After the meeting, Rokossovsky and several commanders came out of the office building with a smile and were preparing to take a bus to the airport outside the Spassko clock tower.

As soon as he walked outside the gate, a major officer ran over, looked at several front commanders, saluted Rokossovsky, and asked politely: "Hello, comrade general, are you Commander Rokossovsky?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at the Major carefully, and saw that it was a completely unfamiliar face, and he searched the memories in his mind, still not remembering where he had seen the other. He nodded and asked vigilantly: "Yes, I am Rokossovsky." Who are you, Comrade Major? ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky obviously did not know the major, the commanders who came out with him also gathered around the major. Konev had even turned his head to look at the sentry on duty at the door, ready for them to arrest the major who had suddenly appeared.

Seeing so many people gathered around him, the major replied in a somewhat panicked manner: "Comrade General, I am from the People's Commissariat of Weapons and Equipment, and it was Comrade Ustinov who ordered me to come and invite you!" ”

Hearing that the other party belonged to the Ministry of Weapons and Equipment, the commanders who gathered around scattered one after another, waved at Rokossovsky, and walked towards the place where their cars were parked.

After waiting for the commanders to leave, the major made a gesture of invitation sideways and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, please, the car is waiting for you under the Vasily slope." ”

Waiting for Rokossovsky to get into the car, the major, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, immediately instructed the driver: "Drive, go to the People's Commissariat of Armament." ”

"Comrade Major," after waiting for the car to start, Rokossovsky curiously asked the major in the front row, "do you know that Comrade Ustinov is looking for me, what is the matter?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade General." The major turned around and said apologetically: "I was just ordered to take you to the People's Commissariat of Weapons and Equipment, and the rest is not known." ”

Seeing that the major didn't know what to ask, Rokossovsky didn't continue to ask, but closed his eyes, leaned back behind him, and leaned back in his chair to recuperate.

I don't know how long later, Rokossovsky felt someone gently shaking his shoulder, and at the same time kept shouting: "Comrade General, Comrade General......"

Rokossovsky suddenly came to his senses, he looked at the building covered with camouflage nets outside, and asked tentatively: "We have arrived?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General." The major nodded affirmatively and said, "We've got to the place." With that, get out of the car and open the door for Rokossovsky and put his hand on the roof of the door so that he doesn't touch his head when he gets out of the car.

Rokossovsky followed the major to Ustinov's office, where he was stopped by a staff member in civilian uniform. He politely said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, please wait a moment, Comrade Ustinov is in a meeting. Seeing Rokossovsky nodding in understanding, he said to the major, "Comrade Major, you can leave, thank you." ”

After the staff arranged for Rokossovsky to sit down, he poured another cup of tea and placed it on the coffee table in front of Rokossovsky. Said politely: "Comrade General, please have tea, and I will go and report to Comrade Ustinov that you have come." ”

After the staff opened the closed door and quietly walked in, Rokossovsky picked up the teacup that was placed next to him, and while drinking tea, he guessed why Ustinov was looking for him.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door, and Rokossovsky, thinking that the staff had come out of it, looked up at the door. At this glance, he couldn't take his eyes off it anymore, he put down the teacup in his hand, stood up, and whispered to the other party: "Is that you, Borisova?" ”

Borisova, who had just come out of the conference room, was in a hurry to return to her office, so she saw a soldier sitting on the couch outside the door, and she didn't take it to heart. Just as she was walking briskly towards the gate, she suddenly heard a voice that she would never forget: "Is that you, Borisova?" ”

Hearing this voice, she couldn't help but be shocked, and quickly stopped and looked at the soldier standing next to the sofa. "Koschika!" After shouting in a trembling voice, she pounced, hugged the other party's waist tightly, and asked excitedly: "Koschika, is it really you?" I'm not dreaming, am I? When did you go back to Moscow? ”

Rokossovsky was also very excited to meet Borisova here, but considering that this was Ustinov's office, maybe someone would come in at any time, he quickly and gently pulled Borisova's hand away, pulled her to sit down on the sofa, and said with a smile: "You ask me so many questions at once, which question should I answer you first?" ”

Borisova lightly punched Rokossovsky with her fist, then put her face on his shoulder and said softly: "Koschika, you know, I think about you all the time, all the time. Sometimes I think that if I hadn't been the director of the industrial bureau and hadn't had so much work to do every day, I would have had the opportunity to join the delegation and go to your unit to offer my condolences, and I would have met you. After she said this, she looked up at Rokossovsky and stroked his face with her hand.

Just when the two of them were in love, there was a sudden movement on the other side of the door, as if someone was about to come out of it, and the two were so frightened that they hurriedly separated. After the door opened, the staff came out of it, saw Borisova also sitting on the sofa, and said with some surprise: "Comrade Borisova, you are still here, I thought you went back to the Industrial Bureau." ”

"Yes, I was about to go back to the Industrial Bureau, but I ran into the General." Although the staff didn't say anything, she hurriedly explained: "I once took people to the general's troops to condole, and we are also acquaintances." ”

She stood up and said in decibels, which the staff could hear, "General Rokossovsky, I'm really glad to meet you here." I still have important work, so I won't accompany you, and we'll meet later. When the staff was not paying attention, she lowered her voice and said, "Come to my house tonight." With that, she winked at Rokossovsky, and then walked out of the office with a spring breeze on her face.

