Big Time 1958

Brezhnev shook his head slightly and said to himself, "Iron Shurik? This time we have a problem, but I have to agree that I have no reason to object to the person he proposed, and the current presidium is indeed in the same position. In this way, if the chairman of the KGB is a member of the Central Presidium, there is no reason why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, which are also directly under the Ministry, are not, right? Andrei…”

"Yeah, that's the tricky part, and Sherest seems to have found supporters." Kirilenko nodded, "Is this related to Serov? Ilyich, could it be him? planned!"

"It's not like!" Brezhnev recalled carefully, "Don't you think Serov is very tired? He almost never stopped when he was in the United States to handle the petitions for the return of those Cuban stowaways. There should be no such thing. time."

   "Then he should know by now, where is he?" Kirilenko asked again.

"He? He took a month's vacation before he got off the plane. Maybe he's planning a vacation? You haven't seen him recently." Brezhnev stretched out his finger and waved, "Let's not talk about him, we Think about how to deal with this proposal, I believe the news has been leaked, and we must respond."

   In fact, Shelepin did not mention that Brezhnev also wanted to improve the power of each department, but Shelepin first suggested that he could not let the other two departments appreciate it, which was a more troublesome place. But it was still not difficult for him, Shelepin proposed two people, then he could add two people, or even more.

  Although the number of the Central Presidium will increase to an unprecedented scale, what does it matter? Who dares to say that the cadres he nominates to join are not important? The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are important, so other cadres are not important?

   At the first meeting on his return, Brezhnev acted as if nothing had happened. He did not fight back against Shelepin. On the contrary, he expressed his approval that the number of members of the Central Presidium should be expanded, and he also agreed with Sherepin's proposal. Indicates that the number of members of the Central Presidium can be increased at an appropriate time.

   This statement was beyond the expectations of some people. Some people thought that the two would start a series of battles, but it seems that this is not the case. Brezhnev easily accepted the proposal of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet. There was no conflict with Sherepin.

When the news came out, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs caused a stir. If their ministers entered the Central Presidium, it would be a significant improvement for their own departments. As you can see from the KGB, Serov was nominated to the Central Presidium before Khrushchev retired. In recent years, the KGB has been gaining more and more power to speak. Although the chairman of the KGB does not participate in the meetings of the Central Presidium, but works in Lubyanka, no one will ignore the voice of the KGB.

  The cadres of the KGB also clearly showed a superior attitude. Of course, in addition to being the chairman of the Central Presidium, this situation was also caused by the close relationship between Zinev and Zweigon and the general secretary.

A group of spies obviously have more say than diplomats and soldiers. In the past few years, they were also directly under the Central Presidium, and they criticized the other two departments of General Secretary Brezhnev. The two departments saw that the group was arrogant. The spy, of course, has opinions in his heart. Now it looks like this should be over.

   At the internal meeting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, many people congratulated their ministers, even Zhukov, who was only symbolic, also congratulated Defense Minister Grechko. Although he is far stronger than the latter in terms of qualifications.

   "Comrade Grechko, your luck is much better than mine. You haven't met anyone who speaks the truth. The current presidium of the Central Committee is a collective leader." Marshal Zhukov said these words meaningfully.

  As the leader of the Ministry of National Defense, Marshal Zhukov was the first person to have the Minister of Defense as a member of the Central Presidium. Many people know what happened later. He was replaced by Khrushchev in the name of a Bonapartist. It was not until after the Podgorny incident that Khrushchev was ready to retire and let him come out again.

   "Thank you, this is also an improvement in the treatment of our soldiers. Isn't that what we old guys want?" Grechko didn't put on the air of a minister in front of the other party, he could understand what Marshal Zhukov meant. Once there are too strong leaders in the Central Presidium, it is not a good thing from the perspective of the military.

  Khrushchev kept cutting military spending in order to get money to develop the aerospace and nuclear industries, which affected the development of many conventional weapons in the Soviet Union. The victims were the entire army, most obviously the navy. Although the Ministry of Defense has gathered a large number of marshals, and faced Khrushchev, who is also the first secretary and chairman of the Council of Ministers, there is nothing to do.

  Brezhnev is indeed far milder in character than Khrushchev, but who knows if this will be the case after he really defeats all his opponents? The Ministry of Defense has already suffered a loss from Khrushchev, and it cannot and does not want to do it again.

