Chapter 274
Comrade Beria, who can still be called a comrade for the time being, is definitely an extremely special existence in the Soviet party, government and military groups. He is like a huge shadow, hanging over everyone's heads, making everyone unable to sleep or eat, and feeling miserable.
As for Comrade Kaganovich, well, you can still call him comrade for the time being. At this time, he is a staunch supporter of Stalin, the kind of person who follows Stalin closely and does not care about his relatives. Even if Stalin farts, he will say it is fragrant, and he can even analyze whether it smells like orange or cocoa.
These two people have many similarities. First of all, there is no doubt that they are both very capable at work.
Take the war period of the past few years for example. Beria was in charge of intelligence and domestic counterintelligence work. At the same time, he was also responsible for the construction of fortresses, fortresses and defense facilities. He did these things very well, especially in the field of intelligence. Under his guidance, Soviet spies not only lurked inside the German Third Reich, but also in Japan and even the United States, Britain and other countries.
The same is true for Kaganovich. He personally supervised the construction of Moscow's world-class subway system. Hiding in the Moscow subway system , there is really no need to worry about nuclear war. During the Great Patriotic War, he was responsible for the railway transportation work of the entire Soviet Union. The results were amazing. It can be said that he could build railways wherever the Soviet army advanced, and ensure that all materials were transported in an orderly manner. Things like this are really impossible for ordinary people to do.
However, despite their outstanding advantages of strong working abilities, their flaws are equally obvious. Comrade Beria, for example, is so powerful that he could fly. If he had not been tied with a rope called "Stalin", he would have flown to some four-dimensional space. The three-dimensional universe could not restrict him.
What about Kaganovich? His work style was too crude and rough, and he would not show mercy to anyone. To work under him, one had to be either conscientious and cautious, or be classified as a saboteur. For example, if there was a situation where relief supplies could not be distributed during earthquake relief or epidemic prevention, it was estimated that all the responsible persons from top to bottom in the entire system would be sent to a labor camp by him, and eventually turned into "ashes of saboteurs" and washed into the sewer.
Both of them have the same logic of ruling their subordinates: since they sit in that position, they must do a good job and should be able to do the corresponding work. Any omissions in the process are destructive to the Soviet cause, any excuses are pretexts, and any reasons are sophistry. Being incompetent and still occupying the position is a betrayal of the Soviet motherland, and they all deserve to die.
As a result, after several years of leadership work, the two not only offended a large number of colleagues, but also attracted the jealousy of a large number of subordinates.
Therefore, even though the two are now in high positions and have great power, and their momentum is unmatched, Yuri is very sure of one thing, that is, once there is an opportunity, even if it is only a small opportunity, countless people will jump out to oppose them and overthrow them to the ground.
Yuri's attitude towards such people is to stay away from them and never stand in the same trench with them.
Looking back on his past life, it is interesting to note that although Kaganovich had failed early in the political struggle in Moscow, he lived the longest among the first two leaders of the Soviet Union. It was not until July 1991, before the outbreak of the "August 19" incident, that the 98-year-old man died quietly, lamenting "This is a disaster."
Now looking at the high-spirited Kaganovich himself, Yuri was very curious. In the world of his previous life, what kind of mood was the dying Kaganovich in when he saw the collapse of the Soviet Union, which he had personally helped to establish? Perhaps, at least he was not happy?
There were so many people present, but only Bulganin went forward to greet them because he was of similar rank to those two men, and they could be considered colleagues.
The next step was to shake hands one by one. Yuri was the second person in line. He had a brief conversation with the two men. The two men were also very easy-going when they met him. Beria asked him about his residence, saying that he was now a general in the Soviet Army, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs was going to give him a new house with 24-hour guards. As for Kaganovich, he didn't say much, but a rare smile appeared on his cold face.
After shaking hands with everyone, the two were about to lead the way up the steps, but at this moment, two more cars drove in. However, the two cars did not enter the parking lot and then stop, but drove directly to a place not far from the crowd, then the car doors opened, and Malenkov and Voroshilov got out of the car.
Everyone was just about to go forward to say hello and greet them when several cars arrived one after another. Senior military officials including Budyonny and Timoshenko arrived one after another. After that, it was Molotov, Shcherbatov and others. The last to come were Zhdanov, Andreyev, Mikoyan and others. Khrushchev came with this last group of people.
