Soviet Union 1991

Varennikov waited alone in the cold corridor for two hours. People came and went around him, all with curious eyes cast on him.

Being looked at like this always gave him a strange feeling of being locked in an iron fence and being observed by others. Although he rarely met with the General Secretary in the Kremlin now, the differences between the two sides were constantly expanding - since the military reform of Marshal Ogarkov, the seeds of contradictions between the two sides have been planted.

Yanayev insisted on reforming the Soviet army into a modern information warfare force. After he gave up the idea of ​​unifying the world with the United States, the Soviet armed forces could not develop according to the model of pushing Europe flatly.

Of course, the diehards headed by Varennikov did not agree with this view. They believed that the third world-class war conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union might still break out. Yanayev just sneered at this.

When there is no crisis in the capital world that pushes them to the brink of collapse, it is impossible to produce a way to completely change the world situation. So after the opportunity in the Great Depression was not seized, the Soviet Union had lost the possibility of ruling the world. There was a wave of immigration to the Soviet Union in the United States, which fully demonstrated the superiority of the socialist system, but it only appeared when capitalism was pushed to the brink of collapse due to the economic crisis.

Valennikov came here because of the list on his desk this morning. From the deputy chief of the general staff to the army division commander, all were arrested and dealt with. Yanaev's approach often attracted cheers from the officers who were about to be promoted, but the old marshal who had come through World War II saw the devastating blow of this approach at a glance.

General Secretary Yanaev is making a mistake. If a war breaks out in the future, these young faces who have never experienced the baptism of war will never be able to respond calmly on the battlefield. Experienced commanders can turn the situation around based on experience, but they can't.

General Valennikov did not leave the luxurious office even when it was time for lunch. He reluctantly grabbed the general secretary's office assistant and asked, "What's going on? Didn't General Secretary Yanayev say that he would meet with me after the matter was over? Why hasn't he shown up yet? I won't take up much of his time. There are only some small issues, yes, very small issues, but I just need to get a definite answer from the general secretary."

Swearing in the name of Comrade Lenin, the office director really didn't want to see any trouble with this old marshal - old, wise, prestigious, and the one who has the final say in the army. If he was thrown into World War II, he might still be a role that can turn the tide.

But now it seems a bit annoying. He feels helpless about Valennikov's persistence, so he has to send the guards away and send the marshal to the meeting room not far away.

"I know you are eager to see the general secretary, but unfortunately, I can't do that. The general secretary is now conducting a great experiment and cannot meet you so far."

The other party's tone was also insincere. This made Varennikov very dissatisfied. The bureaucracy didn't work for him! He had drunk more vodka than the little brother in front of him had eaten.

"Why? The person the General Secretary should meet with most now is me. Vladimir almost recklessly declared war on the Army Department... or had already obtained the General Secretary's assistance, which was ridiculous. The so-called Armata's main war plan was full of conspiracy from beginning to end, which made me sicker than rats in the sewer and the smell of traitors lying."

The office director was not shaken at all, just like all experienced and old-fashioned bureaucrats. He had seen all kinds of veteran-level figures who came to trouble the General Secretary, and their methods were similar. He had figured out the other party's routine, and his answer seemed familiar.

So he continued to express mechanically: "I don't know about the General Secretary's plan. For the sake of the Supreme Leader, the problem should be left until General Varennikov meets with the General Secretary in person. There is no point in talking to me."

If it weren't for the familiar person, facing such a cold puppet-like figure, I'm afraid it would be difficult to resist. But Valennikov knew that the style of these younger generations who came later was completely unsympathetic. As a representative of Yanaev's control of the army, Yazov could be said to be a perfect representation of what a loyal Soviet public servant is. The old marshal could remain humble in front of Yanaev, but in front of the Minister of Defense, that was a real high profile.

"Wait, how long should I wait!" The marshal immediately accused the other party of pretending to shirk responsibility, and raised his voice, trying to let the old man hiding in the office hear what he said: "How come I don't know what secrets the Political Bureau needs to hide from the Military Committee? I tell you, your style is more and more like the KGB in the shadows, not a normal political institution. What is all this for, what secrets are behind it?"

The phone on the assistant to the general secretary's desk suddenly rang, and he left Marshal Valennikov with a sense of relief and picked up the microphone. Then his face became solemn again, he nodded, and replied a few words in a low voice.

"General Secretary Yanayev wants to see you."

The assistant to the general secretary replied very briefly, "He asked me to tell you that the answers you want to know about the Armata plan and the previous actions against the Ministry of the Army are behind this door."

The assistant to the general secretary knocked on the silent door. The silence behind the door was broken, and a low voice came, please come in.

Varennikov opened the door and walked into the dimly lit room. His eyes flickered as he stared at the figure sitting in the middle. His expression was hidden in the darkness, leaving only a rough outline of him.

"General Secretary Yanayev, I just want to know why the Supervisory Committee took action against the Ministry of War? Do you really believe that what Vladimir did is a great change?"

A stern voice sounded in the darkness, a small area of ​​dimness appeared on the table, and the turned on desk lamp reflected Yanayev's uncertain face.

"Marshal, please pay attention to your words. In what capacity are you questioning me, a field marshal or a member of the Military Commission, or as a person who obstructs reforms?"

