Chapter 51

The small town of Cosen is located in southern Berlin. Even if the scope is limited to East Germany, Cosen is not a particularly well-known place. Its fame began at the start of this year when the Soviet Western Group of Forces headquarters moved from Berlin to here. This made Cosen, once an obscure small town, at least appear in the eyes of some people in terms of military value.

The Western Group of Forces holds a special status in the Soviet Red Army, equipped with the best and most complete personnel. Positioned on the front lines of the Cold War, it is a massive force, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, far more than the second-line forces in the rear. It is even more so compared to the military districts within the Soviet Union, which have only a few tens of thousands of troops.

General Matvei Vasilyevich Zakharov, who commands the Western Group of Forces, has under his command the most combat-effective units of the Soviet Union. Four-fifths of his units are prefixed with "Guards" or "Red Banner," each with a glorious history. In every aspect, the Western Group of Forces is far more illustrious than any other military district, even the Moscow Military District.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been rumors that General Zakharov will be awarded the rank of Marshal by the end of the year, placing him on par with the generals and marshals of the Ministry of Defense. If the military is considered a profession, General Zakharov has undoubtedly reached the pinnacle of this field. Compared to another General Zakharov who passed away two years ago, he is already very fortunate.

However, General Zakharov's mood is not good. The news from the various garrisons has him involuntarily rubbing his broad forehead, making his already sparse hair look even thinner.

"Since yesterday, the phone lines to the general headquarters have been flooded with calls from the commanders of the various garrisons! The agents of the Main Military Administration are rampaging through the barracks, interrogating soldiers without the approval of local commanders. Some soldiers have even been arrested and sent to the local East German Ministry of the Interior. The actions of the Main Military Administration are not even communicated, causing a very negative impact in the military!" General Sokolov, the deputy chief of staff of the Western Group of Forces, said with a troubled expression. "I am most afraid of receiving calls from the commanders below. Comrade Zakharov, shouldn't we think of a way to handle this?"

"Think of a way? What way? Should I use my rank to pressure Shcherbakov?" General Zakharov sneered. "Shcherbakov is a KGB man, nominally a soldier, but not under our jurisdiction. With the style of KGB Chairman Yury Serov, who can make Serov handle it? Moreover, in terms of work, only Shcherbakov can cause trouble for the Red Army, and the Red Army has no way to deal with it. For twenty years, some things have changed, but some things have never changed..."

General Zakharov clearly had a point. Twenty years ago, during the tenure of NKVD chiefs like Yagoda and Beria, the Red Army was like lambs to the slaughter before the NKVD, regardless of rank or status. In front of the NKVD, a general's life was no more valuable than a soldier's, and a high rank was even more dangerous.

Times have changed, but as the successor to the NKVD, the KGB still has the authority to meddle in other departments. The Red Army may seem powerful, but after Shcherbakov removed the ranks of over seventy generals in a year under the pretext of being Bonapartists, the commanders of regular units are reluctant to oppose him, except for the high-ranking generals and marshals of the Ministry of Defense.

General Sokolov hesitated and said, "But this is affecting the reputation of the Western Group of Forces..."

"Knowing it would have an impact, why didn't you enforce strict military discipline? What grounds do I have to make Shcherbakov stop? Should I say the Main Military Administration has no authority to punish Red Army soldiers? Or that punishing soldiers for conflicts with German civilians is wrong?" General Zakharov threw the internal reference document on the table and said angrily, "They are punishing soldiers according to regulations. What reason do you have to stop them?"

General Zakharov is not without the intention of protecting the reputation of the Western Group of Forces. Last night, he had already called KGB Chairman Yury Serov in Moscow, informing him of Shcherbakov's investigation in the Western Group of Forces. He still remembers Serov's words, "Once Yuri finds a problem, no one in the KGB can stop him. If Yuri believes he is clearing out issues for the state, even I can't stop him! If he were in the Soviet Union, I could recall him, but in Germany, I have no way. In fact, Yuri was conducting investigations in the Caucasus, and I assigned him to Berlin..."

"Comrade Zakharov, if you have a good relationship with Marshal Baghramyan, you might make Yuri's investigations less overt. Otherwise, the problems you face may just be beginning!"

Thinking about these words, General Zakharov said helplessly, "Shcherbakov didn't record everything in the files, which means he is already showing leniency. If we forcibly stop the Main Military Administration's investigations, the Caspian Tiger might go wild, and a few more generals might be forced into early retirement as Bonapartists..."

"If it were the early days of the Soviet Union, Shcherbakov might have been a capable assistant to Comrade Dzerzhinsky!" General Sokolov's muttering made General Zakharov's face change. This was not a good joke.

Good news kept coming from the front. In the 65th Guards Tank Regiment, Shcherbakov continuously received telegrams from KGB representatives stationed in various locations. Under the personal supervision of the KGB chairman, the agents of the Main Military Administration worked with 200% efficiency, demonstrating the true face of the KGB.

But this efficiency did not make Shcherbakov happy. He gritted his teeth and said, "A bunch of bastards who sit on the toilet but don't shit. If they had this efficiency earlier, would I have to come here myself? If they had shown even a tenth of their current enthusiasm, there wouldn't have been 200 recorded incidents of friction in five months..."

"Notify the Main Military Administration representatives in the Northern Group, Southern Group, and Central Group. The Central Group is just a nominal command structure, but the investigations in the Western Group of Forces will also be carried out in the Northern and Southern Groups. We must curb the backward behavior of Red Army soldiers on the territory of our fraternal countries. Alright, let the comrades from Department 11 contact the Polish and Hungarian Ministries of the Interior. Invite them to participate in the investigations to resolve disputes between Soviet troops and local residents!" The Central Group of Forces only nominally exists as a command structure, with its specific units already disbanded. The four major groups Shcherbakov mentioned are traditional terms. In reality, the Central Group of Forces, except for the command structure, has been dispersed among the other three groups, so there are no units for Shcherbakov to investigate.

"Hungary and Poland? Our relationship with the local interior ministries is still good. I believe this won't be a problem!" Isayevna referred to the events in Poland and Hungary three years ago, during which she and Shcherbakov spent a lot of time in both countries. Yury Serov knew Shcherbakov very well. His guess was spot on. The investigations in the Western Group of Forces are just the beginning. Shcherbakov's goal is the entire Soviet military presence abroad.