Chapter 34 Politics
Behind the grand military parade, the Kremlin was worried about the impending war. Zhukov believed that there must be more intelligence information that was unfavorable to Moscow above the level he could access, and all of these could help him persuade Stalin.
The military parade lasted for nearly two and a half hours. When the whole process was over, Stalin walked in the front. The group went around the Kutafya Tower, entered the Kremlin through the archway, and went directly to the direction of the Grand Kremlin Palace. During the whole trip, Stalin listened to General Pavlov's introduction to the pre-war mobilization of the Western Special Military District.
As signs of the coming of war became increasingly obvious, the Kremlin began to pay attention to military deployments in the west and southwest. As the commander of the Western Special Military District, General Pavlov had a heavy responsibility. The direction his troops needed to defend happened to be the only way for the German army to advance towards Moscow.
In addition to the Western Special Military District, Zhukov also had a heavy responsibility. The Kiev Special Military District under his command only had to defend the passages through which the German army might advance towards Ukraine and even the Caucasus. Ukraine was the main grain producing area of the Soviet Union, while the oil fields in the Caucasus supplied most of the Soviet Union's oil needs. Once these two directions were lost, the consequences would be disastrous.
Based on these factors, Zhukov believed that after Stalin listened to Pavlov's report, he would definitely talk to him, and at that time he would put forward his suggestions.
Perhaps General Pavlov had too many things to report, or Comrade Stalin was more concerned about the situation in the Western Special Military District. The conversation between the two did not end until they entered the Grand Kremlin Palace and reached the Orgiev Hall on the second floor.
"Comrade General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov," Stalin's secretary Lyobishev stopped Zhukov and whispered to him as he crossed the hall, "Comrade Stalin will meet with you in private later. Please wait a moment."
Zhukov nodded and walked to the lounge on the side of the corridor to take a short rest, waiting for Stalin's meeting.
During the time Zhukov was in charge of the Kiev Special Military District, he was always very busy. He had so many things to deal with that in the first two days after arriving in Moscow, he slept less than four hours a day.
Sitting in the lounge, Zhukov was planning to prepare a speech so that he could systematically present his views to Stalin when he met him. But he fell asleep in a daze after sitting in the chair for only a while, and when he woke up again, he was woken up by Lebyshev.
"Comrade General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Comrade Stalin is waiting for you." Although he was Stalin's personal secretary, Lebyshev was always humble and polite to others. This was due to his personal character as well as the influence of the escape of the former first secretary Bazhanov.
"Thank you," Zhukov quickly stood up, wiped his face with his hands, put on his military cap, and said.
Following Lebyshev out of the lounge , I went straight into Stalin’s office.
In the office, the serious-looking Stalin was standing in front of a window smoking a cigar. Stalin had a characteristic that he did not like to sit when listening to reports, but liked to pace back and forth, thinking while pacing.
"Comrade Georgy Konstantinovich, tell me about the situation in Kiev," Stalin said, turning slightly to look at Zhukov when he heard the footsteps behind him.
Stalin rarely called his generals by their full names. Among the many generals who performed outstandingly in the Soviet-German War, only Shaposhnikov had received this honor and was called by Stalin by his full name. However, after the Battle of Bagration, Rokossovsky also received this honor.
Zhukov understood Stalin's working style, so he didn't say a word and started reporting directly on the work done by the Kiev Special Military Region in war preparations during this period.
Stalin highly recognized Zhukov's military talents. Otherwise, he would not have promoted Zhukov's rank from major general to general in just one or two years, and at the same time, gave him the command of the largest Kiev Special Military District.
"Very good," Stalin seemed very satisfied after listening to Zhukov's simple but detailed report. He nodded and said, "Every task must be done well, whether it is the construction of fortifications or military logistics, no part can be missing."
His tone was solemn, and Stalin continued: "We have received accurate intelligence that the German offensive may be launched in May next year, which means that you have less than seven months to make all preparations."
"All arrangements are proceeding in an orderly manner," Zhukov said after a moment's hesitation. "However, the current arrangements of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs have had a great impact on the work of various arrangements. So, Comrade Stalin, do you think it is better to..."
