Red Moscow

  Chapter 197 Mysterious Journey (Part 2)

  Although Sokov didn't have much time to deal with Yakov, he still had some understanding of his character. Seeing that he was still unable to tell him his destination in Nizhny Novgorod, he could only guess secretly by himself.

For the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Sokov has a little understanding. In addition to the factory that produces "GAZ" cars, there are also aircraft factories, engine factories, machinery factories, steel factories and oil factories in the city. Organic synthesis factory and so on. When I go to Nizhny Novgorod this time, I will definitely not go to any automobile and aircraft factories, nor will I go to steel factories or petrochemical plants. The only places I can go are engine factories and machinery factories, maybe It was the propulsion system of the new rocket that needed to be perfected, so Yakov deliberately brought himself along.

  Thinking of this, he looked at Yakov, pretending to be nonchalant and asked: "Yakov, I don't know if we go to the engine factory or the machinery factory after Nizhny Novgorod?"

  Yakov was stunned by Sokov's words. He stared at Sokov with wide eyes and asked in surprise, "Misha, how did you know we were going to the engine factory?"

   Seeing that Yakov did not deny his guess, Sokov knew that the purpose of this trip was related to improving the propulsion system of the rocket. There are two ways to ensure the flight stability of the rocket flying in the air: one is the stability of the tail, and the other is the stability of the turbine rotation. The Katyusha rockets equipped with troops today belong to the former, while the rockets "designed" by themselves belong 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 already guessed the purpose of the trip, Yakov hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth. Anyway, in a few hours, he would meet someone from the engine factory at the train station. Even if he doesn't say anything, Sokov will be able to make a good guess at that time.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Yakov said: "Yes, you guessed right. The destination we went this time is indeed the engine factory. There is a production team in the factory that is responsible for rocket propulsion. Systematic. 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 again."

  The purpose of this trip, besides improving the propulsion system of the rocket, is there any other task, Yakov didn't say, and Sokov didn't ask. He knew very well in his heart that if Yakov could say this to himself, he had already risked punishment and leaked the secret to himself in advance. If you continue to ask, you will only embarrass your "old friend".

  Nizhny Novgorod is almost 500 kilometers away from Moscow. According to normal speed, it can be reached within seven hours. However, due to the bombing of certain sections by the German army, the train had to stop several times, waiting 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 pick-up personnel who had been waiting for a long time greeted them.

The pick-up staff should have been notified by Moscow a long time ago and knew that the leader of the team was a captain, so the soldier from the engine factory directly raised his hand to salute Yakov, the only captain in the crowd, and said in his mouth: "Hello, Captain Yakov, I'm Lieutenant Moshkov, the military representative of the engine factory."

   "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant." Yakov raised his hand and saluted the other party, and said apologetically, "The train is late and kept you waiting."

The lieutenant, whose face was flushed from the cold, heard Yakov say this, and quickly said with a smile: "It's okay, Captain Yakov, it's a time of war, and there will always be many unexpected things happening. We can understand this." After finishing speaking, he pointed to a person in casual clothes next to him, and introduced to Yakov, "This is Kurk, the engineer in the factory."

Yakov quickly stretched out his hand to the other party, and said politely: "Hello, Engineer Kurk." He may have considered that cooperation with Kurk will be indispensable in the next few days, so he pointed to Sokov said, "Let me introduce you. This is Major Sokov, and he designed the new weapons."

Kurk, who was originally indifferent, couldn't help his eyes lit up when he heard Yakov say that. He quickly held Sokov's hand and asked enthusiastically, "So that new weapon was designed by you. It's really disrespectful." After pausing for a moment, he asked angrily, "Comrade Major, are you a military engineer?"

"No, Comrade Kulk." Hearing Kulk's question, Sokov replied with some embarrassment, "I'm just an ordinary infantry battalion commander, and this new weapon was designed on a whim. "

The representative of the   army, Moshkov, was afraid that the conversation would be endless, so he hurriedly urged: "Comrade engineer, if you have anything to say, please go to the factory and talk about it, we still have to hurry."

The   army representative led a group of people out of the train station and boarded a remodeled bus parked outside the station. Seeing that everyone was present, the military representative nodded to the driver and said, "Okay, Comrade Driver, let's drive."

  Yakov, who was sitting next to Kurk, smiled and asked: "Comrade engineer, is this the vehicle used by the factory to pick up workers to and from get off work?"

"That's right, Comrade Captain, it's our factory car." Kulk replied with a smile, "Our factory area is about the size of a medium-sized city. many hours."

   Fortunately, the engine factory was not far from the station. After only ten minutes, the factory car drove to the two closed iron gates. A sergeant took two soldiers into the car to have a look, and after chatting with Moshkov for a while, he got off the factory car and ordered the soldiers on duty to open the gate and let the factory car in.

  When the factory car drove in through the open gate, Sokov saw with the help of the headlights that in addition to the two sandbag fortifications with machine guns at the door, there was also an anti-aircraft machine gun position inside the door. There are dozens of people who look like workers, forming a long queue in front of a small room next to the gate.

  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 those workers doing in line here?"

