Chapter 67 Circle
If Yuri were asked to analyze Beria, the evaluation he could give now would be: this is a person who appears to be amiable and approachable on the surface, but is actually arrogant and self-centered in his heart. He rarely takes others seriously and at the same time, does not care about other people's attitude towards him.
In a nutshell, this is a person who is so aloof that he has almost no friends, and this kind of character seems to have doomed him to a bad ending from the very beginning.
In addition, from Beria's evaluation of a group of important figures, we can also see that, except for Stalin, it can be said that everyone's every move was under his surveillance. The fact that he could bring up other people's sexual affairs as a joke also shows his unscrupulousness in this regard.
If Yuri were to describe his attitude towards Beria, there would be only one word: fear. That's right, fear, and this fear was even stronger than when facing Khrushchev, because the two men acted in completely different ways. People who were targeted by Khrushchev would always worry about being tricked and plotted against by him, but people who were targeted by Beria did not have such worries, because once they were targeted by him, it could be said that there was no chance to worry at all, because he would immediately turn over countless evidence against you and then put you to death.
But what Yuri didn't understand was why a big shot like Beria would target him? And he even took time out to meet with him. Did he want to bring down Khrushchev through the incident with Vasily? Yuri thought it was unlikely. First, such a small matter could not bring down Khrushchev. Second, it could be seen from Beria's words and deeds that he looked down on Khrushchev. People like Bulganin and Molotov would be regarded as his targets. Yuri felt very strange about this. He couldn't understand why looked down on Khrushchev, who was a member of the Politburo.
Following Belia, Yuri walked into the magnificent Uleng Palace. At this time, many people had gathered in the banquet hall of Uleng Palace. With a quick glance, Yuri could see many people who were quite familiar to him.
Even at this time, Belia still refused to let Yuri go. He even ignored the surprised looks of others, grabbed Yuri's wrist, and brought him to a woman. Beside the woman was a boy who looked only sixteen or seventeen years old.
Through Beria's introduction, Yuri learned that the woman was Beria's wife Gegechikori, and the boy was his son Sergei.
Fortunately, Gegechikori was not a talkative person. She ran out of words after talking to Yuri for just a few sentences. Then, Beria began to introduce some people present to Yuri.
However, as a so-called heroic commander, Yuri's status was far from that of anyone present, at least anyone introduced by Beria himself. Although everyone smiled at him during the conversation, the sense of distance hidden behind the smile was extremely obvious. Most importantly, during this process, Yuri saw Khrushchev, the political commissar with a respected position in the Kiev Military District, being directly ignored by Beria. From Khrushchev's eyes, Yuri could feel the raging anger suppressed behind his fake smile.
Of course, Khrushchev was not the only one who was ignored. Many people present were not taken seriously by Beria. The most pitiful ones were Vasily and Demel hiding in the corner. Their embarrassment was already written on their faces.
About twenty minutes later, it was almost midnight. The guards at the gate of the Uleng Palace suddenly straightened up, and then a loud voice shouted, "Comrade Stalin is here!"
The originally noisy hall became quiet in the blink of an eye, and it was completely silent. Everyone, young or old, male or female, turned around in unison, stood facing the door and saluted. Stalin's iron fist and power were fully revealed at this moment.
A minute or two later, with the sound of footsteps, Stalin finally appeared at the door of the hall. This was the first time Yuri saw Stalin himself since his rebirth.
It is difficult to describe Yuri's mood at the moment with specific words. Well, it is like a magnificent historical masterpiece, the title page of which is suddenly opened inadvertently, revealing a colorful illustration inside. It is shocking, but a little unreal.
The expression on Stalin's face was also difficult to describe. There was a smile on his big face, but perhaps because his muscle lines were too obvious, the smile looked very stiff, as if it was carved on.
Regardless of how future generations evaluate Stalin, he is still a great man. His powerful aura can be felt even from a distance. His left arm hangs at his side, his right arm is slightly bent and rests on his lower abdomen, with a smile on his face. As soon as he appears at the door, thunderous applause resounds throughout the hall.
