Re: Chinese flamethrowers
The Flamethrower Company in the article was the original. There would eventually be a Flamethrower Company in every regular PLA Infantry Division. I am not sure how quickly this happened, but a MIIS report on chemical weapons says that the PLA used flamethrowers extensively during the Sino-Indian War of 1962 as well the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979.
A report produced by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in 1984 says that a Flamethrower Company comprised 9 officers and 75 enlisted men, equipped with 27 Type 74 flamethrowers. It also confirms that the Type 74 replaced the Soviet ROKS-3. A Flamethrower Company in an Infantry Division at that time was separate from the divisional Engineer Battalion. It is possible that Chinese flamethrower troops are heavy infantry (chemical troops) rather than engineers/pioneers in game terms. If that is the case, they would not have satchel charges in the game.
Flamethrower companies still exist today – but I am not sure how they are organised. I have heard that they are still present in some types of infantry division – but I have also read that they are grouped in chemical battalions under Corps control.
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