Chapter 327
The black Volga sedan slowly drove into the Kremlin, crushing the mottled light and shadows falling through the shade of the trees on the road, and finally stopped under the building where Comrade Stalin's office was located.
Bending down and getting out of the car, Yuri straightened his military uniform and adjusted his military cap. Then he took his briefcase from Krichkov and strode up the stairs in front of the building.
It was just past nine o'clock, but the building had already become busy. People kept saluting or greeting Yuri along the way, and he returned the greetings with a smile or nodded. Everything was no different from usual.
The corridor on the second floor was still the same as usual, with many people waiting for an appointment with Comrade Stalin. Yuri walked through them without looking around and went directly to Poskrebyshev's office.
He reached out and knocked on the office door. When he heard Poskrebyshev's voice coming from inside, Yuri pushed the door open and walked in.
In the office, the bald Comrade Poskrebyshev was sitting behind his desk, reading a document. When he saw Yuri coming in, he was stunned for a moment, then he quickly stood up , walked around from behind the desk, and said with a smile, "Why are you here so suddenly?"
In the past, Yuri would always call before coming and never make surprise attacks. Normally, he would only come when he was sure that Comrade Stalin was free. So, Poskrebyshev was very curious about his behavior of coming here without calling today.
"Something urgent," Yuri said seriously, "Is Comrade Stalin available now?"
"Comrades Zhdanov and Voznesensky are in his office," Poskrebyshev said seriously, the smile on his face disappearing. "Wait here for a moment. I will go ask Comrade Stalin first."
In Poskrebyshev's mind, Yuri is a very reliable person. When he says there is an emergency, it is often very urgent.
Without saying anything more, Poskrebyshev walked out of the office quickly and went directly to Comrade Stalin's office diagonally opposite.
In less than two minutes, he returned to the office, stood at the door and said, "Come on, Yuri, Comrade Stalin wants you to come over."
Yuri nodded, straightened his military uniform, licked his dry lips, swallowed his saliva and moistened his throat, then followed Poskrebyshev to the office diagonally opposite.
The spacious office was filled with smoke. Comrade Stalin sat behind his desk, smoking a big pipe. On the sofa opposite him, Zhdanov, wearing a black suit, and Voznesensky, wearing a brown suit, were both smoking. Seeing Yuri come in, they stood up one after another, smiled and shook hands with him. Zhdanov smiled as he shook hands, "Antelija didn't lose her temper with you, did she? Haha, you went to Warsaw not long after your marriage, and it's only been a few months. This is not fair to your wife."
Yuri smiled at him. Actually, the old guy was nice to him, although Yuri never considered himself a part of the Leningrad faction.
"What's the urgent matter?" Comrade Stalin asked behind his desk, obviously not intending to listen to Yuri and Zhdanov's pleasantries.
Yuri did not answer directly. He walked to Stalin's desk, put the briefcase in his hand on the table, and then took out a few pages of letter paper filled with things, held them in both hands and put them in front of Stalin, and then said: "Comrade Stalin, I am sure you will temporarily stop my work with Comrade Anjelia and arrange for the comrades of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs to investigate us."
These words stunned everyone present, including Comrade Stalin.
Comrade Stalin did not speak. He stared at Yuri for a while, then took the pipe from his mouth and put it aside. Then he picked up the pages of letter in front of him and put them farther away from his eyes to read.
On the letterhead was a self-criticism written by Yuri last night. Well, it was written very profoundly. The general meaning was that Anjelia's cousin was found to be a spy for the Western countries, but he and Anjelia never noticed it. This problem was very serious. It not only proved that the couple lacked the vigilance that Bolshevik party members should have, but also that they might have leaked some very important state secrets to Igor, the big spy, in their past lives. This incident made him and Anjelia feel very frustrated and worried. For this reason, Anjelia had not slept well for three days, etc.
Comrade Stalin read nearly half a page, then took his glasses from the side, put them on and continued reading.
