Certainly! Here's the rewritten article with added details:
When discussing the situation of the new 1st Army's howitzers and mountain guns, it was mentioned that these types of artillery were the most powerful among all Nationalist forces at the time. The artillery battalion directly under the army's command was fully equipped, as was the division's mountain artillery battalion. In fact, there was an additional mountain artillery battalion and an extra mountain artillery company.
Apart from howitzers and mountain guns, the new 1st Army was also fully or even over-equipped in small-caliber artillery, with the M3 37mm anti-tank gun being particularly formidable.
The anti-tank gun, formally known as the Tank Defense Gun, could be used to strike armored vehicles as well as fortifications. Even before the outbreak of the full-scale war against Japan, the Nationalist Army had already procured and deployed a batch of these anti-tank guns. However, at that time, these guns were of a high equipment level, with only a few elite infantry divisions having anti-tank gun companies, while most were independent units that were deployed as needed.
By the time of deployment in India, the organizational level of the anti-tank guns had been reduced to the infantry regiment level, with each regiment having such a company. Later, with the formation of the US-trained Chinese divisions, the organizational setup was also referenced (although in reality, most US-trained divisions were not fully equipped). The general organizational structure was as follows:
A regimental anti-tank gun company comprised of a company headquarters, an ammunition section, and four anti-tank gun platoons, each platoon consisting of two anti-tank gun squads, each equipped with one 37mm anti-tank gun. Therefore, a single anti-tank gun company was equipped with a total of eight anti-tank guns.
It's quite evident that a single company with eight guns is a significant number. Moreover, units stationed in India were reinforced with additional weaponry, often including firearms for auxiliary personnel, unlike artillery units in China that were only equipped with a small number of guard weapons.
Thus, in addition to eight guns, an anti-tank gun company's organization also included numerous other firepower assets. The new 1st Army, originally comprising the new 30th and new 38th divisions, later had the 50th Division remaining when the new 6th Army was recalled to China, subsequently integrated into the 1st Army's structure, giving the army a total of three infantry divisions.
The infantry divisions of the Indian Army adopted a \"three battalion system,\" with each division having three infantry battalions, thus the new 1st Army's organization included nine infantry battalions. As mentioned earlier, the anti-tank gun companies were organized at the infantry regiment level, with one company per regiment, meaning the new 1st Army should have had nine such companies. If each anti-tank gun company was equipped with eight guns, the fully equipped total for the nine artillery companies of the army should have been 72 guns.
However, when the new 1st Army returned to China in 1945, the actual number of anti-tank guns in the army's strength statistics was not based on the fully equipped data, but rather on a significantly over-equipped state. The army then had a total of 104 anti-tank guns, exceeding the standard by 32 guns, which coincidentally is the quantity of four anti-tank gun companies. The new 1st Army clearly did not additionally organize these four companies beyond the fixed establishment, but it had sufficient reserves to equip these four companies.
In contrast to other Nationalist Army units where the use of anti-tank guns required reporting and approval, the artillery of the new 1st Army not only met the establishment requirements but also had an additional surplus, which clearly demonstrated the army's equipment level at that time.
The substantial deployment of anti-tank guns would obviously have played a significant role in the fighting in northern Burma. This was because the Japanese Army was equipped with some light tanks and armored vehicles, which previously, due to the scarcity of anti-tank guns, had often been dealt with using manpower alone. However, in the northern Burma campaign, due to the large number of anti-tank guns in the Indian Army's inventory, dealing with Japanese light armored vehicles was effortless.
Moreover, despite its small 37mm caliber, it was sufficient to deal with Japanese armored units, especially since they lacked heavy armored vehicles. Furthermore, during the Indian Army's operations, armored units were also equipped with tank companies, making it a sweeping victory over the Japanese in the campaign.
With abundant artillery and ammunition, especially in an over-equipped state, from these specific equipment data, we can also appreciate the strength of the new 1st Army's equipment at that time.
