Chapter 203: Reporters Ask
The corridor leading to Stalin's office was as quiet as usual. On the chairs on the left side of the corridor, there were one or two people sitting here and there, some in military uniforms and some in casual clothes. They were probably waiting to meet Stalin.
Yuri and Poskrebyshev appeared side by side in the corridor, instantly attracting everyone's attention. However, soon, with the sound of a door opening, all eyes instantly flashed away and gathered in the direction where the sound came from.
"We cannot accept any form of conditional surrender," the door opened in Stalin's office, and as the door opened, Stalin's unique voice also appeared in the corridor, "the new border must be drawn according to our requirements. The existence of Karelia has been proven to be important to the defense of Leningrad, so the narrow territory must be controlled in our hands. This is the most basic condition."
Just by listening to Stalin's words, we knew that he was talking about the Finnish issue. When he arrived in Moscow, Yuri also received some news that the Finns were seeking peace with Moscow again. They had clearly realized that the Soviet Union was destined to win this war, so in order to avoid more severe punishment in the future, the Finns took the initiative to contact Moscow secretly this time, and they were probably ready to pay the price.
The person accompanying Stalin on the left is Comrade Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov, who is in charge of foreign affairs. The fat man walking on the right with a notebook in his hand as if taking notes of a meeting is Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov - Comrade Stalin's most steadfast follower, who is now getting closer and closer to the core of power in Moscow. The confirmation of his identity as the Minister of the Central Cadre Management Department is the most obvious sign of this.
In addition to these two, there were some other people following behind, but Yuri basically didn't recognize any of them, and they shouldn't be any key figures.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, you've come just in time," Comrade Stalin said, holding his pipe in his hand. When he looked up, he saw Yuri following Poskrebyshev. Stalin raised his pipe and said, "I have some questions for you. Now, let's go to the Teremnoy Palace first."
Having said this, Stalin turned to Poskrebyshev and added: "Go and get the report submitted by Comrade Zhukov. In a little while, introduce it to Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich so that he can understand the basic situation."
"Okay, Comrade Stalin," Poskrebyshev said hastily.
After a few simple words, Stalin nodded to Yuri and continued walking along the corridor towards the stairs. When Stalin passed by, Yuri saluted and watched him walk down the stairs.
Poskrebyshev needed to get some documents and was delayed for a while. When he came out again, Yuri followed him downstairs, took a car and rushed to the Teremnoy Palace.
The Teremnoy Palace has a special status in the Kremlin. It is not an important office location, but a place similar to a state guesthouse, mainly used to receive and accommodate foreign friends.
On the way to the Teremnoy Palace in Yuri's car, Poskrebyshev introduced to Yuri the purpose of Stalin's visit. According to him, in the past two days, a group of Western reporters came to Moscow and were arranged to stay in the Teremnoy Palace. Stalin's visit this time might be to attend a press conference for these reporters.
The Teremnoy Palace should be considered one of the main buildings of the Kremlin. From the perspective of direction, it is located in the southwest of the Kremlin, next to the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Polyhedral Palace, and its location is a bit remote.
The driver parked the car at the entrance steps of the Teremnoy Palace. When Yuri got out of the car, he saw Comrade Stalin standing on the steps at the entrance of the palace, talking to several blond and blue-eyed middle-aged men in suits and coats - these middle-aged men were well-mannered and it was obvious that they were engaged in cultural work.
Poskrebyshev must have dealt with these people before. He walked beside Yuri, introducing the identities of these people to him as he walked up the stairs.
According to Poskrebyshev, these middle-aged people are all media people from the United States, and they are all from well-known media, such as Time Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post and so on. As for the purpose of their coming to Moscow, it is to interview and report on the Soviet Union's recent war achievements.
In fact, Moscow had received many such press delegations in the past, but in terms of specifications and treatment, none of them could reach such a high standard as this time, not to mention that Comrade Stalin personally came out to receive them.
Why is this press group so highly regarded? Yuri understood a little bit. In fact, it was not that the identity of this press group was special, but that the time they came was special.
