"In addition to the absence of heavy armored units, our paratroopers are better equipped than the army, and we will prove that the paratroopers under the Air Force are more suitable for rapid and mobile operations." In the face of General Bock's doubts, Richthofen did not care, for so many years, the Luftwaffe was not only engaged in aircraft, but also in infantry equipment and artillery! Although Richthofen was far less domineering than Goering in history, on the one hand, he shouted that everything that could fly belonged to me, and at the same time he was engaged in the field division of the air force, but he was still very concerned about the German paratroopers under the air force, and with sufficient funds, the German paratroopers had come to the forefront in terms of infantry equipment and light artillery.

What is the best feature of paratroopers? The lines of a later movie very aptly describe the characteristics of paratroopers, that is, "paratroopers are born to be surrounded!" "After being thrown behind the rear of the other side by planes, you are isolated and surrounded by enemies, and all kinds of unexpected situations can happen. The logistical supply was not guaranteed, and it was besieged by the superior forces of the other side, and because of the problem of airlift, the ammunition and weapons carried by the side were very limited in quantity and power. How to maximize the combat effectiveness of one's own side under the condition of limited weight has become the key ......... of paratrooper weapons.

So when the Germans designed the paratrooper weapons, they first started with guns and ammunition. First of all, on infantry guns...... You say that if you let a paratrooper shoot this Mauser rifle against an Englishman with a Lee Enfield rifle, and the quality of both sides is equal, then who will take advantage? Naturally, the Britons who used the Lee Enfield rifle, and it was not for nothing that this rifle was claimed to have the fastest rate of fire among bolt-action rifles? As soon as the two sides fought, they were a notch behind each other in terms of firepower density. This weapon, naturally, could not meet the needs of the German paratrooper units.

However, semi-automatic rifles also appeared in this plane, because by chance, the Germans obtained some Russian-designed semi-automatic rifles from their puppet Russia. And this rifle is the historical SVT38 semi-automatic rifle, which uses the principle of gas conduction, the full length, the empty gun weight of 3.95kg, and the weapon that uses 10 rounds of magazines is obviously much stronger than bolt-action rifles. Especially in terms of weight, it's pretty good. This rifle is about 500 grams lighter than the Mosin Nagan rifle.

Objectively speaking, the SVT38 rifle is definitely one of the best semi-automatic rifles of its time. After copying a batch and distributing it to various units. The grassroots response is also good, okay. Although the use of Russian weapons made the Germans feel a little shameless, it was not a big problem. After the replacement of the bullets, another German number of GE28 became. So, the rifles of the German paratroopers were considered to have ......... chosen.

In this dimension, the German Army still chose the MP38 submachine gun as its main firearm, which used 9mm bellum bullets to give the German infantry squad plenty of melee firepower. It stands to reason that German paratroopers should inherit this weapon. But actually. This brigade, which claims to be the most elite infantry in Germany, has a little disdain for this weapon, and the reason for this has to start from the last time Student and the Italian marines fought each other.

"Submachine guns are of limited use in more open combat environments. The maximum effective range of the submachine gun in our hands is only about 150 meters. And this is still in the hands of veterans. And the Berum bullet, which is too powerful, is undoubtedly very classic as a pistol bullet for self-defense, but if it is used as the main weapon and ammunition in the hands of soldiers, the lethality of this low-power bullet is obviously not enough. If you're fighting in a dense forest, the lack of power is even more pronounced. A German second lieutenant once commented on the submachine gun in his hand.

In fact, this problem does not exist in large-scale army equipment, because the backbone of infantry firepower in the German army is heavy machine guns and light machine guns. A squad was completely organized around light machine guns in hand. Submachine gunners are all there to provide melee firepower. The effective range does not have much to do with the proximity. However, for paratroopers who are smaller in number and emphasize constant super-firepower, this shorter-range and less powerful weapon is a bit unsuitable, after all, paratroopers often face a more sinister environment than the army. Although there was once a proposal to replace the full crew with semi-automatic rifles. The submachine gun was canceled, but after all, there was still a considerable gap between the rate of fire of the semi-automatic rifle and the submachine gun, and at this time it was raised whether it could be equipped with such a weapon similar to the American Bar machine gun. …………。

The Browning machine gun had already appeared in World War 1, and the German Army captured some Browning machine guns in battles with the Americans, and the Americans called him an automatic rifle, while the Germans considered this thing to be no different from a light machine gun. This thing is very powerful. The rate of fire is also fierce. But the weight of one Browning machine gun was approximately equal to the weight of two Mauser rifles. This is obviously not suitable for a class of troops such as paratroopers, which are sensitive to the weight of equipment, of course. One bar is definitely much more firepower than two Mausers. But the problem is that the Germans already had a better universal machine gun of the MG series. They considered their MG universal machine gun to be more advanced and more powerful than the Browning, and there was no need at all to equip the paratroopers with two weapons of the same function and positioning.

