"Yasha, there are only two of us here." After arriving at the empty room next to him, Sokov closed the door and said to Yakov: "If you have anything to do, just say it."
"When you went to the headquarters for a meeting, I received a telegram from Comrade Ustinov."
"A telegram from Comrade Ustinov?!" When Sokov learned of Ustinov's call, he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Comrade People's Commissar, do you have anything important to tell you?"
"When you returned to Moscow last time, didn't I tell you that our military experts had developed napalm, but because the laboratory was attacked by German agents, not only were several military experts killed, but all the information was also stolen by the enemy. Burn it to the ground?"
Of course Sokov remembered the reason why he returned to Moscow last time. The mother whose body he had taken was unfortunately killed in a bombing by a German plane, and he went back to attend to the funeral. So when he heard Yakov's question, he nodded and replied: "Yes, I remember this very clearly."
He wondered why Yakov suddenly mentioned such an old incident, and asked curiously: "Yasha, why did you suddenly mention this matter? Could it be that what you are going to say today is related to this matter? "
"That's right." Yakov nodded and replied: "Actually, for the sake of confidentiality, I didn't tell you that not all the military experts who participated in the test died. One of the chief engineers in charge survived. Come down."
"The chief engineer in charge survived?" Sokov said in surprise: "So, he has now restored all the napalm data?"
"That's right, he has now rewritten all the information." After Yakov finished saying this, before Sokov could ask again, he said first: "You may want to ask, how did he get it now?" Silence yourself, right?”
Seeing Sokov nodding in agreement, he continued: "He was seriously injured at the time, and he didn't wake up until May. At the end of June, his body returned to a state where he could work, and he began to organize and recall those things. Materials burned by German agents.”
"Yasha, I have a question." Sokov heard this and raised his hand to interrupt Yakov's words: "Do you think the information on napalm has been obtained by the Germans?"
"Don't worry, Misha, the enemy has definitely not obtained our information. I can guarantee this." Yakov explained to Sokov: "German agents sneaked into the laboratory, killed our military experts, and stole When he was preparing to leave, he was discovered by the guards, and a fierce exchange of fire broke out between the two sides. Seeing that he could not escape, the German agents returned to the laboratory and detonated the bomb hidden in the laboratory in advance, completely destroying the laboratory and destroying everyone inside. All the information was burned.”
After listening to Yakov's story, Sokov always felt that something was wrong, so he frowned and asked: "If German agents blew up the laboratory, how did the chief engineer survive? You know, where In this case, it is impossible for any living thing to survive."
"You are right. Not only everyone in the laboratory died, but even the commanders and fighters involved in the siege suffered heavy casualties. Due to the power of the bomb, no one who was close to the laboratory survived. "
"I still have the question, how did the chief engineer survive? It's worth thinking about."
"It can be said that the chief engineer survived because he was lucky." Yakov explained: "But the German agents killed everyone in the experiment and took the chief engineer hostage. But when the chief engineer saw the patrolling soldiers passing by, After shouting a warning, the agent fired several shots at him and then started a gun battle with our soldiers. Seeing that there was no hope of breaking out, they retreated to the laboratory."
Perhaps seeing that Sokov was still frowning, Yakov continued to explain to him: "Misha, I know what you are thinking, but I think your guess is wrong." He pointed with his finger. In his own chest, "The chief engineer was shot several times, one of the bullets was hit near the heart. If he was even one centimeter away, he would be dead. If he is really a German spy lurking in our military industry department, how can Is it possible to do something so risky?”
Sokov did suspect that there was something wrong with the chief engineer, but after listening to Yakov's story, he felt that he seemed to be a little careless. If the chief engineer was really a German spy, how could he dare to take such a risk? You must know that under the circumstances at that time, even a sharpshooter with the best marksmanship may miss the target due to nervousness. It seems that it is unlikely to be a trick.
