Chapter 978 Fake Reactionary
Alexei Alexanderovich Kuznetsov, secretary of Leningrad City W, has a handwritten letter from Peterhof Palace on his desk in the Petrov Fortress - he doesn't know how the letter appeared there, and he doesn't want to know. He has read the content of the letter, and it is still a sincere offer of amnesty, and the position of duke and minister of the Russian Empire is within his reach. If he doesn't want to "serve two masters", he can also go to Rome (the Roman Empire has not declared war on the Soviet Union at present) and go into exile, and all expenses will be paid by Olga.
It is indeed a very good condition, and Kuznetsov also believes that the conditions offered by Olga are not false. Although they are enemies, Kuznetsov still thinks that Olga is more trustworthy than Stalin. If he is a medieval lord instead of a GCist fighter, he will definitely choose to be loyal to Olga instead of the moody Stalin.
But Kuznetsov was a loyal GCist fighter. Although he, like Vlasov and Abakumov, died at the hands of the Soviet Communist Party in history, the true beliefs of the three people were different after all.
Vlasov graduated from the seminary and became an Orthodox priest. Serving God and the Tsar was his original life ideal. Later, he was just involved in the revolution and was a false believer of GCism.
When Abakumov joined the Bolshevik Party, it was already a red country. Joining the team, the league, and the party are the three major events in life, and they are also the channels for the Soviet people to climb up. Whether to believe in GCism is no longer important, what is important is to be an official.
Kuznetsov really believes that GCism can be realized. Even at this point, he still firmly believes that the red flag will be planted all over the world and GCism will definitely be realized!
But he also knows that he will not see the day of GCism's victory, and he will soon become a martyr for the cause of GCism.
Thinking of this, he picked up the handwritten letter from the Russian empress and was about to take it to Abakumov's office to report. Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and then the door of the office was suddenly pushed open.
Kuznetsov saw Abakumov rushing in aggressively with several fully armed "blue hats".
"Kuznetsov, you are arrested!" Abakumov said loudly.
"Arrested...?" Kuznetsov was stunned for a moment, "Why?"
His reaction was the same as all the fake reactionaries! At least in Leningrad, real reactionaries never ask why, they just draw their guns and shoot!
Just as he was stunned, a "blue hat" suddenly snatched the letter from the Russian empress that Kuznetsov was about to hand in, and then took a look at it and handed it to Abakumov.
"Kuznetsov," Abakumov pretended to read the Empress' letter, and then said righteously, "You betrayed the Party and the people, the evidence is conclusive, what else can I say?"
Is this conclusive evidence?
Kuznetsov stared blankly at Abakumov, who looked righteous, and for a moment he really didn't know how to defend himself - in fact, no matter how he defended himself, he was holding the letter of the Russian Empress in his hand when he was arrested!
If this can be explained clearly, then Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin, Rykov, Tukhachevsky, etc., wouldn't they have died too unjustly?
"Catch him!" Abakumov saw that Kuznetsov was scared silly - this is also a sign of Leningrad's fake *** - and immediately ordered him to be controlled.
The successful arrest of Kuznetsov and the acquisition of ironclad evidence of Kuznetsov's betrayal and surrender to the enemy on the spot can be said to have cleared the biggest obstacle for the Leningrad Army Group to surrender to the enemy.
Because Kuznetsov was not alone in Leningrad. He was the Secretary of Leningrad City W and the Political Commissar of the Army Group. He had many cadres loyal to the cause of GCism under his command.
If these people were not eradicated, it would be difficult for the Leningrad Army Group to surrender to the enemy in an organized manner.
And to eradicate these people, the most effective way is undoubtedly to fabricate a "Kuznetsov anti-GM traitor group". Now that there is solid evidence that Kuznetsov has betrayed the party, this group will naturally not escape.
However, if you really want to purge the Leningrad Army Group, it is best to get Stalin's order, so that you can legitimately eliminate dissidents in the army.
So, after obtaining evidence and Kuznetsov's confession, Kuznetsov did not admit that he was a traitor and anti-GM, but only admitted that the Queen's letter appeared on his desk, and he also read the letter and was arrested when he was about to hand it in.
Kuznetsov was a Bolshevik, so he certainly couldn't be dishonest to the party. Although he knew that his confession might bring him death, he still told the truth and believed that Stalin could find out the truth.
