Red Moscow

Sidolin and Belkin never dreamed that the batch of new weapons Yakov sent was actually designed by Sokov. Both of them stared at Sokov with wide-eyed surprise, trying to figure out what happened. Is it true, or is Yakov playing a joke on them.

Seeing that Yakov had already spoken out, Sokov did not hide any more. He nodded and said, "Yes, this new type of rocket launcher was indeed designed by me. But how powerful it is on the battlefield, I'm not sure, we need our fighters to test it in battle."

"I really didn't expect Comrade Brigadier to invent new weapons." Although Sokov admitted that he invented the new weapons, Sidolin still found it unbelievable: "This is simply incredible."

"It's nothing incredible," Sokov said with a nonchalant look, "I'm considering that the troops will suffer a lot of unnecessary damage when they attack a well-defended German position without sufficient artillery cover." casualties, hence the idea.”

"Comrade Brigadier," Sidolin waited for Sukov to finish speaking, and then continued to talk about his own views: "I think this weapon can not only provide enough fire cover for infantry to attack, but also provide enough firepower for infantry to defend. Inflict heavy damage on the attacking enemy."

"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sukov followed Sidolin's words, and then continued: "During the development process, I also considered this issue, and felt that the new rocket launcher would definitely not be able to compete with the traditional rocket launcher. Like a rocket launcher, it can only provide artillery cover for the troops when attacking, and it should also be used as a sharp weapon when defending..."

"Misha," while Sidolin and the others were busy, Yakov came to Sokov's bed and sat down, and asked in a low voice, "Can I talk to you alone?"

Sokov, who was lying on the camp bed, tilted his head and glanced at Sidolin and Belkin who were busy, and decided that he and Yakov should speak in a lower voice, so there should be no problem, so he nodded slightly and said: " Yakov, if you have anything to say, just say it."

"When I came, Comrade Ustinov asked me to ask you in private, did you think of any new weapons recently?" After Yakov finished these two sentences, he also emphasized: "The assault you designed The performance of the rifle and this new type of rocket launcher on the weapon test field made the military workers admire. Like Comrade Ustinov, they all want to know if you have any new ideas recently."

Yakov's words made Sokov fall into deep thought. That's right, assault rifles and 107 rocket launchers have come out ahead of time, what kind of weapons should be brought out next?

Seeing that Sokov was silent, Yakov thought that his voice was too low for the other party to hear clearly. After all, the sound of reports and phone calls in the room was too noisy, and it was normal that he could not hear clearly. Just when he was about to ask again, Sokov said first: "Yakov, what do you think of the power of the 107 rocket launcher?"

Yakov heard Sokov suddenly asked about the 107mm rocket launcher. Although he didn't know what he meant by asking, he replied truthfully: "According to the comments of military workers, this is a great weapon. Misha , I don’t understand, why did you suddenly ask about this weapon? You know, you designed this weapon?”

Sokov looked at Yakov and said: "In all honesty, this kind of rocket launcher is very effective when it hits a fixed target or a concentrated large target. But if it is used to deal with speeding tanks, I am afraid it will be more effective." discount."

"That's right, you're right." Yakov agreed with Sokov's statement: "No matter how fast the fighter operating the rocket launcher is, it takes a certain amount of time from the rocket launch to hitting the target. Even if our fighters can calculate the amount of advance, the probability of directly hitting the tank is very low. Therefore, I think it is not worth the candle to use the 107 rocket launcher to hit the galloping tank."

"Yakov, you are right." Sokov decided to launch the RPG rocket launcher modified from the German Iron Fist-100 44mm rocket launcher several years in advance, and continued: "If we change the rocket launcher to Let our soldiers carry this weapon, hide in the area where the German tanks pass, wait for the enemy tanks to come into range, and decisively open fire to destroy them..."

After listening to Sokov's words, Yakov said with a blank face: "Misha, I don't think I understand what you mean. How can this 107mm rocket launcher be changed into an individual weapon?"

