Although Sokov did not have much time to deal with Yakov, he still knew his character. Seeing that he could not tell him about his purpose in Nizhny Novgorod, he could only guess secretly.
Sokov knows a little about the city of Nizhny Novgorod. In addition to the manufacturing plants that produce "Gas" cars, there are also aircraft manufacturers, engine manufacturers, machinery factories, steel factories and petroleum organic synthesis plants, etc. When I went to Nizhny Novgorod this time, I would definitely not go to any automobile and aircraft manufacturers, nor would I go to steel factories and petrochemical factories. The only places I can go to are engine manufacturers and machinery factories. Perhaps the propulsion system of the new rocket needs to be improved, so Yakov took him with me.
Thinking of this, he looked at Yakov and pretended to be nothing and asked, "Yakov, don't know if we go to the engine manufacturing factory or the machinery factory after Nizhny Novgorod?"
Sokov's words stunned Yakov. He stared at Sokov with wide eyes and asked in surprise: "Misha, how do you know we are going to the engine factory?"
Seeing that Yakov did not deny his speculation, Sokov knew that the purpose of this trip was related to improving the propulsion system of the rocket. When the rocket flies in the air, there are two ways to ensure its flight stability: one is the stability of the tail wing, and the other is the stability of the turbine rotation. The Katyusha rocket launcher equipped with troops now belongs to the former, while the rocket he "designed" belongs to the latter.
Sokov smiled at Yakov and said, "I guessed it. We went to Nizhny Novgorod this time to improve the propulsion system of the new rocket launcher, right?"
Seeing that Sokov had guessed the purpose of this trip, Yakov hesitated for a while and decided to tell the truth. Anyway, in a few hours, he would meet people from the engine manufacturing factory to pick him up at the train station. Even if he didn't say it himself, Sokov could guess at all.
It was precisely for this consideration that Yakov said, "Yes, you guessed it right. The destination we went to this time was indeed an engine manufacturing factory. There was a production team in the factory that was specifically responsible for the propulsion system of rocket launchers. The propulsion system of the new rocket launcher you designed is different from the Katyusha rocket launcher that is equipped with troops today, and needs to be improved."
The purpose of this trip was to improve the propulsion system of the rocket, and there were other tasks. Yakov didn't say it, and Sokov didn't ask. He knew very well that Yakov could say this to himself, but he was risking being punished and leaked the secret to himself in advance. If he continued to ask questions, it would only make his "old friend" embarrassed.
Nizhny Novgorod is about 500 kilometers away from Moscow, and can reach it within seven hours at normal speed. However, due to the bombing of some areas by German troops, the train had to stop several times and wait for railway workers to repair the road.
When we arrived at the Moscow Railway Station in Nizhny Novgorod, the lights were already on. Yakov and his group came out of the carriage, and the two station pick-up personnel who had been waiting for a long time came up to meet them.
The station attendant should have received a notice from Moscow long ago and knew that the leader was a captain, so the soldier from the engine manufacturing plant raised his hand and saluted Yakov, the only captain in the crowd, and said, "Hello, Captain Yakov, I am Lieutenant Moshkov, the army representative of the engine manufacturing plant."
"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant." Yakov raised his hand and gave the other party a favor, saying apologetically: "The train is late, so you have been waiting for a long time."
The lieutenant whose face was red from the cold heard Yakov say this and quickly said with a smile: "It's okay, Captain Yakov, it's during the war now, and there are always many unexpected things that happen, we can understand this." After that, he pointed to a man in casual clothes next to him and introduced to Yakov, "This is Kurk, the engineer in the factory."
Yakov quickly reached out to the other party and said politely: "Hello, Engineer Kurk." Perhaps considering that cooperation with Kurk was indispensable in the coming days, he pointed at Sokov and said, "Let me introduce you to Major Sokov, and the new weapon was designed by him."
Kurk, who had originally had a cold expression, couldn't help but lit up when he heard Yakov say this. He quickly grabbed Sokov's hand and asked enthusiastically: "It turns out that the new weapon was designed by you. I'm so disrespectful." After pausing for a moment, he asked angrily, "Comrade Major, are you a military engineer?"
"No, Comrade Kurk." Sokov replied awkwardly when he heard Kurk's question, "I am just an ordinary infantry battalion commander, and this new weapon was designed on a whim."
Military representative Moshkov was afraid that the few people would not finish the conversation, so he hurriedly urged: "Comrade Engineer, if you have anything to say to the factory, we still have to hurry up."
The military representative led his group out of the train station and boarded a modified bus parked outside the station. Seeing that everyone was here, the military representative nodded to the driver and said, "Okay, comrade driver, drive."
Yakov, who was sitting next to Kurk, asked with a smile: "Comrade Engineer, is this a vehicle used by the factory to pick up workers to and from get off work?"
"Yes, Comrade Captain, is our factory car." Kurk replied with a smile: "Our factory area is about the size of a medium-sized city. If there are no vehicles, it will take at least an hour to walk from the factory gate to the production workshop."
Fortunately, the engine manufacturing factory was not far from the station. After only a dozen minutes, the factory car drove to two closed iron gates. A sergeant brought two soldiers into the car and took a look. After chatting with Moshkov for a few more words, he got off the factory car and ordered the soldiers on duty to open the door and let the factory car enter.
When the factory car drove in through the open door, Sokov used the lighting of the car lights and saw that in addition to two sandbags with machine guns at the door, there was also an anti-aircraft machine gun position inside the door. There were dozens of workers-like people lined up in front of a small room next to the door.
