"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 topic: "But they have always refused to provide us with the most advanced technology."
"Well, yes, during the Great Patriotic War, the United States gave us huge military assistance. Without their help, it is still unknown whether we could have survived the most difficult early stage of the war." Although Yakov
He is his friend, but when it comes to some sensitive topics, Sokov is still more cautious: "At least the chance of losing Moscow will be greatly increased." "We can defeat Germany, in addition to the bloody battles of our military commanders and fighters, the assistance from the United States
played an important role." After Yakov repeated the topic again, he continued: "Have you heard about the US military's strategic bombers?
"Yasha, although I am in the Army, I have heard of the US military's strategic bombers." Sokov said without hesitation: "The US military's B-29 bomber, nicknamed the Super Flying Fortress, is a propeller-type strategic bomber.
, I heard that our army is imitating it, and I don’t know if a prototype has appeared.”
Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov couldn't help but show an expression of astonishment on his face: "Misha, how did you know about such a top-secret matter?" Yakov's question made Sokov feel a little nervous.
He was panicking. He didn't know how to explain this to Yakov. He couldn't tell him that I saw the information on the Internet in later generations, otherwise Yakov would definitely be criticized.
Yakov thought he was crazy. Fortunately, Yakov did not pursue it further, but continued: "Yes, our army is indeed imitating the US military's B-29 bomber. Although this is a secret, it is important to our General Ordnance Department.
For people, there is nothing
What can be kept confidential?" Sokov asked tentatively: "Can you briefly introduce the situation to me?" The reason why he made such a request was to know what Yakov actually was about the imitation of the B-29 bomber.
How much do you know? In the future, you and yourself will
Only when others talk about this matter can we avoid cheating. "After the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the United States provided various military assistance to our country in accordance with the Lease Act. My father considered that our air force did not have long-range strategic bombers, and expressed to the United States many times that he hoped to
Get a B-29 bomber
Their wishes were rejected. They were only willing to provide medium-sized bombers, fighters and transport aircraft to our country. However, our country has been difficult to develop large bombers due to its weak technical foundation."
"Yasha, do you know why the United States rejected your father's request?"
"Misha, tell me what you think." "In the eyes of Americans, our country and they have fought side by side to deal with the common enemy-Germany, but they are always potential opponents. Therefore, in terms of the technology of long-range bombers,
Maintain advantage over our country
It is completely necessary.”
"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 29, 1944, a B-29 bomber numbered 42-6256, piloted by U.S. Army Captain Howard Jarrell, was injured by anti-aircraft artillery during the 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 forces. Then on November 11, another B-29 bomber numbered 42-6365, after completing a night air raid on Kyushu, also made an emergency landing in Vladivostok due to damage.
On November 21, B-29 bomber number 42-6358 was hit by
After the damage, they made an emergency landing in Vladivostok. In this way, in just four months, our army obtained three long-awaited and complete B-29 bombers. We arranged for all the crew members of the US military to fly in 1945.
Returned to the West via Tehran in January
, and the B-29 bomber they were flying was left behind by us. After 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 for two years.
time to research and mass-produce his own strategic bombers! He personally launched the
According to the order, the commander of the Navy, Marshal Kuznetsov, is solely responsible for this strategic plan." Sokov recalled a movie he watched later in life, in which a Soviet pilot robbed a German bomber after being captured.
, and escaped back to the Soviet-controlled area with a group of prisoners of war. Before capturing the German bombers, the biggest headache for the Soviet pilots was that the operating methods of the German bombers were different from those of the Soviet bombers, and all the words on the instrument panel were
Devin. Wait until they have tried every means to figure out the German on the dashboard.
