Chapter 291
"Comrade Alexander Alexandrovich, you are an expert in the field of oil exploration," Yuri said, letting Ferolov sit down on the sofa. "I won't say much about how important oil is to our Soviet motherland. You must know it better than me. What I want to say is that with the end of the war, the so-called 'oil-carbon dispute' has also ended. Now, oil, as a fuel, has become a strategic resource that concerns the future and destiny of the Soviet motherland."
Yuri took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to the old man. He continued, "Comrade Stalin proposed the idea of building a national 'Second Baku' oil field at the 17th National Congress. Before the war, we had discovered a series of oil fields with relatively rich reserves in the Volga River Basin, but this is far from enough."
After a pause , giving the old man some time to digest the information, Yuri sat down next to him and said, "So, we are now planning to restart your exploration work in Tyumen, and you will be the one leading the entire exploration work."
As he finished speaking, Ferrolov's old face showed obvious excitement. He trembled and turned two pages of the document and took a look, as if to confirm that this was indeed the article he published that year. After about ten seconds, he said in a hoarse voice, "The permafrost zone in Western Siberia restricts the development of oil extraction, and the relevant technology is quite difficult. In addition, the poor road transportation conditions are also a problem that must be overcome. Therefore, I personally believe that any oil exploration project targeting Western Siberia is not suitable for implementation at present."
"This is not a problem you need to worry about," Yuri said unhappily after hearing the meaning of the old man's words. "Like I said, we are only doing some preliminary exploration work at the moment. As for the actual development, we can put it aside for now."
Firolov fell silent, his hands trembling and his head hanging on his chest, as if in silent resistance.
Yuri had a headache. He had to admit that no matter how the Soviet Union in the Stalin era later slandered and abused it, during this period, the Soviet cadres and intellectuals were generally positive. It could be said that they had a sense of mission in their bones and really pursued country building as a value in life.
Was the so-called Great Purge, which caused great harm to the entire Soviet Union, really a persecution campaign triggered by a power struggle? In the context of the time, it was not entirely true. It may be correct to say that it was a top-down movement, but there was a kind of fanatical sentiment that was prevalent among the people. Everyone has their own definition of "traitor" and "saboteur". Once someone touches this line, they will inevitably become a "traitor" or "saboteur" in the eyes of someone, and being reported and denounced will become inevitable.
In other words, it is not wrong to put all the blame for the Great Purge on Stalin, but it is not objective to say that he really killed so many people. His crime was that he launched the movement but did not restrict it.
However, even so, the Soviet Communist Party's credibility among the Soviet people is still very high. The country is still in a high-spirited state, and patriots occupy the mainstream of the country's consciousness. Just like Ferrolov, even though he was wronged and imprisoned for more than ten years, his mind is still on the country. His silence is because he is unwilling to waste national funds, and he does not want the oil exploration work to become a political achievement for some people.
It was not easy to convince such an old stubborn man, but Yuri was not interested in slowly persuading , which was simply a waste of time. The old man was just a prisoner, and he had plenty of ways to make him bow his head.
"The specific exploration work will be resumed within two weeks," Yuri continued without paying attention to the old man's attitude. "The corresponding personnel, equipment and materials will be registered by a dedicated person. When you arrive in Moscow, you can take a look and point out any deficiencies. In addition to you, there are several geological experts and scholars from Germany on this exploration mission. I hope you will have a pleasant cooperation then."
After explaining the basic tasks, Yuri slowed down his tone and added: "Comrade Alexander Alexandrovich, I believe you should understand that this is a precious opportunity for you. Don't you want to reunite with your family? Or, are you really willing to stay in this place for the rest of your life and bear the crime of being a 'saboteur'? Believe me, think about it carefully. I'll give you an hour. If you have no objection, you can use this time to pack your things."
No matter from which angle you consider it, what Yuri said is correct. At present, although there are not many experts and scholars related to oil exploration and exploitation in the Soviet Union, there are still many. There are some things that Ferolov can not do, but people who can replace him can still be found. Moreover, with the end of the war, the Soviet Union also searched for a large number of experts in related fields from Germany, Romania, Austria and other countries. Especially in Romania, the Ploiesti oil field is not only a production of oil, but also has a large number of experts in related fields.
