Red Moscow

"Damn, what kind of urgent matter is it? You can't even eat a meal quietly." Sokov muttered to himself, and said to Koshkin who was standing at the window: "Lieutenant Koshkin, ask him what's the matter ?”

Koshkin nodded and asked the driver downstairs, "Do you know anything?"

"I don't know." The driver downstairs shook his head like a rattle: "Comrade Lieutenant, please hurry up and ask the general to go downstairs."

"Comrade General," Koshkin saw that he couldn't get any useful information from the driver, so he turned his head and said, "It seems that the driver who came to interrogate him doesn't know what it is. It seems that you may need to rush back immediately .”

Sokov knew very well in his heart that Lunev would not send someone here to find him if there was no particularly important matter, so he stood up: "Let's go, let's go down and see what's going on."

With the support of Asya and Koshkin, Sokov came outside the building. Seeing this, the driver hurried forward to salute: "Comrade General, the deputy minister ordered me to pick you up, saying that he has something important to discuss with you."

"Assia," Sokov turned around and asked Assia, "will you go back with me, or stay with your mother?"

"Misha," Assia thought for a while, and replied, "I haven't seen my mother for a long time, and I want to stay here tonight. You can pick me up tomorrow."

"Okay then, I'll pick you up tomorrow." Sokov asked Koshkin again after saying this: "Lieutenant Koshkin, can you drive after drinking?"

"No problem." Koshkin replied without thinking, "I can drive."

Sokov stared at Koshkin, thinking to himself, as long as he finds that the other party is a little drunk, let him stay, and drive Assia back tomorrow, so as to save himself another trip.

But after watching for a long time, he found that Koshkin's expression was as usual, and there was no sign of drunkenness at all, so he nodded and said, "Okay then, let's set off now."

Although Sokov saw no signs of intoxication, Koshkin got into the car driven by Lunev's chauffeur instead of his.

Two cars left the family area one after the other, and drove towards the city center along the road.

After driving for a while, Sokov suddenly realized that the car was going in the wrong direction, and quickly reminded the driver: "Comrade driver, it seems that you are driving on the wrong route. This road is not for the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"You are right, Comrade General." Unexpectedly, the driver replied calmly, "Comrade Deputy Minister is not in the Ministry of Internal Affairs at this moment."

"Not the Ministry of Internal Affairs?!" Sokov asked in surprise, "Then where is he?"

"Weapon Equipment Department." After answering the question, the driver looked at Sokov with his head, and added, "He is with Colonel Yakov at the moment."

As soon as the driver mentioned Yakov, Sokov immediately had a thought in his heart. The person who wanted to find him was not Lunev, but Yakov. He might not be able to contact himself, so he asked Lunev for help, and Lunev, who happened to know his whereabouts, sent a driver to find him.

But there was one thing that puzzled Sokov. He asked the driver curiously: "Comrade driver, I want to ask, how do you know where we are?" After returning home, I didn't know where the old man's home was. Even Asya saw the new home for the first time, but Lunev's driver found this place easily. Unless Lunev sent someone to watch here, it would be impossible to find the place easily now.

The driver turned his head and glanced at Sokov, and said with a smile: "Comrade General, do you think I can find this place easily, there must be something wrong, maybe someone has been watching here?"

Seeing that the driver had guessed what was on his mind, Sokov didn't hide anything, but nodded and replied, "Yes, that's what I thought. Can you give me an answer?"

"Comrade General, to tell you the truth, before I came here, I didn't even know where your wife's home lived." The driver told Sukov truthfully: "I came here because I wanted to ask the police to help me find it. Thinking that just after entering the family area, I saw Lieutenant Koshkin's car..."

When Sokov heard this, he suddenly realized that the emotional driver could find his location so quickly because the black car driven by Koshkin exposed the target.

Koshkin, who was following behind, also sensed that something was wrong, and he quickly accelerated to catch up. When the two cars were parallel, he asked the driver loudly, "Hey, let me tell you, where are you going to drive the car?"

