red moscow

Chapter 2603

"During the Great Patriotic War, the United States provided large-scale military assistance to our country." After the two chatted for a while, Yakov suddenly changed the subject: "But they were always unwilling to provide us with the most advanced technology."

"Yes, that's right. During the Great Patriotic War, the United States provided us with huge military assistance. Without their help, it is still unknown whether we can survive the most difficult early stages of the war." Although Yakov is his good friend, Sokov is still cautious when it comes to some sensitive topics: "At least the probability of losing Moscow will be greatly increased."

"In addition to the bloody battles of our officers and soldiers, the assistance from the United States played an important role in our victory over Germany." Yakov repeated the topic again and then said, "Have you heard of the U.S. strategic bombers?"

"Yasha, although I'm in the Army, I've heard of the U.S. military's strategic bombers." Sokov said without hesitation: "The U.S. military's B-29 bomber, nicknamed the Super Fortress, is a propeller-type strategic bomber. I heard that our army is trying to copy it, but I don't know if there is a prototype."

Hearing Sokov say this, Yakov couldn't help but show a look of astonishment on his face: "Misha, how did you know such a top-secret thing?"

Yakov's question made Sokov feel uneasy. He didn't know how to explain this to Yakov. He couldn't tell him that he saw the information on the Internet in the future, because Yakov would definitely think he was crazy.

Fortunately, Yakov did not pursue the matter further, but continued: "Yes, our army is indeed imitating the US military's B-29 bomber. Although this is a secret, for us in the General Armament Department, there is nothing to keep secret."

Sokov asked tentatively: "Can you give me a brief introduction to the situation?" The reason he made this request was that he wanted to know how much Yakov knew about the imitation of the B-29 bomber, so that he could avoid being exposed when talking about this matter with others in the future.

"After the Great Patriotic War began, the United States provided various military assistance to my country under the Lend-Lease Act. Considering that our air force did not have long-range strategic bombers, my father repeatedly expressed his desire to obtain B-29 bombers to the United States, but was rejected. They were only willing to provide us with medium-sized bombers, fighters and transport aircraft. However, due to our weak technical foundation, it has been difficult for us to develop large bombers."

"Yasha, do you know why the US rejected your father's request?"

"Misha, tell me what you think."

"In the eyes of the Americans, my country and they have fought side by side against a common enemy, Germany, but they are always potential opponents. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to maintain my country's advantage in the technology of long-range bombers."

"Misha, you are right, I think so too." Yakov continued, "My father's requests to the United States were repeatedly rejected. Just when he felt there was no hope, a turning point came.

On July 1944, 7, a B-29 bomber with the number 42-6256, led by Captain Howard Jarrell of the U.S. Army, was damaged by anti-aircraft guns during its bombing of the island nation and had to make an emergency landing in Vladivostok, my country. As soon as the plane landed, it was detained by the airport security force.

接着在11月11日，另外一架编号42-6365的B-29轰炸机，完成对九州的夜间空袭后，也因为受损迫降到海参崴。11月21日，编号42-6358的B-29轰炸机受损后迫降海参崴。

In this way, within just four months, our army obtained three long-awaited and fully operational B-4 bombers. We arranged for all the American crew members to return to the West via Tehran in January 29, and the B-1945 bombers they were flying were left by us.

When my father learned that our army had three B-29 bombers, he was very happy and immediately decided to use the bomber as a model and spend two years researching and mass-producing our own strategic bombers! He personally ordered that the commander of the navy, Marshal Kuznetsov, be fully responsible for this strategic plan. "

Sokov recalled a movie he had seen in later life, in which a Soviet pilot, after being captured, seized a German bomber and fled back to the Soviet-controlled area with a group of prisoners of war. Before seizing the German bomber, the most headache for the Soviet pilots was that the operation method of the German bomber was different from that of the Soviet bomber, and all the words on the dashboard were in German. After they tried every possible way to figure out what the German words on the dashboard meant, they flew away from the German airport.

