Chapter 346
Being awarded the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was not a simple matter. It was not something that could be resolved by a single order from any department. The process required was very complicated. Not only did it need to be reviewed by the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the General Political Department, it also had to be discussed at various meetings. The commanders of the existing major military regions also had to write recommendation statements.
Of course, considering the current reality in the Soviet Union, under the personal promotion of Comrade Stalin, all the cumbersome procedures could be resolved in the shortest time possible, but even so, the actual awarding ceremony was delayed for two weeks.
…
As September approaches, the scorching heat of midsummer begins to subside, and cool weather becomes the main theme of Moscow. Weeks of consecutive sunny days have provided convenience for people's travel.
One year after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the overall economy of the Soviet Union had recovered to a large extent. Although problems in various aspects still inevitably existed, the difficulties of material shortages had been basically alleviated. Of course, this did not include the problem of food.
On the first Monday of September, September 2, Comrade Ivan Alexandrovich Serov, who had been paying close attention to the internal affairs of Ukraine, submitted a report to the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs.
In this report, Comrade Serov pointed out that the entire western Ukraine is currently shrouded in a mood of uneasiness. Rumors such as Moscow will take away all the food of Ukrainians during the autumn harvest; Moscow is preparing to relocate all non-Russian people in Ukraine to Siberia; Moscow will further lower the price of grain purchased by collective farms, etc., and such rumors are spreading throughout the western Ukraine region.
The public's anxiety is rapidly growing and may lead to a certain degree of unrest at some point in the future.
Based on this, Comrade Serov believes that resolute and decisive measures must be taken to dispel these rumors and calm the emotions of the people in the region in order to avoid unnecessary chaos.
Comrade Serov once served as the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and is very familiar with the situation in Ukraine. Although he has been transferred to Moscow, the work he is in charge of is also closely related to Ukraine, so his report is very credible.
In the same report, Serov implicitly criticized Kaganovich's rough work style in Ukraine. During his one-year tenure as the First Secretary of Ukraine, Comrade Kaganovich's only means of dealing with people's problems seemed to be exile and migration. He had signed dozens of exile orders, involving more than 400,000 people. This rough method was the main stimulus for the unrest among the people in Western Ukraine.
It is also under this high-pressure governance method that ethnic separatist activities in Ukraine have not only not been eradicated, but have instead tended to intensify. Anti-government guerrillas of varying sizes have become more rampant. These guys can often get the support of local people, and their guerrilla warfare methods are becoming more and more sophisticated.
Yuri also saw the report submitted by Serov. Not only did he see it, he also submitted a report to the Presidium of the Central Committee, coordinating the condemnation of the deteriorating security situation in the Ukrainian region.
As director of the executive bureau, Yuri oversees a large-scale project for agricultural development in the Propyat River basin and has a say in the matter.
In fact, since January, several production and construction corps in the Propyat River have been frequently attacked by jungle guerrillas from Ukraine. However, although the production and construction corps are engaged in farming, they are all veterans after all, and they have all participated in the brutal Patriotic War. In addition, the construction corps camps are equipped with weapons. Therefore, these guerrilla attacks have basically no effect except for the first two successful attacks. In the summer, several construction corps launched several encirclement and suppression campaigns, basically eliminating the banditry in the area.
However, the elimination of the banditry had nothing to do with Comrade Kaganovich. It was the credit of the Production and Construction Corps. This must be made clear. Moreover, Yuri and Kaganovich had no friendship, so naturally he would not cover up for him.
Deep down, Yuri still had some aversion to Kaganovich. In his opinion, this man was just an old-fashioned bureaucrat. He would be very good at class struggle, but he would not be able to manage government affairs and economic construction because he did not have the necessary knowledge in his big head. Perhaps in his eyes, all problems were nails, and the hammer of power in his hand could solve all problems as long as he swung the hammer and smashed it.
Now, according to feedback from all sides , the current situation in Ukraine is really very serious. The summer harvest after the fall will see a large-scale reduction in production. The expectation this year is that Ukraine will still not be able to complete the task of unified grain procurement. If it collects grain forcefully, then a food famine will be inevitable from the second half of this year to the summer harvest next year.