"Do you have a pen and paper with you?" Sokov felt that it was not clear just by talking, so he planned to draw a sketch to show Yakov, let him have a perceptual understanding first, and then talk about how to design , he will be able to know what he knows.

"Yes." As Yakov said, he took out a pen and paper from the briefcase he was carrying, and was about to hand it to Sokov, but he saw that he was lying flat on the bed, and he couldn't draw even if he wanted to. , Hastily called a staff officer, helped Suokov to sit up halfway. After finishing all this, he stuffed the pen and paper into Sokov's hand and said, "Misha, you can show me the sketch now."

Sokov originally wanted to introduce the RPG-7 rocket launcher directly to Yakov, but after thinking about it, whether that kind of rocket launcher can be produced under the current industrial standard is a problem, so he chose the simplest RPG-2 type rockets. Due to the lack of strength in his hands, he took nearly ten minutes to draw the sketch that could have been drawn in a minute or two.

While Sokov was drawing, Sidolin and Belkin also finished their work and came over curiously, wanting to see what Sokov drew. After finishing the drawing, Sokov handed the sketch to Yakov, and said to him, "Yakov, this is my newly designed bazooka, which is specially used to fight tanks."

"A bazooka for attacking tanks?" Yakov looked at the sketch in his hand, and said with some doubts, "Misha, is this the individual anti-tank weapon you designed?"

"Yes, this is the individual weapon I designed to fight tanks. It's called the bazooka." Sokov nodded slightly, and said in a positive tone: "The bazooka adopts the principle of open balanced projection. The launcher, Sights, shields, grips, and launching and firing mechanisms..."

After listening to Sokov's brief introduction, Yakov asked several most critical questions: "Misha, I want to ask, is this weapon carried by soldiers on their shoulders, its firing rate? How fast and how far can it shoot? Also, how thick of tank armor can it penetrate?"

Fortunately, Sokov is still very clear about the key data set of this rocket launcher. After hearing Yakov's question, he replied without hesitation: "According to my idea, the rate of fire of this rocket launcher should be 4-6 rounds per minute, the direct range is 100 meters, and the effective range is 150 meters. As for the thickness of the armor penetration, it should reach 152-180 mm."

Yakov put all the data that Sokov said on the sketch one by one with a blank expression, and then asked Sokov: "Misha, do you think we can produce such a product with our current production level?" Anti-tank weapons?"

"I don't think there's any problem." Sokov said to himself that the data I gave you is not RPG-7 type, and if there is anything that can't be produced, he said firmly: "After two days, my health will improve. Finally, I will draw you the three views of this rocket launcher in detail to facilitate the development and development of military personnel."

Yakov stared at the sketch for a while, then nodded, and said, "Well, anyway, I will stay here for a few more days, and I will wait for you to give me more detailed drawings." I got on the notebook and carefully put it in my briefcase.

Seeing that Sokov had designed a new type of anti-tank weapon in such a short period of time, Sidolin and Belkin couldn't help feeling deeply. Sidolin also asked with a look of admiration: "Comrade Brigadier, I didn't expect you to be so powerful. In addition to being able to command and fight, you can also design such an excellent weapon. I would like to ask, can you design any new weapons?"

Hearing Sidolin's question, Sokov's mind began to think quickly: "Yes, apart from the assault rifle, the 107mm towed rocket launcher, and the RPG-2 40mm rocket launcher just 'designed', What other weapons can be released in this time and space in advance?"

Seeing that Sokov remained silent, Sidolin said empathetically, "It's okay, Comrade Brigadier, think about it slowly. When you think of a new weapon, it's not too late to tell us."

"Misha," Yakov stood up and said to Sokov, "You should have a good rest first, and I will come to see you when you are free..."

Before Yakov finished speaking, Sokov suddenly thought of another weapon, stopped him quickly, and asked straight to the point: "Yakov, have you heard of white phosphorus incendiary bombs?"

