Rights are more important to politicians than anything else, even far more than life, just like a drug addict sees white powder.

Chiang Kai-shek's reappearance on the Chinese political scene was like another new life for him. Can you not cherish it? Just like a person who has been laid off for many years has regained an unexpectedly good job, although he is not the boss and is a "political axe worker", he is also the "feudal official" of the "working emperor", and the area and personnel under his management far exceed that of Taiwan, how can he not devote himself to the new work with all his enthusiasm and enthusiasm.

At this time, Khrushchev was also making the final preparations for having the right to end the border war between China and the Soviet Union, which could destroy the Soviet Union and "rescue" the Soviet people.

On the afternoon of September 16, two hours after China broadcast the "Letter to the People of the World," Khrushchev brought Defense Minister Zhukov and KGB head Sherepin to his office and said to them with a sad face: "Presumably you have all seen China's "Letter to the People of the World." ”

Defense Minister Marshal Zhukov frowned and said: "According to the Chinese, this nuclear attack was carried out by the tactical rocket company of the 1st Motorized Rifle Division of the 90th Army of the Soviet Post-Baikal Military District, stationed 12 kilometers northwest of the city of Krasnokamensk. But how did they get a nuclear warhead?

Sherepin immediately shirked his responsibility and said: "This is completely the personal behavior of the head of the warehouse, Colonel Blasinio Iku, and I have not issued any documents at all to the Ракета215 nuclear bomb storage warehouse in the city of Krasnokamensk regarding the issuance of nuclear warheads."

"Well, now no one says that you issued the document for the issuance of nuclear warheads." Khrushchev said with some impatience: "Now no matter what the behavior is, it is an indisputable fact that in fact the Soviet Union first used nuclear weapons. The most urgent task at the moment is to keep all nuclear warheads under my strict watch, and without my personal signature of the order, they will never be allowed to be issued or launched, and anyone who dares to violate this discipline will be punished with fire regardless of who they are and what level they are. It is important to prevent this from happening again. ”

"Yes! I promise that nothing like this will happen again. Xie Lepin hurriedly agreed.

Khrushchev looked at the chairman of the KGB, who had just come to power, and said sternly: "This, Sherepin, you have to vouch for your own life." Also, you immediately arrested the relatives and friends of Petrovsky, chief of staff of the 1st Motorized Rifle Division of the 90th Army of the Post-Baikal Military District of the Soviet Union, and Khorosgakov, commander of the Tactical Rocket Company of the 90th Motorized Rifle Division, and examined them strictly to see who instructed them to do this? There are no upper echelons involved in this. ”

"Senior Colonel Petrovsky, chief of staff of the 90th Motorized Rifle Division, was a staff officer under Marshal Malinowsky, and it was Malinowsky who raised it." Sherepin said with great certainty: "It is likely that this nuclear attack was instigated by Malinowsky, but Marshal Malinowski was a member of the Central Presidium. I'm afraid it's a little hard to check? ”

Zhukov nodded, and said with added vinegar: "Although I do not have sufficient evidence to say that this matter must have been instructed by Marshal Malinowski, this may still be a big surname. He was the first to propose the use of nuclear weapons, and at the presidium meeting a few days ago, did he not repeatedly express his willingness to carry out a preemptive nuclear strike against China, and bear this responsibility? ”

Although Malinowski was a very good personal friend of Khrushchev, who was also promoted by Khrushchev to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Army and was ready to replace Defense Minister Zhukov as Deputy Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev drew him into the Presidium of the Central Committee of the USSR [***], making him a full-fledged member, thereby confirming Malinovsky's position as the center of power in the Soviet Union. However, in resolving the Sino-Soviet border issue, Malinowski could not keep in line with himself, and in particular, Malinowski's very crazy proposal to use nuclear weapons against China made Khrushchev extremely dissatisfied, and even pointed the finger at himself at the meeting of the Central Presidium on 11 November. Thinking of this, Khrushchev was eager to arrest him immediately.

