Seeing Stalin's tendency to get angry, I was so frightened that I quickly stood up and replied in a panic: "Report to Comrade Stalin, the senior engineer named Floning, who was wounded in the air raid and is currently recuperating in the hospital where I am staying. ”

Stalin glanced up at me, turned his pipe sideways, knocked the ashtray into the jar with a few gentle knocks, poured the ash into the jar, and asked thoughtfully: "Did you go to Bezikov for the sake of this engineer of unknown origin that day?" ”

Now that he had said that, I could only tell the truth, I lowered my head and stared at the map in front of me, and said, "Senior Engineer Floen, like those passengers, is not from our time, and I don't know why he suddenly came to us. When I first found out the truth, I was shocked, it was incredible, it was incredible. At this point, I glanced at Stalin, who also kept his head down and stared at the map in front of him without saying a word, and then continued: "As a military expert from later generations, he has mastered many cutting-edge military techniques that we are not currently aware of, which will be very helpful for us to improve the existing equipment of our troops. ”

"You found out that he is a rare talent, so you asked Bezikov to help you!" When Stalin said this, he raised his head, stared at me and asked: "I say that, right?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin, you are quite right in your analysis. It was such a rare technical talent as Fronin, but he was said to be a German spy by a junior officer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and wanted to shoot him. You know, the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are privileged, and although my rank is much higher than that officer, I have no right to change his decision, so I have to ask Colonel Bezikov to help me solve this problem. ”

"Have you talked to him alone?" Stalin said this, hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously asked: "Did he say that we can hold Moscow?" ”

"Yes!" Although I do not know many of the specifics of the Battle of Moscow, I do know that the battle ended in the victory of the Soviet army and the defeat of the German army, so I can give Stalin an affirmative answer. "I heard Floning say," I knew that the old man had lost his memory, and even if he met Stalin, he would not be able to remember many things, so I had no scruples to tell the history of the road in the name of Floning, "Although the attack of the fascist bandits was fierce, they only approached Moscow under the stubborn resistance of our army, but they could not set foot in the city." And under your wise leadership, the Red Army began a great counteroffensive at the beginning of December, driving the invading enemy far away from our cities. ……”

Hearing me say this, his beard turned up slightly again, and a rare smile appeared on his face. I breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, it seems that my sycophants still make him quite useful. He stood up, walked up and down in front of me with his hands behind his back, and asked in an inquiring tone, "How do you think I should place this amazing engineer?" ”

"Of course, go to the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau and arrange a place for him there. As long as we have the technical materials provided by him, our military equipment will soon be able to be upgraded to a higher level, and the gap between us and the enemy will be shortened. In time, we can even surpass them. ……”

"Leda, you're thinking too simply." Stalin waved his hand to interrupt my words, and I couldn't help but be stunned, "Even if this engineer provides us with complete technical information, technical equipment such as airplanes, tanks, and artillery cannot be used simply after being assembled according to the drawings, and there are many factors to consider: for example, whether there is a supporting production line, whether the steel and other raw materials currently produced in China meet the standards, and a series of weapons tests and so on to be done, even if the equipment of the troops is to be completed, it will be a year or two later." ……”

His words silenced me, and it seemed that I was really thinking too much about the problem. However, it is a pity that such a rare technical talent is hidden in the snow like this. I looked down and thought about it for a while, thinking that although I couldn't improve the large technical equipment in the short term, I could try the improvement of infantry weapons. So I looked up at him and said, "Comrade Stalin, I have also heard from the engineer that our army will be equipped with an assault rifle called AK47 in later generations, and you can consider asking him to provide us with technical information on this weapon first, so that this weapon can be installed in the troops in advance, so that our infantry will not suffer on the battlefield because of the difference in light weapons." ”

"AK47 assault rifle?" Stalin repeated the term and asked with interest: "Is there anything special about this rifle?" ”

"Yes," I said, trying to recall what I knew about this weapon, "I heard Engineer Floning say that this gun was a famous gun of later generations, designed and made by a warrior named Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov. Compared with the rifles equipped by various countries in the same period, the gun body is shorter, the firing range is shorter, and the firing distance is kept at 300 meters in close combat, which is suitable for relatively close assault combat. Due to the astonishing reliability, simple structure, solid and durable, inexpensive, powerful, flexible and convenient use of the АК-47 and various improved gun models in the later period, the АК-47 series rifles are widely used by the armies of many countries that are friendly with us and even Western countries. ……”

"Wait a minute," said Stalin, returning to the table, putting down his pipe, picking up his notebook and pencil, and asked me again: "What did you say was the full name of that warrior?" ”

"Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov." I answered his question accurately, adding: "I once rode with him in a truck on the way to the front, and I knew that he was a tank sergeant and held the position of commander on a T-34 tank. ”

Stalin took note and asked: "How much more do you know about him?" ”

"Engineer Fronin said that Kalashnikov was seriously wounded in a battle and was taken to the army hospital in the rear for treatment. Although his life was saved, he became disabled, especially his right hand, and has been unable to move freely since then. "I know a thing or two about the life of this legendary master of weapons, but when I tell Stalin, I have to add the prefix "Listen to Engineer Floning" so that it doesn't go through the way.

