Soviet Union 1991

First update

After President Stephanopoulos convened the last meeting, when he sat exhausted in the office of the Presidential Palace, he received a cordial "greeting" from the Kremlin.

When President Stephanopoulos received the call from Yanayev, his hands were shaking with excitement. He did not expect that the Soviet mercenary team had such a high execution efficiency. A beautiful beheading operation was completed almost within a few days of entering the battlefield, suppressing Turkey's so-called elite troops and annihilating nearly half a battalion of tanks. President Stephanopoulos even regrets that more Soviet veterans should be organized into mercenaries and put into the battlefield. In front of these invincible Red Army, not to mention Turkey, I am afraid that the elites of Western Europe will also have to face the steel chariots. Shivering.

However, Yanayev did not call specifically to celebrate the victory with President Stephanopoulos. He had something more important to declare to Stephanopoulos, which was related to the Greek Air Force’s attack on Turkey. The so-called "Maginot Line" bombing mission. After all, this is a family matter of NATO member states, and the Soviet Union's dispatch of volunteer troops is the bottom line that Europe can tolerate. Once you send your own air force into the battlefield, it's not just a family matter. It will directly rise from the civil war to the severity of the conflict in the Aegean Sea. Therefore, in this battle, both the United States and the Soviet Union appeared to be cautious.

The Greek Air Force has 75 A-16 fighter jets, 87 A-5 fighter jets, 90 A-7h Corsair fighter jets, and 27 Mirage-IG type fighters. This kind of strength is not inferior to that of the entire Eastern Europe. Yanayev believes that Greece is fully capable of this offensive task. What's more, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Greece had a glorious record of defeating Turkish fighter jets.

"General Secretary Yanayev, are you saying to send fighter jets to bomb the Turkish defense lines in Morfu to create a good opportunity for the Cypriot armored forces to break in?"

Stephanopoulos loosened his tight tie slightly, allowing his neck to stretch freely. Stephanopoulos stretched himself. The fatigue of the day left him no time to think about other issues.

"But now, in order to maintain restraint, Greece and Turkey do not want to send their air force to fight over Cyprus. If Greece takes this initiative, it may cause further fierce conflicts between Turkey and Greece. This is what I am most worried about." If the situation escalates, Greece will not be able to stand.”

"Oh? I thought the Greek government had decided to have a head-on confrontation with Turkey." Yanayev said with some sarcasm, "Or is it that the Greek government hopes to see the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus transform from the strategic defense stage? Has it become a strategic counterattack?"

Stephanopoulos, who had his eyes slightly closed, opened them and asked in a deep voice, "General Secretary Yanayev, what do you mean by this?"

Yanayev shook a piece of paper in his hand. This was information sent back from the front line. It clearly recorded the current situation of the war. Yanayev read it word by word to Stephanopoulos. "According to reconnaissance planes, the Cypriot army is gathering armored troops and personnel and is resisting the attack of the Cypriot coalition forces near the Turkish defense line. According to intelligence analysis by our staff, after a certain amount of attrition, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus* The team will enter the counterattack stage, not only stabilizing the two cities that have changed hands several times, but will also continue to move south to seize more towns and create a buffer zone for the Northern Cyprus regime. By then, it will not only be Cyprus, but it may even threaten it. British Air Force Base."

"Then I will tell you what the Turkish army will do if there is no air support. They will destroy all the cities all the way south and massacre the surviving Greeks. When the situation is almost out of control, the United States will pretend to stand up and order When the two sides stop fighting and sign a treaty, Cyprus will find that under the instigation of the United States, they have lost far more land than the two cities at the beginning. Then, President Stephanopoulos is willing to meet. To this situation?"

Stephanopoulos coughed and replied slowly, "Not willing."

Greece had already lost once in 1974, and it could not afford to lose again this time. On the one hand, the voice of the people may affect the support rate of the Greek president at any time. Secondly, he had to consider how much damage Greece would suffer if it entered a war when it was not prepared.

"Yes, none of us are willing, so I hope President Stephanopoulos will think carefully about whether to help a Soviet Red Army that can regain strategic areas for you, or consider negotiating peace with Turkey and losing most of it. territory?"

"Only if you defeat the Northern Cyprus regime in the shortest possible time before it has time to fight back, can you gain more bargaining chips at the negotiation table. Whether it is the Soviet army or political dogma, attack is always the best way, Stefan President Nopulos, so we need the support of the Greek Air Force.”

"We all don't want to see a tragedy happen."

After a long silence, Stephanopoulos said slowly, "We will notify the Cypriot army at that time, and the Greek Air Force will cooperate with Cyprus in conducting air strikes."

"Then I'll trouble you, President Stephanopoulos."

After hanging up the phone, Yanayev sighed, turned to Primakov and said, "President Stephanopoulos seems to be only a qualified politician, not an excellent politician. . The thinking of politicians is always to consider the balance of interests of all parties, rather than directly defeating the other party until it is unable to fight back. "

After speaking, Yanayev said with some self-deprecation, "Sure enough, politicians all have similar problems."

"What happened?" asked Primakov, who had just returned from Cyprus. He was preparing to go to Washington to negotiate with the United States in a few days on the Cyprus issue.

Yanayev waved his hand, showing a helpless expression, "He has been calculating what kind of losses will be caused by the involvement of the Greek army in the Cyprus civil war, and what kind of negative consequences it will have on the already sluggish Greek economy. So Greece just stayed. at the interface of assistance rather than direct integrated strikes.”

"But Stephanopoulos forgot one thing, and that is the strategic significance of this island country to Greece. Although nominally, almost the entire Aegean Sea is Greek waters, in fact everyone knows that Turkey has been trying to If Turkey loses its foothold in the Aegean Sea and sees Cyprus as a springboard, it will quickly expand its sphere of influence in the Aegean Sea.

"They have been expelled from Asia Minor to the Balkans. Do they still hope that their own inland sea will become someone else's bay?"

Yanayev was indignant at the Greek president's hesitation. He pointed to the location of the Aegean Sea on the map and said, "Actually, in terms of political interests, the Cyprus dispute has little to do with the Soviet Union. The only thing is The interest is that the Soviet air base established in Cyprus can threaten Turkey's security. The S300 and bastion systems sold by the Soviet Union in this war, as well as the light frigates, are the focus of this dispute. "

This arms deal alone could bring nearly US$3 billion in profits to the Soviet government, and the Soviet Union was just using the mouth of a political strategist to influence the situation. This is already very satisfying for Yanayev. Now that the Americans have sold the Perry class to Türkiye, how can the Soviet Union give some benefits to its allies. So Yanayev just regarded the conflict in Cyprus as a business selling arms.

"Is that why General Secretary Yanayev is so eager to ask me to discuss the Cyprus issue with the United States?"

Yanayev sighed, "Yes, now let the United* Team intervene, at least Cyprus is just in a no-lose-no-win situation. Of course, I also hope that the situation will improve in the next week. Otherwise At the negotiating table, the Soviet Union will appear very passive." (To be continued.)