General Zhao Zhangcheng, the founding major general of the People's Republic of China, was originally a gunner in the Northwest Army, and did not have much education, but he practiced superb mortar operation skills in the old army. In 1931, he joined the Red Army and became a sharpshooter in the Red Army.
It was once said among the Red Army soldiers that Zhao Zhangcheng had to worship the Buddha every time he fired a gun, because he was blessed by the Buddha, so he hit every shot.
In fact, this was because most of the Red Army soldiers had never been in contact with artillery, and they mistakenly regarded Zhao Zhangcheng's aiming and ranging posture before shooting as worshipping Buddha. However, the gesture is indeed somewhat similar to worshipping the Buddha with one palm.
At first, what made Zhao Zhangcheng famous was the battle in Anshun Field. Anshun Field has always been a strategic place for soldiers to fight, and Shi Dakai, the winged king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, once failed to cross the river several times, and finally the whole army was wiped out. Therefore, when the Red Army's Long March came to Anshunchang, Chiang Kai-shek threatened to "ask Zhu and Mao to become Shi Dakai's second."
The world-famous battle of Anshun Field began, the 17 warriors under Yang Dezhi, the commander of the 1st Red Regiment, first boarded the boat and forced the crossing, they braved the rain of bullets and bullets to land on the opposite bank, but because there was no position to rely on, they were completely exposed to the enemy's dense firepower, and Yang Dezhi urgently ordered artillery fire assistance.
Zhao Zhangcheng only had one mortar in his hand that could barely work, there were no trays and gun mounts, and there were only 3 shells. But this did not stump the "gun king", I saw him holding up the cannon body with his left hand, measuring the range, aiming, and simply and neatly shot out all three shells.
The first shell was in the enemy pile**, the second shell sent the enemy commander directly into the sky, the third shell disrupted the enemy's defensive formation, 17 warriors took the opportunity to occupy the favorable terrain, at this time, the second boat of warriors also landed, and the enemy abandoned the formation and fled.
Zhao Zhangcheng's three artillery pieces set the tide, in the decisive moment of deciding the outcome of the battle, played a role in turning the tide, this magical three artillery was recorded in the history of our army's artillery, Anshun Field is also famous for "the tragic place of the Wing King, the victory field of the Red Army".
During the Anti-Japanese War, Zhao Zhangcheng participated in a large-scale attack battle during his tenure in the 129th Division. In that battle, the Eighth Route Army captured three mortars and a batch of artillery shells, but none of the participating troops knew how to operate artillery.
Zhao Zhangcheng, who was not on the battlefield, was ordered to gallop on horseback. Zhao Zhangcheng commanded six soldiers who had never touched a mortar to cooperate with him, respectively shelling and loading three mortars, while Zhao Zhangcheng operated three guns by himself and fired at the Japanese invaders without interruption, and in the end, the barrels of the three guns were all red.
In this battle, what was the effect of Zhao Zhangcheng's shelling? Let's listen to what your opponent has to say. After the war, according to the prisoners' confessions: judging from the accuracy and density of the artillery fire, the Eighth Route Army should have a mortar platoon ...... conducting a salvo
It's not the highest level of the "King of Guns". In another battle, he also set a record for the highest single cannon fired.
On August 10, 1940, our army surrounded the Japanese Okazaki Brigade, and the Japanese army was forced to retreat to the mountain, forming a dense fire network with more than a dozen machine guns, and our army failed in several strong attacks.
Zhao Zhangcheng, who was the company commander of the Eighth Route Army at the time, decided to suppress the devils with heavy artillery fire, but due to the condescending position of the Japanese army, except for a cliff, the other areas were under the control of the Japanese army's firepower.
Zhao Zhangzhi resolutely commanded the soldiers to carry a mortar, bring all the shells, and quietly come to the bottom of the cliff.
From the Japanese position on the cliff to Zhao Zhangcheng's mortar position under the cliff, the straight-line distance was only 40 meters, and the suitable site for erecting artillery under the cliff was also very limited, and Zhao Zhangcheng finally adjusted the mortar to 88Extraordinarily large firing angles of 5 degrees, the barrel is almost perpendicular to the horizon.
With such a large angle of fire, if you are not careful, the shell may fall from the top of your head and explode yourself. As the so-called "art masters are bold", Zhao Zhangcheng did not hesitate at all, one after another, and kept firing at the top of the cliff at a very fast pace.
