I became Stalin chapter 112

112

Kurreung… The huge hull’s engine let out a roaring roar. The ISU-203, which self-propelled the Br-4 203mm heavy howitzer, looked like a heavy beast.

There is only one group in the entire army that operates 36 self-propelled guns. Watching the procession of self-propelled artillery, the soldiers cheered and waved their hands.

Mu Jeong-eun, the regiment commander of the  , the hero’s unit that received the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Red Flag, was listening to what the staff officer delivered.

“Wait? Are you saying that fascist kannadas are flocking to Yogi?”

“Yes, comrade commander-in-chief. It is said that a million fascist forces are advancing in this direction. The Korean regiment is said to be deployed at the most fierce battlefield among them… .”

“Got it! I’d like to taste this guy’s hand, huh?”

Even after hearing that the enemy was coming, the regiments were extremely calm. No, he seemed to like it more.

They were confident in their craft. He was supplied with the best weapons in the entire army, and his skills were also the best.

It was difficult to deny that the old-fashioned and feudal concepts such as ‘Scholars die for those who know them’ were not mixed. General Stalin, who was the absolute power of the Soviet Union, praised their efforts and promised maximum support for rebuilding the liberated Joseon.

“If we get hurt and die here, even the last drop of blood will be used for our compatriots in our homeland.”

The members of the Korean artillery, which had already been expanded to the size of a regiment, even engraved it in their hearts, even to the last soldiers.

“I will liberate the country under Japanese rule with my own hands! If not my hands, my blood!”

Young men from colonial Joseon fled through Manchuria to the Soviet Union and enlisted in the Soviet-controlled Korean units. Activists such as Yeo Woon-hyung and Park Heon-young in their home countries did not want young people to rot under Japanese colonial rule.

“Go to the USSR! Learn their skills and abilities!”

“Those who are smart and well-educated, go to the USSR, get a formal university education and learn crafts. And use it for the soon-to-be-established liberated Joseon!”

“If you have a fighting talent, enlist in the Korean army! Look at the great achievements they have made. Be the spearhead of the anti-imperialist struggle there, and also the spearhead of the liberation of Joseon!”

Mujeong laughed out of nowhere.

“Uh-huh, you bastards, didn’t you even think of a place like this? Are you a Kanna bastard who goes under that Kayama Mitsuronga?”

“Yes? Who is Kayama Mitsuro?”

“Are you talking about Chunwon Lee Kwang-soo? Whoa!”

In this era, Lee Kwang-soo changed his family name to Hyangsan Gwangrang (Kayama Mitsuro) and preached the so-called ‘internal unity’.

“Japan and Korea are one. Their fates are connected as one, and the victory of the Japanese Empire is the victory of Joseon!”

Many people who thought the Japanese Empire would last forever insisted on cooperating with Japan.

Let’s work together with Japan to develop our nation’s capabilities, and if the Greater East Asia co-prosperity is realized, let’s share prosperity together! Therefore, he changed his name to the Japanese style and changed his name to the clan clan, and insisted that young people go to work for Japan and go to a spirit college.

But how many years will they last?

When I came to the Soviet Union, the world I saw was much wider than I could have known because I was trapped in a narrow peninsula. The Soviet Army was strong, and it was strong enough to crush Japan’s most elite Kwantung Army with one finger.

What would you do if there were hundreds of thousands of troops in Manchuria? Even if the German army, which is said to be stronger than the Japanese army, arrives in 1 million units, it is the Soviet army that does not blink an eye. And the Soviets were sharpening their knives to crush Japan in a single blow, even though it now appears to be cooperating with Japan.

When that day comes! when that day comes When a chariot runs like lightning through the whole of Manchuria, and gunshots sound like thunder! When the day comes when all the Japanese soldiers will be all round and only the flag of liberated Joseon will fly!

The regiments were waiting for that day.

“Tavarish (comrade) heartless! This is a request for artillery support!”

“Ah! Tavarish! Do it! Do it! Oh guys! Go!”

“Yes!”

* * *

Even during the harsh winter, the Germans built concrete bunkers on the defensive line to stop the Soviet offensive. A powerful bombardment was needed to break that bunker, which contained machine guns and anti-tank guns.

A very powerful bombardment.

[This is a request for artillery fire at enemy specialization points from the 201st division!]

The front-line units of the Soviet Army blatantly called for this purpose the Koreans’ heavy guns, which had reached the level of strategic weapons.

Of course, the Koreans liked it very much and responded to the artillery support. Is it time to show off the new technology that has been honed over the years?

The target this time was bunkers located along the offensive axis planned by the Soviets.

A precise attack had to follow to break those defenses built in a position where they could cover each other. The Soviets still lacked precision bombing capabilities to call in aircraft to clear the bunkers. The still bitter German fighters were terrifying.

However, when I called the regular heavy howitzers, the artillery fire of the German howitzers flew after them.

They had already fired twice with 152mm cannons, but they returned with dozens of casualties due to counterattacks.

So the division commander decided to call the Korean artillery, which was said to be so mysterious.

* * *

Thirty-six ISU-203 self-propelled howitzers were accompanied by experimentally manufactured ammunition supply vehicles.

The 203mm cannon has as much ammunition as its caliber. There was a limit to reloading a 100 kg high explosive per shot with only human power.

As the turret and ammunition supply system were redesigned while designing the self-propelled gun, the Ordnance Bureau attempted to make an automatic loading system. Of course, realizing that it could not carry a few 100kg shells, I came up with another plan.

The great and wise comrade general made an amazing suggestion about how to ‘outsource’ the automatic loading system.

“Anyway, our own ammunition transport capacity is low, so we need a separate ammunition armored car, can’t we add the loading capacity to this?”

A separate device was added to the armored vehicle that was loaded with ammunition and followed the self-propelled gun so that it could simultaneously perform the ammunition supply-loading mission. In a way that connects a kind of conveyor belt with self-propelled guns.

Of course, thousands of engineers had to spend all night trying to fulfill the general secretary’s requirements, but anyway, the engineers quickly built what was ordered.

“Oh, this is really cool!”

It was a good thing for the soldiers who had to move around with 100 kg of shells. This dramatically improved the ammunition resupply and reload speed.

Of course, it cost a lot. But how much money would you waste on a strategic weapon that can be used like the Joker? Is the general secretary satisfied?

In any case, the Korean artillerymen seemed to be very satisfied with this new weapon. There was a time when new tactics were developed and presented to superiors… I didn’t even know I could see it today.

Regiment commander Mujeong seemed to be estimating something by looking at the coordinates of the enemy target displayed on the map. Other Korean officers were also discussing, head-to-head. What the Soviet officers were doing, they looked at them curiously.

On the bumpy road, the Koreans made plans with amazing concentration. He even giggled once, saying that he would destroy the German positions in one shot.

After bouncing the abacus a few times, they put a few complex numbers in it, and then started doing something with the ammunition. Are you changing the dosage?

“Come on, that’s it. Observer!”

[Yes! Regiment Commander Comrade!]

“You know that we will change positions immediately after the bombardment in case of artillery fire! Oh guys! Fly, shoot, fly, fly!”

“Yes!!!”

Everyone looked very nervous, as if they were preparing for some kind of sprint. After making some preparations, such as calling the observation team by radio, Mujeong gave the crews an order with excitement.

Still, it looked like fun. The 36 heavy-duty cannons that were delicately aimed were like a huge pipe organ in the church. After allocating 4 guns to 8 targets and aiming, the artillery was waiting for orders.

“character… One, two, three is shooting! One, two, three! Shoot!”

bang! bang! bang! There was a roar that shook the heavens. Each self-propelled gun fired three shots rapidly. Although the angle was adjusted for each foot, the interlude work was done so quickly that the viewers did not have much time to think about what they were doing.

“Fly away!”

“Yes! Commander-in-Chief Comrade!”

The regiments smiled and started withdrawing one by one. The ammunition replenishment vehicles disconnected and began to roar and retreat, followed by self-propelled artillery.

The Soviet officers watching was absurd.

‘No, what did I see? There was no observer, you just fired three shots in a row and immediately retreated?’

Of course, in order to avoid artillery fire, it is correct to operate the self-propelled gun like this. However, compared to the fired shells (108 rounds), the sound of impact was barely audible.

The radio that communicated with the observation team was there, and the commander of the regimental commander was there, so they could not understand the details.

[…] ? Didn’t it fire 3 times for each cannon?]

“This is what ‘simultaneous impact shooting’ is all about!”

Simultaneous bullet shooting, in English, Time on Target (TOT). It is a technique that allows the shells fired from each cannon to hit one target at the same time.

Four guns assigned to each bunker and three shells fired by each gun hit the target exactly at the same time. The first shot had a high launch angle and gradually lowered the launch angle so that the three shots fired one after another hit the target at the same time.

In general artillery, it would be difficult to imitate it because of its reloading speed or skill, but it was possible to perform this kind of ‘stunt’ because automatic loading was made possible by the ammunition supplying vehicle attached to the rear of the self-propelled gun.

The German army, who was suddenly struck by two battery-level salvos (12 guns*1 round) like lightning, would be stunned. The observation team made a brief report that all bullets had been hit and the target had been destroyed, and they did not say that they were astonished.

“Is this the first time in practice?”

“That’s right! Those fascists don’t seem to know what’s going on, hahaha!”

The Koreans seemed to be in a good mood, and they were all laughing. The Soviet officers who realized the situation only then kept their mouths open.

“What are you looking at? Would you like to learn too?”

“Yes? Yes! Of course not! Please teach me!”

“This is… It’s a bit difficult unless the firing angle is adjusted as quickly as a self-propelled gun… .”

‘The Soviet army could see that the Koreans had their horsetails curled up.

‘We need more self-propelled guns.’

The enormous firepower of the simultaneous shot was reported to the upper management immediately.

Does that make sense or does it make sense? The command center that asked about it said that the Korean artillery units did it? In response, I became a honey-eaten dumb.

“Then, can we produce more self-propelled artillery? With ISU-203?”

“That… That’s right! There was no damage to our allies in this battle, and the bunkers that had been drenched in removal were swept away at once!”

“… I will report it to my superiors.”

The command, which was always contemplating countermeasures against the limitations of Soviet artillery, immediately accepted this proposal.

Although the number of artillery gates was large, the Soviets were always ineffective in terms of the projection of firepower.

With the massive deployment of radios, commands and feedback to project the necessary firepower where it is needed are now somewhat addressed. However, the problem still occurred due to the skill gap of the artillery or the difference with the German army.

When the Soviet artillery fires hard at the target, Germany waits and acquires observation information, and simply fires a salvo at the Soviet artillery and destroys it.

How much damage has been done so far!

However, if multiple shots fired from a single artillery gun fall at the same time, it is difficult to check the impact, and it is even more difficult to calculate the trajectory and inversely calculate the enemy’s position.

Not only was this advantageous defensively, but at the same time, the dropping of the shells produced more powerful firepower than arithmetic thought. Simultaneously hitting 12 203mm shells would do more damage than hitting light field guns for hours on end.

Now the Red Army had a great realization.

And the secretary, who received the report, summarized this realization in one sentence.

“To produce more self-propelled artillery!”

I became Stalin chapter 112

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ToC

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