Stalin pressed a bell on the table, and then the door through which I had just entered opened, and the bald-headed Boskorebeshev appeared silently at the door, standing upright. Stalin tore the note from his notebook, walked over and handed it to Boskorebeshev, and said: "Immediately arrange for men to go to the army hospital, find this man, and give him the best possible treatment." Remember, this person is very important and make sure that he survives. ”

Bosk Lebeshev nodded and agreed: "Understood, Comrade Stalin." Then he turned and walked out of the room, and closed the door with his hand.

Stalin walked back to me and said, "Leda, what else do you know about this Kalashnikov?" I was curious about him, and I really wanted to know that as a tankman, he had almost no chance of using a rifle, so how could he think of designing a rifle for infantry? ”

"It is said that in the hospital, he talked to his comrades about the war and about weapons. During a casual conversation, a patient asked him, 'Why is it that only the Germans have automatic rifles, and we don't even have enough old rifles?' This sparked the idea of designing a new automatic rifle. During his hospitalization, he also asked the nurse to find all the books on light weapons in the hospital library to read, one of which was called "The Evolution of Light Weapons", which gave him a great inspiration. ”

"I wonder how he made the weapon? You must know that Lu Dao alone relies on him, and even if he can complete the design of the weapon, he will not be able to complete the manufacturing work. ”

"During his hospitalization, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In the spring of '42, he asked to be discharged from the hospital and return to the team to participate in the battle, but the hospital did not allow him to go home to recuperate for half a year. So he returned to the railway locomotive repair station where he had previously worked, and worked as he explored the design of firearms. He found his best friend Krachenko, a train driver who knew the art of machining. With the help of a friend, I hand-polished an automatic rifle in a humble little workshop. ”

"Oh, I see." Stalin asked: "How did the rifle he designed and built get approved by the relevant authorities?" ”

After the automatic rifle was ready, Kalashnikov personally sent the gun to the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy for testing and evaluation. After testing, the review committee believed that the mechanism of the rifle was too complicated, and the overall performance did not exceed the PPS-43 rifle equipped by our army at that time, so the design was not adopted. I saw that Stalin was listening attentively, so I simply told everything I knew in one breath: "But it was this unsuccessful automatic rifle that caught the attention of Comrade Bragonravov of the Soviet Equipment Planning Committee. As an authority on Soviet infantry weapons, the director of the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy, the general praised the unique design of the rifle. In 43, he personally recommended Kalashnikov to the Higher Infantry Firearms School for professional studies. After completing his course, he was assigned to work as a technician at the Ansk Military Weapons Test Field.

In 1944, after numerous failed trials, the 25-year-old Kalashnikov designed a 7.62 mm semi-automatic carbine. In 1946, he designed a fully automatic rifle AK46 based on this semi-automatic carbine, which was sent to the National Range Selection Test. At that time, he was joined by the work of a number of famous rifle designers.

After a preliminary selection, three models of rifles, including the AK46, were designated for the final review. In order to better test the real combat capability of the rifle, a series of rigorous tests were carried out. In the extreme shooting judging, the AK46's outstanding performance impressed many of the judges present: the AK46 fired 15,000 rounds of bullets in a row, and although the barrel was red, the shooting accuracy did not change much. After a few shots, the competitor's sample gun did not work properly or even did not fire at all.

After very careful calculations, the results of the test were counted, the results of the tests were compared, each set of shooting data was compared, and all the data were compiled into a comprehensive report and submitted to the USSR Ministry of Defense. The judges unanimously agreed: 'The 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Sergeant Kalashnikov is recommended for official equipment.' ’

Soon after, the review committee decided to produce the first batch of AK46 rifles, and at the same time conduct a test that was more important than the selection of the model, and handed the weapons to the troops for trial. As a result, the troops praised the easy-to-use and powerful AK46 automatic rifle. As a result, the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union decided to designate AK46 as the standard rifle of the army, and officially named the rifle AK47. ”

After listening to what I said, Stalin walked to the table without saying a word, took a pipe and put it to his mouth, took a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, twisted it with his fingers and put the shredded tobacco into the cigarette butt. I watched in silence as he did all this, and stopped talking, waiting for him to ask new questions.

He struck a match and lit his pipe, took a puff, and then asked leisurely, "Leda, have you heard from Engineer Floning how I reacted when I heard that this weapon was introduced?" ”

"Engineer Fronin said that you sent a colonel named Deming to inform Kalashnikov that the AK47 rifle was designated as a Soviet standard equipment. Then he was recruited to the Kremlin and personally awarded him a prize of 150 thousand rubles. ”

After listening to my words, he looked at the ceiling, just smoked silently, and did not speak. I stood there and looked at him, and suddenly felt a little dry in my mouth, and secretly regretted that I had said too many things that I shouldn't have said, after all, what I said was so unbelievable that it was very difficult for him to believe it completely.

He put his pipe on the table, paced around the office, not looking at me, and then stopped at the desk, as if determined, "I decided to believe you, even though it was hard to believe." If I can find the Kalashnikov you're talking about, I'll arrange for him to go to the Armory Bureau as an assistant to the senior engineer from another plane. ”