"Yasha, the B-29 bomber is a completely new model for our pilots. I'm afraid it's not that easy to fly." Sokov said, "Besides, the text on the instrument panel is all in English. If our pilots take off rashly, it's easy to get into trouble."

"Misha, you're right." Yakov nodded and said, "After Marshal Kuznetsov accepted the task assigned by my father, he arranged for the Navy's chief test pilot, Semyon Reidel, to conduct a secret test flight of the seized B-29 bomber. Semyon Reidel was fluent in English. During the war, he was responsible for flying a large number of aircraft from the United States to the front. Coupled with several operating manuals found on the B-29 bomber, it only took him a few weeks to figure out the operating principles of the B-29. With the help of a Russian-English dictionary, he and a group of technicians carefully checked various parts of the B-29 and posted Russian instructions on each switch and system."

"If our country can imitate our own strategic bomber through the B-29 bomber, this test pilot named Semyon Reidel has made an indelible contribution."

"After a large number of test flights, Ryder became more and more familiar with the performance of the aircraft. In the report sent by Marshal Kuznetsov to the Supreme Command, he stated that the B-29 bomber was the most advanced fighter in the world. Its lightweight aluminum alloy, pressurized cabin for pilots, remote-controlled aircraft guns, high-power engines, Norton bombing observation instruments, radar, electronic systems and all other instruments far exceeded the level of my country's aviation technology.

It was this report that convinced my father to copy the B-29 bomber, and he ordered Marshal Kuznetsov to arrange for personnel to fly the B-29 bomber to Moscow to carry out secret copying work at a special location.

"Before our country acquired the B-29 bomber, I seem to remember that there was a project to develop its own long-range bomber. Is that right?"

"Yes." Yakov said, "On June 6 of this year, our country officially launched a four-engine bomber program code-named 'B-22', which was later officially renamed Tu-4, a top-secret program to copy the B-4. My father also ordered the cancellation of the homemade long-range bomber program that had just been launched in January this year, and appointed Tupolev, the original chief engineer of the program, as the chief engineer of Tu-29. The entire replication plan was carried out at the Central Airport outside Moscow. The three B-1 bombers we seized were used for disassembly and mapping, one for reference, and one for test flight.

The B-42 bomber No. 6365-29 was disassembled and mapped. Each disassembled part was carefully measured and photographed for reproduction. Special care was taken when disassembling various instruments and control systems. Countless lines were numbered, labeled, and recorded. After that, these parts were handed over to the design team for imitation. my country's aviation industry was under tremendous pressure. It was very difficult to replicate about 10 aviation parts that met quality requirements on time. The 29 parts of the B-105000 bomber required 40 sketches.

In order to ensure that this top-secret copying work would not be leaked, my father arranged for Beria to be responsible for the security of the project. "

At this point, Yakov looked at Sokov and said meaningfully: "But I didn't expect that even with such tight security measures, you still heard the news." "Once when I was flying over Moscow, I saw a lot of people busy at the airport on the ground, but there were no planes nearby." Sokov began to make up stories to convince Yakov: "So I judged at the time that the airport below must be engaged in the research and development of some new aircraft. I just asked casually just now, and I didn't expect to guess right."

After hearing Sokov's far-fetched explanation, Yakov did not have any doubts. After all, he had just said that if this top-secret work was known to outsiders, it would be a major leak. But for an important member of the General Armament Department like Sokov, it was not a big deal.

"The research and development work has been going on for half a year. Even if a prototype is to be produced, it may not be that fast." Yakov said: "Since my father asked them to complete the imitation work within two years, it means that if we want to see a successfully imitated long-range bomber, we have to wait until at least July 47."

Sokov remembers that the first Tu-4 aircraft was launched in 1947 and its first test flight was carried out in May of the same year.

