When it comes to automatic rifles, I believe that the first automatic rifle that many people instinctively react to is AK-47. This gun shines brightly in games and film and television works, and many people are familiar with its deeds. But I believe most people are right? k？ Its inventor, Kalashnikov, is the representative behind it and knows very little, especially about his early years.
You want to kill your stepfather, hold a gun illegally twice, and carve your official seal privately? These acts are often regarded as quite rebellious in our eyes, all of which happened in Kalashnikov's adolescence. But we have to admit that it was this escape that made him have great creativity and made the automatic rifle that decided the victory of the war and swept the world? AK47 .
Unlike most weapons designers who come from a gun family, Kalashnikov comes from a fairly wealthy peasant family. Before he was ten, he had a carefree childhood. However, the wheel of the times quickly ran over him, and at the age of ten, the agricultural collectivization of the Soviet Union began. ? Rich peasants? It became the target of people's attacks, and Kalashnikov was exiled to distant Siberia.
Bad luck is not over. 1 1 years old, my father died of overwork. His father told him to be an example to others no matter how difficult it was. Little Kalashnikov deeply remembered this sentence, which made him no longer feel afraid when he competed with talented Soviet weapons designers such as Jay gref, simonov and Shpagin in the future. On the contrary, he is full of lofty ideals.
But at this time, little Kalashnikov was still a simple, a little stunned child. For example, he once rejected his stepfather so much that he even put an axe under his pillow ready to kill him. However, when he was ready to take action one day, he found that his stepfather had gone out. Soon, his stepfather's kindness and patience left a deep impression on him. After that, the United family went through many difficulties together.
Kalashnikov is a simple boy, but he is dishonest. He longs for freedom. Although he couldn't say clearly what freedom was at that time, he still embarked on a trip to his hometown and returned to the place before he was exiled. The road home is extremely difficult, and the militia will search at any time. After hardships, he finally returned to his hometown. Facing his burnt-out home, he stopped for a long time and recalled the poems that had been copied from the bark of birch trees. It is more precious than gold to him. (Although Kalashnikov's education is not high, he likes poetry very much, which is also the characteristic of the Russian nation. )
In the process of pursuing freedom, Kalashnikov began to show interesting invention talent. At this time, the Soviet Union's management of population movement was very strict. He realized that it would be very difficult to travel without government documents, so he set up his first studio in his barn and had the first invention in his life: a private official seal and a fake government form.
On the trip, he found an old rusty German pistol, and it took him a long time to make it look like a new one. And then arrested for carrying weapons illegally for the first time? Since then, he has developed a keen interest in weapons. When he arrived in Kazakhstan, his brother helped him find another job and Kalashnikov began a stable life.
The stable life didn't last long. With the turmoil of the world situation, Kalashnikov was drafted into the army in 1938. Interestingly, he first made his mark in the army because his poems were well written, and even participated in the Young Writers Competition in Kiev. But Kalashnikov is not satisfied with this, and the opportunity will come soon. 1940 in may, marshal zhukov was appointed as the supreme commander of Kiev theater. He encouraged the soldiers to innovate and invent, and a kind of technical problems were sent to the soldiers for discussion every week.
Kalashnikov quickly emerged among soldiers, and his invention of tank shell counter and tank engine performance tester was widely praised. Marshal zhukov was very satisfied, met him personally and gave him a watch (of course, it was later lost by the careless Kalashnikov). ) 194 1 year, he was sent to the factory in Leningrad for technical study because of his outstanding invention talent.
However, when the war broke out, he had to go back to the front and fight as a tank driver. In the process of opening the hatch to observe the enemy's situation, the shell exploded beside him and his left arm was seriously injured, so he had to take an ambulance to the rear hospital for treatment. However, it is not easy to get through the German encirclement. When he and two other people went out for reconnaissance, a German team found the ambulance. When the three of them heard the gunshots and returned to the ambulance, it was too late.
