Taiyuan Arsenal
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Taiyuan Arsenal ({{Zh, t=太原兵工廠) was established by the
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
warlord,
Yan Xishan Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...
who had become the Governor-General of
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
province in 1912. From the outset he was very interested in building an arsenal for manufacturing weapons to equip his Army. His motto was, "Armed force is the backing of justice". Construction on his plant was begun in 1912, and it was originally named Shanxi Machinery Bureau. As it expanded, it later became known as the Shanxi Military Technology Practice Factory.


During the Warlord Era and Nanjing Decade

In 1923 the arsenal began making a Type 12 infantry gun, with a maximum range of 5,000 meters. In 1925, they began making a Type 14 infantry howitzer. Both were designed for mountain warfare. They also were able to set up production of copies of a German 105 mm heavy mountain gun and 88 mm field gun. When the war with Japan began they had produced 24 heavy mountain guns and 24 field guns to replace the heavy losses during combat to the Japanese forces. In 1926, the Arsenal at Taiyuan had produced 1500 rifles, 500 Mauser type Broom handle Military Pistols, 300 mortars, mortar shells, hand grenades and three million rounds of ammunition per month with foreign technicians, assisted by American trained Chinese, supervising and training 8,000 Chinese workers. By 1930, it had 3,800 pieces of machinery and 15,000 workers and technicians. The plant was fully capable of producing not only pistols, rifles, and submachine guns, but also heavy machine guns, mortars, cannons, grenades, and other items. Taiyuan Arsenal was a major producer of both the
ZB vz. 26 The ZB vz. 26 was a Czechoslovak light machine gun developed in the 1920s, which went on to enter service with several countries. It saw its major use during World War II, and spawned the related ZB vz. 27, vz. 30, and vz. 33. The ZB vz. 26 influe ...
light machine guns and
Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Stat ...
s.


During the Second Sino-Japanese War

With its capture by the Japanese in November 1937, following the
Battle of Taiyuan The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan was a major battle fought in 1937 between China and Japan named for Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi province), which lay in the 2nd Military Region. The battle concluded in a vi ...
the Taiyuan Arsenal continued to operate producing the ZB vz. 26 light machine guns, but chambered for the Japanese 6.5 mm caliber cartridge instead of the Chinese 7.92 mm. Meanwhile, munitions industry production was moved away from the Japanese resulting in a sudden reduction in output. Initially raw material depended entirely on the partial half-finished products and the material which were carried away from Taiyuan factories. Later demolition of enemy railroads provided rails to make the raw materials. Light machine guns were made in
Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
at a
Chenggu Chenggu County () is a county of Hanzhong, in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China. History Unique archaeological evidence on contacts with Xingan culture (Jiangxi) was found there at Sucun. Administrative divisions As 2019, Chenggu Cou ...
factory, rifles were made in a Xiangning factory, pistols in another factory, and each place made hand grenades to make up for the lack of weapon production. Yan's munitions output was not steady due to lack of materials. In the later Sino-Japanese War period, these factories monthly production of rifles was 800, light machine guns 300, pistols only a few dozens, hand grenades approximately 10,000. These arms and ammunition supported the Chinese front during the Sino-Japanese War.


During the Chinese Civil War

Recovered by Yan Xishan after August 1945 the Arsenal had been looted by the Japanese. He tried every effort to rebuild its productive capacity, taking machinery from factories of Japanese and puppet sympathizers, as long as they were the special purpose machines which the munitions industry needed and rebuilt his steel industry. By late 1948 during the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, the monthly production of the Arsenal was 3,000 Mauser Type 24 rifles, 300 7.92 mm ZB 26 light machine guns, 60 7.92 mm Type 24 Maxim water-cooled machine guns (MG08/30), 8 75 mm field guns, and 60,000 grenades, 15,000 mortar rounds, 7,000 rounds of artillery shells, swords, bayonets and small arms ammunition. But near the end small arms 7.92 mm ammunition production was down. Over 150,000 Red Army soldiers surrounded the city and it was necessary to air drop ingots of brass for the production of ammunition casings. Early in 1949 two Curtiss C-46 transports from Civil Air Transport flown by American pilots landed on an improvised runway delivering dynamite and blasting caps to destroy the steel mills and arsenal. However, when the city fell in the spring the arsenal fell to Communist hands in good shape, providing a solid base for their armaments industry. General Yan was the Minister of Department of War and he fled for
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and died there.


See also

*
Self-Strengthening Movement The Self-Strengthening Movement, also known as the Westernization or Western Affairs Movement (–1895), was a period of radical institutional reforms initiated in China during the late Qing dynasty following the military disasters of the Opium ...
*
Hanyang Arsenal Hanyang Arsenal () was one of the largest and oldest modern arsenals in Chinese history. History Originally known as the ''Hubei Arsenal'', it was founded in 1891 by Qing official Zhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from the Nanyang Fleet in Guang ...
*
Foochow Arsenal The Foochow Arsenal, also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal, was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement. The shipyard was constructed unde ...
*
Great Hsi-Ku Arsenal The Great Hsi-Ku Arsenal (), was a Qing Dynasty Imperial Arsenal that stored munitions, rifles, and millions of rounds of ammunition. In addition tons of rice and medical supplies were stored there. The facility was guarded by Qing Imperial troops u ...
*
Jiangnan Shipyard Jiangnan Shipyard () is a historic shipyard in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state-owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated as Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd. Before 2009, the company was south of central Shanghai at ...


Sources

* Goldsmith, Dolf L., Arming the Dragon: Mauser Rifle Production in China 1880 - 1950, D. L. Goldsmith, San Antonio, Texas, 1997.
阎锡山与山西军火工业 (Yen Hsi-shan and the arms industry in Shanxi Province)
referred to Sept. 25, 2009


External links





National Revolutionary Army Firearm manufacturers of China Manufacturing companies established in 1912 Arsenals Taiyuan 1912 establishments in China