After knowing what the representative meant, he flew away from the German airport. "Yasha, the B-29 bomber is a brand new model for our military pilots. I'm afraid it is not that easy to fly." Sokov said:
"And the words on the instrument panel are all in English. If our pilots
If you fly into the air rashly, it is easy to cause problems." "Misha, you are right." Yakov nodded and said: "After Marshal Kuznetsov accepted the task assigned by my father, he arranged for the Navy's chief test flight
Lieutenant Colonel Semyon Rydell conducted a secret test flight of the seized B-29 bomber. Semyon Rydell was proficient in English. During the war, he was responsible for flying a large number of aircraft from the United States to the front line. In addition to the B-29 bomber
He found several operating manuals online and it only took him a few weeks to figure them out.
He understood the operating principles of the B-29. With the help of a Russian-English dictionary, he and a group of technicians carefully inspected each part of the B-29, and labeled each switch and system with instructions in Russian."
"If our country can imitate our own strategic bomber through the B-29 bomber, this test pilot named Semyon Rydell is indispensable." "After a large number of test flights, Rydell has become more and more familiar with the performance of the aircraft.
In a report sent to the Supreme Command, Marshal Kuznetsov stated that the B-29 bomber is the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world. Its lightweight aluminum alloy
The pilot's pressurized cabin, remote-controlled aircraft cannons, high-power engines, Norton bomb observers, radars, electronic systems and all other instruments far exceed our country's aviation technology level.
It was this report that convinced my father to imitate the B-29 bomber. He ordered Marshal Kuzhidsov to arrange manpower to fly the B-29 bomber to Moscow and carry out secret imitation work at a special location."
"Before our country obtained the B-29 bomber, I remember that there seemed to be a project to develop its own long-range bomber. Right?" "Yes." Yakov said: "On June 22 this year, our country officially launched the code-named 'B
-4' four-engine bomber plan, later officially renamed Tu-4, which is a top-secret plan to copy the B-29. My father also ordered the cancellation of the homemade long-range bomber plan just launched in January this year, and appointed the original chief engineer of the plan
Tupolev is the chief engineer of the Tu-4. The entire replicating plan was carried out at the central airport outside Moscow. We seized it.
Of the three B-29 bombers, one was used for disassembly and mapping, one was for reference, and one was for test flight. The B-29 bomber that was dismantled and mapped was No. 42-6365, and each of them was disassembled.
Each component is carefully measured and photographed for reproduction. Special care is taken when dismantling the various instruments and control systems. The numerous wires are numbered, labeled, and documented. Only then are the components handed over to the design team.
Carry out counterfeiting. Our country’s aviation industry is under tremendous pressure to copy approximately 100,000 aviation parts that meet quality requirements on time.
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, it was very difficult. The 105,000 parts of the B-29 bomber required 400,000 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 this project."
At this point, Yakov looked at Sokov and said meaningfully: "But I didn't expect that even if the security measures were so tight, you still heard the news." "I once flew over Moscow by plane.
Later, I saw a lot of people busy at the airport on the ground, but I didn't see any planes nearby." In order to persuade Yakov, Sokov started to make nonsense: "So
I judged at that time that the airport below must be engaged in the research and development of some new aircraft. I just asked so casually, and unexpectedly I guessed it right." After listening to Sokov's far-fetched explanation, Yakov did not have any thoughts.
What suspicion? After all, he had just said that if outsiders knew about this top-secret work, it would be a huge leak. But for Sokov
For an important member of the General Ordnance Department, it is nothing at all. "The research and development work has been going on for half a year, and even if a prototype is to be produced, I'm afraid it won't be that fast." Yakov said: "Since my father asked them to do it within two days,
Completing the imitation work within this year means that we want to see the imitation succeed
Long-range bombers will have to wait until at least July 1947."
Sokov remembered that the first Tu-4 aircraft was launched in 1947, and the first test flight was conducted in May of the same year. In August, the Tu-4 made its first public appearance at the Moscow Aviation Festival, including military attachés from Western countries stationed in the Soviet Union.
I was invited to visit the Soviet Army's first strategic bomber. Three Tu-4 bombers and one Tu-70 passenger plane flew over the rostrum from a low altitude of 300 meters. One of the Tu-4s was flown by Air Marshal Grovonov.
