Red Moscow

"Colonel," Sokov replied with a smile: "Using tactics rationally on the battlefield can reduce the casualties of our army and destroy more enemies at the same time."

If Sokov said this before repelling the German army this time, I am afraid Lyudnikov would still be dubious. But at this moment, he was convinced. After all, the enemy who launched the attack did not even have a chance to shoot, and was defeated by the sudden artillery fire, and retreated in despair.

Lyudnikov thought to himself, if Sokov was not here, but he himself commanded the artillery regiment, would he have achieved such a result? As soon as such an idea came up, he was denied it. He shook his head with a wry smile and thought, if it wasn’t for Sokov, I’m afraid that even if all the artillery stored in the underground warehouse fell into the hands of the Germans, he would have lost all of them. You can't get it, let alone use it to repel the enemy's attack.

But while he was happy, he still had some regrets. He took out a pack of crumpled cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Sokov, "Have one, Colonel Sokov." Seeing the other party wave his hand, he added, "Don't worry, it's not German cigarettes, it's Cigarettes produced in Moscow."

Sokov has stayed away from this kind of cigarette since he smoked a German cigarette once and felt that it smelled like horse manure. Seeing Lyudnikov handing him a pack of cigarettes, he instinctively thought that it might be German cigarettes. He wanted to wave his hand and refuse, but when he heard that the cigarettes were produced in Moscow, he took it and took one out of it and put it in his mouth. .

When the two began to puff, Lyudnikov asked Sokov modestly: "Colonel Sokov, do you think we can hold the barricade factory?"

Hearing Lyudnikov's question, Sokov couldn't help showing a smile on his face. He remembered that in real history, the troops commanded by Lyudnikov not only defended the barricade factory, but even caused the German 305th Infantry Division, which attacked the factory, to be dismantled. Now, with my own assistance, the chances of holding the factory are even greater. Besides, in a week or so, the Soviet army's all-out counter-offensive will begin, and the crisis of the barricade factory will be lifted by then.

Thinking of this, he said with a smile on his face, "Don't worry, Comrade Colonel, I don't think it will be a big problem for our two divisions to join forces to hold the barricade factory."

"That's good, that's good." Lyudnikov got the answer he wanted, and his mood improved a lot, "My troops have been greatly weakened after fighting for so long. With your help, I really don't have much confidence in whether I can hold the barricade factory."

The two chatted for a while, and Lyudnikov suddenly said with emotion: "Colonel Sokov, the batch of 76mm cannons you brought in are quite effective against enemy tanks and infantry. Especially It was against the assault guns of the Germans, and it took them out in a few shots, but I think there are still some things that are not satisfactory."

Lyudnikov's words aroused Sokov's curiosity, and he asked with interest: "Colonel, tell me, what is not satisfactory?"

"Although this ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon is relatively light in weight, it can be towed by various trucks or even jeeps during the march, and it can even be dragged forward by livestock and artillery." Said thoughtfully: "But I think its mobility is not enough. If it is in a pursuit battle, it is almost useless. By the time our artillery has re-established the artillery position, the enemy may have escaped the range of the artillery fire. If only they were as mobile as the Germans' assault guns."

The speaker is not interested in the listener, Lyudnikov was just casually expressing his feelings, but a thought suddenly popped up in Sokov's heart: Didn't this ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon be changed into an SU76 self-propelled artillery? what? Since Lyudnikov said that its mobility is not enough, why not simply change these artillery into self-propelled artillery? In this way, you have a mobile artillery in your hands, and it is easier to smash the German attack.

Because he was so engrossed in thinking, Sokov forgot that he was still holding an unfinished cigarette in his hand, and he woke up from his contemplation only when the cigarette butt burned his hand. He hurriedly threw the cigarette butt on the ground, crushed it with his toe, looked at Lyudnikov and said: "Comrade Colonel, you are a genius, a great genius."

Regarding Sokov's compliment, Lyudnikov was at a loss: "What did I say, Colonel Sokov?"

