Chapter 398
Late at night, Moscow, heavy rain.
There was no light in the easternmost room on the fourth floor of the National Security Committee headquarters building on Lubyanka Street.
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky above the square in front of the building. The dazzling flash instantly illuminated the unlit room. Looking through the open door, one could see a burly figure standing sideways in front of the window. The lightning illuminated half of his face, which was reflected on the glass window with rain dripping on it. The blue face looked somewhat hideous and terrifying.
The self-rolled cigarette between his fingers was about to burn out. Abakumov came back to his senses when he felt the burning cigarette butt was a little hot.
He put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray beside him, took a long breath, and turned on the desk lamp... The light came through the top of the lampshade and hit his face, making him feel a little blinded. He took two steps back, avoiding the light and hiding himself in the shadow of the room where there was a chair.
As a semi-illiterate with only a fourth-grade primary school education, Abakumov joined the army at a very early age. He has rich life experience and has worked in many professions. Of course, the one he did most was as a "spy."
For a long time in the past, Abakumov himself could not remember what made him begin to hate bright light. Even the soft light would make him feel restless and he wanted to hide in the shadows all the time so that others could not see his expression and eyes.
The phone call just now made some dusty memories resurface, and the experience that Abakumov didn't want to think about in his life also resurfaced in his mind.
It was April 1942, when the German army advanced to Smolensk. At that time, Abakumov received an order from Comrade Stalin himself, asking him to transfer all the property of the Smolensk party and government organs and destroy all the important documents stored there. Abakumov did not complete this task at the time. A large number of confidential documents and party meeting minutes in Smolensk were preserved and fell into the hands of the Germans. At that time, Comrade Stalin called Abakumov and asked him if he had completed the task. His reply was "The task has been completed excellently."
A very fatal thing is that among the many documents seized by the Germans, there are some top-secret documents that may directly affect Soviet-Polish relations, and their contents involve the Soviet Union's resolution on the issue of Polish prisoners of war in 1940. The Germans who obtained these documents used them as a powerful weapon to attack the Soviet Union, making Moscow very passive.
Comrade Stalin absolutely could not tolerate such mistakes in work. He called Abakumov to the Kremlin and asked him only one question after half an hour of silence: "How do you feel when your subordinates lie to you?"
Subsequently, Abakumov began to be investigated for espionage and treason. If any of these two charges were proven, the only punishment waiting for him would be execution by firing squad.
Fortunately, the war situation was urgent at the time, and Abakumov, who was in charge of counterintelligence work behind the front line, performed outstandingly. For the sake of the war, Comrade Stalin finally chose to let him go. After scaring him, he let him return to his job.
But it is undeniable that this incident became a big stain on Abakumov's personal resume. At the same time, it also became a burden that weighed on Abakumov all the time, making him feel like a thorn in his back and unable to get rid of it.
He fumbled in his pocket, took out an exquisite iron box, took out a hand-rolled cigarette from it, held it with his trembling right hand, lit it, and held it silently in his mouth.
At this time, Abakumov was like a frightened bird, because just now, he received another call from Comrade Stalin's office. The call came from Comrade Stalin's special line, but the person on the phone was not Comrade Stalin, but the leader's chief secretary Poskrebyshev, who issued a notice on behalf of Comrade Stalin, asking Abakumov to go to the Supervisory Committee early tomorrow morning to be questioned.
"Don't try to deceive or hide any issues. You know the consequences of doing so," Poskrebyshev said on the phone. "Be frank and explain all issues without omission and strive to get a fair judgment."
Although Poskrebyshev did not ask him to explain what he was doing, nor did he mention the name of the Supervisory Committee to question him, Abakumov knew very well that he was doomed this time. Yuri was the head of the Supervisory Committee, and he knew how he treated Yuri, and how the other party would treat him if they got the chance. The saddest thing was that he knew that at this time, no one would come forward to save him.
It was already early morning, and there were still more than eight hours until the final moment. Abakumov looked at the heavy rain outside the window, and pondered a question in his mind: should he sit and wait for death, or should he do something in the end?
