"Comrade division commander," Sidorin said when he saw that he and the two division commanders were the only ones left at the table, "I think it is necessary for me to talk to you about the ammunition issue."
"Ammunition? What's wrong with the ammunition?" After hearing what Sidorin said, Sokov asked tentatively: "Are the soldiers who used to use German equipment still have a lot of discomfort after switching to our own equipment?
?”
"Yes, the former comrades of the 73rd Infantry Brigade generally felt uncomfortable with the new equipment after changing their equipment." Sidorin nodded and said, "Especially grenades."
"Grenade?!" Sokov stared at Sidorin with wide eyes and thought to himself: "There may be differences between the Soviet and German rifles, submachine guns and machine guns, but shouldn't grenades be the same?" But he just said these words.
Thinking about it in his mind, he did not say it immediately, but asked cautiously: "Chief of Staff, tell me, what's the problem with the grenade?"
"The German army uses M24 long wooden handle grenades, which have the advantages of high explosive power and long throwing distance. If necessary, they can also be tied into cluster grenades to blow up enemy tanks or fortifications." Sidorin took out a few sketches and asked
Sokov began to introduce: "The grenades used by our army today, in addition to the common egg-shaped grenades, are RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades.
The RGD-33 grenade is a handle grenade developed and finalized in our country in 1933. The method of use is too complicated and is very dangerous for people who are not familiar with it. Coupled with the difficulty in production and other reasons, starting from this year, it has been replaced by a new type of grenade.
Gradually replaced by the RG-42 grenade.
However, the RG-42 grenade also has flaws. After investing, the user still needs to find a place to hide to prevent being accidentally injured by flying shrapnel. In addition, because the projectile is cylindrical, it is necessary to avoid dropping bombs on smooth slopes or roofs to prevent
Roll back to your side and cause an accident..."
After listening to Sidorin's introduction to the grenades equipped by the Soviet army, Sokov couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. For such a long time, he actually thought that the Soviet army used only wooden-handled grenades. Fortunately, he didn't say anything casually just now.
Otherwise it would be a joke. Thinking of this, he looked at Sidorin and asked: "Chief of Staff, what do you think?"
Before answering the question, Sidorin glanced at Ivanov standing next to him, hesitated for a moment, and said: "Comrade division commander, I feel that since our commanders and fighters are accustomed to using German hand grenades, I wonder if I can please
The Red October factory produces a batch for us."
"Chief of Staff, I don't think this is good." Before Sokov could speak, Ivanov said first: "My soldiers have been using RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades. Let them replace them with
I’m afraid it will take some time to get used to German-style grenades.”
Sidorin did not argue with Ivanov, but turned his questioning eyes to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, what do you think?"
Sokov had never really paid attention to what kind of grenades the Soviet army used before. Who made his troops use captured German equipment for a long time. But after looking at a few sketches given by Sidorin,
He found that the Soviet grenades were not only ugly in appearance, but also quite troublesome to use. Even if they were barely tied into cluster grenades, the weight of the grenades made it impossible for the soldiers to throw them. They could only hold the tanks towards the enemy and die together.
Precisely because of the various shortcomings of the Soviet-style grenades, Sokov mentally agreed with Sidorin's suggestion and asked the Red October Factory to imitate a batch of German-style grenades for him to gradually replace the unsuitable Soviet-style grenades. He gently
He coughed and said: "I agree with the chief of staff's opinion and let the Red October Factory imitate a batch of German-style grenades for us to obtain the existing Soviet-style grenades."
"Comrade division commander, I don't understand why you agreed to the chief of staff's proposal?" Ivanov asked in confusion: "Why don't you use our grenades, but you choose to use the enemy's grenades?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, don't get excited." Sokov explained with a smile: "The reason why I agreed to imitate German grenades is because when these grenades are tied into cluster grenades, they are more effective at destroying tanks than our anti-tank grenades.
Tank grenades are stronger."
Ivanov knew very well what the Soviet grenades were like. After listening to Sokov's explanation, he realized what was going on and shut up, and no longer objected to the imitation of German grenades.
Seeing that everyone's opinions were unified, Sokov picked up the phone on the table and dialed the director of the Red October Factory. When he heard Peter's voice coming from the receiver, he immediately said with a smile:
"Director Peter, hello, I am Colonel Sokov. How are you doing recently?"
"What else can we do? It's not the same as before." Peter's voice was filled with extreme fatigue: "Colonel Sokov, you're calling me at this time, I'm afraid it's not to reminisce about old times. Let's talk about what you're going to do again.
What do you want from me?"
"I would like to ask you to help me imitate a batch of German grenades." Sokov replied: "I plan to use this batch of grenades to equip the troops."
Perhaps there was too much noise on the phone. Peter didn't hear clearly what Sokov said. He thought he was asking for a grenade, so he said carelessly: "Colonel Sokov, I have two types of RGD-33 and RG-42 here."
We have all the grenades. If you want as many as you want, just send someone to get them."
"Wrong, Director Peter, wrong!" When Sokov heard Peter say this, he knew that the other party had misunderstood what he meant, and quickly explained to him: "I don't want to receive the grenade from you, but I want to ask
Please help us make a batch of imitation grenades."
"What, imitation grenades?" Peter asked in confusion: "Colonel Sokov, we still have tens of thousands of RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades in our warehouse, why do we still need to imitate German grenades?"
"The reason is simple, because their grenades are more effective than ours." Sokov answered simply: "Not only are they powerful and can be thrown from a long distance, but they can also be tied into cluster grenades to blow up enemy tanks when necessary.
"
"Okay, Colonel Sokov, I'll arrange for manpower to produce it immediately." Peter asked tentatively on the phone: "How much do you plan to let us produce?"
"Produce 20,000 pieces first. The wooden handle of the German hand grenade is too long. Can it be shortened when imitating it?" After Sokov said the required quantity, he asked cautiously: "Director Peter, I don't know how many days.
Can it be produced?”
"About a week or so." Peter calculated silently in his mind for a moment and gave an answer. He asked kindly: "Before we complete production, we need to get a batch of RGD-33 and RG-42 grenades from the warehouse.
Spare?"
Since Soviet-style grenades were inconvenient to use, Sokov did not intend to use them again. When Peter asked, he once again rejected the other party's kindness: "Thank you, no! We seized a lot from the Romanians some time ago, and we can still support it."