Yuri can now get some information, such as the total amount of grain that the People's Committee plans to collect from Ukraine this year. The figure is currently set at 7.7 million tons, which is consistent with the grain procurement volume in 1932.
In Moscow's view, not levying taxes according to the 1939 standards is already a consideration of the impact of the war on Ukraine. If this standard is still not met, then there is a problem with Ukraine's work.
As for the same unified grain procurement work, the People's Committee assigned the Propyat River Agricultural Development and Production and Construction Corps a task of 300,000 tons. However, according to actual statistics, Yuri believed that the unified procurement volume that the Propyat River Production and Construction Corps could submit was about 500,000 tons.
Prior to this, he specially summoned the commanders of various production and construction corps to Moscow and proposed to set the unified grain purchase quota at 500,000 tons this year, but was opposed by the commanders . Their opinion was that they should hand over as much as the quantitative standard set by the People's Committee.
Of course, this opposition is just a statement. It indicates that within less than a year of its establishment, the various production and construction corps developed in the Propyat River basin have formed a collective based on themselves, and they are consciously safeguarding their own interests.
This is a very natural phenomenon. As the leader of the Production and Construction Corps, Yuri needs to show his political achievements and improve his work scores by overfulfilling the tasks. As for the various Production and Construction Corps, what they need to do is to ensure that they can successfully complete the grain purchase task next year while protecting the interests of the Corps. At the next level, for the People's Committee, what they need to do is to collect more grain to ensure the grain supply throughout the Soviet Union.
The question that the commanders of the various production and construction corps are considering is very simple. If they exceed their targets this year, Moscow wants 300,000 tons, and they provide 500,000 tons, then tomorrow Moscow may collect 700,000 tons or even 1 million tons from them. If that time really comes, what should they do?
To be honest, if Yuri insisted on his position on the issue of grain purchase, he could have convinced several commanders of the Production and Construction Corps. Although these military leaders showed a firm position, they were still a little scared when facing Yuri. But Yuri did not insist on his opinion. In his opinion, the development of the Propyat River has just started. Excessive exploitation of them now is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, which is not wise.
In the end, he accepted the requests of the commanders of the various corps and carried out the tasks according to the People's Committee's unified purchase standard of 300,000 tons. However, he also put forward the requirement that after the production and construction corps completed the unified purchase tasks, the remaining grain could not be sold privately, and the remaining grain must still be redistributed for a fee within the scope permitted by the state.
It was precisely because of the outstanding performance of the Production and Construction Corps in the issue of unified grain procurement that Yuri had the confidence to blame Ukraine. After all, compared with the work of the Production and Construction Corps, Ukraine's side was indeed a mess.
Of course, Yuri's accusations against Ukraine's work were not so simple in purpose. He was also cooperating with Comrade Khrushchev's ambitious return attempt.
Yes, Comrade Khrushchev was fed up with the work in Moscow Oblast, and was extremely fed up. Although Moscow Oblast was a central region of the Soviet Union and a key area for all local work, being the first secretary in this place was actually very miserable. If you do your work well, it is what you deserve, and no one will praise you, and no one will notice it, but if you do not do your work well in any aspect, it is easy for people to find fault with you.
The most important thing is that it is difficult for the ambitious Comrade Khrushchev to exert his power in this place. He is subject to too many constraints. Any major changes need to be discussed at the meeting, and he cannot make decisions on his own.
Nowadays, although Ukraine’s problems are becoming more and more serious, the real difficult period has actually reached a critical point. It is impossible for it to get worse. Comrade Kaganovich has already taken all the blame. Any achievements made in the future will be real. Therefore, Comrade Khrushchev believes that the time has come to return to Ukraine, and he wants to be the one who turns the tide.
Why did Comrade Serov choose this time to submit such a report to the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs? This is not only because he was in charge of the internal affairs there, but also because he was Comrade Khrushchev's most determined cover. When Comrade Khrushchev was the first secretary of Ukraine, Serov was the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and the two cooperated well.
Yuri's report was also intended to support Comrade Khrushchev's ambitions.
