Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 332 The Hand Grenade Expert
Unfortunately, light infantry can only carry about 20 kilograms of supplies; anything heavier would hinder their infiltration and rapid march.

The weight of a rifle is about four kilograms, plus about thirty rifle bullets and less than six to ten hand grenades, and then there are the grain bags for the fried noodles. All of these add up to about twenty kilograms.

That's right. When the reinforcements entered Chaozhou, they only had thirty rifle bullets, which was ten times less than the US army's average of three hundred bullets per person.

Although it was much better than the situation in the early stages of the War of Resistance when each person had to use a bayonet after only three bullets, since the entire country, especially the Dongbei Arsenal, had been taken over, the bullet consumption had not yet recovered due to the short duration of the war and the fact that the war of liberation had just ended.

However, it would be wishful thinking to wage a war of attrition against the US military.

Fortunately, although there weren't many bullets, there were quite a few hand grenades.

This is completely opposite to the US military. The US military carries two or three hundred rounds of ammunition, but only two or three grenades per person. However, the Korean War troops usually carry at least six grenades, and assault troops carry ten to twelve, because they found that hand grenades were more cost-effective in long-term combat.

Moreover, unlike bullets, grenades are simpler to manufacture and the materials are easier to obtain. Therefore, the stockpile and manufacturing speed of grenades are much greater than that of bullets. This is why the aid-to-Chaozhou army was able to equip itself with so many grenades, and even improved versions of them.

It should be noted that as early as 1938, the Eighth Route Army's arsenal in the Shanxi area began to research and improve the production of wooden-handled grenades.

The workers found that the original wooden handle was too long and inconvenient to carry, so they shortened it to 28 centimeters, a change that made it more flexible to throw.

At the same time, the fuse structure was improved, reducing the five-second delay to four seconds. This subtle change played an important role in later guerrilla warfare.

Then, in the Battle of the Hundred Regiments Offensive in 1940, the Eighth Route Army combined grenade tactics with guerrilla warfare, creating the "three-three system" grenade throwing coordination tactic. This involved three people forming a group: the first was responsible for throwing, the second for observation, and the third for resupplying ammunition. This tactic proved highly effective in destroying Japanese bunkers. Statistics show that in the first phase of the battle alone, the Eighth Route Army destroyed over two hundred Japanese strongholds using this tactic.

Then, during the anti-defense war, grenade tactics were further developed. In 1946, the First Field Army developed the "continuous throwing method" in mobile warfare. This tactic required soldiers to throw three to four grenades in quick succession while moving rapidly, with only one to two seconds between each grenade. During the Liaoshen Campaign in 1947, the Fourth Field Army used this tactic for the first time in an offensive battle, successfully breaking through the Lao Jing army's defensive fortifications in Tieling.

As hand grenades became increasingly important in combat, by 1948, arsenals in various base areas began to promote "standardized production".

The arsenal in Taiyue District pioneered the use of mold-pressing technology, tripling the production efficiency of hand grenade bodies. Later that year, the Jin District developed an improved wooden-handled grenade, characterized by a double-layered shell design that produced numerous fragments upon detonation, significantly enhancing its lethality—somewhat similar to later steel ball grenades. This improved grenade performed exceptionally well in the Pingjin Campaign, becoming an important reference for the later Type 51 wooden-handled grenade.

Then, in early 1949, on the eve of the Yangtze River Crossing Campaign, the Third Field Army specifically organized grenade throwing training. They set up simulated boat-shaped targets on the banks of the Yangtze River, requiring each soldier to accurately throw the grenade at a moving target 20 meters away. This specialized training laid the foundation for the grenade tactics of the later relief forces in Chaozhou.

In October 1950, a year later, when the aid troops from Chaozhou entered Korea, their equipment was not ideal.

Not only did they lack air superiority and heavy artillery, but even ammunition was scarce, with each relief force receiving only about thirty rounds. However, they possessed a considerable reserve of hand grenades. This was thanks to the Dongbei Military Region's development of new hand grenades in the early 1950s. Arsenals in Shenyang, Haerbing, and other locations developed improved models more suitable for the climate of Northeast China, based on existing wooden-handled grenades.

This improved grenade features a moisture-proof wooden handle, allowing it to maintain good performance even in temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees Celsius.

The development of the Type 51 wooden-handled grenade was full of technological breakthroughs. In the early 1950s, technicians at the Shenyang Arsenal discovered that traditional wooden-handled grenades had a problem with unstable fuse delay in extremely cold weather.

To solve this problem, they improved the fuse mechanism, adopting a double-sealing structure to effectively prevent moisture damage. At the same time, they replaced the wooden handle with specially treated birch wood, significantly improving reliability in low-temperature environments.

Therefore, during the second battle, it was rare to see the wooden-handled grenades of the reinforcements from Chaozhou fail to fire or explode.

Of course, it not only didn't misfire, but its explosive power and lethality were even stronger than the US military's pineapple grenade. After all, the grenade at this time was no longer the black powder grenade that Li Yunlong had mentioned in 1940, which could explode in two.

The reason Li Yunlong disliked the poor power of the hand grenades made in the border region was not only because they couldn't manufacture TNT and had to use black powder as a substitute, but also because of the unreasonable design of the cast iron casing.

The smooth outer shell was not designed with pre-explosion marks, so it could only explode in two. However, after several modifications, the Type 51 grenade not only replaced the black powder with TNT, but also had a double shell, which could produce more fragments, making its explosive power even stronger than the US military's pineapple grenade.

However, due to the gap in industrial capabilities, it is still inferior to the pineapple grenade in terms of ease of throwing. Because of the safety pin of the pineapple grenade, you can hold it in your hand without worrying about it exploding, and you can even put the safety pin back in when you don't need to throw it.

The Japanese melon grenades and wooden-handled grenades could not achieve this, which is why later grenades adopted the American pineapple grenade design.

The troops supporting Chaozhou also had unique features in their carrying and distribution schemes. Each soldier carried a standard load of six rounds, squad leaders carried eight rounds, and assault team members could carry up to twelve rounds.

To address the issue of inconvenience in carrying ammunition, the troops aiding Chaozhou designed a specially improved ammunition pouch. This pouch was made of multiple layers of canvas and had a dedicated grenade securing slot inside, ensuring stability during marches while facilitating quick and easy access.

Of course, carrying a large number of grenades also made up for the lack of bullets to some extent, and grenades were even more suitable for the combat style of the aid troops to Chaozhou.

Although the throwing distance of a hand grenade is limited, even the best hand grenade throwers can only reach fifty or sixty meters, which is far less than the effective range of a rifle bullet, which is hundreds or even thousands of meters.

(End of this chapter)