8月，图-4在莫斯科航空节上首次公开亮相，包括西方国家驻苏的武官都应邀参观了苏军的第一架战略轰炸机。3架图-4轰炸机和1架架图-70客机从300米低空中飞过主席台，其中1架图-4由空军元帅格罗沃诺夫亲自驾驶。当这3架图-4出现在人们眼前的时候，许多西方的武官们还以为是当初被苏方扣押的美军B-29轰炸机。

Starting in 1948, the Tu-4 bomber entered service in the Soviet Strategic Air Force, and from then on the Soviet Army truly possessed strategic bombing capabilities.

The chief designer Tupolev did not completely copy the B-29 bomber during the imitation process. He creatively improved some important parts, such as radar, ammunition and engine. The most important one was the engine, which was replaced by the Soviet-developed ASH-72K, which produced 2300 horsepower, which was greater than the original engine of the B-29. This was one of the reasons why Western countries were surprised that the Tu-4 had a longer range and flew faster.

"By the way, Yasha, I thought of something."

"whats the matter?"

"Comrade Ustinov went to the Far East. At first I thought he went to Chelyabinsk, but when you mentioned the B-29 bomber, I thought of another possibility."

Yakov laughed twice and said first: "Do you think our army has seized new B-29 bombers in the Far East?"

"We can't rule out this possibility." Although Sokov knew that the Soviets had used the seized American B-29 bombers to copy the famous Tu-4 bomber, he was not sure how many American planes were seized. Therefore, he associated Ustinov's sudden trip to the Far East with the seizure of new American B-29 bombers.

"To be honest, I don't know either." Yakov said helplessly, "After all, Comrade Ustinov is our superior. It is not reasonable for a superior to tell his subordinates the purpose of his trip. So whether he went to Chelyabinsk or the Far East, we don't know."

The two were chatting when there was a knock on the door.

Yakov stood up and opened the door. Outside the door was a middle-aged man in military uniform. When he saw Yakov, he said respectfully, "Comrade General, the drawings you requested have been delivered. Please sign for them."

Yakov picked up a pen and signed the book provided by the other party. Then he took a file bag and thanked the other party: "Thank you!"

"You're welcome. This is what I should do." The middle-aged man said and turned and left.

Yakov took the briefcase and walked to his desk. He wanted to open it, but when he looked at Sokov sitting opposite him, he hesitated for a moment and then threw the briefcase directly on the desk.

Sokov saw the hesitation on Yakov's face and realized that the document bag he had just received must contain confidential documents, which he was not qualified to know. If he continued to stay here, it would only affect Yakov's work, so he stood up and said to Yakov: "Yasha, it seems that you still have work to do, so I won't bother you."

Yakov nodded slightly, then said: "I'll take you there!"

When he sent Sokov to the door, he emphasized: "Misha, New Year's Day is coming in a few days. If possible, you'd better go home and spend time with Asia. It was understandable that you couldn't go home for New Year's Day during the war. But now that the war is over and we have started a peaceful life again, it would be a bit unreasonable not to be with Asia during the New Year."

"Yasha, it's not that I don't want to go home, but I can't go back." Sokov said awkwardly: "You know, I submitted my design proposal several days ago, but to date, I haven't received any response. I don't know whether the sample gun has been produced, whether it has been tested, and so on. A series of questions."

"Yes, this is indeed a problem." Yakov said, "But there are exceptions to everything. Even if Comrade Ustinov is not here, your design work has been completed, so it shouldn't be a big problem for you to go home. I have something else to do today. When I'm free tomorrow, I'll ask for you and try to get you home before the New Year."

"Thank you so much." Sokov grabbed Yakov's hand, shook it with him, and said gratefully: "If you can really go home before the New Year, Asiya and I will thank you."

"Misha, don't be so polite, we are friends." Yakov said with a smile: "If you hadn't rescued me from the prisoner-of-war camp, it is still unknown whether I would be alive today."

As Sokov turned and walked towards his office, he thought of another question: General Chernyakhovsky survived in East Prussia and was even promoted to marshal, but he died in a plane crash not long ago. In real history, Yakov died in a German prisoner-of-war camp on April 1943, 4. Although he is still alive and well because of his appearance, who can guarantee that the powerful correction power of history will not erase him directly one morning?