red moscow

Chapter 2914 Weapons Expert
When the two men were still more than 20 meters away from the tent, Khabarov suddenly stopped and turned to Sokov and said, "Misha, I want to ask you something."

Sokov looked at Khabarov in surprise: "What's the matter?"

"Do you think a time machine can be developed in the future?" Khabarov asked without thinking, "Can people travel through time and space and go back to the past?"

Sokov was confused by Khabarov's question. He didn't understand why the other party asked such a ridiculous question. He didn't give his answer immediately, but asked back: "What do you think?"

"I think it's impossible to build a time machine in the future, and it's impossible for someone to travel through time and space back to the past." Khabarov said according to his own thoughts: "According to Einstein's theory of relativity, time and space form an indivisible whole. Although time will be distorted under the influence of matter and energy, the direction of time flow is irreversible.

Stephen Hawking, a famous physicist, also believes that it is very likely that humans will not have built a time machine in the future. He held a banquet that was only open to "future people". He sent out invitations in advance, stating the time, location and dress code, but did not disclose the information before the banquet. Instead, he handed the invitations to the government for safekeeping and asked them to send them out after the banquet. He assumed that if future people mastered the technology of time travel, they should be able to go back to the past through wormholes or other means to attend the banquet. As a result, no one showed up on the day of the banquet, so he thought this indirectly proved that time travel is not feasible. "

After Khabarov finished speaking, Sokov asked with a fake smile: "Do you think the theory proposed by these two scientists is correct?"

"Of course." Khabarov nodded vigorously and said in an affirmative tone: "They are all the most outstanding scientists."

"Okay, Anton, since you think so, let me talk about my opinion." Sokov looked at Khabarov and said slowly: "Let me talk about Hawking's experiment first. Do you really think that the invitation letter he sent to the future people can be preserved until the moment when the time machine appears?"

Khabarov had a confused look on his face: "Misha, I don't quite understand what you mean?"

"As a digger, you often go to former battlefields to look for treasures. You should know that the longer something is buried underground, the more it will be damaged, and even its original appearance cannot be seen." Sokov said, "The same problem should exist with Hawking's invitation. The appearance of time machines must be hundreds of years later or even more distant. By that time, even if his invitation had not rotted, it would have been thrown away somewhere, and the future people with time machines would not have seen it at all."

Although Sokov's explanation was somewhat far-fetched, Khabarov still fell into deep thought after hearing it.

Sokov raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and continued, "If traveling through time and space to the past is impossible, then how did you and I, as well as Victoria and your missing German friend Braun, come to this era?"

Khabarov couldn't help laughing. Yes, they all came to the Great Patriotic War period more than 70 years ago, and he was still discussing with Sokov whether people could go back to the past. Isn't this funny?

"Okay," Sokov saw Khabarov grinning foolishly, raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head, reminding him, "Anton, you must remember, don't tell anyone that you are from the afterlife, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. Do you understand?"

Khabarov asked hesitantly, "Misha, I told Colonel Politik and the others that I was from the future. Will there be any trouble?"

"It's not a big deal." Sokov comforted Khabarov, saying, "They thought you were too frightened and had a problem with your brain, and were talking nonsense there, so they didn't care what you said at all."

"That's good, that's good!" Khabarov felt relieved immediately: "I feel relieved now."

Seeing Sokov and Khabarov walk into the tent, Karsokov hurriedly greeted them: "Comrade Brigade Commander, breakfast is ready, come and eat quickly."

Sokov sat down at the table and asked Khabarov to sit next to him, then asked, "Why didn't the deputy brigade commander come over?"

"I called and asked. He went to the 4th Battalion's command post and had breakfast with Major Vasya."

Sokov nodded, grabbed the bread on the table and took a bite, then continued to ask, "What is the enemy's movement in the Fourth Battalion? Will they launch another attack today?"

"Comrade Brigade Commander, I have something I want to report to you."

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"Before you came back, the deputy brigade commander called and said that the enemy sent an officer with a white flag to the position of the Fourth Battalion."

"The Germans are coming with white flags?" Khabarov couldn't help but interrupt Karsokov and asked, "Are they planning to surrender to us?"

"How is this possible? You know, the situation on the battlefield is more favorable to the enemy now. How could they surrender to us on their own initiative?" Sokov explained to Khabarov and then asked Karsokov: "Chief of Staff, what are the Germans going to do?"

"The enemy hopes that we can stop fighting for a day," Karsokov said. "They first took away the bodies in front of our positions."

"I think it's okay." Sokov nodded and said, "A large number of German corpses are piled up in front of our army's position. Not only is it stinking, but it is also likely to cause plague. Let them remove those corpses as soon as possible."

"The deputy brigade commander agrees with you. He also thinks that the Germans should be allowed to clear the bodies in front of the position as soon as possible." Karsokov said with a sigh of relief: "I thought you would object, but I didn't expect you to agree so readily."

"By the way, are the enemies only clearing the bodies in front of the Fourth Battalion's position?" Sokov asked curiously, "What about the bodies in front of the Second Battalion's position? When will the enemy clear them?"

Karsokov shook his head and continued, "The Germans only said to clean up the bodies in front of the Fourth Battalion's position, but did not mention the Second Battalion's position. I think the enemies attacking the two battalions' positions are probably not from the same unit."

"Well, that's possible." Sokov said thoughtfully, "So the enemy attacking our brigade's defense zone is at least two different divisions."

"If the enemy launches a full-scale attack, with the current strength of our brigade, it will not be easy to stop the attack of two divisions."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry." Seeing Karsokov's worried look, Sokov quickly comforted him and said, "I think there will be a way to stop the enemy's attack on us." "By the way, Anton." Sokov remembered an important thing and turned to ask Khabarov who was sitting next to him, "You helped us find two hidden arsenals yesterday. Can you find another one today?"

