Red Moscow

  Chapter 187 Proving Ground

  Seeing that Tonya agreed to go home with him, Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed. He took Tonya's hand and walked across the road. Unexpectedly, just halfway through the walk, I suddenly heard someone shouting from behind: "Hello, Tonya!"

  Hearing the shout, Sokov and Tonya stopped at the same time, turned their heads and looked back. I saw a chunky male doctor in a white coat and a pair of round-rimmed glasses running out of the hospital gate. Tonya quickly freed her hand from Sokov's, pretending to be nonchalant and asked, "Teretkin, what's the matter?"

"A batch of wounded has just been sent in, and two of them need surgery." The fat doctor called Terekin replied, "There is not enough manpower in the surgery department. The dean is looking for you everywhere, but who knew you came here?" .”

   "I know, I'll go right away."

  Telekin glanced at Sokov who was standing beside Tonya, and said with some displeasure: "Hurry up, everyone is still waiting for you." After speaking, he turned and walked back to the hospital.

  After Terekin left, Tonya turned to Sokov and said apologetically, "Misha, it looks like I can't go to your house today. Let's make an appointment another day."

   Sokov, who was looking forward to a little romantic story next, felt a little disappointed when he learned that Tonya was going back to the hospital to treat the wounded. But when he stretched out his hand to hold Tonya's hand, he still pretended to be magnanimous and said: "It's okay, work is important, you go back to work first, and I will come to you tomorrow."

  Donia heard Sokov say this, nodded vigorously, and told him: "I am in the 107 clinic, don't forget, come to me when you are free?"

   "Don't worry, Tonya, I won't forget it." Sokov nodded and replied, "I will definitely look for you tomorrow."

With Sokov's assurance, Tonya showed a sweet smile on her face. She broke away from Sokov's hand again, took a few steps back, waved to Sokov, turned around and walked quickly. ran into the hospital.

  Early the next morning, Sokov, who was still sleeping, was surprised by a hasty knock on the door. He opened his eyes in a daze, looked towards the door, and thought: Who is it, knocking on the door so early?

   Ignore it deliberately, the knock on the door is getting louder and louder. A thought suddenly popped up in his mind: Could it be that Tonya came to look for me? Thinking of this, he sat up abruptly, lifted the quilt, and rushed directly to the door without even putting on his boots.

The moment Sokov opened the door, he shouted excitedly: "Donia, you are here!..." But before he finished shouting, he found that it was not Tonya standing at the door, but It was Yakov who disappeared for a few days.

   "Who is Tonya?" Yakov, who was standing at the door, looked at the disappointed Sokov, and asked jokingly, "I didn't expect to see you in a few days. You have already found a girlfriend in Moscow."

   "It's not a girlfriend, it's just a friend I just met." Sokov said, moving his body aside so that Yakov could enter the door.

  Yakov continued as he walked in, "Ordinary friends, I know you live here? It seems that you are quite sincere to your friends."

Yakov came to the kitchen table and sat down, looked at Sokov, who was disheveled, and said to him: "I will give you ten minutes to wash, change clothes and clean up the house. When the time is up, we will leave immediately. "

   "Departure?!" To Yakov's nonsensical words, Sokov asked in a daze: "Where are we going next?"

"Go to the test range in the suburbs." Although he knew that he and Sokov were the only ones in the room, Yakov lowered his voice and said, "The sample of the new rocket launcher you designed has been manufactured, and today is the day for the official test." .”

   "Has the sample been produced?" Yakov's words surprised Sokov. According to what he knew about Lao Maozi, it would be impossible to produce such a sample in less than three months to half a year. But now, after only three or four days, it was actually produced, which is simply unbelievable: "Isn't this too fast?"

   "The data you provided is so detailed, the speed of manufacturing samples is naturally faster than expected." Yakov raised his wrist and looked at his watch, and said to Sokov: "Now there are only nine minutes left."

