In the dim and damp cell, Yezhov lay on his back on the bed that exuded a strong musty smell and snored, without the slightest disturbance from his sleep due to the harsh environment. You must know that not long ago, this short dwarf did not have a high taste in life, lived in the villa of the former tsar's favorite in the suburbs of Moscow, slept on a velvet mattress, and had to have a glass of Bordeaux's top red wine before going to bed every time, and of course, the most important thing was that there must be a plump sister paper to help warm the bed.

Even with all the above benefits, Yezhov may not be able to sleep well, and if he is slightly unsatisfactory, he will beat and scold the staff who serve him. And now, in such harsh conditions, this thing actually slept sweeter than a baby. Isn't that cheap?

It's really not, if you don't close your eyes for 48 hours in a row, even if you sleep on the ground on the side of the road, you can sleep like a dead pig. Yezhov was treated with such preferential treatment, and in the interrogation room, the KGB staff would not be polite to him, and all reasonable or unreasonable means could be used on Yezhov.

To tell the truth, Yezhov didn't confess, and he was able to survive such a long time, and he still has some ability. Of course, this also drained almost all of his energy, and he didn't know how to climb into bed after the sleepless interrogation.

"Why not extend it to 72 hours?" Yakov asked, "He's going to be overwhelmed." ”

Li Xiaofeng nodded indifferently: "Of course I know that he is about to lose his strength." ”

Yakov couldn't help but ask: "Then why not continue?" ”

Li Xiaofeng shrugged his shoulders and asked rhetorically: "If he confesses, what does it mean?" ”

Yakov was confused. Isn't confession a good thing? Isn't the purpose of our interrogation of a prisoner to make him confess? Even Yakov was tempted to ask: "Comrade Andrey." Which end of the hell are you? ”

Li Xiaofeng smiled noncommittally. Yakov's question was not answered. To be honest, Yakov's political level is still a little worse, and he thinks about some things too simply. For example, this time, it seems that there is sufficient evidence, as long as Yezhov can't bear the interrogation and chooses to confess, then the next step can be to point directly at Stalin and wipe out the Stalin clique.

Things are far from being so simple, trying to bring down Stalin. To bring down the Stalin clique, Yezhov was not enough. Why? Even if Yezhov confessed, there really was such a "Confession", and even Yezhov admitted that the "Confession" listed Stalin's many crimes. Is that enough?

Far from enough! First of all, there is no original copy of the "Confession", and Stalin can completely say that Yezhov is a trick of torture, and it is Li Xiaofeng who deliberately framed him for creating an unjust case; Second, even if Ordzhonikidze really had such a "Confession" exposing Stalin's crimes, who can guarantee that what Ordzhonikidze said in his suicide note was true? Everything cannot be based on one-sided words, it must be said that evidence is not.

Ultimately. The Confessions and Yezhov's testimony alone only troubled Stalin. After tracing it in detail, it is difficult to say what happened to Stalin, and even under the frantic counterattack of Stalin's henchmen, it is difficult to say the final result.

For Li Xiaofeng, Yezhov was just a small means to interfere with Stalin's vision and create trouble for Stalin. So he didn't intend to find anything out of Yezhov at all, and it was good to keep fishing for Stalin.

"What's going on on Stalin's side? Did anyone send someone to find out the news? Li Xiaofeng asked casually.

Yakov replied: "Not yet. ”

Li Xiaofeng smiled: "It seems that Comrade Iron and Steel is quite calm." Well, catch some more people in. ”

"Arrest whom?"

"Well," Li Xiaofeng said after a moment of silence: "Arrest those who belong to the Stalin clique and have something to do with Yezhov and Ordzhoniqi, but whose status in the Stalin clique is not particularly core, and the highest is to go back to the alternate Central Committee and arrest a little more." ”

Alternate Central Committee, still catch a little more?

Yakov felt a chill in his heart, it was too much to make such a move!

Li Xiaofeng said indifferently: "If there is not much movement, Stalin will not be in a hurry." I'm just going to make him anxious! ”

Yakov couldn't figure out what Li Xiaofeng wanted to do, he obviously had a breakthrough, so he didn't follow up, but made a mess, what did he want to do?

Mikoyan swore solemnly: "Andrey. Petrovich just wanted to muddy the waters, that is, to force us to fish for Yezhov. We must not be fooled! ”

Yes, Stalin was really baffled by Li Xiaofeng's methods, and at the end of this day, more than 30 of his subordinates were taken away by the KGB for questioning, and there were even three alternate members of the Central Committee. The movement was so alarming that Stalin thought that Yezhov might have confessed.

However, Mikoyan and Zhdanov did not think so, although two days had passed since the incident, but at Yezhov's level, two days were unlikely to open his mouth. What's more, most of these people who were taken away were not core members of the Stalin faction, and if Yezhov had recruited them, it would have been impossible to arrest only these little minions.

Mikoyan and Zhdanov believed: "This is still Andrei. Petrovich's means of putting pressure on us, he did not open a breakthrough from Yezhov, otherwise it would not have been such a random arrest. ”

"And what do you mean?" Stalin asked.

