Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said when he saw that he and the two division commanders were left alone at the table, "I think it is necessary for me to talk to you about ammunition."

"Ammunition? What's wrong with the ammunition?" Sukov heard what Sidolin said, and asked tentatively: "Is it true that the soldiers who used to use German equipment still have a lot of discomfort after switching to our own equipment?" ?”

"That's right, the former comrades of the 73rd Infantry Brigade generally felt uncomfortable with the new equipment after the change." Sidolin nodded and said, "Especially the grenades."

"Grenade?!" Sokov stared at Sidolin with wide eyes, and thought to himself: "There may be differences in the rifles, submachine guns and machine guns of the Soviet and German sides, but shouldn't the grenades be the same?" But he just said these words Thinking about it in my heart, I didn't say it immediately, but asked cautiously: "Chief of Staff, tell me, what's wrong with the grenade?"

"The German army uses the M24 long wooden handle grenade, which has the advantages of high explosive power and long throwing distance. If necessary, it can also be tied into a cluster grenade to bomb the enemy's tanks or fortifications." Sidolin took out a few sketches and showed them to Sokov began to introduce: "The grenades used by our army today, in addition to the common egg-shaped grenades, are RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades.

The RGD-33 grenade is a handle-type grenade developed and finalized in my country in 1933. The use method is too complicated, and it is very dangerous for people who are not familiar with it. Coupled with the difficulty of production and other reasons, starting this year, it has been gradually replaced by the new RG-42 grenade.

However, the RG-42 grenade also has defects. After investing, the user needs to find a place to hide to prevent accidental injury from flying shrapnel. In addition, since the missile body is cylindrical, it is necessary to avoid throwing bombs on smooth slopes or roofs to prevent accidents caused by rolling back to one's own side..."

After listening to Sidolin introduce the grenades equipped by the Soviet Army, Sokov couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. For so long, he thought that the Soviet Army used wooden-handled grenades. Fortunately, he didn't speak casually just now. Otherwise it would be a joke. Thinking of this, he looked at Sidolin and asked, "Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

Before answering the question, Sidolin glanced at Ivanov who was standing next to him, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Comrade commander, I think that since our commanders and fighters are used to using German-style grenades, I wonder if I could please The Red October factory produced a batch for us."

"Chief of staff, I don't think this is good." Before Sokov could speak, Ivanov said first: "My soldiers have always used RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades. Let them replace them with It may take some time to get used to the German grenade."

Sidolin did not argue with Ivanov, but turned to Sokov with questioning eyes: "Mr. Comrade, what do you think?"

Sokov hadn't really noticed what kind of grenades the Soviet army used before. Who made his troops use captured German equipment for a long time. However, after reading the sketches given by Sidolin, he found that the grenades of the Soviet army were not only ugly in appearance, but also quite troublesome to use. Even if they were barely tied into cluster grenades, the weight of the grenades made it impossible for soldiers to throw them. Rush towards the enemy tanks and die together.

Because of the various defects of the Soviet-style grenades, Sokov agreed with Sidolin's suggestion in his heart, and asked the Red October factory to make a batch of German-style grenades for himself, so as to gradually replace the inapplicable Soviet-style grenades. He coughed lightly, and said, "I agree with the Chief of Staff's opinion, let the Red October factory copy a batch of German-style hand grenades for us, so as to obtain the existing Soviet-style hand grenades."

"Comrade commander, I don't understand. Why did you agree to the chief of staff's proposal?" Ivanov asked puzzled, "Why don't we use our grenades, but use the enemy's grenades?"

"Comrade deputy division commander, don't get excited." Sokov explained with a smile on his face: "The reason why I agree to imitate the German grenade is because the grenade is tied into a cluster grenade, and the effect of bombing the tank is better than ours. Tank grenades are stronger."

Ivanov knew very well what the Soviet grenades were like. After listening to Sokov's explanation, he closed his mouth and no longer objected to the imitation of German hand grenades.

Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Sokov picked up the phone on the table and called the director of the Red October factory. Hearing Peter's voice coming from the receiver, he immediately said with a smile: "Peter Factory Manager, hello, I'm Colonel Sokov, how are you doing recently?"

"What else can I do? It's still not the same." Peter's voice was extremely tired: "Colonel Sokov, if you call me at this time, I'm afraid it's not to reminisce about the old days. Tell me, are you going to call me again?" What do you want from me?"

"I would like to ask you to help me imitate a batch of German grenades." Sokov replied, "I plan to use these grenades to equip the troops."

Maybe the noise on the phone was too loud. Peter didn't hear what Sokov said clearly. He thought he was asking for a grenade, so he said carelessly: "Colonel Sokov, I have two types of RGD-33 and RG-42 here. There are grenades, as many as you want, just send someone to get them."

"Wrong, Director Peter, wrong!" Sukov knew Peter had misunderstood what he meant when he heard Peter say this, and quickly explained to him: "I don't want to get the grenade from you, but I want to ask You help us imitate a batch of grenades."

"What, imitation grenade?" Peter asked puzzledly: "Colonel Sokov, we still have tens of thousands of RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades in our warehouse, why do we need to imitate German grenades?"

"The reason is simple, because their grenades are better than ours." Sokov replied simply: "Not only are they powerful and have a long throwing distance, but they can also be bundled into cluster grenades to bomb enemy tanks if necessary. "

"Okay, Colonel Sokov, I will arrange for manual labor immediately." Peter tentatively asked on the phone: "I wonder how many you plan to let us produce?"

"Produce 20,000 pieces first. The wooden handle of the German grenade is too long, can it be shortened when imitating it?" Sokov asked cautiously after talking about the required quantity: "Director Peter, I don't know how many days Can it be produced?"

"About a week or so." Peter calculated silently in his heart for a moment, and gave an answer. He asked kindly: "Before we finish production, do we need to get a batch of RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades from the warehouse to spare?"

Since the Soviet-style grenade is inconvenient to use, Sokov does not intend to use it again. Hearing Peter’s question, he once again rejected the other party’s kindness: "Thank you, no need! We captured a lot from the Romanians a while ago, and we can still support it." a period of time."