The workers in line aroused Sokov's curiosity. He raised his hand and patted Kurk who was sitting in the front row, and asked curiously: "Comrade Engineer, what are the workers queuing up here to do?"
When Kurk heard Sokov's question, he replied without looking back: "Those workers just got off work and had to go through inspection in the duty room before they could leave the factory."
When Yakov heard Kurik say this, he couldn't help but interrupt: "The management of your factory is really strict."
"There's no way, comrade Captain." Kurk replied with a serious expression: "We are important defense units. Without a strict system, if German spies or sabotagers are allowed to infiltrate, it will cause us immeasurable losses."
The factory car stopped in front of a two-story building with a disguised net. Moshkov got out of the car and walked into the building. Based on the arrangement inside, Sokov saw that this should be the hotel in the factory.
Moshkov took the key from the front desk waiter, came to Yakov, and said to him: "Captain, your residence has been arranged, on the second floor of the guesthouse, four double rooms and two single rooms." He quickly glanced at Sokov, who was standing beside Yakov, and continued, "You and the Major, can live in a single room one by one."
After Moshkov finished speaking, Kurk also said to Yakov: "Captain, because the train is late, our plan today must be modified. You first go to your respective rooms, put down your luggage, and then go to the restaurant on the first floor for dinner. As for work, we can postpone it until tomorrow."
"Comrades in command," Yakov turned to face the eight officers standing aside, and said to them: "You will go back to your room immediately, put down your luggage, and then go to the restaurant for dinner. After the meal, we will start working immediately." As the order was issued, the officers immediately carried their luggage and followed the waiters in the guesthouse to the second floor.
After Yakov and the officers left, they smiled and said to Sokov: "Misha, you probably didn't bring any luggage. Why don't we go to the restaurant first and wait for those guys who go back to put their luggage while eating."
The tables and chairs in the restaurant, like those in the military camp, are rectangular tables, with two rows of long benches, so that more people can be sat. Sokov and Yakov sat side by side, Kurk sat opposite them, while Moshkov ran to the kitchen and arranged for the kitchen staff to prepare dinner for the officers.
Kurk looked at Yakov and asked, "Captain, do you think we will talk about work now? Or will we talk later when we get to the office?"
Regarding Kurk's question, Yakov replied without hesitation: "It's better to go to the office to negotiate. After all, this place is a public place and people come and go, so it would be bad if the secret is leaked."
Although Kurk knew that this was an internal guesthouse and it was difficult for ordinary people to enter here casually, for the sake of safety, he still agreed to Yakov's proposal.
The officers came to the dining room from their respective rooms and sat down on both sides of the long table. Seeing that everyone was here, the dinner prepared in the kitchen was also set on the table. Kurk, the owner, said loudly: "Eat, comrades!" He looked at his watch and added as if by the way, "The train was delayed for four hours, and you may have been hungry."
Because before dinner, Yakov once said that he would work overnight, the officers ate very fast. In just five minutes, they wiped out the slices of bread in front of him, sliced ​​dried sausages, cheese, barley porridge and a bowl of red vegetable soup.
Seeing the officers finishing their dinner so quickly, Kurk couldn't help but look surprised on his face: "My God, you eat like fighting, and you will finish them all so quickly."
"Comrade Engineer," Sokov replied with a smile when he heard Kurk say this, "Officers who have been on the battlefield usually eat quickly, because we don't know when the next battle will begin, so we must always be alert." After a moment of pause, he added, "Since we have finished eating, please take us to the office."
Everyone came to the nearby office building, where there were many technicians on duty. When they saw Kurk walking in with a group of officers, they guessed that there must be some important work. They hurriedly came up and asked: "Engineer Kurk, is there anything that can serve you?"
Kurk pointed at the officers next to him and said to the technician: "Take them to the drawing room No. 7 and see the newly drawn drawings we have been doing these two days." After the technician left with the group of officers, he said to Yakov and Sokov, "Come to my office, there are some details, we need to discuss them."
Kurk's office is very large, and in addition to the desk, there is also a long conference table. The conference table is like the desk, and is full of various drawings. Kurk turned on the lamp on the table, pulled out a drawing, pushed it in front of the two of them, and said, "Come and take a look, this is my latest idea."
Sokov looked up and saw a sketch of a rocket. Before he could ask anything, Kurk had already taken the lead and said to the two: "Two commanders, you should know that rockets usually consist of three parts: warheads, rocket engines and stabilization devices. The warheads include fuses, rocket shells, explosives or other loadings. Rocket engines include ignition systems, propellants, combustion chambers, nozzles, etc. The rockets used by the Katyusha rocket launcher equipped by our army are tail-type rockets, which rely entirely on the tail to maintain flight stability."
Speaking of this, Kurk looked up at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Major, according to your design ideas, the rockets used in the new rocket launcher will be different from the tail rockets we use now, right?"
"Yes, that's it." Sokov nodded and replied: "Because our existing tail folding technology is not perfect enough, the tail stable rocket takes up a lot of space and it is not advisable to use a tube-type director. Therefore, I think the new rocket should use a turbo-stable rocket. In this way, the gas sprayed from the inclined nozzle can rotate at a high speed around the bullet axis, produce a gyroscope effect, and maintain flight stability."
"Gay Major," Kurk, after Sokov finished speaking, his face showed an embarrassing expression: "This is simple to say, but it is too difficult to do."
Chapter completed!