I Became Stalin?!

Chapter 21

There were plenty of talented people in the Soviet Union. 

Of course, there were also those who did not get the chance to shine due to lack of opportunities, or those who were pushed aside by politics during the purge, or those who had not been selected yet at this point in time.

Korolyov, who had just left my office, was an example of the former. 

He was a brilliant rocket scientist who was imprisoned for years on false charges. 

Pavlov, who advocated for genetic theory but was purged, was another one.

And what about the latter? 

A young man named Mikhail Kalashnikov, who was only 22 years old, was one of them.

Kalashnikov was the inventor of the AK rifle, the weapon that killed the most people in the world.

He was born in 1919 and was now 21 years old. 

Until recently, he was a tank soldier assigned to the Bryansk Front. 

He had invented a device to measure the firing angle of tank guns and received a medal for it, so it was easy to find him.

And as expected, youth was good. 

He was fascinated by the design of the AK-47 that I drew from my memory and researched it with enthusiasm. 

Did he not know that Stalin was an absolute ruler who could take his life at any moment?

He was young enough to be my grandson in terms of physical age, and a peer in terms of mental age, so I did not dislike him. 

I waved my hand to dismiss my bodyguards who were staring at him with suspicious eyes and offered him a chair.

“Ah… thank you… Huh! Comrade Secretary!”

“What are you so surprised about? Sit down and let me see.”

He seemed touched by the fact that I personally handed him a chair, but I pretended to be indifferent and focused on the design. 

The StG44, which triggered the development of the AK-47, did not exist yet. 

The 7.6239mm ammunition that would be adopted in 1949 was also not available. 

The PPsh submachine gun that was currently being produced used the 7.6222mm pistol cartridge invented by Tokarev, so it also needed improvement.

In order to shorten this process, I needed genius developers like Kalashnikov to realize the ideas that I could provide. 

And I also knew some of the improvements that were made through numerous requests from the front lines.

I had to pass on those knowledge to them as soon as possible. 

Before more young soldiers paid the price with their blood.

“I wish you could introduce a gas piston system… Is that possible? What we want is something weaker than a rifle cartridge, so that we can reduce recoil, but more reliable than an automatic pistol in terms of ballistics. And something lighter than a machine gun that can fire it. A suitable balance point somewhere in between for an automatic, or rather an ‘assault rifle’.”

“Huh? I understand what you are saying, but wouldn’t that make it a mediocre weapon that is weaker than a machine gun and heavier than a pistol?”

Oh… This is the first time I’ve seen someone talk back to me since I took over this body. I found his youthful spirit more and more adorable.

“You might think so, but isn’t a machine gun a weapon that is assigned to a squad or platoon level? It might not be as good as a machine gun, but think of it as a semi-machine gun that every soldier can carry. Wouldn’t it contribute to increasing firepower even if it’s a bit heavier than carrying a machine gun for every soldier?”

He would be able to empathize with this from his perspective as a soldier who had experienced battle. 

It might be heavy and annoying when marching, but how reassuring it would be to have an automatic weapon, a machine gun, when fighting.

“And you don’t need to stick to the existing design. According to our statistics, rifles don’t need to have a range of more than 600m.

The actual distance where meaningful exchanges between infantry occur, roughly around 250m or less, is enough for effective range. It will help you meet the weight limit for personal weapons. You don’t need a blindly powerful rifle.”

Kalashnikov nodded his head. 

He seemed to have come up with something and already had a satisfied smile on his face. 

I ordered him a few more things. 

A weapon that could be produced cheaply and reliably rather than one that required meticulous craftsmanship for optimal performance.

Design it with some space left so that it could adapt to extreme environments. 

The caliber of the bullet would be around 7.62*39mm, so keep in mind the level of recoil when considering it. 

I knew the future direction of development, so the facts I provided would help him think of the development direction from a developer’s perspective. 

And Kalashnikov smiled brightly.

“Leave it to me, Comrade Secretary. I will accomplish the task you entrusted me with as soon as possible, for the people and my fellow soldiers.”

Youth was good. 

I couldn’t help but think that as I watched this spirited soldier who clenched his fist in front of me.

In addition to my role as the pinnacle of bureaucracy, I also had to play the role of passing on my future knowledge to them.

It was easier for developers and engineers. 

They just had to realize the tasks I gave them with abundant support. 

They could make better products faster and easier than in the original history, thanks to the support I pushed for them.

But my work only increased and accumulated.

For example, let’s look at tanks. 

Suppose I gave them the basic design of the T-34/85 tank, which was an improved version of the T-34 with a 85mm main gun.

The production of the 1939 model 85mm anti-aircraft gun 52-K, which could be considered the predecessor of the 85mm cannon, had to be adjusted as it could cause problems.

Expanding the production line was not easy, and my head was about to explode from managing all the military supplies produced in this vast country.

I couldn’t afford to invest a lot of resources in producing the 85mm cannon, which was still in the testing phase and couldn’t contribute to mass production. 

