In the next few days, Sokov and Yakov were running back and forth between the engine and machinery factories, paying attention to the improvement of the rocket propulsion system and a series of tests of the new assault rifle.
On the first weekend of April, Yakov considered that he had no job, so he planned to call Sokov and go to a café in the city to have something to drink. Unexpectedly, when the two of them arrived at the bottom and were about to leave the guesthouse, the waiter on duty hurried over and said to Yakov: "Captain, phone number, you have your phone number."
"Look for my phone number?" When someone called to him, Yakov asked unexpectedly: "Do you know who it is?"
Hearing Yakov's question, the waiter said in an uncertain tone: "It seems that it was the engineer Kurk."
When he learned that it was a call from Kurk, Yakov's first reaction was that the development of the rocket rocket system had made new progress. He hurried over and picked up the microphone and said loudly: "I am Yakov, is I an engineer from Kurk? What are you doing with me? Is your research progressing?... No, what is that?... Someone is waiting for me in your office, who is it?... I understand, I will go there right away."
After putting down the phone, Yakov said to Sokov: "Misha, a leader has come from Moscow and is now in the office of the Kurk engineer. Let the two of us rush over to see him as soon as possible."
Although Sokov also wanted to know who the leader from Moscow was, since Yakov didn't say it, it might be for confidentiality, so even if he asked himself, it would be useless. So he just nodded and said, "Then let's go to the office of Engineer Kurk."
The two of them came to the office of the Kurk Engineer. As soon as they entered the door, Sokov saw an officer sitting at the desk chatting with Kurk. Based on the three Venus stars on the other party's diamond-shaped collar seal, Sokov immediately recognized that this was a lieutenant general, but he couldn't figure out what department he belonged to.
Yakov quickly walked to the general, raised his hand and saluted, and said, "Comrade General, Captain Yakov comes to report, I obey your orders, please give instructions!"
"Hello, Captain Yakov!" The general stood up and shook hands with Yakov, and said politely: "I'm glad to see you here."
While the two were shaking hands, Yakov asked with a smile: "Comrade General, when did you come to Nizhny Novgorod? Why didn't I receive the notice?"
"I decided to come to Nizhny Novgorod temporarily, so I didn't inform you." After saying this, he turned his eyes to Sokov, "This is Major Sokov."
Although Sokov did not know the general, judging from Yakov's attitude towards him, this person must have come from the Weapons and Equipment Department. He raised his hand and saluted the other party, and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade General!"
"Major Sokov," the general shook hands with Sokov, and then said, "I think you may not know me yet, so I will introduce you to you. My name is Bragorov, and I belong to the Weapon Planning Commission..."
Before the other party could say anything, Sokov remembered who the other party was. When he shook hands, he asked excitedly: "You are the dean of Derrynsky Artillery Academy, right?"
"Yes, I am the dean of Derrynsky Artillery Academy." Lieutenant General Bragoravov couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard Sokov say another position, "Have you heard of me before?"
The reason why Sokov could remember Bragorav's name was entirely because of Kalashnikov. The father of AK47, after designing the first automatic rifle, went to the Derrynsky Artillery Academy for trial and evaluation, but was rejected by the review committee. However, this unsuccessful automatic rifle was highly praised by Lieutenant General Bragorav, and he personally recommended Kalashnikov to go to the Advanced Infantry Firearms School for further study, which enabled the classic Wuqiang of AK47 to be released.
But at this moment, in front of Bragorov himself, Sokov could only say perfunctorily: "Yes, I heard General Kazakov, the commander of the 16th Army artillery, mention you."
After listening to Sokov's words, Bragorav really thought that the major had heard his name in Kazakov. After nodding, he said to Kurk who was sitting beside him: "Comrade Engineer, we have important things to talk about. Can you avoid it for the time being?"
When Kurk heard Bragorov say this, he knew that he had important things to discuss with the two young officers, he stood up and said, "Comrade General, I am going to go to the drawing room next to me to see the newly drawn drawings, so I won't be with you anymore. You can chat slowly." When he left the office, he closed the door.
When there were only three people left in the house, Bragoravus pointed at the empty chair next to him and said, "You two are sitting down first, I have something to say to you."
After Sokov and Yakov sat down, Bragoravov looked at Yakov and said, "Captain Yakov, as a representative of Comrade Ustinov, I came here to learn about the two tasks of rocket propulsion system improvement and new rifle development. After researching the two companies, I am very satisfied with your work. Although we have encountered some small difficulties in the improvement of rocket propulsion system improvement, I believe that the relevant technicians will be able to overcome these difficulties soon."
After saying this, he turned his attention to Sokov again and said, "Comrade Major, what surprised me the most was your performance. The new rocket launcher you designed was originally surprising enough; I didn't expect that after coming to Nizhny Novgorod, you actually developed a new type of rifle. It was called... What did you call it? I forgot that word for a moment."
"Automatic rifle." Sokov quickly reminded him.
"Yes, yes, it is what you call an automatic rifle." Bragorav nodded and said, "Yesterday Comrade Ustinov informed me that Major Sokov had developed a new rifle and asked me to go to Nizhny Novgorod to learn about the situation. As soon as I got off the train, I rushed to the machinery factory and personally observed the shooting of this automatic rifle in their gun test field. The effect was much greater than my expectations. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought Ustinov's words were a bit exaggerated."
