As soon as Yakov walked into the headquarters, he saw two officers standing facing the door. One of the officers with the rank of lieutenant colonel came up to him first and said with a smile on his face: "Major Yakov, I am the brigade commander."
Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, Chief of Staff, on behalf of all the brigade commanders and fighters, I welcome you!"
Just as Yakov and Sidorin shook hands, the political worker next to him also came over and proactively greeted: "Major Yakov, I am the brigade political commissar Belkin. Welcome!"
After Yakov shook hands with the two men, he asked with some confusion: "Comrade commanders, I heard the sentry at the door say that the brigade commander is also here. Why didn't I see him?"
"I'm here, Yakov." As soon as Yakov finished speaking, he heard a familiar voice in the room, "Welcome to Mamayev Hill."
"Misha, where are you?" Yakov only heard the voice but saw no one. He looked around, except for the two commanders in front of him and several operators sitting in front of the walkie-talkie not far away.
Except for the officers and staff, there was no trace of Sokov at all. He thought Sokov was joking with him and hid intentionally, so he couldn't help but asked loudly: "Why can't I see you?"
"Major Yakov, Comrade Brigade Commander is here." Sidorin and Belkin turned sideways, revealing Sokov lying on the cot in the corner: "He is injured and cannot stand up to greet you.
Please forgive me."
Yakov couldn't help being surprised when he saw Sokov lying on the cot. He quickly walked to the bed, leaned down and approached Sokov, and asked with concern: "Misha, are you injured? Is the injury serious?
ah?"
Sokov, who was lying on the camp bed, smiled lightly and said: "I'm fine, I just suffered some concussion injuries. I'll be fine after lying down for two days. Yakov, why did you suddenly appear at Mamayev Heights?"
"Why am I here?!" When Yakov heard Sokov's question, he snorted heavily and said, "If I hadn't sent you new weapons, I probably wouldn't have had the chance to come to Stalingrad."
"Oh, you sent us a new weapon?!" Yakov's words made Sokov feel secretly happy. He quickly asked: "Yakov, tell me quickly, what new weapon is it?"
Yakov hesitated for a moment, as if he was considering whether to tell Sokov the truth. But after a moment, he made a decision. Since these new weapons were given to Sokov and the others, he could not tell them in public.
It doesn't matter. After he coughed lightly, he said: "The 107mm rocket launcher you originally designed has been officially put into production after repeated tests. Comrade Ustinov asked me to send a batch over.
Let you test its power on the battlefield."
Sidorin and Belkin had expressions of surprise on their faces when they heard Yakov say there were new weapons. But when they heard it was a rocket launcher, they immediately lost interest. They were all thinking: Rocket Launcher Battalion Equipment
They were all vehicle-mounted 122mm rocket launchers, but now a 107mm rocket launcher has appeared out of thin air. It is estimated that it will not play much role in the battle.
Seeing Sidorin and Belkin's lack of interest, Sokov said to them: "Political Commissar and Chief of Staff, do you think that the power of this kind of rocket launcher on the battlefield is not as powerful as that of our army's active rocket launcher?"
Akisha rocket launcher?"
Sidorin and Belkin, who had been guessed by Sokov, did not speak. They just chuckled twice, assuming that they acquiesced to Sokov's statement.
After seeing the expressions on the two people's faces clearly, Sokov smiled slightly, and then said to Yakov: "Yakov, you sent these 107 rocket launchers, or you should introduce the situation to them."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Yakov turned to Sidorin and asked: "Can you ask someone to inform my subordinates and ask them to send a towed rocket launcher?"
"Send it here?" Sidorin asked in surprise after hearing Yakov's request: "The space here is small, I'm afraid I can't fit the rocket launcher, right?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Yakov said confidently with a smile on his face: "Since it is a new rocket launcher, its size must be different from common rocket launchers, and it will definitely fit here."
Sidorin stared at Yakov for a while, feeling that he didn't want to joke with him, so he walked to the table, pulled the phone in front of him, shook the handle a few times, then picked up the phone and put it to his ear, and spoke
Said: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, Chief of Staff, pick me up from the sentry at the entrance to the reverse slope..."
