Red Moscow.

Chapter 2784 Rocket Launcher Appears

"What, Colonel Katukov, what did you say?" When Potapov listened to Katukov's report, he was stunned: "You said Captain Sokov, commanding a T-34 The tank, plus two mortars and a heavy machine gun, destroyed 9 German tanks, 6 trucks, 10 anti-tank guns, and a company of infantry. Is this true? "

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Katukov reported truthfully: "When I first heard about such results, my first reaction was that there was something wrong with the statistics, so I immediately arranged for personnel to conduct verification. After verification, we I was surprised to find that the initial statistical results were slightly less than the actual results, so I reorganized the data and reported it to you. ”

After saying this, Katukov saw Potapov's delay in responding. He guessed that he must have been stunned by Sokov's victory, so he continued: "Comrade Commander, I think if someone else had achieved We may still doubt such a result. But the situation of Captain Sokov is different. He is a hero who captured a German tank column alone, so I think it is reasonable to achieve such a result. "

"Well, you are right." Potapov finally woke up from the shock and echoed Katukov's statement: "Captain Sokov is a commander who is good at creating miracles. He has achieved some amazing things. I think the results are reasonable.”

Before the call ended, the Army Chief of Staff suddenly called Potapov from the side: "Comrade Commander, your phone number."

"I'm on the phone with Colonel Katukov. If anything happens, just handle it yourself."

But when the Army Chief of Staff heard what Potapov said, a strange expression appeared on his face. He hurriedly covered the topic with his hands and said nervously: "Comrade Commander, the call came from the Supreme Commander himself."

When he learned that the call was from Stalin, Potapov immediately trembled. He quickly said to Katukov: "Colonel, I have to take an important call here, so I won't continue talking to you. Where are you?" If there is any new situation, please report it to me in time.”

After ending the call with Katukov, Potapov immediately walked to the army chief of staff and took the microphone from his hand. Based on his experience, Stalin personally called a military commander on the front line, and there must be something important. After taking a deep breath, he put the receiver to his ear and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Stalin, I am Potapov. What instructions do you have?"

"Hello, General Potapov!" Stalin's voice came from the receiver, but his voice had a heavy nasal sound. He must have caught a cold: "I heard that your troops are defending Mtsensk today. In the battle, I have achieved good results, and I would like to congratulate you on behalf of the Supreme Command.”

"Thank you, Comrade Stalin." Faced with Stalin's praise, Potapov must be humble: "There are many reasons for the victory. First, our troops made preparations for defense in a timely manner; second, the In response to the enemy's attack, the commanders and fighters behaved very calmly and bravely..."

Stalin listened patiently to Potapov's story, and after his words came to an end, he asked: "During this battle, were there any commanders and fighters who performed particularly outstandingly?"

When Potapov heard this question, he couldn't help but have some doubts in his heart. Did Stalin call specifically to inquire after hearing about Sokov's results? If this is true, it means that Stalin can understand everything that happens on the battlefield in a timely manner through an intelligence network that he is not aware of.

Seeing Potapov's delay in speaking, Stalin asked again: "What, General Potapov, don't you have any particularly outstanding commanders and fighters in your army?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin, there is such a person." After weighing it, Potapov decided to report Sokov's results to Stalin: "My adjutant Sokov, as I sent to the 4th Independent Tank The liaison officer of the brigade, in the battle that ended not long ago, personally commanded a T-34 tank, plus two mortars and a heavy machine gun, and destroyed 9 German tanks, 6 trucks, and 10 anti-aircraft guns. Tank guns, and a company of infantry."

Stalin was very surprised by such a result: "General Potapov, have you verified such a result?"

Stalin's reaction was completely within Potapov's expectation. When he just heard about the result, his first reaction was that he had made a mistake. How could such a huge result be achieved with just a few combat units? But after verification, he confirmed that these results were real. At this moment, I heard that Stalin expressed doubts about such results, and he quickly said: "Comrade Stalin, we have verified the results and confirmed that they are true before reporting to you."

