Chapter 53

The significance of this operation lies in establishing discipline among the Soviet garrison, to curb the lax and undisciplined behavior. Khrushchev does not want the scandals that plagued future American garrisons to happen to the Soviet Red Army, especially not in Eastern Europe. It is essential to harness the potential of other Warsaw Pact member states, rather than having the Soviet Union face off against the United States, Britain, France, and Germany alone, treating the other member states as subordinates. Great power chauvinism is not to be used, at least not within the socialist bloc.

"Director, this time we've won the applause of many allies! I have a Hungarian newspaper here!" Isayevna walked over, waving the newspaper and sitting on Khrushchev's lap without any hesitation, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Isayevna, who was adopted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Hungary, read the Hungarian newspaper with no difficulty. "It's not a good thing for people like us to always appear in the newspapers!" Khrushchev, holding her waist, shook his head.

"That's for others. The other directors are all old men; none of them are as handsome as my man!" Isayevna drawled, wriggling on Khrushchev's lap.

Khrushchev lightly slapped her firm buttocks, pursing his lips and saying with a curious look, "Did your instructor back then plan to marry you off to a Hungarian official as a mole? You're so young, yet so clingy."

"I just want to make you happy, always with a cold face..." Isayevna continued to shake Khrushchev's neck.

"What's this? Dealing with existing problems and correcting mistakes can make the news? The big scenes are yet to come! For now, it's just practice..." Khrushchev took the newspaper from Isayevna, looking at the photos published and smiling meaningfully.

In short, the world is changing. By this year, Stalin has been dead for six years. The Soviet cadre layer, which once trembled under the watchful eye of the Iron Comrade, has gradually forgotten the fear of being dominated by Stalin. Without the strong authority of Stalin to suppress them, the Soviet cadre layer is in a stable state.

Khrushchev has already seen the cadre layer, in this stable state, begin to undergo changes that are not very pleasant.

This situation, while not yet severe during Khrushchev's tenure, is still concerning. On one hand, the current Soviet Union has not yet reached the point of gerontocracy seen in later years, and the cadre layer is still relatively young. Moreover, Khrushchev has always planned to establish a retirement system for cadres, meaning the abolition of lifelong tenure! In this regard, Khrushchev and Stalin are consistent, though Stalin openly eliminated opponents, while Khrushchev used more gentle methods, such as retirement age and regulations on cadre transfer times, to prevent the Soviet cadre layer from transforming into a bureaucratic class.

The tragic part of the Soviet Union is that even the most authoritative Stalin could not use iron-fisted methods to prevent the transformation of the cadre layer. Khrushchev's cadre transfer policy had significant issues, with some positions having only a two-year term. A cadre would just start to understand their role when it was time to transfer, leading to the defection of Khrushchev's key supporters, the Ukrainian central representatives. If Khrushchev had not been so eager for quick results and offended all Soviet cadres in just a few years, extending the terms of cadres appropriately might have allowed the Soviet Union to successfully abolish lifelong tenure in the 1960s. Brezhnev and Shelepin would not have quickly gained the support of most central representatives to remove Khrushchev from his position as General Secretary.

In Khrushchev's view, while Khrushchev's capabilities are far inferior to Stalin's, in the matter of abolishing lifelong tenure, he is absolutely a qualified communist fighter and a legitimate successor to Stalin. The Soviet Union has many problems, but the most severe issue leading to its dissolution is the lifelong tenure of cadres.

The relatively young cadre layer of the 1950s, after eighteen years under Brezhnev, gradually transformed into a bureaucratic class of old men by the 1980s. These cadres, who had remained in their positions for decades, saw their communist ideals fade over time. As they neared the end of their lives, they took the final step in their transformation, converting the state assets they had occupied for decades into their own legal property.

By then, a vast bureaucratic class had formed in the Soviet Union. Cadres with lingering ideals who wanted to stop this and protect the state's assets found themselves in the minority. The bureaucratic class, intent on dismantling the public ownership system and seizing the wealth of the Soviet people, became the majority. They easily crushed the counterattacks of the socialist cadres, ignored the public's desire to retain the socialist system, and cleanly dismantled their own country, standing on the corpse of their homeland to implement their own capitalism.

Undoubtedly, following the normal course of history, Brezhnev, upon taking office, would certainly re-establish lifelong tenure to consolidate his position, especially under the pressure of the strong forces of the Shelepin faction. Joining forces with other factions would be Brezhnev's choice.

In fact, even subconsciously, Khrushchev is not entirely convinced of Shelepin. He does not doubt Shelepin's style and abilities, but whether Shelepin is a true communist remains a matter of reservation for Khrushchev.

This time, having the First and Third Directorates work together to clean up the Red Army's issues is just a small step to gain experience. First, it is to test the combined strength of the KGB's various directorates, and second, to accumulate experience for future movements.

"If I face a large group of bureaucrats trying to seize the people's property, why does the first word that comes to mind always be 'Great Purge'?" Looking at the gradually darkening sky, Khrushchev shook his head vigorously, finding it too ominous.

On May 23, Khrushchev took the reports from all the garrison representatives to the Stasi headquarters and handed them over to his East German counterpart. "I have completed what I promised. I have taken criticism and warnings for minor frictions, and some soldiers have already apologized to the local residents. As for those involved in criminal offenses, they have been handed over to the local East German Ministry of Internal Affairs!"

Markus Wolf read through the reports one by one, then stood up, unusually solemn, and said, "Comrade Khrushchev, I personally thank you!"

"I should apologize to the German people. This should not have happened, and one investigation may not solve the problem. I plan to have the Third Directorate's garrison representatives directly responsible to East Germany. In the future, German residents can directly complain to the Third Directorate's garrison representatives if they encounter disputes with the Red Army, hoping this will prevent conflicts of interest between the Third Directorate and the Red Army units. However, there might be one issue!" Khrushchev frowned, "Perhaps you Germans will have to pay an additional fee, providing extra wages for the Third Directorate agents in the Western Group of Forces..."

[This chapter was a bit difficult to write!]

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