Stalin sat in his seat, smoking cigarettes from one to the other, and in a short time the whole office was filled with the smell of tobacco. Although the progress has gone very well these days, and both the Central Committee and the Supreme Presidium of the Soviets have affirmed the Non-Aggression Pact, he will not let his guard down until the day when the results are available.

According to the morning arrangement, an emergency meeting of the Central Committee and the Supreme Presidium of the Soviets was to be opened in three days' time, dedicated to the Guò Non-Aggression Pact, and to be honest, Stalin was a little impatient.

At this moment, the door to the office was pushed open, and the secretary reported to him: "Comrade Mikoyan and Comrade Zhdanov request to report to you......"

Stalin waved his hand casually and lazily ordered: "Let them in!" ”

By the time Zhdanov and Mikoyan came in, Stalin had already regained his seriousness and asked in a standard official tone: "What work do you need to ask for?" ”

Mikoyan and Zhdanov looked at each other, and finally Zhdanov, who had better relations with Stalin, said: "Comrade Joseph, I have just received top-secret information from the KGB that the Germans will launch a war against Western Poland on September 1, that is, the day after tomorrow...... We feel that this information is very important and we must focus on ......"

Before Zhdanov could finish speaking, Stalin was excited, and in the eyes of Steel, Germany's attack on West Poland was good news, which fully demonstrated his foresight, and the signing of the "Non-Aggression Pact" with Germany at the most crucial and correct time, which would fully prove that his line was correct.

However, Mikoyan and Zhdanov were not so optimistic, and they expressed high anxiety from two different angles.

Zhdanov's concern was: "Germany invaded Western Poland. After the occupation of the entire territory of Western Poland. What to do with the continuation of the offensive towards Eastern Poland? ”

Speak from the heart. Zhdanov did not trust the Germans, as can be seen from the Munich Agreement, the Nazis and the mustache talk and promise to be a fart, belonging to the master who crosses the river and demolishes the bridge. If Germany continued to attack East Poland, how would the Soviet Union respond? Should the non-aggression pact continue to be firmly enforced, or should war be declared on Germany under the treaty of alliance between the Soviet Union and Eastern Poland?

Once this point is reached, Stalin's line will inevitably be questioned like never before, and it will fall short! Even lose the whole game!

Stalin pondered for a moment. He replied: "According to Comrade Molotov's report, the Germans are still very sincere and should not violate the non-aggression pact......"

Stalin said a lot of things, but there was only one core idea -- to believe in Germany's sincerity. As for the potential risks, he chose to ignore them.

Stalin could ignore it, but Zhdanov could not ignore it, and he said: "We should build a military commissar to order the Kiev and Minsk military districts to mobilize for war and be ready to respond to contingencies." ”

Stalin directly waved his hand and refused: "How can such a proposal be mentioned at this time, does this not indicate to the Military Commission and the Politburo that we still have doubts about whether the Non-Aggression Pact is really reliable and effective?" This is known to our enemies, and they will make a big fuss. I do not want to make the wrong direction before the opening of the emergency meeting of the Central Committee and the Supreme Presidium of the Soviets! ”

Zhdanov was a little anxious and was about to argue a few sentences. Mikoyan touched him quietly and lightly, and interjected: "Comrade Joseph, what do you think of this?" After the conclusion of the emergency meeting of the Central Committee and the Supreme Presidium of the Soviets, how about we propose this proposal to the Military Commission? ”

Stalin thought for a long time before slowly nodding his head. And at this time Mikoyan also voiced his concerns: "The appearance of the Sverdlov group is very abnormal, Comrade Joseph, we must pay great attention to their every move!" ”

Stalin didn't understand what Mikoyan's so-called abnormality was, he felt that Xiao Si's side was normal.

Mikoyan had to explain: "It is not surprising to me that the KGB learned the exact time of the German invasion of Western Poland. But oddly enough, at this time Andrei. Petrovich informed the Military Commissar and the Politburo about it, which is quite abnormal! ”

Only then did Stalin react, this news was beneficial to him, but it was harmful to Sverdlov, as the boss of the KGB, he could obviously suppress the news for two days, or even simply hide it and not report it, why should he be cheap?

After thinking about it for a long time, Stalin couldn't come up with a reason, and he could only blame it on Li Xiaofeng's sense of responsibility and lack of political foresight, and even asserted: "Andrei. Petrovich has always been like this, with a hammer in the east and a stick in the west, and he does not have any sense of proportion. If it weren't for Comrade Lenin's protection over the years, if it weren't for his luck, he would have been knocked down a hundred times a long time ago. It's not worth making a fuss about him doing anything, that guy isn't in his right mind! ”

Neither Zhdanov nor Mikoyan agreed with this conclusion, but Stalin had already made a conclusion, and they did not dare to oppose it, so they could only carefully remind Stalin to pay attention. Even Zhdanov said: "It's time to try to rescue Comrade Yezhov, at this critical moment, our enemy is likely to play this card!" ”

Stalin actually had no interest in rescuing Yezhov, for whom Yezhov had no value, and had even been reduced to an oil bottle, and he knew too many secrets, so it was better for him to disappear from the world. However, he couldn't directly say that he would get rid of Yezhov in front of Mikoyan and Zhdanov, it was too hurtful, and it seemed that he was hiding all the rabbits and dogs. After all, Zhidanov and Mikoyan are still needed to work hard, and at this time they can only be gentle.

