

The signing of the Sino-German Product Exchange Treaty greatly promoted relations and trade between the two countries. China exchanged strategic resources and agricultural products such as antimony, tin, tungsten, and manganese sand for German industrial products, especially military supplies.

The Chinese government ordered 10,000 M1924 rifles from the German Mauser factory, and imported the complete set of blueprints and prototypes of the rifle. The Gongxian Arsenal began small-scale trial production of the rifle in the 24th year of the Republic of China, hence the name "Type 24" rifle.

During the preparation and trial production of the "Type 24" rifle, the high-ranking military commission attached great importance to it and proposed improvements such as slightly shortening the stock and lengthening the bayonet. These improvements were in line with the trend of making rifles more compact and lightweight, and were also suitable for the physique and national conditions of Chinese soldiers. The "Type 24" rifle was very popular among Chinese soldiers.

The Chinese government then named the gun the "Zhongzheng" rifle, and changed the markings on the receiver and slide to the three characters "Zhongzheng".

"The Huaxia government not only has many experts, but also plenty of sycophants," Song Hongfei remarked with deep emotion.

During this golden period of "Sino-German cooperation," the Chinese government obtained complete blueprints and reference templates for the MG08 Maxim water-cooled heavy machine gun from the German side, and the Jinling Arsenal began to imitate and mass-produce it.

That year, the Jinling Arsenal successfully copied the MG08 Maxim heavy machine gun and named it the "Type 24" heavy machine gun.

The Chinese government, military commission, and ordnance bureau implemented the strictest secrecy measures from the very beginning regarding Song Hongfei's designs for the semi-automatic rifle and general-purpose machine gun. All personnel involved and aware of the designs were strictly informed: "Top secret, no information may be leaked to the outside world!"

For secrecy reasons, the Military Commission named the rifle and machine gun designed by Song Hongfei the "Type 24" semi-automatic rifle and the "Type 24" general-purpose machine gun, respectively. This was deliberately confused with the "Type 24" Chiang Kai-shek rifle and the "Type 24" heavy machine gun to mislead outsiders, especially to confuse the ever-present intelligence personnel of Japan.

The Type 24 rifle and Type 24 heavy machine gun were put into full production and planned to be fully equipped for general troops, while the new semi-automatic rifle and general-purpose machine gun designed by Song Hongfei would be mainly equipped for the most elite troops.

From then on, the Chinese army broke free from the shackles of being held hostage by infantry light weapons, sweeping away the previous chaotic situation of being disorganized and controlled by others.

The Chinese government adjusted its policy on standard weapons, which enabled the unified allocation of limited resources. The Military Commission required: "The first step is to organize the manufacturing capacity of the existing factories, with the standard being the ability to manufacture or imitate them."

The Ordnance Department and industrial departments concentrated their resources and efforts on the planning, research and development, and production of heavy equipment such as artillery.

One wave stirs up a thousand waves; a single hair can affect the whole body.

"It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost. Before the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, the Chinese army finally had a chance to escape the tragic fate of resisting tanks and artillery with their own flesh and blood!"

Song Hongfei was overwhelmed with emotion, and he couldn't help but burst into tears.

The Type 24 semi-automatic rifle and general-purpose machine gun have also been quietly produced in small quantities. Under the careful selection of the Military Commission, they were first handed over to the sergeant battalion of the Training Corps for trial use.

The sergeant battalion is a unit specifically for training non-commissioned officers. It can be described as the training unit within the training brigade. They have excellent military skills, rich experience, a tenacious style, and strong combat effectiveness.

Soldiers in the sergeant battalion are generally backbone members of the sergeant class or above, or veterans who are on the verge of becoming sergeants. Their role is like that of seeds, spreading to various grassroots units to serve as sergeants, squad leaders, and combat backbone members.

After returning to China from his studies in the United States in January of that year, Zhang Yi served as the major company commander of the 3rd Company of the Sergeant Battalion of the Training Corps.

The sergeant battalion consists of three infantry companies, one machine gun company, and one 82mm mortar platoon. The soldiers in each company are equipped with the newly produced Type 24 semi-automatic rifle.

The machine gun company is equipped with nine Type 24 general-purpose machine guns, six of which are the standard type with a 6-kilogram tripod, and the other three are the anti-aircraft type with a heavy barrel and a heavy tripod, as well as anti-aircraft sights, firing heavy-point bullets and armor-piercing bullets.

The first company, a spearhead unit that had completed full training, added a machine gun platoon, equipped with three standard Type 24 general-purpose machine guns.

