Khrushchev was born in 1894, and by Chinese standards, he would have lived for 70 years. Does the septuagenarian still have time to train his next successor? No one knew this, and Serov, who was standing in the corridor, looked at the doctors and nurses who were hurrying back and forth, and knew in his heart what kind of reaction Kozlov's fall would bring.

Kozlov's greatest role in the position of second secretary was to convince Brezhnev, which was very important. Kozlov, who is two years younger than Brezhnev, has presided over the work of Leningrad for a long time, even if he is Sherepin's partner, the current first ******** of Leningrad, Tolskykov, also has great respect for the former governor Kozlov, in the Soviet political system, in addition to Moscow as the capital, the two places are most likely to appear political centers, because of the relationship between Khrushchev and Brezhnev, one of which is Ukraine. And another city with a very high status is Leningrad.

Leningrad and Moscow are equivalent to the magic and imperial capitals of the Soviet Union, from Kirov to Zhdanov, to Kozlov and even Romanov in the late Soviet Union, Leningrad has appeared countless big names that make Moscow feel jealous. Moreover, Kozlov himself has a very good relationship with the military, Ustinov, who is in charge of armaments, and Marshal Malinovsky, Minister of Defense, both recognize Kozlov's status, and it is difficult to say that Kozlov fell.

"Send guards to guard the hospital twenty-four hours a day, everything that Comrade Kozlov needs must be checked by us, and is there any monitoring equipment here in the first hospital?" Serov called the chief of the security section here and asked.

"General, we are a hospital, there is no such thing as you say!" The answer of the chief of the security section did not meet Serov's expectations, and he immediately replied, "From now on, this hospital has accepted the admission of many cadres, and the monitoring equipment and protection work must be upgraded, and there can be no security loopholes, so I will immediately ask the KGB comrades to come and install it!" ”

Technically, this is not a difficult task for the KGB, but it is usually not the determination that restricts the expansion of the surveillance network, but the funding. Historically, when the KGB's General Directorate of Internal Defense and Espionage was tracking down domestic traitors, it once set up several kilometers of fiber-optic cables to reach the target's home in one day, and now there is no problem in using it in hospitals.

In addition to Kozlov's family, the first cadre to rush to the hospital was him, the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Serov didn't know what kind of mood he was, was he anxious? It seems that he can't reach it, after all, he has long known the fate of this second secretary, and now he is just a little dazed in his heart.

"Head, the first secretary and the chairman of the Supreme Soviet have arrived, and our old chairman!" Serov, who was holding a cigarette and waiting for the results of the treatment, heard this and immediately put out the cigarette butt and prepared to go out to greet him, and from the corridor window, he saw Khrushchev hurriedly getting out of the car and entering the hospital, followed by the chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Brezhnev and Sherepin.

It was still a long way off, and Serov heard Khrushchev, who was getting closer and closer, shouting, "How is Kozlov's condition?" Is it serious? What the hell is going on, it was fine when I left the Kremlin......"

"The second secretary is a cerebrovascular hemorrhage after returning home, I have asked the second secretary's guard, the incident happened very suddenly, the second secretary was sent here immediately after first aid, and the second secretary is still in first aid!" Serov reported to Khrushchev 1510.

"Impossible, Comrade Kozlov is in very good health, how can he suddenly have a cerebral hemorrhage?" Khrushchev muttered to himself very emotionally, and then suddenly asked, "What about Semychasny?" Why isn't he here? ”

"The chairman has gone to Bulgaria for an inspection!" Serov was stunned for a moment, then exchanged a look with Sherepin behind Khrushchev and replied, "I also just came back, and after a meeting of the KGB Presidium, I received a report that the second secretary was sick!" ”

"Not in the capital at a critical moment, he is really not suitable to be a security supervisor!" Khrushchev muttered in a low voice and asked, "How is the situation with Comrade Kozlov, can you go in and see now." ”

This sentence was heard by Brezhnev and Sherepin behind him, and the faces of both of them changed, and Brezhnev's expression immediately returned to normal, and his eyebrows flashed with thought. Sherepin immediately regained his composure, as if he had not heard.

"We may have to wait until the diagnosis is completed, but we still have to follow the doctor's advice, so I suggest waiting!" After finishing his words, Serov asked several giants in the Soviet Union to sit down and wait.

After a while, the attending doctor came out of the ward and introduced Kozlov's situation to several people, and in the face of several big figures in the Soviet Union, the doctor who treated Kozlov did not say anything to himself.

"I want to go into the ward and see how Kozlov is doing!" As the first secretary, Khrushchev wanted to do this, and the doctor naturally had no intention of stopping him, and after obtaining the doctor's consent, Serov also entered the ward with several people.

Kozlov has white hair, his face is very resolute, he is lying on the hospital bed at this time with his eyes closed, looking less fierce and more soft, Kozlov is a very tough character, compromise rarely appears in the work of the second secretary, even in the face of Khrushchev, he is the only member of the Central Presidium who dares to confront him head-on. In the face of Khrushchev's accusations, nothing else refutes, let alone do it.

Kozlov was inextricably linked with the powerful faction of the Soviet military-industrial bloc and was a representative of a tough foreign and domestic line. After Khrushchev smashed the "Ma, Ka, and Mozlo-Mokh clique," Kozlov became the second secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and the second-in-command of the Soviet Party.

Kozlov's position rose rapidly because of his close ties with the large enterprises mainly in Leningrad, especially the military-industrial complex, and because almost all of Khrushchev's reform measures -- increasing investment in agricultural technology and equipment for land reclamation, restructuring of industry and construction, disarmament, and the development of the rocket and nuclear industry -- could not have been separated from their support.

In many things, Kozlov gave Khrushchev huge support, Khrushchev with Kozlov's support, the status is very stable, although the temper of the two people is very impulsive, conflicts occur from time to time, but once Khrushchev goes abroad, he still trusts Kozlov to deal with the affairs of the Soviet Union instead of himself.

"Kozlov is faking his illness, it's time to get up and go to work." Khrushchev looked at Kozlov, who was unconscious on the hospital bed for a while, and suddenly said, which made Brezhnev and Sherepin very puzzled.

"The second secretary needs to rest, comrade first secretary, let's not disturb his rest!" Serov comforted him, Khrushchev glanced at Serov with a sad gaze, nodded imperceptibly and said, "Comrade Brezhnev, Comrade Sherepin, you go back first, and Serov will accompany me back to the Kremlin in a while......"

Khrushchev seemed to be in a somewhat depressed mood because of Kozlov's affairs, "I am almost seventy years old, and the country still has many problems waiting for me to deal with, and recently I have sometimes thought about retirement." In fact, I understand that the attitude of the United States towards the USSR will not change, so I don't think Kozlov will have problems as a successor, and he is not very old enough to work for more than ten years, but I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen! ”

It is no secret that Khrushchev revealed the idea of retiring, and he has expressed this on many private occasions, but no one dares to take it seriously, and from the perspective of the Soviet system, the first secretary has almost unchecked rights, and even if Gotu is in this position, other opponents cannot form an effective opposition force. The only one who really succeeded in the coup d'état was the quiet Brezhnev, who knew that Brezhnev's preparation time was long and scary.

"Maybe the second secretary's health will be fine, and he will not be able to make an assessment when he wakes up, maybe we imagined it was serious, but in fact it is not so serious?" Although he said this, Serov also knew that in fact, these words could only serve a comforting effect, and now he only treated Khrushchev as an ordinary old man to persuade him.

Sending Khrushchev to the Kremlin, Serov returned to Lubyanka Square 11. The most optimistic estimates are that there may be only two months left for calm, and once Kozlov's condition is determined not to recover, Khrushchev will pick a successor from among the remaining members of the Central Presidium.

There are not many people who are suitable for age, at least Khrushchev who is too old will not consider it, so in fact, there are only a few more suitable people among the remaining people, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet Leonid Brezhnev, First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin and Secretary of the Central Committee Podgorny, these three people are the Soviet troika after Khrushchev stepped down, and they became General Secretary, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet and Chairman of the Council of Ministers respectively, and before the mid-seventies, these three people were still implemented collective leadership, Until the balance of power begins to be unbalanced.

If Khrushchev had been in power for five years, one more person would have been added to the list of successors: Secretary of the Central Committee, Alternate Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee, and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers Sherepin. And Shelepin's ranking will be greatly improved, because in five years, the people in front of him will be in their sixties, and Shelepin's age will have just reached fifty, which is just right.

"I hope my boss won't be confused!" Serov muttered to himself, but he knew that Shelepin's accumulation was not enough. But at present, although Sherepin is inferior to the previous ones, as long as Khrushchev is still in power, Sherepin has time to catch up. (To be continued.) )