Politicians have no real friends, only supporters of the same political views and disagreeable opponents. Khrushchev said to Sherepin because of the situation: "Then arrest him first." And Voroshilov, who had the bad idea of threatening to use a nuclear warhead with a yield of several million tons and carry out a nuclear strike on China, was also arrested. ”

"Nikita. Sergeyevich, arrest them like this, will those in the Presidium of the Central Committee who have always advocated war have an opinion? Causing political passivity? ”

Zhukov saw Khrushchev looking at him, knew that Khrushchev was waiting to understand his attitude, and hurriedly said: "I firmly support Nikita. Sergeyevich's opinion and determination showed that there were only two ways to deal with these war maniacs, one was to arrest them directly, as was the case with Beria, and the other was to convene a meeting of the Central Presidium and remove them from their posts by voting. I believe that the majority of comrades of the main fighting faction will be sober up and will support us in the facts of the battlefield in the past few days. ”

"No! No way! Khrushchev shook his head again and again and said: "This cannot be done anymore, if we had decided to settle the border dispute between the two countries by peaceful means last year, we would have carved out a maximum of 1 million square kilometers of land and could get a lot of money." However, it was through the meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee that the most feasible proposal of the Chinese side was rejected by a vote, which led to the war between China and the Soviet Union. Now, don't you have to lose how much territory? If we had made such a decision four days ago not to confront China in the form of war, it would not have caused the current nuclear war. Pull it down! The fate of the USSR could no longer be decided by voting at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee. The fate of the entire USSR could no longer be risked. At that time, it is impossible to say how the Soviet Union will end up in the end. Khrushchev made the final decision: "Only by arresting all these people and adopting the method of isolation and examination of them is the safest." ”

It is by no means accidental that after Stalin's death, Khrushchev was able to emerge as the winner in the struggle for supreme power in the USSR. Before his victory, his "comrades" or competitors were contemptuous of him as a short, balding, vulgar, somewhat funny man. Both Molotov and Kaganovich looked down on him, Malenkov did not take him seriously, and Beria, the arrogant, terrifying and feared head of the secret police, directly ridiculed Khrushchev as "that potato politician." ”

Khrushchev secretly thought to himself that now even his very good friend Malinowsky, whom he had personally promoted, was playing against him, and he dared to point the finger directly at himself at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee. It doesn't look like they give them something powerful, they don't take bean bags and don't use dry food.

"Potato politicians" began to monopolize power.

"Comrades, if you continue to make decisions, you will suffer from them. We must tear off the pretense of all those left-leaning people who are in the name of serving the country and the people, regardless of the actual situation, and mercilessly bring them down. We can't afford to hurt the USSR any more. We must send out all the interference to stop the loss. Khrushchev said with a sinking face: "This is the responsibility of every politician who is responsible for the Soviet Union."

"Nikita. Sergeyevich, you are right. Marshal Zhukov pondered for a while and said: "Stop loss is undoubtedly the most correct way to do it now. From a military point of view, it is very irrational and ignorant to not give up an inch of land. It is difficult for me to find the right words to criticize the stupid, unrealistic, and irresponsible views of the so-called pro-war faction. The end result of not giving up an inch of territory is to destroy more of our troops, lose more territory, and the end result is the loss of losses that could have been avoided. ”

Khrushchev still attached great importance to Zhukov's opinion, and Marshal Zhukov was a respected veteran commander in the Soviet army and had a very important influence on the Soviet army. He also has a lot of trust in Shelepin, the young man who was chosen by Khrushchev as his successor.

In order to carry out this important policy decision that has a bearing on the fate of the Soviet Union in a more stable way, Khrushchev, Defense Minister Zhukov, and KGB Chairman Shelepin, two figures who are in charge of the military, police, and special forces, exchanged views and ideas. In the end, the three of them reached complete ideological agreement. It was decided to take extraordinary measures to deal with these people of the main battle faction of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the USSR, and it was decided that when everything was ready, it would be up to Sherepin to carry out the operation.

