On the afternoon of September 25, 1920, a dozen workers gathered in a workshop of the Mauser Arsenal and were nervously awaiting the arrival of a pistol.

This impressive pistol is an improved version of the Mauser Arsenal that began working on before it received a request from the Department of Defense Army.

Prior to this, the entire German army and navy were equipped with a variety of pistols, including the M1911 captured on the battlefield, the standard Ruger in the country, the British Webley revolver, and the French MAS1873 revolver, all of which were of different calibers, and they could barely be used if they were captured during the war, and the demand for pistols was not high at that time, so the demand for pistols after the war also held an indifferent attitude and was ranked behind.

However, with the advent of armored forces and many urban warfare, it was found that neither the Mauser G98 rifle nor the Eric Arsenal's G16 rifle could meet the needs of urban warfare, but the short pistol often played some role. In a tank, it is very difficult to come up with a 1.25-meter G98 or G16, and the MP16 often cannot be fully equipped for every tank, which is too wasteful, and the chance of a tank crew jumping out of the car in melee combat is really pitiful.

So what to do? The clever Army Ordnance Procurement Committee made three very simple requests. The first is to be cheap and to be able to equip the whole army. The second is to be durable, with a continuous fire of 100 rounds and a life of 5,000 rounds. Third medium-caliber bullet.

It was not that the Mauser Arsenal was the only one to enjoy this competition, but there was some design stock before that, and as soon as the Ministry of Defense's request was announced, the Mauser Arsenal took out the P-17 scheme that had been borrowed from the M1911 and modified it into the P-20. But after the change, they found an interesting problem, that is, there is no matching ammunition, there is no domestic production line for M1911's 0.45-inch ammunition, and such a caliber does not meet the requirements of the Ministry of Defense, and 11 mm bullets obviously do not belong to the category of medium caliber.

The Parabellum 9mm pistol cartridge designed by Dinamit Nobel was also not a medium-caliber cartridge, and Mauser had to develop his own ammunition, which had to be redesigned to meet medium-caliber standards.

It's just that the redesign time was too long, so everyone began to consider choosing an existing intermediate power bullet, and the 7.65 mm Ruger bullet designed by Greg Ruger fell into view again.

Bang——! Bang——!

Several Wehrmacht-selected test gunners at the range began testing the P-20 pistol, which was supplied by Mauser.

"The power at close range is average, but that's all there is to this caliber." A gunman who shot a live pig spoke out how he felt.

"The trajectory is fairly straight at close range, but the scale is not very convenient, the insurance is not very accustomed, you need to operate it with both hands, I am left-handed. However, the ammunition is sufficient, and the medium caliber can be loaded with 12 rounds, which is quite enough. ”

After a series of questions, he began to test the design of Horch and Krupp.

Eric was also at the scene, he had reservations about this gun, and then he also personally tested it, and he didn't stop after one round, and there were a few more rounds...

It was only after testing it for himself that he discovered the benefits of this pistol, although the 7.65 mm caliber is much worse than the 9 mm Parabellum, it still has good lethality, and the need for metal is reduced, making it suitable for mass production.

Arnold Schumann was the designer of this pistol, and he was not really sure about this pistol that was improved after copying the M1911, because the data was too mediocre, and the only advantage might be that the structure was more resistant to construction and wear, and even if it was poured into sand, it could continue to fire, because the layout was not fine at all.

In order to demonstrate these characteristics, he deliberately threw the P-20 on the ground and stepped on it a few times and threw it into the bucket, and after pouring the water on the ground, he threw the gun in the mud and stepped on it a few times, and shot directly without wiping it clean when he picked it up.

This guy is simply a family heirloom.

"Arnold, how is this gun made?" The interviewer was Günther Kruger (distinct from Kluge of the Ministry of State Security), commander of the 14th Army of the Wehrmacht and one of Rundstedt's generals, who was promoted to major general after the civil war at the time of the establishment of the Federal State, and was originally the commander of the 12th Infantry Division of the 1st Army of the National Army.

"It's very simple, one person, only 3 days of normal working hours can be completed." Arnold added. "If you don't use a wooden grip and use all-metal, you can save 1 day of work."

Rundstedt actually has concerns, although the medium-caliber power bullet is determined to save costs, but the actual effect of this P-20 is not very ideal, it is difficult to be lethal at close range, if he prefers the P-08 Luger gun in comparison, the 9mm Parabellum bullet can get the enemy with one shot.

"The offer is 14 marks?" Rundstedt asked.

"Yes, if you use a wooden grip it is 14 marks, if it is an all-metal construction, it can be cheaper by another 4 marks, 10 marks a handful." Arnold didn't dare to compare, compared to the price, he was confident that the P-20 could throw off other weapons on the street.

"You're not German, are you?" Eric asked curiously, because Arnold, the German name, didn't look much like a German.

"Yes, Mr. President, I am a Ukrainian, arrived in Berlin in 1917. Previously worked in the royal arsenal of Tsarist Russia. Arnold replied honestly. When I got here, I fell in love with Germany, freedom, democracy, prosperity..."

"Stop—it's okay." Eric hurriedly interrupted the Commonwealth propaganda he was about to vomit.

Eric kind of understood why this pistol was so rugged, and it did not fit the German personality of excellence at all, which was also a common situation after the establishment of the Federal State, and the Federal Republic of Germany, which merged various nationalities, began to collide with new sparks, and designers like Arnold were common.

"How many pistols is priced at 10 marks? How much cheaper can it be if production is expanded? And how much cheaper can the price of bullets be? "Eric's concern is money after all, and he can't think about how good a gun can be for every soldier, what he wants is the equipment rate.

"Hmmm... If it is 20,000, it can be cheaper by 5 pfennig, and 100,000 cheaper by 1 mark. Bullets 60 marks per thousand rounds. Arnold's idea was simple, a fledgling designer like him would be famous if he could design a pistol with a capacity of 100,000 guns.

"To give you a chance to become famous, I will order another 1 million all-metal guns and 500,000 wooden grip guns, which are called Arnold 1920 guns. What price do you think you can set? Think about it, and you have to get your boss to agree. 7.65 mm ammunition is equipped with 2 thousand rounds per gun. Eric wanted to push the price down again.

Arnold was stunned for a moment, and then said excitedly. "6 Marks! Wooden 7 marks! This is the lowest price, and I don't need a design fee anymore! To be able to produce so many guns and still use my name, I don't want the design fee. But I really can't help the money for bullets, we use Luger bullets, not my patents. Arnold said excitedly, after all, a young firearms designer in his twenties, the first design can have such a large output, it is fake not to be excited, he is also smart, such a big fame is not something that money can measure at all.

"That's okay, the all-metal one is named Arnold 1920H, the wooden one is named Arnold 1920M, and the bullet is still produced according to 1,000 rounds." Eric added. "The War Department will give you a separate commission, to make up for your payment of the design fee, well, marshal, you look at it."

Rundstedt saw that Mr. President had cut the price in half at once, which was outrageously cheap, and he was also happy in his heart, such a cheap price, 6 marks, was only one day's salary for an assembly line worker. Compared to the 1911 marks of the M23, it is simply outrageously cheap.

In the end, on behalf of the Army, Rundstedt presented Arnold with a newly designed Iron Cross for weapon design, and gave him another 10,000 marks as a reward, and Eric called him a profiteer than him.