American armored vehicles in China

Interesting images ... but, perhaps, a better thread title would be American Armored Vehicles serving in the PLA?

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Given the WWII NRA's US-equipped units such as X Force (5 divisions) and the 1st Provisional Tank Group (6 battalions), it would have been surprising if a fair number of US vehicles didn't survive into PLA use.
 
Sherman0.jpg
This is a Sherman tank that was used by the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War. Its 75mm tank gun has been replaced with a smaller caliber weapon—possibly a 37mm Japanese tank gun or a machine gun.
 
TwoTribes said:
View attachment 785157
This is a Sherman tank that was used by the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War. Its 75mm tank gun has been replaced with a smaller caliber weapon—possibly a 37mm Japanese tank gun or a machine gun.
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That's very odd. The US 75mm tank gun used the same ammunition as the French Mle.1897 artillery, and it was a very good gun for throwing HE at things. Japanese bunker? HE, then a WP smoke. Japanese towed gun? HE, then run it over. Infantry in the open? 75mm HE (or Canister if close), then coax machine gun.
 
Scott Kenny said:
That's very odd. The US 75mm tank gun used the same ammunition as the French Mle.1897 artillery, and it was a very good gun for throwing HE at things. Japanese bunker? HE, then a WP smoke. Japanese towed gun? HE, then run it over. Infantry in the open? 75mm HE (or Canister if close), then coax machine gun.
Click to expand...
This was the equipment of the PLA during the Chinese Civil War from 1946 to 1950, so it is unlikely that its targets were "Japanese" bunkers or towed artillery. (You probably meant the War of Resistance against Japan from 1931 to 1945.)

The firepower likely wasn't the main issue... (probably). The primary concern was more likely the serviceability of the guns themselves. These Shermans were U.S. military surplus left behind by American forces stationed in China—their condition when taken over by the Nationalist forces is questionable, as there are no records of 75mm-armed Shermans being deployed in combat. If they had been operational, their previous owners would likely have used them in battle. They were later captured by the PLA—since they were seized, it's highly probable that the previous owners had sabotaged them. Their numbers were insufficient—only a handful, it seems—and there were not enough spare parts available for cannibalization. Therefore, there is some rationale for replacing them with smaller-caliber weapons due to the serviceability issues of the original guns.

Actually, the Japanese 37mm tank gun or heavy machine gun already met the battlefield requirements at that time—the enemy lacked strong anti-tank firepower and armored forces, and the primary targets were bunkers. I wouldn’t say the Japanese 37mm tank gun or heavy machine gun could inflict significant damage on well-constructed fortifications, but it was probably sufficient (just barely) against most bunkers in China at the time. The PLA could have equipped the Shermans with better and larger guns, but such modifications would have been too extensive and impractical for field conditions. The Japanese 37mm tank gun or heavy machine gun was compact, and PLA engineers were familiar with them, so they opted to install these instead.
 

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