Chapter 73

The two people exchanged knowing smiles. The reason France can still maintain the face of a major country today and has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council is largely due to Stalin's leniency towards the French back then. Otherwise, with how France was easily defeated by Germany in World War II, how could it have appeared as a victorious country after the war? It was because the Soviet Union, considering the influence of the French Communist Party, the largest party in France, was misled to some extent by the post-war French Communist Party's momentum. The Soviet Union believed it could win over France to stand with it.

Now, although France has not become a socialist country as the Soviet Union had hoped, it has maintained a certain distance from the UK and the US. Therefore, the Soviet Union still views the UK and the US as different groups from France. Although France stands behind the US and cheers, it's just cheering! The relationship between the Soviet Union and France is not as bad as imagined. The Soviet Union is also willing to see France occasionally voice its own opinions.

"Where do you think it would be appropriate to arrange the negotiations? Definitely not in the Soviet Union! Vienna?" General Sakhatovsky thought for a moment and felt that a neutral location must be found, as neither the Soviet Union nor France would be suitable, as they would attract too much attention.

"Vienna won't work. Although Austria is a neutral country, the espionage activities in Vienna are rampant and it's too easy to be exposed!" Cherov, looking like a thinker, said, "At the border between East Germany and Austria, we can select a small town as the contact point and have the Stasi handle the security! I believe there won't be any problems. The specific meeting time will be after the Bucharest Conference. I will secretly return with the comrades from East Germany, and the French can prepare in Vienna in advance, ready to move out at any time!"

"Alright, I'll take care of the specifics!" General Sakhatovsky reached out to high-five Cherov and asked curiously, "Yuri, are you planning to sign an agreement? How much did you get?"

"Forty billion, and as for the agreement? Ha ha..." Cherov laughed, as if he had encountered something quite amusing, "How could such a thing leave any evidence? I can only reach a verbal agreement with them! I won't sign any piece of paper!"

"Not signing an agreement is your style, but isn't forty billion a bit too little?" This answer did not satisfy General Sakhatovsky. This amount of money was not enough to justify the KGB's planning of an operation.

"I'm talking about US dollars! Alright, I'm off. I still need to arrange for the Main Military Administration to go abroad to inspect the advisory teams in the Arab region. These days have been hectic! See you around..." Cherov waved and left the headquarters of the First Chief Directorate, leaving General Sakhatovsky to shake his head and smile wryly.

The exchange rate of the French franc and the British pound is declining every day, and their current value is even less than the ruble. How could Cherov do a losing business? If de Gaulle's policies do not change, the financial reform of 1960 will certainly be repeated, with the new franc being exchanged at a rate of 100 to 1 with the old franc. What use would the Soviet Union have for a pile of worthless paper? At this point, it's naturally better to have US dollars.

Each of the KGB's Chief Directorates has its own tasks. The First and Second Chief Directorates are very busy every day. Cherov's recent plans include: arranging for school graduates to be stationed in the four major clusters in Eastern Europe to strengthen the garrison institutions, inspecting the tank factory in Kazakhstan, visiting the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and checking the security system of the Myasishchev Design Bureau. Next month, he also needs to receive agricultural experts returning from Sudan and ask about the current corn situation in Sudan.

The Traffic Management Directorate and the Technical Management Directorate are also very busy. In Moscow, Cherov knows that the automated subway system is being tested, not to mention the entire Soviet transportation system. The Secret Police Directorate and the Police Directorate work together every day to arrange security for Soviet leaders and train military attachés at foreign embassies.

Even if some less important reports are stripped out, the documents of the Main Military Administration are still enough to bury Cherov. "In the future, you will handle reports below the division level yourselves. Just submit your handling opinions to me for approval! The same goes for the Red Navy and other military branches..." Cherov, while in a meeting, kept nagging his department heads. Since his return, he has become the busiest person in the entire Chief Directorate.

It was only now that Cherov realized a long-standing issue: as a new Chief Directorate, the Main Military Administration, which was placed third by Serov, had all its work arranged by Cherov alone, lacking many things that other Chief Directorates have. For example, the Third Chief Directorate has no deputy director, not even a first deputy director. Cherov is a lonely major general director, with a group of colonels below him, and the few major generals were only promoted from Serov in May, when Cherov was still working as a construction worker in Berlin...

There's no problem with Cherov being busy domestically every day, but if he leaves for a while, like going to Berlin, the accumulated workload would be enough to make him foam at the mouth. "Each department, take the accumulated reports back, propose your own opinions, and then submit them to me!" Cherov put down his pen and rubbed his wrist with his left hand.

An hour later, after completing his strength training, Cherov returned to his office. Seeing the darkening sky, he turned on the desk lamp and buried himself in a mountain of documents. "If I don't nominate myself for the National Model Worker, it wouldn't be convincing. Why are there so many reports at the military district level?" The reports from the entire Soviet Red Army system, not a single one submitted to the Ministry of Defense, are also sent to the Main Military Administration. After several months, there are naturally so many, but Cherov still has to personally make comments, as the Main Military Administration lacks officers of his rank.

Cherov originally wanted to have Isayevna lead the secretariat in, but he gave up, thinking, "What if there's a leak?"

After ten days, Cherov finally cleared the backlog of official duties. Whenever he thought about a moment from his past life in his hometown, it could serve as a monologue for his current work. It was a small sports meet, and after participating, he ran home in a hurry. The first thing he did when he got home was to drink water, and his father asked if he was tired.

"How could I not be tired? I didn't even have a chance to urinate or drink a sip of water!" Now, thinking about those words, he found them quite amusing.

Unfortunately, there is no time to rest. After finishing the work of the Chief Directorate, Cherov left and immediately rushed to the American National Exhibition Hall. Khrushchev will personally attend the opening of the American National Exhibition, and Cherov, representing the Second and Fifth Chief Directorates, must stand beside the General Secretary to ensure there are no problems. He must first come to inspect the security environment.

"From what I can see, your Chief Directorate has arranged everything well. I will inform Chairman Serov of the arrangements!" After a round of inspection, Cherov did not see any issues and said, "Who is coming from the United States to host the American National Exhibition?"

"Seems to be Nixon?" The commander of the Secret Police Directorate thought for a moment and said. Who? Cherov froze in place.

[Thank you, brothers, for your support and recommendations. Thanks everyone.]

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