As a pilot project, the sergeant battalion conducted comprehensive pilot training on troop organization, firepower configuration, combat formation, tactics and methods, based on the characteristics of the new semi-automatic rifle and general-purpose machine gun, with the aim of promoting them throughout the entire training brigade.

Some companies didn't even use tripods, bringing general-purpose machine guns to the squad in bipod configuration instead of ZB26 Czech light machine guns.

The soldiers in the sergeant's battalion were overjoyed, their faces beaming with happiness.

"Semi-automatic rifles are powerful and swift!"

"A heavy machine gun capable of continuous firing while on the move!"

"General-purpose machine guns can accompany infantry units on their advances, providing continuous machine gun fire!"

This was an unprecedented scene. Before the advent of the general-purpose machine gun, no one had ever imagined that a heavy machine gun could be used in this way. The soldiers of the sergeant battalion and the high-ranking officials of the Military Commission were all filled with surprise and disbelief.

The semi-automatic rifles and general-purpose machine guns, characterized by high precision, simple structure, high reliability, easy maintainability, light weight, high mobility, convenient carrying, and powerful firepower, have demonstrated formidable combat capabilities.

The soldiers in the sergeant battalion walked with an air of bounding, their chests held higher than those of other units, and their eyes gleamed with an arrogant and domineering air!

The other battalions and regiments in the training corps were extremely envious. The battalion and regimental commanders pestered the corps commander, Gui Shuaizhen, every day, clamoring to get their hands on the new guns and shouting, "It's not fair!"

"That's what happens when they're a sergeant battalion; their military skills are excellent, and their training level is high!"

Forced into a corner, Gui Shuaizhen had no choice but to deceive the officials at all levels who came to cause trouble every day: "The country is not rich, and the number of new guns is limited. We can only equip them to those with the strongest combat capabilities!"

Now nobody's happy. We all have one head, two hands, and two feet, so who's afraid of whom? Why should only your sergeant battalion be considered the strongest in combat?

So the officers' eyes changed from envious to murderous intent, like that of a fierce and ruthless army.

The regimental commander immediately rubbed his hands together and said, "Hehe, sorry everyone! It seems this new gun is definitely going to be our 1st Regiment!"

Before he could finish speaking, the regimental commander immediately shouted, "Your 1st Regiment's skills are no good! Guys, the new guns can only go to my 2nd Regiment!"

The other person, not to be outdone, retorted, "Do you think I'm just a nobody?! Let's see who's stronger!"

The group of officials quickly disappeared from Gui Yongqing's sight.

Where did they go? Of course they went back to organize their respective units for intensified training! Nobody wants to fall behind others in terms of new weapons and equipment; how could they save face then?

Gui Shuaizhen was secretly delighted. He knew that once the new guns were mass-produced after the pilot test, not only his training brigade, but also the 87th, 88th, and 36th Divisions, which were originally designated as German-equipped units, would be given priority in being equipped with the new semi-automatic rifles and general-purpose machine guns.

He was just annoyed by these few people being idle. This way, he could both motivate the training enthusiasm of each regiment and get some peace and quiet—killing two birds with one stone!

Gui Shuaizhen was actually very grateful to Song Hongfei. Thanks to Song Hongfei's infantry tactics and the opportunity of new weapons, the Training Corps became a model for the military reorganization plan of the Chinese National Government.

The Training Corps was also expanded into a three-regiment division-level combat force, and all the training for the latest equipment, tactics, and methods, as well as the reform of the troop organization, were carried out first by the Training Corps.

The shift from bolt-action rifles to semi-automatic rifles may seem insignificant at first glance; small arms don't determine the course of war. However, this transition should not be underestimated, as it involves a series of issues related to troop organization, training, logistical support, ammunition consumption, and production and supply.

High firepower also means high ammunition consumption. The ammunition consumption of semi-automatic rifles, according to statistical calculations, has surprised many people.

As for the more powerful automatic rifles envisioned, Song Hongfei believed that given China's production capacity at the time, it was simply impossible to equip the troops with them on a large scale. The reason was simple: China could not supply the enormous amount of ammunition required for automatic rifles.

After learning about the feedback from the soldiers on the trial, a group of high-ranking military officials and ordnance experts were completely impressed with Song Hongfei.

Only Yu Dawei, the director of the Ordnance Department, could barely control himself. In fact, he was already overjoyed: "If Hongfei does something else that will surprise and delight people, I won't be surprised anymore!"

Yu Dawei laughed heartily, thinking to himself, "If you knew about this earth-shattering fact about the 'gun family' of intermediate-power ammunition, wouldn't you revere him like a god and worship him?!"