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Chapter 1546 Moscow Has No Tears (First Update, Please Subscribe)
In October, Khrushchev went to Sochi on the Black Sea for recuperation as usual.

Moscow at this time was far less warm than the Black Sea coast, and dark clouds covered the city, which seemed to be an ominous sign.

In a villa in Moscow, Shelepin asked:

"Are you ready? Will Shelest agree? If Kiev firmly opposes, we will never succeed."

The Sherest he mentioned is the first secretary of Ukraine and the core of the Ukrainian gang.

"According to Khrushchev, he is still an old man even at the age of 70."

Brezhnev did not answer his question, but brought up his age. Khrushchev had publicly stated his intention to retire many times when he proposed to abolish the "lifelong tenure system for cadres", and even planned to hand over the leadership in two years, but this decision caused some people to be nervous.

The reason is simple: every one of them feels that they can serve the motherland for their whole life. Now someone is depriving them of this right, and of course they are extremely dissatisfied.

"Of course, this is not a matter of age. What's more important is that he wants to drive out experienced leaders for his own arbitrary behavior. In the past few years, he has made many mistakes. No one can stop his arbitrary behavior."

Shelepin nodded in approval, which was exactly why he got involved, while Brezhnev was still talking to himself.

"Comrades all have high hopes for us and correctly understand our difficulties. Suslov, Podgorny and Shelest all understand the root cause of the current problems facing the motherland."

Shelepin was very young, so the age issue could not affect him, and Brezhnev did not hide the fact that his age caused panic to many people, which was why everyone supported him.

At the same time, the mistakes made by Khrushchev were emphasized, and Shelepin's opinion was sought:

"Shulick, what do you think we should do now?"

Shelepin answered promptly:
"Now that Malilovsky has sided with us, we should ask him to return to Moscow and formally state our views."

The role of the army is crucial to the success of the coup, so the presence of one person will play a decisive role, that is the attitude of the military leader, Soviet Defense Minister Malilovsky. If he does not agree to launch a coup, no matter how the anti-Khrushchev faction tosses about, for Khrushchev, it will be harmless.

Previously, in order to save costs, develop high-tech weapons, and ease tensions with Europe, Khrushchev stubbornly carried out large-scale disarmament. As a result, he gradually lost the trust of the army, as he had a general control over the army, and Malilinovsky eventually became an anti-Khrushchev faction.

This is the fundamental reason why they decided to implement the plan.

After getting the answer he wanted, Brezhnev asked again:
"That's a good idea. So Shulick, who will invite him back? This requires a suitable person. Every comrade has a suitable place."

Shelepin looked at Brezhnev and blurted out:
"Ilyich, you are the second secretary, so you are the most suitable candidate."

"I?"

Brezhnev's face froze, and he looked as if he was afraid of Khrushchev. Just as many people had the impression of him, he was easy-going, but his stance was unsteady, his opinions were unclear, he was a little soft-hearted, and was easily influenced by others.

This is also the reason why Brezhnev got involved - although Khrushchev valued Brezhnev very much, he often showed his "disdain" for Brezhnev.

It was this occasional denial that made Brezhnev, who was already a candidate for succession, feel uneasy and also made him dissatisfied with Khrushchev.

More importantly, Brezhnev considered himself to be extremely capable and hoped to step forward to handle some state affairs, but Khrushchev always asked him to take charge of some seemingly unimportant party affairs, which often made him feel that his ambitions were difficult to achieve.

In order to realize his political ambitions as soon as possible and to avoid further complications, Brezhnev finally decided to follow Khrushchev's example and launch a coup to seize power.

Over the past few years, he had collected the dissatisfaction of too many people. Everyone, from the republics to Moscow, was dissatisfied with Khrushchev.

He saw everyone's dissatisfaction, but also saw opportunities. Of course, he also saw the forces of various parties, such as Suslov and Shelepin, especially Shelepin. In the past few years, Khrushchev promoted many young people. Those young leaders grew up under the support of Shelepin. They were born as Communist Youth League cadres and were very loyal to him. They held many important senior positions. The national security agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the television station, and TASS were all full of Shelepin's forces. They would not tolerate each other becoming the masters of the Kremlin.

