On July 7, 1941 a group of seven strange looking ZiS-6 6x4 trucks approached the shores of the famous Berezina river near Novobrisov.
They were carrying a long rail construction and were followed by some 40 supply trucks.
The »Independent Artillery Battery" of Captain I.A.Fleryov was about to present a new weapon on the battlefield.
After loading each of the 16 rails with 10 pound rocket projectiles Fleryov gave the final command.
Within seconds 112 rockets were launched in the direction of the German invaders.
This procedure was repeated several times that month including the famous attack on the Orsha station on July 14.
The impact of the new weapon, officially called »Guards Mortar«, on both sides was tremendous.
While the Soviet Defense Commissariat (»GKO«) ordered more of the M-13 lauchers, the German Supreme Command did everything to catch Fleryov and its new weapon.
On Oct 6, they finally succeeded to surround Fleryov near Mzensk, who destroyed everything including himself on the German approach.
The Soviet captain and his actions soon became legendary in the Red Army as did the new weapon furtheron called »Katyusha«.

Note : The early BM-13-16 rails didn't have the perforation of the series production shown here.