"Didn't you say that the ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon can be maneuvered on the battlefield at any time like the German assault gun?" Sokov said anxiously: "I think what you said is very reasonable , we can completely install a chassis on the cannon to make it more mobile, so that our artillery can carry out artillery strikes on the enemy in any place."

Lyudnikov's eyes lit up first, and then he said with embarrassment: "Colonel Sokov, your idea is good, but adding a chassis to the cannon is not something we can do."

"Don't worry, Colonel." Sokov said confidently: "Although we don't have the ability to add a chassis to the cannon, someone can do it. We can leave this kind of thing to professionals."

After finishing speaking, he pointed to the telephone on the table and asked Lyudnikov: "Colonel, can this telephone of yours get in touch with the Red October factory?"

Lyudnikov did not immediately answer Sokov's question, but turned to ask the communications soldier sitting in the corner: "Can our phone communicate with the Red October factory?"

"Comrade Commander," the communications soldier stood up, and replied respectfully: "Since the enemy attacked the city, the telephones of residents in the city have been cut off, and all civilian lines have been requisitioned by the army. That is to say, we can not only use The military line can also use the original civilian line..."

"All right, all right, don't talk so much nonsense." Lyudnikov didn't wait for the communicator to finish, and interrupted him, asking: "You just need to tell me, can we talk to Red October?" Factory call?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The communications soldier asked with a blushing face, "Do you need me to help you take over the Red October factory?"

Lyudnikov turned to Sokov to hear who he was going to call at the Red October factory. When Sokov learned that he could communicate directly with the Red October factory, he immediately felt more at ease. He quickly said to the communication soldier: "Please take over the switchboard of the Red October factory immediately, and tell Colonel Sokov to find Peter for urgent matters." Factory manager."

The communicator quickly got through to the switchboard of the Red October factory. The operator heard that Colonel Sokov was looking for the factory director Peter. Knowing that there must be something important, he didn't dare to neglect, and quickly transferred the call to the factory director's office.

"Hello, Misha." At some point, Director Peter stopped calling Sokov by his surname and military rank, but called him by his nickname affectionately. After receiving a call from Sokov, he guessed that there must be something important, so he didn't talk nonsense, but asked straight to the point: "Call me, do you want to produce something again?"

"Yes, Comrade Factory Director." Seeing the other party, Sokov immediately guessed the purpose of his call, and said simply: "I have thought of a new type of weapon, and I hope to get your help."

Peter has seen new rockets and rockets, and knows that whatever Sokov researches is usually the most suitable for the battlefield. Now that he heard that he had thought of a new type of weapon, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic, and couldn't help urging: "Misha, do you have any good ideas, tell me quickly!"

Before Sokov expressed his thoughts, he tentatively asked the other party: "Comrade director, have you heard of the ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon?"

"Nonsense, why don't I know about this kind of artillery?" Peter sneered, and replied, "This is a kind of artillery mainly produced by the Barricade Factory. Why, is the new weapon you want to talk about related to this kind of artillery?" ?”

"Yes, Comrade Factory Manager. Today we used this kind of artillery to crush an attack by the Germans, killing several of their assault guns and hundreds of soldiers." Sokov briefly introduced the results of the battle, and then said I came up with my own idea: "I think this kind of artillery lacks enough mobility. I'm thinking about whether I can install a chassis on it and convert it into a self-propelled artillery, which can be as flexible as the German assault gun."

Sokov originally thought that Peter would immediately agree with him, but who knew that after he finished speaking, the other party suddenly fell silent. He thought the phone line was disconnected, so he quickly shouted twice into the microphone: "Hi, hello, Comrade Factory Director, are you still there?"

"I'm still here!" Peter replied in a low voice.

Sokov didn't understand why Peter suddenly became silent after hearing what he said, so he asked tentatively, "Did you hear everything I said?"

"I heard it!" Peter's voice suddenly became cold and stiff: "Colonel Sokov, can you tell me who told you about putting the artillery on the chassis and turning it into a self-propelled artillery?"

