I believe that friends who have watched the movie "King Kong River" should still have an impression of the following set of shots, at a critical moment, the rockets of "Katyusha" broke through the night and took the POSITION of the US army in one fell swoop. After watching the movie, I came home and saw that someone asked on the Internet, "Since Katyusha is so powerful, why don't you put it sooner?", for this question, there are two simple points, one is the timing problem, and the other is too expensive.
In the fierce Battle of Shangganling, which was called "meat grinder" at that time, the 209th Regiment of my volunteer army released "Katyusha" one more time during the counterattack, and was also criticized by the military commander Qin Jiwei, saying that this round of "Katyusha" was a few hundred taels of gold in the past!
Today, let's talk about the story of "Katyusha".
Pioneer - rocket artillery
The essence of "Katyusha" is actually rocket artillery, and rocket artillery can be called a "pioneer" on the land battlefield. Rocket artillery is a large area of lethal weapons, very effective against group targets, a rocket artillery usually has a number of launch tubes, row after row of layers arranged, like a free movement of artillery groups, at a time can fire 10-20 rockets, just like in the movie picture, very spectacular.
In addition to the intensive firepower, rocket launchers have a long range, high mobility, and simple operation, so that a large-scale offensive is usually launched with rocket launchers before a large force launches an attack. There is also the fact that rocket launchers are generally carried by cars, and when they are finished, they run, haunting, so that the enemy is confused.
Katyusha, the goddess of war
Among the "big families" of rocket artillery, the most famous is the "Katyusha" of the former Soviet Union. Because of the fierce fire of the Katyusha rocket, it is able to destroy the enemy's dense troops in a large area in a short period of time, thereby suppressing the enemy's fire and destroying the enemy's defense system. It once played a great role in the battlefield of World War II, which made the enemy feel frightened and was called "ghost cannon" by the German army.
"Katyusha" first appeared on the battlefield during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, and there are many theories about the origin of the name "Katyusha", but the most common theory is that, for reasons of extreme secrecy, even the gunner who operated this rocket artillery did not know its official name, and could only see the Russian "k" (the first letter of the Comintern factory) printed on the gun mount, and the Russian pronunciation was "Ka", so it was named after a beautiful girl in a famous Soviet song, affectionately called "Katyusha".
What are the characteristics of the Katyusha rocket? First of all, the "Katyusha" rocket is a multi-orbit self-propelled rocket, a total of eight launch slides, a single launch of 132 mm caliber of 16 rockets, the maximum range can reach 8.5 kilometers, can be single shot, can also be partially continuous or a salvo.
It takes about 5-10 minutes for the Katyusha rocket launcher to reload ammunition for a salvo, and only 7-10 seconds for a salvo. In World War II, the "Katyusha" rocket launcher used by the Soviet Union had a total of four series, namely the BM-8 series, the BM-13 series, the bm-30 series and the BM-31 series, the most typical of which was the BM-13 series.
"Katyusha" won wide acclaim and favor among Soviet soldiers in World War II, it played an important role in the Battle of Moscow, the birth of Katyusha rocket artillery, but also opened the era of rocket artillery to suppress the enemy in a large area, worthy of the soldiers' minds of the "goddess of war".
The debut of the Katyusha rocket
On July 14, 1941, Soviet Lieutenant Frilov led a newly formed artillery company to the front line of the battlefield. The artillery company was equipped with seven new guns, which did not have the familiar thick barrel and looked like a row of iron shelves. But at Flelov's order, the seemingly unremarkable iron frame fired 112 shells at once, destroying a German military train and transportation hub in one fell swoop. The Germans panicked and immediately reported to Hitler the weapons used by the Red Army: "On the Eastern Front of the Russians there have been weapons that have never been seen before, and where they hit, the steel will melt and the land will burn..."
"Katyusha" on the Battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea
When the Korean War broke out, in order to defend the country, our country was also forced to participate in this war in the name of the volunteer army. At that time, the 209th Rocket Artillery Regiment of our Volunteer Army made outstanding contributions to the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. At that time, in order to fight against the modern weapons and equipment of the US army, our army used the Soviet Union to support our "Katyusha".
There were two battalions under the 209th Artillery Regiment, and in the Battle of Shangganling, in the face of the more advanced weapons and air superiority of the American army, our volunteer army fought many beautiful counterattacks, and in several important counterattack battles, the "Katyusha" artillery was used.
