CHAPTER 1
Late August 1939
Sergei Nicoli Zhukov had just been graduated from the StPetersburg State University with a Masters Degree in Physics.He had gone through school on a full time basis and was nowlooking forward to some time off and a vacation before reportingto the military in January 1940. This would be his military serviceobligation.
Sergei grew up in the town of Peterhof; this is a suburb ofLeningrad, Russia. It is about 35 kilometers west of Leningrad on thesouth shore of the Gulf of Finland. It was a very well to do suburb,as his parents were both professors at the State University. His father,Mikhail Ivonich Zhukov, was a professor of Mechanical Engineeringspecializing in metallurgy. His mother, Alexandra Christina Zhukova,was a professor of Astronomy specializing in optics.
During past summer vacations, Sergei and his parents had alwaysgone to their summer dacha on the north shore of the Gulf ofFinland. There they would fish, ride horses, go boating, and go onhunting trips into the lake region to the northeast. This summer hadbeen different, as Sergei had taken extra courses in order to graduateearly. He would be going on vacation alone as his parents werepreparing to go back to the University for the fall school term.
Sergei had been planning his vacation for many months and wasexcited about going hunting for bear in the lake region. His degree wasin physics, but his area of interest was armaments. He had always beena hunter and wanted to develop a rifle that was more accurate andeasier to shoot than the rifles that were on the current market.
During his last year in school for his special project, he developeda hunting rifle that on a test range outperformed any other rifle.He started with a Mauser-91, 11.5-millimeter. This was a very heavyrifle and shot a very large bullet. The initial rifle had a barrel length of85 centimeters. The lead bullet weighed 28.5 grams and had a muzzlevelocity of 750 meters per second. This was about average for a rifleand the penetrating power was minimal, but the knock down powerwas extreme.
The rifle that he developed had a longer but smaller barrel. Thebarrel was 95 centimeters in length and the bullet was reduced insize to 8 millimeters. He used the same brass cartridge and necked itdown to fit the 8-millimeter bullet. Thus he would be using the samepowder load as the 11.5-millimeter cartridge. The weight of the bulletwent form 28.5 grams to 15.5 grams. The muzzle velocity went to1,150 meters per second. This produced a number of advantages. Thebullet trajectory was a lot flatter, thus providing for higher accuracy.The knock down power was lessened but not to the point of beinga detriment. However, the penetrating power more than made up forthis. The rifle worked perfectly on the practice range and he was readyto take it out and prove it in the real world.
Attached to his new rifle he mounted an 8-power small tube scopethat allowed for extended distance and accuracy. On the practice rangehe could hit a 1 meter target consistently at 800 meters and a highpercentage of the time at 1,000 meters. At 1,200 meters, he could hitthe target about 25 per cent of the time. This was a vast improvementover the original 11.5-millimeter rifle. With it and the added scopehe could hit the target consistently at 600 meters and after that theaccuracy fell off to where it could not be deemed accurate.
The morning he started on his vacation he had breakfast with hisparents and they all reviewed his plans. His father said, "So, you areto go from Peterhof by ferry to Kotlin Island and there catch anotherferry to the north shore." Kotlin Island was an island in the Gulf ofFinland. It was about 35 kilometers northwest of Peterhof and itwas about another 35 kilometers to the north shore of the Gulf ofFinland.
Sergei replied, "Yes and from there I will catch the bus and travelthe 65 kilometers west along the shore to the summer dacha. Vlad andMarina will be there to meet me."
Sergei's mother added, "Yes, they are very responsible. I feel somuch better that we have them full time. They seem to enjoy thefreedom allowed by staying there."
They had fulltime caretakers at the summer dacha; an older retiredcouple, Vladimir and Marina Lisov. They took care of the place anddid any repairs that were needed. The caretakers also looked after thehorses and did a little gardening and fishing to help pass the time andbring in some added income for themselves.
Sergei then continued, "When I leave there, I will take two horsesand travel to the lake region and set up a camp and go bear huntingand try out my new rifle in the real world. I plan to camp out aboutfour to five weeks total including travel time."
"I know the rifle worked to perfection on the practice range, butdo not take any chances up there. There is no one to back you up,"answered Sergei's father.
Sergei had finished his packing and said his good-byes. He thenwalked the two kilometers to the commuter train station to catch thetrain to the ferry port. He had a backpack and his rifle. He figured hewould travel light until he got to the summer dacha and then he wouldget added supplies. His plan of taking two horses on his adventure,one to ride and one for supplies seemed to be a very good idea.
At the Peterhof ferry port he purchased a ticket all the way to theport at Zolenocorsk on the north shore of the Gulf of Finland. Whenhe got there he purchased a bus ticket to the area of the summerdacha. The trip was uneventful but he was still excited about hisadventure, it had finally started.
When he arrived late in the afternoon, Vladimir and Marinagreeted him. They were excited to see him and very proud that hehad finished his schooling with high distinction. Marina made a verybig dinner and they sat down and ate while Sergei told them of hisupcoming trip to the lake region to hunt bear. Vladimir was interestedin seeing Sergei's rifle. He was an avid hunter and firearms alwaysintrigued him.
The following morning he and Vladimir packed the supply horsewith the items he would need for camping and staying in the wildsof the lake region for a month. Even though it was still August itwould be quite cold at night as they were north of the 60th parallelof latitude. The tent and gear were made for the region and wouldkeep Sergei quite warm at night. When they were finished, Sergei wentover his checklist to ensure he had everything he needed. They saidtheir good-byes and he was off on a track to the northeast to the lakeregion. Sergei figured it would take him about three days to get to thearea that he wanted to hunt bear.
That night he did not unpack the tent as it was still very goodweather and he did not want to spend the extra time in taking it downin the morning. He built a good fire and made some long lasting coalsto keep him warm throughout the night. The following morning he ateand fed the horses. He then packed his gear and continued his journey.
The scenery on the trip to the lake region was still as beautifulas Sergei had remembered it from past trips. This time, however, hewould be going farther into the region, as he would be mainly huntingand fishing. He did have some fishing gear with him to supplement hisdiet when he wanted a variety.
At about noon on the third day he came to the spot that he hadpicked for his base camp. It was on a high plateau that backed up to aweather-sheltering wall to the northwest. He...