  Five minutes later, Sokov, who had packed everything, said to Yakov who was sitting at the kitchen table: "Yakov, I'm ready, let's go now."

  While on the road, Sokov smiled wryly and said to Yakov: "No wonder you can't find your people these days, so they are busy with new weapons?"

Yakov nodded and said affirmatively: "Yes, I have lived and boarded at the test site during this time. Based on the drawings and parameters you provided, we manufactured the sample the next day. However, the modification of the rocket It’s relatively troublesome, and I was busy until last night. After I reported the matter to the people’s commissar, he said that it would be best to call you during today’s test, so I came to find you.”

  Sokov heard Yakov say this, and he really couldn't laugh or cry. He secretly said that if Ustinov hadn't spoken, your brother probably wouldn't show up until today, so he left me alone here to fend for myself. But this kind of complaint can be thought about in his heart, but he can't say it out. He organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then asked: "Yakov, I want to ask, how does the superior plan to arrange me? I can't let me always So idle in Moscow?"

Unexpectedly, Yakov's next answer surprised him: "You are not idle now. Ever since Comrade People's Commissar decided to establish a new weapon project, he has contacted Zhukov, the commander of the Western Front, and hoped that he would second you temporarily. Our weapons and equipment department has been working until the successful development of new weapons."

"It turns out that Ustinov has reached an agreement with Zhukov to let me stay in Moscow temporarily to help develop this new rocket launcher." At this time, Sokov finally understood why his superiors did not order him to return to the front line immediately. At this moment, he has been seconded to the Weapons and Equipment Department. Suddenly asked curiously: "Then after the research on the new weapon is completed, can I return to the front line immediately?"

"As for Comrade People's Commissar's request, General Zhukov did not agree, but he did not object either." Yakov stretched out a finger and said to Sokov: "General Zhukov said that you can only stay in the Weapons and Equipment Department for one month. As soon as you arrive, you must immediately return to the front line."

  After listening to Yakov's explanation, Sokov finally understood what was going on. Ustinov wanted to keep himself in the Armament Department to assist in the development of new rocket launchers; Zhukov only agreed to let himself stay here for a month. Perhaps it is precisely because of Zhukov's decision that he has been left out in the cold these days. Ustinov would never allow an officer who could only stay for a month to casually enter and exit those important weapons research and development and production departments. Therefore, it was inevitable that he would be left out in the cold. If the weapon that was tested today was not designed by himself, it is estimated that Yakov would not show up.

  The test site is in a forest in the eastern suburbs. After the car drove along the simple road for a certain distance, a checkpoint appeared on the road. A soldier wearing a red armband stood in the middle of the road, waving a small red and green flag in his hand, signaling them to stop.

After the car stopped, a lieutenant officer walked out of the guard box at the checkpoint. He went straight to the car, looked down at the car, and said to Yakov with a smile: "It's you, Captain Yakov. Are you going to the proving ground?"

   "Yes, we are going to the test site." Yakov replied with a smile, and took out his certificate and special pass from his pocket, preparing to hand it to the officer.

But the lieutenant officer waved his hand, turned his head and shouted at the soldiers in the checkpoint: "Get rid of the roadblock!" After speaking, he turned to face Yakov, raised his hand to his forehead and saluted, "I wish you Good luck to you!"

When the vehicle passed through the checkpoint and continued to drive in, Sokov asked with some concern: "Yakov, why is the inspection here so lax? You didn't even look at your ID, so you let it go?" In his memory, when he went to see Ustinov a few days ago, the officer outside the door clearly knew Yakov, and he still checked his credentials carefully, but the officer on duty today let him go directly.

"Don't worry, Misha." Regarding Sokov's worries, Yakov said carelessly: "The security of the test site is loose on the outside and tight on the inside. If someone wants to sneak into the test site, they will have trouble walking around." .”

