"Before introducing new, futuristic gear, I suggest you take a look at a gadget – a gun."

Stalin was pleased with the design: "This gun was not made by our former design masters and scientific authorities, but by a wounded and demobilized soldier who painstakingly studied it in his spare time, and achieved good results in a comparative test at the shooting range last week." This fully shows that people's creativity and spirit of exploration come first, and as long as there are people, any kind of miracle in the world can be created. In the future, the party and leading cadres at all levels should pay special attention to giving play to the pioneering spirit of the grassroots frontline and arousing their enthusiasm to the sky; we will eventually grow old and die, and whether or not we can restore the glory of the Soviets and achieve the victory of the world revolution depends on the performance of the younger generation! Here I would like to pay special tribute to Comrade Bragonlavov, who did not dislike this young man for his low starting point and injuries, and who tapped talents for the Party and the country, and I propose to award him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union! ”

Lieutenant General Bragonravov, a member of the All-Union Equipment Planning Committee, an authority on infantry weapons in the Soviet Union, served as the director of the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy and was in charge of the field of infantry weapons, although he was already a high-ranking cadre, and he was qualified to participate in the congress of 3,000 people, but he still played a very inconspicuous role in the real upper echelons, and now Stalin publicly praised him at the Politburo meeting, and his superior, Marshal Voroshilov, also had honor, and quickly stood up and said: "I have seen the deeds of this comrade, and he is completely self-taught, He was also awarded the Order of the Red Star, and I think it was mainly because Comrade Stalin taught him well, he was a good soldier for you, a good son and daughter of the party! Comrade Bragonlavov has fully implemented your work line and principles, has always been conscientious and diligent, and has made contributions to the country in various posts. ”

Lieutenant General Bragonravov excavated Kalashnikov, who was only 22 years old during the Great Patriotic War, was recalled to the unit as a T-34 tank commander, was seriously wounded in a battle, although he was saved, he has since become disabled, his right hand has not been able to move freely, and of course he has lost the qualification to continue driving tanks.

In the hospital, he was asked, "Why is it that only the Germans have automatic rifles, and we don't even have enough old rifles?" This immediately inspired Kalashnikov to design a completely new automatic rifle. After being discharged from the hospital, he returned to the army to ask for combat but was not approved, and while recuperating from his wounds, Kalashnikov decided to go to the railway locomotive repair station where he had previously worked, and while working, he explored the design of a firearm, polished an automatic rifle by hand in a simple small workshop and sent it to the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy for testing and review.

The jury considered the rifle mechanism to be too complex and did not surpass the Bobosha submachine gun in overall performance, but this unsuccessful design attracted the attention of Lieutenant General Bragonravov, who personally recommended Kalashnikov to the Higher Infantry Firearms School for professional study, and in early 1944, after numerous failed tests, the 25-year-old Kalashnikov designed a 7.62mm semi-automatic carbine. Since the German army began to be equipped with STG43 in large quantities, it caused great psychological pressure on the Soviet troops at the front, and Bobosha was already difficult to cope, and immediately after the armistice, the All-Soviet Equipment Planning Committee put forward a request for the design of a fully automatic rifle.

Referring to the structure of the STG43 and combining it with the basic design of his own semi-automatic carbine, Kalashnikov assaulted for several months without sleep, took out a fully automatic rifle AK44 and sent it to participate in the national range selection tests. In the extreme shooting review, the outstanding performance of the AK44 (see picture below) impressed many of the judges present: after firing 15,000 rounds of bullets in a row, although the barrel was red, the shooting accuracy did not change much, and the sample guns of other competitors did not work properly or even did not sound at all after a few rounds.

The review committee carefully calculated and counted the test results, compared each set of shooting data, compiled all the data into a comprehensive report and submitted it, and unanimously agreed: "It is recommended that the 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Sergeant Kalashnikov be included in the official equipment after making the necessary modifications and improvements." ”

In the 30s, the Red Army had the idea of equipping itself with fully automatic rifles, but at that time it was considered that the consumption of ammunition was too large and uneconomical, and that large-scale equipment was not feasible and suppressed it.

And Kalashnikov, a self-taught weapons designer from the grassroots level, is more in line with Stalin's appetite and political work propaganda, plus the rifle he designed did perform well, Stalin was ready to bring out another Hero of the Soviet Union.

In addition to assault rifles, the General Staff and the Equipment Planning Committee also recommended the development of helicopters, jets and rockets, especially jets, which they considered a top priority.

The founder of modern cosmonautics and the Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky foresaw jet propulsion opening up new prospects for aircraft. As a result, the Soviet Union did not lag behind when Germany, Britain, Italy and other countries began to study jet propulsion technology in the 30s of the last century, but began to work on it at the same time.

