Chapter 1796 Ustinov whispers late at night and the changing situation
There was a special situation in the Russian army during the Tsarist Russia era. The lower-ranking officers tended to be more strategic and adept at fighting. As the level increased, the upper-level officers basically became nothing more than a loser.
Stalin saw that almost all the outstanding commanders of the Soviet Red Army at the beginning came from the grassroots level. Unfortunately, most of them were promoted by Trotsky and Tukhachevsky and did not really surrender to him.
Stalin also promoted many people, but unfortunately there were too few talents.
This Ustinov is more than just a talent?! He is simply a rare genius! Age is not a problem at all. Instead, because he is young, he has more time and energy, and a strong subjective initiative that older people generally lack.
中. He serves as the minister responsible for weapons production. Firstly, he is a weapons developer himself. Secondly, he has the natural ability to manage others. Although he is young, others are convinced by him.
Ustinov's work was so good that Stalin wished he could give him more medals.
Of course, now Stalin summons such a young man to the Kremlin, the biggest purpose is to listen to this expert's opinion.
Stalin himself was not an ordnance expert, so he invited important figures from all over the alliance who knew about small arms, and the final result of their discussion was basically Stalin's final attitude.
Now, after Ustinov read the report documents, his eyes widened to prove his inner shock.
This special expression made Stalin's eyes light up.
"Comrade Ustinov, how do you feel now?"
"It's... it's incredible."
"Oh?" Stalin stood up without entering.
At this moment, Ustinov's eyes were still wide open, and he stood up solemnly with a trembling voice. He suppressed the tremors in his body: "Comrade leader, if...if the contents of this lengthy report are completely true. I think
…”
"What do you think?!" Stalin asked eagerly.
"The description of Belekov's prototype gun in this report is so perfect. It is simply the best and most suitable firearm that I dream of, suitable for our army. I think I should have a deep talk with him."
"What about you, Comrade Fedorov?"
The old Fedorov nodded deeply, expressing his extremely high interest in this matter.
In this way, while Yang Mingzhi was still running wildly on the military column, five Soviet ordnance research and development "big guys" were ordered to gather in the Kremlin. Not only that, there were also other young weapons research and development personnel who were also rushing.
On the way here.
There was even a young man named Kalashnikov who was riding a train all the way from Siberia to Moscow. Although Kalashnikov resumed research and development of small arms after recovering from his injury, he was not on Stalin's invitation list.
This time Kalashnikov was invited by his teacher Fedorov. Even if he could not participate in any important activities, Fedorov intended to bring young people together to do some scientific research discussions with each other.
Even though Kalashnikov is only 23 years old this year, Fedorov feels that his extremely young student is the successor to his career, as if he is his "little son."
"I also want to hear the young general's opinion." Fedorov replied cautiously.
"Well, he will arrive soon. Before that, Comrade Ustinov, I will give you the report on the new firearms. You can make some preparations first. You will wait in the palace tomorrow night.
"
In this way, when other firearms design experts were arranged to stay in villas or hotels, Ustinov got a new task.
As the People's Commissar of Arms and Equipment of the Soviet Union, Ustinov enjoyed extremely high treatment, so he had his own villa in Moscow, although the villa was hardly used.
After receiving the report submitted by the Siberian Military District, Ustinov showed great caution. When he returned to his official residence, he began to read it carefully, looking for the key information hidden in the document as an expert.
This reading was incredible. The data on paper was so promising that it was hard for me, an expert, to believe it. However, the commander of the Siberian Military District personally took action and fired six hundred rounds in a row with the new rifle, until the handguard was blackened.
This incident in itself fully proves that the commander of the military region has nothing to brag about. It also proves from the side that the quality of the new gun is at least pretty good.
But another piece of data about time was what shocked him the most.
From the drawing to the shooting range test of the finished product, it takes less than a week. Their research and development speed is very fast, and isn’t the production speed of the factories in Siberia also faster?
The report is very clear. Although multiple factories are involved in the manufacturing of prototype guns, each factory provides extremely limited workers and equipment. Even the limited equipment can be produced quickly. If the prototype gun is deemed capable of mass production, the entire alliance will
Can many factories in China be put into production quickly?
The submachine gun factory in Novosibirsk was responsible for most of the work of prototype gun production, but that factory did not exist before the war. If you think about it carefully, it was a group of new factories that quickly completed the production of a new type of firearms.
