"Bell bell bell! Bell bell bell! The hurried sound of the phone woke Manturov from his sleep. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The sleepy-eyed Manturov rubbed his eyes, put on his glasses, and took the phone.

"Comrade Manturov, come to the Kremlin right now!" The person on the phone only said one sentence and then closed the line. It can be seen that he is in a very busy state right now.

"Who is it?" Katia was also woken up by the ringing of the phone, he looked out the window at the dark sky, then at her husband sitting by the bedside, and said, "Who is looking for you at this time?" ”

Manturov stood up, walked to the closet, and took out a general's uniform, "It's Stalin." He asked me to go to the Kremlin immediately, presumably because there was something urgent. ”

"Then you go, I'll wait for you."

Manturov changed into a military uniform, touched Katya's long, white and peerless legs, kissed the face that angels would be jealous of, and after looking at his wife affectionately for a few seconds, he left for the Kremlin.

At one o'clock in the morning, Moscow was completely immersed in darkness and silence.

In the morning on the bustling Tver Street, only Manturov's sports car is speeding away. There were few people on either side of the street, except for the occasional sight of one or two drunk, cadre-clad Russians swinging around the street.

When I arrived at the Kremlin, I walked straight to Stalin's office and saw an emaciated, pale old man sitting at the desk in the middle.

The Soviet flag at the desk was still as bright as ever, but Stalin's state was as devoid as a withered flower.

During this period, Stalin had to work 14 to 16 hours a day, and when an emergency occurred in the middle of the night, he had to get up to deal with it, and naturally his sleep was not much better.

In addition, his body is old and overworked, his eyes have red blood lines, and the bags under his eyes have begun to swell, which looks very chilling.

"Comrade Manturov," said Stalin, before Manturov could take his feet, "as you can estimate, the German 2nd Panzer Group concentrated a large number of main forces and launched a fierce attack on the area between the Mozyr and Slutsk fortresses, and the 3rd Panzer Group also concentrated its main forces on the strip between the Minsk and Polotsk fortified districts.

Not so long ago, the 19th Army successfully held back the enemy between the Minsk and Polotsk fortified districts, but the 4th Army, which was deployed between Mozyr and Slutsk, was losing ground one after another.

The commander of the Western Front, Comrade Timoshenko, intended to reinforce the 4th Army by drawing troops from the 50th Army and the 13th Army, but met with unwarranted opposition from Mehris. ”

"Comrade Stalin," Manturov said bluntly, pointing out Mechris's shortcomings: "Comrade Mehris did not always have a good relationship with other comrades in the army, and his personality and style were not suitable for working in the Red Army.

In the army, he opposed any constructive proposals, and any comrades who put forward these constructive suggestions, any comrades who contributed to the building of the army, were called "saboteurs" and "enemies of the people."

If this continues, sooner or later the talents in the Red Army will be forced out by him, and it will be very difficult for our army to develop, and we will inevitably have to pay a greater price in casualties in future wars.

If Comrade Mehris had been allowed to remain in the Western Front and obstruct military movements, I am afraid that sooner or later the German invading army would have occupied Belarus. ”

Stalin raised his head and looked at Manturov with a weak, lack of strength in his eyes, "I have removed me from the post of military commissar of the Mehris Western Front, and you go to take his place." ”

Hearing this, Manturov's heart began to tense. He didn't want to go back to the battlefield and live that life of fear again.

Last time, he decided to go to the Southwestern Front as a political commissar because the Southwestern Front had superior forces, adequate preparations, and excellent generals (Potapov, Rokossovsky and Kirponos), and had the strength and conditions to turn the situation around.

However, the situation of the Western Front was very different, not only did it not have enough troops, but it was also not sufficiently prepared for war. Moreover, what they had to face was not Army Group South, which had fewer troops and slightly inferior generals, but Army Group Center, which was well-armed, well-equipped, and full of famous generals.

Under such circumstances, Manturov did not have much hope for the Western Front, and if he went there, he was afraid that he would really face a life-and-death threat. For the sake of his beautiful wife, for the sake of the Soviets, he must not die, he must live!

"When to Minsk?" However, to go to the Western Front, but Stalin's order was the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, how dare Manturov, the general, not obey it?

"You stay in Moscow."

Stalin's words made Manturov let go of a big stone in his heart. He smiled slightly, and thought to himself: "So, I don't have to go to the Western Front?" ”

In order to confirm Stalin's intentions, Manturov then asked: "Didn't you just say that I was going to replace Comrade Mehris in the Western Front?" Why stay in Moscow? ”

Stalin looked at the notebook on the desktop and corrected: "I'm sorry, I was wrong just now, it should be Bulganin who went to the Western Front to replace Mehris as military commissar."

You, on the other hand, remain in Moscow to take the place of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Mehris and Director of the General Political Propaganda Department of the Red Army, in charge of the departments he had previously managed, namely, the General Political Propaganda Department of the Red Army, the Publishing and Cultural Organs of the Red Army, the Lenin Military-Political Academy, the Military Law Academy, and the Military-Political School.

In addition, he was replaced by you in the Central Organization Bureau, where he was responsible for the organization of the Party organizations of the Red Army. ”

After hearing Stalin's reply, Manturov naturally let go of the big stone in his heart, but he already has enough departments to manage now, and now he has to manage so many departments, I am afraid that he may not be able to cope with it.

"Comrade Stalin, I am already in charge of the Ordnance Department, the Engineer Corps Command, and the Ministry of Defense Engineering and Construction, and if I manage so many departments, I am afraid that I may not be able to cope with it."

Stalin thought for a moment and said: "In this way, you will first take over the General Political Department of the Red Army, the publishing and cultural organs of the Red Army, and as for the Lenin Military and Political Academy, the Military Law Academy, and the Military and Political School, you will not have much to take care of, you just need to listen to the regular reports of the Academy and know the general work."

If you are still worried that you will not be able to cope with it, then I will hand over the Ministry of Chemical Defense, the Headquarters of the Engineering Department, and the Department of Defense Construction Engineering to Comrade Shaposhnikov, and then your workload should be less. ”

"Well, Comrade Stalin, I will definitely do a good job in the future. I think it would be more appropriate if the Ministry of Chemical Defense, the Engineering Headquarters, and the Defense Construction Engineering Department were handed over to Comrade Shaposhnikov, because after all, he has lived more in the army than I do, and he has a lot of military experience, and I am sure that he will manage these departments better. ”

Stalin, who was accustomed to subversion day and night, looked at his watch and found that it was already half past one in the morning, "I'm really embarrassed to call you here so late, you should go back and rest first." Take office tomorrow morning. ”