Red Moscow

"Misha," Yakov pushed Sokov back to his office, first poured him a cup of hot tea, and then asked, "You have been in the hospital in Lubyanka for two months, what? When can I leave the hospital?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and replied, "Didn't you see that the plaster cast on my leg hasn't been removed yet? It looks like I'll have to live there for at least a month or two."

After hearing this, Yakov shook his head and said, "What a pity, what a pity."

His words aroused Sokov's curiosity. He touched the teacup to his lips and asked casually, "What's the pity?"

"My father said two days ago that he would like to see you when your injury recovers."

Sokov just took a sip of tea, and immediately spewed out all the tea after hearing what Yakov said. Fortunately, Yakov raised his arm in front of him in time, so Sokov didn't let Sokov spray the tea on his chest. face.

"What did you say?" Although he sprayed tea on Yakov, Sokov didn't have time to apologize, so he couldn't wait to ask: "What did you just say, your father wants to see me?"

It has been two full years since Sokov came to this era. From an unknown corporal at the beginning, he became a general with great military exploits, but he never had the opportunity to meet Stalin. Hearing Yakov say that Stalin wanted to see him at this moment, there is no one who is not excited.

"Yes, that's what he said."

"Then when can I see him?"

"Don't be in a hurry, Misha." Yakov returned to his desk and sat down, looked at Sokov and said unhurriedly: "After your injury recovers, it won't be too late for me to arrange for you to meet. "

"Whether my injury is healed or not is not in conflict with meeting your father." Sokov didn't want to miss the great opportunity to meet Stalin because his injury was not healed, so he tried to say Yakov to arrange a suitable meeting for himself opportunity.

"It's impossible." Yakov replied very simply: "Admiral Yeremenko had injured his leg in an accident before the battle of Stalingrad. After a period of treatment, his leg injury was very good. Almost there, but he still needs to use a cane to walk. When he was ordered to see my father, the canes were left in the outside office, and he limped into my father's office, fighting back the pain."

When Yakov said this, he deliberately paused for a moment to see if Sokov was listening to himself: "When you go to see my father, you must not use a wheelchair to enter the office. Do you think that in your current situation, you can walk in alone? My father's office, and stand for ten minutes, or even longer?"

Hearing what Yakov said, Sokov felt that he had taken it for granted. Yelymenko had a leg injury, and when he went to see Stalin, he couldn't even bring a cane, let alone a wheelchair. Even if he told himself to meet with Stalin at this moment, he might not be able to enter the office.

Thinking of this, he could only sigh, and said helplessly: "Hey, this is really a pity. It seems that I will have the opportunity to see the Supreme Commander himself when I recover from my injuries and walk like ordinary people."

"Don't worry, Misha." Yakov saw that Sokov looked a little depressed, and comforted him, "As long as you recover from your injury and leave the hospital, I will arrange for you to meet my father as soon as possible."

After chatting for a while, Yakov turned the topic back to the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun: "Misha, I just told you about the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun today, but judging from the drawings you drew and the plan you talked about, it seems that it was very early. It was considered mature before."

Sokov had already guessed that Yakov would ask himself this question, and he was already prepared for the answer: "Yasha, you are right, I have indeed been thinking about this question a long time ago."

"Oh." Sokov's answer was a bit out of Yakov's expectation. He thought that Sokov would tell himself that it was a temporary plan he came up with on the way to the weapons and equipment department. He asked curiously, "Then when did you start thinking about it?"

"When else?" Since he wanted to justify himself, he had to make it sound like that, Sokov pretended to be solemn and said: "During the Battle of Stalingrad, the German planes gave me a very headache. I was just thinking, is there any way to strengthen our air defense force so that the German planes are useless?"

"So you started thinking about making self-propelled anti-aircraft guns." Before Sokov finished speaking, Yakov said smartly: "Am I right?"

"That's right, that's right." Sokov continued to write down his words: "Although our army has various anti-aircraft weapons, they all have a common shortcoming, that is, it is inconvenient to move. When our army is defending, it is used to Air defense is very good; but if our army turns to attack, the role of these air defense firepower will be greatly reduced."