At the Tehran Conference not long ago, under pressure from the Soviet Union's position, the United States and Britain formally confirmed the plan to open a second front in Europe in the middle of the following year. However, the timetable for this operational plan was somewhat vague, and the United States and Britain needed the Soviet Union to further expand its offensive on the Eastern Front to attract German troops and create more favorable conditions for them to open a second front.
Now, this group of reporters has arrived in Moscow at such a sensitive time, and they have to report on the Soviet Union’s new battle plan. Just imagine, how could Moscow not seize this opportunity to publicize it and encourage its British and American allies.
Climbing up the stairs, Yuri originally planned to stay quietly aside, avoiding everyone's attention, and leaving the opportunity to show up in front of foreign media to Comrade Stalin. However, he did not expect that Comrade Stalin did not want to make a splash today. After a brief opening speech, he directly pushed his Minister of Operations in front of the media.
Yuri didn't like reporters. In his opinion, the only people who were more difficult to deal with than reporters were foreign reporters. Facing reporters was actually the same as facing the public. As the Chief , he had to figure out what he could and couldn't say in front of the public. There was no room for error.
This time, Stalin pushed Yuri to the front. Facing these media reporters from the United States and other Western countries, Yuri had not received any prior notice and had no mental preparation. He had to be fully alert, think carefully about every word he said, and be cautious.
Yuri was no stranger to these Western media reporters. "The youngest ", "Red God of War", and other similar titles were often given to Yuri by Time magazine. The most crucial and legendary point was that in the records of these Western reporters, this young and somewhat overly young senior Soviet commander seemed to have never been defeated on the battlefield.
When Stalin turned the topic to Yuri, the reporters gathered on one side immediately swarmed over, the spotlights flashed frequently, and the white smoke from the burning magnesium lingered in the air for a long time.
"Everyone, this year is already the fourth year that we have been fighting against the German fascist attack," Yuri said after a little preparation. "In the past four years, our great Soviet Red Army, under the command of Comrade Stalin and the Supreme Command, has completed a transformation process from defeat to advancement, from defense to offense, and from passivity to initiative. When the whole of Europe had already fallen, we resisted the fascist attack and ushered in a new situation of strategic comprehensive counterattack."
This is a summary speech, full of nice words, and it is undeniable that these words are facts.
"For quite a long time, the German fascists have been dissatisfied with their defeat. They believe that there are reasons for their defeat, just like Napoleon, who was defeated by harsh weather conditions. To prove this point, they also pointed out that the Red Army's offensive time is generally set in winter, which is the so-called 'winter offensive'." Yuri continued, "I don't want to comment too much on this sophistry of the fascist Germans. What I want to say now is that the heroic Soviet Red Army can launch an offensive at any time. In the past, we launched a winter offensive and defeated the German fascists in the offensive. Now, in the future, we will launch a more comprehensive offensive. We will launch an offensive in the summer, and we will also launch an offensive in the fall and spring. We will launch an offensive against the German fascists in every place and on every front. We will launch an offensive against Romania, Poland, East Prussia, Berlin, and Vienna. We will completely end this war and bring all the war criminals who provoked and launched this war to court, so that they will be held accountable for this disaster that has lasted for several years."
There was complete silence all around, and the only thing everyone could hear was Yuri's speech.
Emotionally, Yuri's speech was passionate and impressive, but in terms of content, it was a speech full of nonsense. It can be said that no useful information was obtained from this speech. When will the next Soviet offensive be launched? On which front will it be launched? None of these questions were mentioned or discussed at all.
However, Yuri did reveal a piece of news through these words, that is, the Soviet army is likely to abandon the previous combat mode of launching offensives only in winter and seek offensive opportunities in summer. Of course, this is also what Western countries including Britain and the United States are most concerned about, because according to the previous agreement of the Tehran Conference, the United States and Britain will open up a second battlefield in the European war against Germany in the summer. They need the Soviet army to launch an offensive in the summer to attract as many German troops as possible.
