Struggle in Soviet Russia

Nakhchivan, South Azerbaijan.

The train stopped quietly on the rails. Less than a hundred meters in front of the front of the train, there is a railway bridge across the river. From the outside, this special railway bridge is quite new, and obviously it hasn't been built for a long time. .

On the embankment not far from the railway bridge, Victor, wearing a navy blue windbreaker, stood quietly on the embankment with kneeless grass, and looked towards the other bank of the river with the help of a telescope in his hand.

The river in front of us is called the Aras River. After crossing this river, Iran is on the opposite bank. In other words, this wide river is the boundary between the Union Republic of Azerbaijan and Iran.

Just two years ago, General Novikov...oh, not the Novikov who served in the Air Force, but the Major General Novikov who was captured by the Germans at the beginning of this year. According to the historical process of Victor’s previous life, This person will die in a German prisoner of war camp next year.

In short, it was the Novikov Major General, who commanded a 2,000-man motorized force that crossed the river and launched an offensive against Iran. In just three days, he successively captured Marku and Hoy. Land, has been hitting Tabriz.

How should I put it, before the Soviet Union and Britain advanced to Iran, the country’s military strength was still too weak. The army was only 120,000 people. Moreover, Reza Khan wanted to follow the Germans, but at the same time, he lacked confrontation with the allies. Courage. This kind of policy, which is sandwiched between the big powers, but is politically vacillating, is obviously a recipe for disaster. It can be said that his tragic fate was doomed from the beginning.

On the other side of the river, within the horizon that can be seen through the telescope, there is an endless field, but a little farther away, a truck is slowly crawling on the narrow highway.

Not far behind Victor stood a dozen people, most of whom were wearing Soviet uniforms, and a few were Persians in turbans.

In fact, among the dozen or so people, only two officers were Soviets, and the rest were all Persians. The leading one is a middle-aged man wrapped in a turban and white robe. This person is named Khadi Muhammad. He is the spiritual leader of the Kurds in several provinces in northern Iran. The area around Mahabad is his inherent base.

And those Persians wearing Soviet uniforms and the rank of majors are the tribal leaders who lean towards Kadi Muhammad. These people have long been named as so-called "marshals" by Kadi Muhammad, but in the Soviet army In the system, they were only given the rank of major.

Of course, Kadi Muhammad is an absolute puppet of the Alliance. Without the support of the Alliance, he is not at all stable in northern Iran, let alone fighting against Tehran. However, even so, Moscow does not trust him completely. There will be the presence of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan.

In the past period of time, the tribal forces of Khadi Muhammad were not only fighting against Tehran, but also against the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan. This can be seen as a dispute between Kurds and Azerbaijanis.

However, in several confrontations back and forth, the Kurds fell in the wind and Tabriz was also taken away by the Azerbaijanis. Therefore, I heard that a Central Committee member from Moscow will pass through his site. At the time, Cardi Muhammad rushed over immediately.

But unfortunately, this young and somewhat excessive comrade of the Central Committee obviously had no intention of intervening in the dispute between the Kurds and the Azerbaijanis, and he did not even give Kadi Mohammed a chance to speak.

Putting down the telescope in his hand, Victor lowered his head, looked at the grassy embankment under his feet, and stepped on the embankment. He turned his back and walked in the direction of the train.

Walking to the front of the crowd, Victor stopped, his eyes swept across the faces of everyone in front of him, and finally fell on the face of a burly Soviet colonel.

"Comrade Colonel Swartzkopf," Victor said blankly looking at the bearded colonel, "I am very dissatisfied with your work, and at the same time, I do not agree with your conflict in northern Persia. The attitude and position of the government."

The colonel's lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he pressed his lips and didn't dare to say anything.

Colonel Swartzkopf does not belong to the NKVD system or the NKVD system. He is an out-and-out Soviet general. He is currently working in Iran as an adviser to the Iranian gendarmerie.

The current Iranian gendarmerie is adapted from the two former royal guard divisions, and is also the two most elite divisions among the 11 infantry divisions of the Iranian army. But now, these two divisions have been completely broken up and changed. He became the so-called gendarmerie, and it was actually Soviet soldiers who controlled the Tehran gendarmerie.