Stalin happily accepted Zhdanov's offer and assured with a chest: "Comrade Yezhov has given a lot, and it is indeed time to rescue him, so let me personally preside over this work, and you will not have to be distracted!" ”

Zhdanov and Mikoyan left Stalin's office "gratefully", but after leaving the Kremlin, the two exchanged words in a low voice:

"Do you think Comrade Joseph will go to the rescue of Yezhov?" Zhdanov asked.

Mikoyan sneered: "Does Yezhov still have a little effect now?" On the contrary, he has become a big burden, and the most important thing is that he knows too much. Rescue him? Hum! I'm afraid Comrade Joseph is more likely to send him to hell. ”

"It's better to go to hell." Zhdanov sighed, "It's better for a villain like him to go to hell." Otherwise, we won't be able to sleep well in the future. ”

Mikoyan smiled: "It turns out that you did it on purpose. I said, how could you be so kind to speak for Yezhov......"

The two men looked at each other and smiled. A qiē is all in the words. In fact, Zhdanov did not mention Yezhov, Mikoyan also mentioned it, they did not have a good impression of Yezhov, and more importantly, a sinister villain like Yezhov must die. And if Yezhov was really eliminated by Stalin, Zhdanov and Mikoyan would also be able to see the truest side of Stalin clearly, so they could prepare for the future in advance.

Poor bloody dwarf, this dwarf did not know that he had been sold. He is still under quarantine and censorship, and gradually adapts to the intensity of the censorship, and even copes with it a little freely. And this made him proud, and he felt more and more that Stalin would win this time, and he also despised Li Xiaofeng more and more.

Even this idiot began to imagine a happy life in the future: this time the matter is done, Lao Tzu can at least be an alternate member of the Politburo, right? No! With Lao Tzu's merits, what is an alternate member? Without Lao Tzu getting rid of Trotsky, without Lao Tzu closing his mouth, Stalin would have been finished. With Lao Tzu's merits, he must at least be a member of the Politburo......

This night. Yezhov wanted to get into the wrong, and Stalin didn't talk about the alternate member of the Politburo. Even the alternate member of the Central Committee did not want to give Yezhov, on the contrary, he wanted to take Yezhov's life. At his behest, his people, who were hiding at the KGB headquarters, added a little more condiment to the breakfast they gave to Yezhov.

"Ricin, symptoms will not appear until a few hours after poisoning, but diagnosis and treatment are very difficult, and Yezhov is dead!"

Stalin nodded with satisfaction, very satisfied with Beria's work, and he felt that Beria was closer and more useful than Yezhov. In order to make Beria work better for him, he asked with a pleasant face: "Is it still smooth to work in the Far East?" ”

Beria naturally knew that this was the boss's overture to him, so he quickly pretended to be grateful, and praised Stalin, of course, in the end, he did not forget to make Tukhachevsky's small report, but he knew that Stalin did not like Tukhachevsky very much.

"Tukhachevsky has always been a man who is arrogant and looks down on other comrades. Such a person who cannot unite comrades is not suitable to stay in the position of senior commander, the situation you report is very important, and from next year one of the priorities of our work will be to eradicate bad elements like Tukhachevsky in the army! ”

Beria happily left Stalin's office, and then his main task was to make sure that Yezhov hiccuped, and then, at least, the NKVD was in his pocket.

Yezhov began to feel sluggish that night, unable to cope with the new round of interrogation, and the next morning he began to vomit and vomit, followed by abdominal pain and diarrhea.

In the afternoon of the same day, Yezhov was secretly transferred to the secret hospital of the KGB for rescue, and according to the information of Beria's internal line, Yezhov was already in shock when he was sent to the hospital.

Beria laughed: "That idiot is dead!" Immediately after that, he went to Stalin to report the good news, and suggested that Stalin immediately seize Yezhov's death to make a fuss and give someone a good look.

But Stalin gave him a blank look: "What do you know? This is not the right time to launch an attack, I will strike a fatal blow at the plenary session of the Central Committee the day after tomorrow, so that the Sverdlov anti-party clique can be destroyed in one fell swoop! ”

Well, Stalin has all defined Sverdlov, why is he so confident? There were two reasons for this: first, in the early hours of the same day, Germany did indeed launch an attack on western Poland, which proved his line correct; Second, according to Malenkov's report, Dzerzhinsky and Ulitsky were already trapped and could not have rushed back to attend an emergency meeting of the Central Committee.

In this case, there was hardly any suspense about his victory, so he was ready to gather strength to destroy Sverdlov and his henchmen once and for all. And before that, a hasty attack will be a surprise, and it is unlikely to win with one blow.

After solving Yezhov's problem. Stalin knew that the only man who could stand in his way now was Lenin.

