Chapter 349
After putting the Marshal's Star on Yuri, Comrade Stalin did not step down. Instead, he folded his hands on his abdomen and waited for Zhdanov to read out the next awarding order, which was for Sokolovsky.
This general, who is nearly fifty years old, has much more experience than Yuri. He joined the army during the civil war. He was awarded the first medal in his life when he was fighting against the Basmachi gang. He also served as Chief of Staff of the Moscow Military District before the war.
However, as a soldier, becoming a staff officer too early is very disadvantageous, because in war, the most outstanding and dazzling performance is not easily the staff officer, but the commander. It is said that if a staff officer does not have a chief, his fart will not make much noise. In fact, even if he has a chief, his fart will not make much noise. Most of the time, they still need to rely on seniority to get promoted, especially if they are a staff officer under Comrade Stalin.
Just like Sokolovsky, he was almost always in the position of a staff officer throughout the Great Patriotic War. In each of the various fronts, he always appeared as the chief of staff. He finally became the commander of a front, but was soon caught by Comrade Zhukov to be the chief of staff.
To be honest, if it were not for the purpose of downplaying Zhukov's achievements, the rank of marshal would probably not have gone to Comrade Sokolovsky this time.
Therefore, when he stepped onto the stage, this nearly fifty-year-old general was even more miserable than Yuri. Everyone in the audience could see his confusion, but no one laughed at him. Even if they laughed, it was only a friendly laugh. After all... this was the Soviet marshal, who had truly walked out of the melting pot of blood and fire. What he should have received was respect, not ridicule.
After Soklovsky's awarding of the medal is completed, today's awarding ceremony will come to an end. However, there will be a celebratory reception later.
To the sound of the majestic Soviet national anthem, Stalin and Zhdanov walked off the stage. The former did not return to his seat but left the venue directly. Comrade Stalin seldom participated in activities like cocktail parties as he himself did not like noisy occasions.
"Yuri," Zhdanov returned to his seat. He did not sit down, but smiled at Yuri across the seat, "Have you thought about what you are going to perform at the party later?"
"Performance?" Yuri had not yet recovered from the excitement of being promoted to Marshal. Hearing this, he was stunned for a moment and subconsciously asked, "What performance?"
"Ha, don't you know? That's very good," Zhdanov laughed, did not answer his question, but walked towards the entrance of the venue.
"I'm afraid you'll have to prepare a performance," Comrade Khrushchev came over, pinched the sleeve of Marshal Yuri's dress uniform, and walked out with him, smiling, "This is our tradition. Comrades who have been promoted to marshals must prepare a performance at the celebration meeting. They can dance, give a speech, or sing a song or something."
"Oh, then... when Comrade Rokossovsky was promoted to marshal..." Yuri asked subconsciously, but stopped before he finished speaking. What Rokossovsky was he asking about? He was a versatile and romantic man who could play all kinds of musical instruments and sing.
"What did Comrade Zhukov perform at the beginning?" Yuri asked, changing the subject.
"Oh," Khrushchev said, his mouth twitching, "a dance. Don't ask me what it was. I don't want to recall the scene at that time."
Yuri thought of Zhukov's bloated figure, and the thought of him dancing was really... However, on second thought, Yuri thought of Comrade Beria again. He wanted to ask him, but finally gave up. He guessed that Comrade Beria would most likely give a speech, a stuttering speech.
Yuri was no longer nervous when he thought about giving a speech. As a senior commander for so many years, he had no problem giving a casual speech. At least he would not be stage fright.
It will be held in the Georgiev Hall on the second floor half an hour later, mainly to give people participating in the celebration some time to move around, such as going out to smoke a cigarette or relieve themselves.
Yuri didn't go anywhere. He followed Khrushchev around the square in front of the Kremlin and chatted with him casually. According to the information revealed by Khrushchev, he would probably return to Ukraine in the near future to take charge of the work there again. Comrade Stalin had talked to him before and asked him what he thought.
Khrushchev actually hoped to return to Ukraine in one or two months. He wanted to wait until after the autumn harvest because he would not be able to do any work even if he rushed there now. In addition, he also wanted to raise the issue of agricultural reform in Ukraine with Comrade Stalin, hoping that Comrade Stalin could unify the suggestions for improving the vitality of collective farms.