Thinking of this, Sokov stopped arguing about the chief engineer, and asked Yakov curiously: "Yasha, you can tell me now what is the real purpose of calling me here."
"That's it. Comrade Ustinov asked me to ask you for advice. After we master the technology of napalm, should we produce aerial bombs or artillery shells?"
Sokov thought about his impression that he had only heard of napalm bombs dropped by aircraft, but never heard of shells used by artillery. He was a little surprised and said to Yakov: "I think this technology is still used to produce Aerial bombs will do, but don’t use them to produce artillery shells.”
"Why?"
"After the napalm bomb explodes, it will form a layer of flames that will spatter around, emitting a high temperature of about 1,000°C, and can stick to other objects and burn for a long time." Sokov said thoughtfully: "If Artillery uses napalm bombs. Once it is counterattacked or bombed by enemy artillery fire, even if only one napalm bomb is detonated, the entire artillery position will be completely destroyed. Do you understand?"
In fact, Sokov didn't know why there were no artillery shells made of napalm. Naturally, he didn't know how to explain it, so he could only secretly change the concept to fool Yakov.
But he didn't expect that Yakov actually listened to Sokov's words. He nodded and said: "I understand. I will reply to Comrade Ustinov by telegram later and tell him what you mean and ask him to do his best." Produce aerial bombs.”
"Yes, we should produce more aerial bombs." Sokov said to Yakov: "Maybe in a few months, we will drive the enemy out of our country. When we advance to the enemy's home base, there will be obstacles along the way. Encountered many fortresses. To deal with these fortresses in the traditional sense, it is not enough to just rely on artillery of various calibers. Then we can use napalm bombs to deal with the enemies who are hiding in the fortresses and resisting. "
Yakov didn't seem to be very interested in the future Sokov was looking forward to. He waited for Sokov to finish and then said: "Comrade Ustinov also said in the telegram that they have produced twelve special new rockets. , prepare to ship it here soon, let us test the power of this napalm bomb."
Sokov couldn't help but shudder when he learned that the Weaponry and Equipment Department had actually produced twelve modified napalm bombs. If it was transported by train, if an accident happened on the road, the entire train would be basically insured. He asked tentatively: "I wonder how Comrade Ustinov plans to transport these twelve special rockets?"
"Of course it will be transported by train." Yakov replied: "Originally, he planned to transport it by car, but considering that the road conditions from Moscow were not ideal, he was worried that the road was too bumpy and something might happen, so he temporarily changed it. This special batch of rockets will be transported by train."
"Yasha, haven't you considered that once an accident occurs during the transportation of these rockets, the entire train may be burned down."
"Misha, I understand what you mean, but nowadays transportation by train is undoubtedly the safest way." Seeing Sokov's worried look, Yakov specially comforted him and said, "I understand Us Comrade Zinov, he is a very cautious person, and he will definitely come up with a good way to avoid accidents with these rockets on the way."
"Well, since Comrade Ustinov will consider the issue of transportation safety, I won't worry too much." After Sokov said this, he asked Yakov: "I don't know when it can be transported to us. defense zone?”
"I'm afraid it won't arrive until August 2 or 3 at the earliest." After Yakov gave the approximate arrival time, he curiously asked Sokov: "Misha, when do you plan to use this special rocket? bomb?"
"With our current strength, we will definitely not be able to use it when attacking the position on the other side of the river, because the hovercraft our assault troops are riding can rush in front of the enemy before they recover and easily steal it from their hands. To seize the position here." Sokov said slowly: "It seems that such special rockets are not used in the city of Belgorod. Because not only will it hurt the residents of the city when used, but it may also Incidentally injure friendly forces attacking from other directions."
Seeing that Sokov politely refused to use special rockets in the Belgorod area, Yakov couldn't help but feel a little anxious: "So, you are planning to let these special rockets go unused?"