He asked: "Is Comrade Lenin still in Sochi?" ”

Beria immediately replied: "My men are closely monitoring Comrade Lenin's every move. According to a report from two hours ago. Comrade Lenin remained in Sochi. ”

"Very well, continue to closely monitor Comrade Lenin's actions, and report to me as soon as possible any situation!" Saying that, Stalin laughed twice and sneered: "Andrey. Petrovich was really smart all his life, but he was confused for a while. He thought that by taking the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he would make me blind and deaf. Hmph, am I the kind of person who will only put all my eggs in one basket? ”

Stalin had indeed prepared both hands for a long time. Yezhov was just a pawn he put on the surface, and secretly he also ordered Beria to form another secret intelligence system, an intelligence system that only served him personally. In this struggle, Beria's system played a crucial role.

It was Yezhov who shot down Trotsky's plane, but it was Beria's people who were the first to rush to the scene to destroy the evidence, and as for secretly infiltrating the KGB and secretly monitoring the movements of Sverdlov and other senior leaders, that was also Beria's doing. Now, for example, it is Beria's men who make Ulitsky and Dzerzhinsky unable to move.

Dzerzhinsky and Ulitsky were forced to do so badly, after they found that communication with the outside world had been cut off. Immediately realized the severity of the problem. At this time, Ulitsky would only ask: "What to do?" Dzerzhinsky, on the other hand, was able to make a categorical decision: "Let our men disperse these troublemakers with weapons and escort us back to Moscow!" ”

That seems like a good idea. But it turned out right away that it would not work, since the people of the Investigative Committee were mostly civilian and had no weapons, except for the fighters of the Central Guard Regiment who protected Ulitsky and Dzerzhinsky. And the troops responsible for guarding the premises of the Investigative Committee are all internal guards of the NKVD of Ukraine, and these people do not listen to Ulitsky and Dzerzhinsky at all!

"Bastard, is this still the army of the party and the state? This has simply become a personal ban for some people! It's simply intentional! ”

Looking at Ulitsky, whose face was crooked, Dzerzhinsky smiled bitterly, what is the use of scolding and whining? The most important thing is how to get out of trouble. After thinking for a long time, he said, "Organize our people and rush hard!" ”

Ulitsky was stunned and asked, "But there are too many people making trouble outside, can you rush out?" ”

Indeed, at this time, the three layers outside and the outer three layers were full of people, and the hard rush was almost like kicking the iron plate. However, Dzerzhinsky made up his mind: "If you can't rush out, you have to rush, and the current situation shows that someone is trying to carry out a coup d'état and overthrow the leadership of the collective." We must crush this conspiracy! ”

So saying, he called his guards and ordered: "Sue the soldiers, the guns are loaded, and those who do not listen to the advice may be shot!" ”

Ulitsky's eyes widened, the responsibility of this order is too great, and if the situation does not match Dzerzhinsky's estimate, then this responsibility will be too great, so big that even the Politburo members can't bear it.

He cautiously persuaded: "Isn't this too much, after all, a considerable part of those people outside are the blinded masses, not to mention ......"

"Nothing more!" Dzerzhinsky slapped the table, "Even if the masses outside are blinded, but their actions have seriously hindered the interests of the party and the state, between the interests of the whole and the interests of the part, at this critical moment, we can only sacrifice the latter!" ”

As he spoke, he gave the last order: "Convey my order, and I am responsible for the responsibility!" ”

At a critical moment, you can see the true level of a person, and the reason why Ulitsky cannot bear the burden of Trotskyism is that at such a critical moment, he cannot make the most accurate judgment. He can't make up his mind about his mother-in-law, so he can only be a follower.

By Dzerzhinsky's order, the members of the Investigative Committee were assembled, the guards of the Central Guard Regiment opened the way with guns, and the rest of the staff were given clubs to support. In Dzerzhinsky's words, even if you kill, you have to kill a bloody way!

Of course, Dzerzhinsky did not rely only on brute force, he also had a little cleverness, and before starting the operation, he first took the guns of the Ukrainian internal affairs forces who did not obey orders and took their heads under guard. One can enhance the strength of his side, and the other can prevent the other party from making trouble and ventilating the news, and he wants to hit the other party by surprise.

At 11 o'clock that night, when the "crowd" who had been watching outside for a day was tired, Dzerzhinsky and Ulitsky led their men out of the building and caught the onlookers off guard.

However, although the preemptive voice occupied a certain upper hand, but after all, there were many onlookers, and soon they surrounded again, and in the face of the dense crowd of people on the periphery, Ulitsky became a little soft, and softly ordered: "It's too dangerous, do you want to retreat first?" ”

Dzerzhinsky glared at him angrily, took out his pistol and separated the guards in front of him and shouted: "I'm Felix. Dzerzhinsky, I order you to disperse immediately, otherwise I will have to take drastic measures! ”

The crowd on the opposite side did not react, there was no intention of giving in at all, and just when Ulitsky was extremely anxious and did not know what to do, the gun in Dzerzhinsky's hand rang out, and he categorically ordered: "Shoot!" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to sstar_xh, Schistosoma parasite, old school, hzwangdd, Kamen Angel 555, Shining Charter, agz00025 and Comrade Juventus!