There was no expression on his face and no one could guess what he was thinking. Zhdanov and Voznesensky, who were standing aside, didn't know what was going on and neither of them dared to speak. But they all knew that since Yuri said so, it meant the problem was very serious.
Stalin read very slowly, and seemed to be very serious. After about five or six minutes, he put down the letter in his hand, raised his hand, rubbed the Jingming point with his thumb and index finger, and said, "Is this guy named Igor confirmed to be a spy?"
"It's confirmed. It is said that the evidence is conclusive and the verdict has been reached," Yuri said with a frustrated look.
"Oh, then how did you know that?" Comrade Stalin looked up and asked.
"I heard from Anjelia that many people in Minsk know about it," Yuri answered without hesitation, "There are even rumors that she is involved. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so worried."
One can already hear a hint of complaint in this sentence, and of course, this is exactly the emotion Yuri needs to express.
Stalin's face darkened. He reached out to take the red phone on the table and shook the handle, but after shaking it twice, he stopped. Then, he put the receiver back, thought for a moment, and said to Poskrebyshev, who was standing near the door, "Go tell Nikolai to contact Minsk and check on this Igor..."
He flipped through the letter again, found Igor's name, and said, "Igor Andreevich Belanov, find out his problem. Yes, tell Nikolay that he must find out the matter for me, do you understand?"
Nikolai was referring to Comrade Stalin's captain of guard, Vlasik. Compared with others, he obviously trusted his captain of guard more. After all, Vlasik had followed him for more than ten years, from 1931 to now.
After hearing Stalin's words, although Yuri's face showed no expression, he felt relieved in his heart.
The red phone on the table is used to directly contact Beria. Stalin did not want to ask Beria about the situation, but instead arranged for his own guard captain to investigate the matter. This shows that he already had doubts in his mind and he suspected that someone was behind this matter.
Comrade Stalin was undoubtedly a very suspicious person, and Yuri grasped his mentality. After entering the door, Yuri didn't say a few words, but just a sentence "many people in Minsk know about it" was enough to arouse Comrade Stalin's suspicion.
When it comes to the so-called espionage issue, Yuri believes that Comrade Stalin would never doubt him. It can even be said that many people who were brought down on charges of espionage, Stalin did not necessarily really believe that they were spies. It was just a means of political struggle.
What kind of person would be accused of being a spy and knocked to the ground? There is no doubt that in terms of the core of power, only those who annoy Comrade Stalin or threaten his position will end up like this. In Yuri's opinion, he is obviously not one of these people. To be honest, Yuri believes that even if Comrade Stalin doesn't like him, he will definitely not hate him. After all, he is quite capable and has never disappointed him no matter what. At the same time, he is now just wandering around the periphery of the core of power, alone, and posing no threat to the high and mighty Comrade Stalin. To this leader, he should be a very good "worker" and he should not want to get rid of him.
Since Comrade Stalin had no intention of killing himself or removing himself, he would certainly protect himself in such a so-called spy case with a very bad influence. He would even consider whether there was some conspiracy in this matter, and whether someone was eyeing the power in his hands and wanted to throw dirty water on himself through this method.
Comrade Stalin liked to play power games and was good at it, but he would never allow his subordinates to play power games behind his back. This was inevitable, and this was exactly what Yuri relied on.
"Okay, put this document here first," Comrade Stalin arranged for Poskrebyshev to do the work and put the document submitted by Yuri into the drawer. He said , "Now what you need to do is go back to work well. In addition, you can tell Angela, yes, tell your wife, don't have any psychological burden before things are clear. She only works for the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, and there are no secrets that spies are interested in there."
"In this case, Comrade Stalin, I hope to arrange for at least one person to take over the work of the Prison Administration," Yuri hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "I think I am not suitable to continue to manage this department before Igor's problem is clarified."
Igor has already been sentenced, and he will go to prison next, so it is reasonable .
But in fact, this was a basin of dirty water that was directly poured on the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs.
