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During the war years, light machine guns were an important weapon of our army, and even for a considerable period of history, they were one of our best weapons.

For example, in the strength statistics conducted during the Long March of the First Red Army, the army had more than 86,000 people and 322 light machine guns; the best-equipped Red Army First Corps at the time had only more than a hundred light machine guns.

By the beginning of the All-out War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the main force of the Red Army was reorganized into the Eighth Route Army, and the number of light machine guns in the entire army was still small; there was no data for the 115th Division, the 120th Division had 143 light machine guns, and the 129th Division had 93 light machine guns.

During the subsequent War of Resistance, as the amount of captured equipment increased, the number of machine guns equipped by our army gradually increased, and the organization gradually took shape.

Taking the main force as an example, generally each infantry company can be equipped with 3 light machine guns; some guard companies are equipped with more light machine guns, and even some well-equipped main companies may have 6 to 9 light machine guns, but this is rare.

By the time of the War of Liberation, light machine guns had become a relatively common weapon. As the amount of combat spoils increased, the number of light machine guns equipped by our army also increased.

Especially in the three major battles, our army annihilated most of the main forces of the Kuomintang army, and seized a huge number of weapons, including light machine guns.

Taking the Liaoshen Campaign, the first of the three major battles to be won, as an example, a total of 10,960 light machine guns were seized in this battle.

Five-digit light machine guns were captured in one battle. Especially because the Liaoshen Campaign went smoothly on the whole, most of the light machine guns were in intact condition, so these machine guns could be immediately equipped to the troops to enrich the main force and expand new troops.

So according to the equipment organization of the Northeast Field Army at the time, how many field troops could be equipped with the tens of thousands of captured light machine guns?

First of all, referring to the organization of the Northeast Field Army at that time, light machine guns were equipped at the infantry company level.

According to the standard organization, an infantry company should be equipped with 6 light machine guns; an infantry battalion has 3 infantry companies, and a regiment has 3 infantry battalions, which means 9 infantry companies in total; at that time, the infantry regiment of the East China Field Army also had a regimental guard company, which was equipped with the same configuration as an infantry company.

So if we calculate this way, a regiment will have 10 infantry companies, each company is equipped with 6 light machine guns, so 60 light machine guns are needed to achieve full strength.

According to this calculation, the 10,960 light machine guns seized can meet the organization needs of 182 infantry regiments, and there will be surplus.

According to the organization of the three-regiment infantry division at the time, these more than 180 regiments could be equipped with more than 60 infantry divisions (of course, because of the divisional guard battalions, not so many divisions could actually be equipped).

However, the above is the organization structure formulated by the Northeast Field Army before the Liaoshen Campaign. Of course, we must also combine it with the actual situation.

The actual situation was that in the main force of the Kuomintang army at that time, an infantry company was equipped with 9 light machine guns; and in fact, in the main column of the Northeast Field Army, the number of light machine guns equipped to the infantry company often reached 9.

If we assume that each company is equipped with 9 light machine guns, the number of light machine guns required for each infantry regiment should be 90.

In this way, 10,960 light machine guns can meet the high-end requirements of 121 infantry regiments, and there will be some surplus.

121 infantry regiments, according to the organization of three-regiment divisions, can also meet the needs of more than 40 infantry divisions.

Even taking into account the divisional guard battalions, it can meet the needs of approximately 37 infantry divisions.

We should not forget that the main infantry divisions of the Northeast Field Army before the Liaoshen Campaign consisted of 12 columns and 36 divisions.

Therefore, after the Liaoshen Campaign, some light machine guns were added to the existing field columns, while others were distributed to independent divisions and assigned to various columns.

In addition, after the army entered the pass, a series of division-level troops were actually formed in the Northeast, and the equipment they needed could be supplemented by previous seizures.

Therefore, large-scale battles, especially annihilation battles, can seize a large number of weapons and enrich the troops, and expand the new army. The significance of the victory in the Liaoshen Campaign in enhancing the strength of the troops can be seen; and if all three major wars were won, the improvement in the equipment and combat effectiveness of the troops would be even more significant.