Because of the previous heavy rains, the Red Gate Square in the urban area was heavily waterlogged. The rainwater overflowed the road and even poured into the shops on the street.

Victor's car was blocked at the exit of the Red Gate Station, because the road going on from the exit was very serious with water. Varenka was worried that the water would sink into the car and could only continue until the water receded. Forward.

At this moment, Victor is going to the office of the People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs. Today, the famous "Seven Sisters of Moscow" has not yet been built. The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moscow with gems and metals as interiors only exists in the design. According to the drawings, Molotov and his colleagues are still working in the old four-story building in Red Gate Square.

On the street outside the car, municipal workers wearing rain pants are busy dredging the drain. In order to clean up the stagnant water in the shortest time, the municipal department has also mobilized more than a dozen water tankers and pumped the streets. The accumulated water was pumped into the tanker and pulled away.

No way, the municipal department can’t help but worry, because Secretary Sherbakov gave a death order. The stagnant water around the Red Gate Square must be cleaned up by ten o’clock, and nothing remains, because it’s ten o’clock. Comrade Stalin will pass from here and go to the People’s Committee of Foreign Affairs.

Comrade Serbakov is indeed a very capable and energetic leader, but his health is not very good. He stays in the hospital for a few days from time to time. As a young cadre in his early forties, his physical condition is seriously affected. He was promoted, otherwise, he might be expected to enter the Politburo.

Victor's car was blocked for nearly half an hour. With the efforts of the municipal staff, the stagnant water on the road was finally emptied. Varenka started the car and went straight to the People's Committee of Foreign Affairs building in Red Gate Square.

The People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs is a very important link in the political structure of the Soviet Union. Throughout the 1930s, Molotov led this department, committed to establishing a collective security system, preventing the establishment of an anti-Soviet alliance, and preventing the Soviet Union from participating in large-scale Military conflict.

To be honest, as the People’s Commissar of the People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs, Molotov’s work is quite outstanding. Most of the countries above have established diplomatic relations and successfully got rid of the situation of political isolation in the international arena.

Since the outbreak of the war, the main work of the People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs has shifted to consolidating the anti-fascist alliance, urging Britain and the United States to open a second battlefield, and requesting all kinds of material assistance. Kazakhstan, especially in the last task, Comrade Molotov The results are gratifying. Not to mention anything else, even Victor's cigarettes and alcohol are all authentic American products.

Compared with the People's Committee of National Security, the place where the People's Committee for Foreign Affairs is located is not so good. The Red Gate Square has a relatively large flow of people and does not have a good environment surrounded by greenery.

Victor got out of the car in front of the building. Sophia was holding various documents for him. The two entered through the front door of the building and went straight to the conference room on the second floor.

Today is a more important day for the People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs. The new President of Finland and Mannerheim, who is also the military marshal, dispatched a secret delegation headed by Pasikivi to Moscow to start negotiations on the truce between the two sides. Today is the day this secret delegation arrived in Moscow.

I have to admit that as a representative figure of the Finnish military, Mannerheim’s military talents are worthy of recognition, but it is precisely because of this that after the end of the Stalin campaign, this marshal who has a good understanding of the military was able to realize It was no longer possible for the Germans to win this war. Therefore, in order not to be liquidated in the future, or even to subdue the country, the Mannerheim government had the idea to withdraw from the war.

However, the consequence of soldiers entering politics is that they don’t know much about how politics should work. As the President of Finland, Mannerheim wanted to withdraw from this war to avoid being liquidated by the Allies after the war was defeated, but at the same time, He also wanted to do his best to preserve Finland's gains in previous wars.

At the beginning of this year, Mannerheim contacted Washington through the Swedes. Later, the Roosevelt administration of the United States established contact with Moscow. At the same time, he stated to Comrade Stalin that he was willing to withdraw from the war and lifted the conflict. Leningrad’s willingness to encircle.

But while relaying this wish, the representatives of Mannerheim also put forward their conditions for the truce: not accepting the contract boundary of March 12, 1940, which is the minimum requirement.

In addition to this minimum requirement, Finland has to control the ownership of the Murmansk-Leningrad railway. In addition, Saloka, a major town in the White Sea-Baltic region that originally belonged to the Soviet Union, also needs to be ceded to Finland.

When the Finns proposed this negotiation clause, not only Comrade Stalin was almost mad, but even the British negotiator Aiden and the American negotiator Hull felt very incredible.

