Big Time 1958
v1 Chapter 743: northern cluster
"I kept the biggest tradition of GRU, did you turn against me?" Serov tilted his head and looked at Alexei and said, "Yes, not many people know that Brezhnev is here. The second stroke in Mongolia, I saved him, the extension of this visit to Mongolia means that the general secretary is recovering, I have strictly blocked the news, others do not know."
"I'll just say, the strength of your support for Shelepin in recent years is obviously different from before. Although you are still trying your best to maintain the collective leadership, but you look like you're being constrained, it's not that I look down on Zinev, Tsvigon and Sherokov, they can't check and balance you at all." Alexei took a deep breath and sat down, "You and Sherepin have always had a good relationship, why is this happening?"
"We have all changed. Shurik is almost 60 years old, and some of his ideas have changed. This is the reason why he has been checked and balanced in the past two years." Shelov shrugged, "Now his thoughts have been different from ten years. It was completely different before.”
If it is now, Shelepin will be stronger when he comes to power. Other than that, there will be no change. Khrushchev wants to abolish the idea of lifetime cadres. Shelepin, like Brezhnev, will selectively forget. At the beginning, Shelepin was only in his forties, and the tenure-track cadre system would not impact him. On the contrary, it would threaten the older Brezhnev. Now Shelepin's age has successfully stepped into the situation that Brezhnev encountered at the beginning. , the idea changed naturally.
"Do you think that if Sherepin replaces Brezhnev, he is likely to be in power for 20 to 30 years?" Alexey took a deep breath and said leisurely, "It's not impossible, maybe the country will still be in his place in 20 years. under the leadership."
but? Alexis asked with a thoughtful look, "When you're almost sixty years old? Would you also want to be the general secretary for life? I don't think you can escape the vicious circle of thinking change."
"I said I wouldn't, believe it or not." I have money, and Serov, as the number one tycoon, has already arranged the way back. In the future, the KGB will play a greater role, fulfilling its original responsibilities and preventing the Soviet Union from discoloring.
"Otherwise, our anti-revolutionary workers are just doing things a little bloody. The real politics has more side effects than ours." Alexey doesn't care about this issue. In his opinion, Serov has more and more scruples. , began to become cautious about politics, and did not know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. Thinking of the scene of this young man talking about their Ministry of Internal Affairs 20 years ago, and looking at the current state of the KGB, this sense of ridiculousness is even stronger.
"Since he's here, he'll leave after eating. Now I don't know if it's right for me to save him in Mongolia. At that time, I couldn't do anything. Once he died from Mongolia, you have to know that I'm the biggest suspect. Who knows? What did the other Central Presidium committees do to me? This is the reason why I have to save him." Serov seemed to remember the night half a month ago, he really hesitated for a while, and finally he rushed to rescue Brezhnev.
It is useless to say these things now, everyone has been saved, can they go back and start over? After a while Valya got off work and cooked a sumptuous dinner, after which Alexei left Serov's house.
Watching the woman clean up the dishes, Serov, who had something in mind, stood up and went into the kitchen to work with the woman. The process was very dull, just like a normal family. After cleaning up the kitchen, the two went upstairs and returned to the bedroom together.
"There is still something. Alexis rarely comes here. When he comes, he has something to discuss with you." A ray of wisdom flashed in Valiya's eyes, who was sitting beside her husband. The two have been married for 20 years. She could feel something at once.
"Yeah, I have something to do, and I feel a little uneasy." After thinking about it, I decided not to hide it from my wife. It's still too tiring to hide it from everyone. There must always be someone to talk to.
"You members of the Presidium of the Central Committee, no one is indebted to anyone. You reminded Yegolychev of the matter, and Shelepin did not reverse the defeat. He lost Leningrad and Moscow in a row, and he can only protect himself. This is not your fault. "Valia hugged her husband's head and whispered, "You have helped him so much, but other members of the Central Presidium generally have doubts about Shelepin, not to mention you said that compared with ten years ago, his thinking is different. It has changed, and if he does come to power, it will be no different from Brezhnev, and even more difficult to deal with.”
"Haha! Empress, are you comforting me? In fact, I dare not let Brezhnev die in an environment where only I am present. If he dies and is used by others, it is difficult to protect the fate of several ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It won't land on my head." Shelov lowered his head and rubbed the woman's arms, "Actually, I'm just protecting myself."
