During World War II, the situation in France has not been very good, and finally spent huge resources to build the Maginot Line. As a result, Germany did not take the usual path, and went straight out of the Ardennes area, bypassing the horse. Chino's line of defense penetrated into the French hinterland, which also led to France's rapid defeat and became the first major country to surrender in World War II. But in the final analysis, France was one of the top countries in European military power at the time. What about the weapons of the French army?
First of all, in the pistol part, the French army used three pistols during World War II. One is the M1935 pistol, which is the Browning power pistol. After the end of World War I, the French thought that their pistol was not powerful enough and planned to re-select a standard weapon. The Browning high-power pistol was developed in accordance with the French standard, but it was a pity that they lost to the 7.65mm of Saint-Etienne. Pistol (Saint Etienne is the largest arsenal in France).
FN company is not reconciled to the decline of the Browning high-power pistol, and pushes it to the civilian market. Browning high-power pistol is the work of firearms master John Browning. It has excellent performance and will shine everywhere. It has quickly been recognized by the United States, Germany, Austria and other countries, and has gradually become a popular weapon.
The French are not happy at all, because the St. Etienne 7.65mm pistol they are equipped with is constantly malfunctioning. After some comparison, the Browning high-power pistol clearly wins, so the French army shouted the truth and re-purchased This weapon was eliminated by itself and was renamed M1935 pistol.
The second is the M1892 revolver, and the third is the Ruby "Ruby" pistol. Both of these are French pistols of the First World War. They are weak and have a small load capacity. It meets the needs of World War II, but because the French army had just eliminated the St. Etienne 7.65mm pistol at that time, and the number of M1935 pistols was not enough, the M1892 and Ruby were not completely retired, and the French army was still equipped with a part.
followed by the submachine gun part. The French army was mainly equipped with the MAS38 submachine gun at that time, which was characterized by small size, length 623mm, empty weight 2.86kg, and 32 rounds of long magazines. The principle of free gun action, the maximum rate of fire can reach 700 rounds per minute. Although the effective range is relatively short (10 meters) and the muzzle velocity is not enough (350m/s), MAS38 is very dominant in close-range assault operations. It is a good weapon.
Unfortunately, the French did not know the goods. Before the surrender, the output was less than 1,000. On the contrary, the German army became very interested in the portability of MAS38. After the occupation of Germany, it continued to require St. Etienne to produce it, and then put it on the station. German police force in Paris.
Incidentally, the Italian guerrillas once acquired a batch of MAS38 submachine guns and used this weapon to end Mussolini's life.
In addition to MAS38, the Free French Army is also equipped with MP18, Sten and Thompson submachine guns. MP18 was captured by the French from the Germans during World War I and used until World War II; and Sten With Thompson’s assistance from the Allies, after all, there is no industrial foundation with Free France. A lot of resources and equipment have to be supplied by the Allies. Therefore, the French army often has various American and British weapons in its hands.
and then the rifle part, the French army was replacing the MAS36 rifle. This is a new weapon that was installed in 1936. The performance is very good, and the rate of fire is comparable to that of the Lee Enfield rifle. Unfortunately, the French army was equipped too late. By 1940, the MAS36 only produced 250,000, which still cannot restore France's defeat. fate.
Lebel 1886 rifle and Bethier 1892 rifle, it is not difficult to tell from the name of the gun, this is an old equipment invented at the end of the 19th century. They were the main force of the French army during World War I. It was originally in World War II. During the period, the performance has fallen behind and should be eliminated, but the production efficiency of MAS36 is not enough, so the main weapons used by the French military are still these two.
Finally is the machine gun departmentAt that time, the French army was equipped with FM 24/29 light machine guns, Shaosha light machine guns, Raibel heavy machine guns and Hatchkiss heavy machine guns. Among them, Shaosha was also known as the "worst weapon in World War I", and there were too many faults. It made people crazy, the light machine gun was stuck into a bolt-action rifle, and the performance can be imagined.
In fact, the French army was not interested in Saussa at first, but with the outbreak of World War I, France found that the army was extremely lack of automatic firepower. At that time, the only machine gun that France could find was Shaoxat, which was too time-consuming to re-development , The French army can’t wait, so it can only list Shaosha as a standard weapon and purchase it in large quantities.
The performance of Shaosha is bad, one is because the magazine is hollow, and in order to ensure the smooth feeding of the bullet, the bullet will be brushed with oil in advance, which makes the dust very easy to adhere to the shell and enter the barrel. Internally, too much accumulation will cause blockage; second, because Shaosha is originally a semi-finished product, but it has not been fully optimized and upgraded, and it has been purchased by the army in a hurry, so it is not a problem.
In fact, it is not difficult to see from these weapons that the French army in 1940 was in a period of alternation of old and new weapons, and many of the weapons were superior in performance to Europe, but unfortunately, France lost It was too fast, and many weapons were thrown on the ground before they even had time to fire a few shots, contaminated with dust, and they couldn't exert their due combat effectiveness at all.
