There was a special situation in the Russian army in the Tsarist Russian era. The lower the officers were often more strategic and good at fighting. As the level increased, when they reached the upper-level officers, they basically became a bag of wine.

Almost all the outstanding commanders of the Soviet Red Army that Stalin saw from the beginning came from the grassroots. Unfortunately, most of them were promoted by Trotsky and Tukhachevsky, and they did not really surrender to themselves.

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! His age is not a problem at all. Instead, he devotes himself to his work because he is young, and he has more time and energy, and the strong subjective initiative that the elderly generally lack. He serves as the minister in charge of weapon production. First, he is a weapon developer, and second, he is born with the ability to manage others. Although he is young, others are convinced.

Ustinov did a very good job, and Stalin wanted to give him a few more medals.

Of course, Stalin now summons such a young man to the Kremlin, and his biggest purpose is to listen to the opinions of this expert.

Stalin himself was not an ordnance expert. This time, he invited important figures in the entire alliance to understand light weapons. The final result of their discussion was basically Stalin's final attitude.

Now, after reading the report documents, Ustinov widened his eyes to prove his inner shock.

This special expression made Stalin's eyes lit up.

"Comrade Ustinov, how do you feel now?"

"It's really... it's incredible."

"Oh?" Stalin stood up without entering.

At this moment, Ustinov still widened his eyes, stood up and trembled with a serious voice. He pressed his body trembling: "Comrade Leader, if... if the content of this lengthy report is completely true. I think..."

"What do you think?!" Stalin asked urgently.

"The description of Berekov's sample gun is so perfect. It is simply the best and most suitable gun I dreamt of for our army. I think I should have a deep conversation with him."

"What about you? Comrade Federov?"

The elderly Federov nodded deeply, indicating his extremely high interest in this matter.

In this way, when Yang Mingzhi was still running on the military line, five Soviet ordnance R&D "big bosses" were ordered to gather in the Kremlin. Not only that, but other young weapons R&D personnel were also on the way.

There was even a young man named Kalashnikov who was riding a train from Siberia to Moscow. Although Kalashnikov began to develop light weapons after he recovered from his injury, he was not on Stalin's invitation list. This time Kalashnikov was invited by his teacher Federov. Even if he could not participate in any important activities, Federov also intends to match the young people together to do some scientific research and discussions with each other.

Even though Kalashnikov is only 23 years old this year, Federov feels that his extremely young student is the successor of his career, just like his "little son".

"I would also like to hear from the young general." Federov replied cautiously.

"Well, he will arrive soon. Before that, Comrade Ustinov, I will hand you the report on the new type of firearms, and you will make some preparations first. Wait until tomorrow night, you will wait in the palace."

In this way, when other gun design experts were arranged to stay in the villa or hotel, Ustinov received a new task.

As the People's Commissar of the Soviet Union's Weapons and Equipment, Ustinov enjoyed extremely high treatment, so he owned his own villa in Moscow, although the villa was hardly used.

After receiving the report submitted by the Siberian Military Region, Ustinov was extremely cautious. When he returned to the official residence, he began to read it carefully, and as an expert, he searched for the key information hidden in the document.

This reading is amazing. The data on paper is too gratifying, which makes it hard for him, an expert to believe. However, the commander of the Siberian Military Region personally took action and fired 600 shots in a row, until the guardrail was blackened. This incident itself fully proves that the commander of the military region has no need to brag about anything. It also proves from the side that the quality of the new gun is at least good.

And another data about time is what shocked him the most.

From drawings to finished products, the shooting range test takes only one week. Their R&D speed is very fast. Isn’t the production speed of factories in Siberia faster?

The report clearly states that although multiple factories have participated in the manufacturing of sample guns, each factory provides extremely limited workers and equipment. Even limited equipment can be produced quickly. If sample guns are determined to be able to be produced on a large scale, can many factories in the entire alliance be put into production quickly?

The submachine gun factory in Novosibirsk City undertakes most of the work of sample 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 gun.

The commander of the military region personally stated that the new gun was excellent in performance and high-quality, and the factory could produce quickly, which was the core of the report.

