Chapter 382
The Volga car slowly drove into the courtyard of Svetlana's sanatorium. Not far away, the small building with classical style stood there quietly. By the swimming pool in front of the villa, Angela, wearing a white swimsuit, was sitting on a beach chair to rest.
Seeing her husband's car coming in, Angelia stood up, took a bath blanket from the side, put it on, and came over with a smile. She had just arrived in Sochi the day before yesterday. Her current position was different from the past. She was responsible for more things. It was already very good to be able to stay in Sochi for a few days.
Yuri walked quickly towards the direction his wife was coming from. When he got close to her, he hugged her in his arms, kissed her on the forehead, and said, "Where's the baby?"
This "baby" does not refer to Angelica, but their child.
"He's already in bed," said Angela, taking his arm and walking back with him. "Did you see Semyon Ilyich? How is he?"
Semyon Ilyich refers to Bogdanov. Yuri and him should be considered old comrades. During the Great Patriotic War, when Yuri commanded the Battle of the Vistula, Bogdanov was commanding the 9th Tank Army, but not long after, the latter was transferred to the East Pomerania direction. However, when it came to the attack on Berlin, the troops commanded by Bogdanov returned to Yuri's command, so they were very familiar with each other.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Bogdanov became the commander of the Soviet armored forces in Germany. He was transferred back to Moscow last year and joined the Ministry of Defense.
Coincidentally, when Yuri came to Sochi for vacation, Bogdanov was also here. Although this guy is big, his physique is not in good shape. He came to Sochi to recuperate.
Two days ago, when Bogdanov heard that Yuri had come to Sochi, he came to visit him despite his illness. Today, Yuri returned the visit according to etiquette.
"Not bad," Yuri said in response to his wife's question, "His vacation will end in the next two days."
After a pause, he continued, "I heard from him that after returning to Moscow this time, he will submit an application to transfer to a military academy to teach and will no longer hold a position in the Ministry of Defense."
Anjelia did not ask any more questions, she knew why Yuri said this. Recently , or to be more precise, in the past two years, many commanders who performed well in the Great Patriotic War have transferred to military academies to teach, and Bogdanov is not the first. As for why they made such a choice, the reason is also very obvious. As a member of the military, Yuri must be unhappy in his heart, but he can't do anything about it.
For example, Rotmistrov, the tank command expert who once caused the enemy a lot of headaches on the battlefield, has now given up his position in the Ministry of Defense and become a teacher at the Military Academy.
The Great Patriotic War ended only a few years ago, but many former generals have already retired from the army, which is always uncomfortable.
"His health is not very good. Perhaps doing some teaching work will be helpful for his recovery," Angelica said after a moment of silence.
Yuri nodded indifferently, changing the subject.
As the saying goes, a short separation is better than a new marriage, not to mention that this couple is not separated for a short time. Although Yuri has the power to arrange a special plane for his wife to take her to and from Moscow, he has never used such privileges. Therefore, it is really not easy for the couple to meet.
The most important thing is that as her first son grew up, Angelica had the idea of having a second child, and the civil affairs department has been mobilizing them. After all, the Soviet Union now attaches great importance to population restoration. As important officials, Yuri and his wife also want to set an example.
Perhaps because of his rising status, or perhaps because of his age, Yuri now seems to have less interest in the things between men and women than young people. At least, his private life has become very simple. Although he occasionally recalls the absurdity of his youth, he still has some feelings, but he no longer has too many thoughts about hunting for beauties. Even if he once had a one-night stand or even several nights with a woman, most of them have now cut off contact.
From this point of view, Angelica is really a smart woman. It is impossible for her to know nothing about her husband's romantic affairs, but she always pretends to know nothing. Now, after the passage of time, she is the woman who truly stays with Yuri.
There was no more madness between young men and women, but there was more tenderness between husband and wife . However, this tenderness was interrupted by a phone call.
Lying on the spacious Russian-style bed in the bedroom, Yuri leaned back against the pillow, holding a cigarette in his left hand and the telephone receiver in his right hand, listening to the voice on the phone with a serious expression .