"White phosphorous incendiary bomb?" When he heard the term, Sidolin couldn't help being taken aback. He instinctively turned his head to look at Belgin, hoping to get an answer from him. He turned his head to look at Sokov again, wanting to hear his explanation.

When Yakov heard this term, he was only stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "I have heard of it. It is said that it was developed by the Americans. It is an extremely dangerous and terrifying incendiary bomb that touches the skin. It is difficult to remove it in time, and the burning temperature of white phosphorus is so high that it can burn all the way to the bone, and at the same time, it will produce a large amount of smoke that is extremely irritating to the eyes and nose."

Yakov didn't understand why Sokov brought up this weapon, so he couldn't help asking in wonder, "Misha, this incendiary bomb has just been released and not many people know about it. How did you know about it?"

Sidolin and the others were at a loss when they heard Sokov mentioning this term. Now that Yakov said that not many people know about this kind of incendiary bomb, they couldn't help casting suspicious glances at Sokov. , I want to find out how my comrade, the brigade commander, knew about this weapon.

When Sokov heard Yakov's question, he wished he could slap himself. He wondered why he spoke so fast, and actually uttered weapons that neither the Soviet Union nor Germany had equipped yet. Fortunately, he was smart enough, and quickly replied: "The last time the headquarters of the Front Army was transferred, the commander, General Yeremenko, and Comrade Khrushchev passed by here. When chatting with me, they accidentally mentioned that sentence, so I know There is this new weapon."

The reason why Sokov asked Yeremenko and Khrushchev to take the blame was because he believed that it was impossible for Yakov to go to the two chiefs of the front army to verify the matter. After he finished speaking, Yakov and Sidolin nodded in unison, with a look on their faces. Commanders at the grassroots level did not know about the new weapons equipped by the U.S. military, but at the level of Yeremenko and Khrushchev, it is not surprising that they knew about such weapons.

"Misha, this kind of white phosphorous incendiary bomb is really effective against the enemies in the fortification." Yakov said thoughtfully, "But it seems to have little effect on our battle to defend Stalingrad. You know , Now that the defense lines between the enemy and the enemy are uneven, when the Air Force drops bombs, it is very likely to throw incendiary bombs on the heads of its own people."

The reason why Sokov mentioned the white phosphorus incendiary bomb to Yakov was not because he wanted the incendiary bomb to be of much use in the battle to defend Stalingrad. The filler, if possible, would allow the cloud bomb to come out decades earlier.

"Yakov, you also said that this kind of incendiary bomb is very effective against the enemy hiding in the fortification." Sokov continued: "Although our army is currently defending, the chance of using incendiary bombs is not high. But it is impossible for our army to defend forever and not attack. Once our army turns to counter-offensive, then this kind of incendiary bomb will come in handy.”

"It makes sense, it makes sense." Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov took out the pen and paper from his briefcase, looked at Sokov and asked, "Misha, tell me what you think. With me Knowing you, you will never bring up Molotov cocktails for no reason, and you must have your own ideas."

"Yakov, this is how I think about it." Sokov thought for a while, and felt that launching the cloud bomb at this time would be too shocking, and with the current industrial level of the Soviet Union, it might not be produced at all, so he decided The next best thing was to let Yakov go back and let Ustinov organize the development of napalm bombs: "In order to increase the power of the incendiary bomb, can we replace the white phosphorus inside with other things?"

Sokov's words aroused Yakov's curiosity: "Misha, what do you think the white phosphorus should be replaced with?"

"Gasoline, preferably napalm." Sokov replied without hesitation: "I think that if the white phosphorus inside is replaced with napalm, the power of the incendiary bomb may be doubled. After you go back, you can Discuss with Comrade Ustinov and try to make a trial batch to see how it works.”

"Okay." Although Yakov was not interested in the napalm bombs that Sokov mentioned, he still wrote these contents down in a small notebook, "When I go back, I will definitely tell Ustino Comrade Husband reports."