he did not grin.
Having read the report through, the Commissar of Internal Affairs looked up and stared at the Chief of the General Staff for a minute, and then he picked up the first page again and began to read the document from the beginning, making some notes in the margins.
The secretary peeked into the office, silently approached the table, and placed glasses of tea and a vase of cookies in front of the master of the office and his guest. Beria didn't even seem to notice his appearance, and Shaposhnikov nodded and moved his glass to his side.
“Everything here is too serious to give a go at this document without a comprehensive review,” Beria finally said, leaning back in his chair. “I know that Comrade Nagulin is very rarely wrong in his conclusions, but this is not an analysis of the situation on the fronts nor is it a forecast of enemy actions. A broader range of issues is addressed here. The Major-General's logic is undeniable, but I am afraid that even our experience is insufficient to judge the constructiveness of his suggestions.”
“The United States, President Roosevelt – that's probably the last of what I would consider important for us in the current situation,” Shaposhnikov shook his head doubtfully.
“It's not about the present moment here,” Beria tapped his index finger on the stack of sheets on his desk, “We have almost a year to make a decision and prepare, but then it could really be too late.”
“But what about the Neutrality Pact? We do not want the whole world to regard the Soviet Union as a treacherous power like Hitler's Germany, which attacked the USSR without declaring war, despite the non-aggression pact in force between our countries, do we?”
“And here I think I agree with Comrade Nagulin,” a faint grin appeared on Beria's face. “Do you remember well the second clause of our agreement with Japan?”
“I can't reproduce it verbatim.”
“It goes like this: "in the event of one of the contracting parties being the object of military action by one or more third powers, the other contracting party shall maintain neutrality throughout the conflict." If we read this clause literally, it means that we undertake not to attack each other in the event of military aggression by third countries, directed at one of our states. But neither the U.S. nor Britain attacked Japan. Japan ITSELF carried out military aggression, and this completely unleashes our hands. It is possible, and even certain, that the Japanese will disagree with such an interpretation, but who will care about their opinion in the current balance of power?”
“To be honest, all my experience resists the idea of a war on two fronts. I read Nagulin's arguments and realize that there is probably no other way out, but as soon as I look away from these lines, and my doubts return. How will the USSR be able to withstand this?”
“I'm afraid, Boris Mikhailovich, that you and I alone will not solve anything and we will not find an answer to your question. I suggest inviting Comrades Molotov, Ustinov, and Zverev to discuss this document. We certainly can't do without the Commissars of Foreign Affairs, Arms, and Finance appreciating the arguments presented here.”
“By widening the circle of those aware of the Nagulin report, we make it inevitable that this issue will be brought to the top,” said the Marshal, hesitating a little.
“Did you have any doubts that this document would end up on Comrade Stalin's desk?” Beria seemed genuinely surprised. “In any case, it is impossible not to show such information to the Commander-in-Chief, even if we come to the conclusion that it is all nonsense, and that we are deeply indifferent to the fate of President Roosevelt and the outcome of the US war with Japan.”
“Here you are, comrade Nagulin, saying that citizen Korolev is not guilty of sabotaging the development of the Project 212 rocket,” Stalin looked at me carefully from under his bushy eyebrows. “But during combat tests of this product in the breakthrough of the front on the Volkhov River, none of his six missiles hit the exact target. The damage to the German columns was done, but it was rather the merit of the warhead of the missile, and Korolev had nothing to do with its development. ”
“Comrade Stalin, I chose the targets, not Korolev. And these targets were extremely uncomfortable for cruise missiles. Basically, they couldn't be used at all against moving enemy troops, but I just didn't have any other options. I needed to distract the Germans for at least a minute so that Colonel Kudryavtsev's bombers could attack the columns without interference. And even in such unfavorable conditions, the task set before the missile launchers was accomplished. I believe that the "product K-212" showed its best side.”
“Not everyone agrees with you, Comrade Nagulin, but I won't argue about it now. We will continue the cruise missile development project, but the status of designer Korolev will remain unchanged for now. Let him prove by deeds that his missiles are worth the resources spent on them, and then we'll get back to this conversation, especially since both he and you will soon have that chance,” Stalin grinned.
I didn't ask any follow-up questions. It was my first one-on-one meeting with Stalin, and I did not consider it possible to rush the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, preferring to wait patiently for him to elaborate his thoughts himself. Stalin, taking his time, held out his hand and pulled up a thick folder that had been lying on the edge of the table. It seemed that the Chief was about to move on to a discussion of the main issue for which I had been summoned to his Kremlin office.
“I have carefully read your report, Comrade Nagulin, and the comments of other comrades who have also been introduced to this case. Believe me, the most highly qualified specialists were involved, but their conclusions were very ambiguous. You base your prediction on the fact that attempts on Hitler and Roosevelt will be organized in the near future, with every chance of success. This is a very bold statement, Comrade Nagulin. They had tried to kill Hitler more than once before, but nothing came of it, and the American president's guards don't eat their bread for nothing. This is the weakest point in your analysis. All of the subsequent events that you write about are indeed very well justified, almost all the comrades who have read your report agree with this. But what you propose requires a serious change in the foreign policy of the USSR and in the strategy of war with Germany. You were not the first to think of the fear of possible opposition from England and the United States to our march into Europe, which, as the course of the war shows, is becoming almost inevitable. Nevertheless, I must give you credit, since you were the first to be able to piece together all the facts and, supported by calculations and analyses, to show in a reasoned way how great is the probability of a direct military conflict with the West. There is an opinion that your idea of "lazy war" is worthy of careful consideration. Combined with a strategy of rapprochement with the United States, it could really lull our opponents' vigilance and knock very serious arguments for entering the war on Germany's side out of their hands.”
Stalin paused for a moment, leafing through several documents in the folder.
“All the comrades who have read your report agree that it is of a very high level, but for such an important decision to be made is not enough. If the postulate of Hitler's imminent death proves wrong, following your plan will lead the USSR to disaster or, at the very least, to enormous and totally unjustified losses in manpower and material resources.”
The Commander-in-Chief was silent again, and now his gaze was clearly demanding a reaction from me.
“Nowhere in my report does it say that a decision needs to be made right now,” I tried to answer as neutrally as possible. “On the contrary. Haste in this case is extremely detrimental. A month and a half has passed since the blockade of Leningrad was broken, and our army is still not ready for strategic offensive operations, and it is unlikely to be ready for them before mid-spring. Accordingly, the arrival of our troops to the state border
