Struggle in Soviet Russia

Pouring a glass of water and placing it in front of Victor, Abakumov sat down in front of the sofa opposite him, tidied up his military uniform, nodded and said: "It is possible, but if this speculation is true, then Sha There must be something wrong with Erwan, do you have relevant information on hand?"

The "Sharman" that Abakumov said is not a nation, but a tribe. It is also the largest tribe in the two provinces of East and West Azerbaijan.

Shahwan means "a close friend of the Shah" in Persian, and "Shah" is the title of the emperor. This tribe has been thriving in northern Iran since the 16th century and has grown stronger day by day. Up to now, their power is still huge.

Since the Soviet Union and Britain jointly sent troops to Iran last year and drove out Reza Khan, the Soviet Union and Britain have divided Iran. The Soviet Union has occupied the northern provinces of Iran, and the British have occupied the southern provinces.

According to the peace agreement signed by the Soviet Union, Britain and Iran at the beginning of last year, all roads, railways, rivers, airports, ports, oil pipelines, telephones, telegraphs and radio facilities throughout Iran were taken over by the Soviet Union and Britain. .

In the Soviet-occupied area of ​​the north, the Union’s garrison dismissed all the governors of the provinces and replaced them with puppets leaning toward the Soviet Union. This is also to ensure the stability of the occupied areas. In the two provinces of East and West Azerbaijan, the governors appointed by the Union are all Comes from the Salwan tribe.

In the past year or so, the cooperation between the Salwan tribe and the Alliance Garrison has been fairly good. Although the 1st Mountain Cavalry Division stationed in these two provinces has insufficient strength, the two provinces are also very stable, and there is no trouble. What big news is coming.

However, under this calm water surface, there are obviously some undercurrents hidden. Otherwise, with the influence of the Salwan tribe in the border area, it would be impossible for anyone to avoid their sight and transport the British weapons to In the Soviet Union.

"The Foreign Intelligence Service has not obtained any relevant information, and as far as I know, there is no feedback from the Azerbaijan Mass Party," Victor shook his head and said, "I think there must be something in our work. I’ve overlooked that, so I’m going to ask the bureau to increase monitoring in this area to see where the problem is."

The "Azerbaijan Mass Party" is a left-wing political party formed by the Azerbaijanis in the northern provinces of Iran. Of course, it was also formed with the support of the Soviet Union.

As far as Victor knew, Moscow had a long-term occupation strategy for northern Iran. The coalition formed an Azerbaijani mass party among the northern Azerbaijanis and a Kurdish mass party among the Kurds. The purpose was to have a chance in the future. The words instigated the independence of northern Iran and split it into two countries ruled by Azerbaijanis and Kurds.

"I can't get involved in Iran's affairs," Abakumov nodded and said, "However, I will send a report to Moscow to raise this issue. In addition, in the next two to three months, I will The border guards are required to increase patrols in the border areas."

Victor agreed with the other party’s statement that since the NKVD and the NKVD, the latter has lost its powers in foreign affairs. Even if Abakumov wanted to intervene in Iran’s affairs, he did not so much. Permissions.

Today, Victor is not worried about the so-called "Bailamov guerrillas." According to Abakumov, this guerrilla has only four to five hundred people. The encirclement and suppression will not last long, and the destruction will only happen sooner or later.

What Victor is really worried about now is that the situation in Iran has changed, and it is an unexpectedly big change.

For now, the Alliance’s garrison in Iran is not too many. When added together, there are only the 402nd Infantry Division, the 1st Mountain Cavalry Division, the 23rd Cavalry Division, and two independent motorized regiments with incomplete equipment.

These troops are spread across the entire northern border of Iran. It seems that there are a lot of them, but in fact they have limited control capabilities.

In contrast, the British and American troops stationed in Iran are much larger.

Before the outbreak of the Battle of Stalingrad, the British stationed a so-called "10th Army" in Iran. Its main job was transportation and defense, and the ability to launch offensive and geo-infiltration was not strong.

The reason for this is that there is an agreement between Moscow and London. In order to ensure maximum security on the southern front during the war, the number of troops stationed between the two countries was determined before Britain and the Soviet Union entered Iran together. The Soviet Union could not accept the British. Large-scale garrison in southern Iran.

But with the outbreak of the Battle of Stalingrad, especially the rapid advancement of the German army in the Caucasus, the British found an excuse to increase their troops to Iran. They even proposed that once the German army entered the Caucasus, the British and American sides would use Iran as a base in the Caucasus. The direction opens up a battlefield.

