Chapter 245
No one can avoid utilitarianism, but some people have it stronger and express it very prominently, while some people are more restrained, or are too embarrassed to express it openly in front of others.
As for Comrade Khrushchev, he was obviously the former. Of course, the reason why he acted so eager and utilitarian in front of Yuri was probably because he truly regarded this young and excessive general as his own.
Speaking of which, the relationship between Yuri and Comrade Khrushchev is really somewhat different. Since the two met, Yuri has always placed his status below Khrushchev. He always regards this old guy as his leader, or as the big boss.
In fact, judging from the status of the two in Comrade Stalin's mind, Yuri is not necessarily much lower than Khrushchev. If we look at the importance, Stalin probably values Yuri a little more.
After all, it is war time now, and it is not that difficult to find a good military commissar or leader of a union republic. Without Khrushchev, Stalin can easily find a replacement, and it is unknown how long this list of candidates will be.
But Yuri was different. Not to mention his status as a senior commander, just as the Chief of the Operations Department of the General Staff, after his departure, Stalin could find a replacement that would satisfy him. Otherwise, Yuri would not be able to coordinate the battle in the Belarus direction and serve as the Chief of the Operations Department at the same time. Every time Moscow needed to find him for something, a plane would have to be arranged to take him back.
Yuri could not feel this problem, but it did not mean that Khrushchev could not detect it. But what was the fact? Yuri always treated him with respect and even courtesy, which was in sharp contrast to Zhukov's attitude. From this point alone, Khrushchev was very satisfied with Yuri. If such a person was not his own, who else could be his own?
But for Yuri, he did not feel that there was anything special about his attitude. The reason was very simple. He had traveled through time and space and knew very well how high Khrushchev would reach in the future. Therefore, when he faced this person, there was not much difference from when he faced Comrade Stalin.
The seat was quite far from the telephone, so Yuri could only hear Khrushchev 's voice but not what Stalin was saying on the phone. However, after a few minutes of conversation, when he hung up the phone, Khrushchev looked very happy.
"It's decided, Yuri," Khrushchev walked quickly back to the sofa, crossed his left arm across his chest, supported his right arm on his left arm, stroked his chin, and paced back and forth on the sofa, saying, "I will contact the transportation department and ask them to prepare enough trains immediately. In the next period of time, we need to transport all the Germans to Moscow. No, wait a minute..."
"We also need to contact that fellow Sherbakov," Khrushchev said, turning around twice, raising a finger with his right hand. "This is very important. We must build a concentration camp somewhere near Moscow to temporarily accommodate these Germans. I think it is necessary to let the Moscow Municipal Party Committee join this work. Well, we must formulate a complete plan and there must be no problems. Otherwise, there will be a political disaster."
Yuri didn't say anything either, just sitting there eating his orange. No matter how Khrushchev operated, the Moscow parade had little to do with him. The most he had to do was arrange the transfer of the prisoners of war.
"Record it, Yuri, it is necessary to record it now," However, Khrushchev did not let him go. This guy turned around a few times and suddenly said.
"Okay," Yuri put down the two orange halves in his hand, took a notebook from the table, and took out a pen from his pocket.
One has to admit that Khrushchev was quite capable. For the next half an hour or so, he paced and thought, and dictated, outlining more than 20 points of attention in detail, from how to arrange the entire parade, the specific procedures, to which department would be responsible for which task.
Leadership positions are indeed very challenging. Judging from Khrushchev's performance, he was able to occupy a seat in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union not simply by flattery, but because he was truly talented and hardworking.
Khrushchev summarized more than 20 points, and Yuri wrote them all down one by one. Then, Khrushchev read it again, made some modifications and additions, and polished the text. Then he called his secretary and asked him to produce a first draft.
After finally finishing all this, Khrushchev finally breathed a sigh of relief. He called the waiter and asked them to bring hot tea. Then he sat down on the sofa next to Yuri and said, "We must hurry up, Yuri. Go back to Smolensk immediately and arrange this work yourself. All the prisoners, especially the officers, must be sent to Moscow within a month without any omissions."
Having said this, he seemed to remember that Yuri had come back to Moscow specifically this time.
