Chapter 838 Infantry to Artillery

   "Comrade Colonel," Guxin pointed to a nearby hut, and said to Sokov, "There is a small Diesel engine inside, which is specially used to provide lighting for the warehouse."

  The Diesel engine mentioned by Gussin is what we often call a diesel generator. Since it was invented by the German inventor Rudolf Diesel, the engine is named after his surname. Sokov thought that there are lights in the warehouse, which is more convenient than holding a few flashlights, so he urged the other party: "This is really great, hurry up and start it."

  Watching Guxin turn and run into the next hut, Sokov thought to himself: Maybe every night, the power supply used by Guxin and the others comes from this diesel generator.

Not long after, the roar of the generator was heard in the house. Guxin ran out of the house and said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, the engine has started to work. Now I will turn on the lights for you." After speaking, he came to the iron gate and pulled a light cord beside the gate, and the originally dark warehouse immediately became brightly lit.

  With lights, the things placed in the warehouse are naturally clear at a glance. Seeing the rows of cannons covered with canvas, Sokov couldn't help saying to himself: Damn, there are so many cannons! There are hundreds of doors, even if Lyudnikov is given a few, he will not let him use artillery as infantry.

   "Lieutenant Samoilov," Sokov turned his head and ordered Samoilov: "Immediately count the artillery in the warehouse, see what models are there, and how many of each model are there."

   "Understood." Samoilov agreed, and then shouted at the soldiers he brought: "Immediately count the artillery in the warehouse, see what models are there, and the quantity of each model."

   Taking advantage of the opportunity Samoilov and his men were counting the artillery, Sokov asked Guxin: "Comrade Sergeant, I would like to ask, how often do the artillery in the warehouse be shipped out?"

  Gusin replied without thinking: "Comrade Colonel, the people in the factory have never left the warehouse except for every three days to check the goods!"

   "What, no artillery has ever left the warehouse?" Gusin's words surprised Sokov, and he asked in amazement: "Comrade Sergeant, how long have you been stationed here?"

   "Two and a half months, Comrade Colonel." Gussin replied loudly, "My squad has been stationed here since the Germans attacked the factory."

   Hearing what Guxin said, Sokov wanted to curse in his heart. There are so many artillery piled up in the warehouse, they are not used to arm the troops defending the factory, but piled up here to collect dust. Had the factory been occupied by the Germans, the guns would have fallen into enemy hands intact.

  With the efforts of everyone, the number of artillery in the warehouse was quickly counted. Samoilov came over and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it has been counted. There are 38 ZIS-3 divisional 76mm cannons, 11 M1937 152mm field howitzers, and M1938 122mm howitzers. 18 doors..."

  After listening to the data reported by Samoilov, Sokov glanced at the shell boxes piled up beside the wall, and asked casually, "Do these artillery have supporting shells?"

Following Sokov's gaze, Samoilov glanced at the shell boxes piled up against the wall, and replied: "I just took a rough look, and there are only shells from the 76mm cannon, except for high-explosive shells. There are also a lot of armor-piercing shells."

  Sokov remembers that this ZIS-3 division-owned 76mm cannon has excellent firepower performance. It can not only anti-tank, but also destroy the enemy's vital forces, suppress enemy artillery fire, and destroy solid bunkers. It has a simple structure and greatly reduced weight, which is convenient for maneuvering and quick combat. In addition to the Tiger tank, it can easily destroy any German tank or assault gun, and because of its fast rate of fire, it has become a nightmare for German tank soldiers. Later, after adding a tank chassis, it was changed to the SU-76 self-propelled artillery.

He pointed at the 76mm cannons with his hand and said to Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, move these cannons out of the warehouse, we will use them to teach the Germans a lesson. By the way, you send another person Go and inform Colonel Lyudnikov that we have found a sufficient number of artillery and ask him to send artillery to receive the equipment."

  Although the 76mm cannon is so light that two soldiers can push it away, Samoilov brought too few people. It is undoubtedly a huge project to move out so many artillery shells. Seeing that Sokov and the others were too busy, Guxin quickly called his men and helped push the cannon out.

   While he was so busy, the soldier Samoilov sent to find Lyudnikov returned, followed by a major. After the major came to Sokov, he raised his hand in salute and said respectfully: "Hello, Colonel Sokov! I am Major Savage, commander of the 295th Artillery Regiment, and I am the commander of the division, Lyudnikov. Colonel's order, to come to your place to receive the equipment."

   "Major," Sokov pointed at the cannons just launched by the soldiers, and said to Savage, "These are the cannons."

Savage is obviously more familiar with the model of the artillery than Sokov. When he saw these artillery placed in a mess in the open space, his eyes lit up immediately, and he murmured: "My God, there are so many ZIS -3 cannon."