In addition to the problem mentioned above, there is also the problem that if you shoot with a barricade in your hand, instead of putting it on the ground, then the accuracy of this weapon will be reduced, and the recoil will be relatively large. At the same time, because the firearm itself is relatively long and heavy...... So it is not suitable for carrying and quickly entering the combat state. This is very inconvenient for paratroopers who need to fight in the streets. As a result, automatic rifles similar to the Bar were completely excluded from this selection of paratrooper weapons.

It seemed that the need for a new innovation was needed, and the deep-pocketed Luftwaffe issued a tender for small arms and set out rather harsh conditions, first of all, the weapon must be able to be used in deserts and hot and humid areas, and have a high degree of stability. Secondly, the weight of this weapon cannot exceed the standard of 3.9kg for a Mauser rifle, and the length of the gun cannot exceed the length of a Mauser rifle. Thirdly, the rate of fire of this weapon must be able to reach the level of 350 to 400 rounds. Fourth, the weapon must have good accuracy and lethality ......... within 400 meters.

After seeing the tender documents, the German designers began to think about what kind of weapon this was, first of all, in terms of rate of fire and effective range, the ammunition used in this weapon should be between pistol bullets and rifle bullets directly. The former is too small. The range and power are not enough, the latter is too large, and the lethal range is much higher than 400 meters. So the Germans thought about it, could they make a short rifle bullet? The original bullet was too long, so let's make it shorter. How about it? The bullets are shorter, lighter, and the ammunition can be carried. What's more, the recoil is reduced, and it is easy to shoot at any time like a submachine gun.

After solving the problem of ammunition, the remaining problems are well solved. Although there is a gap between this weapon and the STG44 of later generations, the basic elements have been complete, and after all aspects of testing and handing over to the troops for trial, the German paratroopers finally took the assault rifle numbered STG29 and the GE28 semi-automatic rifle as the main weapon of the German paratroopers.

After solving the rifle problem, it was time for the machine gun. However, this time the German paratroopers did not show any difference from the army, and honestly chose the same MG27 machine gun as the German army. (For specific data, please refer to the later MG34.) In terms of pistols, you can also make do with Luger's pistol, of course, if you are willing to buy it separately out of your own pocket, it doesn't matter if you carry a box gun..........

In addition to guns, the German Airborne Forces were also equipped with a grenadier-like curved weapon, and if he showed this thing to Xu Jie, he would find that this kind of Dongdong was very similar to the historical Japanese Type 89 grenadier canister. In fact, this caliber is 50mm, weighs 2.7kg, is long and has an effective range of about 500 meters, which is almost exactly the same as the historical 89 grenadiers. Originally, there were no similar weapons in European countries throughout history. However, that doesn't mean that the weapon is not good. At least much stronger than the German granaterfer 36mm mortar of the 50 type. The latter weighed 14 kg and had an effective firing range about the same as the 89 grenadier canister. Muzzle velocity 75m per second. The rate of fire is from 15 to 20 rounds per minute. So much so that even the Germans withdrew it after not long in it. …。

Of course, if the grenadier wants to exert its power, it depends on the skill of the operator, after all, there is almost no commendable aiming method for this thing. Moreover, the loading and firing steps are more cumbersome, and the rate of fire is relatively low (the rate of fire of the American M2 Type 60 mortar can reach 30 rounds a minute!). The accuracy is also relatively low (lower than the average mortar. But just for its lighter weight. The Germans said it would be good to give it to the paratroopers. So...... In the armament of each platoon, at least one grenadier group will be arranged. Although theoretically a soldier can use a grenadier canister, the artillery is called "not occupying the establishment". But in fact, it is better to operate this kind of thing by 3 people, one is responsible for holding the gun, one is loading, and then there is an ammunition man, but fortunately, the weight of the grenade used is not heavy, and a grenade is not even 500 grams. The original design of this weapon was to give the German paratroopers a ......... of warp fire that could be quickly maneuvered.

When the German paratroopers finally settled on infantry weapons. They found that more difficulties awaited them in terms of heavy weapons. The paratroopers had to deal with more than just infantry. You'll also encounter bunkers, tanks, armored vehicles, and other big guys. Mortars alone will definitely not work. And because of the requirements of the transport aircraft itself, these things had to be reduced in weight. And after having artillery, you have to solve the problem of transportation, not to mention that it is obviously very difficult to transfer hundreds of kilograms of artillery by manpower, so you also need to equip them with a small vehicle.

Thank you for the reward of zhouyu1976~~~, and the second more to ask for support and subscription~~~! (To be continued).