Mikoyan and Zhdanov replied in unison: "Keep waiting!" ”

Wait, wait, Li Xiaofeng didn't have pressure anyway, he still ordered Ye Ruofu to be interrogated strictly, but each interrogation was not allowed to exceed 24 hours, anyway, he didn't intend to ask anything from Ye Ruofu in this posture, but slowly tortured Ye Ruofu like a communiqué personal vendetta.

Four days passed, during which three consecutive 24-hour interrogations were conducted, each with an interval of 12 hours, and Yezhov could withstand the intensity of such interrogations, but it was by no means uncomfortable. Anyway, in the past six days, Yezhov has lost almost 10 kilograms, the original bulging beer belly is gone, and his face is even whiter, and his hair is like withered, anyway, the whole person is like a zombie dug up from a grave.

Of course, the most important thing is that Yezhov still has not confessed. To be honest, it can last so long. He himself was very proud.

Day 7. Stalin, who had always exercised restraint, finally went berserk at the regular meeting of the Politburo, strongly accusing Li Xiaofeng of being ineffective in handling affairs, and having not figured out the truth about Ordzhonikidze's death for so long, and strongly demanded that another person be replaced to investigate the case.

In response, Sverdlov immediately retorted: "Comrade Joseph, are you preparing to openly shield Yezhov? Who does not know that Comrade Yezhov was picked up by you, and that Comrade Ordzhonikidze had a violent quarrel with you before his death. What is your intention in asking for a replacement at this time? ”

Stalin did not expect Sverdlov to attack him so directly. It almost means that he is the one behind the death of Ordzhonikidze, which makes steel how can he bear it, and he immediately roared like thunder: "Comrade Yakov, what do you mean by this? ”

Sverdlov met Stalin's eyes without fear and replied calmly: "I mean very clearly, this case is too close to you, and you must avoid it if you are reasonable!" ”

If Stalin had insisted on intervening, Sverdlov would have thrown a pot of on his head without hesitation. He couldn't stand this, so he could only save the country: "Okay." I shun it, and let it go as you please. Anyway, I'm not afraid of shadows. However, there is one thing I have to say, Comrade Ordzhonikidze is my good comrade-in-arms, I cannot watch his case go unturned, you must give a deadline, otherwise you will have to change to a more competent comrade to investigate the case! ”

"Half a month." Sverdlov gently spat out a number, but Stalin flatly refused: "It's too long, the impact of this case is too bad, and the longer it drags on, the easier it is to make the city stormy, which is not good for the current overall situation." There are only three days at most, and three days must be solved! ”

Sverdlov still bargained unhurriedly: "Ten days, this case is very complicated, such a short time limit for detection is ridiculous!" ”

Stalin snorted coldly: "Ten days is ten days!" Ten days later, I have to see the results! ”

The quarrel over the case naturally ended here, but everyone knew that the next ten days were going to be unusually difficult, and God knows what would happen. For Stalin, however, his most important goal today was not the Ordzhonikidze case, but the non-aggression pact against Germany and Japan.

Mikoyan and Zhdanov had warned him again and again that the Ordzhonikidze case was only a small head, and that the real decisive battle would be whether the non-aggression pact would be successful. And today he is going to pass this proposal in the Politburo.

"Now it is clear that we must conclude a non-aggression pact with Germany and Japan, and only through this pact can national security be guaranteed. I strongly demand that the Politburo agree to sign the treaty! ”

Not surprisingly, Sverdlov was resolutely opposed, he strongly resisted the non-aggression pact, but at this time, Xiao Si's resistance seemed to be very weak, and when Frunze chose to stand on Stalin's side, the only thing he could say was: "Comrade Ulitsky and Comrade Dzerzhinsky are not there, and their opinions must be listened to on such an important issue!" ”

Is this revolt effective? It seems that the effect is not obvious, because Stalin agreed to Xiao Si's proposal with a big grin, as if he was not at all worried that his proposal would not pass.

Why? Quite simply, at the same time as the Politburo consulted Ulitsky and Dzerzhinsky, the ultimatum of the Germans came.

The mustache said very domineeringly: "The negotiations have taken a long time, and a result must be reached no matter what, and the Soviet Union continues to be like this, then we can only think that this is an expression of insincerity." In the last ten hours, I have only so much patience, and if the Soviets do not sign after ten hours, then there is no need to continue negotiations! ”

This immediately made the situation even more tense, and more crucially, the Politburo suddenly lost contact with Brest, and neither the telegram nor the telephone seemed to work.