Therefore, during the negotiations in February, Molotov only showed up at the negotiation meeting. After he threw the negotiation terms formulated by the People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs before the Finns, he turned and left. It was not so much a copy. The negotiation terms are more of an ultimatum.

For a long period of time in the past, the United Kingdom and the United States actually held reservations about the Finnish issue. They did not support the Soviet Union's punitive measures against Finland, nor did they believe that the Soviet Union should enjoy any special interests in Finland after the war.

However, after the secret negotiations in February this year, the United Kingdom and the United States changed their attitudes. Both Washington and London believed that "the Soviets' actions to resolve the Finnish issue with the backing of force are legal", which means that if the negotiations fail to reach agreement , Then fight, Britain and the United States support Moscow's position.

In this transformation, on the one hand, the Finns were ignorant of current affairs and the lions opened their mouths, but the most important factor was the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad, which made the Soviet Union the most important force in the war against Germany. At this time, the industrial capacity of the Soviet Union was basically restored, and it was able to guarantee the needs of war. Moscow no longer needed to give up any benefits in exchange for assistance from the United Kingdom and the United States and the opening of the second battlefield.

In addition, the intelligence department led by Victor has spread a series of false information in the past few months, implying from various aspects that Moscow is engaged in secret negotiations with Berlin. The two sides are likely to reach a peace agreement before the arrival of winter to end this situation. war.

This type of false information is very realistic, and even the terms of the negotiations are listed: After Germany retreats to the border before June 1941, as compensation to the Soviet Union, Romania and Finland will be occupied by the Soviet army, etc. wait wait wait.

Think about it, if the Soviet Union and Germany really declare a truce at this time, the German army will transfer all the forces on the eastern front to the western front and North Africa, and at the same time, the German army will again receive military industrial support from the Soviet Union, then this war will be In what direction will it evolve? At least, such a situation is definitely not what the British want to see.

Perhaps the United Kingdom and the United States have exerted pressure on the Finns on the side, so after nearly four months of negotiations ceased, a new round of negotiations has begun today.

In Victor's view, the love-hate entanglement between Su and Finland is not surprising. For a small country like Finland, their biggest original sin is that they are too close to the huge Soviet Union. Russia, a nation, has always been The form of territorial expansion seeks a mental model of national security. Therefore, countries like Finland adjacent to the Soviet Union can easily become Moscow's most direct target for seeking geopolitical benefits.

The meeting room on the second floor was crowded with people, and most of them were staff preparing for the meeting. At this time, the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States and the Finnish delegation had not yet come. Only the deputy people’s committee of the People’s Committee for Foreign Affairs Lozo had already arrived. Kowski, and the Soviet ambassador to Sweden Kollontai.

Today’s negotiation, in fact, Comrade Stalin did not pay much attention to it, but unlike his position, Britain and the United States are both very concerned. For this negotiation, both Aiden and Hull came. Therefore, Stalin Comrades will only agree to come and show up.

For the United Kingdom and the United States, Finland is now a victim, just like Czechoslovakia at the time, except that Britain and France at that time hoped to sacrifice Czechoslovakia and prompt the Germans to attack the Soviets. But now, they hope to sacrifice Finland and encourage the Soviets to continue to fight the Germans.

With regard to this so-called appeasement policy, the Anglo-Saxons are always playing tricks, but they always like to burn themselves.

As the head of the Soviet intelligence agency, Victor is also going to participate in today’s negotiations. His job is to provide necessary intelligence support to Comrade Molotov, mainly some information about the situation in Finland. This information is crucial Take it out at the right time to force the other party to make concessions.

For now, in the Karelia Isthmus and the area north of the Isthmus, the Finnish army still has some local advantages on the battlefield against the Soviets, but these advantages are already very unobvious. At the same time, the Soviet army is already preparing for the summer offensive on the northern front. Once the war begins, no one can be sure of the situation.

At the same time, according to the intelligence obtained by the National Security People’s Committee, Finland’s domestic economic situation is worrying, and there have been problems with the logistical support of its military.

Since the outbreak of the war, the Finns have largely relied on the support of the Germans in their operations. With the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, the Germans began to become overwhelmed and could no longer continue to provide too much to the Finnish army. Aided. Therefore, this is one of the main reasons why the Finns eagerly want to withdraw from the war.