At nine o'clock in the morning on October 11, Yang Mingzhi's special train arrived safely at the Perm Passenger Station covered with snow.
But now the passenger transport business of Soviet railways has been reduced to a very low level. Even the passenger station has become a huge ordnance loading and unloading yard!
A huge steam crane is like a giant, slow-moving monster. The crane hooks a combat anti-cannon and is slowly transporting it onto a flatbed truck.
Yang Mingzhi saw the whole process clearly through the car window, and even saw that more anti-tank guns with extremely long barrels were neatly arranged on the former platform, waiting in line to be loaded onto the car.
"Haha, the situation has changed a lot from half a month ago." Yang Mingzhi said to Doblov next to him.
"I'm sorry, Comrade Director. I didn't pay attention when I passed by here last time."
"It doesn't matter. Did you see that steam crane? It didn't exist last time. It seems that the officials here in Perm are very efficient. They quickly set up such a huge equipment."
"They must have accepted the fatal order from their superiors. With heavy equipment, the material loading and unloading will be very fast." Dobroff praised.
"Well, today is really an eye-opener for me, but they can also set up some heavy-duty gantry cranes. Let's go, we have arrived at the station, and there are still important things to do next."
Today's Yang Mingzhi really laments that today's Soviet Union moved a large steam engine to the passenger station.
Due to the limitations of science and technology, no country in the world can build electric motors with amazing horsepower. Large gantry cranes not only exist, but are used in most of the final assembly rooms of heavy equipment in various countries.
It's just that compared to the super cranes of later generations that could be deployed close to one machine to transport a weight of 6,000 tons, this is unimaginable today.
In fact, even in the era that Yang Mingzhi belonged to, China was the only country that could lift a 6,000-ton giant with a single crane.
The Tiger tank developed by Germany has entered the mass production stage. It is a weapon with a huge weight. Germany does not have a qualified crane that can withstand such a weight. Even quite a few bridges in Germany cannot withstand the "Tiger" just once.
passing by.
In the Soviet Union, the overall crane transportation of light armored vehicles such as BT tanks has reached the lifting limit of many equipment.
Most heavy-duty howitzers are pushed onto flatbed trucks by tractors.
What Yang Mingzhi saw now were all 57mm howitzers. Its larger barrel attracted Yang Mingzhi's attention.
He got out of the car and after some negotiation with the local Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel in Perm who picked him up, his eyes couldn't help but glance there.
A man with a blue hat named Andreev said as he walked: "Dear comrade general, we are very happy that you are visiting Perm again. Maybe you like this city very much?"
"Of course. There!" Yang Mingzhi pointed casually, "Perm is mass-producing war defense artillery?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Speaking of this, Andreev was quite excited: "We also produce the latest T34 tanks here, as well as heavy howitzers, and..."
Yang Mingzhi listened to what this man said, and his meaning was very clear. Perm is a large arsenal, which mainly produces heavy equipment that the army urgently needs.
But Stalin had told himself that large industrial cities like Kazan and Perm would arrange factories to produce the latest assault rifles.
Yang Mingzhi continued to ask: "Comrade Andreyev, it seems that you are very concerned about these things."
"Thank you for your compliment. It's okay if I don't take it to heart until now. Because... we comrades affiliated with the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been preparing. Nowadays, many newly established troops lack a large number of grassroots political commissars. We will give priority to filling these positions.
As soon as there is a vacancy, I am ready to go to the battlefield at any time!"
Yang Mingzhi nodded, he completely understood what this person meant.
Before the war broke out, the number of internal affairs troops directly under the management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs exceeded 200,000. More than half of them were orphans adopted by Soviet Russia during the civil war. The deceased Dzerzhinsky was their father. These people were very loyal to the Soviets.
, when the war broke out, they would rather die than surrender. Of course, there is a very realistic factor here. Even if someone surrenders, they will be shot immediately by the German army upon discovery. Therefore, only one out of ten of the 200,000 troops withdrew.
In addition to military personnel, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also has a large number of civil servants.
Under the national crisis, young men throughout the alliance must be prepared to join the army. Especially the civilian personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the previously defeated troops must go to the newly recruited troops to stabilize the entire infantry division, which has thousands of soldiers.
The emotions of soldiers can end possible war-weariness and fear of war from the grassroots level, and use ideological education to inspire soldiers to move forward bravely.
When it comes to ideological construction, it is true that every one of the guys from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a talented person.
When Yang Mingzhi got off the military train, train station staff helped push and pull some of his luggage.