"What's going on? Why did you suddenly lose contact with Brest? Sverdlov loudly questioned the People's Commissar of Posts and Telecommunications Akurov, who rightly told Sù Xiaosi: "This is a technical malfunction!" The People's Commissariat of Posts and Telecommunications is doing its best to eliminate the interference of the malfunction! ”

Is it really a technical glitch? If you believe it, you are a fool, anyway, Xiao Si doesn't believe it: "When can you troubleshoot and restore communication?" ”

Akurov glanced at Stalin, and the steel secretly gave him a look to hold on, I will support you. At this time, Akurov gritted his teeth and replied: "This is not certain. As long as the cause of the failure is found. It will be restored soon, and if you can't find it, then there is no way to estimate it. ”

Sverdlov also glanced at Stalin, it was obvious that this was what Stalin had asked Akurov to do, but Akurov had been in the People's Commissariat of Posts and Telecommunications for a long time, and it was difficult to find trouble with him in his spare time, and there was no time to entangle with this goods at the moment. So Sverdlov categorically ordered: "Immediately let the Air Force send a special plane to inform Comrades Ulitsky and Felix of this news." Oh, and don't forget to bring a high-power radio that doesn't have any glitches! ”

It seems that there is only this way in front of us, and with the distance between Moscow and Brest, the Air Force plane rushed over, and more than ten hours was enough. However, Stalin still sat there calmly and calmly, and did not seem to be in a hurry at all.

Stalin, of course, was not in a hurry, the commander of the military district of the Minsk Military District, to which Brest belonged, was his confidant, and according to his orders, the side had long been prepared to block the news, not to mention sending a special plane of the Air Force over, or Sverdlov himself. I can only eat deflated.

Sure enough, as time passed, minute by minute. There was no news from the Brest direction and the Air Force plane, and as the time for the German ultimatum drew closer, a different atmosphere permeated the Politburo conference room.

Suddenly, the door to the conference room was pushed open, and all eyes looked at it, which made the visitor extremely nervous, and he said hesitantly: "Chiefs, there is a call from Minsk. ”

Sverdlov impatiently ordered aloud: "Read! ”

The visitor was taken aback and read in a panic: "The weather is bad, the Air Force plane crashed on the outskirts of Minsk......"

This telegram seemed to drain all Sverdlov's energy in an instant, it was already clear that time was limited, and it was impossible to send another plane to Brest, that is, not to get in touch with Ulitsky and Dzerzhinsky.

Stalin stood up with a smile, easily exhaled a smoke ring, and said: "Comrades, I am very saddened by the tragic death of my comrade pilot. But now is not the time for grief, the deadline for the ultimatum of the Germans has arrived, we must hurry up and give an answer, whether to sign or not, a decision must be made! ”

In fact, it is already clear that in the absence of Ulitsky and Dzerzhinsky, Stalin's opinion must prevail, even Frunze knows that there is a big problem in this, but he has been forced into a corner, and he has nothing to do.

However, Sverdlov had a final protest: "The Politburo has temporarily approved the decision to sign the non-aggression pact, but we must see that this decision was made hastily without the members of the Politburo being present, and this decision was forced and had no final legal effect. The treaty does not have any legal effect until it is officially ratified by the Plenum of the Central Committee and the Plenum of the Supreme Presidium of the Soviets! ”

But Stalin didn't care at all, he only knew that he had won, that the Central Committee knew the decision of the Politburo, and that the final vote was not a formality. As for the Soviets, with Kalinin's infiltration for these two years, it is also simple to get through guò. Therefore, he "graciously" accepted Sverdlov's statement and said that he would fully respect the collective resolution of the Central Committee and the Soviets.

Especially when Stalin saw that Sverdlov almost stepped on the air when he walked out of the conference room, he was really proud, how many years he had been waiting, and this moment he had finally waited!

Stalin was happy, and the Germans, naturally, were even more happy, finally getting the Soviet Union done, which meant that the last obstacle to their attack on Poland was cleared. Even if Molotov admitted that the final implementation of the treaty would have to pass through the Soviets and the Central Committee, the mustache, who had followed the political developments in the Soviet Union, thought that this was merely a formality.

From the moment Molotov signed the treaty, the long-awaited war against Poland could finally begin.

"According to the original plan, in a week's time, make the final preparations for battle, and on September 1st, declare war on Western Poland!"

Although the signing of the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany and Japan was very secretive, it was impossible to completely reveal the slightest rumor of such an event, and the British and French learned of this information three days after Molotov signed the treaty.

Speaking from the heart, the British and the French were stupid, and it was easy to reach an agreement with Trotsky before, thinking that it was done, but who would have thought that Trotsky would suddenly crash, and then Stalin would completely reverse the situation, and this kind of dazzling change made them very bureaucratic have no time to react. After the dust settled, they beat their chests!

"We have one last chance," Learvin actively lobbied M, "if the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks and the Soviets can be allowed to repudiate the treaty, the possibilities are open!" ”

Of course, M knew that this possibility existed, but it was only very small, and the Central Committee would basically not overturn the decisions made by the Politburo. As for the Soviets, it was just an ornament.

"No matter how unlikely, this is our only chance!" Learvin said categorically, "Please let me go to Moscow and make a final effort!" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to the sweet potatoes in the melon field, the millions, the armored train, hzwangdd, zhouyu1976, agz00025 and comrades Juventus!