The sound of ** on the top of the cliff was deafening, and the eight soldiers of the Eighth Route Army under the cliff were also busy using their hands and feet, and they were busy opening ammunition boxes, carrying shells, and loading fuses, so that they could barely supply Zhao Zhangcheng's shooting speed alone.
In just 6 minutes, he fired 240 shells in a row, an average of one and a half seconds and a half, which was a record-breaking shot, and before that, the fastest recorded mortar firing speed was 30 rounds a minute.
The Japanese troops on the cliff were dizzy and confused by the shells that flew up and down the cliff, and they couldn't parry it after a while, they saw shells flying all over the sky, and they couldn't figure out how many cannons were firing, and they couldn't understand how to hit the shells on the top of the cliff under the cliff, all the light and heavy machine guns of the Japanese army became scrap metal, and the soldiers were killed and wounded countless times, and they finally collapsed.
In addition to his superb shooting skills, the "Cannon King" is also an inventor, and the "Cannon King's" secret "chili cannonball" was passed on as a beautiful talk in the Eighth Route Army, which also made the Japanese devils tremble and have nightmares, and when they mentioned it, their scalps were numb.
In the second stage of the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, Zhao Zhangcheng led a mortar company to attack a Japanese stronghold on a mountain beam, and the more than 100 Japanese puppet troops who were guarding it stuck to a solid stronghold but could not come out, so that Zhao Zhangcheng was at a loss for a while.
How can we get the Japanese out of their strongholds? Zhao Zhangcheng pondered for a long time, and finally came up with an idea: modify the shells and use chili noodles to smoke and choke the Japanese devils out of the stronghold.
I heard that chili noodles can also fight devils, so the villagers took out all the chili peppers at home. Zhao Zhangcheng led the soldiers to pour out part of the explosives in the shells, then filled them with chili noodles, and finally screwed on the fuse, and modified 20 rounds of "Cannon King" secret "chili flour shells" in one go.
When the first test shot of the "chili flour shell" secretly made by the "Gun King", Zhao Zhangcheng set up the mortar 150 meters away from the Japanese stronghold, and the ruler hit it to 50 degrees.
Zhao Zhangcheng gave an order, and the four mortars of the whole company fired at the same time, and the secret "chili noodle shells" of the "Cannon King" were opened in the Japanese pillbox and its surroundings.
Dirt Eight Road gas bombs! The Japanese soldiers in the stronghold were so frightened that they ran out desperately one by one, making a mess. At this time, the attacking troops quickly went to the devils, and after a while, the devils were all wiped out, and a stronghold that had not been taken overnight before was breached.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhao Zhangcheng served as the deputy commander of the artillery of the Southwest Military Region, the second commander of the artillery of the Chinese People's Volunteers during the period of resisting US aggression and aiding Korea, and the deputy commander of the artillery of the People's Liberation Army after returning to China.
Even in peacetime, Zhao Zhangcheng did not "put the horse in Nanshan, and put the knife and gun into the warehouse". On one occasion, General Zhao Zhangcheng observed a martial arts exercise held by a certain artillery unit. Due to the muddy field, the chassis of the "82" mortar group was unstable when firing, and several rounds did not hit the target.
General Zhao Zhangcheng on the observation seat couldn't sit still, he ignored the obstructions left and right, jumped off the rostrum and went straight to the launch position, he wanted to show the young soldiers: how to ** under special circumstances.
The other leaders at the observation table and the commanders and fighters at the scene couldn't help but be a little worried, the old "cannon king" was impeccable in technology, but it was all during the war years, when he was still young, in good health, and physically strong. And now, the old "Gun King" is already old, "Lian Po is old, can he still eat?" "Everyone sweated for the old general.
However, seeing that the "gun king" pushed away the gunner, took off his liberation shoes, put them on the tail of the artillery, measured the range, aimed, stabilized the gun body with one hand, and took the bullet with the other hand to fire, and hit the target on the first shot.
"The sword is not old, and the majesty is still there!" The warm cheers of the commanders and fighters sounded at the scene, which was full of their respect and admiration for the "artillery king" veteran General Zhao Zhangcheng.
In 1969, the founding major general Zhao Zhangcheng died of illness in Beijing.
In 2014, the People's Liberation Army resumed mortar firing training, and mortars "reappeared" after decades, which is a strong signal for our army to carry forward its fine traditions and work style and face actual combat, and also allows people to recall the legendary past of Zhao Zhangcheng, the "king of artillery".
Let's not forget the past, and don't forget the predecessors who used simple ** equipment (such as the secret cannonball of the "Gun King") back then.
Salute to the "Gun King"!