They were three hemp cloth bags, and their overall soft texture was really questionable.
Behind Yang Mingzhi is his personal guard Grishenko, and the two technical experts accompanying him, the young Kalashnikov and the menopausal Dobrov.
The group of people quickly left the Perm Passenger Transport Station. In the large train station square, Yang Mingzhi saw another busy scene.
The huge square was covered with snow, and the sky was still covered with dark clouds. The whole world was cold and cold. Although the snow had stopped, the cold wind from the Arctic was like a knife, sweeping across the wide square.
There are a large number of trucks parked on the vast area, as well as some crawler tractors with huge heads.
A large number of larger-caliber anti-tank guns with huge barrels and gun mounts were neatly arranged. A large number of strong men dressed like brown bears were either chatting in twos or threes, or pushing the mounts of these anti-tank guns and hanging them.
On the tractor.
The truck's towing hook hooked the war-proof artillery that had just left the factory and transported it to the train station. The next step was for the tractor to pull it to the platform, and then it was hoisted to a flatbed truck by a heavy-duty steam crane.
Yang Mingzhi believed that the entire transportation process was very fast. What he saw was a 57 mm caliber combat anti-aircraft gun, which was probably the largest caliber combat anti-aircraft gun produced by the Soviet Army during the war.
The shell it is equipped with has a larger chamber, which can give the projectile greater kinetic energy in the barrel. At the same time, it also has a very exaggerated barrel length, which can give the projectile a higher muzzle velocity. The final caliber reaches a 57 mm tungsten core.
Armor-piercing projectiles hit enemy tanks at speeds close to the speed of sound, bringing considerable penetration.
However, today's German tanks face armor-piercing projectiles fired by the Soviet medium and short-range RPG weapons. They are designed to sacrifice a certain amount of horsepower and mobility to install thicker armor, and generally put on a layer of fence. Not only
It was the German army, and the Soviet tanks did the same thing when facing the German RPG weapons.
The war forced both warring parties to desperately increase the armor thickness of their main medium tanks, and to add other metals to the steel to create stronger armor.
As a result, with the power of a 57mm tungsten core armor-piercing projectile, can it penetrate the latest Type IV tank at a distance of one thousand meters? There are no large number of actual combat cases to prove that these 57mm warheads only began to resume mass production in the summer of 1942.
Anti-gun can do this very easily.
But what is certain is that the 37mm combat anti-cannon that is now widely equipped by the Soviet army cannot penetrate their front armor even at a distance of 200 meters when facing the reinforced armored versions of Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks. Artillery is the only
The only opportunity is to snipe the periscopes of the commander and driver in order to make them blind.
What cannot be done at a distance of 200 meters, let alone the luxury of accomplishing this at a distance of 1,000 meters. On the contrary, the current host model of the German army is the No. 4. Some of the improved models are equipped with larger caliber barrels, and the caliber is as high as 75 mm.
In this way, tanks firing high-explosive shells can easily destroy Soviet anti-tank positions at a distance of one thousand meters.
Many of the anti-tank guns equipped can only be used to attack the sides of German tanks. When they approach the position less than 200 meters, although the hollow-charge armor-piercing warheads of the RPG weapons equipped by the Soviet army have strong penetration depth, they are very
It was easily blocked by fences deliberately installed by German tanks and detonated in advance.
The Soviet army must have a better anti-tank weapon, so the 57mm-caliber heavy anti-tank gun, which was discontinued in December 1941, resumed mass production in the spring of the following year.
It may not be a very useful weapon, but at present, only this kind of combat anti-aircraft gun with an ultra-long barrel and larger projectiles can attack the front of a German tank at a distance of one thousand meters without losing its effectiveness.
"These are combat anti-aircraft guns. They are sharp weapons for attacking German tanks." Andreev knew the existence of the general he was transporting, so he deliberately said: "They are 57 mm caliber, which is currently the largest caliber produced in our country.
Combat anti-tank artillery. As far as I know, the artillery shell can penetrate the armor of an enemy tank one thousand meters away after flying for only one second, completing a victory. Coupled with the RPG weapon you developed, I think our anti-tank strength has reached
It’s astonishing.”
"The best thing is this." Yang Mingzhi was not so optimistic. He said with a smile, "But I got off the bus in Perm temporarily, not specifically to see the anti-tank gun factory in the city. Of course, if I can
I’m also happy to visit.”
"Oh? You have such a plan?!"
