Big Time 1958

Chapter 51: Four Clusters

The small town of Tsoksen is in the south of Berlin. Even if the scope is limited to the GDR, Tsoksen is not a well-known place. It has become famous since the beginning of this year. The Soviet Union’s Western Cluster Command in the GDR moved here from Berlin. . This made Tsoksen appear in the eyes of some people from an unknown town, at least in terms of military value.

The Western Cluster has a special position in the Soviet Red Army, with the best equipment and the neatest personnel. They were on the front line of the Cold War with a large scale, with a number of hundreds of thousands. Far more than the number of troops in the second sequence in the rear. Not to mention that there are only tens of thousands of military districts in the Soviet Union that can be compared.

General Matvey Vasilievich Zakharov, who was in charge of the Western Cluster, had the most combat-ready troops in the Soviet Union. Four-fifths of his troops were prefixed with guards or red flags. Has a glorious history. In any respect, the Western Cluster is far more brilliant than the troops of any military district, even the Moscow Military District.

Since the beginning of this year, it has been reported that General Zakharov will be awarded as a marshal before the end of the year, becoming a member of the same level as the generals of the Ministry of Defense. If the military is also regarded as an industry, General Zakharov will be There is no doubt that he has reached the top of the industry, and he is very lucky compared to another general Zakharov who died two years ago.

But now General Zakharov is not in a good mood. The news from the troop stations made General Zakharov involuntarily stroke his huge forehead, making the already very thin hair on his forehead look even thinner.

“Since yesterday, the phone calls of the commanders of the troops stationed in the general headquarters have been blasted! The agents of the General Administration of Military Administration have been rampaging in the barracks, questioning the soldiers without passing through the local commanders, and even a few soldiers. He was arrested and sent to the internal affairs bureau of the local GDR, without any notice of the actions of the General Administration of Military Administration, and now it has caused a very bad influence in the army!” Admiral Sokolov, deputy chief of staff of the Western Cluster, said on his face. The embarrassed introduction said, “What I am most afraid of now is to receive a call from the commander below, Comrade Zakharov, should we think of a way…”

“Think of a way? Think of a way? Let me use my military rank to suppress Serov?” General Zakharov said coldly, “Serov is a member of the KGB. With that kind of style, who can let Shelepin deal with him? And from the nature of the work, only Serov is in trouble with the Red Army, and the Red Army has no way to do anything. After 20 years, some things have changed, and some things have never changed…”

General Zakharov obviously meant something. Twenty years ago, when a series of internal affairs ministers from Yagoda and Beria took control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Red Army was like a lamb to be slaughtered in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. High rank, high status. In front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they are absolutely equal. The life of a general is not more valuable than that of a soldier, and a higher rank is more dangerous.

Times are different now, but as the successor, the KGB, like the Ministry of Internal Affairs, still has the right to point fingers at other departments. The Red Army looks strong, but Serov removed more than 70 generals in the name of Bonapartists within a year. After the hat, except for the high-ranking generals of the Ministry of Defense, the heads of the general troops are really reluctant to fight against Shelov.

Admiral    Sokolov hesitated and said, “But this has some impact on the reputation of our Western cluster…”

“Why didn’t you take serious military discipline if you knew it would have an impact? In what name did I ask Serov to stop? I said that the General Administration of Military Administration has no right to punish the Red Army soldiers? Or is it wrong to punish the German residents?” General Zakharov said fiercely He put the internal reference documents on the table and said, “They punish the fighters in question according to the regulations. What reason do you use to stop them?”

It’s not that General Zakharov has no idea of protecting the reputation of the Western Cluster. Last night, he called the KGB Chairman Sherepin in Moscow and told the KGB controller about Serov’s investigation of the Western Cluster. Remember Shelepin’s words, “Once Yuri finds out a problem, no one in the KGB can stop him. If Yuri thinks he is clearing some problems for the country, then even I can’t stop him! If I am in the country, I can still transfer him. Come back, but I can’t do anything about it in Germany. In fact, Yuri himself is conducting inventory work in the Caucasus, and I arranged him to Berlin…”

“Comrade Zakharov, if you have a good personal relationship with Marshal Baghramyan, it will make Yuri’s investigation less open, otherwise, the problems you are facing may have just begun!”

Recalling these words in his mind, General Zakharov said helplessly, “Didn’t Serov not record it on the file? This shows that he has shown mercy. If we forcibly prevent the inspection of the General Administration of Military Administration, the Caspian Tiger will go crazy. Come on, maybe a few more generals retire early because they are Bonapartists…”

“If it were the time when the country was just founded, Serov might be Comrade Dzerzhinsky’s right-hand man!” Admiral Sokolov’s self-talk changed General Zakharov’s face, which was not a good joke .

There are frequent reports of good news from the front. Serov in the Guards 65 Tank Regiment has received a steady stream of telegrams from representatives of the KGB garrison in various places. Under the supervision of the Director of the General Administration, the agents of the General Administration of Military Administration have exerted 200% efficiency. , embodies the face of the KGB as it should have been.

But this kind of efficiency really made Serov unhappy. He gritted his teeth and commented, “A group of **** who don’t **** in the dungeon have this kind of efficiency long ago. Will they be found by me personally? One’s enthusiasm, and two hundred friction incidents will not be recorded in five months…”

“Notify the General Administration of Military Administration in the northern cluster, the southern cluster, the central cluster, and the central cluster, forget it! The inventory operations in the western cluster are carried out at the same time as the northern cluster and the southern cluster. We must stop some backward Red Army soldiers on the territory of brother countries. The atmosphere, all right, let the comrades of the Eleventh Division contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Poland and Hungary! Invite the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the two countries to participate in the inventory operation and resolve the disputes between the Soviet garrison and the residents of the host country!” The central cluster only has a command in name. Organizations and specific units have been withdrawn. The four major clusters in Shelov’s mouth are based on traditional sayings. In fact, in addition to the command organization, the other troops in the central cluster have been scattered among the other three clusters. Naturally, there are no troops for Shelov to investigate.

“Hungary and Poland? We have a pretty good relationship with the local Ministry of Internal Affairs. I believe this is not a problem!” Issemotny was referring to the events in Poland and Hungary three years ago. At that time, she and Serov also traveled between the two countries for a long time. long time. Shelepin knew Shelov very well, and he was right at all. The inventory of the Western cluster can only be regarded as the beginning. Shelov’s goal was the garrison of the entire Soviet Union abroad.