Struggle in Soviet Russia

Instead of going upstairs to report to Comrade Stalin, Victor went to his room first.

Compared with the office in Moscow, the room that Victor arranged for himself in Yusupov Palace is too narrow and cramped. The whole office has a desk, two sofas, and the rest. There is hardly anything else in the place.

Fortunately, this office also has an ensuite. Although there is no toilet in the ensuite, it has a small bathroom. In this way, during his stay in Yalta, he doesn't have to go to the public bathroom to take a bath. As for the toilet... ...No way, only the public one can be used.

Because the entire Yusupov Palace had just been renovated not long ago, there was an obvious smell of paint in the room, which was somewhat irritating, but for Victor, this was obviously not the time to talk about conditions and enjoy it.

Not bothering to look at the furnishings in the room, Victor entered his room and the first thing he did was sit behind the desk and read the documents sent by the captain.

The documents are all the arrangements made by the three major palaces of Yalta in terms of security and defense, as well as the major events that have occurred in the past few days.

Victor attaches great importance to the security work this time, so the requirements are also very high. You must know that Comrade Stalin is in Yalta at the moment, right in this palace. If there is any loophole in the security work here, even if it is only a Comrade Stalin was a little frightened. He, the chairman of the People's Commissariat for State Security, had probably done his job.

The first document sent by the captain was the record of the deployment of security guards in Yusupov Palace. The content involved many aspects, such as how many shifts were arranged at Ming Post, who was in charge of each shift, and the specific duty hours. ; How many shifts are there, where are they deployed, and who is in charge? What number is coded for each window in Yusupov Palace, the range of sight distance corresponding to each number, etc., etc., the content varies. .

Victor unfolded the security guard deployment map on the desk, corresponding to the text description in the document, and wrote down all the contents in his mind as much as possible. Draw a three-dimensional map, the observation point of the guard, the direction each window faces, from the outer area of ​​Yusupov Palace, which window can be observed inside the situation, etc...

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Some dull knocks on the door interrupted Victor's thoughts. He continued to look down at the map and said without looking up, "Come in."

The door was pushed open from the outside, and immediately, there was a sound of footsteps coming from far and near to the opposite side of Victor.

"What's the matter?" Victor's attention was completely focused on the deployment map. He didn't even think about who was coming in. He lowered his head a little bit, and leaned closer to see a label on the map, while asking absentmindedly. road.

No one responded to him, but there was a faint smell of smoke in the air, and the smell was getting stronger and stronger.

Victor touched his pocket, took out his pen, drew a circle on a point on the deployment map, and asked in a dissatisfied tone: "This is the easternmost window on the second floor, and it faces the Rivadia Palace. Direction, why isn't there an observation post here? I've emphasized it before..."

Saying so, he put the pen aside, reached into his pocket to touch the cigarette, straightened up, and looked up at the captain who was standing across from the desk.

As a result, just when his hand touched the cigarette case in his pocket, and before he could take it out, an unusually familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of him. Holding a pipe, he looked at him with a smile.

This face is full of wrinkles, and there are several age spots that are not very obvious at the temples. In addition, the face is a little unhealthy and pale, but even so, the majesty that comes with this face Still can feel a lot of pressure.

"Comrade Stalin!" Victor was startled, hurriedly straightened himself, and at the same time gestured to salute.

The person standing at the desk was Comrade Stalin. He was wearing his favorite white navy uniform. Judging from the expression on his face, he was clearly in a good mood.

Seeing Victor giving himself the military salute, Comrade Stalin waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to be so formal, and said at the same time, "I saw you getting off the bus just now, and I thought you would report to me as soon as possible, but I didn't expect to wait. You haven't shown up for so long. Just as Mr. Harriman took his leave, I sent him down."

After speaking, he raised his right hand again, swung it back and forth in the air twice, and then said, "This office is too small."

He pointed to the door of the suite, and said, "The bedroom is smaller, and the light is too dim. You can change to the room on the second floor. There are still many empty rooms, and the room next to Comrade Vyacheslav is still empty. It's on."

