The time finally arrived in 1942, and history turned a new page. On the second day of the Gregorian New Year, a broadcast from the Gomel underground municipal committee announced exciting news to the surrounding areas - the International Anti-Fascist Alliance was established.
The news came a little late, but the vast number of Soviet soldiers were notified of the good news by the Soviet propaganda department. On the vast battlefield, the Soviet soldiers who continued to fight saw a glimmer of hope. At this point, they were no longer able to
No longer alone.
In the village committee of Blacksmith Village, the atmosphere was really peaceful, and everyone congratulated each other.
"It will be Christmas soon, and now that we have more friends, the time is coming soon for these invaders to face counterattacks from many sides.
"Kavitsky's sigh is very correct, and everyone is optimistic about the future.
In the excitement, everyone held wine glasses and drank a few glasses of wine to add to the fun.
Yang Mingzhi went to the village committee on January 2 as a routine visit. Unexpectedly, they were really enthusiastic. That’s how Belarusians are. This is a nation that dares to love and hate. Compared with the Russians, they
More exaggerated.
These people are talking about this new intelligence, and most of them have the most basic understanding of the international situation. Being pragmatic, Kavitsky admires the industrial capabilities of the United States, and others also think that the national strength of the United Kingdom and the United States
Very powerful.
"As long as Britain and the United States can hold back a large number of German troops on the Western Front, we will face a lot of pressure. But this situation will not be reflected immediately after signing the agreement. Do you really think about this? Belekov
?” Kavitsky’s question is also a question shared by many people.
Yang Mingzhi scratched his head. Of course he couldn't say that the Allied forces opened the second battlefield in 1944, and the Allied forces invaded Italy. Mussolini was killed. By then, Nazi Germany was being attacked from two sides and was retreating.
"The German army will eventually fail." Yang Mingzhi said simply, "The situation should unfold as you expected."
"I thought you had something else to say, but it seems that you, I, and everyone else's ideas are so close."
Kavitsky waved his hand and moved the topic away. "We are still very difficult now, especially in this swamp. Our troops are very short of heavy weapons, and the core area for weapons production is this blacksmith village. I really want to know now,
What advanced weapons does the so-called Pripyaz Weapons Design Bureau led by Berekov now have?"
This question stopped Yang Mingzhi, "There are no advanced weapons. The rocket-propelled grenade system is still in production, and there are two other artillery pieces that may be equipped with our troops this month, allowing our army to gain a lot in terms of firepower."
Big improvement.”
This is the most exciting thing, especially when Yang Mingzhi pointed out that the first recoilless rifle can even be manufactured before Christmas!
The Soviet Union has always pursued artillery doctrine, and the strategic system of the Soviet army has always been far different from that of the German army.
After the end of World War I, Germany has been thinking about avenging its past humiliation, and the strong hostility among the people pushed Hitler and his Nazi Party to the forefront. Military revenge is inevitable, but based on Germany's fragile national power, in many countries
In this strategic model, blitzkrieg was ultimately adopted as a military strategy. Because this was the war system that the German army could establish in just five years that was most suitable for its national conditions. However, Germany was a small country after all.
But in the Soviet Union, Stalin used policies like crazy to build the Soviet Union into a huge industrial country, and the system was more adaptable to a comprehensive national war. In terms of its strategic thinking, since Eastern Europe is mostly dominated by vast plains, the strength of large corps
War is the mainstream. As for artillery strategy, this is an old tradition handed down from the era of Tsarist Russia. Perhaps it was in 1812, when the Russian army suffered heavy losses from Napoleon's French artillery fire that it decided to build up artillery.
Therefore, even people in the swamp still have a soft spot for artillery.
But the actual situation is that around 194o, the output of Soviet artillery was far less than that of Germany!
The arsenal here cannot meet the technical requirements for manufacturing advanced artillery, but there is no problem at all with the recoilless rifles that came out in the late 19th century. Besides, the Soviet Union has also made great achievements in this area. It is equipped with the recoilless rifles manufactured by Liangbushinsky.