For this reason, since the end of last year, the British began to greatly increase their troops into Iranian territory. Now, the British have deployed a total of two regiments in southern Iran. There are two British divisions and one British armored brigade. Indian division and 1 Indian armored brigade, and 2 Polish divisions.

Although the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom are now allies, the huge forces maintained by the British in Iran still put a lot of pressure on Moscow. After all, everyone knows that the so-called alliance relationship is actually unreliable, not to mention the Soviet Union in the Middle East. They also have their own interests. Moscow does not want to wait for the British and Yankees to stay in Iran after the Germans are defeated.

The current situation is that the separatist guerrillas active in Azerbaijan have British weapons. In the anti-German situation, the British may not choose to fight the Soviet Union at this time, but if they hide their evil intentions, they can provide weapon assistance. In the situation, it is not impossible to engage in trouble in the South Caucasus.

Today, the British and American forces have achieved a decisive victory in the war in North Africa, and are planning to advance to Italy. On the one hand, they stationed heavy troops in Iran and on the other hand they sought to land on the Italian peninsula. On the other hand, the Americans were still fighting the Japanese in the Far East. If the offensive launched by the British mainland was added, then the British and Americans tried to establish the basic geopolitics after the war. The pattern can be clearly seen.

Undoubtedly, this is an encirclement in three directions: east, south, and west. They want to block the Soviet Union’s international influence within Russia’s old sphere of influence, and not give the alliance a chance to expand its influence. .

Therefore, the current foreign policy of Moscow should be to break this kind of geopolitical attempt by the United Kingdom and the United States. At least in the South Caucasus region, the United Kingdom and the United States must not be allowed to occupy a political advantage in Turkey and Iran. In this way, it will retain a buffer at the door of the alliance. area.

Victor believed that when Comrade Stalin went to Tehran to attend the meeting, he would definitely talk about the opening of the second battlefield and the advancement of the British and American forces on the Italian peninsula. Restrict the military advancement of Britain and the United States on the Italian peninsula and ensure the alliance's sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and the Balkans after the war.

Promoting Britain and the United States to open up a second battlefield in Western Europe, prompting them to redeploy their forces deployed in the Italian peninsula and the Iranian region, and balance the military presence of both sides in the Middle East.

These two issues are certainly very important to Comrade Stalin. Not only will he definitely talk about them, but he will definitely ask for a result.

This time, the British weapons were found in the hands of the "Bailamov". Victor believes that this matter is very important. Even if the risks in the Iran situation are not considered, this issue can also be used to accuse the British of being in Iran. Garrison, thus providing a bargaining chip for Tehran’s negotiations.

In Viktor's view, Abakumov obviously hasn't realized this yet. From what he said, it can be felt that this guy is more now, and he is still trying to distinguish himself.

This is also good, without the involvement of the NKVD, Victor can more easily seize the relevant initiative in his hands.

Whether it is South Caucasus or Iran, the problem is indeed complicated, and there may still be certain crises, but crises that can be controlled are opportunities, and only crises that cannot be controlled are dangerous.

I also had some exchanges with Abakumov on the security situation in the Caucasus, and exchanged views on strengthening cooperation in security work. Victor Xuan left the NKVD of Baku before three o'clock and returned to his residence.

As of today, his patrolling work is completely completed. He didn't plan to stay in Baku for a night. Victor went back to his residence to pack up his things and boarded the special plane to take him back to Moscow at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

………………………

In Moscow, the dawn has not had time to retreat from the sky above the city. The atmosphere of triumphant carnival last night seems to be permeating the streets of the city.

Banners celebrating the victory of the Battle of Kursk, red leaflets, and young men and women embracing and kissing on the street seem to be everywhere. On the tweeter on the side of the street, the Hongqi Song and Dance Ensemble's "The Strongest Red Army" sang was played, and the exhilarating music sounded throughout the city.

Victor's Volga sedan drove into the Red Square. Varenka, who shook his head with the sound of music, slowed down, and several soldiers from the Political Security Bureau stopped in front of the road.

Looking through the front window of the car, you can see that on the Red Square at this time, there are crowded black heads everywhere, and countless red flags, portraits of Comrade Stalin, and banners with various slogans are gently shaking among the crowd.

Victor pushed the door and got out of the car, walked around the car without hurries in the direction of the red square.

The soldier who had set up the barrier in front of the road obviously knew him, and when he saw him coming, he hurriedly moved the barrier away so that he could pass through the road.