Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 163 The M2 Heavy Machine Gun That Has Been in Use for a Century

"Quickly! Quickly! Quickly! Clean up the battlefield! Take everything you can! Li Xiu, be on alert! Issue a warning immediately if reinforcements get within one kilometer!"

After speaking, Wang Gensheng immediately went to the M2 heavy machine gun that had caused heavy casualties to his cavalry regiment.

Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Gensheng took possession of the heavy machine gun. He couldn't help but like this fully automatic Barrett.

It's important to know that the M2 heavy machine gun wasn't designed for World War II, but rather for trench warfare in World War I, and it's still in use more than 20 years later.

Furthermore, according to Wang Gensheng's understanding, this heavy machine gun will remain the mainstay heavy machine gun of the United States for the next few decades, allowing the weapon to be used for more than a century.

The M2 machine gun was first developed in 1918 and has been in stable service from the early 20th century to the 21st century. Its design has remained basically unchanged, so much so that American infantrymen during World War I could immediately know how to operate a modern M2 machine gun if they sat in front of it.

In 1917, the United States joined World War I. At that time, the Allied and Central Powers were roughly equal in strength, and the war had reached a stalemate, turning into a protracted and arduous struggle.

Neither side could gain the upper hand, and both had constructed trenches along the front line from the North Sea to the Swiss border. Although the United States was terrified by the first three years of war, its army was still poorly equipped and lacked new weapons, including machine guns, aircraft, and tanks.

One of the weapons possessed by the American Army at the time was the M1917 medium machine gun, chambered in .30 caliber. This machine gun could fire 450 rounds per minute and had a water-cooled sleeve around the barrel. It was approved in 1917 and quickly put into service.

However, the bullets fired by the M1917 machine gun were the same as those fired by the M1903 infantry rifle, both being .0.30 caliber. Their range and power were insufficient to shoot down high-flying aircraft or penetrate the thin armor of early tanks.

General John J. Pershing, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, wanted a weapon that was more powerful and had a longer range.

John Moses Browning was the inventor of the M1917 machine gun and one of the most creative firearms designers in history; he also invented the M1911.45 caliber pistol, the M1918 Browning automatic rifle, and the Browning Auto-5 shotgun, among others.

When other attempts to develop heavy machine guns in the United States ended in failure, Browning set out to enlarge and modify the M1917 so that it could fire heavier ammunition: .50 caliber armor-piercing rounds.

On November 18, 1918, seven days after the end of the war, the American government finally conducted fully automatic firing tests on the water-cooled and air-cooled versions of this new machine gun, so this large-caliber heavy machine gun did not appear on the stage of World War I.

In 1933, this enlarged version of the machine gun was standardized as the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. The M2 machine gun incorporated several improvements, the most important of which was the adoption of a "universal" design, meaning that any particular M2 machine gun could be modified for use in aircraft, ships, or ground forces.

The design was also simplified to improve rate of fire and reliability. This air-cooled machine gun weighed 38.1 kg, 8.16 kg heavier than the M1921, but had a longer barrel and a longer range.

Although the American troops were initially dissatisfied with the weight of the M2 heavy machine gun and its .50 caliber bullets, the weapon was unique in the American arsenal.

The M2's formidable power means it can penetrate 17 millimeters of homogeneous rolled steel armor at a distance of 600 meters—the same steel used in tanks and armored vehicles.

Therefore, if the Japanese tanks, with their average armor thickness of less than 15 millimeters, encountered this kind of heavy machine gun, they would undoubtedly be riddled with holes. Furthermore, at the same distance, it could penetrate 50 millimeters of concrete, 300 millimeters of sand, or up to 700 millimeters of clay.

It was precisely because of the M2 heavy machine gun's unique and powerful firepower that all branches of the US armed forces adopted the M2 machine gun during World War II.

Although tanks on the European battlefield had evolved to the point where they were largely immune to the threat of .0.50 caliber bullets, they still possessed some lethality against lightly armored vehicles and low-flying aircraft.

Under the Lend-Lease Act of 1941, tens of thousands of M2 machine guns were produced for the American army and its allies and exported abroad.

The M2 machine gun was ubiquitous during World War II, except in the Korean War, and was widely used on various land, water, and air vehicles. The army used it as an anti-aircraft weapon for tanks, half-tracks, trucks, tank destroyers, and other vehicles.

In the Army Air Forces, it became the primary weapon of the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt fighters, and also the defensive armament of bombers such as the B-24 Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress. A single B-17 bomber could be equipped with up to 13 M2 heavy machine guns to defend against enemy fighter attacks and ensure that large bombers could reach their targets.

Thirty-eight kilograms might be a lot for others, but it's nothing for Wang Gensheng. After all, Schwarzenegger could hold it while shooting, and Wang Gensheng's physical fitness is more than three times that of an average person, so he can easily lift it and effectively control the recoil.

It's important to understand that although this heavy machine gun and the Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun are both called heavy machine guns, their performance and power are worlds apart.

The Japanese Type 92 heavy machine gun, despite its name, was less powerful than a Mauser rifle with its 7.7mm caliber.

The M2 heavy machine gun, with its 12.7mm barrel, possesses a kinetic energy of 17,000 to 18,000 joules, which is five to six times that of the Type 92 heavy machine gun.

More importantly, the M2 heavy machine gun uses belt-fed ammunition, with a single belt containing hundreds of rounds. Therefore, it is far superior to the Type 92 heavy machine gun, which uses a 30-round magazine, in terms of sustained firepower.

Of course, the M2 heavy machine gun was not designed with the intention of being used for mobile firing. So even if Wang Gensheng had the idea and the ability, he would still need to make some simple modifications to carry it around for firing.

After all, the M2 heavy machine gun is a press-button firing mechanism and does not have a grip or trigger. Therefore, if you want to hold it against your shoulder and move around firing like a submachine gun, you still need to make some modifications.

Just as Wang Gensheng was pondering how to modify the M2 heavy machine gun, Li Xiu, who was being used as a reconnaissance sentry, issued a warning:
"Commander, Commander, the enemy has a large force that is already within a kilometer's reach! We must retreat immediately!"

In response, Wang Gensheng decisively waved his hand and said:
"Don't leave the battlefield uncleaned, mount up and retreat immediately!"

Following Wang Gensheng's words, the cavalry regiment mounted their horses and retreated. Of course, in addition to the retreat, five bodies were also placed on the horses and taken away.

These five bodies were naturally killed by the M2 heavy machine gun. The 12.7mm bullets are powerful and can easily penetrate 17mm thick armor plates, so bulletproof plates of a few millimeters are simply not enough to stop them.

(End of this chapter)