Ustinov was responsible for supervising the weapons production work of the entire Soviet Union, and he could not pay attention to everything. However, he was born in the design of guns, so he naturally couldn'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 new weapon can be mass-produced based on his own opinion.

Ustinov is self-aware of heavy war weapons such as artillery, aircraft, etc. He will widely listen to his colleagues' opinions and determine the mass production of heavy weapons in a "democratic" way.

In terms of firearms, Ustinov now feels that he has a high voice in the People's Committee of National Defense. For example, a year ago, Voroshilov and others jointly asked the country to adjust the svt40 dressing plan and change it to mass production of Mosinnagan, which is no longer possible.

It was already late at night. After reviewing all the reports, Ustinov put down his glasses.

"Ah! Weapons should be a consumable. They must be able to be produced on a large scale, have sufficient performance to complete tasks, and can be produced on a large scale in a war environment. Such weapons are the best."

"It's not just that. We must have as strong combat effectiveness as possible on these basis, and the individual weapons of the entire army must be automated sooner or later."

"Belekov, who are you? How could a person like you exist in China? You came to our Soviet Union to bring about change?"

"Rocket launchers, automated rifles, and rocket-boosted grenades, you have used cheap and low-cost means to contribute excellent weapons to our country. You! You... can you...produce something magical."

Ustinov, who was alone, said a lot to himself. Finally, he turned off the table lamp and asked the deputy and the guards to finish their own "night shift". He ordered them to take care of the documents sent by the leader and return to his bedroom.

At the age of thirty-four, he was lying on the soft big bed, his whole mind was very clear, and he tossed and turned around tomorrow.

Berekov, this brother who is four years younger than him, will get off the train and head straight to the Kremlin tomorrow! What will happen to the meeting with that person?

"Damn it! I really deserve a good drink with him, right here. Berekov, I hope your alcoholism is as good as your talents, and it is excellent..."

Yang Mingzhi knew that Stalin attached great importance to the matter of the new gun, and even 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 soon meet this person, but he could not have imagined that he would meet this person on the evening of September 29th.

In fact, for Stalin, the new gun is not absolutely important. It is of course a good thing for Berekov to develop new weapons. However, behind his identity as a weapon research expert, he is also a combat expert.

Past information shows that this man from a foreign country had an extraordinary understanding of this war, and his many ideas on his grand strategy were highly consistent with the military chief of staff, Wasseylevsky.

Such a result has always made Stalin excited and regretful.

It’s a pity that such a talent is essentially a Chinese. Joining Soviet citizenship is like putting a rein on a horse, just a means of control.

Berekov is a smart man, and the current signs indicate that he needs to take benefits from himself to accomplish his purpose.

Maybe this man could meet Zhukov, and now he will have a chance.

Anyway, he is about to arrive in Moscow, and after he arrives in the capital, he will not be able to move freely.

Of course, Stalin was ready to take care of the new gun himself and see if its ability was true. After this matter was finished, whether the new gun could be put into production, Ustinov's opinion was very important. Before completing the evaluation, everything was still unknown.

Regardless of the outcome, when things ended, Berekov could not leave immediately.

There is another meeting waiting for him, when he, Berekov, must participate in the meeting as Lieutenant General.

After all, it was already the end of September, and the battle between Stalingrad and the nearby areas was becoming increasingly stalemate. The German army's offensive arrogance was extremely arrogant, and the Soviet army was also resolutely resisting. Judging from the current situation, the Soviet army's resistance was too difficult, and Stalin was inevitably worried. It is said that the war was impermanent. In the current situation, the German army indeed has the ability to occupy the entire Stalingrad. It depends entirely on the life of the 62nd Army's continuous efforts to fill it. The German army currently only occupied the commanding heights of Mamayev.

The two large residential areas on the right bank of the Volga River are now basically under the control of the Soviet army, but the German army has occupied the commanding heights and its condescending tactical advantage is too strong.

In this situation, Zhukov called to explain his views during an emergency meeting held five days ago.

Zhukov described the current situation as the decisive battle of Borodino in 1812. The battle a hundred years ago was when the French army occupied the commanding heights at the center of the battlefield and fired wildly with cannons, which caused the Russian army to pay a terrible price to reverse the situation and eventually the battle failed.

