red moscow

Chapter 2784 Rocket Launcher Appears

"What, Colonel Katukov, what did you say?" After listening to Katukov's report, Potapov was stunned: "You said that Captain Sokov, commanding a T-34 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 a real result?"

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

After saying this, Katukov saw that Potapov had not responded for a long time. He guessed that Potapov must have been stunned by Sokov's victory, so he continued: "Comrade Commander, I think if someone else achieved such a result, we might still be suspicious. But Captain Sokov's situation is different. He is a hero who captured an entire German tank column by himself, so I think it is reasonable for him to achieve such a result."

"Well, you're right." Potapov finally came to his senses from the shock and echoed Katukov's statement: "Captain Sokov is a commander who is good at creating miracles. I think it's reasonable for him to achieve such amazing results."

The call here was not over yet, when the army chief of staff suddenly called Potapov: "Comrade Commander, your call."

"I'm talking to Colonel Katukov. If there's anything, you can 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 was from the Supreme Commander himself."

When Potapov learned that it was Stalin who called, he shuddered and said to Katukov: "Colonel, I have an important call to take, so I won't continue talking to you. If you have any new situation, please remember to report it to me in time."

After finishing the call with Katukov, Potapov immediately walked to the army chief of staff and took the microphone from him. According to his experience, Stalin personally called a commander of an army at the front, which must be 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 was nasal, probably because he had a cold: "I heard that your troops achieved good results in the battle to defend Mtsensk today. On behalf of the Supreme Command, I would like to congratulate you."

"Thank you, Comrade Stalin." Facing Stalin's praise, Potapov must have said a few humble words: "There are many reasons for our victory. First, our troops made timely preparations for defense; second, facing the enemy's attack, the officers and soldiers were very calm and brave..."

Stalin listened patiently to Potapov's story, and when he finished speaking, he asked, "During this battle, were there any officers or soldiers who performed particularly well?"

When Potapov heard this question, he couldn't help but feel a little suspicious. Did Stalin call to ask about it because he heard about Sokov's victory? If this was true, it meant that Stalin could learn everything that happened on the battlefield in a timely manner through an intelligence network that he was not aware of.

Seeing that Potapov was still silent, Stalin asked again: "Why, General Potapov, don't you have any outstanding officers and soldiers in your army?"

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

Such a result surprised Stalin very much: "General Potapov, have you verified such a result?"

Stalin's reaction was completely within Potapov's expectations. When he heard about the results, his first reaction was that they were wrong. How could such a huge result be achieved with just a few combat units? But after verification, he confirmed that these results were true. Hearing Stalin's doubts about the results, Potapov quickly said, "Comrade Stalin, we have verified the results and confirmed that they are true before reporting to you."

Stalin said in an incredulous tone: "It is simply unbelievable that someone could achieve such a result."

"Comrade Stalin, in fact, Sokov had achieved good results as early as August," Potapov explained to Stalin. "He captured 12 German tanks alone in a small town. For this, the Supreme Command 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 transferred him to your command through Shaposhnikov. Is my memory correct?"

"Yes, that's exactly it."

"What is his current rank?"

"Sokov is now a captain," Potapov said. "If he had not been promoted from a private to a captain in August, I would have promoted him to a captain."

"General Potapov, you are a little too petty," Stalin said. "A commander as good as him deserves a higher rank. I think we should promote him to the rank of major."

Potapov was naturally happy to learn that Sokov had been promoted twice. However, he was worried that Sokov's rapid promotion 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 promoted to captain within a week of joining the army. Less than two months later, he was promoted to major. I am worried that some people will be dissatisfied with such a rapid promotion speed."

"I think it is completely appropriate for Comrade Sokov to be promoted to major given his ability." Stalin immediately said with a straight face after hearing what Potapov said: "It is decided. If anyone has any objections, just let them come to me."

After Potapov hung up the phone, he excitedly pumped his fist and thought to himself that taking Sokov from Vlasov was undoubtedly the most correct decision he had made. Now that Sokov was promoted to major by Stalin himself, he could arrange for him to serve as a battalion commander or even deputy regiment commander in a certain unit at the right time, so that he could establish more merits in future wars.

Seeing Potapov so excited, the army chief of staff couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Commander, what makes you so happy?"

