Red Moscow

  Chapter 143 Anti-Tank Gun

  Second Lieutenant Meshatter, who was on duty in front of the military supply warehouse, saw a truck with a cover in the distance, slowly driving towards the warehouse along the street. After seeing clearly that the license plate hanging on the front of the truck was the temporary license plate of the military supplies warehouse, he felt quite puzzled. None of the cars in the warehouse had left today, so where did this car come from?

  A sergeant holding a signal flag also saw this car. He touched Meshat with his elbow and asked curiously: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, that car seems to be a warehouse car!"

"The license plate belongs to the warehouse, but there are no cars going out of the warehouse today." Meshat ordered the sergeant: "Stop the car!" The sergeant immediately took two steps forward, waving the signal in his hand at the approaching truck Flag to signal the opponent to stop.

  As soon as the truck stopped, Meshat brought the sergeant forward, wanting to ask where the truck came from and what it was doing at the warehouse. As soon as he came to the car, the driver poked his head out and said with a smile, "Second Lieutenant Meshatter, so you are on duty."

  As soon as the driver spoke, Meshat immediately recognized that the driver had gone to the south of the city to deliver military uniforms a few days ago, but after passing by, he never came back. Because during the war, transport vehicles were often requisitioned by the frontline army, the second lieutenant was used to such things, and thought that he would never have the chance to see the driver again, but unexpectedly he came back today.

   "Are you alone?" Meshat asked, looking into the bridge.

   "Comrade Second Lieutenant, and me." Sokov, who was sitting next to the driver, quickly waved to the second lieutenant, and said to him with a smile, "I'm here to pick up the equipment from the warehouse."

  Meshat saw clearly that the person sitting in the car was the major who came to pick up the special a few days ago, and quickly raised his hand to salute the other party, and said in a businesslike manner: "Comrade major, please show your ID!"

   Sokov quickly took out the note written by Rokossovsky, put it in his military ID, and handed it out through the car window. Meshat took the documents and looked through them carefully, especially Rokossovsky's note. He even checked the handwriting repeatedly. After confirming that they were correct, he handed the documents and note back to Sokov, and then Shouted to the soldiers standing at the door: "Move the barricade!"

  The truck stopped in the parking area of ​​the warehouse. After Sokov got out of the car, he took Asia to the door of the quartermaster's office. Although the door was ajar, Sokov politely knocked on the door twice, and when he heard someone shouting inside, "Come in!", he stretched out his hand and pushed the door open and walked in.

  The quartermaster who was working at the desk behind the desk heard someone coming in and asked without raising his head, "What's the matter?"

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov walked to the table and said to the quartermaster with a smile, "I'm here to collect equipment."

  The quartermaster heard this voice a little familiar, but when he looked up, he saw a face he least wanted to see. Thinking of the fact that this person stole a box of soap from him last time, he became very angry. He asked with a stern face, "Major Sokov, what are you doing here again?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what else can I do when I come here, of course I will receive equipment." Sokov put the note written by Rokossovsky in front of the quartermaster, and said with a smile: "This is a note written by Comrade Commander."

  After taking the note and reading the content clearly, the quartermaster immediately shook his head like a rattle: "I don't have any anti-tank rifles here, not to mention twenty, I don't have one."

Sokov thought that the quartermaster deliberately made things difficult for him, so he said with a smile: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, my battalion is equipped with light weapons and does not have any anti-tank weapons. Last time we sacrificed our lives to blow up an enemy tank." Seven or eight soldiers were killed. If twenty anti-tank guns cannot be given, then ten can be given. With this kind of weapon, we can reduce many unnecessary casualties when facing enemy tanks in the future.”

The quartermaster put Rokossovsky's note on the table, sighed and said: "Major Sokov, it's not that I don't give it, it's really that there is no one in the warehouse. All divisions lack anti-tank weapons, so this This kind of anti-tank rifle has become a hot commodity, and every time the rear replenishment arrives, it is immediately snapped up."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," seeing that the anti-tank rifle was out of reach, Sokov could only do the next best thing: "Even if there is no anti-tank gun, you must give us some other anti-tank weapons. Our soldiers, hold cluster grenades and die with enemy tanks."