"Misha... No, it's the Brigade Commander, Comrade Brigade Commander." Khabarov shook his head and said, "There are no effective reference points in the forest, and there is no positioning system. It may not be easy to find the remaining arsenal. I can only try my luck."

The conversation between the two made Karsokov confused. He wondered what a positioning system was. Although he didn't understand what it was, it sounded very powerful.

After they finished their breakfast, Sokov sent Khabarov away, then stood at the door of the tent and called over a signalman.

"Comrade signalman," Sokov put the weapon blueprint drawn by Khabarov into a cylinder and handed it to the signalman, and ordered him: "You should rush to the army headquarters immediately and hand it over to the commander or chief of staff in person."

"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." The signalman took the cylinder containing the drawings, turned around and left the tent.

Sokov still felt uneasy as he watched the signalman walk away. If Rokossovsky or Malinin didn't take it seriously, then Khabarov's hard work last night would be in vain. He quickly returned to the tent and called the army headquarters.

Soon, he contacted Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is Sokov."

"It's Lieutenant Colonel Sokov." Malinin asked in surprise, "Why are you calling me? Is there something going on? Did the enemy launch an attack on your defense zone again?"

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov explained quickly, "A soldier in my brigade has designed a new rifle. I have asked the signalman to send the blueprint to you and Comrade Commander. Please remember to check it."

"Oh, the blueprints for a new rifle?" Malinin didn't believe that anyone in Sokov's brigade could really design a new weapon, but in order not to embarrass Sokov, he still said politely, "I see. I'll arrange for someone to receive the blueprints."

When Malinin put down the phone, Rokossovsky, who was having breakfast with Lobachev nearby, asked curiously: "Chief of Staff, what does Misha want to talk to you about?"

Malinin walked over to sit opposite Rokossovsky and said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov told me that there is a soldier in his brigade who has designed a new rifle and even drew a blueprint."

When Rokossovsky heard this, he immediately became interested: "Where is the blueprint?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov has sent someone to deliver it. I believe we will be able to see the blueprints soon." Malinin couldn't help shaking his head when he said this, and continued, "Not to mention an ordinary soldier, even a military expert can't design a new weapon just because he wants to..."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you can't say that." Before Malinin finished speaking, Lobachev interrupted and said, "Isn't it a bit hasty for us to draw such a conclusion before seeing the drawings?"

Malinin smiled bitterly, turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, we will have no problem commanding the battle. But if we want to judge whether this new weapon is valuable based on a blueprint, I'm afraid we are not up to the task."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry. Although we cannot make an accurate evaluation of the weapon drawings, there are people who can make a judgment," said Lobachev.

"Who?" Malinin asked in astonishment, "Who can make an accurate judgment on the weapon blueprint?"

"Yesterday, a weapons expert named Alehin came to our army group." Lobachev said, "After the blueprint is delivered, we can ask him to appraise whether it is valuable."

"Alehin?" Malinin repeated the name and asked in confusion, "Why didn't I know that a weapons expert came to us?"

"When he came yesterday, you and the commander were directing the battle, and I went to receive him." Lobachev continued, "Comrade Chief of Staff, if you want to see him, I can send someone to invite him over immediately."

"Comrade Military Commissar," not only Malinin didn't know about the existence of weapons expert Alehin, but Rokossovsky didn't know either. At this moment, when he heard Lobachev talking about it, he hurriedly said, "Please bring him over quickly. I want to have a good talk with him."

A few minutes later, a short middle-aged man wearing military uniform and a cotton hat appeared in the command center.

Seeing this man appear, Lobachev first stepped forward and shook hands with him, and then introduced him to Rokossovsky, saying: "Comrade Commander, this is Comrade Alekhin, the weapons expert I mentioned. Comrade Alekhin, let me introduce you, this is Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, the commander of the Division Army, and that is Colonel Malinin, the chief of staff of the Army..."

After the two sides got to know each other, Rokossovsky asked him to sit down and asked curiously: "Comrade Alekhin, I wonder what you are doing at our front?"

"Comrade General!" Alekhin patiently explained to Rokossovsky, "We have received feedback from frontline commanders and fighters that the existing submachine guns are not as good as the German MP40. Not only do they have a small capacity, but they are also prone to jamming when shooting. Therefore, the leader of the weapons and equipment department asked me to go to the front line to understand the situation."

Hearing what Alehin said, Rokossovsky nodded in agreement: "That's right, Comrade Alehin, our submachine guns are indeed inferior to the German MP40 submachine guns in terms of performance. I wonder if you can develop a new submachine gun to strengthen our existing firepower?"

"Comrade General, we have developed a new submachine gun, temporarily named PPSh41." Alekhin introduced to everyone: "This submachine gun with a capacity of 71 rounds is also called PPSh submachine gun. It was designed by the famous light weapons designer Grigory Spakinnen, and its purpose is to replace the complex PPD series submachine guns. The PPSh41 submachine gun uses a large number of stamped parts, which is very convenient for large-scale mass production. It will be put into large-scale service in the army by February next year."

Hearing that the newly developed submachine gun had a capacity of 71 rounds, Malinin's eyes widened in surprise: "Oh my God, if our troops can be equipped with a large number of such submachine guns, we will have an advantage in comparing firepower with the enemy."

Rokossovsky was naturally happy to learn that a new submachine gun was being launched, but he also did not forget the purpose of inviting Alekhin. He quickly said, "Comrade Alekhin, we asked you to come here today because a soldier in the unit below has developed a new rifle. The design drawings will be delivered soon, and we would like you to take a look and see if this new rifle is valuable."

(End of this chapter)