While Sidorin was on the phone, Sokov smiled and asked Yakov: "Yakov, we haven't seen each other for only a few months, and you are already a major. You were promoted very quickly."
Yakov grinned and said: "Misha, please stop making fun of me. You know, I belong to the technical branch now, and my military rank will definitely be a little higher than that of ordinary troops..."
Not long after the two chatted, the second lieutenant whom Yakov had met before appeared at the door with seven or eight soldiers. The second lieutenant walked in, raised his hand to salute Sidorin, and reported: "Comrade Chief of Staff,
I have brought my comrades from friendly forces."
Before Sidorin could speak, Yakov had already walked to the door and said to the soldiers standing outside: "Come in and assemble everything in your hands." As the order was given, the soldiers rushed
They swarmed in, put down the thick barrels they were holding, and started assembling them on site.
Sidorin waved to the second lieutenant, indicating that he could leave, then stood aside and looked at the busy soldiers, and asked Yakov curiously: "Major Yakov, is this the kind of rocket launcher you are talking about?"
"That's right," Yakov nodded and said affirmatively: "This is the latest towed rocket launcher."
Looking at the rocket launcher that was gradually taking shape, Sidorin shook his head and said: "Major Yakov, if you hadn't explained it, I would have thought it was a new type of agricultural tool. It looks so crude."
It only took the soldiers three or four minutes to complete the assembly of this twelve-tube towed rocket launcher. Seeing that they had completed the assembly, Yakov waved to them and said: "You go out first, wait for me to call
Come back in when it’s your time.”
After the soldiers left, Yakov began to introduce this new type of rocket launcher to Sidorin and Belkin: "...because the launched rocket flies by the thrust of its own engine, there is no need for a complicated anti-recoil device.
Therefore, the structure of the launching device is simple and lightweight. Most parts of the gun body can be disassembled and combined without tools, making operation and maintenance very easy. In special cases, we can also use single-tube, two-tube, four-tube or eight-tube simple
Launch. The total weight of the gun is 613 kilograms. It is small in size, light in weight, and has good maneuverability. It can be towed by a jeep or a mule or horse, or it can be broken down and transported by manpower."
After listening to Yakov's introduction, Sidorin and Belkin had a perceptual understanding of this kind of rocket launcher. However, it is useless to have strong maneuverability without strong firepower, so Sidorin then asked: "Yako
Major Husband, how powerful is this rocket launcher?"
"The rocket weighs 18.8 kilograms, the warhead weighs 8.33 kilograms, the maximum range is 8.5 kilometers, and the killing radius is 12.5 meters." Since Yakov participated in the entire process of this rocket from design, development to mass production, he
He was very familiar with all kinds of data. When he heard Sidorin's question, he immediately replied without hesitation: "This new type of rocket has strong firepower. It can fire 12 rounds at a time, which is equivalent to a howitzer battalion. This is
It’s beyond the reach of ordinary artillery.”
Lying on the camp bed, Sokov watched Yakov introduce the new 107 rocket launcher to his two deputies, and thought to himself: "I originally planned to go straight to the 'heartless gun', but it's a pity that the shooting accuracy of that thing is
It's not high and has a short range. It has to be close to a place of one or two hundred meters before it can be fired. If the German army on the opposite side is equipped with a few snipers, they can easily kill the soldiers operating the "heartless cannon". And the "heartless cannon"
'When launched, the oil barrel will also roll, which will also cause unnecessary casualties to nearby soldiers. If you want to deal with the Germans, the 107 rocket launcher, which came out more than 20 years ago, is very powerful.
It’s also the most reliable.”
After listening to Yakov's introduction, Belkin was full of curiosity about this new type of rocket launcher. He stepped forward and touched the barrel and asked: "Major Yakov, you just seemed to say that this towed rocket launcher can also be disassembled.
, carried by humans?”