On March 28, his testimony and the fatal letter were taken to Moscow by a P-51 fighter jet that took off at night. Early the next morning, Beria personally handed it to Stalin.
"Kuznetsov... How is it possible?" Stalin was stunned when he read the letter and Kuznetsov's confession. His first reaction was to disbelieve it.
Kuznetsov was a loyal GCist fighter. How could he betray the party?
"Comrade General Secretary, the evidence is irrefutable!" Beria actually didn't believe that Kuznetsov would rebel. In his order to Abakumov, the main thing to be wary of was Vlasov... Unexpectedly, Vlasov was fine, but Kuznetsov couldn't resist the temptation first.
"Could it be a mistake?" Stalin still couldn't believe it.
"No." Beria answered with certainty, "The experts of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs have verified the notes, and there is absolutely no mistake."
The letter is of course real, and it was written by Prince Yusupov to Empress Olga - this is a trap to frame Kuznetsov. And there are many handwritten letters from the Empress in the archives of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, and there is absolutely no problem in verifying the handwriting.
And Kuznetsov's confession was also written in his own handwriting, and there are also a lot of reports written by him in various government offices in Moscow, so there is no problem in verifying the notes.
"Will Kuznetsov be beaten?" Stalin asked.
Beria shook his head and said, "No, absolutely not... There is no case, how can torture be used?"
Stalin thought about it and it was right. The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was not a department without rules. Kuznetsov was only isolated and controlled now, and he still held the positions of Central Committee member, City Secretary and Army Political Commissar. How could he be beaten? If he could be beaten, wouldn't the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs rebel?
So if he wanted to be beaten, he had to order the general secretary to remove Kuznetsov from the bottom, and then beat him after the case was filed for investigation.
"File a case for investigation!" Stalin thought for a while and finally made up his mind. In fact, he had already planned to arrest Kuznetsov - the fall of most of Leningrad and the emergence of a large number of traitors in the Leningrad Front were two things that Kuznetsov, Vlasov and Abakumov were all responsible for, especially Kuznetsov was also responsible for the emergence of a large number of traitors in Leningrad.
So it was necessary to arrest Kuznetsov, Vlasov and Abakumov. It's just that it's a bit early to arrest them now, after all, the Leningrad Army is still surrounded.
"Tell Abakumov," Stalin ordered again, "Don't expand it, just arrest a few ringleaders."
"I understand, Comrade General Secretary." Beria knew Stalin's mind completely. Stalin didn't trust any "Leningrad people", but now is not the time to carry out a big purge in Leningrad. Otherwise, the purge will not be the reactionaries, but the last red flag of Leningrad.
However, although Comrade Stalin's idea is good, the reality is very cruel. Vlasov and Abakumov had already drawn up a list of arrests - the list is not difficult to get. In the previous few months, every cadre above the regimental level (including the regimental level) in the besieged city of Leningrad received more than one letter of persuasion from Peterhof (not all of them were written by Olga, most of them were just signed).
Some of them handed in every letter to the Army Counterintelligence Department (which was the right thing to do), and they were all on file in the Army Counterintelligence Department. Others did not hand in their letters for various reasons, or handed them in at the beginning but did not hand them in later.
Now the Army Counterintelligence Department only needs to arrest people according to the list of people who handed in more than one letter of persuasion to surrender, and it is basically correct. So on the night when Stalin issued the order to open a case for investigation, thousands of people were arrested in the besieged city of Leningrad. Almost all of them were firm GCist fighters...
The real wavering elements and reactionaries at the regimental level and above (including the regimental level) were summoned to the Peter and Paul Church in the Peter and Paul Fortress for a meeting on March 29.
"Comrades," Marshal Vlasov, the commander of the army, said in an extremely serious tone at the beginning of the meeting: "I have very bad news to tell you. The food reserves of the army will be exhausted in three days."
"What?"
"Oh my God!"
"What can we do?"
The meeting hall was boiling, and everyone was shocked. Because Vlasov didn't say that the food supply was tight, but that there would be nothing to eat in three days!
Is he going to starve everyone to death?
Vlasov and Abakumov looked over everyone's faces again and again, and saw panicked faces, and then they felt relieved.
Vlasov coughed, and the scene gradually quieted down. He continued: "There are only two ways to go now. One is to launch a desperate charge against the German army outside the encirclement in three days; the other is to surrender to the Russian Empire under God's blessing!"