After sending off Defense Minister Marshal Zhukov, head of the KGB head of the State Security Service Sergepin, Khrushchev brought Andropov, the chairman of the National Economic Council Bulganin and Suslov, and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Trade Mikoyan to his office, greeted them, and unified their thinking.

Khrushchev saw the members of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee who were coming to his office one after another, and said: "Tell me, what do you think of China's "Letter to the People of the World"? How to deal with this imminent nuclear war between China and the Soviet Union? ”

"This is a war that must not be fought," Bulganin, chairman of the Soviet State Economic Commission, was the first to speak: "If China carries out a nuclear counterattack against the Soviet Union, it will not be a problem that will affect the economic development and construction of the Soviet Union, but will cause the destruction of the Soviet Union." Judging from the situation in the past few days, the Soviet Union cannot win, and if I had thought that if we fought with the Chinese, we would have won, and the Soviet Union would have been reduced to a second- or third-rate country from now on. But looking at it now, I used to be too optimistic, and we should now contact the Chinese side immediately, and immediately cease fire, as long as there is a ceasefire first, everything can be discussed. ”

"Ceasefire? Can those of the main war faction agree? Khrushchev asked in a hurry.

"Now the problem is in big trouble. The initiative is completely in the hands of the Chinese, and didn't the Chinese political axe say in the "Letter to the People of the World" that 'it is up to you to end the war in what form, on what scale, and when it will end'? So now it is no longer a question of whether those who agree or disagree with the main war faction, but whether the Chinese agree or disagree. Suslov said as he bounced uneasily on the armrests of his chair with his bruised hands.

Mikoyan, Minister of Foreign Trade, said: "The war between China and the Soviet Union, the two great socialist powers, is inherently undesirable and does not serve the interests of the Soviet Union. Now we still have to find a way to resume negotiations between China and the Soviet Union, or to resolve this issue through negotiations, and it is necessary for us to make some concessions. ”

"Now let's not talk about what to do with China, but first unify the opinions of our party and the country. If it weren't for the pro-war faction's repeated obstruction of China's proposal for peaceful redemption, this war would not have taken place. Khrushchev frowned and said: "Now the first thing to solve is the problem of disagreement within the Presidium of our Central Committee. Whether it is war or peace, and then we will study the question of what to do with China. ”

Suslov was a little nerdy and said, "Nikita. Sergeyevich, I would like to convene another meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee to decide on this matter. The reality is here, and I don't believe that those main battle factions still can't see the situation clearly. ”

Listening to Suslov's opinion, Bulganin shook his head and said: "I don't think we can discuss it like this anymore, and if we discuss it for a few more days, China's atomic bomb will fall on our heads, and the most important thing now is that our Central Presidium must take a clear attitude towards both domestic and foreign countries." ”

Andropov also believes that "now the Soviet Union has reached the most critical moment, and it cannot be pulled like this anymore." While the West has not yet made a move, and China has not yet launched a nuclear counterattack, it is indeed necessary to come up with a feasible solution as soon as possible. For those figures of the main battle faction, blast them out of the Central Presidium. The Soviet Union must investigate the person who first used the atomic bomb this time and give an explanation to the world. ”

Seeing that everyone had already expressed their attitude, Khrushchev first added a fire and said, "After all, a nuclear war is not a joke, and if a nuclear war really starts, we will not only face a nuclear attack from China, but also a nuclear attack from the West, and the West will certainly destroy the Soviet Union's nuclear attack capability at the first time to ensure their own security." Then the situation will be even more difficult. Then he expressed his attitude: "Comrade Andropov is right, we really can't go on like this, and the reason why the most critical situation facing the Soviet Union since World War II has now appeared is caused by a group of self-righteous and extremely irresponsible people like Malinowsky, Molotov and Voroshilov." We must hold these people accountable. In order to give an explanation to the Soviet people, to China, and to world public opinion. ”

(To be continued)