Chapter 150 Secret Meeting
The term "too successful to be a threat to the ruler" is not only applicable in China. It is prevalent in every country, especially in countries under near-dictatorial and centralized rule.
It must be admitted that during the war in the Soviet Union, Stalin, as the actual ruler of the country, placed great trust in experienced and famous commanders such as Zhukov and Rokossovsky in order to seek victory in the war. At the same time, this trust also created a layer of protection for these commanders, protecting them from the harm of some political factors.
However, the war will eventually end. In this country, there will always be a day when the war factor gives way to the political factor. When that day comes, facing the sudden rise in the international and domestic reputation of these generals and marshals, how will Comrade Stalin feel? What will he do? This is probably a big question mark.
In the past years of war, as a young general, Yuri rose very fast in the military system with his solid military achievements. He rose from a lieutenant to a general, and his name appeared in military newspapers and commendation telegrams several times. Some foreign publications even paid attention to him. At this time, Khrushchev recommended him to serve as the Chief of the Operations Department of the General Staff, moving him from the front line of the battlefield to the rear, from the front to the back, and from the commander's position to the position of a senior consultant. It should be said that this was a kind of protection for him.
In the position of Minister of Operations, it is difficult for Yuri to stand out like in the past, and it is difficult for the outside world to see him in the list of so-called famous generals, but his talents are more easily intuitively felt by the leaders of the core leadership - in the past, Yuri's talents were realized by Comrade Stalin through winning battles and reporting one after another. It can also be said that Yuri's talents were realized by Stalin through the praises of others. But now, he works beside Stalin, and Stalin is the first to realize his talents, but others have no way of knowing. Which of these two ways to highlight yourself is safer? If you are someone who likes to show off, you will definitely choose the first one, because that way you can become famous and known to the world. But for those who are truly politically conscious and strive to make progress, the second one is obviously the best choice, because those who cannot be content with loneliness will never become good climbers.
The experience of being marginalized in the General Staff strengthened Yuri's determination to transform into a politician. In Stalin's office, before leaving, Stalin asked him to take a letter to Vatutin and Golikov, ordering them to return to the front temporarily. Yuri was initially puzzled by this request and didn't understand why Stalin gave him this opportunity to fall in love with others. However, when he saw Zhukov in the corridor, he suddenly had a glimmer of enlightenment, so he said the following words - Stalin was already dissatisfied with Zhukov, and the person who was inflated might be Sherbakov, but Zhukov was also one of them, so saying those words in person, instigating the conflict between Zhukov and Golikov, or reminding Zhukov, was all in line with Stalin 's will.
These ideas may be a little far-fetched, but isn't it what politicians do to make assumptions? If we wait until everything is clear before we do anything, I'm afraid the daylily will wither.
Compared to Stalin, Khrushchev is undoubtedly much easier to deal with. This guy has absolute trust in those he trusts. However, the premise is that you must never let him have doubts about you, because once such doubts arise, he will not hesitate to use the most brutal means to attack you.
Today, the relationship between Yuri and Khrushchev is definitely in the honeymoon period. Khrushchev has no confidants in the army, and no general-level people are willing to get close to him. Therefore, Khrushchev is also trying his best to win over young and promising senior generals like Yuri.
The Seagull sedan took the two men to Khrushchev's villa in Sokolniki. Yuri met Khrushchev's wife for the first time, Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk, a very elegant Russian woman. As far as Yuri knew, she was also an old member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. She had once been a political instructor and was Khrushchev's teacher.
Khrushchev now has five children, but the eldest son Leonid is not born to Nina, but to his ex-wife. Currently, Leonid is serving in the army as an air force pilot, fighting in the Western Front. The remaining children are not in Moscow, but are educated in Yekaterinburg in the rear area. The only ones left with the couple are Leonid's wife Liuba and his daughter Yulia, a baby.
Completely different from what one might imagine, Khrushchev's residence was quite simple, without any luxurious furnishings or decorations. The most outrageous thing was that there was a leak in the wall at the northeast corner of the villa's living room, and the rain flowed in through the cracks in the wall, leaving a very obvious stain on the wall.
