Red Moscow

"Comrade Lunev," Beria said to his deputy impatiently after sending Georg away, "I have so much work every day. There is no need to bring such an insignificant person to see me."

"Comrade People's Commissar!" Seeing Beria's disdainful expression towards the intelligence he had just obtained, Lunev quickly reminded him: "When the Germans are about to send someone to assassinate Comrade Stalin, shouldn't we report to Comrade Stalin?"

"I don't think it's necessary."

"But if we don't report it, once the Supreme Commander himself learns about it through other channels, he might blame us."

"I don't think that intelligence is that great," Beria said impatiently. "It just says that the Germans will come to assassinate Comrade Stalin. But there is no mention of how many people are in the assassination team, how they plan to sneak into Moscow, what methods they will use to assassinate, etc. We can't waste a lot of manpower for an uncertain news."

Seeing that Beria would not listen to his advice, Lunev was helpless. He sighed softly and then asked, "Comrade People's Commissar, what about those military experts?"

As the German army got closer and closer to Moscow, the city began a large-scale evacuation. In addition to evacuating civilians from the city, important factories and enterprises were also moved to the Far East thousands of kilometers away. Military experts, who were indispensable to military enterprises, were the first target of transfer. There are now more than 20 military experts from Minsk in the Kremlin, and they will also be transferred in the near future.

When Beria heard Lunev mention the military experts who were still in the Kremlin, he said in a normal tone: "They will leave Moscow on the 9 o'clock train tonight. When it gets dark, we will send them to the station."

"clear!"

When the spire of the Kremlin was shrouded in darkness, three black cars escorted a gray-green bus and slowly drove out of the Kremlin. The motorcade passed the Vasilyevsky slope, arrived at the Moscow River, and drove forward along the highway.

When the convoy arrived near Arbat Street, a GAZ-AA truck with a tarpaulin suddenly rushed out from the street next to it and hit the side of the first car hard. The huge impact force caused the car to overturn immediately.

The car rolled over several times before stopping, and the people in the car were thrown all over the place. The driver's cervical vertebra was broken during the rolling of the car, and his body lay limp in the car. The lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sitting in the passenger seat, endured the pain all over his body, kicked open the deformed door, and tried to climb out of the car.

The officers and soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the following cars got out one after another and came to investigate the sudden car accident.

However, at this moment, something strange happened. Seven or eight men in plain clothes jumped out of the truck compartment, holding MP40 submachine guns in their hands, and fired fiercely at the Internal Affairs officers and soldiers who were approaching.

When the attackers saw that the Ministry of Internal Affairs soldiers' resistance had completely ceased, they rushed to the front of the bus, raised their submachine guns, and fired into the bus. The windows exploded, the bus body was riddled with bullets, and the military workers inside died one after another.

After the attackers stopped shooting, two people immediately rushed onto the bullet-riddled bus, stepped on the blood on the ground, and checked if there were any survivors inside. If they found anyone moving, they immediately fired two shots. After confirming that there was no one alive in the car, they got out of the car.

The attackers, who had completed their attack mission, saw a middle-aged man making a gesture and quickly fled to an alley not far away.

When their figures disappeared into an alley not far away, a patrol team rushed over.

The leader of the team was Lieutenant Dennis of the garrison headquarters. When he saw the bodies all over the ground, his scalp was numb. He shouted to the soldiers around him: "Everyone, disperse and check quickly to see if there are any survivors."

Soon, the people in charge of checking reported to Dennis: "Comrade Lieutenant, there are no living people here."

"It's the same here. There's not a single living person left."

Seeing the bodies on the street and in the car, Daniel was filled with hatred, but he could do nothing. He could only call a soldier over and told him, "Go back to the garrison headquarters immediately and report what happened here to the commander."

As soon as the soldier who reported the news left, a whistle sounded not far away, followed by chaotic and hurried footsteps, as if many people were running towards here. Dennis didn't know who was coming, so he quickly shouted to the soldiers around him: "Everyone listen to my command, find a suitable place to hide immediately, and be ready for battle."

The patrol soldiers were filled with anger when they saw their comrades lying on the ground. When they heard Dennis shouting to hide, they immediately dispersed to find a suitable place to hide and pointed their guns in the direction of the footsteps.

But everyone soon discovered that it was another troop that had arrived. The leader was a lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was shocked to see the bodies scattered all over the ground and the bus that was riddled with bullets. He then clenched his pistol and shouted around, "Is there anyone alive?"

Lieutenant Dennis, who was hiding in the dark, saw clearly that the people coming were all from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He guessed that the other party might have heard the gunshots and rushed over to support, so he shouted: "No one is allowed to shoot without my order." Then he walked out of his hiding place and walked towards the lieutenant.

After talking with the lieutenant, Dennis learned that these officers and soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came from the Kremlin, and they did rush over in a hurry after hearing the gunshots.

The gunshots on the Moscow River alerted Beria who was staying in the Kremlin. He grabbed the red confidential phone in front of him, dialed a number, and asked sternly: "This is Beria, what's the gunshot outside?"

The person who answered the phone was General Artemyev, the commander of the Moscow garrison. He was far away from the Kremlin, so he didn't hear any gunfire. Hearing Beria's question without any context, he couldn't help but feel puzzled and asked in the same puzzled manner: "Comrade Beria, I'm sorry, I haven't received any reports yet, and I don't know what's going on outside. Please give me some time, and I'll call you again after I figure out what's going on."

