Chapter 1275 – A Fierce Quarrel

This was exactly what Brezhnev wanted to hear, and it could not have been better for Shelepin to say it, so he asked again, “It is a good idea, then Shurik, who is going to bring back the First Secretary, it will require a suitable person, there is a place for every comrade.”

Shlepin looked at Brezhnev in surprise and blurted out, “Ilyich, you’re the Second Secretary, of course you’re the most suitable person for this job.”

“Me?” Brezhnev’s face stiffened, looking as if he had some fear of Khrushchev, just as many people’s impression of him was, malleable, flexible, easy-going, not firm in his stance, not prominent in his views, not quick-thinking, incapable of changing the status quo, recognized as a good manipulator, knowing how to accept guidance, and leaving big things to the experts.

And Brezhnev is acting at the moment exactly as most of the members of the Central Presidium think he should, “How about Ekaterina, she’s a woman, the First Secretary won’t be on the defensive.”

Foltseva had been a great success at the time of the Molotov tantrum back then, and had since rocketed up into the Central Presidium, becoming the most powerful woman in the USSR.

Shelepin had no prejudice against Foltseva, but that didn’t stop him from shaking his head and rejecting Brezhnev’s idea, “Pushing a woman out for this kind of thing? Somewhat inappropriate.”

“Then Shelist is more appropriate, he’s the chairman of the Ukrainian Council of Ministers, the first secretary of the Ukrainian Party Committee. Coming from Ukraine is trustworthy, and there’s no problem with his seniority.” Brezhnev again suggested a candidate, the most powerful local head in the Soviet Union.

“Let’s be honest, Ilyich, you’re the only one with that standing.” Again, Shelepin vetoed, “It is your second secretary and widely trusted leader, you are irreplaceable.”

Brezhnev hesitated for a long time until Sherepine’s patience was about to run out, and only very reluctantly agreed, “All right, Shurik, I understand what my comrades expect of me.”

In fact, from the very beginning, Brezhnev knew that he couldn’t hide, the vast majority of anti-Khrushchev people were communicated by him personally, using this issue to have a discussion with Tselepine was just testing this iron fisted figure in the eyes of the top cadres in their forties, there were some things that Brezhnev could have gone ahead and done, but he couldn’t have picked a fight at this point in time.

The current Central Bureau is very complicated, and it can be said that, with the exception of the Foltseva woman, none of the others are fighting alone.

Brezhnev, although he was the second secretary, did not have an advantage over the other giants, and the meeting of the Central Presidium was immediately convened without Khrushchev’s chairmanship, which would have been highly unusual but reasonable.

Khrushchev was still on vacation on the shores of the Black Sea, how to use the right excuse to get him back to Moscow after the setup had already been completed on this side, nominally Khrushchev was after all the leader of the Soviet Union, if Khrushchev found out about the other people’s setups and counterattacked in his capacity as the First Secretary, it would surely cause a great deal of chaos within the Soviet Union, and from the beginning of the establishment of the USSR, the authority of the No. 1 has never been lowered.

Brezhnev seems to have temporarily backed out again, leaving behind the words promised to Shelepin, hoping that Podgorny would contact Khrushchev on his behalf, Podgorny refused dryly, on the grounds that he had just given a detailed report to Khrushchev on his day-to-day work, and that a further phone call might arouse Khrushchev’s suspicions.

Brezhnev reluctantly dialed the phone, looking jittery and white, his voice trembling as he reported several problems encountered in the reorganization of agriculture.

Khrushchev listened to his words, dissatisfied, said: what happened to you there? Without me, you can not live a day? Well, I’ll think about it. Mikoyan is here, I’ll discuss it with him, call me back later.

After an hour, Brezhnev dialed again, “First Secretary, there are many issues on which only you have the ability and prestige to take uncontroversial decisions.”

“Well, I’ll fly back to Moscow tomorrow.” Khrushchev’s voice remained extremely nonchalant, and then the microphone was reduced to a busy tone.

Brezhnev put down the microphone and looked at the members of the Central Presidium present, nodding with an expressionless face that said it all.

“Vladimir, prevent a change in Moscow.” Lubyanka XI, the headquarters of the Soviet State Security Committee, Semichasne nodded as he listened to the familiar voice of Shelepin, “Leave it to me.”

Putting down the phone Semichasne picked up the microphone again, “This is Semichasne, the Director of the Ninth Directorate come here, I have something to say to him personally.”

The Ninth Main Directorate it was responsible for guaranteeing the security of the country’s senior leaders, the country’s highest profile ceremonial occasions, visits by foreign delegations and Soviet delegations on their trips. Guarding the Kremlin government offices, the Council of Ministers building, and a number of other targets, including local targets far from Moscow such as the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, and several others were part of their mission.

