Struggle in Soviet Russia

At night, Granov Street, in a residence of Comrade Malenkov.

The Volga sedan that Victor was riding in was parked at the entrance of the alley. When Varenka opened the door for him, another black Volga sedan slowly drove over and stopped behind Victor's car.

Bend over to get out of the car, Victor stood by the door, he turned his head and looked at the Volga sedan parked in the back, no accident, the person who got out of the driver's seat of the car was exactly Comrade Beria's driver Sarkisov.

Sarkisov made a half-circle around the Volga sedan and opened the back door. Immediately, Comrade Beria, dressed in a gray Lenin suit, got out of the car unhurriedly. He obviously saw it. Victor in front, therefore, at the moment of getting out of the car, he looked in Victor's direction and nodded towards him.

Tonight, Viktor came over after receiving a call from Comrade Malenkov. Before that, he guessed that Comrade Beria would also come, and he could even guess that Comrade Malenkov specially called him to come here tonight. Why are you talking about something.

In any case, Comrade Kuznetsov proposed to replace Ogolitsov with Abakumov as the new chairman of the People's Commissariat of State Security, and since this proposal has been approved by Comrade Stalin, it means that This personnel adjustment work will inevitably be implemented in the near future. Seriously, given the current situation, I am afraid that Comrade Beria would rather lose control of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs than infiltrate the People's Commissariat of State Security. The powers of the two parties are being eroded and infiltrated by the latter. Up to now, only in terms of importance, the People's Commissariat of National Security should be regarded as the largest department in the national security field of the Union. As for the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, on the contrary, it is more like a special support for it.

This is indeed the case, think about it, according to the current procedures, the Political Security Bureau, Internal Intelligence Bureau, Ideological Defense Bureau and other departments under the National Security People's Commissariat can all direct the internal affairs people when handling cases. The police, border guards, and internal guards of the commissariat require them to cooperate with relevant actions, but conversely, in the process of handling cases, the General Administration of Workers and Peasants Police wants to get support from the relevant departments of the People's Commissariat of State Security, but it needs to be done in advance. Report and get approval.

Today's reality is that the People's Commissariat of National Security has largely taken away the authority that originally belonged to the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, which also leads to its importance, far exceeding that of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs.

Why did Comrade Kuznetsov first target the People's Commissariat of State Security after he took over the work in the field of national security? This was clearly taken into account in the starting point of its decision.

Now, Comrade Kuznetsov has directly attacked Ogolitsov, taking away Comrade Beria's most important agent in the People's Commissariat of State Security. Just imagine, Comrade Beria or Comrade Malenkov, why? Possibly indifferent?

Also nodded towards Comrade Beria, Viktor took two steps forward, walked straight to the other side, and then said, "Did Georgy know about Kuznetsov's proposal?"

Comrade Beria nodded, his expression looked gloomy. Of course, this incident must have been a blow to him. Not only did he lose his basic control over the People's Commissariat of National Security, he was also pried away from his hands. He hired a subordinate. Although he had not used Abakumov very much, the opponent's investment in Kuznetsov was always a major blow to his prestige.

A fact that must be understood is that although Comrade Beria is in control of the entire national security apparatus of the Union, and his influence on the NKVD is indeed strong enough, it cannot be forgotten that he has always left the NKVD. Department, and none of his current positions are related to work in the field of national security.

Although there are sometimes exceptions to the conclusion that "people take tea to cool", even if it is an outrageous exception, it needs to pay attention to the time limit. If Comrade Beria's departure from the NKVD is only temporary, or, in other words, his career is always on the rise, then his personal connections in the NKVD are likely to remain close to him. loyalty. But if he never has the possibility to return to the NKVD, and at the same time, his career is still stagnant, or even declines, then the contacts in the NKVD will eventually leave him, after all. A person's loyalty cannot be given to others for no reason. Even the most loyal person has something to ask for.

