Chapter One: Making Wedding Clothes for Others

  The Kremlin under the night sky, as always, looks majestic and solemn, but sensitive people can still easily feel the difference in atmosphere today. The guards on Red Square have increased significantly today, and even the two sentinels in front of Lenin's Mausoleum have been replaced by four.

  Most people know why, Moscow has been cordoned off, the Supreme Command has issued a curfew order this morning, implementing martial law during extraordinary periods.

  From this morning, a message has been circulating in the streets of Moscow, which was sent back from the front line. The content is that the German army has surrounded Leningrad, an important city on the Baltic coast, and the Northwestern Army, which had just been reorganized, was defeated again, losing five defense lines around Leningrad, and now it has been completely pulled into the city. On the southern battlefield, the situation is even worse. The original Southwest Front army was mostly surrounded by the German army in Kiev, and after two days of continuous breakout attempts, except for a part of the 21st Army that belonged to the Bryansk Front, all other troops were lost. In the Battle of Kiev, Soviet troops lost 700,000 soldiers, with more than 650,000 taken prisoner by the Germans. When this news was transmitted back to Moscow, the whole city was shocked, and a pessimistic atmosphere quickly shrouded the entire city, adding an unexpected sadness to Moscow, which had already entered early autumn.

  In the Soviet Conference Hall within the Kremlin, Stalin's face was overcast, the pipe in his mouth constantly emitting wisps of smoke, and Lian's eyes shot out violently, filled with a murderous aura.

  Around the oval conference table in front of him, people were packed tightly on both sides, some wearing military uniforms and others wearing casual clothes. However, regardless of what they wore, everyone was holding their breath with their heads bowed, not making a sound. No one dared to speak out at this time, lest they suffer the consequences.

  "Now is not the time to shift responsibility, what we should consider now is how to eliminate the threat from the Leningrad direction," said Chu Si Nan, who was in a special position, just behind Stalin, with his own chair, sitting on which he could attend the collective meetings of the Soviet Supreme Command, although without any military rank or title, but with a very special status, which was obvious.

  "Hmm," Stalin's expression eased slightly, he hesitated for a moment, and nodded almost imperceptibly.

  "Of course, this does not mean that the responsibility for the defeat of the Southern Kiev campaign can be ignored. We must investigate and severely punish those high-ranking generals who commanded poorly, as a warning to others." Chu Si Nan glanced at him before continuing, "We must use living facts to tell everyone about the firm stance of the Supreme Command on war. Execute a batch of cowards who are afraid to fight and reward and promote a batch of low-level military officers who fought bravely in battle. This way, those frontline officers will understand that they only have three paths: one is to defeat the enemy and win victory, one is to die gloriously in battle, and the last one is to be sent to the execution ground as a national criminal."

  "Hmm!"

  Chu Si Nan's words were like a heavy bomb thrown into the crowd, and the large conference hall suddenly became noisy. It was clear that most people did not agree with such an iron-blooded policy.

  "Bang!"

  A massive cigar crashed heavily onto the conference table, then broke into two sections with a crisp sound. Immediately, the originally noisy conference hall fell silent again, becoming as quiet as a ghost town.

  "This matter can be handed over to Comrade Beria," Stalin's piercing gaze swept across the faces of everyone, finally falling on Beria. "I demand that in the shortest possible time, on the basis of the existing military judicial system, further strengthening and improvement be made. From now on, military judges will not only play a role in military supervision, but also in directing and supervising battles, with the right to punish front-level commanders who are not fighting effectively after making inquiries."

  Stalin finished speaking and swept his gaze over the faces of everyone present, then continued: "Now let's put this issue to a vote. Comrades who agree can raise their hands."

  A soft rustling sound, and then most of the people in the venue raised their hands.

  After glaring at the faces of those who had not raised their hands, Stalin said indignantly: "In accordance with the principle of the minority submitting to the majority, the previous motion is adopted and will be implemented immediately; comrades who have differing opinions may retain them."

  Apart from Beria, everyone else in the room seemed to look unwell. Chu Si Nan knew that within this highest command center, Stalin was basically a "one-man show", with a purely patriarchal style of doing things. This highest decision-making body was more about following his personal preferences than collecting opinions from the masses.

  Everyone present knew that after this meeting, the power of Beria, the head of the secret police, would be further strengthened and his tentacles would penetrate deeper into all levels of the military. But Chu Si Nan was coldly smiling, knowing that as Beria gained more power, he would also face more people's rejection and Stalin's increased vigilance, and if he made any slight mistake, a stormy attack would fall on his head.

  Chu Si Nan knew that Stalin, a man with such a violent temper, was able to maintain his position as the leader of the Soviet Union because he was surrounded by a group of clever and capable people who were renowned for their names, such as Beria, Suslov, Voroshilov, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, etc. In order to shake the foundation of his power, it was necessary to eliminate one by one the strong arms around him. Among them, Beria, who controlled the secret police force, would naturally be the first to be targeted. Only after eliminating him could Stalin lose his eyes and ears and become a complete blind and deaf man.

  "Alright," Stalin said, tapping his hand on the table, "next we will study what further strategic steps the German army may take, as Comrade Zhukov has just said, this is the key issue that we need to focus on."

  No matter what kind of mood people were in, they all shifted their attention back at this moment. Almost everyone first glanced at Chu Si Nan's face and then carefully looked away. Everyone could feel that the young man who suddenly appeared on the scene today and sat directly behind Stalin was absolutely not a simple character.

  At this time, the calmest person in the scene was undoubtedly Chu Si Nan himself. Everything that is happening now is within his consideration, and he is also not interested in what Stalin said about the "key issues" to be studied next, because he already knows what those contents are. It's not that he can see through Stalin's mind, but because the series of arrangements for the new battle that Stalin will say later are all made by Chu Si Nan in advance and handed over, in other words, the great Comrade Stalin is now calmly and shamelessly stealing his strategic plan as his own. However, Chu Si Nan does not mind this, which is also what he hopes to see, because only in this way can he further gain Stalin's trust.