Chapter 399
The sky was about to brighten, and the morning light had just appeared in the eastern sky.
On Xincun Street, more than a dozen speeding black cars broke the tranquility of the entire street. Beams of light from the car lights cut through the darkness before dawn, illuminating most of the street as bright as day.
The car Yuri was riding in was at the back. When the car stopped, he did not get out. Instead, he bent down slightly and looked at the building on the side outside through the car window.
In his previous life, he knew this street because it was on this street that the Chinese government at that time purchased a piece of land and built a Chinese shopping mall in Moscow. Many China-Europe Investment Chambers of Commerce were also established here.
On the street outside the car, a large number of uniformed soldiers got out of cars and rushed into an old three-story Russian-style building on the side of the street. No one made a sound, but the rumbling footsteps still woke up the residents on both sides of the street, and lights soon appeared in the windows.
Some brave people even opened the window and leaned half of their bodies out, but after seeing the scene on the street, they quickly shrank back.
Sitting in the back seat of the car, Yuri lit a cigarette for himself, smoked leisurely, and waited for the result to come out. Of course, it can be foreseen that there must be many people who are not at the scene now, but are watching here closely, and everyone is waiting for a result.
This single-family building on the New Village Street was not where Abakumov lived, nor was it his private property. Instead, it was a so-called "warehouse" belonging to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, although this was only in name.
In fact, this is where Abakumov stored some materials and files. Many people are convinced that some of the files Abakumov stored here are unfavorable to "everyone". The so-called "everyone" here includes many people, including some people in the core of power in Moscow.
Therefore, after getting permission from Comrade Stalin, the first place Yuri took action was not Abakumov's home, nor his office or several hiding places, but this place on Novy Vltava Street.
Yuri's thinking was very clear. He knew that the reason why no one responded to his plan to deal with Abakumov and everyone remained silent was because everyone was worried about Abakumov's counterattack and worried that he would do something even crazier. Therefore, as long as he could dispel everyone's concerns and let them know that Abakumov was finished and he had no chance to counterattack, then there would definitely be more people who would jump out to take advantage of the situation than those who remained silent.
The so-called “when the wall falls, everyone pushes it” is not because everyone likes to push it, nor because everyone has nothing to do after eating, but because it is a “wall”. Since it is a wall, it will definitely block the way for others. So, since it is going to fall, let it fall more thoroughly.
In fact, as the conflict between Yuri and Abakumov became increasingly acute and eventually developed into the current situation, those forces lurking in the dark, ready to kill Abakumov at any time, have been providing Yuri with all kinds of conveniences.
Just like today, he was easily transferred from the General Political Department of the Army and Navy to the Military Police. At this time, the people from the General Political Department of the Army and Navy were responsible for the operation. If it were normal times, although he could also mobilize these soldiers, it would never be so fast. It was impossible for him to make a phone call ten minutes ago and the soldiers he needed would appear at the designated location ten minutes later.
In addition, they had come all the way from the Central Control Committee and crossed almost half of Moscow. All the lights they encountered were green, and all the intersections were green. Even though it was early in the morning, the odds were incredible. There was no doubt that someone had made all the arrangements, on the one hand to provide him with convenience, and on the other hand to declare their presence.
He was hiding in the car and smoking a cigarette. Just when there was only a cigarette butt left, a lieutenant walked out of the building, walked quickly to Yuri's car, and knocked on his window.
The driver rolled down the window, and Yuri threw the cigarette butt out of the car, then turned his gaze to the lieutenant's face.
"Comrade Marshal, the upstairs is safe now," the second lieutenant said respectfully, bending over. "We found a large number of documents and tapes during the search. Would you like to go over and take a look?"
Yuri nodded silently, and the lieutenant opened the door for him and protected him as he got out of the car.
Following the lieutenant, Yuri entered the currently heavily guarded building, and then went straight to the second floor.
