Struggle in Soviet Russia

Sochi, the maritime terminal, an alert ship whistled and slowly entered the berth.

With a slight bump, the ship pressed against one end of the trestle, and the navy soldiers in sailor suits immediately got busy, fixing the ship and lowering the stairway at the same time.

Wearing a military coat of the NKVD, Comrade Beria walked off the ship with a blank face. He put his hands in the pockets of the military coat and stepped on the trestle without rushing. Surrounded by him, he walked towards the other side of the trestle, where several black "Haiyan" cars of the same model were parked on the side of the road, waiting for the arrival of his group.

This year, the temperature in Moscow is also unbearably low. Therefore, just the day before yesterday, the Central Committee made a decision that various departments, including the Central Committee and the People's Committee, can choose to take time off, and are allowed to Comrades who are on vacation can go to major resorts in the south for a one-week winter recuperation.

As the Deputy People's Commissar of the People's Commissariat, Comrade Beria did not get the opportunity to take time off, let alone him, even Comrade Kosygin, the People's Commissar of the People's Commissariat, is still working hard in Moscow. Others, such as Zhidan Comrade Novov, Comrade Malenkov, etc., it can be said that in the entire Politburo, apart from Comrade Stalin who gave himself a holiday, the other comrades on the committee are still working hard.

As for Comrade Beria, he did not come to Sochi for vacation, but to report to Comrade Stalin.

Comrade Beria's current situation is somewhat embarrassing. As a member of the Politburo, in addition to being a member of the Politburo, his representative position is only a deputy people's commissar of the People's Committee. Previously, he had been in charge of the leadership of the research and development of nuclear weapons. At the same time, he was also in charge of the research and development of rocket technology. Comrade Stalin paid great attention to these two things. Therefore, when Comrade Beria was in charge of these two tasks, Nor can it be said that the status has been marginalized.

But now, with the successful test explosion of nuclear weapons, the Central Committee quickly made adjustments and established a special committee responsible for the nuclear-related work of the alliance. Comrade Berusin, as the acting chairman, is temporarily responsible for leading the relevant work of this committee. Bailey Comrade Ya's work in this area is over, so the work he is really responsible for is the leadership of rocket research and development.

As a member of the Politburo, but only in charge of such a task, Comrade Beria inevitably thinks too much. He has to worry about whether he is being marginalized by Comrade Stalin.

Of course, in fact, Comrade Beria's energy is still very large. His control over the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs has not weakened, and his influence on the People's Commissariat of National Security is deepening. At the same time, he is still behind the scenes. Manipulating the situation in Georgia, such as the First Secretary of the Central Committee of Georgia Mgladze, the Attorney General Shonia, the Minister of Justice Rapava, etc., almost the entire central leadership of Georgia is Comrade Beria. Georgia's control is like Comrade Stalin's control of the Union.

Perhaps there is one thing that Comrade Beria is not mistaken, that is, Comrade Stalin is indeed trying to alienate him, and the reason for alienating him is because his desire for power is too great. But anyone's.

At the end of the trestle, Comrade Beria got into a car, and then the convoy started slowly, heading towards the city of Sochi.

Comrade Stalin's holiday villa in Sochi is not in the urban area, but in the "green jungle" 12 kilometers away from the urban area. It was built in 1937 and has a pure green appearance. , has always been the residence of Comrade Stalin when he came to Sochi for vacation, and it has not changed from the day it was built until Comrade Stalin died.

In the slow-moving car, Comrade Beria leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. He looked like he was asleep, but he was actually very energetic. At this moment, what was in his mind I'm thinking of what to say when I meet Comrade Stalin later, what he's going to say, what Comrade Stalin might ask, and how he's going to answer it.

In the past, when Comrade Beria met with Comrade Stalin, he generally did not need to think so much. After all, Comrade Stalin had no more confidence in him at that time, and he did not need to be so cautious. However, the situation was different now. He could feel Comrade Stalin's vigilance and alienation from him. Although Comrade Stalin concealed it well, he could still sense it.