Some Soviet troops, but what Yang Mingzhi and Liguschkov did was relatively backward. Yang Mingzhi’s words made Kavitsky and others full of hope. After drinking, everyone simply went directly to the arsenal to watch.
Fan.
Yang Mingzhi naturally led the way with great interest and he was confident.
That Liguschkov is indeed an old military worker, and he is very capable on how to make artillery.
The technological requirements for making a recoilless rifle are indeed not high. The first step is to make steel in a blast furnace. The quality of the molten steel produced by the Martin method is enough to make weapons. The molten steel is poured into a mold and then cooled, and then the metal is melted.
collision.
The temperature in the blast furnace workshop of the arsenal was as high as 40 degrees, and it was the middle of winter. Most of Kavitsky and others did not often come to the arsenal for investigation. I saw a large number of workers working with bare backs, and even so, many people were still sweating.
Yang Mingzhi was very knowledgeable. He pointed to the clay mold and said: "The artillery is made from that mold into a gun embryo, and then it is processed by a lathe. According to Liguschkov, one gun barrel can be processed every day. If
If the production capacity is expanded to the maximum, one recoilless rifle a day will not be a problem."
One gun a day was already a very fast production rate. Kavitsky and Jelentina were amazed, not only by the high output, but also by the iron and fire in the workshop, and the industrial beauty that made people's hearts beat.
"It's so beautiful. Our place here is like a steel mill. I think of last year, when we retreated into the swamp and were completely destitute. Now we are not only self-sufficient in food, we can even make weapons and ammunition!" Elena said affectionately
Looking at Berekov from China, all these changes are not his achievements. This guy is a treasure to the Soviet Union!
But when it comes to building a cannon, the barrel is still far from a real cannon, and what’s more important is the ammunition.
Yelentina asked a few more questions by the way: "Berekov, Liguschkov should have told us these weapons manufacturing issues in person, but where is he now?"
"In a very smelly place." Yang Mingzhi said without any concealment. "Anyway, everyone wants to see the weapons production. I will lead you there without any problem. After all, I have learned a lot about this arsenal in the past few days."
"You didn't answer my question! What a smelly place? Where is that? Is it the toilet?"
"Yes! It's the toilet." Yang Mingzhi clapped his hands.
His words made Kavitsky think a lot, "It seems that Liguschkov went to the excrement cleaning place in the village, where all the human and animal excrement from the entire collective farm was collected. He did not just do this
Fertilizer also produces nitrate."
Black gunpowder requires magnesium nitrate, which is various types of saltpeter, and Liguschkov is also using ancient methods to make saltpeter.
In the 17th century, the British army said that the best saltpeter should be found in the corner of the church, because that is where people urinate.
"In short, our current production of black powder is very high. It is not very effective as an explosive, but as an agent to propel artillery shells or rockets forward, it is really good!" Yang Mingzhi led everyone to visit the ammunition production workshop. Here, the workers
The gunpowder is being wrapped in thick paper, and a primer is installed inside for firing pin fire. The cone-shaped monomer of the shell is made of cast iron. The inside is hollow and waxed, then filled with picric acid explosive, and finally a collision fuze is installed.
All these processes are not complicated for these workers.
But when we arrived at the gun barrel processing workshop, we faced the lathe and bored the gun embryo. Because of the firing principle of this kind of artillery, the gun barrel must be a piece of seamless steel. The barrel processing process is really a shocking scene, and these
Yang Mingzhi is really not surprised at this.
He pointed at the gun barrel being processed and said: "Our army's first recoilless gun will be assembled in the next few days. After that, we will conduct a test gun. Once the gun is successfully fired, it will be delivered to the artillery."
use."
These sonorous and powerful words are a guarantee of success, and it will also be the first artillery piece of the Pripyazi Arms Design Bureau.
Kavitsky asked: "Berekov, you must at least give it a model name for this gun. All artillery has models and numbers."
That's right! I forgot about it. But the name is also simple: "Let's just call it ПБО-1."
The meaning of this number is "Pripiazi Arms Design Bureau, recoilless, artillery, the abbreviation of three words, the model number is 1. (To be continued.) 8