"Misha, is it really feasible to install two 57mm anti-aircraft guns on the chassis of the T-34 tank?"

Sokov knows that the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns he is talking about today are all installed on the base of the T-54 tank, but this tank has not yet come out, so he can only temporarily consider assembling it on the base of the T-34 tank. He has no idea what the prototype car will look like.

But since Yakov asked, he naturally replied: "I think, after the prototype is produced, we can test how it works."

Yakov felt that Sokov's answer was very perfunctory, but he didn't care about it. After all, before a new type of weapon is officially released, there will definitely be one or another defect, and it can only be continuously improved in the process of various tests. .

At this moment the door was pushed open from the outside, and then Ustinov walked in. Seeing Sokov sitting in a wheelchair, he was taken aback for a moment, then walked over with a smile, and after a long distance, he stretched out his hand and smiled at Sokov: "Hello, Comrade Sokov, I heard that you were injured and hospitalized, and I said I would visit you when I was free."

Yakov, who was sitting behind the desk, immediately stood up, straightened his body and greeted Ustinov: "Hello, Comrade People's Commissar. Misha was invited here by me. Several designers came up with ideas for new anti-aircraft weapons."

"A new type of anti-aircraft weapon?" Ustinov asked with great interest, "What kind of new type of anti-aircraft weapon is it?"

"Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun!" Yakov realized that his expression was not accurate enough after finishing the word, and added: "According to Misha's vision, two 57mm anti-aircraft guns were installed on the T-34 tank. on the chassis."

After listening to Yakov's introduction, Ustinov couldn't help his eyes light up: "Great, this idea is really great." He held Sukov's hand, shook it vigorously and said: "If If we can really develop this kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, then our army will not have to worry about air defense when launching an attack on the enemy."

After letting go of Sokov's hand, Ustinov stood up straight, turned around and asked Yakov, "Colonel Yakov, how long will it take to produce a prototype car?"

"Report to Comrade People's Commissar," Yakov replied respectfully. "Since all the materials are ready-made, we can start assembly work as soon as possible. If everything goes well, the prototype will be launched in three days."

"Very good, very good." Ustinov nodded with a smile, and said with satisfaction: "When you test the prototype, you must inform me. I will go to see how this prototype looks with my own eyes."

"yes!"

"Comrade Sokov," Ustinov came to Yakov's office, just to ask if there was any prospect of a new anti-aircraft weapon. Since he knew that a prototype would be produced in three days, there was no need for him to stay. He looked down at Sokov and said, "Recover well, I wish you a speedy recovery, so that you can return to the front line as soon as possible."

"Comrade People's Commissar," Sokov recalled that Ustinov personally arranged for Asya, who took care of him in the hospital, and he had always wanted to find an opportunity to thank him, so he just took this opportunity to express his gratitude to him: "I really appreciate you for sending Asia to take care of me."

"It's a little effort, you're welcome." Ustinov shook Sokov's hand again: "We will meet later."

After sending Ustinov away, Yakov looked up at the wall clock on the opposite wall, and said to Sokov, "Misha, it's getting late, I'll take you home."

"Well," Sokov looked at the time and found that it had been nearly four hours since he left the Frunze Military Academy. I'm afraid Asya was waiting anxiously in the hospital, so he nodded and said: " It's so late, please take me back to the hospital as soon as possible, Asiya must have been waiting long ago."

As Sokov expected, Asiya rushed over as soon as she saw Sokov being pushed into the ward, and asked anxiously, "Misha, where did you go, why did you come back so late?"

Sokov laughed dryly, and then explained to her: "Today, Yasha came to the school to find me and said that he had some problems with weapons and equipment. He hoped to discuss it with me, so I followed."

Only then did Asya see clearly that the person who pushed Sokov in was actually Yakov. She blushed and greeted Yakov, and then whispered to Sokov: "You should at least send someone to say hello to me, lest I worry about you."

"I have thought about it," Sokov said rather helplessly, "but who do you think my classmates in the training class can enter this hospital?"