"You should know that the riots in northern Persia have affected the national security of the alliance," Victor continued. "Those restless separatists are spreading to the border area, and at the same time, it has also affected the security of the Baku oil field. , You have to bear certain responsibilities."

"But, comrades," Colonel Swartzkopf finally couldn't help it. He defended. "As long as the current chaos in the north is caused by conflicts between Kurds and Azerbaijanis, we will not Do not……"

"You can say that you have no right to intervene in the conflict between Kurds and Azerbaijanis, but you can't deny that the weapons of the British, dispersed into the territory of the Union through the north, are your negligence," Victor interrupted, saying, "and , Have you reported the conflict between Kurds and Azerbaijanis to Moscow? Did you know that according to the agreement signed between the Union and Persia in 1921, if a third party uses Persian territory to protect the Union’s national security Is a threat, the Alliance has the right to send troops into Persia?"

Colonel Swarzkopf's lips moved, and he dared not say anything.

In fact, as the highest-ranking military personnel of the coalition stationed in Iran, Colonel Swartzkopf should come forward to mediate on the conflict between Kurds and Azerbaijanis in the north.

In addition, Victor was not wrong. The British weapons passed through northern Iran and entered the territory of the Alliance, but Colonel Swartzkopf didn't even notice it. This is definitely a manifestation of his incompetence.

"Now, I don't want to hold you accountable," Victor replied when he saw that the other party was no longer defending. "But within two days, the riots in the north must stop, especially the one from Tabriz to Tehran. The passage must be cleared across the board."

After a pause, Victor stepped forward and stood almost face-to-face in front of Colonel Swartzkopf, staring at his eyes, and said: "Comrade Colonel Swartzkopf, believe me, if If this matter is not done well, you will be sent to a military court."

Colonel Swartzkopf trembled. After hesitating for a while, he raised his hand to salute and said in a categorical tone: "Yes, Comrade Committee Member, I know what to do!"

Victor nodded, gave the other party a military salute, and said, "Don't let me down again."

After saying this, he looked at the people next to him again, and then turned and walked towards the train without saying a word.

So far, the Tehran meeting of the heads of the Allies is still top secret. It can be said that this news will not be announced to the outside world until the heads of the three countries arrive in Tehran. Only in this way can the safety of the leaders be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

But in this way, it will bring some troubles to related security work, just like people like Colonel Swartzkopf. They don’t know that Comrade Stalin will go to Tehran by train. Therefore, they are implementing the National Security Committee. It is inevitable that there will be some negligence when issuing relevant orders.

Victor made two inspections in succession, in order to make this kind of people pay more attention, but sometimes, if they don't put the gun on the forehead of this kind of guy, they don't know what it means to be proactive.

The train stopped on the rails quickly re-started, and with the banging sound, all the way to Tehran.

In the carriage, Victor took off his windbreaker jacket and hung it on a hanger by the door of the carriage. When he turned around, he glanced at Sophia who was standing at his desk and said, "Report to Moscow."

Sophia was standing at the table reading a newspaper. Hearing this, she hurriedly put the newspaper down and took out a notebook from the jacket pocket of the military uniform.

"As the military representative and gendarmerie adviser of the Union stationed in Tehran," Viktor frowned, walking towards the desk, and said, "Col. Swartzkopf has a serious problem of negligence in his work. He did not mediate or take active measures to stop the dispute between Kurds and Azerbaijanis, which caused the situation in northern Persia to rot and provided opportunities for British infiltration. Therefore, I propose to dismiss Colonel Swartzkopf. Position, and arrange suitable candidates to replace them."

Before getting on the bus, Victor did tell Colonel Swartzkopf that he would not be held accountable for the time being, but that he would do the security work well, but that was only a temporary measure. After the Tehran meeting, this person It means that everything must be replaced.

In addition, sending a report at this time can also prove to Comrade Stalin that he is cautious. In the future, if Comrade Stalin encounters something unpleasant in Iran, he might have a goal to shirk responsibility.

"That's it," Victor nodded as he watched Sophia write down what he said, and said, "Send it in my name, right away."

"Yes," Sophia replied, turning around and walking quickly towards the door of the car.