Tykhonov, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, Shcherbitsky, First Secretary of the Ukrainian Party Committee, Kunayev, First Secretary of the Kazakh Party Committee, and Chernenko, Secretary of the Central Committee. On the other side are Secretary of the Central Committee Andropov, Minister of Defense Ustinov, Chairman of the National Security Council Serov, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko.

  Although the two sides are not sitting alone, the eyes of each other are still full of indifference and vigilance. The second secretary Suslov has died, and whoever is the second secretary will be Brezhnev's successor. This is not the time to show solidarity. When it is time to take action, none of the members of the Central Presidium will be soft-hearted.

Beside Serov is the first secretary of the Ukrainian Party Committee, Sherbitsky. The chief political commissar is more embarrassed than anyone else, because of the relationship between his son and Sherbitsky's daughter, the relationship between the two cannot be at least like that. So stiff now. But he and the Dnipro gang are at odds, and Shirbitsky is a heavyweight in the Dnipro gang.

   It wasn't just Serov who felt uncomfortable, the calm-faced Serbitsky was also feeling uncomfortable for a while because of the spy chief next to him.

   Even Brezhnev himself did not want to be so calm on the surface. Suslov's death exposed the looming question of Brezhnev's successor. When Suslov was there, he was without a doubt the second secretary. The most important thing in the country of the Soviet Union was ideological work to prevent infiltration by the United States. Therefore, the second secretary in charge of ideology and form has always been the unquestioned second secretary, and he has more authority than other secretaries in heavy industry, light industry, and diplomacy.

   In order to prevent Stalin from killing each other after his death, there was also the coup plot in the Khrushchev era. Brezhnev chose his peer Suslov as the second secretary. Even his close comrades-in-arms Kirilenko and Chernenko must show respect to Suslov. Now the second secretary has gone.

The purpose of today is incomprehensible. It is to elect the second secretary. Brezhnev's cloudy eyes swept away from Andropov and Chernenko. One of these two people is the Soviet Union. future leaders. If there is a third candidate, it is the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, Shcherbitsky.

  If Kirilenko does not make mistakes, then all these candidates will exist. After his death, Kirilenko will naturally become the general secretary and continue to lead the Soviet Union to confront the United States in accordance with its established policies. But Kirilenko's fall was too sudden, and the remaining Chernenko and Shcherbitsky were not qualified enough. Kirilenko's position in his own group is very important, and he is the only one who can suppress other members of the Central Presidium in terms of seniority.

It's a pity that the Soviet Union has no mercy on the issue of traitors. The chairman of the KGB fell because of this incident, and the Marshal of the Red Army was ordered to retire. Therefore, even if he is a close comrade-in-arms of Brezhnev himself, he can't pull one. Well, this is a principle because if he violates this rule, he will be greeted with questions from all the members of the Central Presidium.

   In recent years, because of Brezhnev's poor health, he has more often relied on the Dnipro gang to support him as the general secretary, rather than when he first came to power, the general secretary trained the Dnipro gang. The positions of Brezhnev and his training group have been changed. The most orthodox cronie, Kiriyenko, succeeded Brezhnev as the first secretary of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Party Committee and was elected as the presidium of the CPSU Central Committee Member, Secretary of the Secretariat.

  Tykhonov, a native of Dnipropetrovsk, was later elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee and two years ago as chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers. Brezhnev selected Kosygin's successor.

   Shcherbitsky, a native of Dnipropetrovsk, once served as the first secretary of the Party Committee of the region, was elected as a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Communist Party.

   Shelokov, a graduate of Dnepotterrensk Metallurgical Institute, was the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Municipal Soviet when Brezhnev was the secretary of the Dnebpetrovsk regional party committee. He was appointed by Brezhnev as the Minister of Internal Affairs, used to monitor Serov's KGB, and played an important role in the Brezhnev system.

The most important part of   , because of Kirilenko's exit, has a vacancy, and this is the situation Brezhnev is facing now.

"Comrade Suslov's departure makes me very sad, but the work must continue, the pace of the Soviets must continue to move forward, we must put away our grief and continue to devote ourselves to the work." Brezhnev said His voice was very slow, and he had to pause for a while after each sentence, both to rest and organize the language, "So, comrades, who is more suitable for Suslov's position?"