  Kulke heard Sokov's question and replied without looking back: "Those workers just got off work, and they can only leave the factory after being checked in the duty room."

  Yakov heard what Kulik said, and couldn't help interjecting: "The management of your factory is really strict."

"No way, Comrade Captain." Kulk replied with a serious expression: "We are an important defense unit, if there is no strict system, once German spies or saboteurs get in, it will cause incalculable losses to us. "

  The factory car stopped in front of a two-story building covered with a camouflage net, and Moshkov led everyone out of the car and walked into the building. Based on the layout inside, Sokov saw that this should be the guest house in the factory.

Moshkov took the key from the front desk clerk, came to Yakov, and said to him: "Comrade Captain, your accommodation has been arranged. On the second floor of the guest house, there are four double rooms and two single rooms. Human world." He quickly glanced at Sokov who was standing beside Yakov, and continued, "You and Comrade Major can live in a single room."

After waiting for Moshkov to finish speaking, Kurk also said to Yakov: "Comrade Captain, because the train is late, we must make some changes to our plan today. Go to your respective rooms first, put your luggage down, and then go to the Eat at the restaurant on the first floor. As for work, we can postpone it until tomorrow."

"Commanders, commanders," Yakov turned to the eight officers standing aside, and said to them, "Go back to your respective rooms immediately, put your luggage down, and then go to the dining room for dinner. After eating, we will start working immediately " Following the order, the officers immediately carried their luggage and followed the waiters in the guest house to the second floor.

  After Yakov and other officers left, he smiled and said to Sokov, "Misha, you probably don't have 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 are the same as those in the military camp. They are all rectangular tables with two rows of benches so that more people can sit. Sokov and Yakov sat down side by side, Kurk sat opposite them, and Moshkov ran to the kitchen and arranged for the kitchen staff to prepare dinner for the officers.

  Kurke looked at Yakov and asked: "Comrade Captain, do you think we should talk about work now? Or will we talk later in the office?"

   Regarding Kurk’s question, Yakov replied without hesitation: “It’s better to go to the office to talk. After all, this is a public place, and people come and go. It’s not good if the secret is leaked.”

  Although Kurk knew that this was an internal guest house, it would be difficult for ordinary people to enter here casually, but for the sake of safety, he agreed to Yakov's proposal.

  The officers came to the restaurant one after another from their respective rooms and sat down on both sides of the long table. Seeing that everyone was present and the dinner prepared in the kitchen was on the table, Kulk, the host, said loudly: "Eat, comrades!" He looked at his watch and added as if by the way, "The train is four hours late, you're probably hungry."

Because Yakov once said before dinner that he would work overnight, the officers ate very quickly. It took only five minutes to put the slices of bread, sliced ​​dry sausage, cheese, and barley porridge in front of them. And a bowl of red cabbage soup was wiped out.

   Seeing the officers finished their dinner so quickly, Kurk couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face: "My God, you eat like a war, and you finish it 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 very fast, because we don't know when the next battle will start, so we have to wait and see at any time." Be vigilant." After a moment's pause, he added, "Since we've finished eating, please take us to the office."

Everyone came to a 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, and hurried up to ask: "Engineer Kurk , is there anything I can do for you?"

Kulk pointed at the officers next to him, and said to the technician, "Take them to the drawing room No. 7 and look at the drawings we have drawn in the past two days." After the technician left with the group of officers, he rushed again. Yakov and Sokov said, "Come to my office, we need to discuss some details."

  Kurke's office is very large, in addition to the desk, there is also a long conference table. The conference table, like the desk, is full of all kinds of drawings. Kulk turned on the lamp on the table, pulled out a blueprint, pushed it in front of the two of them, and said, "Take a look, this is my latest idea."

  Sokov looked up and saw a sketch of a rocket. Before he could ask anything, Kulk had already said to the two of them: "Comrade commanders, you should know that a rocket usually consists of three parts: a warhead, a rocket engine, and a stabilizer. The warhead includes a fuze, a rocket Shell shells, explosives or other fillings. Rocket engines include ignition systems, propellants, combustion chambers, nozzles, etc. The rockets used in the Katyusha rocket launchers equipped by our army today are tail-type rockets, which are completely maintained by the tail The flight is stable."

   Speaking of which, 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?"

"That's right, that's right." Sokov nodded, and replied: "Because our existing fin folding technology is not perfect enough, the fin-stabilized rockets take up a lot of space, so it is not suitable to use a tube-type orientator. Therefore, I I feel that the new type of rocket should use a turbo-stabilized rocket, so that the gas ejected from the inclined nozzle can make the rocket rotate around the bomb axis at high speed, produce a gyroscopic effect, and keep the flight stable.”

   "Comrade Major," Kurk waited for Sokov to finish speaking, with an embarrassed expression on his face: "This is easy to say, but it is too difficult to do."

"Comrade engineer, there must be many unexpected difficulties in the development of new weapons." As the team leader this time, Yakov felt that it was time to speak out by himself at this time, so he interrupted Kurk's words, "weapon The equipment department entrusted your factory with such an important task out of trust in you. Are you going to live up to the trust of your superiors?"

  (end of this chapter)