Wu Xiandong's "5000 Years of Sea, Air and Space: A Brief History of the Civilization and Power of Great Powers" begins with the 2680th issue of Writer's Digest**, focusing on the "extreme innovation" of the Stalin era.
In 1937, Stalin spoke at a conference in which he expressed shock and dissatisfaction with the defeat of the Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War. Soviet aircraft, which were originally superior, fell into a disadvantage after the development of a new aircraft in Germany.
Stalin expressed disappointment with the old designer, saying that he looked at his products like a mother to a one-eyed child.
At this moment of crisis, Stalin decided to take the aviation industry into his own hands.
He arrested a number of aviation heroes and specialists, began to train young aircraft designers. During this period, the young Yakovlev came to prominence. He played a key role in the Soviet aviation industry, contributing to the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk.
Yakovlev became Stalin's Young Guard, leading a new generation of aircraft designers, including the design of new aircraft such as "Yak", "Il", "MiG".
These aircraft were a great success in the war, and Soviet aerospace rose rapidly.
In desperation, Stalin adopted an "extremely innovative" approach, won the war, and also trained a group of young talents for the Soviet Union.
In 1945, Hitler roared at the old generals at the last moment, believing that he should "kill you all" like Stalin.
This, on the contrary, highlighted Stalin's outstanding leadership in the military and industrial spheres.
The above content is excerpted from Wu Xiandong's "5000 Years of Sea, Air and Sky - A Brief History of the Civilization and Power of Great Powers", which is thought-provoking.