Although the "Katyusha" is very powerful, it is not easy to use it perfectly on the battlefield full of artillery fire, because the shells of the "Katyusha" rocket artillery are full of fire and the target is very large, so once the shells are fired, they must be quickly transferred, otherwise the enemy's shells will continue to hit.
Because this cannon is both advanced and precious, the rocket artillery battalion cherishes and loves her. In the 209th Artillery Regiment, it was usually possible to use the "Katyusha" every time two battalions of the artillery regiment were placed in succession, playing a key role at critical moments. In the use of artillery, the artillery attaches great importance to changing while using it, so that the enemy cannot grasp our firing law, and the "Katyusha" rushes past, and the shells that are shot out both explode and burn after falling, so that some of the ammunition or communication equipment accumulated on the enemy's position can be burned.
Therefore, after the "Katyusha" was launched, it was able to incapacitate the enemy's machine guns and artillery for a long time, so in the Battle of Shangganling, the artillery of our volunteer army had a great advantage, and thus won both counterattack battles.
Therefore, the commanders and fighters really cherished this rocket artillery, "The price given by the big brother is very expensive, and the family property of a rich peasant for a year can be destroyed at a time." These words are often hung on the lips. The soldiers gave "Katyusha" the nickname "Jiaojiao", what is the meaning? That is to say, it is "delicate" and has an "impressive" record.
In the counterattack war, the 209th Artillery Regiment used two Qifang when attacking with "Katyusha", and although it annihilated the US army, it was criticized by Commander Qin Jiwei: "Why did you ask you to make one Qifang, but you did two?!" ”
The warrior quickly explained: "In order to confuse the enemy, let the enemy not touch the law of our artillery fire!" ”
However, Qin Jiwei was still distressed by the extra shells that were fired: "You see, you see, hundreds of taels of gold, you have all been destroyed by you!" ”
Qin Jiwei repeatedly instructed us to choose a good firing position, grasp the firing timing, and save the "Katyusha", but in short, in the Battle of Shangganling, our "Katyusha" showed unparalleled power than ordinary artillery. Throughout the battle, ten firings and more than 2,600 shells were fired, but Katyusha was not damaged under the meticulous design and protection of the volunteer army, and the transfer route was prepared before the salvo, and a transfer tunnel was dug specifically for Katyusha, so "Katyusha" was never hit by the enemy and played its greatest advantage.
In addition to the Battle of Shangganling, in the last battle to resist the United States and aid Korea, the Jincheng Counterattack, "Katyusha" also fully demonstrated its power, in this campaign, "Katyusha" fired a total of 69 salvos, which greatly supported the action of our volunteer army, so whenever the infantry soldiers saw "Katyusha" roaring overhead, they excitedly shouted "Long live the artillery", which showed the power of "Katyusha".
Is there a successor to Katyusha?
Some friends may think, "Katyusha" is so powerful, then is there any more cattle after that? Of course.
With the development of science and technology, the performance of "Katyusha" is also constantly improving, the former Soviet Union on the basis of "Katyusha" and continue to develop a variety of advanced rocket artillery, only in the 1950s to 1960s, less than a decade, the Soviet army has been equipped with BM-14 series, BM-20 series, BM-21 series and BM-24 series of rocket launchers and other series.
From the 1940s to the 1980s, the Soviet army was the most equipped and numerous army in the world equipped with rocket launchers. After the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Russia inherited this tradition, and the more typical rocket artillery type 9k58 has higher shooting accuracy, reaction ability and combat power, and then the typical 9m542 type launched in 2013, with a maximum range of 120 kilometers.
Our army's rocket artillery development technology is also improving day by day, advancing by leaps and bounds, such as the A-200/300 long-range rocket launcher, as well as the SR5 multiple rocket launch system are the most advanced rocket launchers at present, and I will not repeat them here.
From the time when we had to rely on the help of "Big Brother" to now we have developed the most advanced foreign trade rockets, which can be sold to Middle Eastern countries, we have taken every step very difficult, but very firm, and the frugal and simple spirit of even putting one more shell in those years and the bitter memories of the war years have inspired the determination of the Chinese people to study hard and develop independently, in exchange for the era when all kinds of weapons and equipment are advanced and taking off.