"Comrade Colonel," Guxin pointed to a cottage next to him and said to Sokov: "There is a small Diesel engine here, which is specially designed to provide lighting for the warehouse."
The Diesel engine that Guxin mentioned is what we often call a diesel generator. Since it was invented by the German inventor Rudolph Diesel, it named this engine after his surname. Sokov thought that there were lights in the warehouse, which was naturally more convenient than illuminating with a few flashlights, so he urged the other party one after another: "This is really great, you can start it quickly."
Seeing Gu Xin turn around and run into the hut next to him, Sokov thought to himself: Maybe every night, the power supply Gu Xin and the others use comes from this diesel generator.
Not long after, the roar of generators rang out of the room. Gu Xin ran out of the room and said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, the engine has started working. Now I will turn on the lights for you." After that, he came to the iron gate and pulled a light rope beside the door. The originally dark warehouse immediately became brightly lit.
With the 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 but say in his heart: Damn, there are so many cannons! There are hundreds of them. Even if he gives Lyudnikov a few, he wouldn't let the artillery use them as infantry.
"Lt. Samoilov," Sokov turned his head and ordered Samoilov: "Immediately count the artillery in the warehouse to see what models are there and how many of them are."
"I understand." Samoilov agreed, and then shouted at the warrior he brought, "Immediately count the cannons in the warehouse to see what models are there and the number of various models."
Taking advantage of the opportunity when Samoilov and his men were taking stock of the cannons, Sokov asked Guxin: "Comrade Sergeant, I would like to ask, how long will the cannons in the warehouse be transported out?"
Gu Xin replied without hesitation: "Comrade Colonel, the people in the factory have never left the warehouse except for counting the goods every three days!"
"What, no artillery has ever left the warehouse?" Guxin's words surprised Sokov. He asked in surprise: "Comrade Sergeant, how long have you been stationed here?"
"Two and a half months, Comrade Colonel," Guxin replied loudly, "Sin has been stationed here since the Germans attacked the factory."
After hearing Guxin said this, Sokov wanted to curse in his heart. There were so many artillery piled up in the warehouse, which was not used to arm the troops defending the factory, but piled up dust here. If the factory was occupied by the Germans, these artillery would fall into the hands of the enemy intact.
With the efforts of everyone, the number of artillery in the warehouse was quickly counted. Samoilov came over to report to Sokov and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, it has been counted. There are 38 ZIS-3 76mm cannons, 11 M1937 152mm field howitzers, and 18 M1938 122mm howitzers..."
After listening to the data reported by Samoilov, Sokov glanced at the mountains of shell boxes piled up by the wall and asked casually: "Does these artillery have matching shells?"
Following Sokov's gaze, Samoilov looked at the shell box piled by the wall and replied: "I just took a look at the shells with only 76mm cannons. In addition to the high-explosive bombs, there are also many armor-piercing bombs."
Sokov remembers that this ZIS-3 type division is a 76mm cannon, with excellent firepower performance, which can not only anti-tanks, but also eliminate the enemy's living forces, suppress enemy artillery fire, and destroy solid bunkers. It has a simple structure, greatly reduced weight, and is convenient for maneuvering and rapid combat. In addition to the Tiger tank, it can easily destroy any German tank or assault gun. Because of its fast firing speed, it became a nightmare for German tank soldiers. Later, after the tank chassis was installed, it was changed to SU-76 self-propelled artillery.
He pointed his hand at the 76mm cannons and said to Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, take all these cannons out of the warehouse. We will use them to teach the Germans a lesson. By the way, you send another person to inform Colonel Lyudnikov, saying that we have found a sufficient number of artillery and ask him to send artillery soldiers to receive the equipment."
Although the 76mm cannon was light and two soldiers could push it away, Samoilov brought too few people, and it was undoubtedly a huge project to move so many artillery shells out. Seeing that Sokov and the others were too busy, Gu Xin quickly called his subordinates and helped push the artillery out.
Just as he was busy, Samoilov sent the soldiers who went to find Lyudnikov to come back, followed by a major. The major came to Sokov, raised his hand to salute, and said respectfully: "Hello, Colonel Sokov! I am Major Savage, the leader of the 295th Artillery Regiment, and I came to you to receive equipment at the command of the division commander Colonel Lyudnikov."
"Major," Sokov pointed at the cannon that had just been pushed out by the soldiers and said to Savage: "It was these cannons."
