Chapter 301
Ukraine, Brovar.
A train consisting of four carriages passed directly through the station in the southern suburbs of Brovary without any intention of stopping.
In the last carriage of the train, Yuri sat at a large desk specially prepared for him by the Ukrainian Railway Department, frowning as he flipped through a newspaper in front of him.
The newspaper was the Red Star, which had just been published today and reported on the ongoing anti-Japanese war in the Far East.
According to the news published in the newspaper, in the past week, the newly established Soviet Far East Air Force Combat Group launched a large-scale bombing operation against the mainland including Hokkaido, Japan, and several major islands. In particular, the two air force groups transferred to South Sakhalin Island repeatedly crossed the Soya Strait and carried out air strikes on several important cities in Hokkaido, Japan.
Of course, these news were published in newspapers for people to read, and some of them were true. For example, the large-scale air raids on Hokkaido by the Air Force did cause huge losses to some cities, including Habomai Island, Wakkanai, and even Sapporo further south. However, at the same time, the losses suffered by the Soviet Air Force were not as minor as described in the newspapers. On the contrary, under the counterattack of the Japanese Air Force, the Soviet Air Force suffered great losses.
To some extent, the Soviet Air Force could bear such losses. After all, Japan was on the verge of collapse. After losing the Nanyang region and the Chinese mainland, Japan's military industry had been completely destroyed. To put it bluntly, they now had one less fighter plane for every one they lost, while the Soviet Far East Air Force could be replenished continuously. If the war continued like this, it would take less than a month for the Japanese homeland defense air force to be completely destroyed.
However, in Yuri's opinion , this way of fighting was obviously very lame, because while the air force was fighting, the Soviet Pacific Fleet did not make corresponding coordinated actions. They were too conservative and did not even have a decent attack action. Just from this way of fighting, it can be seen that the Soviet command in the Far East has lost its enterprising spirit, or in other words, they have lost interest in landing on the Japanese mainland.
Throwing the newspaper aside, Yuri reached out for the coffee beside him, took a sip, then stood up, walked to the car window, bent down and looked out the window.
Outside the car window is a dark green field, and in the field are rows of corn. It seems that these crops are growing well and there should be a good harvest in the fall.
Taking a deep breath, Yuri smiled self-deprecatingly. Don't think about the Far East, after all, the war has been evacuated away from you. Before leaving Moscow this time, he even handed over the positions of Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Chief of the Operations Department. Now, his military position is the Chief of the General Logistics Department of the Soviet Red Army.
Yuri understood that the reason why he, as a senior commander, was assigned to a logistics position was because Comrade Stalin no longer needed generals like him who were good at commanding troops and enjoyed a certain reputation among the senior commanders of the army.
In fact, ever since Bulganin came to him and asked him to write the article aimed at criticizing Zhukov, Yuri had already anticipated that this day would come. This was a very effective method. In the entire Patriotic War, the two most prominent senior commanders were Zhukov and Yuri. They each had a group of supporters in the army, and their potential influence was amazing. So, let them fight directly. In this way, while taking down one, the other can also be taken down smoothly.
Even though Yuri saw through it, he had no opinion on this. If he considered the issue with a more optimistic attitude , at least he felt that he was much luckier than Comrade Zhukov.
Yuri's thoughts came back to the present. He calculated the time. In about half an hour, the train would pull into the Kiev Railway Station. Hey, the field outside the window was where he had fought. He had been injured here a few years ago.
Today's Ukraine is Comrade Khrushchev's territory. This energetic guy, who will take over the position of the Soviet Union's top leader in the future, is suppressing bandits throughout Ukraine, promoting the restoration of collective farms, and at the same time, clearing out traitors in the war.
In Yuri's opinion, Comrade Khrushchev is a truly smart man. This guy will not go to Moscow easily unless he has to.
Boom boom boom…
There was a knock on the door inside the carriage. Yuri frowned and looked towards the door in front.