Among the people who accompanied Comrade Stalin to Yalta this time, Molotov should have the highest rank. In addition, there are some staff members who belong to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs. They are all arranged on the second floor. Victor I really have no interest in having fun with those people. The most important thing is that Comrade Stalin is also on the second floor. Therefore, although the conditions on the second floor are better than those on the first floor, Victor is reluctant to move to the first floor. After all, there is far less comfort on the first floor.

"No need, Comrade Stalin," Victor said with a smile, walking around from behind the desk and asking Comrade Stalin to sit on the sofa, "I still need to be in charge of security work, and in the future, there should be frequent reports from people. Work, so it's better to be on the first floor and not disturb others."

Comrade Stalin obviously had no intention of forcing him. Seeing that he refused, he nodded, changed the subject, and asked, "I received a report from Fedor Ivanovich before, according to this report. , they annihilated 180,000 German troops in Budapest, including nearly 70,000 prisoners of war alone?"

Fedor Ivanovich was referring to Tolbsin, the current commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.

Facing the question posed by Comrade Stalin, Victor pursed his lips and smiled, and said, "There should be no problem with the number of prisoners."

After saying this in an understatement, he immediately said: "Comrade Malenkov also mentioned the problem of insufficient labor in the reconstruction of Belarus, and these prisoners should be able to alleviate the problem in Belarus to a certain extent."

The reason why Viktor was reluctant to discuss the issue of prisoners of war was because he knew the fact that after the capture of Budapest, the Soviet army responsible for restoring order in the city, according to Torbusin's order, took the nearly 50,000 surviving Budapest. Citizens are also counted as captured prisoners of war.

This order was not only issued by Tolbsin, but also received the approval of General Zhertov, the military commissar of the Front Army, and Lieutenant General Ivanov, the chief of staff.

The reason for making such a decision is that, on the one hand, during the siege, the Budapests were firmly on the side of the German army, and on the other hand, they avoided being held accountable by Moscow. I have long been dissatisfied, and there are more prisoners of war, which can also highlight the difficulty of this battle.

As an insider, Victor is not interested in talking too much about this kind of thing. He is no longer the ordinary grassroots worker and peasant policeman. The sympathy and compassion of ordinary people have long since left him. Now, he When considering a problem, it is more from the perspective of politics and interests, and whether it is politics or interests, sometimes it requires the sacrifice of many people to maintain it.

Therefore, things in this world are like this. The higher the status of people, the more indifferent they tend to be.

However, judging from the way Comrade Stalin asked the question just now, he obviously knew something about what happened in Budapest. Therefore, Victor did not hide anything for Tolbsin and the others, but diverted the topic with vague words. Yes - he said there was no problem with the number of prisoners, note that he said prisoners, not prisoners of war.

Comrade Stalin obviously did not interrupt the question, he nodded and said: "Although the performance of the two fronts during the entire campaign was not satisfactory, the problem of Budapest was finally solved. Later, the two The Front Army will submit the next battle plan, and the General Staff will also come up with a new battle plan."

After a pause, he looked at Victor and asked, "Comrade Fedor Ivanovich mentioned in his report that the next German plan is to launch an attack in the area south of Lake Balaton. Offensive to defeat Fedor Ivanovic's corps and thus eliminate the threat facing the Hungarian oilfields. The General Staff also agrees with this view. Has the People's Commissariat of State Security received the latest Berlin update? information?"

On this issue, before Viktor's return trip, Tolbuzin had talked to him.

Because according to the idea of ​​the High Command, the Ukrainian 3rd Front Army should quickly advance in the direction of Austria after ending the Battle of Budapest, on the one hand to capture the oilfields in Hungary, and on the other to pose a threat to the industrial areas in southern Germany.

In Tolbsin's view, the Germans would not be willing to give up Budapest easily, which can be seen from their attempts to break through the Soviet encirclement three times in the past 100 days or so.

Of course, for the Germans, if Budapest is just a city, it is not so important. The key point is that this city has a very important strategic position. Once the Soviet army captures it, it is equivalent to opening the road to Berlin. the last door.