Steel Soviet Union

In 1941, when Operation Barbarossa had just been launched, this was actually a very embarrassing era for the Soviet army's small arms and equipment.

During this year, the Bobosha PPSH-41 submachine gun, which had just been finalized and put into production, was still in the trial production stage. The rare production of less than a hundred guns was only used to test whether the sample gun was qualified and met the design specifications. It was still far from the level of mass production for large-scale equipment for frontline troops. It is also called a blank check in 1941. Not an exaggeration.

As the predecessor of the Bobosa submachine gun, it is the Popod PPD-40 submachine gun. This type of submachine gun with acceptable performance did not attract enough attention before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, and the manufacturing process cost was high. The output is scarce due to the high demand.

The production of just over 5,000 units in 1941 was a drop in the bucket for the huge multi-million Red Army troops on the entire front-line battlefield.

This also includes a considerable number of priority supply orders for the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs troops and high-level security forces. It is natural to imagine that the remaining number of submachine guns of this type that can be distributed to front-line troops after layers of reductions cannot satisfy the front-line requirements. The actual needs of the troops against the MP38/40 submachine guns equipped in large quantities by the German army.

As a future time traveler, Malashenko is very aware of the importance of fully automatic weapons in modern warfare.

A fully-automatic water-splashing rifle that keeps the trigger pressed is far better than a bolt-action rifle that emphasizes accuracy, range, and single-shot power.

During the Pacific War, the Japanese army always emphasized precise shooting and "annihilating the enemy with every bullet." With their excellent individual combat qualities and extremely accurate Type 38 rifles in the early stages of the war, the Japanese army was regarded as the most accurate rifleman in the world at that time. A model army for shooting, the early Japanese army was unrivaled in precision rifle shooting and has always been proud of it.

But such an infantry army, whose marksmanship is incredible and which values ​​individual precision shooting skills, was defeated by the US military who only wanted full-automatic firepower and water-spraying shooting while forgetting about the hit rate of single-shot shooting in the Pacific Islands operations. Rats scurried about, complaining endlessly.

The Type 38 rifle, which is extremely accurate in terms of shooting accuracy, will not even take one shot when faced with the Thompson submachine gun, Garand semi-automatic rifle, M1A1 carbine and other firearms with fully automatic and semi-automatic firepower that can fire continuously in the hands of the US military. Not as good as a fire stick.

The Japanese troops, suppressed by the firepower to the point where they could not even lift their heads, were lucky not to be sieved by the dense small-arms firepower net of the U.S. military, let alone leaning out to accurately aim and shoot. At the end of the war, the Japanese army realized the superiority of fully automatic weapons, and finally began to trial-produce Japanese-made automatic weapons and equipment such as 100-type submachine guns in an attempt to save the defeat, but in the end it was too late and it did not help.

On the Soviet-German battlefield in 1941, the Soviet army, which had a serious lack of individual light weapons firepower and was far inferior to the firepower configuration of the German infantry squad, basically faced the same bad situation as the Japanese army.

The Popod submachine gun, whose production was so scarce that it was almost non-existent, was in short supply after the outbreak of the war. The Soviet infantry squads only had Mosin-Nagant rifles and DP light machine guns as the main light weapons of the squad, while the German troops were equipped with a large number of MP series submachine guns. The firepower output capability of the infantry squad is not at the same level at all.

Being completely suppressed by the automatic firepower of the German infantry squad in actual combat was the most realistic portrayal of the Soviet infantry in 1941. This situation did not occur until 1942, when the Bobosha submachine gun was officially finalized and put into production, and it was equipped on a large scale with front-line troops in massive quantities. Only then did fundamental changes occur.

Although Malashenko and his troops, who were also under the Soviet Red Army, were tank troops, the Soviet army's lack of automatic firepower in small arms still seriously troubled Malashenko.

In actual combat, the Soviet tank crew had a particularly serious need for self-defense automatic weapons because their vehicle was destroyed or paralyzed, or the Soviet tank crew needed to get out of the vehicle to perform rescue and certain on-foot missions.

The Soviet tank crews who lacked decent automatic weapons most of the time used pistols to barely defend themselves. The large and slender Mosin Nagant and DP light machine guns were simply inconvenient to take out in the narrow tank space. Lame.

Throughout the early stages of the war in 1941, the Soviet army was in the stage of retreat. Almost every time, it was the side that took the initiative to retreat. The Soviet tank crews, unable to control the post-war battlefield, even cleaned the battlefield to pick up German submachine guns and used them. In comparison with each other, the German tank crews who have MP series submachine guns as self-defense weapons can be said to have taken advantage.

Malashenko, who has always been troubled by self-defense weapons for his crew, always thought that if he had the opportunity, he would get a batch of German submachine guns to solve the urgent needs of his crew, and now this one has been captured. The German logistics baggage convoy is undoubtedly a surprise gift delivered to the door.

Malashenko, who led all four of his own crew, quickly arrived at the last vehicle of the German truck convoy, eager to confirm whether Clauseheim's words were true. Ke, immediately stepped forward and reached out to lift up the canvas covering the outside of the truck compartment. Boxes of neatly stacked German standard small arms appeared in front of the group of people in a brand new and unopened manner.

Without saying a word, he pulled out a crowbar that had been placed there from the end of the truck compartment next to him. Malashenko, who held it tightly in his hand, immediately gave it a hard blow and then inserted it into the weapon in front of him. Push hard into the wooden box.

Kaga——

A slightly harsh sound of the wooden box being opened followed the force movement of Malashenko's hand, and a brand-new MG34 general-purpose machine gun tightly wrapped in oil paper immediately appeared in front of the group of people.

"It's a pity to have a whole box of machine guns. We don't have any use for these things."

Malashenko, who was not very interested in the MG34 general-purpose machine gun that could not be used as a self-defense weapon, immediately picked up the crowbar again and prepared to open the next wooden box to continue looking for what he wanted.

Kirill and Seryosha, who had never seen such brand-new German weapons, and the other crew members suddenly became curious. One by one, they took out these brand-new MG34 general-purpose machine guns from the wooden box and tore them apart. The oil paper bag on it was removed, and the dark and shiny gun body exposed in the sun fascinated these Red Army soldiers like beauties from a foreign country.

"These guns made by the Germans are really good! Kirill. Look, they are much better than our old and thick Mosin Nagants!"

"But these guys are too big for us. I feel like you could jam the tank hatch with the flat end in your hand, even though it's really light."

Turning a deaf ear to the conversations of his subordinates, Malashenko, who was walking in the carriage, chose a wooden box that he thought would bring good luck like a random lottery, but after the crowbar was removed, But what was presented in front of him shocked him on the spot.

"Is this Bobosha? How is it possible?"