Surprisingly, the proposal to let the Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs join the Central Presidium was actually proposed by the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, who was always considered to be difficult to contact. Shelepin gave many people the impression that it was not easy to contact, although his There are many supporters, but just as many opponents. Many opponents are dissatisfied with Shelepin's nickname, the title of Iron Fist Shurik. Compared with Shelepin, Brezhnev, who has a mild personality, is easily accepted.

   But also people don't want Brezhnev to really control everything. There is a tough chairman of the Supreme Soviet on the side, and the general secretary is restrained to a certain extent, so that many cadres can easily accept it.

This is the view of the Ministry of National Defense, and it is also the view of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seems that Shelepin's uneasy image has been reversed a lot through this proposal. In this confrontation in the Central Presidium, Shelepin played a time difference, And managed to get enough supporters, he won. Sherepin won, but Brezhnev did not lose either. He also proposed several additional candidates, expressing that he would like to conduct a unified inspection. Xie Lepin also accepted it as soon as possible.

"The battle between Sherepin and Brezhnev, what kind of changes will it cause this time?" Ustinov found a time to talk to Andropov, the two of them did not belong to Brezh Nev's Dnipro gang also has nothing to do with Shelepin's Communist Youth League strengthening department. It belongs to the leaders of the department, but the two are inclined to Brezhnev's policy, which is not the same as Serov's preference for Sherepin.

"It seems that Xie Lepin has won, but the general secretary has not lost. It seems that they can't tell the winner for a period of time. You know the character of the general secretary. He has always been very careful. When he can't figure out the details , will not force Sherepin to the point where there is no way out, because he does not know whether Serov will oppose it." Andropov shrugged and said, "Most marshals of the Ministry of Defense support the general secretary, but the KGB's The top leadership is that the relationship between the chairman and the chairman is very good, and it is still in a state of balance."

"I don't know how long this state of equilibrium can be maintained." Ustinov, of course, knew the position of the Ministry of Defense, and sighed, "Zweigon just came to me, expressing the implementation of the plan in Southeast Asia and supporting the target. The Communist Party of Thailand. Zinev is preparing to conduct a specific assessment of Sudan's military strength and is about to attack. At this time, we should not fight on our own. It will delay the country's policy, which is not good."

"No, not for the time being. Shelov appeared as a hard-line leader. Although we know that this is a strategy, the cadres below do not know it. If the general secretary removes him, the cadres below will blow up the nest. , people will doubt the true meaning of the mitigation strategy, and the general secretary's character will not do that." Andropov explained, "The tough face is actually protecting Serov, but I don't know if he understands this. point…"

  At the same time as the internal disputes in the Soviet Union, there was a small-scale exchange of fire between the troops of the two countries in the border area between Sudan and Congo. Since Sudan's discoloration, in order to adjust the relationship between Arabs and blacks, it has adopted a strategy of shifting contradictions. Specifically, although the two major groups in the country are dirty, you should look at the black brothers in Sudan. They were oppressed by the Congolese. The situation is even worse than in Sudan.

Over the past few years, Sudan and Congo have been attacking each other continuously. Sudan has attacked Congo for its suppression of ethnic minorities in Sudan. Congo has attacked Sudan for interfering in Congo’s internal affairs. Both countries have used each other as their opponents. The border firefight has been happening all the time.

   "Are we going to tell the chairman about the situation?" In Lubyanka, the exchange of fire between Sudan and Congo sparked discussions here. You must know that waiting for an opportunity to go south to open up the African passage has always been a plan in progress.

"Will this make the chairman doubt our ability?" Zinev shook his head like a conditioned reflex. Zweigon was in charge of Southeast Asia, and he was in charge of Africa. Serov himself put a lot of pressure on them in Lubyanka, and it was not easy. Going out on vacation, call him back to find guilt for yourself?

After the four vice-presidents discussed it, they decided to let Sudan be patient, because the climate in Congo is quite unstable this year, and the rainy season seems to be extended for a while, making the dry season shorter, which is not long, which is not conducive to the Soviet-style military offensive. , and South Sudan has to reserve offensive materials and oil, and now it cannot afford to start a war. The arguments of several vice-presidents were written down by Servanov and sent to Serov, who was on vacation. (To be continued~^~)