  Brezhnev did not directly appoint who was the second secretary, of course he would if he had time. But what he is thinking about now is whether he still has time to suppress the voices of dissatisfaction. If not, he must listen to the opinions of other committee members. This is a very sad consideration.

From Kozlov, Podgorny, Sherepin to Kosygin, he defeated one opponent after another, turned defeat into victory again and again, and suppressed his opponent, but today, he must also compromise, even at this time. Brezhnev is still the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet, the chairman of the National Defense Committee, the supreme leader, the symbol of the Soviet people's love, but these are useless, he has no time...

   Brezhnev, who doesn't know how long he can live, is facing a question for the first time, if he is opposed to his nomination, can he let the two sides that are at war with each other coexist peacefully.

If he has three years left, that's perfectly fine. If he only has one year left, he won't have time to trade, but the problem is, Brezhnev doesn't know how much time he has. Don't dare to gamble.

"Comrade Chernenko has always been a very hard-working comrade, and he knows our organization very well!" The speaker was Pavlov, director of the Central Office of the Soviet Union, who is also an important figure in the Dnipro gang, and as a Although the alternate members of the Central Presidium cannot participate in the voting, they can definitely express their opinions.

After Pavlov's voice came, the atmosphere at the meeting instantly became noisy, but it was the people who supported Chernenko who spoke, and none of Andropov, Ustinov, Serov and Gromyko appeared. Voice. Still silent, listening to Kunayev and Shcherbitsky's discussions with a listening attitude.

   "Be quiet!" Brezhnev's voice was not loud, but it was still audible enough to set eyes on Andropov, Serov, Ustinov, and Gromyko. And Grishin and Romanov. Finally, he retracted his gaze and asked, "Comrade Ustinov, what do you think!"

   "Who should take over as the second secretary should follow the party constitution. There is absolutely no need to discuss it." Defense Minister Marshal Ustinov said unmoved, "I just came to attend the meeting."

"Comrade Serov, tell me your opinion!" Brezhnev asked Serov again, "Who do you think is more suitable." Brezhnev could feel that those who did not speak did not like Chernenko .

   "Marshal Ustinov has already said that I am a security cadre and protect the majesty of the country. This matter can be completely resolved by the party constitution and conventions!" Serov forgot that he was also the secretary of the Central Committee. Of course, this was intentional.

"Yeah!" Brezhnev agreed softly, sitting in his seat for a long time, "In the future, when I am away from Moscow, the meeting will be chaired by Comrade Andropov and Comrade Chernenko. Help, that's it. The meeting is over..."

  The dust has settled, and on the surface there is no tension. This meeting still maintained the stability and unity of the Soviet Central Presidium. In fact, in the dialogue between several people, the competition for the second secretary has been decided. Andropov was half a position ahead, and it was half a position because Brezhnev still had not forgotten Chernenko.

   Maybe the general secretary still needs time to think of a solution, but Serov knows that this matter has basically been settled. Maybe in Brezhnev's heart, Shcherbitsky is more important than both of them, but Shcherbitsky is too far away, even if it is to operate in Moscow, it will take time.

"You must be complaining about why I didn't help you! Kirilenko also asked me about the same thing." Brezhnev leaning on the chair seemed to recall that there was only one audience, that is Chernenko, "I I think that I have defeated many opponents in my life, and there are many situations where the enemy is strong and I am weak. I was lucky to win Kozlov, he is not in good health. I have no doubts about Shelepin and Kosygin in the future. victory."

"When I faced Kozlov, it was the most difficult time for me. You should know this best, Comrade Chernenko." Brezhnev said with a sigh, "This is different from dealing with Sherepin. , Kosygin's confrontation. Kozlov is better than me in almost every aspect, higher than me, younger than me, more experienced than me, and more capable than me. At that time, even I thought I was the winner. Without him, in my heart I admit defeat."

"But time beat him. Without a good body, there is nothing. That's why I had to attack Shurik in the first place. I know that once I die, even if Kirilenko is here, you can't win. Shurik!" Brezhnev finally tilted his head to look at Chernenko, and said quietly, "Now, I am old, if I must help you overcome the suppression of Andropov, I wonder if there is still time. Let me get things done."

"They will trample your grave one day!" Chernenko closed his eyes and said something that only the two of them could understand. , after seeing Khrushchev's release of the secret report, what he said in his heart about what happened to Stalin.