Savage was obviously more familiar with the model of artillery than Sokov. Seeing these cannons scattered in the open space, his eyes suddenly shone. He murmured: "O my God, there are so many ZIS-3 cannons."
"I think these cannons are more effective in the battle to defend factories than the large-caliber howitzers that are still parked in the warehouse." Sokov just finished speaking, suddenly remembered that there were not many people left in Lyudnikov's troops, so he asked Savage tentatively: "Comrade Major, I want to ask you, how many people are there in your regiment?"
"There are more than fifty people, 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 fifty people, I'm afraid..." He stopped here, thinking that after Belkin led his troops to arrive, he would select some soldiers who had been artillery soldiers from them to help Savage and others use these artillery?
Seeing that Sokov's words came to an abrupt end, Savage guessed that the other party must be worried about the small number of artillery soldiers, and hurriedly said: "Comrade Colonel, although the artillery squad is composed of eight people, we are short of staff now, so I can reduce the structure to four people, so that we can use at least twelve gates at the same time."
"Major, you misunderstood." Seeing that Savage had turned aside, Sokov explained to him: "You have insufficient staff, I can find a way to help you. I am considering how to mix your people with my subordinates."
As he was talking, a few people trotted over from a distance. Along the way, the person coming was shouting: "Comrade Teacher, you are here, I'm looking for you everywhere."
Sokov looked in the voice and saw that the second battalion commander Captain Brisky and several company commanders under him. After they came to their front, they asked curiously: "Why are you just a few people, where is the political commissar?"
Brisky knew very well that the political commissar Sokov mentioned was their regiment commander Berkin, so he quickly replied: "Report to the division commander, the regiment commander is still behind with the first battalion and the regiment direct troops. I will bring the second battalion first."
"Comrade Captain," Sokov asked, looking at Brisky, "How many people are there in your camp?"
"There are nearly five hundred people in the battalion." After Brisky finished speaking the number of people in the battalion, he saw an unexpected expression on Sokov's face and quickly added: "We have replenished troops from the recovered wounded during our stay in the Red October factory."
Sokov calculated silently and temporarily assigned Brisky's second battalion to Savage to command, so that all 38 cannons could be used. Thinking of this, he said to Brisky: "Comrade Captain, let me introduce you to you. This is Major Savage, the commander of the Artillery Corps of the 138th Infantry Division. From now on, your battalion will be under his command."
"What, let us be in command?" Brisky heard Sokov's order and asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, why is this?"
"Col. Sokov," Savage also felt that Sokov's order was a bit hasty, and quickly reminded him: "Architecture is a professional army. Even if you assign them to our command, your role may be limited."
Sokov raised his hand and pressed down, signaling the two not to speak. After they all calmed down, Sokov said to Savage first: "Comrade Major, I will assign you the temporary command of this battalion. There are many soldiers who have been artillery soldiers. As long as you organize reasonably, I believe they will play a great role in the battle."
"But, comrade Colonel, we don't know when the Germans will launch a new attack." Savic said embarrassedly: "I don't have so much time to confirm who is qualified infantry in your subordinates."
"The cannons I handed over to you later, there are 38 in total." Sokov explained to him after Savage finished speaking: "You can send a gunner to aim for each cannon, and my people are responsible for loading and pulling the cannon ropes. Do you think it's okay?"
When Savage thought that his troops were in charge of aiming, and Sokov's people loading and pulling cannon ropes was a good choice, so he nodded and agreed to Sokov's arrangement.
After Savage agreed to his proposal, Sokov turned to face Brisky and said to him: "Comrade Captain, the enemy will soon launch a new attack. If you are allowed to fight positions with the enemy as infantry, you will definitely suffer heavy losses in the absence of heavy weapons. But if it is temporarily changed to artillery and the enemy is still far from our position, you can use artillery fire to eliminate them and minimize your casualties. Let me ask you, which situation do you want to choose?"
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Brisky thought for a while, thinking that Sokov's arrangement was reasonable, so he nodded and said, "I firmly obey your orders. From now on, the entire camp will obey Major Savage's command." After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment and asked embarrassedly, "I wonder when our camp will be built?"
"You will return to build whenever the troops withdraw from the barricade factory!" Sokov understood Brisky's psychology. The other party was worried that he would be assigned to other troops from now on, and that he might completely break away from the 41st Guards Division, so he gave him a reassurance, "You have no different opinions, right?"
Chapter completed!