  The car drove forward for a few more minutes and encountered a checkpoint again. This checkpoint is about the same size as the previous checkpoint. The difference is that there is a T-34 tank parked on the side of the road, and the black muzzle points directly to the middle of the road.

  The officer at the checkpoint waited for the car to stop, walked to the side of the car, opened the door next to Sokov, and said in a cold voice, "Everyone get out of the car for inspection!"

  Seeing that Sokov was a little dazed, Yakov slightly nodded at him and said, "Misha, listen to him, let's get out of the car first!"

After everyone in the car got off, the officer waved to the soldiers standing beside him and said, "Start checking!" Following his order, several soldiers rushed to the open car door and leaned into the car , for a careful inspection.

   "What are they doing?" Seeing this scene, Sokov couldn't help asking Yakov curiously.

   "Check if there are any contraband." Yakov replied in a low voice: "Don't worry, this is just a formality."

  After the inspection was over in just a few minutes, the officer made a gesture of invitation to Yakov and Sokov, and said, "Comrades, two commanders, please get in the car."

   After two more checkpoints, I finally came to an open land among the forests. Sokov had stayed in Moscow for a long time, so he naturally knew that the forests in the outskirts of the city were on fire every year, and then a forest was killed. The open land in front of me should be a masterpiece after the forest fire, and the fallen black tree trunks can be seen in the distance.

   When the car arrived at the test site, Sokov found that there were already twenty or thirty people waiting here. Seeing Yakov's car appearing on the test site, a tall and thin man in casual clothes immediately greeted him. Yakov got out of the car and shook hands with him, then asked, "Are you all ready?"

   "Yes, Captain Yakov." The lanky man replied respectfully, "As soon as you arrive, we can start the experiment."

  Perhaps for the sake of confidentiality, Yakov did not introduce to Sokov who the tall and thin man was, and likewise, he did not tell the tall and thin man who Sokov was. As he walked forward with the tall and thin man, Sokov who was following behind heard him asking, "How far is the target from here?"

   "Eight hundred meters." The tall and thin man replied, "Although according to the design standard, it should reach eight kilometers. But you also know that it is only a test at present, so we can't use such a long distance."

Sokov saw an ugly twelve-barrel rocket launcher parked not far away, and there were several short barrels on the ground, which were arranged in groups of four, two, and one. to display. Sokov guessed that in today's test, in addition to the complete launch of the rocket launcher, separate group launch tests will be carried out.

  Fifty or sixty meters away from the rocket launcher, there is a wooden house, which should be an observation point on the test site. The tall and thin man brought Yakov and Sokov into the room, handed two binoculars to them respectively, and said to them: "Comrades two commanders, in today's test, the rocket The warhead will not be equipped with fuzes, and we will only test how big the hit error of this rocket launcher is." He pointed to several mounds in the distance, and continued: "After the test is over, we will analyze the location of the impact point. The shooting accuracy of this rocket launcher."

   Sokov raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, and saw several large mounds at the edge of the forest, which should be the target of the rocket launcher. To be honest, he has only heard about the new 107 rocket launcher, but he has never seen it. He really doesn't know how effective it will be on the battlefield after the transformation of the Soviet army. Therefore, when he saw the tall and thin man giving orders to the artillerymen on the phone, his heart couldn't help but raised his throat.

  Following the tall and thin man's order, the complete rocket launcher fired first, and twelve rockets flew towards the distant mound with long flame tails. After just a few seconds, most of the rockets landed around the mound on the far right, and only one hit the mound directly. The huge impact caused a stream of soil to rise into the sky.

   "Not bad, the hit rate is quite high." Yakov couldn't help applauding when he saw a rocket hit the mound. As an artilleryman, he naturally knew that to destroy the enemy, artillery fire relied on fire coverage. The Katyusha rockets equipped by the troops, although very lethal, have a large error in the impact point. Seeing that this kind of rocket can hit the target directly, how could Yakov not be rejoiced.

  (end of this chapter)