"Go to the weapons and equipment department." The driver remembered that he hadn't communicated with Koshkin before getting into the car, which may have caused a misunderstanding, and quickly explained loudly, "Comrade Deputy Minister is also there."

Hearing that Lunev was also in the weaponry department, Koshkin stopped talking. He slowed down, continued to follow the vehicle in front, and drove towards the weaponry department keeping the necessary distance.

After arriving at the weapons and equipment department, the sentry at the gate opened the gate and let them pass without checking the license plates of the two vehicles.

Seeing that the sentinel at the gate didn't even check, he just let it go, Sokov couldn't help frowning, thinking that the security force of the weaponry department was too lax, seeing a car coming, he didn't even check it, Just let it go.

"Comrade General." The driver next to him saw Sokov's performance in the rearview mirror and asked with a smile: "Do you think the security here is too lax, and the vehicles that enter and exit are not even checked? "

"That's right, that's what I think." Sokov didn't hide his true thoughts.

"You misunderstood, Comrade General." The driver explained to Sokov: "Since the second half of last year, the sentries on duty at the gate of the weapons and equipment department have been replaced by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Their biggest feature is their good memory. They know what kind of vehicles do not need to be checked. When we just entered the door, the sentry saw the license plate of the car, so they knew who was coming, and naturally they would not check again. "

"Oh, so that's the case." Sokov turned his head and glanced back, and said apologetically, "I blamed them."

When the two cars stopped at the entrance of the building, an officer waiting here immediately stepped forward, opened the door for Sokov, and said respectfully: "Hello, General Sokov, this is Deputy Lunev." The minister ordered me to wait for you here."

After finishing speaking, he stepped forward to support Sokov, and greeted the nearby soldiers: "Come and help me with General Sokov."

"No need, I'll do it." Before the soldiers came over, Koshkin waved at them and said, "I'll help the general in."

Supported by the officer and Koshkin, Sokov walked into the building. He asked the officer curiously, "Do you know that General Lunev called me over urgently, is there anything important?"

"It's just some work disputes." The officer replied disapprovingly: "The two sides are still in dispute. It was Colonel Yakov who suggested that you come to the meeting. I hope you can be passed to bring the dispute to an end."

Sokov was at a loss after hearing this, and thought to himself that the work disputes in the weapons and equipment department had nothing to do with him, and Lunev needed to send a driver to pick him up himself? However, he knew that if he asked the officer again, he would not get any more answers he wanted, so he continued to move forward with the support of the two of them.

Before entering the room, they heard fierce quarrels coming from inside.

A lieutenant guarding the door, seeing Sokov and his party coming, hurried forward to open the door, and made a gesture of invitation to Sokov. Sokov nodded at him, then limped in with a cane.

Sitting at the head of the conference room was Ustinov, with Lunev on his left and Yakov on the right. There were seven or eight other people, none of whom Sokov knew.

Seeing Sokov enter the door, the entire meeting room fell silent. Ustinov smiled and said, "Comrade Sokov, I have finally waited for you. If you don't come, we don't know when our meeting will end."

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry." Sokov felt that he was quite innocent. There was a dispute in your weapons and equipment department at work, and you have half a kopek relationship with me? However, due to Ustinov's status, he could only say apologetically, "I have something to delay, so I kept everyone waiting for a long time."

Ustinov had always admired Sokov very much, and said with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, come and sit beside me."

Yakov hastily moved aside so that Sokov could sit next to Ustinov. But Sokov waved his hands and said, "No, no, I still want to sit next to Colonel Yakov."

Yakov couldn't help laughing: "Misha, even if you sit in this seat, you're sitting next to me."

There was a burst of laughter in the conference room, and the tense atmosphere just now disappeared without a trace.

"Comrade Sokov," after the laughter stopped, Ustinov began to explain to Sokov: "Before you came, we were discussing what kind of equipment should be produced for our army's landing operations? "

As soon as he heard the word landing operations, Sokov first thought of the hovercraft that had been used for a large purpose in the Battle of Kharkov. After turning his head and glanced at Yakov, he turned his attention to Ustino again. Husband, want to hear what he will say next.

