Chapter 86 The "Ordnance Department" of the Red Army

On December 24, 1932, after the establishment of the Second Regiment of the 26th Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, breakthroughs were made in the establishment of the Zhaojin Revolutionary Base in the Shaanxi-Gansu Border New Soviet Area.The armed struggle in the border area was in full swing.In addition to the continuous growth of the main force of the Red Army, mass armed forces such as local guerrillas in the border areas, peasant red guards in the townships and cities, and young pioneers have also been established one after another, forming the mobile combat of the main Red Army. The grenade used by the Guards and the Red Army in those years was a new layout for the trinity of the Young Pioneers to monitor the local tyrants, evil gentry, enemy puppets, and enemy spies.With the rapid development of armed struggle, the demand for strategic materials such as weapons and ammunition is also increasing.Therefore, the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Frontier Special Committee, and the 26th Red Army, etc., considered planning and purposeful establishment of repair shops in the early days of the base area to solve the problem of military supplies for the Red Army and local armed forces.

At the end of 1932, the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee appointed traffic officers to send Comrades Gui Shengfang and Si Laiyu, who were working in the Xi'an Arsenal, to Sanyuan to join the Weibei guerrillas first.When the guerrillas joined the 26th Army, they were sent to Xuejiazhai, and together with a worker from Tumen Town, Chunhua, and a local man Chen Tiejiang who lived in Xuejiazhai, they formed the original repair equipment. Therefore, these four comrades became the first batch of workers in the workshop.The mission of the Armory is to repair guns at first.Most of the guns at that time were outdated weapons with complicated models and a lot of repairs.Such as rifles, there are seven-shot backing, eight-pull type, etc. The drill part of the bullet is relatively large, but every time a gun is repaired, it will play a big role for the Red Army in difficulties.At this time, the four repair workers would rush to repair all the guns sent by the troops.Even if you don't know how to repair, you have to explore hard with experience.Under the harsh and crude conditions of the repair facility, it strongly supported the armed struggle in Jichi.

At the beginning of 1933, the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee sent Comrades Wang Dingchao and Feng Yonggui, who were working in the Xi'an Arsenal, to Xuejiazhai through traffic personnel. This was the second batch of workers in the Machinery Repair Institute.Immediately afterwards, the Red Twenty-Sixth Army went south in an instant on Du Heng's wrong route. After failing to go south, Liu Yuesan contacted 15 people including Hui Zijun, Cao Fugui, and Kang Tianyuan, who worked in the arsenal, through Comrade Wang Dingchao. Xuejiazhai, the base of the Jin Revolution, this is the third batch of workers from the Xuejiazhai Machinery Repair Institute.In July 1933, after Wang Taiji's uprising, there were about 40 to 50 machine repair workers who accompanied the troops to Zhaojin. At this time, there were about 70 to 80 workers in the Xuejiazhai Machine Repair Institute. The period when the workshop had the most workers.

After Hui Zijun went to Zhaojin Xuejiazhai to repair the weaponry, the arsenal was full of vitality.At this time, with the recovery of the revolutionary forces, the party organization and the main Red Army dispatched many cadres and created many guerrillas.These revolutionary teams sent people to Xuejiazhai one after another to receive red flags, assign designations, and replenish ammunition.As a result, the work of the repair shop became even more busy, and it basically became the "Ordnance Department" of the Red Army.The scope of the armory has also undergone a qualitative change, not only repairing guns, but also manufacturing ammunition.In addition, many kinds of very lethal weapons have been developed.

Facing the difficult situation of lack of raw materials, repairing equipment needs to take four measures to solve the problem of raw materials.First, when Comrade Hui Zijun went to Xi'an, he took advantage of his former relatives working in the arsenal, and braved the enemy's blockade. Three or four times, the ground mines made by the Red Army bought back the primer and medicine for making cabin bombs, and made a lot of them. Pistol and rifle bullets.Secondly, the Armory Institute and the troops melted and cast the copper coins and hemp coins collected from Xiangshan Temple to make shells for bullets and grenades.Again, order the troops to collect old bullet casings, and process the old bullet casings before using them.The troops also issued an order in cooperation with the armory: for all the shell casings used in the war, no matter whether they are long guns or short guns, hand over as many bullets as there are bullets fired.In addition, it is to make gunpowder by yourself.Gunpowder is basically made of sawdust and the like.

It is worth mentioning that under the difficult conditions of the school at that time, in the face of the enemy's "encirclement and suppression" and blockade, under the leadership of Hui Zijun and other comrades in the repair station, the "braided grenade" and "land mine" were developed. And other extremely lethal weapons. "Braid grenade" is to tie a few hemp threads on a shell, press a few match heads with a piece of wire, install it on the loaded shell, and it will make a sound when thrown out.Has a strong lethality.After the Second Regiment of the Red Twenty-Sixth Army attacked the Sanyuan Jinghuiqu warehouse, they seized thousands of kilograms of yellow explosives. They had all the good raw materials for the repairs. With the efforts of all the workers in the repairs, they successfully produced the "braided grenade" "And land mines.Some land mines pull the fire, some step on the fire, and they are very lethal.These new weapons played an extremely important role in defending the border area and Xuejiazhai.

Later, not only was there a repair shop in Xuejiazhai, the repair shop also established a front-line repair organization in the school branch of the Red Twenty-six Army.In addition to the majority of the students in the camp who train military cadres, the other part is the repair workers. They fight with the troops and repair weapons at the same time. With the development of the revolutionary situation, the Red Army and guerrillas in various places have also continued to expand and grow, and the demand for ammunition is also increasing.In addition to supplying the needs of the main Red Army, the Ordnance Institute.Wang Baoshan from Shenmu, Yang Qi from Wubao, Qiang Shiqing from Wayaobao, Errou guerrillas from Qingyang, Pingzi guerrillas, etc.They also often lead the guerrillas Xi Zhaojin.It not only repairs firearms, but also replenishes ammunition.At that time, all the staff of the repair institute were very conscious, and they often worked overtime and worked hard day and night, trying their best to meet the various needs of the Red Army and the guerrillas.Through the continuous efforts of all workers, the Armory Repair Institute has become the real "Ordnance Department" of the Red Army in the Shaanxi-Gansu Border Revolutionary Base Area.