Brethea, a city close to Milan, an Italian water town, is famous for its many medieval churches, museums, art galleries, and is also the industrial center of Italy with metalworking, machinery, automobiles, textiles, munitions, and chemistry.

The gray-haired old man sat behind an elaborate desk, and behind him was a badge of three long arrows, three of which symbolized the glory and disgrace of the Beretta family for more than 400 years, which were given new meanings.

Easy to aim, straight ballistics, hit the target.

"Son, our family is the oldest industrial organization in the world for the production of firearms, and our ancestors began selling weapons when gunpowder was first used in war. In 1526, Mastro Baltromeo Beretta received 296 ducats from the Venetian Arsenal as a deposit for 185 sets of arquebus barrels. This business was written into the history of the Beretta family as a beautiful story. ”

The middle-aged man standing in front of the old man bowed his head and did not speak, this old man who has been in charge of Beretta Company since 40 years ago has always been the leader who leads the direction of the family, he has seen too many amazing military geniuses rise, and he has also seen too many enemies fall, and the majesty that has been established invisibly has allowed his talented son to live under his dazzling aura.

"At the beginning of the 19th century, after years of war, the iron heel of Napoleon, the brutal suppression of the Austrian army, and the constant travel of our predecessor Pietro Antonio Beretta to show our quality products throughout Italy, the company was able to win a large number of orders and get through the difficult times."

The middle-aged man, known as Little Pietro, was covered in sweat on his forehead.

"During the war, I, Piertro Beretta, won a military order from Mussolini's government, which brought Beretta's business to a new peak, and even when the Allies forced Mussolini's government to step down in 1943, Beretta was lucky enough to escape the quagmire of war."

"But why is it that the Belgian company FN, and a little-known small business, have begun to keep devouring the market that we have painstakingly built up for many years, and Beretta is still helpless?" The old man's voice suddenly rose a few decibels, and he challenged little Pietro, the former leader of the Beretta Company, who had long since retired to the second line, and would not have rushed over from Minisir in a rage if it weren't for this incident.

"Forgive me for my incompetence, father." After the end of the war, the new government formed by Badogglio adopted the .30-06 caliber M1 Garand rifle from the United States, and in order to meet the huge needs of the Italian Army, this year Beretta began to license the production of the M1 Galant rifle under the authorization of the United States.

Beretta Company, which was worried about the order, suddenly received such a big business and smiled from ear to ear, and soon Beretta Company opened a new assembly line for the M1 Garand rifle, but just when this side was in full swing, FN Company and North Industries Company quietly expanded their business to the whole of Europe.

First of all, the AKM rifle and FAL rifle of the FN company, after the military procurement of South American countries at the beginning, the excellent performance of these two guns was compared, and even the "AK" party and the "FAL" party were derived, and the people who are optimistic about AKM's rifle believe that AKM has excellent continuous firepower, can overcome extreme environments, and has a large magazine capacity. And the same black AKM black that is optimistic about FAL, is basically arguing around the issue of accuracy. But they all forgot that whether they chose AKM or FAL, it was FN that made the money in the end.

Although NORINCO has not launched its own firearms products so far, the Kramer mine and M203 grenade launcher have been well received by many European countries, especially the Belgian army has made a free advertisement for these two gadgets, and it is said that even the national army of Czechoslovakia has begun to be interested in Kramer mines and wants to place a big order with Albert.

Just when Beretta was immersed in the joy of Italy's military order, but there was a bad news from the army, the Belgian military top brass intended to purchase two new firearms designed by FN company, if it were not for Pietro to use his connections in the government and the military, so that this intention was stillborn, otherwise it would definitely be an even worse misfortune for Beretta company.

"It is said that the thirteen-year-old Prince Albert is going to develop a new submachine gun to challenge the status of the Chicago typewriter in the United States." Little Pietro gritted his teeth and said, "It's ridiculous that you are not afraid to laugh and be generous in front of everyone when you talk so much." ”

"If it's you, I'll only take it as a joke, and if it's him, I'll be skeptical." Pietro stood up, walked to the window, looked at the city, which generally slept in the ancient Middle Ages and awakened to modern heavy industry, and said coldly, "If no one writes for AKM and FAL rifles, this kid is a rare genius in light weapons in a century." ”

There is a rumor that AKM and FAL were ghostwritten by others and not designed by Albert himself, and that little Piertro is convinced that a thirteen-year-old kid can do anything but play with blocks, and he said with disdain, "It's a big deal, but don't lose a mess." ”

"Remember this verse of the Bible, my child, that whoever fights with the sword will die by the sword." Pietro sighed, his hands behind his back, his expression was indescribably light, but the words that came out of his mouth made little Pietro's face change.

"I have unearthed a military genius from Kazakhstan, a figure no less talented than that Prince Albert, but it took a lot of effort and money to take this person from the hands of the director of the Dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy, although he is now unknown, but I can tell you that last year this guy competed on the same stage with Simonov, Shpakin, Bulkin, Degdyalev and other famous Soviet gunsmiths in the national shooting range selection experiment." Piertro said with emotion.

"And the basic principle of the semi-automatic rifle designed by this guy coincides with the AKM designed by Albert, and if Albert hadn't preemptively introduced this firearm, maybe the Soviet army would have included his design in the national army's weapons replacement program."

"So powerful?" Little Pietro couldn't believe it.

"If Albert is the Jörmungard of Norse mythology, then this guy is the Kraken, the dragon hidden in the deep Norwegian sea in The Ring of the Nibelungen."

Piertro, who was familiar with Norse mythology, muttered to himself that when he first met the guy, he was attracted by his unusual temperament, that the guy was a halfway monk, and at the age of 23 he was sent to a regular school for formal technical training, and after graduation, he was assigned to work as a technician at the Ansk military weapons test site, and also received two "inventor certificates" for improving the Gyryunov heavy machine gun.

"From tomorrow he will be transferred to Beretta's headquarters, where he will work with the chief designers Demenico Salza and Vittorio Val on new automatic rifles and submachine guns, especially submachine guns, and in terms of work, all of Beretta's resources will be prioritized in favor of the design of new firearms." Piertro's tone was categorical, and there was no room for negotiation.

Little Pietro really didn't expect that this guy would be raised to the same height as the first-class designers of Beretta, and he asked cautiously, "Good father, I want to know what his name is?" It's worth your way of looking at it. ”

"His name is Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov."