Red Moscow

"And." Seeing Sokov remained silent, Zhukov continued, "Even if a prisoner-of-war camp that can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people is built, how many troops will be needed to guard it? Have you ever thought about it? Your starting point is that you are worried that Ukraine will experience a large-scale reduction in grain production during the summer grain harvest this year. How much grain will they consume if hundreds of thousands of people come all at once?"

From Zhukov's words, Sokov realized that he had thought too simply about the problem. He just thought that a large number of people would be needed to expand the planting area, but he forgot that if so many people were really added at once, the pressure on logistics supply would increase dramatically. Areas that would not have suffered famine might have large-scale plans in advance because of the addition of hundreds of thousands of people. In this way, it would go against his original intention.

"Misha, there will be a guest coming later." Zhukov said, "Maybe you can talk to him about this and see what he thinks."

"Comrade Marshal, who is that?" Sokov asked tentatively, "Is it Comrade Malenkov?"

"No, it's another leading comrade you haven't met. He will come to my house later and I'll introduce you to him."

"Comrade Marshal, can I borrow your phone for a while?" Sokov pointed to the phone not far away and asked, "I want to call Yakov."

"Please." Zhukov extended his hand and made a gesture of invitation.

Sokov had changed his mind at this moment and no longer went to see Stalin, because his proposal would definitely be rejected by the other party without hesitation. In this case, why should he touch this brow? Isn't it better to make a fortune in silence?

It is the New Year period now, and Yakov will definitely not go to work in the General Armament Department. At this moment, he is most likely at home, so Sokov chose to call Yakov's home phone.

He was lucky. After the phone rang only twice, someone picked up the phone: "I'm Yakov!"

"Hello, Yasha! I'm Sokov."

"It's Misha." When Yakov heard Sokov's voice, he immediately remembered what the other party had asked him to do two days ago. He thought Sokov called him just to ask about this matter, so he hurriedly said: "My father has been staying in the Kuntsevo villa recently. Except for a few trusted important people who can go there to see him, the rest of the people are not qualified to go. If you are sure you want to see my father, I can call him immediately and arrange for you to meet him. ”

“I don’t think it’s necessary, Yasha.” Sokov said unexpectedly: “After repeated consideration, I feel that my idea is a bit too naive. Since Comrade Khrushchev has rejected my proposal, it is obvious that there is something wrong with the proposal. It is meaningless to continue to insist on it.”

Hearing Sokov’s words, Yakov breathed a sigh of relief. He knew very well that when Sokov proposed this plan a few days ago, Khrushchev strongly opposed it. If he let him meet his father, he would probably cause unnecessary trouble if he rashly proposed such a plan.

“Misha, I am very happy that you can figure this out.” Yakov said: “As long as you don’t make such suggestions that are easy to anger your superiors, I welcome you to visit my father’s villa.”

When he heard the name of the Kuntsevo villa, Sokov couldn’t help but shudder. He remembered a movie made by an American in later generations: “The Death of Stalin”. After Stalin’s death, the guards, waiters, chefs, and even Stalin’s stand-in in the villa were purged. Although this movie is likely to be a smear campaign, for me, the Kuntsevo Villa is still a dangerous place, so I would rather not go there, so as not to cause trouble for myself.

When Sokov put down the phone, Zhukov, who was sitting next to him, asked: "Misha, do you plan to meet Comrade Stalin after leaving me?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, I do think so." There are no outsiders here, so Sokov will naturally not hide anything from Zhukov: "I am worried that Ukraine will experience a terrible famine similar to the one in 1932-1933 this year, so I hope that the relevant parties can prepare in advance to prevent the tragedy from happening. But now it seems that my judgment may be wrong. In order to avoid angering Comrade Stalin, I decided not to meet him again."

"Misha, your decision is correct. You don't work under Khrushchev, so don't meddle in other people's business." Zhukov praised Sokov's decision and asked again: "Do you know that the grain collected from Ukraine each year is How much?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "This data is strictly confidential. I can't know the real data."

"Look, you don't even know the basic data, but you just casually expressed your opinion that Ukraine may experience a reduction in grain production this year." Zhukov said in a kind tone: "Khrushchev has a good impression of you. Even if you make any radical remarks, he will at most be upset in his heart and will not take any action against you. But if you say the same thing to the Supreme Commander himself, I'm afraid your final destination will be the Lubyanka cell."

Sokov believed Zhukov's statement and did not refute it. Instead, he asked politely: "Comrade Marshal, you said that an important person is coming to visit you. I wonder who it is?"

"Have you heard of Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin?"

Hearing Zhukov's name, Sokov's eyes widened in surprise. It turned out to be him. Kosygin was born in 1904 and died in 1980. He served as chairman of the Council of Ministers and member of the ZZ Bureau. During the Great Patriotic War, Zhukov, Rokossovsky and Konev were collectively known as the "Troika", while Kosygin, an economic expert and pragmatist, worked closely with Brezhnev in the 1960s and 1970s. One of the "Troika" together with Podgorny.

"I've heard of it, Comrade Marshal." Sokov nodded and said: "Comrade Kosygin once served as the People's Commissar of the Ministry of Textiles. Since 1940, he has been the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of our country. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, , he participated in the organizational work of reorganizing the national economy and moving the industrial base eastward, and in July of the same year, he also served as vice chairman of the evacuation committee and led the special inspection group established according to the decision of the National Defense Committee. Under the supervision of the group, there were More than 10 million people and more than 1,360 large enterprises retreated to the eastern rear. In the first half of 1942, he served as a special commissioner of the National Defense Committee and stayed in Leningrad, which was blockaded by the German army. He was responsible for ensuring the city's supply and participating in the local party and government. The work of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Military Committee of the Leningrad Front directly led the work of evacuating the citizens of Leningrad."

Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then a smile appeared on his face: "Misha, I didn't expect that you know him quite well."

Sokov laughed dryly and explained: "I just happened to read about his resume in the newspaper."

The phone on the table rang, and Zhukov casually grabbed the receiver: "I'm Zhukov!"

The guard's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Marshal, there is a convoy of three black GAZ cars heading towards the villa. The big shot you are waiting for should have arrived."

"I know, I'll be out right away."

After Zhukov put down the phone, he said to Sokov who was sitting on the sofa: "Misha, Comrade Kosygin should have arrived. Let's go out to greet him."

When the two came to the door of the villa, the motorcade happened to stop.

The door of the first car opened, and a captain got out. He jogged to the rear door of the second car, reached out and opened the door. It may be that the people in the car came out to meet each other, and he also stretched out his hand to cover the car door.

A man in a black trench coat walked out of the car. When he saw Zhukov waiting at the door, he smiled and greeted him actively: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, I wish you a happy New Year!"

"Comrade Kosygin, I also wish you a happy New Year!"

Zhukov shook hands with Kosygin, pointed to Sokov next to him and introduced him: "Comrade Kosygin, let me introduce to you, this is..."

Before Zhukov could finish speaking, Kosygin said with a smile: "Comrade Marshal, you don't need to introduce me. I know General Sokov! Hello, General Sokov, I'm glad to see you here."

Sokov couldn't help but be stunned, thinking that he had never met Kosygin, how could he know him? Looking at Kosygin's extended hand, Sokov first raised his hand and saluted, then stretched out his hands to hold the other person's hand and shook it a few times: "Hello, Comrade Kosygin! I am the one who knows you. "

After the two shook hands, Zhukov said: "It's too cold outside, let's go inside to talk."

After arriving at the house, the guests and hosts sat down. Kosygin said with a smile: "I once heard someone say that Marshal Zhukov and General Sokov had a good relationship, but I didn't think so at the time. I didn't expect to meet General Sokov here today, which proves that what others said is true."

"Comrade Kosygin, it's the New Year period and many people come to visit me. Misha's appearance here doesn't mean anything."

"Comrade Marshal, you are right. There are many people who come to visit you during the Chinese New Year, but there are probably not many people like General Sokov who show up twice in a row, right?"

When Sokov heard what Kosygin said, he couldn't help but asked curiously: "Comrade Kosygin, I don't remember that I have never dealt with you. How do you know me?"

"I heard what Comrade Khrushchev said." Kosygin said with a smile: "And I have also seen a photo of you and Khrushchev, so I recognized you the first time I met you."

"Oh, I see."

"General Sokov, I have a question for you. Can you give me an answer?"

"Please ask."

"Khrushchev told me that you predicted to him that Ukraine would suffer a reduction in grain production this year due to drought. I am very curious, why did you make such a judgment?"

"Comrade Kosygin, this is not a prophecy, but an analysis based on the current situation." Sokov smiled bitterly, and then expressed his worries: "This war that just ended has left our country with a shortage of labor force. Large areas of land are deserted, agricultural machinery is severely damaged, and draft animals are greatly reduced, which directly leads to a sharp decline in our country's food production capacity. If high temperature and drought disasters occur during the critical period of crop growth, our country's food production will be further frustrated. There is a shortage of food supply.”

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, before Kosygin could finish, Zhukov rushed to say: "Comrade Kosygin, Misha is just talking about his personal views, and there is nothing specific. Just listen, Qian Don’t take it personally.”

"Comrade Marshal," Kosygin unexpectedly said, "I think what General Sokov said makes sense."

Zhukov couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise after hearing this. He didn't expect Kosygin to agree with Sokov's statement. This was somewhat beyond his expectations.

"Since General Sokov has expressed his opinion, let me introduce you to the current actual situation."

Kosygin said: "The damage caused to our agriculture in this just-concluded Patriotic War is unprecedented. The German army occupied major grain-producing areas such as Ukraine, the North Caucasus and Central Slavia, set fire to large tracts of crops, and buried mines in the farmland to destroy farming.

In 1940 before the war, the cultivated land area in our country was 150 million hectares, but it had been reduced to 110 million hectares by the end of the war. At the same time, the crop rotation system established before the war was also severely damaged. Not only that, the Germans also destroyed 137 agricultural science institutes in the occupied areas, dismantled or looted About 140,000 tractors, 50,000 combine harvesters and 4 million plows, harrows and other farm tools.

By the end of 1945, 40% to 50% of collective farms had no seed drills, mowers, harvesters and threshers. The remaining agricultural machinery was unevenly distributed and of poor quality. Due to the shortage of fuel, spare parts and maintenance equipment, the utilization rate was low, which seriously delayed the farming season. In addition, the German army slaughtered or abducted 7 million horses and 17 million cattle, resulting in the current number of horses on collective farms being only 46% of the pre-war number and the number of cattle being 95% of the pre-war number. Most of the surviving draft animals were weak or sick and could not perform heavy field work.

At the same time, as a large number of collective farm members joined the army or engaged in logistics support work, which changed the number, age and gender structure of the rural labor force. According to our latest statistics, in 1945, my country's rural population decreased by 15% compared with 1941, the rural labor force decreased by 33%, and the rural working-age male population decreased by 62%, forming a serious situation of labor shortage and imbalance between men and women.

I can say that this war has set our country's agricultural production level back by at least fifteen years. "

"Comrade Kosygin," Zhukov heard the hidden content in Kosygin's words, and asked tentatively: "If I understand correctly, you want to say that the situation Misha mentioned may Become a reality? "

"Yes, it is true." Kosygin nodded and said without disguising: "But we know that there may be a shortage of food supply, but we currently have no suitable solution. We can only hope that there will be no serious drought this year, so that the grain collection work can be completed smoothly. "

Zhukov turned his head and glanced at Sokov, and said cautiously: "Comrade Kosygin, in fact, before you came, Misha once proposed a plan to me to solve the problem of insufficient labor force, but I rejected it. "

When Kosygin heard it, he immediately became interested and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, tell me quickly, I want to see if there is anything advisable. "