"Do you have any important business to bring you to Moscow this time?" Khrushchev asked Yuri after picking up the hot tea brought by the waiter and taking a sip.
"I need your help, Nikita," Yuri said with a wry smile, "You know, I'm worried about the battle in Warsaw now."
"I think your marriage is what really needs my help," Khrushchev said with a laugh, "Comrade Alexander Sergeyevich's health has deteriorated, and he can't even take care of his work, so I guess he can't help you with your marriage. I heard before that you have a good relationship with Vadim Vitalievich's daughter? How is it? Have you seriously considered the issue of marriage?"
Yuri had a headache. Alexander Sergeyevich was naturally referring to Sherbakov. The fat guy was going to be finished soon. Just as Khrushchev said, his body had collapsed and he had to be in the hospital now. He probably wouldn't live long.
As for Vadim Vitalievich, he was referring to Kleinmov. Sherbakov had once wanted to arrange a marriage between Kleinmov's daughter, Anteliya, and him. At that time, Anteliya was still the deputy secretary of the Moscow Komsomol, and now it is said that she has joined the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. However, Yuri met her only twice. As the war became more and more brutal, especially with the frequent promotions, the two had no contact again.
When they first met, Yuri was still a brigade commander who had just won a new award. At best, he was just a young man whose name had just reached Stalin's ears. At that time, Angela's father was already the secretary of the Mogilev Provincial Party Committee. How should I put it? The status of the two was not very equal.
But now, Yuri is already a commander in the strategic direction, the first-ranked deputy chief of the Soviet General Staff, Comrade Stalin's favorite general, and a general with outstanding military achievements... The status of the two, well, is still not equal, it's just that they have been switched.
"Raising this question now ? I don't want to displease Comrade Stalin like Comrade Malenkov did," Yuri said with a wry smile.
"Haha, it's not a question of the same nature," Khrushchev laughed happily, but after laughing, he said mysteriously, "You can put aside the issue of marriage for now, but you still have to be a little more cautious when dealing with the relationship between men and women. You have to know that someone said bad things about you in front of Comrade Stalin because of women's affairs."
"Oh?" Yuri raised his eyebrows.
"Don't worry, these are just unimportant things, no one will take them seriously," Khrushchev said with a smile, "You just need to distinguish between work and private life."
Yuri nodded and said nothing more, but the shadow of Mehlis appeared in his mind for no reason.
"You said you need my help. What is it?" Khrushchev asked, bringing the topic back on track.
Yuri organized his words a little and briefly recounted the reasons for his visit to Moscow.
Khrushchev rubbed his chin and listened to him explain the whole story. After thinking for a while, he said, "I'm afraid I can't help you with this matter. Just yesterday, I was dismissed from my post as military commissar of the First Ukrainian Front."
After saying this, before Yuri could get disappointed, he changed the subject and said, "However, this is not very difficult to do. You can do it yourself, but it requires some strategy."
"Oh?" Yuri perked up and asked anxiously, "What strategy?"
"Learn from Comrade Georgy's methods," Khrushchev sneered, "deal with him the same way he dealt with Rokossovsky during the attack on Kiev. Use this method to solve this problem. I guarantee that Georgy will never raise any objections. After all, he is very politically sensitive."
The Battle of Kyiv? Zhukov's tactics against Rokossovsky?
Yuri frowned. He didn't understand at first, but he soon figured out what Khrushchev was referring to.
In the battle to attack Kiev, the Central Front commanded by Rokossovsky made rapid progress and rushed to the area along the Dnieper River ahead of Zhukov's First Ukrainian Front. At that time, the two armies of the Central Front crossed the division of the war zone and entered the offensive area of the First Ukrainian Front, leaving the troops responsible for the attack in the north of Kiev behind the front line.
Zhukov reported to Stalin at that time, and requested the redeployment of the troops of the First Ukrainian Front and the Central Front on the grounds of command confusion. Rokossovsky suffered a great loss. Not only was he ordered to shift the front to the north, but he also had to transfer the two armies that advanced to the banks of the Dnieper River to the command of the First Ukrainian Front.