"There are now two different views." Ustinov continued: "One is to produce amphibious boats, which combine the dual functions of cars and boats, and can travel on land like vehicles. , and can navigate waters like a ship.”

"What about the other one?"

"The other one, of course, is the hovercraft you used in the Battle of Kharkov." Ustinov said to Sokov: "You are the only unit that has used this equipment. How about its performance? is the one who has the most say.”

When Sokov heard this, he understood completely. Before his feelings came in, what kind of river-crossing equipment was being produced by the two sides to help the troops in landing operations. Needless to say, it may be Yakov who supports the production of hovercraft, while the opposition is the engineers who met for the first time on the opposite side.

"Misha," Yakov waited for Ustinov to finish speaking, and said, "We all know that your army is not only the first to use this kind of river-crossing equipment, you are also the inventor of this kind of river-crossing equipment. Let me tell you, if our army is equipped with a large number of hovercraft, what will it look like in the execution of beach landing operations?"

"Comrade engineers," Sokov said to the people sitting across from him, "I think you all know how fast the hovercraft can travel, and how many troops and equipment it can carry?"

After saying this, Sokov paused for a moment to observe everyone's reaction. Seeing that everyone nodded to show that they understood the data of the hovercraft, he continued: "Imagine, if you want to cross a large river with a width of 1,000 meters, it will take a few minutes for a high-speed hovercraft to transport our commanders, fighters and various equipment. , delivered to the opposite bank. This is an advantage that cannot be replaced by other river crossing equipment.”

"General Sokov," as soon as Sokov finished speaking, a gray-haired man stood up and said with a straight face, "I don't deny the point you just mentioned. There is no river crossing equipment that is faster than a hovercraft. But I want to remind you that the cost of a hovercraft is high, and the later maintenance is also very troublesome."

"Misha," Yakov explained to Sokov with his head tilted, "this is the senior engineer Voynen, and he is the one who took the lead in opposing us to put the hovercraft into mass production."

Sokov nodded after hearing this, and after Foyining finished speaking, he said calmly: "Senior Engineer Foyining, I agree with your point of view. Although hovercraft are suitable for fighting in complex terrain, the only shortcoming is It is high cost and difficult to maintain. For example, if we want to invest a large number of hovercraft for landing operations on a vast front like the Dnieper River, I am afraid that after a battle, the consumption of the hovercraft alone is equal to the loss of one or two tank brigades Therefore, under the current circumstances, it is obviously inappropriate to mass-produce hovercraft."

Foyining originally thought that there would be a verbal argument with Sokov, but he didn't expect that the other party agreed with his point of view, and he couldn't help showing a complacent expression on his face. He even glanced at Yakov with a provocative look, and said to himself that the ally you found was actually betrayed by me in a few words.

Yakov, on the other hand, frowned. He originally thought that Sokov would choose to stand with him without hesitation after he understood the ins and outs of the matter. He didn't expect that the other party would actually support Foyining's point of view. Yakov felt a little regretful in his heart, and felt that it might be a mistake for him to find Sokov here today.

Sokov knew that what he said would definitely cause Yakov's displeasure. But in order to solve the problem in front of him, he looked at Foyining opposite and asked, "Senior Engineer Voyining, could you show me the blueprint of the dual-purpose ship?"

"Yes." Seeing that Sokov was standing by his side, Foyining generously pushed the blueprint in front of Sokov, and said enthusiastically, "Comrade General, this is Our design drawings. If you think there is anything that needs improvement, please feel free to point it out.”

Sokov pulled the blueprint in front of him and looked down. The amphibious boat in the picture is very simple, with the shape of a boat on the top and four wheels on the bottom, which can be used to float on the water or walk on land.

After reading the drawings, Sokov raised his head, looked at Foyining opposite, and asked slowly: "Senior engineer Voyining, I would like to ask, how many people can your amphibious boat carry? "