The commander of the military region personally stated that the new gun has excellent performance and high quality, and the factory can produce it quickly. This is the core of the report.
Ustinov is responsible for supervising the weapons production of the entire Soviet Union. It is impossible for him to pay attention to every detail. But he is a firearms designer, so naturally he can't help but be particularly concerned about the Soviet army's individual weapons and equipment.
He has great power and can even decide whether a cutting-edge weapon can be mass-produced based on his own opinion.
Ustinov is self-aware of heavy war weapons such as artillery and aircraft. Regarding such weapons, he will widely listen to the opinions of his colleagues and decide in a "democratic" manner which heavy weapons should be mass-produced.
In terms of firearms, Ustinov now feels that he already has a high say in the People's Commissariat of Defense. For example, a year ago, Voroshilov and others jointly requested the country to adjust the SVT40 replacement plan and change it to
The mass production of Mosin Nagant will never happen again.
It was already late at night. After reviewing all the reports, Ustinov put down his glasses.
"Ah! Weapons should be a consumable product that can be mass-produced, have enough performance to complete the task, and can be mass-produced in a war environment. Such weapons are the best."
"That's not all. In order to have stronger combat effectiveness as much as possible on these basis, the individual weapons of the entire army must realize automation sooner or later."
"Berekov, who are you? How can someone like you exist in China? You came to our Soviet Union just to bring about change?"
"Bazookas, automated rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades, you used cheap and low-cost means to contribute weapons with excellent performance to our country. You! You...what other magical things can you come up with."
Ustinov, who was alone, talked to himself for a long time. He finally turned off the desk lamp and told his deputies and guards that their "night shift" was over. After ordering them to take care of the documents sent by the leader, he returned to his bedroom.
.
The thirty-four-year-old man was lying on the big soft bed, his mind was very clear, and he was tossing and turning about tomorrow's events.
Belekov, who is only four years younger than himself, will go straight to the Kremlin as soon as he gets off the train tomorrow! What will the meeting with that person be like?
"Damn it! I really should have a good drink with him, right here. Berekov, I hope your drinking ability is as excellent as your talent..."
Yang Mingzhi knew that Stalin attached great importance to the new gun and actually invited many experts, all of whom were the most famous figures.
Yang Mingzhi was also highly interested in Ustinov, who was only four years older than him, and would definitely meet him soon. However, he could not have imagined that he would meet him on the evening of September 29th.
to this person.
In fact, for Stalin, new guns were not absolutely important. It was certainly a good thing that Belekov could develop new weapons. However, behind his status as a weapons research expert, he was also a combat expert.
Previous information shows that this man from a foreign country had an incredible understanding of this war, and many of his grand strategic ideas were highly consistent with those of Vasilevsky, the army's chief of staff.
This result always made Stalin both excited and regretful.
It's such a pity that such a talented person is still essentially Chinese. Taking Soviet citizenship is like putting a rein on a horse, it's just a means of control.
Belekov is a smart man, and current indications are that he needs to benefit from himself to accomplish his goals.
Maybe this man can meet Zhukov, and there is an opportunity now.
Anyway, he himself is about to arrive in Moscow. After arriving in the capital, it is impossible for him to move freely.
Of course, Stalin was eager to handle the new gun himself and feel for himself whether its capabilities were real. After this matter was completed, Ustinov's opinion was very important as to whether the new gun could be put into production. Before the evaluation was completed, everything was still in doubt.
is an unknown quantity.
Regardless of the outcome, Berekov cannot leave immediately after the matter is over.
There is still a meeting waiting for him, at which time Berekov must participate in this meeting as the lieutenant general commander.
After all, it is already the end of September, and the battle in Stalingrad and nearby areas is becoming increasingly stalemate. The German offensive is extremely aggressive, and the Soviet army is also resisting resolutely. Judging from the current situation, the Soviet army's resistance is too difficult, and Stalin will inevitably have a great impact.
The worry is that the war is unpredictable. Under the current situation, the German army is indeed capable of occupying the entire Stalingrad. It depends entirely on the 62nd Army's spare human lives to fill the gap. The German army currently only occupies the commanding heights of Mamayev Hill.
The two large residential areas on the right bank of the Volga River are still basically under the control of the Soviet army. The German army occupies the commanding heights, and the tactical advantage of being commanding is too strong.
Due to this situation, an emergency meeting was held five days ago, and Zhukov called to explain his views.
