Stalin's recent news was not good news: first, the Far East, including Siberia, was no longer very subject to his restraint and leadership.

This news angered him even more than the deterioration of the situation in the Moscow theater of operations, because what he feared most was not the rampant German army, but the loss of control of the Soviet Union.

So, although Khrushchev had been trying to remind Stalin of the importance of the Moscow theater of the entire Soviet-German war, he resolutely launched a new round of remote purges.

The wounds of the purge were far from dissipating, so when a new purge began, everyone knew that a new catastrophe was coming.

The Soviet internal affairs forces under Stalin's command, that is, the troops under the command of Beria and others, carried out a much larger purge in Chelyabinsk.

The original commander of this unit was Yezhov, the executioner of the Internal Affairs Forces who framed Marshal Tukhachevsky.

It's a pity that Beria is better than the blue, easily replaced Yezhov in front of Stalin, and personally turned the head of the intelligence department, who was once his boss, into a prisoner.

In 1940, around the same time that Germany swept through France and conquered Britain, the Soviets executed Yezhov, and there is evidence that he died with little dignity.

He was stripped naked by Beria's men and beaten to the point that he was bruised before he was executed.

The political struggles in the Soviet Union have always been brutal, such as the unknown Kirov who died during the Stalin era, and the ruthless man named Trotsky who fled abroad and still did not survive.

In this purge, some of the so-called centrists who were ready to make peace with the Germans were eliminated, and the rest of the people once again groveled to Stalin.

Blood and cold Siberian concentration camps awakened their fear of Stalin. Stalin's iron-fisted policy once again enveloped the Soviet Union.

Even though the Far East was still high and far away, even if it was still difficult to move because of chaos, Stalin still restored unified command over the whole country in terms of situation.

"Comrade Stalin, the great leader of the Soviet Union, several of those who took the lead in questioning you have been disposed of." Beria lowered his head and whispered to Stalin.

Stalin, apparently dissatisfied with this large-scale operation, opened his mouth and asked coldly: "Now that Chelyabinsk is in chaos, how can I command?" ”

Beria didn't want to be like this, and he wanted to know why his men were making such a big fuss in Chelyabinsk.

So he could only answer in a low voice: "Comrade Stalin, the great leader of the Soviet Union, there are too many people there who want to stand on their own and betray you, which is why it has become what it is now." ”

Stalin snorted coldly, a little disdainful: "They are whimsical and don't take me seriously at all...... It's only been a few days, and they have forgotten their original oath and chosen to betray me? ”

It's easy to talk about this issue - Stalin always ends up getting angry, giving more extreme orders, and then doing something even more out of control.

So, the rising star of the army, General Vatutin, who was standing next to Stalin, bent down, approached Stalin's ear and said: "Comrade Stalin, the great leader of the Soviet Union...... Now what we have to worry about is that the rear is in chaos, and our southern Moscow is in a hurry again, how can we maintain the current situation. ”

If the Germans take Moscow, then 1 million elite troops will move south, and by that time, Stalingrad will not necessarily be a safe place.

Perhaps worse - the Germans would have taken Kursk and then fought all the way from the north and rear to the vicinity of Stalingrad.

And the collapse of the flanks will eventually turn the frontal defense into a pointless and futile struggle, so the frontal front will also collapse.

Once the Germans were allowed to fight a war of movement, or to put it more bluntly, if the German troops were allowed to fight the pursuit, encirclement and annihilation warfare that they were good at, then the fate of the two million Soviet troops would not be much better than the millions of Soviet troops in the central and northern theaters.

"Do you have any good ideas? Romanian and Italian troops are about to take Odessa, and if the troops are allowed to abandon Odessa, the Germans will soon capture all of Ukraine. Without waiting for Stalin to say anything, Beria spoke sarcastically.

Recently Stalin trusted General Vatutin in front of him, so Beria felt a crisis. Having lost Stalin's trust, he was just meat on a board.

A good example is that his former boss Yezhov, because he lost Stalin's trust, in less than two years, he went from a famous hunting dog among the Soviet top to a corpse.

Therefore, Beria was reluctant to let Vatutin grow stronger, and before Stalin interrupted him, he made a suggestion to keep Vatutin away from Stalin: "It is better to let Comrade General Vatutin lead his troops to hold Kursk...... That way we don't have to worry about being attacked on our backs! ”

Stalin was actually very tempted by this suggestion, and he also hoped that he would trust the promising General Vatutin, and that he could command his troops to defend an important line of defense.

But he was still ready to send some spurring messages to Beria with practical actions: "Comrade Beria, I hope you don't speak with emotion. ”

His words were cold to Beria, making people shiver. So Beria immediately apologized to Stalin: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, the great leader of the Soviet Union......"

"You personally go to Chelyabinsk!" The opposite effect was that Stalin had the idea of sending Beria on a mission.

According to Stalin's mind, Beria was a loyal dog, and it was a good idea to let him go to Chelyabinsk to take the town.

"You must stabilize the rear and let them organize production with peace of mind, the war needs winning weapons, and you must increase the speed of producing winning weapons!" Stalin stood up and ordered with a pat on Beria's shoulder.

Hearing this order, Beria's face turned a little pale. He was reluctant to leave Stalin, but now he could not disobey Stalin's orders.

The good news is that he relied on Stalin's prestige to kill many people who threatened his position. Now there are several important competitors, and it seems that they are not too difficult.

"I understand, Comrade Stalin! I'm going to Chelyabinsk. Thinking of this, Beria could only reply immediately.