And the next moment, the fat man Malenkov, who had been standing not far behind Yuri's left, appeared next to Stalin as if he had appeared in disguise.
The fat man was seen bending his waist slightly, but the curvature was not too big, so it was hard to tell whether he was hunchbacked or bowing. At the same time, he stretched out his left hand, and the first knuckles of his index finger, middle finger and ring finger gently rested on the end of Stalin's sleeve, as if supporting or supporting him, and he talked to Stalin while leading him inside.
The two men had only walked forward four or five steps when they ran into Andrei Andreevich Andreev who was coming towards them. Andrei Andreevich Andreev was a good old man with a high level of seniority in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, but he had little presence.
Andreyev didn't know what he said to Stalin. Stalin tilted his head and thought for a while, then tapped the air with his right index finger and spoke. During this process, Andreyev, Molotov and Kaganovich, who arrived a little later, nodded repeatedly, while Malenkov, who was following Stalin, nodded and took notes .
While several people were talking, Mikoyan, Voznesensky and others, including Khrushchev, also came over one after another. In the end, except for Zhdanov who was still on the Leningrad front, all members of the Politburo had arrived.
This scene touched Yuri deeply. In the crowd, he saw Timoshenko, Budyonny, Zhukov, Yeremenko and even Shaposhnikov. These marshals and generals who commanded heavy troops and were powerful on the battlefield were excluded from the circle of power. There was only one old and invisible Voroshilov, who stood pitifully behind Malenkov. His straight military uniform and dry smile were extremely dazzling in that circle.
At this moment, Yuri did not know how great an impact this scene would have on him. However, when this scene appeared in his mind countless times starting from that night and in the long years that followed, it would eventually have a profound impact on his decisions and future.
The communication in the small circle lasted for more than ten minutes. Under the guidance of Khrushchev, Stalin looked in the direction of Yuri. It was unknown what Khrushchev said to him. The smile on Stalin's face magnified a little. He looked at Yuri from a distance with a pair of swollen eyes and nodded repeatedly.
Immediately, the small circle of people split to both sides, and Stalin took the lead, striding towards Yuri .
"Yuri Arkhipovich? Kulyokov," Stalin stopped in front of Yuri, looked him up and down, then turned to look at Khrushchev and said with a smile, "He is a very young man. If the Germans knew that it was this young man who made the mustache man so angry that he dismissed six generals at once, I wonder what they would think."
There seemed to be nothing funny in these words, but the people around him laughed in unison, and the atmosphere in the hall became lively in an instant. The bigwigs who had ignored him just now seemed to have found countless good points in him in an instant, and looked at him with eyes full of appreciation.
"Nice to meet you, Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov," Stalin extended his hand to Yuri and said with a smile, "You performed very well, your troops performed very well, the battle of Shaws was beautiful, it hurt the Germans and also knocked down their arrogance, all of which are good."
Yuri hurriedly held his hand, and almost at the same time, the strong light of the spotlight flashed nearby.
"Comrade Stalin, I am... honored to be received by you personally. I..." Yuri's mind turned, and he threw all the words Khrushchev had taught him before out of his mind. He pretended to be terrified, stuttering, and couldn't even say a word smoothly. Finally, as if he really couldn't say anything, he stood up straight and shouted loudly: "Salute!"
This performance was very abrupt, but there was no flaw . Stalin was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter. He patted Yuri on the shoulder in appreciation and said, "Don't be nervous, young man. You must remember that you are a hero of our Soviet Red Army. For this victory in Shaws, the People's Commissariat of Defense even designed a medal specifically for you."
After he finished speaking, Voroshilov, who was standing behind him, took two steps forward and handed a palm-sized brocade box to Stalin.
"The Medal of the Hero of the Shores Raid," Stalin took out a medal from the opened box and said solemnly, "This medal is awarded only to the outstanding commanders and combat heroes who have made outstanding contributions in the Shores Raid."
