Yang Zhen, who was talking to Vice Chairman Zhou, naturally didn't know that he had been hanging around outside the ghost gate. Had it not been for Kovalev's persuasion and change of General Abanashenk's original intentions, Moscow would have made up its mind to let his uncooperative and even somewhat resistant person disappear.

On other people's territory, no matter how Yang Zhen is guarding against it, I am afraid that there are countless ways to make him disappear. It doesn't take much, a plane crash on the return trip is enough to shut everyone's mouth. This kind of method is not much used by Big Brother now. But later, it was not used less. Once it becomes a thorn in their side, Big Brother doesn't mind taking a few crew members.

Yang Zhen, who didn't know that he had almost been served by others, talked with Vice Chairman Zhou until midnight before going to rest. If it weren't for the tiring journey of Vice Chairman Zhou, Yang Zhen, who admired this old man who had done his best for the country all his life, would not mind pulling people to talk all night.

Vice Chairman Zhou, who had already prepared to return to China and had temporarily decided to meet Yang Zhen, was not resident in Vladivostok, but after having a deep talk with Yang Zhen, he only met with the aviation and armored troops trained here, and then returned to Moscow by plane.

Watching Vice Chairman Zhou's plane disappear into the clouds, Yang Zhen, who personally drove Vice Chairman Zhou to the airport, remembered the conversation between the two in the car, and couldn't help but show a smile on the corner of his mouth, some things should come to a conclusion.

Sure enough, as soon as Yang Zhen returned to his residence, he was invited by Kovalev. It's still the secret military base, it's the underground conference room, and it's the three people who participated in the talks. The same place, the same scene, the same people, and even the content of the conversation have not changed, and they are still the same topics.

This time, Abanashenk's impatient temper has improved somewhat: "Comrade Yang Zhen, what do you think?" As long as you put those intelligence networks in our management, you will get what you think of, and even more. I don't want your stubbornness to affect our cooperation. ”

Regarding Abanashenk's words, Yang Zhen smiled and said: "General Abanashenk, my decision will not change. General Abanaschchenk, in fact, for us, in terms of intelligence against Japan, itself is a whole, so why should we distinguish it so clearly? ”

"Comrade Abanashenk, I think it would actually be more advantageous for this intelligence agency to be in our hands. After all, for the Japanese army, we know better. Comrade General Abanashenk, you won the battle of Normenhan, but in fact, you know better who won and who lost. ”

"With twice the strength and ten times the firepower, you can still fight like this. Your tactics of relying on the sea of people and the sea of fire have the same number of casualties and more than ten times the loss of equipment. More than 30 tanks for more than 300 of you. Admiral Abanashenk, if you use our previous equipment, what kind of result will you have, I really don't know? ”

Yang Zhen mentioned this, and General Abanashenk's face changed color at that time. Kovalev on the side was also shocked: "Aren't you not opening a pot?" At this critical time, what are you doing when you are full and holding on to this? ”

For the Soviet army, whether the Battle of Nomenkhor was fought as advertised or not, it was a brilliant victory, and they naturally knew it. In the face of the Japanese army, whose firepower was far inferior to its own, its strength and firepower were much higher than that of the opponent, and the losses were still so large. In fact, it was barely a victory, and it was nothing more than a pyrrhic victory.

Naturally, these are unknown to the lower-level officers and soldiers of the Soviet army. But about Abanaschenk, commander of the Soviet Military District, and Kovalev of the intelligence service, it was still known. Yang Zhen mentioned this matter at this time, and in the eyes of General Abanashenk, it was undoubtedly contempt for the Soviet Red Army.

Seeing that Abanashenk's face instantly turned pale, Yang Zhen made a steady gesture and said, "General Abanashenk, don't be angry, I'm just telling the truth." I'm just illustrating the real combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. Only when we get stronger and stronger can we really help you reduce the pressure on the Eastern Front, right? Comrade Abanashenk, I still say the same thing, we work together for two benefits, and divide for two harms. ”

Abanashenk looked at Yang Zhen and said for a long time: "Comrade Yang Zhen, where did you get our casualty figures. These are top secrets even in our country, and only a few people know about them. Unless Comrade Zhukov is also a spy, these things will never be leaked. ”

Yang Zhen waved his hand and said, "Where did these things come from, you don't need me to explain." General Abanashenk, there is a problem in your upper echelons, and I have been wondering if our cooperation plan will be known to the Japanese and put pressure on the Americans to stop our deal. ”

"So Comrade General Abanashenk, I give you a Jianyì. This spy hidden in your top echelons should be dug up first, and then we can talk about other things, shall we? Keeping him is not only a great danger for you, but also a hidden danger for us, isn't it? ”

Abanashenk shook his head and said in typical Soviet language: "Comrade Yang Zhen, you don't have to worry about this. I officially inform you today that Beria, a German fascist spy, took advantage of the power granted by the Soviet people and the trust of the party. Having taken the post of NKVD, having betrayed a great deal of intelligence about the interior of the Soviets to his fascist masters, he was already arrested and executed the day before yesterday in Moscow. This collaboration of ours is after his arrest, so you don't have to worry. ”

Although he had expected it, he was also glad that his counter-plot had succeeded. But after learning the news, Yang Zhen was still a little creepy. What kind of person is Beria, Yang Zhen naturally thundered as early as in later generations. But this is the man whom Stalin trusted most at the moment, and yet he was mercilessly arrested and executed in such a short period of time on the basis of a false information he fabricated. That Comrade Stalin was really a good trick to unload the mill and kill the donkey.

