Struggle in Soviet Russia

"Aleksandr Petrovich Pokrovsky?" Sure enough, Comrade Stalin raised the name of Pokrovsky with a frown. He was very questionable about his personal ability, but he was obviously good at evading responsibility. Lack of goodwill, "I think he should have gone to Yekaterinburg, didn't he set off until now? What about our Tank Academy?"

Although Pokrovsky was not severely punished after the failure of last year's winter offensive, he was disqualified as a front-line commanding general and was thrown to the rear to be responsible for teaching at the military academy.

Because of the lack of understanding of this person's situation, Viktor did not know what school he went to. Now it seems that he went to the Tank Army Training College in Yekaterinburg.

"Ah, he took office a long time ago, this time because of his poor health, so..." Zhdanov explained to Pokrovsky.

"Yeah, I'm not in good health," Comrade Stalin sneered before he could finish his sentence, "and the weather in Yekaterinburg is not good, so he needs to go back to Moscow to recuperate. Well, maybe he needs to Recuperate for a few years, and my suggestion is that since he is not in good health, he can simply retire, at least after retirement, he can stay in Sochi on vacation."

He clearly felt Comrade Stalin's dissatisfaction with Pokrovsky, and Comrade Zhdanov couldn't explain anything to the other party. He was silent for a while and tentatively suggested: "Then, should the later ceremony be changed to another one? Someone to host?"

Comrade Stalin lowered his head and did not speak for a long time, while Comrade Viktor and Zhdanov followed behind him, walking unhurriedly. It was only when he was about to reach the side of Yong Road that the leader comrade stopped, he turned his head to look at Comrade Zhdanov and said, "What do you think of Georgy Mikhailovich Popov? He has done an excellent job in the agricultural sector and has been recognized by many comrades. I think it is appropriate for him to preside over today's consciousness."

Victor listened, and he understood what Comrade Stalin meant.

Who will preside over Comrade Shcherbakov's funeral today is directly related to who will take over his post afterwards, especially the post of the first secretary of the Moscow Oblast and Municipal Party Committee. Compared with the post of director of the Political Department of the Red Army, This position is the most important. Whoever gets this position will have the chance to enter the Politburo at the next plenary session.

And Comrade Zhdanov obviously didn't think so before. He probably just wanted to give Pokrovsky a chance to perform again, and let him take advantage of Comrade Shcherbakov's funeral in front of Comrade Stalin. Show your face, and later, you can reassign him to a relatively important post.

But now, his opinion has been rejected by Comrade Stalin, and at the same time, the funeral ceremony has been given a whole new meaning, which shows that Comrade Stalin has already had a great role in the post of the next Moscow State Party Committee and First Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee. A new candidate was chosen, and that person was Georgy Mikhailovich Popov.

......................

In front of the ever-bright light of Lenin's tomb, Victor held an umbrella and stood with Comrade Merkulov. In front of the two was Comrade Molotov in a black trench coat, and he stood side by side with Comrade Molotov. Standing together were comrades Kaganovich and Andreyev respectively. As for Malenkov and Beria, they were standing in front of the opposite crowd. Over there, there were Mikoyan and others. comrade.

As far as those who attended the funeral today, all the people in the core of Moscow's power are here, and even Comrade Khrushchev came back from Ukraine specially. In addition, nearly 60 people who were stranded in Moscow and the surrounding areas of Moscow. A member of the Central Committee also rushed over.

Oh, there is one important person who didn't come, that is old comrade Kalinin, mainly because his own body can't hold it anymore. If he comes to Shcherbakov's funeral in the rain again, it is estimated that there will be another one. Funeral to be done.

The Bolshevik Party also pays attention to a final conclusion, and at this moment, the next judgment of Comrade Shcherbakov should be that this person is a Bolshevik party member who fully meets the standard, and his character should be considered relatively peaceful. Get along well with people, in addition, very passionate and capable at work.

From a certain point of view, Shcherbakov and Viktor are actually somewhat similar. Neither of them is the kind of person with a very clear political stance. Not very obsessed, outstanding work ability...

Although this fat man has an extraordinary relationship with Comrade Zhdanov, and at the same time, he has won the trust of Comrade Stalin, but he never relied on these conditions to suppress or target others. This is also his funeral. There is a reason why so many people came to attend.

