(This chapter is just a background, and it can be a bit nerve-wracking to watch.) Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoIf you can't stand it, fly. ）

At the end of 1937, the wave of terror of the Great Purge spread from the western regions of the USSR to Siberia. In just one month, the party organizations and Soviet institutions of the Novosibirsk region were "bathed and cleansed".

A number of local leaders, including the secretary of the state party committee and the chairman of the Soviet, were punished, large and small. Those who were lucky were transferred to some bitter cold places in the Far East that they had never even heard of, and those who were unlucky were sent to prisons or Gula camps to "exercise" and undergo great reform.

In Novosibirsk, the first secretary of the regional party committee and alternate member of the Politburo, Роберт_Индрикович_Эйхе, purged a large number of cadres.

Most of these cadres are innocent. They were convicted of "participating in a right-wing anti-party conspiracy" and were arrested without investigation and then sent to the Gula camp or secretly executed.

But in fact, the person who really participated in the anti-party activities of the Youpai faction was Ehe himself (this is a historical fact). He used his position and power to purge a large number of cadres loyal to the party in order to achieve the goal of undermining the party organization.

Paper could not contain the fire, and Ekh's crime of participating in the activities of the Youpai faction and indiscriminately killing innocents was soon exposed by Manturov, secretary of the Komsomol State Committee.

It so happened that at that time there was a quarrel between the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Yezhov and Ekh. At the same time, Yezhov also wanted to shift the blame for the indiscriminate killing of innocents to Ekh. After receiving Manturov's evidence, Yezhov's men immediately arrested Ekh. The post of first secretary of the state party committee was deputized by Manturov.

As a result, during the purges in the Novosibirsk region, our protagonist Manturov not only escaped with "his own methods" without any punishment, but also got the opportunity to be promoted to the position of local leader.

In December 1937, just as the Soviet people were preparing to welcome the New Year and immerse themselves in the joyful atmosphere of the New Year, the great Comrade Stalin, as well as Kaganovich, Molotov and other core figures of the CPSU, were still focused on their work, discussing personnel issues in the Kremlin after the purge.

"Comrade Yezhov, how is the cleansing in Siberia going?" Stalin asked, crossing Erlang's legs and holding his pipe.

"Comrade Stalin, the cleansing of the Siberian oblasts, the Krai, has been carried out in all directions. Basically, all the problems have been properly dealt with.

But after the purge, there were a lot of vacancies, and many important positions were not properly hired. Local party organizations were left without leadership, and all major departments were almost paralyzed. Yezhov replied expressionlessly, like a robot.

After the Great Purge in Siberia, although they swept away all the "Trotskyist" and "counter-revolutionary" figures, and made the local party organizations and soviets "spotless," almost the entire state party organizations were affected, and the number of people purged was in the thousands.

In Novosibirsk, first secretary of the regional party committee and alternate member of the Politburo, Роберт_Индрикович_Эйхе, and others, were arrested on the basis of Manturov and Yezhov for "killing too many innocent people" and planning "terrorist acts by opposition party and government leaders."

As a result, a large number of vacancies have been created, the party organizations have no leadership, and local institutions have been semi-paralyzed. Candidates for important posts, including the secretary of the state party committee and the chairman of the administrative committee, have not yet been decided.

Not to mention localities, similar situations have even occurred in national institutions. The People's Commissariat and other national institutions of the USSR were left without a leader and could not function normally.

In such an urgent situation, Stalin did not dare to use the surviving old cadres. Those people had leadership experience and a certain amount of talent, but these people had some dealings with some purged cadres in the past, and Stalin did not dare to promote them.

As a result, Stalin had only one way to make up for it, and some people who were not normally qualified to be ordinary clerks were now suddenly taken up to lead important state institutions, or even a ministry.

A small clerk who was originally in the Soviet Union's commercial agency in Germany was entrusted with the important task of becoming the People's Commissar for Foreign Trade (Minister of Foreign Trade) of the Soviet Union.

In the end, 293 of the 333 first secretaries of the Soviet Union state committees and territories were replaced, of whom 90 percent were under the age of 40.

Originally, the choice of the secretary of the Novosibirsk regional party committee was decided by the regional party committee. But at that time, most of the members of the committee were involved in the case of Ekh, and they were taken away for investigation, and the issue of personnel appointments and dismissals was pushed to the Kremlin.

As one of the most important industrial, mineral, and transportation centers in the rear of the Soviet Union, the development of Novosibirsk was of great importance to Stalin. Moreover, with the expansion of the German and Japanese armed forces and the heating up of the international situation, the Soviet government has focused on the development of strategic industries and actively prepared for war in the latest Third Five-Year Plan.

And Novosibirsk, the center of industry and resources in the rear, played a certain role and became one of the cities that Stalin and other high-level leaders of the CPSU cared about.

Stalin held his big pipe, thought for a moment, and said: "Comrades, now Germany is actively expanding its army, and they have long stated their anti-communist, anti-Slavic national position, and are hostile to our country. In the event of a war between the Soviet Union and Germany, Western Siberia would become an important strategic rear, supplying weapons and other strategic resources to the front. ”

At that time, there were already some signs of the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, and Hitler expressed hostility to the Soviet side very early. Already in 1934, Hitler had already personally expressed his hostility to the Slavic nations, stating that war "with the Slavic peoples" was inevitable.

In Nazi theory, communism was criticized along with financial capitalism. Because communism was invented by Jews, financial capitalism is also dominated by Jews. In the eyes of the Nazis, the Jewish nation was "inferior" and "evil", and Marx's communist theory of the Jews was also "evil".

In addition to the Jews, the Slavs and Gypsies, who were also from the East, were considered "Untermenschen" and were among the targets of Nazi hostility.

In 1934, after Hitler's anti-Soviet rhetoric, anti-Soviet sentiment among the Germans began to rise, and trade between the Soviet Union and Germany was hit hard. The Spanish Civil War was a proxy war between the Soviet socialist camp and the German fascist camp.

It can be seen that Hitler's ambitions for expansion had long been revealed, and Stalin realized this and began to make up his mind to develop the military industry and the heavy industry associated with it. And Novosibirsk, the industrial center and transportation center of the large rear, has naturally become a key place for construction.

"The construction there, especially the industrial development of the Novosibirsk region, has become particularly important, and the candidate for the secretary of the state party committee must be decided within today. Ensure that the state government can start operating after the New Year's holidays and start investing in the construction of the strategic rear. Comrade Denov, do you have anyone in mind? ”

Zhdanov crossed Erlang's legs and asked: "Comrade Stalin, I wonder what kind of candidate you want?" ”

"We are in need of a person with technical expertise, experience in the leadership of party organizations, and an in-depth knowledge of the Novosibirsk region to serve as secretary of the regional party committee. I don't know if you have anyone in mind who meets these criteria. ”

Zhdanov thought for a moment and said: "There is one such person." He was none other than the first secretary of the Komsomol of the Novosibirsk region, Viladimo Manturov. He has an engineering degree from the Bauman State Technical University and graduated with honors at the age of 19 with relevant expertise.

During his tenure in the Communist Youth League, he fully demonstrated outstanding leadership and organizational skills, and had certain experience in the party and government. Growing up in Novosibirsk, he also has a very in-depth understanding of the situation there. As far as I know, he's the only one who meets the three conditions you put forward.

During his tenure as acting secretary of the state party committee, he put forward many constructive plans and solved many local problems in a short period of time. ”

Stalin took out a document and looked at it, and then said: "I have already read all the materials on Comrade Manturov, and he is one of the candidates in my mind. In terms of ability, he fully meets our requirements, and he has performed well during his time as acting secretary of the state party committee, and if he is allowed to sit upright, I believe there will not be much of a problem.

But he is too young, only more than five years of party experience, and does not have much work experience. If he is allowed to become the secretary of the state party committee at a young age, I am afraid it will ......"

"Comrade Stalin, I know what you are worried about. Although he is young, he is quite mature at heart. He was modest, self-motivated, and far-sighted, with a personality somewhat like that of Comrade Mikoyan and Comrade Kalinin. It is true that he does not have much experience, but he is clever in handling things and his work performance is also very good, and many experienced veteran cadres are not as good as him. ”

Hearing Zhdanov's words, Stalin's worries were alleviated a lot. "Comrade Mikoyan and Comrade Kalinin are very good cadres. If his personality and way of doing things are really what you say, then I can nominate him as the first secretary of the Novosibirsk regional party committee, I wonder what everyone thinks? ”

At the Politburo meeting, almost no one would oppose Stalin's proposals. As a result, in the absence of opposition, the young Manturov was appointed first secretary of the state party committee.