Stalin said in an unbelievable tone: "It is simply unbelievable that someone can achieve such results."

"Comrade Stalin, in fact, as early as August, Sokov achieved good results." Potapov explained to Stalin: "He captured 12 German tanks alone in a small town. For this reason, The Supreme Command also awarded him the Order of Lenin."

After Potapov's reminder, Stalin immediately remembered something about Sokov: "Well, I seem to have some impression of this matter. He was Vlasov's subordinate at the time, and later you passed Shaposhnikov Husband, I transferred him to your command, is my memory correct? "

"Yes, that's exactly what it is."

"What is his current rank?"

"Sokov now has the rank of captain." Potapov said: "If he had not been promoted from private to captain in August, I would have wanted to be promoted to captain."

"General Potapov, you are a bit too petty." Stalin said: "A commander as good as him can definitely get a higher military rank. In my opinion, let's promote him to the rank of major."

Potapov was naturally happy for Sokov when he learned that he had been promoted two levels in a row. However, he was worried that Sokov's promotion too quickly might cause dissatisfaction among other commanders, so he quickly reminded Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, according to the information I have, Comrade Sokov joined the army in August, and was dismissed less than a week after joining the army. Promoted to captain. Less than two months later, he was promoted to major. I’m worried that some people will be dissatisfied with such a rapid promotion.”

"I think it is completely appropriate for Comrade Sokov to be promoted to major based on his ability." After hearing what Potapov said, Stalin immediately said with a straight face: "That's it. If anyone has any objections, please let me know. He just comes to me."

After Potapov put down the phone, he waved his fist excitedly, thinking to himself that taking Sokov away from Vlasov this time was undoubtedly the most correct decision he made. Now that Sokov has been promoted to major by Stalin himself, he can arrange for him to serve as battalion commander or even deputy commander of a certain unit below at the right time, so that he can establish more in future wars. of merit.

Seeing Potapov so excited, the Army Chief of Staff couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade Army Commander, what makes you so happy?"

"I just reported to Comrade Stalin on Sokov's achievements on the phone. He was very happy after hearing it and directly promoted Sokov to the rank of major." "Oh my God." The Army Chief of Staff said to Sokov I looked through his resume and found out that he had been promoted repeatedly in less than two months after joining the army. I couldn't help but feel a little surprised: "He was promoted to major in less than two months in the army. This speed of promotion is really amazing." Come on. At least in the history of our army, there has never been such a rapid promotion. ’

"I want to inform Sokov of this good news immediately to make him happy too."

Just when Potapov called the communications staff and was about to ask him to send a telegram to Sokov to inform the other party of the good news, a staff officer walked in quickly from outside, raised his hand and saluted Potapov. , the report said: "Comrade Commander, Captain Chumack of the Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion is here and is waiting for your summons outside at the moment."

Even though Potapov was the commander of the army before the war, he had never seen a strictly confidential weapon like a rocket launcher. After listening to the staff report, I was full of questions. I wanted to find out what the rocket launcher in the air was, so I ordered the staff: "Invite him in!"

After Captain Chumak entered the door, he raised his hand and saluted Potapov: "Hello, comrade general, I am Captain Chumak, commander of the Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion, and I have been ordered to come to assist you in the battle."

"Bazooka?" the Army Chief of Staff asked curiously: "Comrade Captain, what is a rocket launcher?"

"The rocket launcher is outside." Chumack said politely: "If you are interested, you can go out and have a look for yourself."

"Let's go, Comrade Chief of Staff, let's go see our army's new weapons." Potapov smiled and said to Chumack: "Comrade Captain, please give us a detailed explanation then, so that we can understand this kind of weapon." Have a preliminary understanding of new weapons.”

Potapov and the army chief of staff came outside the headquarters and saw seven heavy-duty trucks parked not far away. Each carriage was equipped with a row of inclined guide rails.