It was obviously impossible to shake hands one by one at this time, so the group of people formed a circle and communicated in a small range. Then, after a few minutes, led by Malenkov and Beria, they walked up the stairs in front of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
If ranked according to the order, Yuri would definitely not be ranked among these people, but he would definitely not be at the bottom either. Therefore, he did not get close to Khrushchev, but walked with Rokossovsky and his group.
Judging from the number of people who came alone, the scale of today's meeting was obviously large. However, Yuri had no idea what the content of the meeting was. Not only him, but all the generals who returned from Germany did not know. They only received a notice to attend the meeting, which limited the time, but did not mention the content of the meeting.
The meeting was held in St. Andrew's Hall. Entering this hall, which was specially used for the coronation of emperors during the Russian Empire, one could see that the chairs were already arranged inside - there were chairs but no tables, which meant that the meeting would not last too long.
Yuri found a seat with his name on it on the right side of the second row. On his left was Antonov, his immediate superior and the current Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Red Army. On his right was Shikin, Joseph Vasilyevich Shikin, a general, currently the Director of the General Political Department of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. He had just replaced Sherbakov, who was in poor health, in this position half a month ago. Before that, he was only the Deputy Director.
To be honest, Yuri did not have a very deep impression of Shikin, and his presence was not strong. A person who focused on political work was indeed not easy to stand out. Once he stood out too much, trouble would often occur, just like Comrade Mehlis.
When Yuri took his seat, Antonov was already sitting in his seat. When he saw Yuri coming, he stood up and shook hands with Yuri. To be honest, Antonov's job as Chief of the General Staff was quite unpleasant. He was the head of the General Staff, but Stalin did not think highly of his abilities.
There is no comparison in everything. Once there is a comparison, the weaker party will be easily hurt and suffer a mental attack. This is the case with Antonov. In the position of Chief of the General Staff, his performance has always been suppressed by Yuri, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff. It is said that after Yuri went to Belarus to preside over the battle, when Stalin listened to the front-line reports, he subconsciously said several times: Comrade Yuri Arisepovich, please introduce the battle situation. Such words, when they came out of his mouth, he realized that Yuri had gone to the front line, and then Comrade Antonov, who was waiting to make a report, was embarrassed.
It is precisely based on this situation that some people say that it was the wisest decision for Vasilevsky to resign from the post of Chief of the General Staff. At least Stalin had a very good impression of him.
However, Antonov was... how should I put it, he was quite Buddhist. He was obviously very satisfied with his position as Chief of the General Staff. As for that bit of embarrassment, he could bear it. What this guy was really worried about was that Yuri would return to Moscow after the war. By that time, his position as Chief of the General Staff would probably be unstable.
But now, as the Chief of General Staff, he knew that Yuri already had his own place to go and would not come to steal his job, so his attitude towards Yuri was quite good.
After exchanging a few words with Antonov, Yuri was just about to sit down in his seat when Budyonny and Timoshenko, who were sitting in the front row, arrived, followed by Vasilevsky and Shikin.
One after another, a group of military leaders arrived.
During the greetings, Konev jokingly asked whether the Great Patriotic War, which had lasted for several years, had ended and everyone had fought for so many years and whether they could have a vacation or something.
Xi Jin smiled and revealed the news, saying that arrangements in this regard have been made and they are coordinating with the relevant departments.
Before he finished speaking, the entire venue suddenly fell silent, followed by thunderous applause.
Yuri turned his head to look at the entrance of the hall, and saw Stalin, wearing a navy uniform and holding a pipe, walking in from outside. On his usually stern face, there was a warm smile like a kind father.
With the appearance of Stalin, the meeting officially began. Malenkov, as the host of the meeting, gave a meaningless opening speech, followed by Stalin's speech.
The speech was ready. Stalin first gave a summary of the war in the past few years. He did not praise or criticize anyone, but just praised this great war. After that, he put forward the theme of the meeting: to hold a grand celebration of the Great Patriotic War. At the same time, the All-Soviet Games that had been suspended due to the war would also enter the preparation stage.
In short, Comrade Stalin's speech revealed one thing: from today on, the focus of the Soviet Union's national work has shifted from war to construction.