The call came from Moscow, and the caller was Bulganin. This close comrade of Khrushchev and the core member most trusted by Comrade Stalin lost his composure during the call. He even complained about the excessive behavior of the Central Control Commission without caring that the call might be tapped by the State Security Committee.
According to Bulganin, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had now traced back to him. A guy named Larkin actually came to his house with two staff members and asked him about Dmitri Trofimovich's situation.
Bulganin questioned on the phone whether the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection still had basic principles for its work? Was it still clear that it had to accept the leadership of the Central Committee? As the secretary of the Central Secretariat responsible for national security, organizational supervision, and cadre leadership, did Yuri still remember his duties?
Yuri could tell that Bulganin's tone on the phone was indeed very angry, but he could also hear what the other party was hinting at.
Why was Bulganin so angry? Of course, there was a reason for this. Not to mention that investigators had already found him, the investigation of Dmitri Trofimovich alone was enough to make Bulganin feel apprehensive.
Who is Dmitri Trofimovich? His full name is Dmitri Trofimovich Shepilov. Yes, that is Shepilov who later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of the Central Secretariat. Today, he is the Minister of Propaganda and Agitation of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. Yes, he was promoted to this position by Comrade Zhdanov. Therefore, in the eyes of many people, this person is Zhdanov's man.
But as someone who had a close relationship with Khrushchev, Yuri was very clear about this man's background. This man was actually promoted by Bulganin, and was promoted by Bulganin himself from the army during the war. His position as Minister of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the General Political Department was appointed by Bulganin himself.
Although in recent years Shepilov seemed to be very close to Zhdanov and Zhdanov himself promoted him, the two of them seemed to have a close relationship between superiors and subordinates, but in fact, hidden behind this was a political deal between Bulganin, Khrushchev and Zhdanov.
From another perspective, even if there was no such deep relationship, Shepilov was once Bulganin's subordinate, and the superficial alienation between the two had only happened in the past two years. Now, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is investigating Shepilov and going to Bulganin to collect evidence. What kind of impression will this make on the latter? Undoubtedly, the first thing Bulganin would think of is that Beria and his people are going to take action against him.
In Comrade Stalin's core circle, Bulganin was by no means an outstanding person. Most of the time, he was like a wooden man who would only move passively unless someone pushed him. To put it bluntly, he was the kind of person who had no opinions of his own and lacked political wisdom.
Of course, this is only relative to people in that circle. Anyone who says that Comrade Bulganin is a fool will definitely be in big trouble. Just imagine, in such a cruel political struggle before the war, if a person could survive and enter the core circle of Moscow, how could his mind be simple?
The people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs touched Bulganin's safety line, making him fearful. So next, he would have to face his counterattack - a core member of the organization trusted by Comrade Stalin, and a core member of the organization who had been in the "All-Russian Cheating Commission" for several years. Bulganin's counterattack would inevitably be sharp.
Bulganin's phone call was definitely not intended to blame Yuri, but to remind him of two issues. The first issue: As the current chairman of the Central Supervisory Committee, he was not qualified to be a bystander in the current storm. He could remain silent in the early stages, but now he had to make his position clear. What position? Whether he stood on the side of Malenkov and Beria, or on the other side.
The second question is, if he intends to do something, it does not matter even if the power of the position of Chairman of the Central Supervisory Committee is undermined, because he is still a Secretary of the Central Secretariat after all, and a Secretary with a high ranking.
The most important thing is that in today's Central Secretariat, Malenkov and Beria lack a sense of presence. Look at the secretaries of the Central Secretariat: the first secretary is of course Comrade Stalin, there is nothing to say about this, followed by Khrushchev, Yuri, Suslov. There are also several others, such as Averki Borisovich Aristov, Panteleimon Kontradievich Ponomarenko , etc., who do not have much say.
With his advantage in the Central Secretariat, Yuri can still do a lot of things.
