Red Moscow

  Chapter 868 The underappreciated bazooka

   Killed the enemy's assault gun and repelled the German attack. Such good news naturally needs to be reported to the superior immediately. As soon as Vasily returned to his command post, he called Belkin and reported to him the results of the battle he had just achieved.

  Although the bazooka has been preparing troops for a long time, since it has never been in actual combat, Belkin still has no idea about the specific effect. When Chief of Staff Vanya said that Vasily had called, he was still very nervous when he took the phone: "Comrade Captain, how is the situation there? Have you repelled the German attack?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." Vasily said excitedly: "These attacking Germans are cowards. As soon as their assault guns were killed by us, they turned around and fled back in fright."

"What, the enemy has been repulsed by you?" Hearing Vasily said that the enemy had been repelled, Belkin showed a surprised expression on his face, thinking that this was a bit too fast, not more than twenty Minutes, and didn't hear any gunshots or explosions from that direction, it was incredible to repel the enemy: "Comrade Captain, this is too fast. Since I give you an order, How much time has passed."

"Comrade commander, I didn't expect to repel the enemy's attack so quickly." Vasily said truthfully: "In fact, the bazooka equipped with the anti-tank platoon played a role and easily destroyed the enemy's assault gun. The enemy's The infantry saw that the assault gun was destroyed by us, turned around and ran away in fright."

   Knowing that the bazooka made a contribution in the battle, Belkin couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade Captain, how many enemy assault guns have you killed and how many rockets have you used? How high is the hit rate?"

After listening to Belgin's series of questions, Vasily said carefully: "Comrade commander, because our anti-tank fighters fired from the bomb crater in front of the position, about 80 meters away from the enemy's assault gun, the hit rate is 100%. In other words, we only used five rockets to destroy five enemy assault guns."

   "Are there any anti-tank casualties?"

   "No, there were no casualties among the anti-tank fighters." Vasily heard the meaning behind Belkin's words, and quickly added: "The five rocket launchers they carried have all been brought back safely."

"Yeah, just bring them back." The reason why Belgin was so nervous about these rocket launchers was that if they were captured by the German army, with the German army's imitation and production capacity, it would take less than two months to equip a large number of troops. The tanks of the Soviet army will face catastrophe, so in some things, they have to be extra cautious. He finally asked: "Comrade Captain, I have another important question. Are you using domestic rocket launchers or American bazooka rocket launchers?"

"The bazooka rocket launchers in the United States are too bulky and need to be assembled when they are used. Soldiers don't like to use them. We use all domestic rocket launchers." Vasily reported on the phone: "Comrade commander, you must also Knowing that the domestically-made bazooka was designed by the division commander, the soldiers have confidence in the division commander, and naturally have even more confidence in the weapons he designed."

  Vassily's words of admiration to Sokov made Belgin blush slightly. Just before Vasily's phone call, he was still suspicious of his partner, thinking that the weapon he designed was not very safe. But today's facts have proved that his judgment is wrong. The weapons designed by Sokov are very effective against enemy assault guns and tanks.

   Seeing Belkin put down the phone, Chief of Staff Vanya asked curiously: "Comrade commander, is the bazooka designed by the division commander really so effective against enemy tanks?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Belkin looked at Vanya and said with a solemn expression: "We have spent a lot of time with the commander. Don't you know what kind of person he is? What he said Which of the designed weapons is not easy to use? Not to mention the rocket launcher, even the new type of rocket that we beat the enemy to howling ghosts and wolves a while ago is a remarkable invention. If the commander invents more such weapons, and install them as soon as possible Army, I want to attack the enemy of Stalingrad, I am afraid that we have already defeated them."

Vanya waited for Belkin to finish speaking, lowered his head deeply, blushed and apologized to Belkin and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I was wrong. As an old subordinate of the division commander, I shouldn't have Have any doubts about his ability and the weapons he designed. I will definitely not make similar mistakes in the future."

Belkin waved his hand at Vanya and said, "This is the end of this matter, there is no need to mention it again. I will immediately call the division commander to report the results of the battle here. You can contact Colonel Lyudnikov and tell the repelled Inform him of the enemy's attack."

   After answering the call from Mamayev Gang, Belkin took a deep breath, and said to the communication soldier who answered the phone: "This is Belkin, please transfer me to the division commander."

Soon, Sokov's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Political Commissar, the comrades of the reserve regiment are crossing the river one after another. Been waiting for a while."

"No, Misha, you made a mistake. I called you not to ask when the reinforcements will arrive, but to tell you something." Belkin said with some hesitation: "Not long ago, In order to repel the attack of the German assault artillery, I ordered the first battalion to use the bazooka without saying hello to you."

Although the downsizing regiment is equipped with rocket launchers, Sokov has not allowed them to use them since they entered the barricade factory. He is worried that this kind of equipment will be exposed prematurely. I am afraid that it will not be so easy to deal with enemy tanks in the future. . The best way is to wait until the battle of Kursk. At that time, your troops will prepare hundreds of rockets. Even if they are not afraid of facing the torrent of steel from the German army, they will still smash them into piles of burning scrap iron.

  At this moment, since Belkin said that he had used the rocket launcher, although Sokov felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, he could not criticize Belkin. After all, he did this to defeat the German attack. If the Germans really occupied the barricade factory, no matter how many advanced weapons the drawdown regiment had, it would be of no use.

  After being silent for a while, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade Commissar, I wonder how powerful the bazooka is on the battlefield?"

"Not bad, quite good." When Sukov asked about the power of the rocket launcher, Belkin became very excited: "After receiving my order, the first battalion commander, Captain Vasily, immediately ordered the anti-tank platoon to go out to In the bomb crater in front of the position, and opened fire at a distance of 80 meters from the enemy tank. Five rounds hit five German assault guns, and all five German assault guns were killed. The German infantry attacking with the vehicle saw that they had lost their support and turned around in fright. and fled back."