Driving it myself. When these three Tu-4s appeared in front of people's eyes, many Western military attachés thought they were US military B-29 bombers that had been seized by the Soviet Union.
Bomb machine.
Beginning in 1948, the Tu-4 bomber entered service with the Soviet Strategic Air Force. Since then, the Soviet Army has truly possessed strategic bombing capabilities. The chief designer, Tupolev, did not completely copy the B-29 bomber during the imitation process. He
Some important components were creatively improved, such as radar, ammunition and engines. The most important of them was the engine, which was replaced with the ASH-72K developed by the Soviet Union, which produced up to 2,300 horsepower, which was higher than that of the B-29.
The original engine was even bigger. This is why Western countries later found it strange that the Tu-4 had a longer range and could fly faster.
One of the reasons.
"By the way, Yasha, I thought of something."
"whats the matter?"
"Comrade Ustinov went to the Far East. I thought he went to Chelyabinsk at first, but when you talked about the B-29 bomber, I thought of another possibility."
Yakov laughed twice and said first: "Do you think that our army has seized a new B-29 bomber in the Far East?" "This possibility cannot be ruled out." Although Sokov knew that the Soviet side
He used the seized US B-29 bombers to imitate the famous Tu-4 bomber, but he was not sure how many US military aircraft were seized. Therefore.
He linked Ustinov's sudden trip to the Far East to the seizure of new US military B-29 bombers. "To be honest, I don't know either." Yakov said helplessly: "After all, Comrade Ustinov
He is our superior. How can a superior who is on a business trip tell his subordinates the purpose of his trip? So after all, did he go?
Whether it's Chelyabinsk or the Far East, we don't know."
The two were chatting when suddenly 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. After he saw Yakov, he said respectfully: "Comrade General, the drawings you requested have been delivered. Please sign for them."
.”
Yakov picked up the pen, signed the book provided by the other party, then took a document bag and expressed his gratitude to the other party: "Thank you!"
"You're welcome, this is what I should do." After saying this, the middle-aged man turned and left.
Yakov took the document bag and walked to his desk. He wanted to open it, but looked at Sokov sitting opposite, hesitated, and then threw the document bag directly on the table. Sokov looked at
Seeing the flash of hesitation on Yakov's face, he realized that the document bag he just got must contain confidential documents, and that he was not qualified to know. If he continued to stay here, he would only affect
When Yakov's work was heard, he wisely stood up and said to Yakov: "Yasha, it seems that you still have work, so I won't disturb you."
Yakov nodded slightly, and then said: "I'll see you off!" When he sent Sokov to the door, he emphasized: "Misha, it will be the New Year in a few days. If possible, you are the best
It's better to go home and stay with Asya. It used to be war time, so you couldn't
It's understandable to go home. But now that the war has ended and a peaceful life has begun again, it would be a bit unreasonable not to be by Asiya's side during the New Year." "Yasha, it's not that I don't want to go home, it's just that I don't want to go home.
I can't go back." Sokov said in embarrassment: "As you know, I have submitted my design plans for several days, but as of today, I have not received any reply. I don't know.
Whether the prototype gun has been produced, whether it has been tested, and 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
, but your design work has been completed, so there shouldn’t be much problem in going home. I will
I still have something to ask about when I have free time tomorrow, and I will try to get you back home before the New Year."
"Thank you so much." Sokov grabbed Yakov's hand, shook it with him, and said gratefully: "If we 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 had not rescued me from the prisoner of war camp, it is still unknown whether I would have survived to this day." Soko
When the husband turned and walked towards his office, another question came to mind: in East Prussia, General Chernyakhovsky survived and was even promoted to marshal, but not long ago, he was
He died in a plane crash. In real history, Yakov died in a German prisoner of war camp on April 13, 1943. Although he is still alive and well because of his appearance, who can guarantee
Will the powerful correction power of history wipe him out one morning?