As soon as Borisova left, the staff asked curiously: "Comrade General, did you know Director Borisova before?" Seeing Rokossovsky nodding, he said to himself: "Although she often comes here, she always looks expressionless and serious, and I thought she wouldn't smile at all." Unexpectedly, she smiled so beautifully. ”

The door opened, and a group of leaders in civilian clothes poured out of the door. The staff stood at the door and looked inside, and when they saw that everyone was almost gone, they politely said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, you can go in." ”

Rokossovsky glanced at the staff for a long time, and calmly walked into Ustinov's office. Ustinov, who was sorting out the documents inside, saw Rokossovsky coming in, hurriedly put the documents on the table, got up and bypassed the desk, and came over to shake hands with Rokossovsky: "Hello, Comrade Rokossovsky, welcome to Moscow. I am afraid that you will return to the front line immediately after the military meeting, so I specially sent someone to wait for you at the door of the Kremlin. ”

"Comrade People's Commissar," Rokossovsky asked in a friendly manner after sitting down, "is there anything important that you have asked me to come here?" ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, I'll show you something." Ustinov picked up a file bag on the table, untied the thin thread tied to it, pulled out a few photographs from it and handed them to Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky took the photo, looked at it at it, and immediately recognized the weapon shown on it as the AK47 he had seen in later generations. He quickly looked at a few photos and realized that they were all taken from different angles of this assault rifle. After looking at the photo, he looked at Ustinov and asked a little nervously: "Comrade People's Commissar, so we have developed these new assault rifles?" ”

"That's right, Rokossovsky." Ustinov took the photo from Rokossovsky's hand, put it back into the file bag, and said: "With the drawings and detailed dimensions you provided, we have succeeded in developing this assault rifle. After preliminary testing, the gun is solid and durable, with a low failure rate, and the shooting performance is very good whether it is under high or low temperature conditions, especially when used in wind, sand, mud and water, and the performance is reliable; The structure is simple and easy to decompose. However, the disadvantage is that when firing in bursts, the muzzle jumps up seriously, which affects the accuracy of shooting. ”

Since he had not seen the prototype gun, Rokossovsky did not dare to guarantee that this gun would perform as well as later generations, so he cautiously asked: "Do you think this assault rifle can be equipped with troops?" ”

"Although this gun has shown its excellent performance, we need to continue testing it for the sake of safety." Ustinov cautiously said: "I estimate that we will not be able to start the official deployment of troops until November 1944 at the earliest." ”

"What? Wait until November 1944? When Rokossovsky heard that it would take a year for this weapon to be installed in the troops, his heart couldn't help but chill. When he first saw the photo of the assault rifle, he was still imagining that the Ministry of Weapons and Equipment would be able to equip this weapon with its own troops in the near future, so that in the battle to attack Kyiv, the commanders and fighters who prepared this weapon would exert greater combat effectiveness.

Seeing Rokossovsky's disappointed expression, Ustinov hurriedly comforted him and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, the launch of a new weapon must be carried out after repeated tests, and only after confirming that the performance is reliable can we begin to assemble the troops." It is very easy to go wrong if we rashly use this weapon on the troops without completing a series of tests. ”

It's okay if Rokossovsky didn't see the photo of the AK47, but after seeing the photo, he remembered this assault rifle in his heart. He cautiously asked Ustinov: "Comrade People's Commissar, I wonder if you can get Mr. Factory into 20,000 such rifles and let me equip the troops?" ”

"What, twenty thousand?" Hearing the number Rokossovsky said, Ustinov cried out in surprise: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you know what you are talking about? To generate 20,000 guns that were not yet fully finalized, a gun production line had to be built. If it turns out that this gun is not suitable for use on the battlefield, the production line we have built will be scrapped. At that time, the Supreme High Command will hold it accountable, and no one will be able to bear this responsibility. ”

Rokossovsky knew in his heart that Ustinov's fears were justified, but in this era, only he understood in his heart how eye-catching the AK47 assault rifle was on the battlefield in later generations. Judging from the photos, this sample gun has basically reached the level of assault rifles in later generations, and it can be produced in large quantities and installed in the troops as soon as possible.

Seeing that Rokossovsky had been silent after listening to his words, Ustinov hurriedly comforted him and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, don't worry, theoretically speaking, we will have to wait until the end of next year to not be able to carry out such a surprise attack on the troops. But if the test goes well, maybe the time for the deployment of troops can be advanced by two or three months. ”

Originally, Rokossovsky's face showed joy when he heard that the loading time might be advanced, but when he learned that it would be two or three months ahead of schedule, he felt cold again. After a short period of thought, he said to Ustinov with a serious expression: "Comrade People's Commissar, since I can draw the dimensions of the parts and components of this weapon, that is, I am most familiar with the performance of this weapon. Now that you have been able to complete the development work according to my drawings and conduct the range tests, I am confident that this weapon will be of great use on the battlefield. So I want to start mass production now. ”

"Mass production now?" When Ustinov heard this, he stared at Rokossovsky for a while, and finally shook his head and said: "No, Comrade Rokossovsky, this is not going to work. We must not casually throw weapons that have not been tested into the battlefield, because this is a manifestation of irresponsibility for the lives of our commanders and fighters, and we will resolutely not do it. ”

Seeing that he could not convince Ustinov, Rokossovsky couldn't help but feel a little anxious. He stood up and walked up and down the room, thinking about how to convince Ustinov. After a long time, he finally stopped, looked at Ustinov and said: "Comrade People's Commissar, can you take me to the shooting range and personally test this new assault rifle?" ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky was so stubborn, Ustinov nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Rokossovsky, since you are so insistent, then let's go to the shooting range to test this new type of firearm." He picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said into the microphone, "Get me the car ready, I'm going to go out immediately." ”