As a senior official who started from the NKVD, Comrade Beria's political sense is undoubtedly keen. In the past two years, he has gradually realized a less obvious but very fatal problem, that is Comrade Stalin He is becoming more and more impatient with the "old friends" who once surrounded him. He is even tired of some people, and is planning to remove some people from the inner circle and marginalize them .

At first, Comrade Beria rejoiced because he did not belong to the sequence of those "old friends", he only began to be appreciated and reused by Comrade Stalin after the thirties, and in the inner circle of power of the Union, he was It should belong to the "Young Zhuang faction".

But unfortunately, as the situation gradually became clearer, Comrade Beria found that he was wrong. The people Comrade Stalin was eliminating were not those who were "old friends", but those who could pose a threat to their status. people.

Looking back at the past two years, in the entire Politburo, people such as Voroshilov, Andreyev, Kaganovich, they seem to have signs of being marginalized, while Moloto Both husband and Malenkov were politically attacked to a certain extent. Beria has reason to believe that the next political blow will be Khrushchev in Ukraine, who is affected by the poor agricultural harvest in Ukraine. Now, there are voices criticizing Khrushchev in Moscow. an omen.

Beria couldn't figure out what Comrade Stalin was thinking, but he already had a bad premonition, so he thought he had to do something.

Just as Victor had thought before, Comrade Beria had an indescribable obsession with power, and he did not intend to lose any power in his hands. Therefore, he had a premonition that a political blow was likely to fall. When it came to his own head, the first thing Comrade Beria thought of was not retreating to protect himself, but how to withstand this blow while still maintaining his own political fundamentals.

As said before, Comrade Beria's political base has two parts: the part within the national security sector, and the Georgian part.

Of these two parts, Georgia's problem is the easiest to solve. He is not worried that someone will attack Tbilisi, because even if someone overturns the situation in Georgia, he can easily turn the plate back. , even if Mr. Glaser, who is the first secretary, is taken down, Comrade Beria is fully confident that he will send another one of his own to the throne of the first secretary. He has even found a successor for Mr. Glaser. who is the more obedient comrade Chalkvinya.

Compared with Georgia's problems, the national security sector is much more responsible for the situation. Among them, the most critical is the People's Commissariat of National Security.

Yes, Comrade Beria is not worried about the situation of the NKVD. After all, the entire NKVD is his territory, from Merkulov, the NKVD, to the heads of the various ministries and bureaus below. They are all members of the so-called "Beria Gang". If Merkulov can't keep it, there will be a large number of people who can replace him. Even if a People's Commissar of Internal Affairs is transferred out, he will not be able to control the situation in the committee at all.

Therefore, the only thing Comrade Beria is worried about is that something will happen to the People's Commissariat of State Security. Ogolitsov's time in office is too short, and he can't control the situation. Of course, this is also Kuznetsov's first choice. The most direct reason for the attack of the People's Commissariat of National Security.

It is with this in mind that Comrade Beria needs help from Victor, not only because Victor is the former Chairman of the People's Commissariat of National Security, nor because of how much control he has over the Commissariat. It was because Victor was a trustworthy young man in the eyes of Comrade Stalin, and Comrade Stalin's trust in him was not only higher than that of Beria, but also higher than that of Kuznetsov.

If Victor can take advantage of a certain opportunity to express his dissatisfaction with Kuznetsov in Comrade Stalin, then I dare not say anything else, at least it can create a little trouble for Kuznetsov.

Just imagine, if Victor could use the "roster" incident to speak out in front of Comrade Stalin and criticize Kuznetsov's behavior of "a layman leading a proficient", then, would Comrade Stalin have anything to do with it? Express?

The most important thing is that Beria has made enough preparations. He arranged for someone to collect some interesting things from Leningrad and prepare to throw them out at a critical time, which may have unexpected effects. Don't forget that it was not long ago that someone criticized Comrade Malenkov's bureaucratic style of "replacing science with executive orders". Now, Kuznetsov has committed a knowing crime. Shouldn't he be criticized?

However, for Beria, the trouble he is facing now is that Viktor is not under his control. In this small group formed by Malenkov and him, Viktor and Malenkov have a much closer relationship. But between Beria and Beria, there always seems to be some separation.