"Comrade Captain," Potapov pointed at the vehicles and asked, "Is this the rocket launcher you are talking about?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Chumack introduced to the two of them: "This is the BM-13 rocket launcher. It uses a truck as a chassis and is equipped with 8 rail-type launchers to form a mobile rocket launcher system. It can carry 16 M rocket launchers. -13 solid fuel rockets can be fired within 10 seconds, with a maximum range of 8.5 kilometers and a power equivalent to a 152mm ordinary artillery shell. They are suitable for attacking exposed enemy gathering areas, field fortifications, and clusters of tanks and artillery. "

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After listening to Chumack's popular science, Potapov turned to the chief of staff and said: "Comrade chief of staff, these rocket launchers sound very good. Where do you think they should be deployed better?"

"Comrade Commander." The Army Chief of Staff replied: "On the outskirts of Mtsensk, the 36th Motorized Regiment and the Tula Artillery School are responsible for defense. So far, there has been no war. Deploying the rocket launcher battalion here is a It’s a waste. I think the best arrangement is to send them to the defense area of ​​the 4th Independent Tank Brigade and put them under the command of Colonel Katukov.”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right, I thought so too." Potapov said, turned to Chumack and said: "Comrade Captain, I plan to send you to Colonel Katukov's tank brigade. You don’t have any objections?”

"Comrade General, I resolutely obey your arrangements." Chumack said very cooperatively: "We will go wherever you ask us to go."

Seeing that Chumack agreed to his proposal, Potapov nodded slightly, then called a staff officer and told the other person: "Take Captain Chumack and his troops and rush to the defense area of ​​the 4th Independent Tank Brigade immediately. , leave them to Katukov’s command.”

In the evening, Chumack and his Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion, led by the staff, arrived outside Katukov's headquarters.

The staff officer took Chumak into Katukov's headquarters and reported to him: "Comrade Colonel, I was ordered to bring Captain Chumak and his troops."

"Comrade Staff, thank you." After expressing his gratitude to the staff, Katukov went directly to Chumark and extended his hand: "Hello, Captain Chumark, I received a call from Comrade Commander and learned that you are going to Come on, I’ve been waiting for you.”

After Chumack shook hands with Katukov, he asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, when can we go into battle?"

After hearing this, Katukov couldn't help laughing: "Comrade Captain, you are really an impatient guy. When you first came to us, you didn't even drink a cup of tea, and you wanted to join the battle. You This fighting spirit is really worth learning.”

"Comrade Colonel, please forgive me for being so impatient." Chumack said with a grin: "After our battalion is ordered to provide you with a salvo, it will move to other areas to cooperate with other troops."

After hearing this, the brigade chief of staff couldn't help but said with some surprise: "Why only fire one salvo? What effect can this have?"

"Comrade Commander," since Katukov did not introduce the identity of the Chief of Staff to Chumack, Chumack did not know who the Chief of Staff was and could only use a general title: "Don't look at the fact that we only have seven vehicles, but one The damage caused by the salvo is no less than that of an artillery regiment."

"Comrade Captain, come and see." Katukov pointed to the map on the table and said to Chumack: "After the enemy's attack on our position was repelled, they retreated to this position. If you find it convenient, Just shoot a volley at this place and try to kill as many of their living forces as possible."

Chumack looked at the map on the table and then said: "Comrade Colonel, it is about seven or eight kilometers from here to the area where the enemy is gathering, which is right at the edge of the range of our rocket launchers. In order to better utilize the power of the rocket launchers, I suggest Advance the launch position to a position five kilometers away from the enemy."

"No problem." Katukov said very readily: "The troops currently stationed at the forefront are the mixed battalions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They are no more than four kilometers away from the area where the German troops are gathering. You can completely deploy the launch vehicle at Near their position, a volley was launched against the Germans from there."

(End of chapter)