  The quartermaster thought for a while and asked, "Major Sokov, do you have artillery in your army?"

  Hearing the quartermaster's question, Sokov nodded quickly and said, "Yes, there is an artillery platoon, but so far, there is no artillery..."

"Okay, just have artillery." The quartermaster did not wait for Sokov to finish, and interrupted him: "There is also an anti-tank gun in the quarters warehouse, which has been there for a long time. Today I will Make up your own mind and give it to you.”

The quartermaster led Sokov and Asiya to a warehouse. He pointed to a cannon with a long barrel by the wall, and said, "This is the ZIS-2 57mm anti-tank gun. The tube is 4 meters long, with a total weight of 1150 kg, a maximum range of 8400 meters, and a maximum rate of fire of 13-15 rounds per minute."

  Sokov originally thought that the anti-tank gun given to him by the quartermaster was at best a 37mm anti-tank gun known as a "stepping stone", but he did not expect it to be a 57mm anti-tank gun. Just when he couldn't put it down for this anti-tank gun, he heard the quartermaster say: "Because this kind of artillery is expensive, about ten times more expensive than similar artillery, only 371 pieces were produced. As for the shells, here, the wall The four boxes on the side are filled with the shells of this gun."

Hearing that the boxes next to it contained shells, Sokov immediately opened one of the boxes happily, and after seeing the contents clearly, he couldn't help frowning: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why is there only three shells in one box? "He suddenly had a feeling of being cheated. The second battalion commander's Italian gun still had 17 rounds, but the anti-tank gun he received in the warehouse had only 12 rounds.

"No way," the quartermaster shrugged, and said helplessly, "This kind of artillery was discontinued in December last year, so the production of matching ammunition also stopped. There are only so many shells. If you want, you can Take it; don't, and I won't force it."

  Axia on the side heard what the quartermaster said, and quickly pulled Rasokov's sleeve, and asked in a low voice: "Misha, what should we do? Do we want this anti-tank gun?"

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov thought in his heart, although there were only twelve shells, as long as he could destroy two or three German tanks, it would be worth it. Thinking of this, he nodded vigorously, and said decisively: "I want this anti-tank gun."

When he came to the warehouse, he only got one anti-tank gun with a pitiful amount of shells. Sokov was naturally unwilling, and pestered the quartermaster and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, one gun is too little, you can give it to me again." We have some other anti-tank weapons. For example, anti-tank mines, you give us two hundred!"

"What, two hundred?!" The quartermaster almost ran away when he heard Sokov's lion speak loudly, "You think the production of anti-tank mines is to bake bread, put the dough in the oven, and take it out in ten minutes Come out and take shape?" He took two deep breaths, looked at the sky and said, "Just twelve anti-tank mines, do you want it?"

When Sokov was messing around with the quartermaster, he didn't think he could get anything out of him. Who would have thought that he would offer twelve anti-tank mines on his own initiative. This was a surprise, so he hurriedly agreed: " I want it! I want it!" After finishing speaking, he winked at Asiya who was at the side, signaling her to help him again.

Seeing Sokov's wink, Asiya immediately understood, walked to the quartermaster's side, grabbed his arm, shook him and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, even if you gave us anti-tank mines, if the enemy's If the tanks don’t pass through the area where we planted the mines, the anti-tank mines are still useless. Look, can you give us some other weapons?”

  The quartermaster originally wanted to refuse, but when he looked down, it was actually a delicate female soldier begging him, and he couldn't say anything if he refused. He hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said to Sokov: "Okay, Major Sokov, considering the actual difficulties of your battalion, I will give you another batch of anti-tank grenades," he gestured with his palms , "Only fifty, there will be no more."

  (end of this chapter)