They saw Germans holding portable MP38 submachine guns, and they only had a TT pistol. They could only watch the Germans walk away, leaving the bodies in the ambulance and a pool of blood on the ground. This scene is deeply imprinted in Kalashnikov's mind. If only we had an automatic weapon, this idea would always accompany him until the birth of AK-47.
During his stay in hospital, Kalashnikov eagerly studied the knowledge of light weapons, read The Evolution of Light Weapons written by fyodor Love, listened to the feelings and thoughts of infantry, tank soldiers and gunners who came down from the battlefield and recovered in the hospital, and recorded these contents in his notebook. He is eager to develop an automatic weapon to reverse the weapon disadvantage of Soviet soldiers in the war. (Of course, as latecomers, we know that the automatic weapons of the Soviet Union at that time, Bobosha submachine guns and Gigarev machine guns, were not worse than German light weapons of the same specifications. The problem is that the Soviet Union did not realize the great tactical advantages of these weapons at this time, so many weapons were not widely used in the army until the beginning of World War II. )
After his recovery, he longed to go back to the front, but the doctor thought it was impossible, so he went back to his hometown to rest, which was another turning point in his life.
Kalashnikov doesn't want to go home. He went to the railway station in Materre, hoping to develop a sample gun in the factory here. He was lucky to meet a group of great people who worked selflessly together and finally developed the first sample gun. The local military leader thought it was a good weapon after evaluation, so he suggested that he go to Almaty, where there are many universities, arsenals and weapons design centers.
So Kalashnikov was arrested for carrying weapons illegally again?
Professor Blagonravov
Of course, he has attracted people's attention here, and the famous professor Blagonravov met him. It is hard for him to believe that this cleverly designed rifle was designed by a man who has never received professional training in such a humble factory as the railway station, but he realized that in the current war, the model designed by Kalashnikov is too complicated to meet the requirements and is not suitable for production. But he is a self-taught genius, so he wrote a letter recommending him to go to Moscow for further study.
On the train to Moscow, he met the famous simonov. In the subsequent weapon design, simonov's carbine beat everyone's works and gained a worldwide reputation. In the next light machine gun design, Kalashnikov successfully squeezed into the top three, and the other two were Jie gref and simonov. At this time, Kalashnikov was only 24 years old and only a staff sergeant.
Of course, Kalashnikov was eliminated in the end. After successive failures, he even had the idea of returning to the front. But the superior resolutely kept him and told him: you will definitely develop a weapon that is common to the whole army! The gun that decides the victory of the war! We will send you to Central Asia to continue your research!
He doesn't know that the AK-47 that will affect the world in the future will be born there.
There, he got an order from Marshal voronov and officially became a designer. And met his first love here, his assistant cartographer Katie? While sitting at the table, Moisieva recalled her first interest in guns when she was a child, facing the weakness of the enemy on the battlefield, the knowledge of light weapons design that she searched hard in the hospital, the demands of soldiers and the wounded, and the design of pioneer simonov? He slowly pictured the gun in his mind.
This will be a brand-new weapon with longer range, greater power than submachine guns, faster firing speed and lighter weight than rifles. It's sturdy and reliable, and it can be shot in harsh conditions. At the same time, the operation is simple, and even recruits can master it quickly and skillfully?
1947, Izhevsk. 7.62mm Kalashnikov assault rifle put into production.
1949 began to equip the Soviet army in batches.
Subsequently, AK-47 became famous all over the world.
As described in Lord of War? It is the most popular automatic rifle in the world and the favorite weapon of soldiers. It is made of 9 pounds of forged steel and 4 feet of wood. It won't break, it won't jam and it won't overheat. Even if you are covered in mud and sand, you can still fire normally. It is so simple to use that even a child can use it, and they are really using it. The Soviet Union printed money on coins, and Mozambique printed a picture of a gun on the national flag. Since the end of the Cold War, AK47 has become the main export commodity of Russia. ?
From rebellious teenagers in Siberia to famous light weapons designers. It can be said that Kalashnikov made AK-47, and AK-47 also made Kalashnikov.