Just as Abakumov was hesitating, outside Comrade Stalin's office in the Kremlin.
Yuri came out of Comrade Stalin's office carrying his briefcase, followed by Poskrebyshev. Through the door that was not yet closed tightly, one could see Comrade Stalin standing in front of a window in the room, staring at the rainy night outside.
More than an hour ago, Yuri, who returned to Moscow from Belarus, submitted a nearly 200-page document to Comrade Stalin. In this document against Abakumov, Yuri did not add any anti-party or anti-state charges, but only listed a lot of evidence about Abakumov's extravagant lifestyle and corrupt style. For example: Comrade Abakumov's family uses dozens of high-end custom-made suits, more than a dozen pairs of handmade leather shoes from Italy, and more than a dozen luxurious watches from Western countries, etc. In addition, this general who has been engaged in spy work all his life also holds dances in his home from time to time, inviting some inexplicable women to participate. Some of these women have serious identity problems and have even been identified as spies from Western countries.
Regardless of whether it was a corrupt life or depravity, these charges were not actually that serious. The reason why Yuri submitted these evidences against Abakumov to Comrade Stalin was that he wanted to see what kind of attitude Comrade Stalin had in dealing with the issue of Abakumov.
If Comrade Stalin wanted to get rid of Abakumov, then even the smallest crime could be expanded to infinity. On the contrary, if he wanted to keep Abakumov, then even the most serious problem could be infinitely reduced.
In the end, Yuri obviously had his finger on Comrade Stalin's pulse. After carefully reading the entire report, the cold-blooded leader became furious and demanded that Yuri investigate Abakumov to verify the accuracy of these issues.
Comrade Stalin said that he asked Yuri to investigate Abakumov's corruption , but what Yuri really wanted to do was certainly not "just that". He would use the corruption issue as a starting point to dig deep into Comrade Abakumov's various problems. The ultimate goal of the investigation was to nail this guy firmly to the death row pillar.
This is the cruelty of political struggle. It often starts in a relatively gentle way, but ends in a cold-blooded and cruel way.
Coming out of Stalin's office building, Yuri walked to the eaves at the entrance of the building. Kryuchkov, who had been waiting at the door, opened his umbrella first and stepped down the first step. Then he realized that Yuri did not hide under the umbrella and walk down the steps with him. The marshal comrade was still hiding under the eaves, staring at the rain, as if thinking about something.
Kryuchkov stepped back onto the steps, lowered his umbrella and held it in front of Yuri to prevent the splashing rain from falling on him.
It was already past midnight and the temperature was a little low due to the heavy rain. Standing in front of the building, being blown by the night wind that swept the rain curtain made people feel a little chilly.
Yuri didn't speak, and Kryuchkov remained silent until a black Moskva car slowly drove over and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Yuri seemed to wake up from his thoughts.
"Let's go," Yuri said casually, handing the briefcase in his hand to Kryuchkov, and walked down the stairs first.
As the two men walked down the stairs, the door of the Moscow sedan opened and a tall middle-aged man got out of the car. He stood by the door, hiding under an umbrella held up by a guard, his eyes fixed on Yuri who was slowly walking down the stairs.
The middle-aged man was wearing a military uniform that looked very similar to the Soviet marshal's uniform, at least with slightly different decorations. He waited for Yuri to walk down the last step, and a smile appeared on his originally stern face.
"Have you just arrived?" Yuri walked over with a smile, hugged the other person, and asked, "Did everything go well on the way?"
"The rain is so widespread," Rokossovsky said. "The area east of Bolshaya Luki is greatly affected by the cyclone, so we can only get here by car."
Yuri nodded. He knew that Comrade Stalin had ordered Rokossovsky a week ago to resign from all his posts in Poland and return to Moscow as soon as possible. The marshal, who had served in Poland since the war, returned to Moscow. His new post was Deputy Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union and concurrently the Chief Inspector of the Military.
"Comrade Stalin has not rested." Now was obviously not the time to chat. Yuri looked back and said, "But he is not in a good mood now."
Rokossovsky nodded, said nothing more, and walked up the stairs.