"It's not wrong to protect yourself. Are you going to take risks for Shelepin? Why? I don't want to!" Valya comforted her husband, her position completely depends on which side of her husband is, other things She doesn't think about it, and she doesn't want to think about it. It's not something she should care about as a woman.
"If there are a few opponents, it's not impossible to give it a try. The key is that this kind of opposition is common. Maybe Shurik really doesn't have the life of the general secretary." Shelov sighed, even now he is right Xie Lepin himself came to admire his own cleanliness. This time, whether it was for self-protection, selfishness, or whatever, he really missed an opportunity, and it might be the only opportunity for Xie Lepin to be the general secretary.
During his visit to Mongolia, at a banquet hosted by Mongolian head of state Yu Zedenbal, Brezhnev said: "We are rightfully paying special attention to Asian issues, including the most complex ones. Can these issues be resolved? We The answer is yes. To prepare for the future and for a constructive dialogue based on the principles of good neighborliness, genuine respect for the sovereignty and equality of other countries, we should build relationships gradually and persistently. Anyone using this approach Any country dealing with this kind of issue can look forward to our understanding."
Actually Serov understood that Brezhnev's talk in Mongolia was not about Mongolia, but about China now. At the time of the Soviet military parade, the American delegation was visiting China. Brezhnev was trying to prevent China from falling to the United States, but just after this speech, he suffered a stroke, and his luck was relatively unfortunate.
Early the next morning, Serov went to Brezhnev’s office in the Kremlin. It was not obvious from the surface how much the two strokes affected each other, but Brezhnev seemed to be more reticent than before.
"Yura, based on your relationship with Shurik, you can absolutely not save me." Brezhnev asked in a low voice after a long silence, "Shurik has always regarded himself very highly and thought that only he was worthy of it. As the general secretary, you blocked the news of my illness, which may have cost Shurik an opportunity."
"As long as there is time, everything will be fine. Shurik has many supporters and more opponents. He is a good person, a just person, and I support him very much in my heart, so I will tend to his suggestions on some issues. I also know the situation of our young people, and many people are not convinced by us." Shelov looked at the general secretary who had just rescued twice, paused and said, "Since the first secretary of Khrushchev chose you as the general secretary, Then you should be the general secretary."
"The Warsaw Pact Joint Operations Conference will be held tomorrow, go get ready." Brezhnev instructed a little tiredly. The successive strokes of course had an effect on him, he was more tired than before and needed more time to rest.
When Serov left the office, Brezhnev sat in the chair and said slowly to himself, "Khrushchev? He destroyed Stalin's reputation and caused instability in Eastern Europe. Does he deserve such a high evaluation? Just rely on him. A real Communist?"
The Warsaw Pact Joint Operations Conference was held this time against the backdrop of the Soviet Union's victory over Turkey. Compared with previous conferences, it was more victorious. Brezhnev supported his newly recovered body to participate in this conference. The meeting expressed the importance of the Soviet Union and the entire Warsaw Pact.
"This time, unlike previous meetings, the threat to our allies in the Near East no longer exists. At the same time, the Romanian People's Army, the Bulgarian People's Army, and the Greek Defense Forces have been liberated. It can be said that we are now facing the advantages of the entire NATO. It is unprecedented, and it turned out that we had to face two threats from the South and the West. Now there is only one threat from the West, and it is easier to concentrate troops. If the current situation is used as a reasoning, we can say without hesitation that we are in the midst of NATO. An absolutely dominant position." Serov pointed at the map of Europe with a pointer, "Considering the doubts of Yugoslavia, this is my conclusion to exclude the Yugoslav People's Army."
"So taking advantage of this favorable opportunity, the focus of the entire Warsaw Pact's armed forces should be adjusted, and the Soviet northern cluster stationed in Poland will be expanded, increasing military pressure on Western Europe." Serov briefly introduced the recent situation, and then He turned his attention to General Wojciech Jaruzelski. Wojciech Jaruzelski was the only soldier with the rank of general in the Polish Army.
"Marshal Serov, please understand Poland's dilemma. It is not easy for the people to accept the increase of Soviet troops." General Wojciech Jaruzelski cautiously hoped that the Soviet Union would reconsider.
"Then let them accept that once the Cold War is our victory, not only the Poles will be satisfied, the GDR will be satisfied, Czechoslovakia will be satisfied, Hungary will be satisfied, the entire Warsaw Pact countries will be satisfied, and only our enemies will be satisfied. Now that the Western European economy is very poor, it is time for our cooperation to go further." Serov said unmoved. (~^~)