Therefore, Zhukov gave Cuikov an order to the 62nd Army, which was that the troops in the right bank urban area would do their best to defend the current controlled area while moving towards Mamayev in order to regain this strategic commanding height.

If Zhukov only had this opinion on the battle situation, it would be too superficial.

Zhukov has always had a bigger idea. Even though he has been transferred to the south and personally took charge of the army to command the strategic decisive battle in the Stalingrad region, he has always been concerned about the situation in the north.

At present, the Soviet army is still firmly controlling the Lezhev protrusion that was recovered in August. As the protrusion troops repelled two German counterattacks in early September, Zhukov believes that the German army has lacked the ability to continue counterattacks.

Why? Since the German army was unable to take Stalingrad in early September as planned, the war turned into a war of attrition, and the German army had to draw out mobile troops from other battlefields. Then the quickest shortcut to pull out troops from the north.

What's more, the main force of the German army in the north is the Ninth Army, and the 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 Huasilevsky hit it off. Since the German army has put on a defensive posture, it means they are fully supporting the southern battlefield.

The German army only hoped that the Soviet army would not launch a counterattack to break the situation on the northern battlefield.

If we seek benevolence and get benevolence, then the Soviet army will launch a strategic counterattack. If the German Ninth Army of the Viazima protrusion can be surrounded and annihilated, they may be able to recover Smolensk in an instant! In this way, the Soviet army seized part of the strategic initiative from the German army.

The plan is still in the concept, not to mention that the German army can guess this concept.

After listening to Huasilevsky's opinion, Stalin believed that launching a strategic offensive battle in the north would greatly reduce the pressure on the southern battle situation, regardless of failure or not.

If an attack is to be launched, the purpose of the attacker is of course to win.

Huasilevsky and Zhukov are still commanding the Battle of Stalingrad in the south, and they are unable to do anything, so the plan to start a battle in the north is just an idea.

However, this is an idea that can be put into practice!

Stalin's plan ordered Zhukov to fly back to Moscow from Stalingrad to take the lead in formulating a battle plan to smash Moder's Ninth Army. Regarding the meeting, the commander of the Western Front, Konev, and the commander of the Kalinin Front, Pulkaev, will participate.

Logically speaking, this would be a meeting where senior generals at the level of commander-level Soviet Army, and Yang Mingzhi, who had no real power, was not qualified to participate.

Stalin had his own considerations. With his emotional perception, this young man was likely to put forward some constructive insights. Furthermore, Berekov was not a complete outsider.

Conclusive evidence shows that the 9th German Army, which was entrenched in Viazima, had a total force of up to 40,000.

Berekov commanded the Battle of Gomel in the swamps of Belarus, and a fierce battle broke out with the German army. His insights may be of great help to Zhukov and others.

The Kremlin, which is under the cover of the air balloon, is planning a great counterattack plan here. Don’t see that the German army still maintains its offensive and even has a tendency to quickly break through the Caucasus Mountains, as if with a harder effort, the Soviet army will not be able to stand up and collapse in a complete manner.

The German army focused on their own operations. The staff of Wolfburg were staring at the huge battlefield in the Volga River Basin, but ignored the mobilization of troops in the rear of the Soviet Union and the training of a large number of new recruits.

Zhukov received a secret order from Stalin that he would fly back to Moscow in early October and explain the strategic plan to "solve the Viazima-Germany issue at one time" on the phone so that his subordinates could start mobilizing troops and supplies.

The time of departure has not been specified yet, so Zhukov had to hand over the command of the Stalingrad troops to Vasislevsky. He began to study the current situation in the Viazima area and deduce it in his mind.

In August, it was Zhukov's counterattack commanded by himself, which successfully liberated Lezhev, forcing a tough and hard-hit Viazima protrusion on the German front.

After a month of cultivation, the strength of the troops there should be well recovered. Zhukov was quite confident. Taking advantage of the fierce battle between the German army and chewing off the hard bone of Viajima in one breath, will he still fail?!
Chapter completed!