In Viktor's view, the main reason why Abakumov voted for Kuznetsov was that Comrade Beria did not "care" enough about Abakumov, at least he failed to satisfy the latter's ambitions. But Comrade Beria does not necessarily think so. He will only think that Abakumov has a bad heart and has failed his favor. At the same time, he will even suspect that among the NKVD, there may be other The second, third, and even countless Abakumovs exist, so to turn this around, he has to do something.

Now, what Comrade Beria is going to do, Victor has no way of knowing, but he believes he will know soon.

"After the meeting in the afternoon, Comrade Stalin called every comrade in the Politburo," he made a gesture of invitation to Victor, motioning him to say as he walked. Comrade Beria waited two steps outside before he could "There have been limited discussions devoted to the issue of the People's Commissariat for National Security," he said.

Victor's lips twitched, and he could hear that there was something hidden in Comrade Beria's words. He said that Comrade Stalin called every comrade in the Politburo, which shows that Comrade Stalin was not arbitrary on this issue, but consulted the entire Politburo. But then, Comrade Beria said again, "On the issue of the People's Commissariat for National Security, there was a limited discussion."

What is a limited discussion? Halfway through the discussion? Or is the discussion not long enough? This is obviously not what Comrade Beria meant, Victor speculates, Comrade Beria should mean that Comrade Stalin is discussing this issue with the comrades in the Politburo, the attitude of soliciting opinions is limited, to put it more bluntly To be more blunt, that is, when he discussed this topic with the comrades in the Politburo, he was not asking every comrade for their opinions, but saying hello to them, but the decision was made directly by himself.

From this, why does Comrade Beria have such an evaluation? It is an obvious fact that if he had not raised an objection, he would certainly not have made such a judgment, because the attitude of Comrade Stalin is already obvious enough that he himself supported the proposal, if Comrade Beria If he agrees, then the exchange between him and Comrade Stalin should be very pleasant. Now, since he has implicitly criticized Comrade Stalin's "one-word court" and refused to accept the opinions of other members of the Politburo, it means that he clearly raised his objections when Comrade Stalin asked him about his position.

After all, in Moscow, he has worked by Comrade Stalin’s side for so long. Victor’s political ability and official means are not comparable to that of the young newcomer. Comrade Beria’s simple remarks let him figure it out. The general situation when Beria communicated with Comrade Stalin. Victor figured it out. With this reason, Comrade Stalin would definitely be more determined and quicker in pushing for the replacement of the chairman of the People's Commissariat of State Security.

The most important point is that Victor is almost certain that once Abakumov assumes the post of chairman of the People's Commissariat of State Security, his personnel adjustments to the entire committee will inevitably begin immediately, and his actions may be very large. Because behind him will be the support of Comrade Stalin.

Before that, when Comrade Stalin asked Victor's attitude on this issue, Viktor acted as detached as possible. The purpose was not only to maintain Comrade Stalin's trust in him, but also to maintain the existing status of the People's Commissariat of State Security. situation. If Comrade Stalin can be aloof when he asks Beria's attitude later, then even Abakumov succeeded Ogolitsov and officially became the chairman of the People's Commissariat of State Security, Comrade Stalin. Nor will he support him in making too many adjustments to the personnel appointment of the People's Commissariat of National Security. After all, the People's Commissariat of National Security has achieved remarkable results in the past period of time, and the large-scale personnel changes may affect the various intelligence departments of the committee. of smooth operation.

But now, the situation is completely different. Comrade Beria's openly raised objections, on the one hand, will offend Comrade Stalin, and on the other hand, will also make Comrade Stalin have more personnel problems with the People's Commissariat of State Security. Bad speculation, so, if nothing else, the next large-scale adjustment of the People's Commissariat of National Security may be inevitable.

This reality really gave Victor a headache. To be honest, although Comrade Beria has infiltrated the People's Commissariat of National Security and inserted a group of people in the past period of time, he can really grasp the entire committee. The overall situation is still Victor, which is also his advantage. But now, Abakumov is different from Ogolitsov. That guy has no friendship with Viktor. Once he makes a wide-scale adjustment in the People's Commissariat of State Security, the people who Viktor promoted at the beginning are really different. Must be able to stay.