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar." Yakov said: "As you can see, the 107mm rocket launcher is not only light in total weight, but can also be quickly disassembled and combined, and the weight of a single component after disassembly does not exceed 30 kilograms. For
To meet the requirements of the human back, the decomposed part has the following characteristics in terms of structural dimensions: no more than the neck (easy to look up), no more than the hips (easy to step), no wider than the shoulders (easy to pass), and a close center of gravity (to prevent twisting of the waist). Complete
After disassembly, our soldiers can carry the parts anywhere, reassemble them, and conduct fire strikes on nearby enemies."
"Major Yakov is right." Sidorin interrupted: "We have just seen that only seven or eight soldiers can carry all the components and assemble it in the shortest time.
Major, I would like to ask, how many of these towed rocket launchers did you bring this time?" Yakov did not speak, but just raised his right hand and stretched out four fingers.
"Forty?" Sidorin asked in surprise: "You actually brought such a rocket launcher across the river?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he saw Yakov shaking his head and replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are mistaken, it is not forty, but four. We brought our own four tractors this time
rocket launcher to Mamayev Kurgan."
"There are only four." When he learned that Yakov had only brought four rocket launchers, the smile on Sidorin's face gradually disappeared. He asked with some disappointment: "It's too few!"
"Quite a few, Comrade Chief of Staff." Yakov replied: "These rocket launchers were prepared for dispersed use at the beginning of shooting. Although there are only four rocket launchers, after disassembly, single or double tubes are used.
Launched in this way, we can carry out fire strikes on the Germans at 48 or 24 places at the same time."
After Sidorin waited for Yakov to finish speaking, he turned around and asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, where do you plan to deploy these rocket launchers?"
"Deploy one at each of the north and south posts, and put one in the arsenal as a backup. After the remaining one is dismantled, it will be assigned to the troops fighting in the city." Sokov felt that if the building that Vasily was guarding was given,
Equipped with such a magical weapon, it will definitely cause greater casualties to the enemy, so he specifically added: "Equip two tubes to the building where Vasily is located, so that they can better attack the enemies rushing into the city.
"
After saying this, Sokov suddenly remembered that there was another important thing that he had not asked, so he looked at Yakov and asked: "Yakov, you haven't told me how many rockets you have brought here?"
"Not too many, only 96 rockets." Yakov replied: "Each tube can fire exactly two."
"There are only so many rockets." After hearing the number Yakov said, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Even if they were all fired, it would not cause too many casualties to the Germans. After being silent for a moment, he continued
Asked further: "When will the new rockets be delivered again?"
"This batch of rockets are for testing." Yakov explained to the three people: "I want to go to the battlefield to see the effect in person. If it is really powerful, then we can increase production capacity to equip more
troops; if the effect on the battlefield is limited,..." At this point, Yakov suddenly stopped, as if he had something to hide.
From the expression on his face, Sokov guessed what he was thinking, and quickly asked: "If it is not very powerful on the battlefield, will this new weapon be completely discontinued?"
"That's right." To Sokov's speculation, Yakov gave an accurate reply: "According to Comrade Ustinov's order, if this new type of rocket has limited effect on the battlefield,
Then we will completely stop the production of this rocket."
Seeing the sad expressions of Sidorin and Belkin, Sokov from later generations quickly comforted them and said: "Chief of Staff, Political Commissar, what's wrong with you? Don't you have confidence in this new type of weapon? You know, this
But I invented it.”
Sidorin and Belkin had surprised expressions on their faces when they heard what Sokov said. After the two looked at each other, Belkin asked: "Comrade Brigadier, you said this weapon is yours"
Invented? Are you kidding us?"
"Comrade Political Commissar," Sokov looked at Belkin and asked, "Do you think I would make such an unrealistic joke with you on such an important matter?"
"Misha is not joking with you." Before Belgin and Sidorin could express their opinions, Yakov took the initiative to help Sokov explain: "I handed the drawings to Comrade Ustinov for him, and we
We also participated in some of the research and development work together.”