Hearing that Peter addressed himself by changing his nickname from his nickname to his last name, and even using his honorific title, Sokov faintly felt something was wrong. He frowned and replied, "No one told me, I just thought of it in a flash of inspiration."

After listening to Sokov's answer, Peter's tone softened: "So that's the case, I thought someone told you. You and I are not outsiders, and I don't want to hide it from you. In mid-October, I received a The official letter of weapons and equipment ordered us to carry out the research work of installing the ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon on the tank site. Since the superior requires strict confidentiality, not many people know about this matter. I just heard you mention it and thought it was my subordinate Someone was not strict enough to tell you about this."

Knowing that the Red October factory has started the research and development of self-propelled artillery, Sokov couldn't help but wondered in his heart, and quickly asked: "Comrade factory director, may I ask how the development is going? When will the self-propelled artillery be put into operation?" Actual combat?"

"It's very difficult, Misha." Peter sighed and said, "It's not a big problem to install the cannon on the tank chassis, and it can be completed in half a day at most. But the problem we are facing now is the artillery installed on the chassis. The muzzle cannot be rotated at all."

"Why do you need to rotate the muzzle?" Sokov asked a little strangely: "Don't you know that because the German assault guns have no turret, the rotation of the muzzle is done by turning the body."

As soon as the words came out, Peter fell into silence again. Sokov didn't know what he said, and was about to ask a question cautiously, but he heard the sound of slapping the table from the receiver, and then Peter said excitedly: "Misha, you are right, it is our Why do you have to let the muzzle rotate, it is completely possible to aim at the target through the steering of the chassis."

After solving a technical problem, Sokov tentatively asked: "Comrade factory director, when will you be able to come up with a prototype?"

"I'm afraid it will take about a week." Peter said with some embarrassment: "There are still two problems to be solved. One is what kind of chassis should the artillery be installed on? Some comrades said that the chassis of the T-26 should be used. The reason is that the production of this tank has been discontinued, but there are still a lot of chassis left, which we can use; some comrades said that from a long-term perspective, the chassis of the T-70 tank should be used..."

"Comrade factory director," after Peter finished speaking, Sokov expressed his "view": "I think it is best to install the ZIS-3 76.2mm cannon on the chassis of the T-70 tank, and at the same time need to add The length of the vehicle and the road wheels."

"Increase the length and road wheels of the whole vehicle?" Peter said with a wry smile, "Misha, if we really change it like this, I'm afraid we will have to delay the time to produce the finished product."

"Comrade factory director, I think you can follow the original idea and directly fix the artillery on the tank chassis." Sokov organized the vocabulary in his mind, and continued: "We will test it in actual combat, so as to provide you Suggest more suggestions for improvement."

"That's fine too." Peter thought for a moment, and readily agreed: "We have already produced two prototypes, one is to install the artillery on the chassis of the T-26 tank, and the other is to install it on the T-26 tank chassis. -70 chassis. But it has just been manufactured, and it has not been tested yet, and the effect is unknown. Are you really sure that you need to use these two prototypes to participate in actual combat without completing the test?"

"That's right, Comrade Factory Manager." Sokov was eager to see the modified automatic artillery, so he replied without hesitation: "In normal times, we would definitely have to wait for you to complete various tests before equipping the new guns." Technical equipment. But the situation at the barricade factory is very critical now, we don’t have time to wait for you to complete the test, so we can only test the new self-propelled artillery, which can only be carried out on the battlefield.”

Peter considered Sokov's proposal for a long time, finally nodded, and said into the microphone: "Okay, Misha, I will send someone to send you the sample car immediately. At the same time, I will send a few technicians to accompany you. Let them collect all kinds of data in a timely manner so that we can improve better."

"On the way from the Red October factory to the barricade factory, there may be a small group of Germans." Sokov was very happy to hear that Peter would soon send someone to send over the prototype of the automatic artillery, but he thought On the road between the two factories, a small group of enemies might appear, so they took the initiative to propose to Peter: "For your safety, I will send someone to meet you."