The Soviet-Finnish war was not a victory, and Stalin was already keenly aware that his purge had hurt the vitality of the Soviet army. A large number of experienced senior and middle-level commanders have been arrested and executed, and those who have been promoted to replace them are either incompetent or inexperienced. It can't be said that there are none, but there are definitely not many.

The current generals at all levels of the Soviet army are young and young, but these officers who have not even walked out of the military academy for a short time, and many of them have not experienced the test of war, and their military quality is strictly lacking. Even if one of his subordinates loses a gun, he is likely to be arrested on a trumped-up charge, and even executed by the Great Purge, which puts almost everyone in danger of all officers.

Most of the officers focused on self-preservation, and very few focused on military affairs. Most people are cautious in their daily work, for fear that something will go wrong. In the course of the exercise, good news has always been reported but not bad news. Don't seek merit, but seek no fault, get by.

This time when crossing the river, the Soviet side arranged for Yang Zhen to visit a main tank brigade of the Far Eastern Military District. And when this brigade showed Yang Zhen tactical synthesis training, it could be described as a mess. The tactical attack of a tank brigade actually has no infantry cover, no flank protection, not to mention the disjointed tactical offensive formation, and the coordination ability of the infantry and tanks is even worse to the extreme.

And the brigade commander of this tank brigade when it was formed had already been arrested and executed in the name of Japanese spies in the first wave of purges. The current brigade commander was a lieutenant company commander who had just left the military academy for only three years three years ago. Before taking over the post of brigade commander, he was only a regimental chief of staff.

The most puzzling thing is that this brigade commander, who was a lieutenant three years ago, graduated from a machine gun school and studied heavy machine gun command, not artillery, armor, or even infantry. Before the transfer of this tank brigade, there was not even contact with tanks.

There is neither theory nor experience. Even what a tank is, I'm afraid it's not clear. The political commissar is an old qualification, but the political commissar who was born as the head of the organization department of the regional party committee knows nothing about military command. The chief of staff was born as a tank soldier, but before taking over as chief of staff, he was only a company commander of a tank company.

The consequences of the purge not only caused heavy losses to the senior commanders, but also made the Soviet army's tactics rigid and almost rigid. In recent years, instead of reaching a higher level, the military doctrine that used to lead the world has regressed in great strides. The mechanized corps that had been formed was again disrupted and assigned to the infantry. A large amount of old equipment has not been updated for a long time.

With the war in Europe already in full swing, the Soviet army's performance in the Soviet-Finnish war has shown that the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army has declined to a dangerous point. Stalin's quick execution of this man, who had worked so hard for himself in the midst of the purge, was probably to appease the terrified army.

If you don't get it right, it's more to find a person who carries the blame for your indiscriminate killing of innocents. Plug the mouth of the military generals. Just like several predecessors who treated this comrade Beria before. This matter is just an introduction. Even when that guy took over, the climax of the purge had passed. But in order to appease the army, it is necessary to find someone who gags other people's mouths.

And Yang Zhen mentioned that Beria was arrested, a subtle smile appeared on the corner of General Abanashenk's mouth, Yang Zhen can be sure that the NKVD was executed so quickly, and the surviving generals of the Soviet army, who were the first and hardest hit areas of the Great Purge, probably also played a big role in it.

If things really turn out as he suspected, I am afraid that the next step will be for Stalin to gradually begin to liberate officers of all ranks, especially senior officers, who have been arrested on trumped-up charges. Although things seemed to be going in a good direction, Yang Zhen knew that even if Beria had disappeared from this world in advance, it was just Stalin trying to appease the army.

The self-righteous Stalin would not allow the generals of the military to find an excuse to threaten their position. The rebellion will not stop, at most it will be temporarily interrupted, and it may even be reduced in scale or weakened. Comrade Stalin never slackened his blow to the so-called enemies of the people.

However, for Yang Zhen, whether Comrade Stalin will really stop this kind of purge of indiscriminate arrests and killings in the next step, but for Yang Zhen, the guy who caused a lot of trouble for himself went to see God. Removing the biggest stumbling block is always pretty good news, isn't it?

Yang Zhen believes that for this news, many Soviet generals such as the general Abanashenk in front of him will also feel the same excitement and let go of a big stone in their hearts. At the very least, you don't have to worry about being called away in the middle of the night by people in leather jackets and never returning.