Stalin suddenly remembered something and said: "Comrade Zhdanov, I heard that he had previously published a poem in Pravda, which caused a great reaction. Is there such a thing? ”

Zhdanov nodded affirmatively and replied: "That's right, he published a poem in Pravda a month ago called "The Unbreakable Union", which inspires the people.

Not only praised your spirit of thinking for the sake of the people, but also vigorously promoted patriotism. After the poem was published, Comrade Alexandrov also added a melody to the poem, which became a rousing and beautiful revolutionary song, one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life. ”

Stalin smiled happily and said: "It seems that I really have to listen to that song." In this case, let Comrade Manturov be the first secretary of the Novosibirsk regional party committee and give him a chance to accumulate experience. If he is satisfied with his work, he will be allowed to enter the center. ”

In fact, this poem called "The Unbreakable Union" is simply the lyrics of the 1944 national anthem of the Soviet Union, which mentions praise for Stalin. In order to avoid being purged, Manturov thought of this method to let the whole Soviet Union know his "loyalty" to Stalin. As a result, he not only avoided the Great Purge, but also won Stalin's favor and rose through the ranks.

At this time, Marshal Voroshilov (then People's Commissar of Defense), who had been silent for a long time, began to speak: "Comrade Stalin, can you transfer my daughter to Novosibirsk and serve next to Comrade Manturov?" ”

Stalin continued to laugh, but with a slightly puzzled look on his face. "Comrade Voroshilov, how can you be willing to send your only biological flesh and blood to Siberia? When she worked in the Moscow Komsomol, something unpleasant happened? ”

Voroshilov frowned and said: "A month ago, when she read "The Unbreakable Union" from Pravda, she suddenly and inexplicably told me that she was going to work in Novosibirsk and that she wanted to meet Comrade Manturov. This Katyusha, from childhood to adulthood, has been strange and has always had a lot of strange ideas. As a father, it's hard for me to understand her mind. ”

Stalin, who was just smiling, laughed out loud and said: "Hehe, it seems that your daughter is very interested in Comrade Manturov." Needless to say, she definitely wanted Comrade Manturov to develop it. ”

Voroshilov still frowned and said, "I don't think so. Katyusha and Comrade Manturov have not yet met, how could it be...... This? Perhaps, she had only heard a little about Comrade Manturov's ability and work performance from the Komsomol and hoped to go there to learn from Comrade Manturov and accumulate some work experience. ”

Stalin picked up a large pipe, took a puff of cigarette, and said with a joking tone: "Comrade Voroshilov, since this is the case, then transfer your biological daughter to Novosibirsk and become Comrade Manturov's secretary, so that she has the most opportunities to learn and accumulate experience, and she can get close to Manturov, what do you say?" ”

Voroshilov nodded and said helplessly: "Then so be it." She annoyed me for a month. Whether it's studying, or developing, let her go to Siberia to stay enough. As long as she likes it. ”

Stalin regained his serious expression and said: "Comrade Voroshilov, I was just joking, I didn't expect you to agree." Well, your daughter wants to go to Novosibirsk, doesn't she? Then let her go to work in the state committee of the Communist Youth League, the position of secretary is too wronged for her. ”

As soon as Voroshilov heard that his daughter had been promoted, the helpless look on his face was instantly covered by a smile and said: "Okay, that's it." Not only will it satisfy her desire to go to Siberia, but it will also allow her to train her leadership skills in the position of secretary of the Komsomol, and at the same time accumulate work experience. So be it. ”

PS: It is true that Ehe is a person, that he was purged, that he participated in the conspiracy of the rightists, that he killed innocents indiscriminately, and that he indiscriminately arrested local cadres. It's just that in history, he was arrested in April 1938 and finally interrogated with Yezhov. And in the story of this novel, he was arrested half a year early.