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The Limits of Endurance
The Limits of Endurance
The "Monster-Guns" were converted to firing food supply and ammunition cannisters in desperation to supply the pocket.
Private Dinghy Yu looked in apprehension at the sight of the food cannister being loaded to the Monster Gun.
"Somehow, I don't think this is going to work," said Yu in his halting German.
"It might, it might not, worth a shot - it's not like we have anything else to do in Winter" replied back the German engineer who was still attached to the unit.
....
The "Peking Pocket" as it has been dubbed by historians was not a confortable place to be in. Although the heavy blizzards and heavy snow made it impracticable for the Japanese to attack and indeed certain historians claim that it was what ultimately saved the pocket from certain destruction during winter, it was not conductive to an Army low on supplies, low on food and low on fuel and had to share what little it had with millions of civilians...
What little supplies that trickled into the pocket was bought in through three different ways - by air, by sea and by cannon.
The Chinese Air Force used it's Airships to transport supplies to the pocket. It also used it's fighter planes and basically anything that could fly and they could spare to deliver necessary items to the pocket in the brief periods of good weather - the obsolete Taube plane or the Feng Ru I was even bought out of refinement and had sacks of rice or sacks of canned goods strapped to it's wings. However, the Japanese had better planes which could outgun, outrun and outclimb even the most advanced Feng Ru IX fighter, although the Chinese had weight of numbers and closer proximity to airfields on their side. Ultimately however, the volume of supplies that could be sent through the air was not enough and alternatives needed to be found.
An alternative was found in the "Monster-Guns." Clever Chinese engineers quickly fashioned cannisters which could be fired out of the guns, these cannisters could contain anything from sacks of rice, cans of beans to drums of water and even precious fuel. The Monster-Guns were surprisingly accurate and several areas in the Peking pocket were quickly designated as "Firing ranges" where the Cannisters could be efficiently fired into and collected. However, the volume of supplies using this method was not much, but it did help however.
The third way was by Sea. Humanitarian organizations were desperate to prevent famine conditions and freezing from occuring in the pocket and they sent in aid by sea. America was determined to block the blockade and sent in convoys of food escorted by destroyers. The previously sleepy fishing village of Qikou roared into life as convoys of ships anchored off the little town and rowboats took supplies in and out. The bottleneck of the Qikou harbor slowed the deliveries in the most - nontheless, most of the supplies in the Peking pocket came from Qikou... It would not be long before this sleepy small town attracted the attention of the Japanese Military...
The "Monster-Guns" were converted to firing food supply and ammunition cannisters in desperation to supply the pocket.
Private Dinghy Yu looked in apprehension at the sight of the food cannister being loaded to the Monster Gun.
"Somehow, I don't think this is going to work," said Yu in his halting German.
"It might, it might not, worth a shot - it's not like we have anything else to do in Winter" replied back the German engineer who was still attached to the unit.
....
The "Peking Pocket" as it has been dubbed by historians was not a confortable place to be in. Although the heavy blizzards and heavy snow made it impracticable for the Japanese to attack and indeed certain historians claim that it was what ultimately saved the pocket from certain destruction during winter, it was not conductive to an Army low on supplies, low on food and low on fuel and had to share what little it had with millions of civilians...
What little supplies that trickled into the pocket was bought in through three different ways - by air, by sea and by cannon.
The Chinese Air Force used it's Airships to transport supplies to the pocket. It also used it's fighter planes and basically anything that could fly and they could spare to deliver necessary items to the pocket in the brief periods of good weather - the obsolete Taube plane or the Feng Ru I was even bought out of refinement and had sacks of rice or sacks of canned goods strapped to it's wings. However, the Japanese had better planes which could outgun, outrun and outclimb even the most advanced Feng Ru IX fighter, although the Chinese had weight of numbers and closer proximity to airfields on their side. Ultimately however, the volume of supplies that could be sent through the air was not enough and alternatives needed to be found.
An alternative was found in the "Monster-Guns." Clever Chinese engineers quickly fashioned cannisters which could be fired out of the guns, these cannisters could contain anything from sacks of rice, cans of beans to drums of water and even precious fuel. The Monster-Guns were surprisingly accurate and several areas in the Peking pocket were quickly designated as "Firing ranges" where the Cannisters could be efficiently fired into and collected. However, the volume of supplies using this method was not much, but it did help however.
The third way was by Sea. Humanitarian organizations were desperate to prevent famine conditions and freezing from occuring in the pocket and they sent in aid by sea. America was determined to block the blockade and sent in convoys of food escorted by destroyers. The previously sleepy fishing village of Qikou roared into life as convoys of ships anchored off the little town and rowboats took supplies in and out. The bottleneck of the Qikou harbor slowed the deliveries in the most - nontheless, most of the supplies in the Peking pocket came from Qikou... It would not be long before this sleepy small town attracted the attention of the Japanese Military...
- CCA
- Word Count: 520