Well, no matter what the evaluation of his life is, Comrade Shcherbakov, who was almost able to enter the Politburo, is completely gone in the end. With this funeral, he can be considered to have withdrawn from the politics of the alliance. On the stage, he has a place in the cemetery under the wall of the Red Square Palace, but in the core power circle of Moscow, the land that originally belonged to him will be occupied by others.

Georgy Mikhailovich Popov, a young and energetic member of the Bolshevik Party, who can be ranked second in the cadre roll, has a very bright future.

As a young cadre born in 1906, Comrade Popov is indeed too young. He is not even a few years older than Viktor, but he has officially entered the vision of Comrade Stalin, and he is very hopeful that he will take over the position of Moscow Oblast in the next step. The post of the first secretary of the municipal committee and the municipal party committee, if he does well in this position, then it is very likely that he will enter the Politburo at the next plenary session of the Central Committee.

As far as Victor himself is concerned, he has never had any dealings with Popov before, and he does not know what kind of character this person is, but since this person can enter Comrade Stalin's field of vision, it means that he must have certain extraordinary qualities. place.

Interestingly, in today's funeral ceremony, in addition to the cadres within the alliance, there were also many foreign friends, such as the ambassadors of the United Kingdom and the United States to the Soviet Union, and even more interestingly, the American ambassador to the Soviet Union, Harriman. , also stood a Japanese - the Japanese ambassador to the Soviet Union Sato Takeshi.

Victor looked across from him, curious about who arranged this position, and what kind of feelings Harriman and Sato Saitake felt in their hearts.

Because of the rain, the entire funeral ceremony didn't last long, and when the coffin was buried, Victor didn't get a chance to lift the coffin.

Comrade Stalin left first when the funeral was coming to an end. To be honest, it was a little rude, but no one would remind him. The most important thing is that he left first, not because of his feelings for Schell. Comrade Bakov has an opinion, but because the leader is really sad.

It is said that Comrade Stalin was ruthless. In fact, this statement is not entirely correct. From the perspective of human nature, when an elderly man watches his friends die one after another, he will always feel a little sad. Even if it's just the death of a rabbit and a fox.

Next to the cemetery, Viktor put away his umbrella, followed behind Comrade Molotov, walked to the side of the tomb, and gently threw the bouquet in his hand on the coffin lid. When he was about to turn around, he saw the right Not far to the side, Comrade Malenkov was looking towards him with a cigarette in his mouth.

At this moment, the misty drizzle had stopped, and Victor took the umbrella in his hand, shook it, and then took a step towards Comrade Malenkov's position.

Comrade Malenkov seemed to have not seen him, or deliberately walked a little further away to talk. In short, when Victor walked past, he had already turned his side and walked towards the direction of Red Square.

Victor hurried a few steps, caught up, and walked side by side with him.

"Are you with Comrade Stalin before the official funeral ceremony?" Comrade Malenkov asked immediately when Victor caught up.

"Yes," Viktor nodded, he knew what Malenkov asked him for, so he preemptively said, "It was proposed by Comrade Stalin that Popov would preside over today's ceremony. Earlier, Zhdanov proposed The candidate was Pokrovsky, but it was rejected by Comrade Stalin."

Malenkov and several other comrades in the Politburo are all members of Comrade Shcherbakov's funeral committee. Therefore, it must be known to everyone that Pokrovsky presided over the ceremony before. After the ceremony officially started, the host suddenly changed, and it was Popov, so the person who had doubts about this must not only be Malenkov himself.

Previously, Pokrovsky came forward to preside over the ceremony, and it is estimated that no one would raise any objections. After all, even if Pokrovsky got rid of the cold bench under his buttocks through this funeral, his new seat It will only be the director of the General Political Department of the Red Army. Now, the war is about to end, and after the war is over, the army will definitely have to make some adjustments, even reforms. At that time, the weight of the General Political Department will still be heavy. No one can predict it now. Therefore, , It is estimated that there will not be many people who can really see the lack of the chairman of the General Political Department.

However, when the host of the ceremony suddenly became Popov, the meaning is completely different. Everyone despises the absence of the director of the General Political Department, but it is impossible to despise the position of the first secretary of the Moscow State Party Committee and the Municipal Party Committee. , So, not just Malenkov, everyone is probably trying to figure out what's going on.