It is common knowledge that Comrade Stalin is the man who determines the scent in the conference room where the Politburo of the CPSU meets. General Secretary Stalin does not favor just one type of tobacco; he selects different flavors and tends to prefer a specific one for certain periods.

During the meeting discussing whether to dissolve the Third International, General Secretary Stalin was smoking Zimbabwean tobacco. This tobacco released a unique "burnt sweetness" into the air, a scent that drifted elegantly and was exceptionally pure. This mild aroma, lacking any impurities or harsh notes, made the Politburo members present feel quite at ease.

However, in this atmosphere, the Politburo members discussed the issue of dissolving the Third International with somewhat heavy hearts. Among the communist parties of Europe, the CPSU was considered a young junior; the French and German Communist Parties had much longer histories. Because the CPSU was the first ruling party in the world to hold complete power, the Soviet Union had secured its position as the leader of communism through the organization of the Third International. Through the Third International, the CPSU and the Soviet Union wielded tremendous influence globally.

Once the Third International was dissolved, the CPSU would be an equal political party with all other communist parties in the world. Even the Politburo members who supported the continued existence of the Third International felt terrible inside. Those more nationalistic members expressed their views frankly: "I believe Comrade Molotov's view is rather pessimistic. Even if the Third International does have problems in the execution of the international communist movement, these problems can be solved by adjusting the way the Third International works. Once dissolved, it will make communist parties in various countries feel that they have been abandoned!"

Molotov listened to the criticisms directed at him without any change in expression. Even though it was Molotov who had proposed the dissolution of the Third International at this meeting, he had nearly denied his own view in agony many times during his careful analysis. The Third International had been of immense help to the Soviet Union and the international communist movement; Molotov did not deny this fact at all. But in reality, the Third International had caused a great negative impact on the international communist movement, and the majority of this impact did not come from "blind commands" by the International.

The international communist movement had already conducted in-depth discussions and reflections in July 1939 regarding the failures of communist movements in multiple countries. In its resolution, the Third International determined that in the future, if the opinions of communist parties in various countries differed from the International, the International would no longer order them to obey its resolutions, but would instead respect their decisions.

Previously, the Third International's demand that parties accept its decisions had caused too many regrettable failures, one of the greatest being in China. China clearly had a massive number of leftists, yet the Chinese Civilization Party, under He Rui's leadership, launched a political offensive against organizations that obeyed the Third International. With just the single phrase—"It was the Chinese people who chose communism, not communism descending upon China from abroad"—the Third International's influence among the Chinese left vanished into thin air.

This failure cut the Third International to the bone. China clearly had so many leftists, clearly had accumulated industrial workers numbering in the hundreds of millions during its rapid industrialization. Yet a very simple call to nationalism caused China's leftists to stand under the banner of prioritizing the protection of Chinese interests.

China's case proved to the Third International that war does not only break out between imperialist and capitalist countries; it is entirely possible for it to break out between communist countries as well. While there is no lack of internationalists among communists worldwide, the majority of leftists view communism as a tool to liberate their own country. They have little interest in the ideal of forming a global communist alliance, and are even quite wary of it. Even if these party members implement communism domestically, it does not mean they accept relinquishing national sovereignty.

It was only after so much analysis that Molotov finally decided to support the idea of dissolving the Third International. The current international communist movement had clearly not reached the level imagined by the Soviet Union; the proletariat of the world was not yet one family. regarding this, Molotov even strongly agreed with a saying of He Rui's: "Only after the global unity of capitalists can there be global unity of the proletariat."

From the perspective of the Soviet Union's current interests, if the Third International continued to serve the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union would have to shoulder a burden that the current Soviet Union simply could not bear. In the domestic political struggle, Trotsky had already been exiled, and the victory of the Politburo members represented by Stalin in this struggle meant that the majority of CPSU members opposed the policy of the Soviet Union unconditionally sacrificing for the world communist revolution.

Now that the Third International was no longer an effective tool, the United States, Britain, and other Allied nations all mentioned the Third International when courting the Soviet Union to join the Allies...

Just as the speech criticizing Molotov ended, the People's Commissar for Heavy Industry, Grigory Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, began to speak. "We are discussing the introduction of 2.4 billion US dollars worth of technology and equipment with the United States. According to the intermediary from Yale University, if the US government reaches an agreement with the Soviet Union, it will be a political scandal for the Roosevelt administration. Because the American public detests other countries interfering in American internal affairs. Therefore, the suggestion from Yale is that dissolving the Third International would leave the opposition forces within the United States unable to find an excuse to attack the US government."