In this situation, Brezhnev, who is easily influenced by others, is the best choice.

As usual, Brezhnev showed his weakness once again.

"I am not suitable. Sherest is more suitable. He is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine and the first secretary of Ukraine. He is trustworthy because he was born in Ukraine. His qualifications are also good."

Brezhnev proposed a candidate, the most powerful local leader in the Soviet Union. Well, at this time, there was no Russian president, which meant that the huge Russia had no leader.

In fact, this is normal. If a Russian president emerges, the power he possesses can challenge Moscow.

But this also led to a situation where Ukraine became the most powerful local force. In many cases, the Kremlin needs to seriously consider Ukraine's voice.

"To be honest, Ilyich, you are the only one in this position."

Shelepin rejected it directly:

"You are the second-in-command of the Bureau and a widely trusted leader. You are irreplaceable."

Faced with such persuasion, Brezhnev still hesitated and, as in the past, behaved very weakly.

In the past, even if everyone expressed their dissatisfaction with Khrushchev, he remained silent and carefully collected everyone's dissatisfaction. Finally, he linked everyone together. In the past two years, these members often gathered together and secretly planned how to bring Khrushchev down.

From the very beginning, Brezhnev has been like this, from opposing assassinations to now, this guy is simply a hopeless case!

When Shelepin's patience was about to run out, Brezhnev agreed very reluctantly, nodded and said:
"Well, I understand what my comrades expect of me."

In fact, from the very beginning, Brezhnev knew that he could not escape. He personally communicated with most of the people who opposed Khrushchev, and he implemented all the plans.

The reason for discussing with Shelepin was just to test him. There were some things Brezhnev could do, but he could not take the lead at this time.

The current Central Presidium is very complicated. Suslov and Shelepin are the two giants, especially the latter, who also controls the KGB.

Although Brezhnev was the second secretary, he did not have an advantage over other giants, but sometimes he had no choice but to do things.

The anti-Khrushchev faction, which had successfully won over the army, laid a dragnet in Moscow, replaced Khrushchev's guards, and took control of the entire Kremlin. Then, without Khrushchev presiding over the meeting of the Central Presidium, a meeting was held to remove Khrushchev from his post.

At this time, Khrushchev was still on vacation on the Black Sea coast!

What excuse could be used to allow him to return to Moscow after completing the arrangements here?
This was the biggest problem. After all, Khrushchev was still nominally the leader of the Soviet Union. If he discovered the arrangements of others and launched a counterattack, they would definitely be finished. After all, since the establishment of the Soviet Union, the authority of the number one person has always been supreme.

At the last minute, Brezhnev seemed to back out again, forgetting what he had promised Shelepin, and hoped that Podgorny would contact Khrushchev on his behalf. Podgorny refused, saying that he had just reported his daily work to Khrushchev in detail, and calling him again might arouse suspicion. Although he was extremely reluctant, Brezhnev still made the call. He looked anxious, his face was pale, and his voice was trembling, reporting on several problems encountered in the reform of agriculture.

After hearing his words, Khrushchev said dissatisfiedly:

"What happened there? Can't you live a day without me? Well, I'll think about it. Mikoyan is here, I want to discuss it with him, call me later."

An hour later, Brezhnev called again.

"Comrade Khrushchev, on many issues only you have the ability and prestige to make uncontroversial decisions."

"Okay, I'll fly back to Moscow tomorrow."

Khrushchev's voice was still extremely impolite, and then the microphone was left with only a busy tone.

Brezhnev put down the microphone, looked at the members of the Presidium present, nodded expressionlessly, and everything was said without words.

"Vladimir, prevent any incidents from happening in Moscow."

On Lubyanka Square, Semichastny heard Shelepin's voice on the phone. He nodded and said:
"I see."

After hanging up the phone, Semichasny picked up the phone again:
"I'm Semichasny. The Director of the Ninth Bureau is here. I have something to say to him in person."

The Ninth Bureau was responsible for the security of Soviet high-level officials. Building 14 of the Kremlin was the headquarters of the Ninth Bureau of the KGB. It not only guarded the Kremlin government agencies, the Council of Ministers building and some other targets, but also some targets far away from Moscow, such as the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and other regions.