At first, the main direction of the experimental work on the development of jet propulsion was basically liquid-fueled rocket engines, and the most influential was the aero engine expert F. A. Canggel, who developed the first jet propulsion engine in the Soviet Union in 1930-1933, but it was not adopted. At the end of the 30s, two designers, A. M. Isaev and P. S. Dushkin, developed a liquid-fuel rocket jet engine, which was later installed on specially built aircraft for testing, but still did not receive the attention it deserved.

However, the follow-up designers were not discouraged, and the young engineer Arhip Mikhainovich Eureka could not get the support of the majority of the people, in 1937 he designed the first aviation turbojet engine on his own, and after several years of hard work and solving a large number of technical problems, he developed the first prototype of the PD-1 turbojet engine in the Soviet Union, and in April 1941 received a license to continue the development. But at this time, war broke out, and the development of turbojet engines was interrupted.

At that time, all the focus of work was shifted to the development of piston machines, and the jet that could not be used on the battlefield for the time being could only be shelved, although this decision was made by the Politburo, but all the designers, including Eureka, expressed their understanding and support. But when the ME-262 jet fighter appeared, the Soviet High Command realized what they had missed and regretted it – one of the things that Stalin publicly reviewed at the congress.

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The glorious performance of the crow and the raider eagle in the South African campaign made everyone see the power and dawn of the jet age, for which Stalin personally ordered Eureka to be invited back to preside over the development of jet engines. But everything starts new, it is very difficult, Eureka's early works were quickly copied, but obviously such a small thrust is impossible to use in actual combat, there must be a breakthrough, after arguments and many discussions, it was decided to adopt the two-legged approach, Eureka with a group of engineers to continue to study the localization of new power, and then organize a group of experts to take the imitation method to speed up the development of jets.

After making a request to the United States, because the Soviet Union provided IS-1 drawings in the early stage, and then delivered the drawings of T-43/85 and IS-2 (the drawings of T-44 and IS-3 were obviously impossible to hand over), and then effectively cooperated in helping to evacuate pilots and senior generals, in the face of the Soviet Union's request, the United States decided to return the favor and give the Soviet Union a batch of jet engine physical and technical drawings. Taking into account the shortage of rare materials in the Soviet Union, more than 20 tons of materials were sent for the first time - all by air, and the transportation cost was higher than the price of the goods.

The United States gave the Haviland jet engine for use on the Gloucester Meteor, although it was not the best batch, but it was also a treasure for the Soviet Union, and it immediately began to study and explore the work.

As for the rocket project and the request for assistance related to the rocket engine, the Americans said that they could not help, and in turn asked the Soviet Union if it had any information worth trading, but the Soviet diplomat spread his hands and said that he did not have it, and he had no starting point at all, and the Americans did not doubt him, thinking that the Soviet Union's technological level really could not be developed, so they never mentioned it.

But in reality, the diplomatic envoy lied on the issue – or he may have known nothing. The Soviets had rocket projects, and they already had phased results, but this achievement was in prison.

After the purge began, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, an authority on Soviet rocket research, was beaten as a "current ***" and thrown into prison and sent to Siberia for heavy labor.

Korolev was imprisoned with a bunch of designers, including the famous aircraft designer Tupolev, and after the start of the Great Patriotic War, most of the scientists were put out to work in the face of great pressure in the field of equipment. It took Tupolev's repeated requests to get Korolev out of death row and to resume the development of rockets, still as a prisoner. They work up to 12 hours a day, their work and residence are heavily guarded, they are not allowed to talk to each other, and they have no freedom of movement. It was under these harsh conditions that Korolev succeeded in designing the first generation of Soviet rockets, and by 1944, although the performance was not as good as the V2, it was much more reliable than the success rate of American rockets - if it had been such a low success rate, it would have been executed by the thunderous armament committee.

After the mass use of rockets by the German army, Stalin also instructed to accelerate research. Although it was the intention of the top to beat Korolev as the current leader, Beria did not hesitate to "stand up" and admit at the congress that he had made the mistake of "expanding the actual work of suppressing the rebellion", and asked Comrade Stalin and the Party Central Committee for forgiveness. Korolev, who had been a prisoner on death row for seven years, suddenly became a rare "technical authority" in Soviet rocket technology, and became a high-ranking party cadre who enjoyed the rank of lieutenant general.

Comrade Beria, who had made mistakes and had deep introspection, remained a loyal Bolshevik fighter and needed to play a greater role in the position of a member of the Politburo.