Assia thought about it, it seems that this is really the case. The security measures in this hospital are so tight that anyone can enter if they want to, so she didn't dwell on the matter anymore, but asked Yakov politely: "Yasha, Have you had your dinner? Or just join us here?"

"No, no, no." Yakov waved his hands and said, "I still have things to do, so I won't stay for dinner. Asiya, Misha must be very hungry after being busy for so long. You should hurry up and prepare dinner for him."

"Yasha," Seeing that Yakov was about to leave, Sokov specially reminded him from behind: "When that day comes, remember to call me."

"Don't worry, Misha." Yakov said with a smile: "Since you are the designer, you must be indispensable when testing."

Asya sent Yakov away, and when she came back, she asked Sokov curiously, "Misha, can you tell me what you were discussing in the weapons and equipment department today?"

Sokov only thought for a few seconds before deciding to tell Assia the whole thing. Although the development of the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was a secret, to him, there was nothing to keep secret. Assia was originally a member of the weapons and equipment department, and she could see it as soon as she returned.

"We are researching self-propelled anti-aircraft guns." Sokov was afraid that Asiya would not understand, and explained to her specifically: "It is to install anti-aircraft guns on the chassis of tanks, so that the air defense area can be quickly changed."

After hearing this, Assia said with a blank face: "I've seen anti-aircraft guns installed on trucks before, but the anti-aircraft effect is very limited."

"Installing an anti-aircraft gun on a truck is completely different from installing it on a tank chassis. There is no comparison between the two." Sokov said: "Installing an anti-aircraft gun on a car only solves the problem of mobility of anti-aircraft weapons. , but the car itself is not a very stable shooting platform, coupled with the scarcity of the number, it will not play a big role in air defense."

When Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered that the Soviet Army had developed a 76.2mm anti-aircraft gun installed on the base of the T-26 light tank as early as the 1930s. It is said that the air defense effect is not bad. But unfortunately, the designer of this weapon was purged, resulting in the termination of all related research and development work, and the plan to mass-produce and deploy troops was also forced to abandon.

He paused for a moment, then said cautiously: "As early as a few years ago, in the tank manufacturing factory in Kharkov, a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun installed on the base of the T-26 light tank was developed. The caliber of the gun is 76.2 mm, after testing, it was found that the anti-aircraft effect is very ideal."

"Since it has been developed a long time ago, why hasn't this kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun been deployed in troops?"

Facing the curious baby Assia, Sokov said with a bit of laughter and tears: "Because the designer of the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was cleaned out in the big cleaning not long after, the research work he was in charge of was terminated, resulting in the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. Plans to field troops have been postponed indefinitely."

Assia finally understood the situation at this moment, and before she could say anything, she saw Vera walking over with a tray containing dinner. She hurried forward and put the things in the tray one by one on the small dining table in the ward.

Seeing Vera preparing to leave with an empty tray, Sokov hurriedly greeted her and said, "Vera, sit down and eat together."

"Thank you, Comrade General." Vera replied politely: "I have already eaten, you two please take it easy, I wish you all a good appetite."

"Misha, are you still going to the weapons and equipment department in a few days?"

"Yes." Sokov replied: "The sample car will be produced in three days, and I will go to the site to see the test results."

When Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered Yakov's words, and couldn't help but say to Assia: "Assia, Yasha told me today that his father wanted to see me."

"Yakov's father?!" After repeating Sokov's words, Asiya stood up abruptly from her seat, looked at Sokov in shock and asked, "Misha, what are you talking about, Yakov?" Corf's father wants to see you?"

"That's right, that's exactly what it is."

"My God." Assia covered her mouth in surprise, and said in an unbelievable tone: "It's incredible that Comrade Stalin wants to see you."

"It's nothing incredible. After all, I'm a lieutenant general now, and I have the qualifications to meet the Supreme Commander himself." Sokov said lightly: "Plus the relationship between me and Yakov, and the relationship between my father and the Supreme Commander in the past. As for the personal relationship between the commander himself, it will be a matter of time before he is interviewed by him."