  Sokov didn't expect to use the bazooka for the first time and achieve such a good result. It really exceeded his expectations. Sidolin on the side also heard Belkin's voice, so he moved closer to the microphone and asked, "Commander Belkin, I want to ask, is the rocket launcher you use the bazooka rocket launcher aided by the US allies, or the division commander?" Designed bazooka?"

  Not only Sidolin wanted to know the answer to this question, but Sokov also wanted to know the answer. He quickly held his breath, like a student waiting for the teacher to announce his grades, nervously waiting for the voice from the receiver.

   After a while, Belkin's voice came out of the receiver: "Needless to say, it is naturally a bazooka designed by the division commander. This kind of bazooka can basically hit the target with a hundred shots within a range of 80 meters."

   "What about the American bazooka?" Sokov thought of several US military instructors who arrived with the troops escorting the bazooka a few days ago and taught his soldiers how to use the bazooka earnestly and patiently. Therefore, he is particularly concerned about the performance of this rocket launcher on the battlefield: "How effective is it against German tanks or assault guns?"

"This is not very clear." Belkin heard Sokov's question and said with some embarrassment: "The soldiers said that the American bazooka rocket launcher is too bulky, but it must be assembled when it is used. In addition, Those Americans have a heavy Russian accent, and many of the fighters we participated in the training couldn't understand what they were saying..."

  When he first heard Belkin's reasons, Sokov still felt a little far-fetched, thinking about how he should answer Yakov if he asked about this matter. After hearing the latter part, Sokov immediately thought of a suitable reason. You must know that many soldiers from Central Asia can’t even understand Russian, and the Russians with accents spoken by Americans can’t understand , that is perfectly normal.

When Sokov finished talking with Belkin and put down the receiver, Sidolin couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade commander, if the superiors ask us why we don't use bazookas, how should we answer? We can't say that it's because of the soldiers. You think the bazooka is too bulky and inconvenient to use, so you don’t want to use it?”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think you have entered into a misunderstanding. Why do we have to use American rocket launchers instead of our own domestically produced and better-used rocket launchers?" Sokov said with a straight face: "If the soldiers If you force them to use a weapon that everyone thinks is bad, that is irresponsible to them. I don’t know how many soldiers will ruin their lives in vain because of such a wrong order. Do you understand?”

   "Comrade Commander, what you said makes sense." Sidolin waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and then asked with a bitter face, "But if the Army Command asks about this matter, how should we answer it?"

Regarding Sidolin's question, Sokov came up with an ideal answer in just a few seconds: "If the superior asks about this, I think it's easy to handle. You should report to the superior. If the same unit Here, equipping two completely different anti-tank weapons will make it more difficult to supply in the future. If necessary, this batch of rocket launchers aided by the United States can be equipped with other troops. Anyway, the American instructors have not left yet , let them go directly to teach the soldiers how to use the bazooka."

"The division commander's method is good." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Ivanov echoed him: "Instead of leaving these bulky and unusable rocket launchers idle in our division, it is better for the group army headquarters to Come forward and distribute these weapons to other troops. In this way, not only our troubles will be solved, but those troops who get the bazooka may also appreciate our generosity."

"That's right, that's exactly what happened." Seeing that Ivanov had figured out what was on his mind, Sokov nodded with a smile, and then said, "I'll call Comrade Commander right now and ask him to call our division commander." The bazookas in the tank are distributed to the troops in need."

   Chuikov received a call from Sokov and after listening to his report, although he was happy with the news that the drawdown regiment had repelled the German attack, he was also worried about how to distribute the bazooka that Sokov was willing to call out. He couldn't reply in time, he hesitated for a long time, and said into the microphone: "Colonel Sokov, let me think about this matter first, and I will call you when there is a result."

Chuikov put down the phone and asked Krylov who was recording the results of the battle: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Colonel Sokov called me just now and said that he was going to hand over the bazooka that his superiors distributed to them. According to the actual situation, they will be allocated to the troops in need. Tell me, who should we allocate to?”

   Krylov has a little understanding of the situation of the bazooka rocket launcher, but he still doesn't believe that this weapon can become the nemesis of German tanks. Therefore, after listening to Chuikov's question, he said disapprovingly: "Comrade commander, please forgive me, it may take some time to become familiar with such a weapon. Now that all divisions are fighting the enemy hard, where can we spare manpower? Take the time to learn how to use this weapon?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you can't say that." Chuikov was very excited when he thought of the downsizing regiment in the barricade factory, which used five rockets to kill five German assault guns. The enemy's five assault guns successfully smashed the enemy's attack. If this weapon can be equipped elsewhere, it will definitely improve our army's anti-tank capabilities. You also know that the enemy has left the support of aircraft, tanks and artillery. It is very difficult to rush into our army's position. Therefore, I plan to distribute the bazooka handed in by Sokov to a unit in need."

   "Comrade Commander, I don't understand." When Chuikov and Sokov were on the phone, Krylov had been talking to the commander at the front, so he didn't understand the content of the conversation between the two. He asked puzzledly: "If Colonel Sokov handed over all the bazookas, what will his troops use to deal with the German tanks?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you didn't hear me clearly." Chuikov said a little bit dumbfoundingly: "The bazooka that Colonel Sokov handed over to us was a bazooka from the United States. And what they themselves used was the Soko It is said that this kind of rocket launcher is lighter and more powerful, and is deeply loved by soldiers. Therefore, the American bazooka rocket launcher has become a weapon that no one cares about in the downsizing regiment. This is Soko The reason why Colonel Husband is willing to hand it over."

  (end of this chapter)