"Comrade General," Yakov and others said Bragorov, and asked, "Do you think this automatic rifle can be equipped with troops as soon as possible?"
Yakov's words silenced Bragorav. After a long time, he spoke: "Captain Yakov, it is undeniable that this new automatic rifle will be of great help to improve the combat effectiveness of our army after being equipped with the troops. However, our current production capacity is seriously insufficient, and it is very difficult to put this weapon into mass production in the short term."
Bragorov may be afraid that Sokov would be too concerned, so he explained to him specifically: "Major Sokov, although shortly after the outbreak of the war, many of our military-industrial enterprises transported the machinery and equipment and factory backbones in the factory to their original locations. However, these equipment cannot be put into production immediately after being unloaded, and there is also a process of re-site selection and installation. So much so that many military-industrial enterprises that have moved east have less than one-third of the production capacity before the war. Therefore, to produce this new automatic rifle, the time may be delayed indefinitely."
Sokov agrees with Bragoravv's statement very much. Many posts he has read before said that once the equipment of Soviet military-industrial enterprises was unloaded, they were immediately put into production next to the railway. This is just the author's imagination. Not to mention that many equipment cannot be reinstalled and cannot work, even the most common equipment such as lathes, milling machines, and planers cannot be produced if they cannot provide stable power supply.
It is precisely for this reason that when Sokov and Bragoravv finished speaking, they immediately continued: "Comrade General, I understand the difficulties faced by military-industrial enterprises now. As far as I know, not to mention that this newly developed automatic rifle cannot be mass-produced in a short period of time, even the production of the Popov submachine guns on the front line is very limited. So far, only a few troops have equipped this kind of powerful firepower weapons."
Seeing Sokov so reasonable, Bragorov smiled again on his face. He looked at Sokov and said, "Major Sokov, judging from the new rocket launcher and new automatic rifle you designed, you are a genius in the military industry. How about it, are you interested in working in the Weapons and Equipment Department?"
Ustinov once proposed to ask Sokov to work in the Weapons and Equipment Department, but Sokov refused. Bragoravov mentioned the old story at this moment, simply because he valued Sokov's ability and hoped to arrange him to work where he could better exert his abilities.
However, Sokov had already made up his mind that he would not work in the Weapons and Equipment Department no matter what. Not to mention that there is no opportunity to make achievements here, no matter how outstanding he performed, he would end up being a general in the end. It would be better to stay in the field troops and have more opportunities to make achievements. More importantly, there are only two new weapons under his jurisdiction. If he really goes to the Weapons and Equipment Department, he will no longer be able to "design" new weapons beyond this era.
It was precisely based on this consideration that Sokov immediately rejected the suggestion made by Bragoravov: "Comrade General, I designed weapons on a whim. I want to be a designer in the Weapons and Equipment Department. I am not that material myself. Relatively speaking, I feel that I prefer to stay on the front line."
"Comrade Major," although Sokov had clearly stated that he did not want to go to the Weapons and Equipment Department, Bragoravov was still reluctant to persuade: "The two weapons you designed are enough to prove your ability. If you are worried that you will not be able to design a better weapon in the future, I can arrange for you to study at the Advanced Military Mechanical Academy first, and then work at the Weapons and Equipment Department after you have mastered more professional knowledge. Look, how about this arrangement?"
"Comrade General, I still stick to my original opinion." Sokov was afraid that Bragorov would misunderstand what he meant, and thought he was retreating to advance, so he explained: "I feel that I am more suitable to stay on the front line and fight the invaders face to face."
Seeing that Sokov was stubborn and Bragoravov did not give up his final efforts, he spoke, "Comrade Major, this is related to your future. I hope you can think carefully when you go back. So, I will take the train to Moscow at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. If you change your mind, tell me your final decision before we set off."
After saying all this, Bragoravov ordered Yakov: "Captain Yakov, call the officers who are with you, and I want to ask how their work is going."
Yakov was about to leave the office, so Sokov naturally could not stay. He raised his hand to salute Bragoravov, and turned around and walked out of the office.
Since Yakov cannot leave for the time being, Sokov can only leave alone. When he just walked to the stairs, he met Kurk. The engineer saw that there was no one around and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Major, does General Bragoravov want you to go to the Weapons and Equipment Department?"
Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked, "Comrade Engineer, who did you listen to?"
"Who else can I hear? Of course I guessed it myself." Kurk shrugged and said to Sokov: "I have known Bragorav for a year or two. I know his character very well. And before you two came to the office, he mentioned you several times when he was chatting with me, saying that you are a rare talent. If you cannot summon you to the Weapons and Equipment Department, it is his biggest dereliction of duty..."
Kurk's words made Sokov realize that Bragorov was determined to win him, and if he had no right reasons, the chance of returning to the army would be very slim. What else Kurk said later, Sokov didn't hear clearly, and he couldn't even remember how he returned to the guesthouse.
Sokov lay on the bed in the guesthouse and was thinking in his mind: How should he refuse Bragoravov tomorrow so that he could give up the idea of ​​pulling himself into the Weapons and Equipment Department?
Farewell overnight and secretly returned to the army. As soon as this idea came out, Sokov denied it. He is currently on a business trip in Nizhny Novgorod as a temporary representative of the Weapons and Equipment Department. If he slips away quietly, he may be treated as a deserter if he is caught. Maybe he will become a dead man.
Chapter completed!