Oriental train gun? -Japan Jiushi 24 cm train gun

/kloc-during the first industrial revolution in the 0/8th century, the railway transportation system became the first large-scale land transportation system in human history. In this period of war, the railway system is undoubtedly the most suitable means of transportation for heavy artillery. However, due to the limitation of railway transportation, the armies of some countries began to install light weapons on train carriages to resist the enemies they might encounter along the way. In the Richmond offensive and defensive war of the American Civil War, the soldiers of the Union Army installed a 320mm caliber mortar on the reinforced train carriage to bombard the Southern Army, and achieved quite good results. This has also become the first show of train guns in the history of world wars. Until World War II, the train gun was still a heavy weapon that the enemy could not be underestimated.

As an emerging eastern power, Japan's military capability is far less than that of the traditional western powers. This makes the Japanese military have to follow the trend of the mainstream powers in the world to arm its own army. At this time, Europe has just ended a long and deadly war. In this war, there have been many weapons representing the highest industrial level in western countries and all-new war modes. Although the Japanese army, who had been studying under the German imperial army during the Great War, turned against the division commander, the Japanese army also keenly discovered the powerful power of the super cannon "Paris Cannon" used by the former division commander when attacking France. Many people in the military believe that it is urgent to develop large-scale train guns.

In fact, at that time, Japan's finances were not plentiful, and it was difficult to summon such a super monster. As a result, Japanese military personnel came up with a "stupid" method-that is, following the practice of the Allied Forces in World War I, installing large-caliber guns or old-fashioned naval guns placed on the coastal gun platform on the train body, which was towed by the front of the train and maneuvered along the railway line. At the same time, with the progress of military technology, the development plan of large-caliber train guns is gradually feasible. In the Japanese military headquarters, because of the threat of the Russian giant bear just after the revolution in the north, the voice of demanding train guns is increasing day by day. However, after studying the basic situation of Japan's domestic railway system and adding that it is necessary to have a fortress to use train guns, army technicians believe that train guns do not play much role in Japan. However, if the railways in the direction of the three northeastern provinces are repaired, the train guns can carry out rapid mobile operations on the vast northeast plain. With this goal in mind, the Japanese army officially issued a weapon research policy to the Army Technical Headquarters in July of the ninth year of Taisho (1920), including an order for the research and development of heavy-duty train guns. At first, the officers of the technical headquarters planned to use 27 cm caliber coastal guns. According to the performance requirements given by the top management, the maximum elevation angle of the gun should reach 30-35 degrees and the range should be 16000m. However, the technical headquarters decided to overfulfil the task and set the maximum elevation angle at 45-50 degrees and the maximum range at 20,000 meters. It is worth mentioning that the performance improvement plan of these crazy technical officers was not realized until the end of World War II.

In the 13th year of Taisho (1924), after a long-term study, the Bureau of Ordnance of the Army Province found that the caliber of the train gun being developed was 24cm, and the range was 50,000 m, which was the most suitable and technically easier to realize, so it put forward a revision opinion to the technical headquarters. After calculation, the technical department thinks that the initial velocity of the projectile can reach 1200/s when the shape coefficient of the projectile is below 0.5. However, due to technical bottlenecks, Japan did not have the technology to produce such weapons, so after high-level trade-offs, it finally decided to import from abroad.

First of all, the Japanese military took a fancy to Schneider, an old French artillery manufacturing company, and the military attache of the embassy in France placed an order with Schneider, with a purchase capital of 400,000 yen (big currency). Even so, the purchase plan of the gun still encountered many difficulties-Japan was suddenly attacked by the Great Kanto Earthquake, so the plan was suspended and the funds were transferred to Japan's reconstruction expenses.

Japan, which was hit hard by the earthquake, quickly devoted itself to rearmament. In February of Taisho 14 (1925), the Japanese military sent a team headed by Lieutenant General Ogata, director of the Army Research Institute, to western countries to inspect the weapon performance. Their trip also shoulders an important task, that is, to restart the train gun plan that has been put on hold for various reasons. After his arrival in France, Lieutenant General Ogata and his party held a series of discussions with French companies, and finally determined the performance parameters of the train gun that Japan missed very much: the total weight of the gun 136 tons, the barrel length 12.83 meters, the caliber still determined before, the gun frame is a bogie car with four pairs of load wheels, and the maximum elevation angle can reach 50 degrees. The theoretical maximum range is 50.12km-this figure even exceeds the 42km range of Yamato class 460mm naval gun, the largest naval gun in human history. At the same time, this kind of train gun is also the longest range gun in the whole Japanese army. Seeing this figure, we may understand why senior Japanese military officials at that time were so keen on tinkering with such giant guns.

The Japanese army's structural diagram of the "90" type.

Type 90 24 cm training gun in assembly

90-type assembly completed commemorative photography. The man in the suit is a technician sent by Schneider Company, and the man in the front row is Lieutenant General Yutaka Yoshida Yan, the technical minister of the Japanese Army.

When this behemoth arrived in its new home, Japan, it had actually completed four years. Showa four years (1929) was assembled in Japan in May, and the Japanese army equipped it with domestic ammunition trucks, generator cars and related auxiliary facilities. Later, he made his first show in Japan at Fujin Shooting Range under the Army Technical Headquarters in Fujin City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. This test is that the gun throws a projectile with a charge of 88.5 kilograms to the site 50 kilometers away. Subsequently, the gun was placed in Japan for a long time as a defense force in Tokyo Bay.

Type 90 train gun ammunition vehicle

Type 90 train gun generator car

The tail of the 90-type train gun is engraved with 240 Schneider le creus ot 1928No. 1 (meaning the first door made).

Various types of bombs used in Type 90 train guns.

Type 90 Grenade (left) and semi-armor-piercing projectile (right)

Until the outbreak of World War II, this Japanese national treasure cannon has been idle in Japan as a "vase". However, after the beginning of the Pacific War, Japan urgently needed strategic materials such as industrial raw materials of the puppet Manchukuo. At the same time, although the Soviet Union in the north is inextricably linked with Germany on the eastern front, it still retains a considerable number of elite troops in the Far East. No one can say whether such an army will suddenly cross the long border and attack the Kwantung Army without invincible soldiers. At the same time, the kwantung army also built a fortress on the border. At this time, the Japanese army remembered that they had a train gun left in the past, so they immediately sent it to the most important Hutou fortress as a combat force. The artillery unit of the Fourth Border Guard Area is responsible for serving it. Fighting alongside it are all kinds of fortress guns equipped by the Japanese army.

? In a blink of an eye, the time has reached 1945, and the Japanese fascist group has reached the brink of defeat. Ironically, such a national treasure weapon invested heavily has never participated in a decent battle. 1On August 9, 945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and then on the continuous border, thousands of Soviet Red Army crossed the border and began to launch a final blow to the remaining Kwantung Army. The Japanese troops stationed at Hutou Fortress finally used this super cannon. After Japan surrendered, it was transported to the Soviet Union by the Red Army in Tonghua. In this way, this super behemoth that Japan tried its best to build finally ended its shameful and sad life, and at the same time, it also pulled down the curtain for the era of train cannons.