red moscow

Chapter 3158

The two sat down in the study and chatted for a few moments before Gulia entered carrying a tray. She placed two cups of coffee in front of Sokov and Yakov respectively, and took away the cup of coffee that had long since gone cold. Before leaving, she considerately closed the study door.

"Yasha!" Seeing Gulia leave, Sokov asked Yakov directly, "Did you come to Odessa this time for personal or official business?"

Upon hearing Sokov's question, Yakov hesitated for a moment, seemingly considering whether he should tell Sokov the truth. After a long while, he finally spoke: "Misha, I came to Odessa this time on orders to go to the Black Sea Fleet."

"Black Sea Fleet? What would you do at the Black Sea Fleet?" Sokov asked, puzzled. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly remembered that the Soviet Army had started the "landing of naval guns" research and development work in the second year after the end of the Great Patriotic War, which resulted in a heavy tank called the IS-7.

Thinking of this, Sokov tentatively asked, "Yasa, although you work in the Weapons and Equipment Department, you mainly develop army equipment. But you're going to the Black Sea Fleet in Odessa. Could it be that your Weapons and Equipment Department is planning some kind of 'ship guns on land' project?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yakov stared wide-eyed in astonishment at Sokov, as if he were looking at a monster.

After an unknown amount of time, Yakov asked in a slightly hoarse voice, "Misha, who told you all this?"

Sokov shrugged, spread his hands, and said, "Yasha, as you know, I've been bedridden for months and haven't been awake for long. The only people I can usually contact are Asiya and my personal guards and bodyguards. If this is top secret, who among them do you think could have access to such confidential information?"

"Since you have no source of information, how did you come to such a conclusion?" Yakov asked tentatively. "Did you really analyze it yourself?"

"That's right, I deduced it from just a few words you said."

Yakov asked, puzzled, "What did I say that made you make such a judgment?"

Seeing Yakov's puzzled expression, Sokov didn't give him the answer directly. Instead, he continued, "Among the tanks currently in service with our army, the one with the largest gun caliber is the IS-2 heavy tank with 122mm guns. If we want to develop a heavy tank with a larger gun caliber, we can only consider transplanting the naval guns from warships onto the new tanks. In addition, you just said that you plan to go to the Black Sea Fleet after coming to Odessa, so I came to the conclusion of 'naval guns on land'."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Yakov gave him a thumbs up: "Misha, you're amazing. You were able to get the correct answer from such a simple sentence."

Yakov picked up his coffee, took a sip, put down the cup, and continued, "After our military experts saw the prototype tanks that the German army had not yet deployed, they proposed that if another war were to break out, and these better-protected tanks were deployed by the enemy, the guns of our current tanks would not be able to penetrate their armor at all. Therefore, we must develop heavy tanks with larger caliber guns."

"What caliber gun will the heavy tank that is about to be developed use?" Taking advantage of a pause in Yakov's speech, Sokov asked knowingly, "130 mm, or a larger caliber?"

"There's a huge disagreement among military experts regarding the caliber of the new tank," Yakov said seriously. "They're basically divided into two camps. One believes a 130mm gun is sufficient. The other believes that since we're developing a new heavy tank, it's best to go straight for a 152mm gun." Sokov's face twitched slightly upon hearing Yakov mention 152mm. He was about to express his opinion, but swallowed his words. The development of the new tank involved classified information, and Yakov had already given him the maximum. Further discussion would inevitably touch upon classified matters, which would put Yakov in a difficult position.

Thinking of this, Sokov quickly changed the subject: "By the way, I heard that your brother Vasily is now a general."

“Yes, that’s right, he’s a general now.” Yakov’s expression darkened slightly as he mechanically replied, “His promotion was influenced by my father. Even if there were objections within the Air Force, they couldn’t stop him from being promoted to general.”

Seeing Yakov's reaction, Sokov realized he might have said something wrong. Although both Yakov and Vasily were sons of the Supreme Commander, Yakov was clearly not as favored as Vasily. His promotions had never received his father's attention. Vasily, on the other hand, was much more favored. It was said that the Air Force Commander-in-Chief was dismissed for opposing Vasily's promotion.

After a brief silence, Yakov spoke again: "I heard that Lunev is coming to Odessa for an inspection soon. Will he come to see you?"

“The head of the Odessa NKVD called me about this a few days ago,” Sokov said. “I think if he comes to Odessa, he will come over, after all, we used to be partners.”

“That’s right, you were once comrades-in-arms.” Yakov agreed with Sokov’s statement: “Other NKVD officials who go to the front lines are rarely promoted because their main responsibility is supervision and they don’t have much opportunity to fight. General Lunev must be very grateful to you for being promoted one rank.”

"Yasha, can you help me analyze whether Lunev came to Odessa this time with some special mission?"

“Misha, I really didn’t know that.” Hearing Sokov’s question, Yakov shook his head vigorously: “Even though I’ve been in Moscow, the Armaments Department and the Internal Affairs Department are different departments. I’ve never had the chance to meet him, so how could I know what kind of mission he has in Odessa?”

“That’s true.” Sokov nodded. “When the director called, he only said that Lunev was coming to Odessa, but he didn’t tell me Lunev’s specific itinerary. This shows that even if he has a mission, it is absolutely kept strictly confidential.”

As Sokov and Yakov were talking, the tightly closed study door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Both men turned their gazes to the doorway, trying to see who had entered.

Asya strode in through the door like a gust of wind, and when she saw Yakov sitting opposite Sokov, a sweet smile appeared on her face.

"Yasha, it really is you!" Asiya said excitedly, "Just now outside, Gulia told me that you were talking to Misha in the study. I thought she was joking."

Yakov stood up, took two steps toward Asya, and extended his right hand: "Hello, Asya! We meet again."

Asya grasped Yakov's hand and shook it vigorously twice: "Yasha, welcome to Odessa. Please stay for dinner tonight, let Misha and me treat you well."