Kryuchkov, who was sitting at the door, stood up and opened the door. An old man in a black suit, tall and thin, with an unshaven face appeared outside the carriage door. Judging from his appearance, the old man was at least sixty or seventy years old, but he was in surprisingly good spirits.
Kryuchkov exchanged a few words with the other party, but it was unclear what he said. Soon, he turned around, walked quickly to Yuri and said, "Comrade General, Comrade Obruchev wants to talk to you."
Yuri glanced at the old man, nodded, and said, "Please ask him to come in." As he said this, he put on a smile, gestured to the old man to come in, and walked to his desk.
Don't underestimate this old man. He is a very extraordinary guy. His name is Obruchev, Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev, a famous Soviet geologist. He became an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1929. To be frank, all geologists in the Soviet Union's 70-year history can be regarded as his students.
This old man is not only a geologist, but also an adventurer. He has walked across the desert on the Afghan border, explored Siberia, traveled deep into the Mongolian desert and grassland, and crossed the Jungar Basin in China. In addition to being a geologist, this man also writes very good novels. He seems to have written a science fiction novel called "The Hunting Records of the Center of the Earth".
On this train, in addition to Yuri, there were many geologists and some physicists from Moscow. The purpose of their trip was to inspect the uranium mines in western Ukraine and guide the mining . At the same time, they also wanted to establish a small-scale laboratory nearby in western Ukraine.
Obruchev was the leader of these scientists and researchers. In fact, his work was not very related to Yuri's.
Yuri's trip was to inspect the uranium mining work in western Ukraine. The development of a uranium vein is not simple. In addition to mining, there are many other tasks, such as security, logistics, and the construction of transportation railways. In these tasks, many of them need to be coordinated with the Ukrainian local government and get the cooperation of the other party. Therefore, Yuri came here in person. After arriving in Kiev, he also met with Khrushchev to determine some work planning and arrangements.
Obruchev was born in 1863 and is actually over 80 years old now. Although he is in good spirits, his legs and feet have some difficulty walking, sitting or lying down.
After waiting for Yuri's permission, he walked in tremblingly . Beside him, there was an equally tall middle-aged man supporting him.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," the old man said as he came up to Yuri, bent down and sat on a chair that Kryuchkov had brought for him, took a breath, and said, "Let me introduce you first."
Pointing to the middle-aged man next to him, Obruchev said, "This is Sergei, Sergei Ivanovich Vavilov."
Yuri didn't say anything. He glanced at the middle-aged man standing next to the old man, pursed his lips, then turned his head and motioned Kryuchkov to pour two cups of coffee.
This Vavilov was the focus of Yuri's trip. The reason for focusing on him was not because he was famous, but because he was a "criminal" who was released from an Omsk prison not long ago. In other words, he participated in scientific research with a guilty body.
During the Great Patriotic War, many important figures were imprisoned in Omsk's "Prison No. 266". These people conducted scientific research in prison and produced many good things, such as Tupolev, the "father of the Tu-2 bomber", and Korolev, the "father of the Soviet launch vehicle".
Vavilov was an outstanding physicist, and he was imprisoned because of his brother, Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov, the most famous botanist and geneticist in the Soviet Union. The famous Comrade Lysenko was his student and promoted by him. Of course, he was eventually persecuted to death by Lysenko.
Of course, if Yuri knew more about the history of Soviet science, he would know that Mr. Vavilov had a student named Ilya Mikhailovich Frank, who would win the Nobel Prize in Physics ten years later.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Obruchev said after hesitating for a moment, sitting on a chair and looking at Yuri standing in front of him, "We should be in Kiev in half an hour. As the leader of this exploration, I would like to make a request of you that is not too excessive."
"Just tell me, Comrade Obruchev. I will try my best to meet your needs within my ability." Yuri nodded and said.
"It's like this," Obruchev turned his head and looked at Vavinov again, and said, "Since we need to work in Ukraine for a long time, I hope you can do more work to bring some comrades' relatives and families over. For example, Comrade Sergei Ivanovich has not seen his family for more than a year."