"I think these cannons are more effective in defending the factory than those large-caliber howitzers that are still parked in the warehouse." Sokov just finished speaking, and suddenly remembered that Lyudnikov's troops were not left. How many people were there, so he tentatively asked Savage: "Comrade Major, I want to ask you, how many people are there in your regiment?"

   "There are more than fifty more, Comrade Colonel." Savage replied with a wry smile: "Since the artillery in the regiment was lost in battle, we have been used as infantry."

"There are 38 cannons in the warehouse," Sokov frowned after hearing Savage's words, "You only have more than fifty people, I'm afraid..." He stopped here, thinking whether to wait After Belkin arrived with his troops, he selected some soldiers who had worked as artillery to assist Savage and the others in using these artillery?

Seeing that Sokov stopped abruptly in the middle of what he said, Savage guessed that the other party must be worried about the small number of artillerymen, and quickly said: "Comrade Colonel, although the artillery squad of this kind of artillery is composed of eight people, we are now With insufficient manpower, I can reduce the establishment to four people, so that we can use at least twelve doors at the same time."

"Comrade Major, you misunderstood." Seeing that Savage was thinking wrong, Sokov explained to him: "Your manpower is not enough, I can find a way to help you replenish it. I am thinking about how to make your people and The problem of my subordinates mixing up."

   While talking, a few people trotted over from afar. Still far away, someone came shouting: "Mr. Comrade, you are here. I have been looking for you everywhere."

   Sokov followed the reputation and saw that the second battalion commander, Captain Briski, and several company commanders under him came. When they came to him, he asked curiously, "Why are you alone, where is the political commissar?"

Briski knew very well in his heart that the political commissar Sokov was talking about was their regimental commander Belkin, so he quickly replied: "Report to the division commander, the regimental commander is still behind with the first battalion and the troops directly under the regiment. Come with the second battalion."

   "Comrade Captain," Sokov looked at Briski and asked, "How many people are there in your battalion?"

"There are nearly 500 people in the whole battalion." After Briski finished talking about the number of people in the battalion, seeing Sokov's face showing a surprised expression, he quickly added: "When we were stationed at the Red October Factory, we never Among the recovered wounded, soldiers were added once."

  Sokov made some calculations in his mind, and temporarily assigned Briski's second battalion to Savage's command, so that all 38 cannons could be used. Thinking of this, he said to Briski: "Comrade Captain, let me introduce you. This is Major Savage, commander of the Artillery Regiment of the 138th Infantry Division. From now on, your battalion will be under his command."

   "What, let us be under his command?" Briski asked in surprise when he heard Sokov's order: "Comrade commander, why is this?"

"Colonel Sokov," Savage also felt that Sokov's order was a bit sloppy, and quickly reminded him: "Artillery is a professional arm, even if you put them under our command, they may be of limited use. "

   Sokov raised his hand and pressed down, signaling the two to stop talking. After they all calmed down, Sokov first said to Savage: "Comrade Major, in the battalion I assigned to your temporary command, there are many soldiers who have been artillery soldiers. As long as you organize them reasonably, I believe that they will definitely play a great role in the battle."

   "However, Comrade Colonel, we don't know when the Germans will re-attack." Savage said embarrassingly: "I don't have that much time to confirm who is a qualified infantry in your subordinates."

"The cannons I will hand over to you later, there are a total of 38." Sokov waited for Savage to finish speaking, and explained to him: "You can send a gunner for each cannon to aim, and my men Then it will be responsible for loading and pulling the gun rope, do you think it will work?"

   Savage thought that it would be a good choice for his subordinates to be responsible for aiming, while Sokov's men would load and pull the gun rope, so he nodded and agreed to Sokov's arrangement.

After Savage agreed to his proposal, Sokov turned his head to Briski and said to him: "Comrade Captain, the enemy will launch a new attack soon. If you are allowed to fight against the enemy as infantry In the absence of heavy weapons, you will definitely suffer heavy losses. But if you temporarily change to artillery and the enemy is still far away from our position, you can use artillery to destroy them and reduce your casualties to Lowest. Let me ask you, which situation are you willing to choose?"

"Comrade commander, you are right." Briski thought for a while, and felt that Sokov's arrangement was reasonable, so he nodded and said, "I firmly obey your order. From now on, the whole battalion will obey Savi Commander of Major Qi." After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment, and then asked with some embarrassment, "I wonder when our battalion will return to construction?"

"Whenever the troops withdraw from the barricade factory, you will return to the construction!" Sokov understood Briski's psychology. The other party was worried that he would be placed under the command of other troops from then on, and then he might completely leave the 41st Guards Division. The establishment of the system gave him a reassurance, "Do you have any disagreement?"

  After listening to Sokov clarifying the time for the troops to return to construction, the boulder hanging in Briski's heart finally fell to the ground. He replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, I have no disagreement, and I firmly obey your orders!"

  (end of this chapter)