During the visit of the director of the Ninth Bureau, Semichastny went to the Third Directorate, the Main Directorate of Military Administration, and issued an order to it, requiring that all personnel and troop movements in the Moscow Military District, even those that were unimportant, must be reported to him immediately.

At this time, all the well-trained officers of the Ninth Bureau were ordered to be in wartime status.

To be on the safe side, the Seventh Bureau's reconnaissance force also cut off the government's dedicated communication line leading to Khrushchev's sanatorium, using the excuse that the equipment was damaged.

Thus, telephone contacts with Khrushchev had to be routed through a private exchange in Moscow, so that all of Khrushchev's telephone conversations could be reported immediately to Lubyanka.

The leader of the Ukrainian gang, Sherest, flew to Kiev. He wanted to control Ukraine to prevent it from supporting Khrushchev. The last time Malenkov and others made trouble, Khrushchev relied on local forces led by Ukraine to turn the tables.

After making all these arrangements, Sherest returned to Moscow again, ready to appear at the Central Presidium meeting and stand on the side of the majority of comrades.

Moscow was quiet that night.

Zhukov, once a symbol of victory, had been banished to the sidelines for many years, and no one could get the military to stand on Khrushchev's side again.

The military has become frustrated with its perceived "weakness" since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The next day, Khrushchev's plane landed at Moscow Government Airport. He was greeted by only one person, KGB Chairman Semichasny. After Khrushchev walked down the escalator, he asked:

"Where is everyone else?"

Semichastny glanced at the guard officer behind Khrushchev and answered expressionlessly.

"They're all in the Kremlin!"

Although it was a little unusual, Khrushchev still had no doubts and nodded at him and said:
"Go to the Kremlin immediately."

The meeting began immediately, and Brezhnev spoke first. He stood up and criticized Khrushchev for being extremely disrespectful to his comrades and often making some ill-considered decisions.

"Ilyich, this problem is not just mine. This was a decision made by everyone after discussion. Why didn't you object before?"

Khrushchev loudly refuted Brezhnev, then looked at the other people present, but unlike usual, no one spoke for him this time.

At this moment they were jointly opposing him. Khrushchev had already realized that they were coming with ill intentions. At this moment, what he regretted most was that he did not take decisive measures against them, otherwise there would not have been such a result.

Previously, Khrushchev's son Sergei had received a phone call saying that a group of people in the party were plotting to overthrow him. After learning the news, Sergei told Khrushchev immediately.

However, Khrushchev thought this was a fantasy. He had great trust in his subordinates whom he had promoted. He felt that he treated them very well, so why would they betray him?

So he did not choose to investigate the matter thoroughly. Instead, he went on vacation to the Black Sea as planned as if nothing had happened.

Now, he, who had no power to resist, had just woken up from his dream and realized that all this was planned by his most loyal subordinates.

Khrushchev wanted to struggle to change the situation, but Brezhnev gave him no chance at all and accused Khrushchev of serious mistakes made in the past 10 years. In the end, Khrushchev had to surrender and accept the reality of being withdrawn.

"I personally apologize for the issues that some comrades have taken seriously."

Khrushchev now realized that this was history repeating itself, and it seemed that this time it was even more troublesome.

What’s worse is that he knows that he no longer has the ability to turn the situation around this time.

The emergence of local powerful figures such as Ukraine's First Secretary Sherest, Belarus' First Secretary Mazurov, and Georgia's First Secretary Mzavanadze has already indicated the problem.

Only Mikoyan spoke well for him, suggesting that he be removed from his post as First Secretary but retain his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. However, his proposal was rejected by the meeting, and several other people who were more pro-Khrushchev also remained silent in the end.

"We hope that Comrade Khrushchev can deeply realize his mistakes and the huge losses caused to the Soviet Union."

Suslov said slowly,

"Voluntarily leaving the current leadership position and retiring will become a mutually acceptable outcome."

"This is impossible!"

Although he could not turn the tables, Khrushchev still did not compromise in the face of such a situation. He flatly refused:
"The current Central Committee Presidium meeting does not represent the true views of all cadres. I am the first secretary elected by all Central Committee members. Only the Central Committee can make me leave my job."

(End of this chapter)