Yuri and Khrushchev had dinner in this living room: two or three steamed potatoes, a few slices of black bread, a bottle of strawberry jam with a little bit left, and a bowl of soup. It couldn't be simpler.
After being in the Soviet Union for such a long time, Yuri discovered that this country, or rather, this country of this era, is not exactly the same as the country in the propaganda or records of later generations. This place may be full of various cruel political struggles and power struggles, but large-scale, comprehensive corruption has not yet appeared here. Think about it, anyone who thinks rationally can understand that it is impossible to coexist with enjoying a decadent life and fighting for supreme power, just like you can't have your cake and eat it too. Can you imagine a person who lives an extremely luxurious and corrupt life, under the watchful eyes of a group of political opponents, can still easily fight for power? That's not politics, but fantasy.
After the simple meal, the two continued their previous topic, mainly Khrushchev teaching Yuri some experiences in getting along with Stalin and some details that need to be paid attention to when working in the Kremlin.
Khrushchev spoke seriously and Yuri listened equally seriously. For him, it was very rare to hear others share these experiences. Most of the time, he could not learn these things from others, but needed to experience and understand them by himself, which would be a long process.
Before they knew it, it was 11 o'clock in the evening. Khrushchev was telling Yuri some interesting stories about his time as a clerk in Ukraine when Nina suddenly came in from outside. She walked up to Khrushchev and whispered something in his ear.
The happy expression on Khrushchev's face suddenly fell silent. He hesitated for a moment, stood up, and said to Yuri: "Okay, Baolianka, it's getting late, you should go to rest first."
After saying this, he turned to look at Nina and said, "Notify Nikolai and ask him to send Paulenka back to Moscow."
Yuri knew that Khrushchev must have important matters to deal with here. Of course, it might also be that some sensitive guests came. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for him to stay here any longer.
After saying goodbye to Khrushchev politely and agreeing with him on the specific time to leave for Kursk tomorrow, Yuri followed Nina out of the living room and out of the main door of the villa.
Qibin should live in the villa. Yuri stood outside the main entrance of the villa for a while, and then the taciturn driver followed Nina out. Just when Qibin went to drive the car, Yuri saw a black Volga sedan driving from the end of the path outside the villa. The bright headlights made people's eyes hurt.
While talking to Nina, Yuri glanced at the car out of the corner of his eye and was shocked to find that the license plate on the car was an internal black license plate of the National Security Council.
Not daring to observe specifically, Yuri pretended to be calm and said goodbye to Nina. After Qi Bin drove over, he got directly into the back seat of the car.
Qi Bin started the car, turned around in the open space in front of the villa, and drove past the Volga less than four or five meters away.
At the moment when the two cars were about to pass each other, Yuri seized the opportunity to look at the window of Volga.
The timing was very good. The headlights of the Seagull car just shone on the windows of the Volga car at this moment. The bright light illuminated the interior of the Volga car. However, because the time was too short, Yuri only saw two people sitting in the car.
A man was sitting in the driver's seat. He was young, handsome, and wearing an Internal Guard uniform. He should be the driver. The other man was sitting in the middle of the back seat. Half of his face was visible between the driver's seat and the co-pilot seat, and it was rather blurry.
Although the face looked blurry, Yuri recognized its owner at the first sight, Colonel Ivan Alexandrovich Serov, Deputy People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the State Security Committee and one of Beria's most trusted people within the internal affairs system.
The reason why Yuri knew this person was because Serov's promotion experience was a complete legend within the State Security Committee. He entered this department 39 years later when Beria cleared out Yezhov's forces in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Then, in less than two years, he became the first deputy people's commissar of internal affairs.
Who could have thought that such a guy who was trusted by Beria would secretly come to visit Khrushchev in the middle of the night.
Thinking of this, Yuri suddenly broke out in a cold sweat without any warning, and he realized a problem: Did Khrushchev know that he held a position in the State Security Committee?