"No! I'm just talking. I can conclude that the capability of the 57mm anti-tank gun must be far stronger than that of the 37mm, but we should not think too highly of ourselves. Maybe the German army has successfully developed a more powerful tank. Then
This kind of armor can only be broken into pieces by direct fire from a Katyusha rocket launcher and a particularly large amount of explosives."
"You...you are joking!" Andreev's awkward smile became very distorted due to the cold. He paid attention to the general's face and could not see that the Asian-faced general meant anything joking.
The whole person explained all this in a serious manner.
Yang Mingzhi continued: "My time is very limited. You are a comrade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I can tell you the main purpose of my trip. Yes, I just came to visit my old comrades. You should be very careful about this matter."
clear."
"Yes! Yes." Andreev nodded in agreement and continued: "We have made arrangements for the military hotel in Perm. As a general, you will receive extremely high accommodation and accommodation.
Food and beverage treatment.”
"Very good. What about my three followers?"
"They can also enjoy the same treatment as you."
Yang Mingzhi nodded to show his satisfaction. He estimated that the so-called good treatment meant sleeping on a soft bed, eating some good meals that were rare during the difficult war period, and even being able to use the hotel's phone.
Phone?! Thinking of the phone, Yang Mingzhi suddenly became interested.
He quickly asked: "So, can I use the hotel phone to make long-distance calls?"
"Of course you can. The hotel will bear the cost, but you don't need to wait too long."
"Haha, I just told my wife that she is safe, and informed my friends in Novosibirsk that I will return in a few days. By the way, where are the other three division commanders?"
"They... they have been recruiting soldiers in various middle schools in the city these days..." Andreev thought that Yang Mingzhi didn't know about this, so he deliberately said more, although Andreev himself knew very little.
"Oh? So they are very busy."
"No! The recruitment work is going very smoothly. The first batch of talents who have passed the special recruitment screening have arrived at the military camps of the three division commanders. The busiest time for the division commanders is basically over. When they learned that you felt bad today, they stayed in the military hotel.
.The hotel has also prepared a sumptuous lunch, waiting for you to enjoy it!"
After getting off the train, he didn't even take a break from the boat ride, so he rushed to the banquet?! Thinking of the banquet, Yang Mingzhi couldn't help but touch his belly. For the past few days, he had been eating "train meals", which were very bland bread and fried eggs.
Japanese vegetable soup. Although the dining car had some beef in reserve, Yang Mingzhi could not praise the chef's skills. The meat was too old and he had to look for sharp objects everywhere to pick his teeth.
After walking and chatting with Andreev for a while, Yang Mingzhi finally stood next to the car that picked him up.
Andreev personally opened the car door and bowed to invite you: "Please get in the car. We will go directly to the military hotel. I will also escort you the entire journey until you leave Perm."
Yang Mingzhi smiled awkwardly, "I don't need you to worry so much. I just want to sit in Perm in a low-key manner. I hope this trip will not disturb many people."
Yang Mingzhi was really worried when he got in the car. When he arrived at the military hotel, he would be greeted not only by his old comrades, but also by the old guys from the Perm authorities. Thinking about his treatment in Novosibirsk, he
The more I think about it, the more worried I become. Just a lieutenant general, who has attracted the favor and reuse of Stalin himself, has become the target of the local feudal officials who can fawn over him?
Power is really a good thing, but out-of-control power will bring disaster! Just like the outbreak of this war.
The truth was not as bad as he thought.
The wheels crunched on the snow-covered road, and there was no heating system in the car. Cars in today's world have just begun to pay attention to the comfort of passengers. Those additional functions that seemed commonplace in later generations are now just possibilities.
Science fiction realized.
The car window was soon covered with water vapor, and Yang Mingzhi wiped out a visual window and carefully observed the wide streets of Perm in the ice and snow.
After a while, the convoy drove onto the road along the river.
"Hey, Comrade Andreev, that river!?"
"It's the Kama River, Comrade General." Andreev said happily, "It is an important tributary of the Volga River. The temperature is not that cold yet, and maybe there will only be a thin layer of ice on the river this year.
Do you see those dark shadows on the river? They're flat-bottomed tugboats."
"Yes! I saw it all!" Yang Mingzhi put on his glasses and took a closer look.
I saw billowing smoke from the motorboat, like a little pony pulling a huge carriage, slowly dragging the flat-bottomed boat forward at a slow speed, seemingly only slightly faster than the current.
"What are those boats pulling?!"
"Well, it's probably copper ore and iron ore. They'll transport it to the local dock for unloading and haul it directly to the smelter. It may also be hauled upstream along the Volga River to the smelter in Kazan, or down the river.