Chapter 612 Three Fingers

Since the German army could enter the city at any time, Malashenko had no extra time to waste on waiting for the tanks to be equipped with main guns. The work of replacing the main guns must be completed as soon as possible.

Looking at the three fingers raised by Malashenko, Engineer Old Ivan, who thought that time was still loose, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Three days is no problem, Comrade Malashenko, I will arrange the work in the factory as soon as possible to replace these tank guns..."

Before Old Ivan finished speaking, Malashenko, who shook his head quietly, forcibly interrupted his unfinished words.

"I'm afraid I'm talking about within 30 hours, old comrade."

"???"

"30 hours???"

Because the indicators set by Malashenko were so appalling, Engineer Old Ivan, who didn't expect Malashenko to play by the rules, almost dropped his glasses on the ground.

According to his plan, some necessary preliminary measurements and later debugging work were required to replace the tank guns of these 50 British tanks. After all, this is not to replace the guns of Soviet tanks. Out of his professionalism and sense of responsibility, Old Ivan, an engineer who has worked diligently in the factory for twelve years, does not want to deliver unreliable tanks to the troops.

Calculated from the time point, Old Ivan expects that all these British tanks can be replaced with the Soviet Union's own F-34 2mm tank guns within 72 hours, which is the total time required for preliminary surveying and preparation and later testing.

If the work is slightly compressed and rushed, it should be completed within 70 hours, but Old Ivan is not absolutely sure to be honest. There are too many important mechanical equipment and old workers in the factory. In addition, the German Air Force bombed it several times, and the whole thing is a tricky mess. No matter how hard the women and apprentices rush for time, they can't beat the original group of old workers.

Seeing Malashenko raised three fingers, Old Ivan was relieved, thinking that this comrade seemed to be sensible and easy to get along with.

But Ivan never expected that the three fingers of Malashenko meant not three days, but thirty hours!

Such a time requirement is impossible to complete. Ivan, who held the frame of his glasses and organized his words, immediately persuaded Malashenko.

"Comrade Malashenko, you should know that the production target you gave is impossible to achieve based on the current production capacity of the factory. We lack enough machines and workers, especially women and children who cannot bear such a high intensity of work. They must get enough rest or something bad will happen. Please consider the time more."

Seeing that Ivan rejected the time node he proposed without thinking, Malashenko, who felt that time was not enough, was also anxious on the spot.

"You asked me to give you a time, but now that I have given you a time, you tell me that it cannot be completed. Those Nazi lackeys may break into the city at any time. Our tanks and soldiers cannot stay in the factory and be killed by the Germans. This is impossible!"

"Since you said that the time I gave is not enough, then tell me, what time is reasonable for you."

Malachenko's anxiety was seen by Old Ivan. Old Ivan, who could understand Malachenko's mood at the moment, finally gritted his teeth and spoke solemnly after careful consideration.

"65 hours, Comrade Malachenko, I promise you with my identity as a party member! In 65 hours, I will definitely complete all the replacement production indicators. If I cannot complete it by then, I will resign from the position of chief engineer and report to the front headquarters in person to apologize."

Old Ivan has said this, but the frowning Malachenko is still not satisfied. 65 hours is still beyond the limit for Malachenko and unacceptable.

It was not a good idea to continue to pressure the old engineer in front of him. Malashenko, who had traveled from the future, knew very well how bad the situation was at the Stalingrad Tractor Factory. It was indeed unrealistic to let women and children do work that was difficult for men to complete.

Holding his chin and thinking for a long time at his desk, Malashenko, who had no choice, finally made a decision that he was very reluctant to make.

"If I send all my soldiers to the factory to help rush the work, do you think it is possible to speed up the completion of the production task? I remember you just said that you are very short of manpower now,"

Malashenko's sudden suggestion caught Old Ivan off guard.

This old engineer who has been working in the Stalingrad Tractor Factory since its establishment would never have thought that one day the Red Army's most elite tank troops would return to the factory to help him. This was simply too unrealistic.

Malashenko's sudden proposal made Old Ivan hesitate for a long time and didn't respond until he had sorted out his words and thought about how to respond to Malashenko. Old Ivan spoke hesitantly.

"Comrade Malashenko, can you tell me how many soldiers are still available for work?"

Malashenko, who was not surprised by Old Ivan's question, immediately answered without hesitation.

"More than 500 people, I still have more than 500 people under my command who can help with production tasks."

"Some of them are militia soldiers, some are experienced tank crews, and some are soldiers from the field maintenance battalion who have been specially trained in the tank factory. Apart from being unfamiliar with the process of producing tanks, I can assure you that they are all first-class experts, especially in those physical jobs without machines."

As Malashenko said.

After most of the expensive machines were removed, the Stalingrad Tractor Factory has basically become a pure manual production. Not only is the efficiency very low, but it is also a waste of manpower. It is all heavy and tiring work. What's worse is that most of these heavy and tiring work is done by women and children.

In the past, there was a special factory small crane for lifting tank turrets. Now, lifting tank turrets is done directly by pulling the guide chain by manpower.

Forty- and fifty-year-old aunts with teenage children push steel road wheels all over the factory. Even the work of welding armor plates is done by young girls with a little knowledge. After all, women who are not as strong as men can't move fast at all.

There is no doubt that once these more than 500 tough men under Malashenko are put into production, they will undoubtedly greatly help speed up the entire production task.