"Okay, I'll wait for your reply." Beria said and hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, Stalin called and asked slowly: "Comrade Beria, I heard dense gunfire outside the Kremlin wall. What is going on?"

Hearing that it was Stalin who called, Beria was startled and broke out in a cold sweat. He tried to remain calm and said, "Comrade Stalin, I have sent someone to investigate. I think it won't take long to find out what happened."

"Okay, I understand." Stalin said calmly, "When you have the results of the investigation, remember to report to me as soon as possible."

After Beria finished his conversation with Stalin, he did not dare to delay at all. He made several more phone calls and asked his subordinates to help him investigate what was happening outside.

Ten minutes later, an officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came in to report to Beria: "Comrade Beria, I have important intelligence to report to you."

"Tell me, Comrade Lieutenant." Beria asked his subordinate politely, "What's the matter with the gunshots outside?"

"It was the group of military and industrial representatives who left the Kremlin who were attacked by the Moscow River." The officer reported to Beria: "The gunshots you heard were the result of a fight between the attackers and the guards escorting the military and industrial representatives."

Beria felt his breathing quicken after hearing what the officer said. He asked cautiously, "Are the military experts in the car injured?"

The officer lowered his head and replied somewhat awkwardly: "Comrade Beria, when our patrol heard the gunshots and rushed over, they saw only corpses all over the ground. The military experts on the bus and the Ministry of Internal Affairs guards who escorted them were all killed. Not a single one was left alive."

Upon learning that the military experts and the escorting guards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were all wiped out, Beria gnashed his teeth and asked, "Have you figured out who planned this attack?"

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"Comrade People's Commissar, I'm afraid we can't find out." The officer was probably worried that Beria had forgotten what he had said, so he quickly reminded him, "You know, those military experts and escorting guards have all been killed. Therefore, we can't find out the identity of the attackers, or their more detailed information."

"I understand." Beria, who had stood up, sat back in his seat. He rubbed his temples with his hands and said weakly to the officer: "Comrade Lieutenant, there is nothing for you to do here. You can leave."

After the officer saluted Beria, he turned around and was about to leave the office, but he ran into Lunev and quickly saluted him again: "Hello, Comrade Deputy People's Commissar."

Lunev just nodded to the officer, then walked quickly into the office and said to Beria who was sitting behind his desk: "Comrade Beria, something happened. Shortly after the military experts left the Kremlin, they were attacked by unknown armed men and all of them were killed."

Beria nodded and said, "The officer who just left reported this to me."

"What should we do?" Although Lunev was the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he was still a little flustered. He looked at Beria and asked, "If the Supreme Commander himself asks about this, how should we respond?"

Beria sighed softly, and then said: "We must report to Comrade Stalin immediately."

The moment he picked up the phone, he felt a little regretful. If he had paid more attention to what the intelligence officer named Georg said, perhaps the tragedy tonight would not have happened. But when he dialed the number, he hesitated again, thinking that if he really reported the matter, he might be blamed by Stalin.

Seeing Beria holding the receiver but not dialing the number, Lunev was somewhat surprised: "Comrade People's Commissar, why don't you dial the number?"

Beria put the receiver back on the base of the phone and said hesitantly: "Although those who said that the enemy might approach Moscow are not being pursued now, if I tell Stalin that he might be assassinated by the Germans, do you think it will anger him?"

Beria's words reminded Lunev that soon after the outbreak of the war, someone had suggested that the enemy's target of attack might be Moscow. But the person who said this was arrested soon after. Because to put it mildly, this was a sign of panic; to put it more seriously, this was a defeatist argument. If someone said to Stalin that he might be assassinated by the Germans, would the Supreme Commander himself regard it as a curse on him?

Just when the two were in trouble, the sudden ring of the phone broke the silence in the room.

Beria picked up the phone: "I am Beria, who are you?"

"Hello, Comrade Beria." The voice of Stalin's secretary came from the receiver: "I am Poskrebyshev. Comrade Stalin wants you and Comrade Lunev to come to his office. He has something to ask you."

"Okay, Comrade Poskrebyshev, we'll get there as soon as possible."

When he hung up the phone, Beria found that his back was soaked with cold sweat.

After taking two deep breaths, he said to Lunev: "Comrade Lunev, Poskrebyshev said that Comrade Stalin asked us to go see him."

Hearing Beria's words, Lunev's heart was even more panicked: "Comrade People's Commissar, what should we say when we meet Comrade Stalin?"

"I think we should tell the truth." Beria had already made up his mind and planned to report the matter to Stalin truthfully. At the same time, he reminded Lunev: "You know, Comrade Stalin hates people who deceive him the most. Not long ago, Deputy Chief of the General Staff General Ivanov was expelled from the General Staff because he lied to him. If you don't want to repeat the same mistake, it's best to tell Comrade Stalin the truth of the matter truthfully."

Since Beria had already made the decision, Lunev, as his deputy, naturally would not object. He nodded and agreed, "Okay, Comrade People's Commissar, I'll listen to you. When I meet Comrade Stalin, I'll report to him truthfully about what's happening outside."

The two men came to the outside of Stalin's office. When Poskrebyshev saw them coming, he quickly stood up from his seat, greeted them, and continued: "Comrade Stalin has been waiting for you. Go in quickly and don't make him wait anxiously." After that, Poskrebyshev walked to the door, pushed open one of the tightly closed wooden doors, and then made a gesture of invitation to the two men, indicating that they could go in to see Stalin.

After thanking Poskrebyshev, Beria and Lunev walked into Stalin's office.