Ukraine's agricultural problems are very serious now, especially after Kaganovich abolished the collective farms' private plot system, which not only dampened the collective farm operators' enthusiasm for production, but also further intensified the contradictions in related aspects. Coupled with a large number of migration policies, Ukrainian people's hearts are floating, which is very unfavorable for the arrangement of agricultural work after the autumn harvest.
At this time, Khrushchev's agricultural policy was not as radical as later generations. He did not promote corn planting as the main direction of agricultural reform, and he did not think of planting corn all over the Soviet Union. His main consideration now was to improve the treatment of collective farm households in order to stimulate their enthusiasm for production.
Khrushchev still had some ideas. He actually agreed with the policy of abolishing private plots, because the existence of private plots did hinder the development of collective farms to a large extent. Because of the existence of these private plots, the farmers of the collective farms would focus their main energy on operating their private plots and lack interest in operating the collective farms.
But he also believes that it is simply not feasible to abolish the private plot system in such a one-size-fits-all manner. Even if this work is to be carried out, it must be done after providing benefits to collective farm households. This is the best option.
Yuri could only express his support for Khrushchev's idea. To be honest, he didn't have any better ideas in this regard, because he had never been in charge of agricultural work and had no understanding of this aspect - the work of the Production and Construction Corps and agricultural work are two different things. After all, one side is still under military management, while the other side deals with farmers.
After walking around the square in front of the Grand Kremlin Palace for a few laps, the two of them went to the Georgiev Hall on time.
The hall had already been decorated at this time. According to Comrade Stalin's order, many long tables with food, fruits and other things were placed in the middle of the hall. There were no seats in the hall. People attending the celebration banquet could freely form groups, chat while eating and drinking , and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
In order to liven up the atmosphere, many actors from the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe and female soldiers from the Internal Security were arranged to attend. After all, there would be dancing activities at such a banquet. If no arrangements were made, what would be the point of a bunch of grown men dancing?
The person who hosted the celebration banquet was still Zhdanov. After all, he was the guy in charge of propaganda and was quite good at this aspect.
After entering the celebration party, Yuri couldn't get together with Khrushchev anymore. After all, they belonged to a different circle, and if he got close to them, he would be too conspicuous. However, he would definitely not be lonely in such an occasion, because most of the people present were soldiers, and he had many acquaintances.
After wandering around for a while and drinking three glasses of champagne, just when Yuri found Sokolovsky and was about to have a chat with him, Zhdanov walked onto the small stage and, according to tradition, called on the newly crowned Soviet marshal, Comrade Sokolovsky, to perform a show.
Amid the booing at the banquet, Sokolovsky was pushed onto the small stage. This guy was obviously well prepared, and he was not stage-frightened when he got on stage. He directly recited a poem by Gorky, which made him get through this part.
While Sokolovsky was reading poetry, Yuri drank half a glass of champagne and was a little tipsy. He watched Sokolovsky leave the stage amid applause, and then watched Zhdanov come on stage, look in his direction, say something, and gesture in his direction.
Hearing the applause from all around, everyone turned their heads to look at him, and Yuri felt his blood boiling. He put down the wine glass in his hand, walked over quickly with a smile on his face, and went directly onto the small stage.
At this time, he already knew what kind of show he should perform. In his previous life, he had not heard many Russian songs, but there was a song that he had heard before his rebirth that was very appropriate for the occasion.
After asking for a bayan from the military band in the corner of the small stage and sitting on a stool brought by a female soldier, Yuri thought for a moment, and then, without any soothing prelude, he directly played a fast-paced piece of music.
As the music played, the banquet hall fell silent. At the same time, Yuri sang softly:
After going through many hardships,
Through laughter and tears,
We paved the way forward.
All glory to the Soviets,
The golden years of the past,
Stay in the old songs,
This breeze of freedom...
Yuri's voice is not very strong, not very recognizable, and a bit hoarse, but the tunes played by the bayan are very beautiful, melodious but with a bit of sadness, and sad but also with a bit of upliftment.
This song is certainly not original to Yuri. It comes from Yuri’s previous life, the famous Russian band Liubai. The name of the song is "For You, Motherland".