According to the second lieutenant, the entire second floor was a file storage room, and each room contained a large number of confidential documents, tapes, photos and the like. Because the matter was of great importance, he did not dare to let the soldiers look through these things at will, so he arranged everyone in the corridor.
"Very good, Comrade Second Lieutenant." After looking at each room, Yuri did not flip through the documents, nor did he try to listen to what was on the tape. He withdrew from the last room, patted the Second Lieutenant on the shoulder, and said, "You did very well. I will apply for a medal for you."
The second lieutenant was stunned for a moment, and then an excited expression showed on his face. He said nothing, but just gave Yuri a standard military salute.
"As for now, there is one more thing you need to do," Yuri continued.
"Awaiting your orders, Comrade Marshal," the lieutenant said loudly, standing upright.
"I need a fire to start here and burn everything down," Yuri said calmly, "Of course, this fire cannot affect the neighboring residents. Remember, these are the two conditions: it cannot affect the neighboring residents, and everything here must be burned down."
The lieutenant hesitated for a moment and said, "Comrade Marshal, this place is only two minutes away from Fire Station 14."
"Just perform your mission and don't worry about the fire police," Yuri said with a smile.
"Yes, Comrade Marshal," the second lieutenant did not raise any objections from beginning to end. For him, it was very stupid to express his opinions in front of a marshal. All he needed to do was to faithfully obey orders, nothing more.
Yuri did not stay here any longer. He patted the lieutenant on the shoulder and went downstairs. He did not tell the lieutenant that even if the fire was blazing, the people from the 14th Fire Police Station would not be able to show up before everything was burned down. When the fire started, the countdown to Comrade Abakumov's death would begin. Those who hated him would jump out and tear him to pieces.
After coming out of the building, Yuri did not go directly back to the car. He stood on the sidewalk by the road, put his foot on a fire hose, and stared silently at the night sky above his head.
He was not sure what impact killing Abakumov would have, but one thing was certain: without the obstacle of Abakumov, those who were hiding in the shadows and preparing to deal with Comrade Stalin by some unknown means would become more daring.
No matter how crazy, how inhumane, and how many excessive things he did in cracking down on dissidents, one thing is certain: Abakumov is loyal to Comrade Stalin, even more loyal than anyone in this country. Over the past period of time, it was precisely because of the checks and balances between the Ministry of Internal Affairs under his control and the State Security Committee, and it was also because of his crazy arrests and false accusations that those who wanted to target Comrade Stalin were restrained and fearful.
Comrade Stalin had too much confidence after decades of leadership. Perhaps in his eyes, the loyalty of people like Abakumov was worthless, because he believed that everyone around him was loyal, and even those who were not very loyal would never dare to disobey him.
This absolute self-confidence caused by the cult of personality made Comrade Stalin ignore many things around him. Those things were actually very obvious and almost right there on the table. He only needed to take a look and think about them for a while.
The entire Moscow power core has completely aged, and everyone in this group is accustomed to the nourishment of power, so they neither want to retire nor share power with more people. Comrade Stalin's reform thinking is not damaging their interests, but digging their roots, so now no one in this circle is absolutely loyal to Comrade Stalin.
Those who truly hope for change are those who have not yet entered this circle. For example, Abakumov may be one of them. Compared with this villain, Yuri, who has always been regarded as a confidant promoted by Comrade Stalin himself and a young high-level official, is on the "anti-change" side. Not only him, but also the equally young Suslov.
Interests determine one's stance, and this will never change. If time goes back several years and Yuri returns to his original identity as a pure soldier, he himself may not believe that he would make such a choice.
It is said that time will change people. In fact, it is not time that changes people, but the changes in interests that occur over time. No matter where a person is, he cannot change his fate driven by interests. From this point of view, people are really humble, insignificant, and very ridiculous.
At that time, no one could have imagined that the confrontation between Yuri and Abakumov was actually the first encirclement and suppression campaign launched by the diehards in the Moscow power center in order to completely seize power. In other words, in this secret war against Comrade Stalin, Yuri, who was completely promoted by Comrade Stalin, fired the first shot.
