Struggle in Soviet Russia

Moscow, building of the People's Committee of the Interior.

In the conference room filled with blue-gray smoke, Victor sat at the end of the right side of the oval conference table. Opposite him was a middle-aged man with a thin face like a skull. This person is the current NPC. Soprunenko, the director of the Prisoners of War Administration, sat in the same row with Victor, and in front of him was the chubby Deputy People’s Commissar of the Interior, Chernyshov, who was in charge of prison and prisoner-of-war camps.

From Victor’s position to the back, there are still a few people, such as the Director of the First Division of the General Administration of Economic Management Joelsh, the Director of the Second Division Rodionov, and the Director of the Investigation Division of the Intelligence Agency, the State Berrelopez, a senior investigator of the General Security Administration, and so on.

From the position of Victor, it is mainly leaders with the status of deputy NKVD, such as Serov, Merkulov, etc. As for the first seat, it is naturally Comrade Beria.

At this time, the person who was reporting at the meeting was Bashtakov, Director of the First Specialized Division of the NKVD, and the content of the report was the information about the "Short-winged Thrush" organization that Victor submitted yesterday. information.

The special department headed by Bashtakov is a relatively special department. The tasks they are responsible for are very complicated, including coordination with various departments other than the NKVD, which are all carried out by them.

In the list submitted by Victor, a total of 62 people were involved. The list was submitted yesterday to Serov. In the report that Bashtakov brought up today, the current situation of these people was found out, including where they are now. It can be seen from this that the work efficiency of the NKVD is still very high.

Up to now, the scope of this case has been too wide, and too many people have been involved. It can be seen from Bashtakov’s report that the one who ran the farthest among these people has now moved to Almaty went to Almaty. In this way, Victor's ability alone is obviously not enough to continue the case.

Moreover, because of the influence of this case, there are enough people who want to get their hands in. Apart from anything else, Victor returned to Moscow yesterday and submitted a report on what he knew to Serov and Beria. This morning , The General Staff Department and the General Political Department requested to participate in the investigation and handling of this case, because the list of personnel involved in the case included several officers, among which the highest rank was the lieutenant colonel.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the more influential cases, the greater the interests involved. Similar to the "short-winged thrush," a hidden organization that integrates spying and sabotage, but even Comrade Stalin paid attention to it. . For cases like this, if it is done, it will of course be done, but if it is done, at least one medal will not be able to escape.

The current situation is that in the early investigation and handling process, Victor has already mastered a very substantial list. Even if the list is only wiped out, the "short-winged thrush" will also suffer a major blow, and this achievement It's already good enough, so, who doesn't want to get in at this time?

Look at Comrade Berrelopez. As a veteran investigator in the NKVD, he has been well-known since Yezhov’s time. In Kirov’s case, he was one of the main investigators. The assassination of the old guy in Mexico was also planned and directed by him. To be honest, with regard to the anti-espionage cases currently handled by the NKVD, very few people can invite him to go out, but now they still rush over to the meeting?

Now, the keynote set at the meeting is that Comrade Berrelopez organizes a special team to take over the follow-up work of the "Short-winged Thrush" organization. Considering that this organization has been latent for a long time, the organization members come from all walks of life. Even the NKVD has been infiltrated. Therefore, relevant investigations, especially arrests, will be carried out by "trustworthy" personnel organized by Comrade Berrelopez.

So, as the investigator of the case and the first person to get this list, what will Victor do next? It is very simple. He only needs to do one thing, hand over all the documents and personnel related to the case in his hand to Comrade Berelilopez, and then he will be fine.

Although knowing that this case has been handled to this level, it has completely exceeded the scope of his own functions, but Victor's heart is still extremely annoyed by being excluded from the investigation of the case. Therefore, during the entire meeting, he sat in his seat silently, his face gloomy as if it was about to run into the water.

In fact, he knew the result this morning, and Serov had specifically talked to him and had already disclosed the committee's decision to him.

What makes Victor feel very helpless is that Serov, as the first deputy commissar of the NKVD responsible for counterintelligence and intelligence, has always wanted to go to the front line to command operations, even though he does the work of the NKVD. It was excellent, but the idea of ​​being a soldier has never changed. Therefore, he was not very concerned about the leadership of the investigation and handling of this case.

He is not caring, he is caring, even those deputy committee members who are not caring about this case are very caring about making trouble for him, the first deputy committee member. Therefore, Comrade Merkulov is very He easily seized the dominance, stretched his arms, and carried the entire case, but let Victor, the first master, go away and eat his ass.

When Serov talked with Victor in the morning, what he meant was that the case was handled to this level and it was already very good. He performed very well in the investigation and handling of this case. But apart from this case, he did not do well in other tasks in the direction of the Western Front, especially in the reorganization of the disintegrated soldiers. Serov was a little dissatisfied-for him, these are important. The work of catching spies is an auxiliary.

Victor was also helpless for Serov's position. Where there are people, there are struggles. The NKVD is naturally not a clean water. For Victor, he belongs to Serov’s line in the NKVD. He was promoted by Serov. One thing cannot be denied at any time.

However, although Serov didn't pay much attention to the investigation of the "Short-winged Thrush" organization, he knew how to take care of the emotions of his subordinates and the benefits he should strive for for his subordinates. He also tried his best to fight for it. Therefore, although the Western Front Army led by Victor, who directed the internal affairs organization, was squeezed out of the investigation of the case, the honorary title of a collective and the rewards of related personnel are still indispensable.

Victor was promised, and he would then sort out a list of meritorious personnel and submit it. Serov would fight for corresponding awards for these people, including medals, military ranks, and there should be no less.

One more thing, in this conversation with Serov, the first deputy NKVD also ordered Victor specifically about Ostakov’s affairs. The general idea is that men have to control two things, the same. It's the upper mouth, and the other is the lower thing. If you can't control it, it's probably a problem.

What Victor didn’t know was that Serov submitted a report to the committee a few days ago. This is a report recommending him to be promoted. As a member of the committee, Comrade Beria has approved the report. If nothing happens, Then, with Comrade Beria’s nod, it is almost no problem for this report to be passed in the committee.

Once the report is approved by the committee, the Organization Bureau of the NKVD will conduct a secret political review of Victor to assess whether he is suitable for this promotion from all aspects.

Yes, this promotion is different from Victor’s previous promotion. Although Victor was already a major of national security, this level still belongs to the mid-level cadre sequence of the NKVD. This level belongs to the ranks of all Soviet cadres. Third gear. And if he is promoted to the next level, he will enter the rank of senior cadres of the People's Committee of the Interior, and will enter the second tier in the cadre roster of the whole Soviet Union.

For this reason, Victor’s promotion is very important. The Organization Bureau of the NKVD will conduct a political review of him without notifying him. These reviews mainly include his background, political experience, and social life. Contacts and many other aspects. If this review is passed, the Organization and Cadres Bureau of the Secretariat of the Central Committee will conduct a review of him, and at the same time, they will also need to talk to him. In short, the process is very troublesome.

As his recommender, Serov naturally does not want this young man who he values ​​very much to be censored. In his opinion, there is no major problem with Victor. The only shortcoming is the disorder in his private life. .

Even though the disorder of private life is not the key content of the organization bureau's review, there is still one thing in it. Who knows if someone deliberately picks up moths during the review process? Previously, Serov moved Nino away from Victor because of this consideration.

For Victor, if he fails this secret review, it is not just as simple as missing an opportunity for him, but his promotion path will be hit hard. The so-called failing to keep up with one step and failing to keep up with each step is the reason. He did not seize the opportunity this time. Then next time someone recommends him, this review will be a stain on his political resume, which can't be erased.