This is my old doodle of Soviet Marshal V. D. Sokolovsky. It is not my prettiest drawing, I tried to fix it but it still looks a bit ass and does not do the handsome guy justice. But today I look at him, and I'm kind of like-- I wish I had his "people talent". THAT would be helpful :(
I remember that from Gregory Klimov's memoir, there were many anecdotal stories floating among the Red Army ranks. For example, Marshal Zhukov would dress himself as an ordinary soldier, stand upon a muddy crossroad, and try to flag down the Red army transport vehicles to see which one would stop and pick up a helpless old soldier-- and which ones wouldn't. He noted down the cars that sped past him and would later hand those officers' asses back to them. Of course, it was probably just a Soviet urban legend, yet it conveys that Zhukov is a self-righteous hero of harsh temperament.
Another urban legend is "being as smart as Sokolovsky". The soviet civilians would taunt each other "oh yeah? Are you as smart as comrade Sokolovsky?" I don't know exactly what unverifiable stories gave rise to this impression, but it holds some water. Sokolovsky had been the wise but inconspicuous spoke person between the east and the west, the army and the Poliburo. He had been Zhukov's right hand man during the entire Patriotic War, and assisted him in dealing with formal Allied meetings.
He literally emerge unscathed during all the internal power struggles.
anyway, enough waffling. I wonder how he maneuvered between rival marshals, or powerful officials who hate each other generally. I have a person I would say whose ability I respect (I don't personally know them tbh), and a friend who helped me make my merchs (yes, I have merchs; I haven't got them, they are coming soon). But the friend hates that person with a vengeance. All I could do in this situation is dig a hole and socially die in it.
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