"It won't be idle." Sokov waved his hands and said: "After our army liberates Belgorod, it will definitely continue to advance towards Kharkov. By then, the large number of fortifications built by the enemy outside the city will become The biggest obstacle on our way forward. When that time comes, I can try to use special rockets to see if it can destroy the enemies hiding in strong fortifications."
Seeing that the battle to attack Belgorod has not yet started, Sokov is already considering the issue of capturing Kharkov. Yakov couldn't help laughing: "Misha, I know that there will be an attack on Belgorod in the near future. Attack, but how long do you think it will take you to take over this city?"
"Three to five days." Sokov did not tell Yakov directly that the Soviet army only took three days to liberate the city occupied by the enemy, but said in general: "Now Belgorod The enemies in the city have already lost their morale and morale after suffering repeated attacks from our army. Facing the joint attack launched by our two front armies, they cannot resist for long."
"Misha, I think you are too confident." Yakov heard what Sokov said, but shook his head: "Although the enemy suffered defeats in Prokhorovka and Oboyan, now There are many troops entrenched in the city, and if we want to take the city, it will probably take a long time and a fierce battle."
After Yakov frowned and thought for a while, he stretched out a finger and said: "In my opinion, it will take at least a month to completely capture Belgorod."
Sokov laughed and said: "Yasha, you said that I am too confident. But I want to say that you are too pessimistic. The hundreds of thousands of troops on the two fronts will have to be replaced by tens of thousands of German troops." It shouldn’t be too difficult to seize a city from our hands. If it takes a month to liberate Belgorod, then it will take two or three days to liberate Kharkiv, which has solid fortifications and a complete defense system. Months or even longer?”
When he saw Yakov opening his mouth and seemed to want to say something, Sokov raised his hand to stop him: "Yasha, I don't think we need to argue about this kind of thing. Facts speak louder than words. When the battle starts, After that, you will know whether I am right or whether your judgment is accurate."
Seeing that Sokov politely refused to use special rockets in the Belgorod area, Yakov couldn't help but feel a little anxious: "So, you are planning to let these special rockets go unused?"
"It won't be idle." Sokov waved his hands and said: "After our army liberates Belgorod, it will definitely continue to advance towards Kharkov. By then, the large number of fortifications built by the enemy outside the city will become The biggest obstacle on our way forward. When that time comes, I can try to use special rockets to see if it can destroy the enemies hiding in strong fortifications."
Seeing that the battle to attack Belgorod has not yet started, Sokov is already considering the issue of capturing Kharkov. Yakov couldn't help laughing: "Misha, I know that there will be an attack on Belgorod in the near future. Attack, but how long do you think it will take you to take over this city?"
"Three to five days." Sokov did not tell Yakov directly that the Soviet army only took three days to liberate the city occupied by the enemy, but said in general: "Now Belgorod The enemies in the city have already lost their morale and morale after suffering repeated attacks from our army. Facing the joint attack launched by our two front armies, they cannot resist for long."
"Misha, I think you are too confident." Yakov heard what Sokov said, but shook his head: "Although the enemy suffered defeats in Prokhorovka and Oboyan, now There are many troops entrenched in the city, and if we want to take the city, it will probably take a long time and a fierce battle."
After Yakov frowned and thought for a while, he stretched out a finger and said: "In my opinion, it will take at least a month to completely capture Belgorod."
Sokov laughed and said: "Yasha, you said that I am too confident. But I want to say that you are too pessimistic. The hundreds of thousands of troops on the two fronts will have to be replaced by tens of thousands of German troops." It shouldn’t be too difficult to seize a city from our hands. If it takes a month to liberate Belgorod, then it will take two or three days to liberate Kharkiv, which has solid fortifications and a complete defense system. Months or even longer?”
When he saw Yakov opening his mouth and seemed to want to say something, Sokov raised his hand to stop him: "Yasha, I don't think we need to argue about this kind of thing. Facts speak louder than words. When the battle starts, After that, you will know whether I am right or whether your judgment is accurate."