"Just now I reported to Comrade Stalin on the phone about Sokov's achievements. He was very happy and promoted Sokov to the rank of major." "Oh my God." The army chief of staff learned a little about Sokov's resume and was surprised to know that he had been promoted repeatedly in less than two months. He was promoted to major in less than two months. This promotion speed is too amazing. At least in the history of our army, there has never been such a fast promotion. "

"I will inform Sokov of this good news immediately and make him happy too."

Just as Potapov called the communications officer and prepared to ask him to send a telegram to Sokov to inform him of the good news, a staff officer walked in quickly from outside, saluted Potapov, and reported: "Comrade Commander, Captain Chumak of the Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion is here and is waiting for your summons outside."

Although Potapov was the army commander before the war, he had never seen a strictly confidential weapon like a rocket launcher. After listening to the staff report, he was full of questions and wanted to find out what the other side's rocket launcher in the air was, so he ordered the staff: "Please let him in!"

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

"Rocket launcher?" The army chief of staff asked curiously, "Comrade Captain, what is a rocket launcher?"

"The rocket launcher is outside," Chumak said politely, "If you are interested, you can go out and take a look yourself."

"Let's go, Comrade Chief of Staff, let's go and see our army's new weapons." Potapov smiled and said to Chumak: "Comrade Captain, please tell us in detail so that we can have a preliminary understanding of this new weapon."

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

"Comrade Captain," Potapov pointed at the vehicles and asked, "are these the rocket launchers you mentioned?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Chumak introduced them, "This is a BM-13 rocket launcher. It uses a heavy-duty truck as its chassis and is equipped with eight rail-mounted launchers to form a mobile rocket launcher launch system. It carries 8 M-16 solid-fuel rockets, which can be fired within 13 seconds. The maximum range is 10 kilometers, and the power is equivalent to that of a 8.5mm ordinary artillery shell. It is suitable for attacking exposed enemy manpower concentrations, field fortifications, and clustered tanks and artillery."

After listening to Chumak's explanation, Potapov turned to the army chief of staff and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, these rocket launchers sound very good. Where do you think they should be deployed?"

"Comrade Commander," the army chief of staff replied, "The 36th Motorized Regiment and the Tula Artillery School are responsible for the defense of the outskirts of Mtsensk. So far, no fighting has taken place. It would be a waste to deploy the rocket artillery battalion here. I think the best arrangement is to send them to the defense area of ​​the 4th Independent Tank Brigade and hand them over to Colonel Katukov for command."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. I think so too," Potapov said, turning to Chumak and saying, "Comrade Captain, I plan to send you to Colonel Katukov's tank brigade. Do you have any objection?"

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

Seeing that Chumak agreed to his proposal, Potapov nodded slightly, then called a staff officer and told him: "Take Captain Chumak and his troops and rush to the defense area of ​​the 4th Independent Tank Brigade immediately and hand them over to Katukov's command."

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

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

"Thank you, comrade staff officer." After expressing his gratitude to the staff officer, Katukov walked directly to Chumak and took the initiative to extend his hand: "Hello, Captain Chumak, I received a call from the commander and learned that you were coming, so I have been waiting for you."

After Chumak 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. You just came to us and haven't even had a cup of tea, but you're already thinking about joining the battle. Your fighting spirit is really worth learning from."

"Comrade Colonel, please forgive me for being so impatient." Chumak grinned and said, "Our battalion has been ordered to provide you with a volley and then move to other areas to cooperate with other troops in combat."

After hearing this, the brigade chief of staff was somewhat surprised and asked: "Why only one volley? What effect can this have?"

"Comrade Commander," Chumak said, because Katukov did not introduce the identity of the chief of staff to Chumak, so Chumak did not know who the chief of staff was and could only use a general title: "Although we only have seven vehicles, the casualties caused by a salvo are no less than that of an artillery regiment."

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

Chumak looked at the map on the table and said, "Comrade Colonel, the distance from here to the enemy's gathering area is about seven or eight kilometers, which is just at the edge of the range of our rocket launchers. In order to better exert the power of the rocket launchers, I suggest moving the launch position to a position five kilometers away from the enemy."

"No problem." Katukov said very straightforwardly, "The troops stationed at the forefront are the mixed battalion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They are no more than four kilometers away from the area where the German troops are assembled. You can deploy the launchers near their positions and launch a round of salvos at the German troops from there."

(End of this chapter)