Zhukov described the current war situation as the decisive battle of Borodino in 1812. In that battle a hundred years ago, the French army occupied the commanding heights in the center of the battlefield and used artillery to fire wildly, causing the Russian army to pay a heavy price before reversing the situation.
The war situation took a turn for the worse, and the battle ultimately failed.
Therefore, Zhukov's order to Chuikov's 62nd Army was that the troops in the right bank urban area should do their best to defend the current control area while moving towards Mamayev in order to regain this strategic commanding height.
If Zhukov only has this opinion on the war situation, it would be too superficial.
Zhukov has always had grander ideas. Even though he is now transferred to the south and personally sits in charge of the army to direct the strategic decisive battle in the Stalingrad area, he has always been concerned about the war situation in the north.
At present, the Soviet army still firmly controls the Rzhev salient that was recovered in August. As the salient troops repelled two German counterattacks in early September, Zhukov believes that the German army lacks the ability to continue the counterattack.
Why? Since the German army was unable to capture Stalingrad in early September as planned, and the war turned into a war of attrition, the German army had to withdraw mobile units from other battlefields. So withdrawing troops from the north is the fastest shortcut.
What's more, the current situation is that the main force of the German army in the north is the Ninth Army. Commander Model is said to be very good at defensive warfare. Zhukov, Voroshilov, and other members of the People's Committee of National Defense all believe that the current strategic intention of the German army in the north is defense.
.
What does this mean? Zhukov and Vasilevsky hit it off immediately. Since the German army has adopted a defensive posture, it means that they are fully supporting the southern battlefield.
The German army only hoped that the Soviet army would not launch a counterattack in order to break the situation on the northern battlefield.
If benevolence is rewarded, then the Soviet army will launch a strategic counterattack. If the German Ninth Army in the Vyazma salient can be surrounded and annihilated, they may be able to recapture Smolensk at once! In this way, the Soviet army will
It wrested part of the strategic initiative from the German army.
This plan is still under conception, not to mention that the German army can also guess this idea.
After listening to Vasilevsky's opinion, Stalin believed that launching a strategic offensive campaign in the north, whether it failed or not, would greatly reduce the pressure on the war situation in the south.
If an attack is to be launched, the attacker's goal is of course victory.
Vasilevsky and Zhukov are currently still commanding the Battle of Stalingrad in the south. They have no skills at all, so the plan to start a campaign in the north is currently just an idea.
However, this is an idea that can be put into practice!
Stalin planned to temporarily fly Zhukov back to Moscow from Stalingrad to take the lead in formulating a campaign plan to crush Model's German Ninth Army. Regarding this meeting, the commander of the Western Front Konev and the commander of the Kalinin Front Purkaev both
participate.
Logically speaking, this would be a meeting involving senior generals at the level of the Soviet front army commander. Yang Mingzhi, a group army commander with no real power, was not qualified to participate.
Stalin had his own considerations. With his perceptual knowledge, this young man was likely to come up with some constructive opinions. Furthermore, Berekov was not a complete outsider.
Conclusive evidence shows that the German Ninth Army entrenched in Vyazma, including the 100th Army, has a total strength of 40,000.
Belekov commanded the Battle of Gomel in the swamps of Belarus, and had a tragic battle with this German army. His insights may be of great help to Zhukov and others.
Under the cover of air-raid balloons, the Kremlin is planning a great counterattack plan. It seems that the German army is still maintaining its offensive, and even has a tendency to quickly break through the Caucasus Mountains. It seems that if they work harder, the Soviet army will be unable to hold on and completely collapse.
.
The German army was focused on its own operations. The staff of Wolfsburg had their eyes fixed on the huge battlefield in the Volga River Basin, but they ignored the troop mobilization behind the Soviet Union and the massive training of new recruits.
Zhukov received Stalin's secret order. He will fly back to Moscow in early October to explain clearly the strategic plan to "solve the German problem in Vyazma at once" mentioned on the phone so that subordinate units can start mobilizing troops and materials.
The time of departure has not yet been specified, so Zhukov had to hand over the command of the Stalingrad troops to Vasilevsky. He began to study the current war situation in the Vyazma area and conduct deductions in his mind.
In August, it was the counterattack personally directed by Zhukov that successfully liberated Rzhev and forced the German front to have a hard nut to crack, the Vyazma salient.
After a month of training, the strength of the troops there should have recovered well. Zhukov was quite confident. Taking advantage of the fierce battle in the south where the German army's attention was focused, he could gnaw out Vyazma in one go. Would he still fail?!