Hearing this, several committee members who had intended to criticize Molotov immediately decided not to speak. The Soviet Union had obtained massive benefits from Soviet-Chinese trade, which had played a very important role in driving Soviet economic development. However, the ubiquity of Chinese goods in the Soviet Union made the CPSU very wary. Even though the CPSU Central Committee believed that the He Rui administration would not change its trade policy towards the Soviet Union, nor use trade to threaten the Soviet Union, the Central Committee still decided to introduce American technology to balance China's influence.

The members from the economic departments decided to support the dissolution of the Third International because of Commissar Ordzhonikidze's statement. The members from the military departments also agreed to the dissolution because they anticipated the large-scale introduction of American technology.

From the Red Army's perspective, communist parties in various countries were facing unprecedentedly powerful adversaries. Given the powerful military strength possessed by China, the US, and Germany, communist parties elsewhere could at most fight guerrilla wars or organize urban riots. There was absolutely no hope for them to engage in frontal combat with these powerful armies.

The establishment of the Red Army's new-style military forces was not going smoothly; even after a large-scale adjustment, it still failed to reach the planned level. Fortunately, after this policy adjustment, combined with intelligence provided to the Soviet Union by European communists, the Soviet Union identified the technology and equipment it urgently needed now.

The negotiations currently underway with the United States included these technologies. Once the Red Army could obtain them, they could upgrade their equipment level and achieve the planned combat effectiveness. Driven by such needs, since the Third International was of little help to the Red Army, the military department members believed the decision to dissolve it was completely acceptable.

Within the current internal power structure of the CPSU, the economic and military departments held immense influence. Kirov and Beria had special status, but both had very special relationships with Comrade Stalin. So when both of them expressed agreement with Molotov's view, all members knew that the fate of the Third International's dissolution was irreversible.

At this stage, no one discussed whether to dissolve the Third International anymore; instead, they discussed the method of execution. Bukharin did not express support or opposition, but suggested, "We can inform the communist parties under the Third International of the current international situation and hear their views."

This suggestion was agreed to by the Politburo members. As the one who proposed the dissolution, Molotov felt a strong sense of loss. Regardless, the Third International had existed for 23 years, from 1919 to 1942. These 23 years were precisely the time of fastest development in Molotov's life. The end of such an important organization from those years made Molotov feel very low.

After the meeting ended, Molotov continued his work. The news coming in made the already low-spirited Molotov feel very unhappy. Members of the Third International, unaware that their fate had already been decided, continued to work hard in Southeast Asia. There were quite a few political parties with close ties to the Third International in the Southeast Asian region; the Vietnamese Communist Party was established with the help of the Third International, and the Malayan Communist Party, though closely related to China, also had many dealings with the Third International.

After communicating with these communist partners, the representatives of the Third International were all disappointed. The Vietnamese Communist Party expressed unwillingness to accept the leadership of the Third International, and the Malayan Communist Party's answer was even more direct: "Our current goal is independent statehood, and to participate in the movement to liberate colonies worldwide."

The MCP's answer at least saved some face for the Third International by not directly saying: "We choose comprehensive cooperation with China."

The Third International representatives were very disappointed by the strong nationalist stance shown by the VCP and MCP. This was not to say they opposed nationalism and colonial liberation; rather, they were very wary of the rapidly rising influence of the World People's Liberation Army represented by China.

The Second International had completely split when facing the First World War. Parties in the Second International were discussing world revolution together one day, and the next day announced they wanted the proletariat of their own countries to participate in the imperialist war for hegemony.

Currently, left-wing forces in various countries and regions of Southeast Asia were clearly rallying under the banner of nationalism, and clustering around China, this nationalist country. Such a situation could not help but worry the members of the Third International.

Having personally experienced so much, many Third International representatives developed the same worry as Molotov: the probability of war breaking out between socialist countries was very high.

In Beijing, China, Foreign Minister Li Shiguang took the meeting documents to see He Rui after hearing the latest report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He Rui's two wives had each borne him two children. Usually, the official residence was never lacking the sound of children. Arriving this time, it felt noticeably quieter. Li Shiguang knew this was because He Guangzi had taken two of the children to Japan.

Walking through the quiet corridor, he found He Rui sitting in his study reading, as always.

He Rui put down his book and took the documents Li Shiguang handed over. While He Rui read the files, Li Shiguang looked at the cover of the book He Rui had set down, seeing the words "*Records of the Three Kingdoms*" printed on it.

Everyone in the party knew He Rui loved to read, and from the examples He Rui used in daily conversation, it was certain he loved reading history books. The chaotic situation of the current world, and the situation that was beginning to clarify, gave Li Shiguang, upon seeing the title *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, an inexplicable feeling that it struck a chord in his heart.