What about the 76mm cannon, which had to be replaced someday, but if I didn’t give it right away, the tank production would stop? 

Then the front line would collapse.

The T-34, which had the most clear development direction and was easy to test by diverting some from many factories, was like this. 

How about other weapons?

The Leningrad Kirov Factory and Chelyabinsk produced the chassis, the 172nd Artillery Factory in Nizhny Novgorod produced the gun, and the machine guns were produced in many other places… These all came together to form the KV-2 tank.

Then where should I turn to develop a new medium tank – an improved version of the IS tank? If one place stopped, the number of tanks that could be supplied to the front line would be insufficient.

Rasputitsa, the mud season, would come soon. 

But as non-combat consumption increased, the demand on the front line would not decrease much.

The only thing I could do was to use the time during Rasputitsa to reorganize the supply in the rear. 

I had to finish planning before Rasputitsa came, and this work took up a lot of my working hours.

“…so the contract with Pratt & Whitney was successfully concluded within the expected range with the cooperation of the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Two days ago, the machining equipment from the U.S. arrived in Vladivostok. The raw materials they requested are being prepared smoothly in Magnitogorsk, but there is a shortage of molybdenum steel.”

“I’ll take care of that. Do you have any information on how to import more molybdenum steel?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have attached it to the report.”

There was also this kind of work. 

I was in charge of everything. 

So I had the authority to move all the materials around, and at the same time I had to assign priorities to what was needed with my own head.

My subordinates who knew ‘my’ work style tried to find me the information I would ask for in advance in their reports, but they couldn’t know all the priorities either. 

I couldn’t know all the items either.

The biggest problem we faced was uncertainty.

Bingler, who I didn’t know who he was but assumed he was Hitler, had effectively subdued Britain. 

The northern route that brought supplies from America to Murmansk could still be cut off by Kriegsmarine’s surface fleet that ran across the sea.

If Japan and America went to war after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the ships coming to Russia could be sunk too. 

So I had to pull as much supplies as possible while I could. 

To fill up the already scarce capacity of the Siberian Railway.

The Persian Gulf-Volga River route, which was relatively stable, was too long. 

It was a route that left from America, went to Suez, and then entered Iran. 

It was like going around a big circle.

Also, it contained uncertainty too… Pahlavi I of Iran, who was pro-Germany, was actually driven out by Britain and Russia in real history. 

But Britain was now being beaten up in Africa and couldn’t afford to pay attention to Iran. It was hard to ask them to divert their troops there.

So I sent diplomats to appease Iran, while trying to keep the secret non-aggression pact with Japan and secure the safety of the Far East route.

I had to give them inside information from America and bluff about our power in the Far East for Japan to believe it and give up on attacking Russia’s Far East region for a while… But I still didn’t know. Hitler, what he would do.

From adjusting other materials’ production for military supplies, to railway transport capacity, factory workers’ placement, import routes and diplomatic coordination for securing them… I had too much work to do. 

Of course, as much as that, the Soviet army was steadily becoming stronger.

Also, there was one more important point. 

The Soviet army did not secure air superiority until just before Berlin. 

Despite the constant attacks from the Allies in the west, they lacked skilled pilots and their aircraft performance was inferior.

The Soviet army contributed to Nazi Germany’s endless consumption with its overwhelming quantity, but that was because they could afford it with much more consumption.

That’s why I decided to build a factory in Soviet territory that could produce American engines with their cooperation. 

After giving them a pile of gold in advance, they finally moved the engine manufacturers.

Of course, I believed it was worth it. 

The 2250-horsepower 18-cylinder R-2800 radial engine developed by Pratt & Whitney was the engine that all the masterpiece aircraft of America used.

P-47 Thunderbolt, Hellcat, Corsair, etc. 

All the American fighters that flavored World War II used this engine, and we also needed this engine to make aircraft that could compete with Germany.

After giving them a pile of gold and promising them the right to develop Siberia’s natural gas field after the war, we decided to make a sturdy fighter that copied some of the Thunderbolt with this engine.

The engines that the Soviet Union used during the war were crappy. 

No, the planes were all crappy. 

They made a lot of them, but… They didn’t have enough aluminum production that consumed a lot of electricity, so they patched it up with wood, or they tried to install a turbocharger and it exploded.

The aviation industry needed complete cooperation with Britain and America. From one to ten.

If I wanted to produce planes similar to the British and American ones, I could just get the production equipment and copy the process from them. 

This way, I could reduce the total cost and workload by simplifying the production route, achieve economies of scale, and also reduce my work a bit…

The Soviet army pursued mass production of a few types of weapons. Well, I had my limits too… But I could crush any situation that I couldn’t cope with by numerical and performance superiority. 

Also, it reduced the supply requirements a lot.

Why make all kinds of weird weapons like Nazi Germany did? 

It would only make the quartermaster’s head explode.

To be honest, I didn’t trust the Soviet generals. 

Not in the sense of betrayal, but in their abilities. 

So I would make better and stronger weapons.

Do they think they can win with this?