War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 18 Alexander
The teacher and the student followed Federer's car to the city center, and finally stopped at the entrance of a small auto repair shop.

Under the leadership of Federer, a group of three people came to the innermost room of the auto repair shop, and only then were they able to see the whole picture of the gun modification studio.

This room with an indoor area of ​​three to four hundred square meters is filled with all kinds of machining equipment for no apparent purpose. In the center of the room, there are also two rows of glass showcases illuminated by spotlights.And in the corner, there are still a few middle-aged people who are dedicated to something busy in front of the machine.

Professor Alexis scanned around without a trace, and asked in a louder voice, "Federer, what is the most expensive pistol here? How about showing it to me?"

"You really want to buy a gun?" Federer asked with raised eyebrows.

"Of course, of course I want to buy a gun, otherwise why am I here?" Professor Alexey patted his satchel deliberately while speaking, "Take out the best pistol, I have enough money this time .”

An imperceptible schadenfreude flashed across Federer's face, he raised his hand to attract a beautiful hairy girl in overalls, and whispered something into his ear, the latter nodded immediately, turned around and took out a metal gun from a metal cabinet The box was placed on a glass counter.

"This pistol should be regarded as one of the most expensive pistols here."

After finishing speaking, Federer nodded to the overalls girl, who dutifully introduced, "This pistol is based on the P09 service pistol produced by the Czech CZ company, and commissioned by the Swiss Sphinx company to remake it. In addition to using Except for the higher-quality gun barrel and the serpentine wood handle patch, most of the other parts are made of high-quality titanium alloy produced by our company, and are assembled by the senior gunsmiths of Sphinx. The most important Yes, it uses a full-length sleeve rail that the original didn't have and a . "

"Okay, how much is it?" Professor Alexey had already unzipped the satchel while speaking.

Federer pushed the gun case down in front of the professor, and said calmly, "For the sake of our previous cooperation, this pistol only costs [-] dollars."

"Only $[-]? U.S. dollars?! Just such a broken pistol?!" Professor Alexei couldn't withdraw his hand that had already been put into the satchel. He didn't know that a broken pistol could be sold so expensive!
Federer hid his ridicule very well, and said as a matter of course, "The price is not expensive. If you want to buy a more cost-effective pistol, you can look at the original P09 pistol. The cheapest is less than $500."

"Since you said so, it's better to ask for the original version."

Professor Alexei resolutely admitted that he would not be so stupid as to spend so much money just to buy a piece of useless iron and titanium lump.

"sure"

Federer waved his hand indifferently, and the girl in overalls took out a plastic gun case as expected, opened it, and pushed it in front of Professor Alexei.

After the money was settled happily, Professor Alexei pretended to be casual and asked, "Federer, since I bought a pistol from here, how about doing maintenance for my gun for free? You're the best gunsmith here."

Glancing at the PPK pistol pulled out by Professor Alexei, the girl in overalls couldn't help reminding, "Sir, this is just a PPK pistol."

"Don't underestimate it"

Professor Alexey talked about the origin of this pistol pretending to show off, and at the same time glanced at a gray-haired middle-aged man who was attracted.

After Professor Alexei finished explaining the origin of this gun, the middle-aged man took off the cowhide apron around his waist, and then stretched out his hand stained with metal debris and a little oil to Professor Alexei, " I'm Alexander, Federer should have told you about me."

"Federer has always told me that Mr. Alexander is a very sentimental patriotic collector."

While Professor Alexis held out his hands to hold each other, a series of free flattery came out of his mouth. As for the plastic gun case and the PPK pistol on the table, they never appeared again. I mentioned it.

The steel tycoon was not like Ilya who bought those negatives. He didn't like Professor Alexis' flattery at all. He let go of his hand and said with a smile, "Professor Alexei, why don't we find a quiet place?" How about talking alone?"

Professor Alexis returned to his gentle appearance in school, "It's my honor, Mr. Alexander."

"Come with me, and take that PPK by the way." After Alexander finished speaking, he had already pushed open the wooden door of the inner lounge.

"wait a minutes"

Professor Alexei picked up the plastic gun case on the table and patted Wei Ran's hand, "This is a gift for you, a gift worth 500 dollars. Victor, you go back first, and remember to help me and Your aunt asks for leave, and you can try to find clues from that anti-tank gun first."

Before Wei Ran could say anything, Professor Alexei took the PPK pistol on the glass display case and followed Alexander into the inner lounge.

"Your teacher is so generous"

Federer suppressed a laugh and said, this old guy is willing to spend 500 dollars to buy a pistol, which is definitely a big deal, and he wants to get close to his boss's purpose, Federer naturally saw it when he took out the PPK .

"Don't say that"

Wei Ran replied solemnly, "My teacher, Mr. Alexei, is the most generous person on both sides of the Volga River. He certainly won't feel sorry for that little money."

"I hope so." Federer showed a playful smile on his face, "Remember to remind your teacher that we don't accept returns here."

"He will be sad when he hears the news"

Wei Ran teased his teacher, and accompanied by Federer, he left the auto repair shop and drove back to the studio with a trailer transporting anti-tank guns.

It took a lot of trouble to send the cannon into the studio, but after Wei Ran closed the shutter door, he was not in a hurry to summon the cowhide notebook. Instead, he meticulously followed the method taught by Professor Alexei and analyzed it step by step. The history of this cannon.

According to the surviving business card on the gun mount, this gun was produced in May 1942 by the No. 92 Arsenal in Gorky City, using a simplified gun lock and control device.

This information can at least push its entry into the war after May 1942, but even so, the scope of the search is still too wide.

Moreover, at least [-] guns were produced before the end of World War II, and they were widely distributed in almost the entire Eastern Front battlefield. If you want to find the experience of participating in the war from such a large base, it is tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack.

(End of this chapter)