In between the visits of the Director of the Ninth Directorate, Semichasne gave orders to the Third Main Directorate, the department of the General Directorate of Military Administration, that the special outposts in the Moscow Military District and troop movements, even if unimportant, had to be reported to him immediately, and that the trained officers of the Ninth Directorate of the KGB were instructed to be in a state of full combat readiness in a state of wartime.

As a precaution, the reconnaissance forces of the Seventh Main Directorate would cut the dedicated government communications line to Khrushchev’s convalescent villa under the pretext of equipment damage.

Telephone contact with Khrushchev would then have to go through a private switchboard in Moscow, which would immediately report all of Khrushchev’s telephone conversations to Lubyanka.

Shelest flew to Kiev, where he instructed Ukrainian Second Secretary Soboly to call the Central Monitoring Committee and alternates, members of the CMC working in Ukraine, to Kiev and to find an excuse not to allow them to leave; Ukraine was supporting Khrushchev and was an important force for Khrushchev’s flip-flopping in the event of a Molotov tantrum.

After this setup, Cherest returned to Moscow again, ready to step in at the Central Presidium meeting and side with the majority of his comrades.

Khrushchev had worked in Ukraine for a long time, and Shelest had no idea if there were really many people supporting Khrushchev, and once it came to the stage of voting in the committee again, if Khrushchev succeeded in flipping, with the character of this First Secretary, he would definitely not be able to spare them.

Now in the whole of Moscow, only Khrushchev’s last big credit Foltseva has nothing to do, she also clearly understands the circumstances of the matter, but this time, even she has no way to pull Khrushchev out of the adversity.

Zhukov had been on the sidelines for years, and no one had the power to get the military on Khrushchev’s side again.

Since the Cuban Missile Year crisis, the military has been deeply disappointed by the First Secretary’s behavioral art.

Khrushchev’s plane landed at Moscow’s government airport and he was greeted by only one man, KGB Chairman Semichasne. After walking down the spiral staircase, Khrushchev asked, “Where is everyone else?”

“They are all in the Kremlin!” Semichasne looked at the officers of the guard behind Khrushchev and replied with an expressionless face.

“Take me there.” With a puzzled look on his face, Khrushchev nodded at Semichasne, “Have all the comrades had lunch yet, should we start the discussion now or?”

The meeting began immediately, Brezhnev was the first to speak, he stood up and slammed Khrushchev, he had a great lack of respect for his comrades, he often made ill-considered decisions, splitting the oblast committees into the Industrial and Agricultural oblast committees had been a mistake, and the people were not in favor of it.

“Ilyich, this issue is not mine alone, it was decided together after everyone discussed it in the first place. Why didn’t you all oppose it before?” Khrushchev shouted back at Brezhnev, then looked at the others present, but unfortunately, unlike usual, no one spoke for him this time.

Ukraine’s First Secretary Shelest, Belarus’ First Secretary Mazurov, Georgia’s First Secretary Mzavanadze, these were all quite powerful powerhouses within the Soviet Union.

At this moment they were working together against Khrushchev, Khrushchev had understood that the visitor was not good, especially Shelest’s accusation, which made Khrushchev, who usually did not take other people seriously, realize the seriousness of the matter, Ukraine was regarded as Khrushchev’s main reliance, many leaders in Ukraine were appointed by Khrushchev himself, and the fact that Kiev had a critical attitude towards Khrushchev showed that even Ukraine had no longer supported him.

Foltseva, the only female member of the Central Presidium, who seven years ago was the one who went out of her way to help turn the tide for Khrushchev, who had fallen into a disadvantage in the Central Presidium, and at this point the Culture Czar stood up, “The cultural sphere is the current focus of infiltration by imperialism, which will greatly harm the image of the Soviets, and the confusion in the sphere of ideas, which is already being utilized by the class enemy, and this question, I think the First Secretary should have nothing to refute, the serious consequences that have resulted have already cost the Soviets dearly.”

“I personally apologize for treating the question of the importance attached by some comrades.” Khrushchev had understood that this was history repeating itself when Foltseva stood up, and it seemed as if this time it was even more troublesome.

“We hope that Comrade Khrushchev, will be able to deeply realize the mistake. As well as the great damage done to the Soviets.” Suslov pushed his eyes up and spoke slowly, “Voluntarily leaving his current leadership position and retiring, this will become a mutually acceptable outcome.”

“Impossible!” Khrushchev flatly refused, “The meeting of the Central Presidium at this time does not represent the true views of the entire cadre of the Soviets, and I am the First Secretary, elected by the entire Central Committee. Only the Central Committee can remove me from my work.”