"The work of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs is very necessary," Stalin immediately understood what Zhukov meant. He was very dissatisfied with a general interfering in the affairs of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, so he said in a low voice, "You should know that a while ago, many problems appeared in the western Ukraine region, and these problems must be taken seriously."
"You are right. I think no one will have any objection on this issue," Zhukov first affirmed Stalin's views on this issue, and then turned and said, "However, Comrade Stalin, we must also see the problems that the comrades of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs have in carrying out this task . From the beginning of November to now, in just one week, a total of 1,873 people were arrested in the Kiev Special Military District under my command, of which 1,246 were convicted and executed."
Zhukov began to list the specific data he had obtained before. If the data was not taken out, it would not feel like anything, but once it was actually listed in front of him, it was a bit terrifying.
"Among these people, the vast majority are grassroots commanders, including company, battalion and regiment levels," Zhukov continued. "Comrade Stalin, you know that when I first took office in the Kiev Special Military District, considering the serious shortage of grassroots commanders, I specially transferred a group of people from military academies at all levels in Moscow, a total of 132 people. But among these 132 people, 43 have been arrested. I don't understand why the commander who was an outstanding student a few months ago has become a so-called traitor and Bandera member . Can the soil of Western Ukraine only breed these unstable factors? Or are our grassroots commanders so easily corrupted?"
Stalin looked unhappy. He did not like Zhukov's tone, but at the same time, he was also very clear that there were problems with the anti-counterrevolutionary work in Western Ukraine, and they were very serious problems. Perhaps, compared with the anti-counterrevolutionary work in recent years, the scale of the anti-counterrevolutionary work in Western Ukraine was not large, but the problem was that the timing was wrong.
As the top leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin certainly knew how bad the current external environment was. According to intelligence from German insiders, Hitler had postponed his "Sea Lion Plan" aimed at landing in Britain indefinitely, which meant that the German war on the Western Front would enter a stalemate. At the same time, the German army began to gather in large numbers in Poland, Romania and other places. What made Stalin most uneasy was that the Germans were arming the Finnish army and providing them with military training. These hostile moves undoubtedly proved that the intelligence that the Germans would invade the Soviet Union next year was accurate. In view of this, what the Soviet Union needed to do now was definitely not to continue the so-called anti-counterrevolutionary work in depth, but to shift the focus of the work to stability. At the same time, the construction of the army should also be strengthened.
As an experienced commander, Zhukov's talents were as outstanding as his bad temper. Stalin relied on him a lot, but he didn't like him. But no matter what, Stalin thought that the problem Zhukov raised today was still worthy of attention. In just seven days, nearly two thousand grassroots commanders were arrested. This problem was very serious. Even those who had no military common sense knew that the combat effectiveness of an army depended largely on the maintenance of grassroots commanders.
However, even if he realized the seriousness of the problem, Stalin could not directly accept Zhukov's suggestion to stop the ongoing anti-counterrevolutionary movement in western Ukraine. He needed this movement to maintain his authority. Therefore, he thought that he could give a reminder to the Ukrainian cadres to make them more or less restrained, but at the same time, he could not go too far and discourage these people's enthusiasm.
This is a trade-off and also an art of leadership. The key lies in how to criticize some people without putting too much burden on them.
The conversation between Stalin and Zhukov lasted nearly an hour, and no one knew what they talked about. However, shortly after the conversation ended, a commendation order signed by Comrade Stalin himself and issued by the Kiev Special Military District Command and the General Political Department was quickly circulated to every unit in the entire Kiev Special Military District.
This commendation order did not contain any content about awarding a medal, but was just a verbal praise. The unit being commended was the 209th Battalion commanded by Yuri, and the general content was to affirm the outstanding performance of the 209th Battalion in the previous battle to encircle the Lutsk radar station.
Once this seemingly empty commendation order was delivered, the direct result was that the anti-counterrevolutionary task force quickly withdrew from Lutsk. Then, Comrade Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, the First Secretary of Ukraine, delivered a speech in Kiev, the general content of which was: the anti-counterrevolutionary work should neither let go of a potential enemy nor wrongly accuse a comrade.