Ferolov might have his own principles and persistence, but after all, he was still a human being, and a human being with a relatively high IQ. Therefore, after leaving the warden's office, he went straight back to pack his things.
Ferolov was just the first leader of the exploration team that Yuri found. He was busy with related work throughout the entire month of August.
During this period, the newly established Disarmament Working Committee held three meetings, all of which were chaired by Comrade Stalin himself. Through this series of meetings, the committee determined most of the working principles and guidelines in disarmament work, and at the same time , issued a series of documents.
In addition, the personnel issues of the various bureaus under the committee were also finally resolved. As for the personnel issues of the various general bureaus under the executive bureau, part of them were handed over to Yuri, but when it came to key departments, such as the candidates for the heads of several construction corps, the arrangements were still made at the committee meeting.
Throughout August, the restoration and reconstruction work of the whole Soviet Union began to be implemented, and the People's Committee meetings to preside over the corresponding work continued. Also in this month, near the end of the month, the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party held its first meeting since the outbreak of the war, and Yuri's status as a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party was confirmed.
It was during this meeting of the Central Committee of the CPSU that representatives of the Communist and Workers' Parties of nine countries, including China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia, gathered in Moscow and established new ideas and methods for developing the international communist movement under the new circumstances.
During this period, Tito, as the representative of Yugoslavia, proposed to Stalin the establishment of the Information Bureau of Communist and Workers' Parties, which was approved by Stalin.
Judging from various signs, it seems that a new wave of the international communist movement is about to arrive.
Also in this month, after two weeks of swift attack, the Japanese Kwantung Army entrenched in Northeast China and Korea collapsed completely. Except for a dozen major cities such as Fengtian, Harbin, and Shenyang, hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army soldiers were divided and surrounded by the Soviet army. In order to prevent the Japanese from destroying major factories and mines in Northeast China, the Soviet long-range aviation carried out large-scale airborne operations behind enemy lines.
In Korea, the First Far Eastern Front, with the cooperation of the Pacific Fleet, carried out landing operations on the Korean Peninsula and quickly captured Pyongyang, creating the most favorable conditions for the subsequent operations in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
At the same time, the Soviet Pacific Fleet dispatched submarines to attack Japanese merchant ships in the Sea of Japan. In mid-August, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Molotov, made a speech defining the so-called Japanese pioneer group as a paramilitary organization that was not included in the scope of civilian protection. On the 21st of that month, off the coast of Lushun, 37 nautical miles from Huangjin Mountain, a Soviet submarine attacked the passenger ship "Morihira" carrying pioneers on its way back to the Japanese mainland, causing a disaster in which nearly 900 people were killed.
The suggestion to classify the Japanese pioneer group as a paramilitary organization was proposed by Yuri in the document submitted to the General Staff. This view had a far-reaching impact. The most direct consequence was that during the Soviet war against Japan, in addition to sending more than 600,000 captured Kwantung Army soldiers to labor camps, nearly 300,000 pioneers who failed to return to their homeland in time were also sent there. This batch of more than one million prisoners of war worked in the harsh environment of Siberia for more than ten years, and less than one-tenth of them finally returned to Japan alive.
It is precisely because of this article that Yuri's reputation in later generations has been controversial, but he himself does not care much about it.
Also during this period, the US military's counterattack in the Pacific battlefield was extremely rapid. Under the guidance of MacArthur's leapfrog tactics, the US military bypassed the isolated islands heavily guarded by the Japanese army and launched an offensive against the Philippines.
After successively capturing Peleliu Island and Morotai Island, the US military launched an attack on the Philippines mainland on the one hand, and launched large-scale bombing operations on airports in the Ryukyu Islands, Luzon Island and Taiwan controlled by the Japanese army on the other hand.
The so-called Great Japanese Empire, which had once been at its peak, was in a desperate situation at this moment. Not only was its military strength stretched to the limit, but the morale of its combat troops was low. The only means by which the commanders could boost morale were slogans such as "serve the emperor with loyalty" and "die with honor" that encouraged everyone to die.
Just like that, at the end of August, the General Staff came up with the so-called "revenge" operation plan to attack the Japanese mainland. Comrade Stalin's idea was to divide Japan equally with the United States after the war and to permanently incorporate Hokkaido into the Soviet territory.