"I can't watch them ruin our construction achievements. Such childish operations will only make everything worse than last time. Armata or T90 are toys that have not been tested in war. At least in the Chechen war and the Middle East conflict, we The tank performed very well, this is not a reason for you to change it casually!

"you!"

Yanayev's expression suddenly changed, and his complex emotions drove his muscles to make a series of complex expressions. The combination of shock and anger was not enough to describe. Originally, the Chechen War was a war won with correct tactics and correct command operations. The T72 and T80 fought only mediocrely in that war, with not many bright spots to speak of. If it were the Russian Federation that was engaged in that war, it would have been pushed into the ditch.

Yanayev was alarmed by the Marshal's accusation.

Varennikov saw his expression and immediately knew that the information he had obtained was correct. He was very happy that he could finally take the initiative in speaking: "I need to know the truth, Comrade General Secretary. It is not that the Army Department has no ability to compete with the Politburo. I can be persuaded, but I need a more sufficient reason instead of being persuaded by Mao Zedong." The boss is sitting on your neck and gesticulating! Tanks are just an excuse for you to make excuses!"

"Are you sure you want to know the truth? Even if this truth makes you feel incredible and desperate, and when you know the truth, you will pay a corresponding price."

Yes……

Varennikov answered decisively.

"...Well, since you must know that the Politburo will give you corresponding punishment when the time comes, don't blame me for not letting you go out of consideration. I have already given you a chance."

"In 1991, the Ministry of National Defense briefly sold a batch of main battle tanks to Syria at a low price."

"Is there any necessary connection between this and the Supervisory Committee's attack on the staff?"

Yanayev gestured to the other party to listen to him continue.

"What the military committee didn't know was that the conditions attached to the half-sell, half-give deal, which was handled by Comrade Victor himself at that time, included the conversion of part of Syria's seaport in the Mediterranean direction into a military port to berth Glory-class cruisers. , and agreed to station the Soviet Air Force in Aleppo. The price of this deal is that the Assad family will obtain a considerable portion of the SAM models currently in service with the Soviet Rocket Force, and may even deploy a Topol there that can threaten various Asian countries. ”

Varennikov's eyes widened, "This...how is this possible..."

"Only a very small number of people know about the entire transaction. Even the arms dealer responsible for the transportation does not know what is in the iron box. The only people who know about it are me, Marshal Otyarkov and the Syrian contact. President Hafez, the Lion of Damascus, used his international social skills to act as a liaison between the two parties, which is why we visited frequently for a period of time. The reason for the conflict with Turkey was to confuse the situation at that time and smoothly transport the arms to Syria. At that time, under the pressure of NATO, Marshal Otyarkov strongly recommended that we should open up the disadvantaged situation from Syria. If long-range missiles are deployed in Syria, NATO countries will not dare to launch attacks at will. In this way, the Soviet Union will maintain its last power in the Middle East.”

"What? There is such a secret?"

Varennikov was speechless. It was obvious that this kind of thing was being hidden at all costs. At the same time, he also realized that the intervention of the Supervisory Committee was far from being as simple as he imagined.

Then something happened, and we almost lost a tactical nuclear warhead. Yes, there was an accident during the transportation. After leaving Ukraine, important 'parts' that originally belonged to Bai Yang were lost. At that time, it was not easy for us to trace the nuclear warhead with great fanfare. We could only secretly trace the whereabouts of the nuclear warhead, and finally recovered it in North Africa. At that time, we immediately used the diplomatic means of the Moroccan Embassy to cooperate with the GRU special forces to transport the nuclear warhead back to Ukraine. In the country, when nuclear weapons experts inspected the warheads, they found that the detonation device had been lost. This incident made the political situation even more shameful; in July 1994, intelligence showed that the Indian nuclear experts disappeared in 1993. related to Libya. According to the speculation of KGB intelligence analysts, the nuclear warhead was most likely sent to Libya. "

There was only one name left that the old marshal muttered: "Gaddafi..."

Varennikov vaguely thought of what Yanayev was going to say. His wisdom did not decline with age, but became wiser.

It really explains why Yanayev tried his best to incite the West to kill Gaddafi. He offended all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, which is just one of the reasons. The most hateful thing is that he actually wanted to buy nuclear weapons stolen from the Soviet Union.

"Yes, there is only that possibility, a ninety-nine percent possibility, but the subsequent investigation, that is, in mid-May last year, the KGB gave me an even more surprising report. Very surprising. Unfortunately, General Varennikov is not high enough for me to give you that report for 'enjoyment'. The KGB believes that their confidential studio is foolproof, and there is absolutely no possibility of intelligence leakage, most likely to the military. There are also some desperate people hiding inside. , guys trying to profit from this secret operation, how much is a nuclear warhead worth? 500 million? 1 billion? Or 2 billion? No matter how high the price is, there will always be criminals who try to take risks... Intelligence shows that that is not Legal elements, from the Ministry of War, or prominent military guys. The people on the list you saw are all suspected of having huge wealth of unknown origin, although it is not known which people are actually involved in this 'treason' operation. , so there is no mercy for killing.”

After Yanayev finished speaking, he blinked and asked the marshal to keep it secret seriously: "This is the truth, marshal, it is not Comrade Vladimir targeting the Ministry of War, but a strategy we specially used to track down these traitors. Including the Amata plan, it’s just a secondary strategy.”

"..."

Valennikov, who has experienced great storms, smiled helplessly this time. He thought for a long time and could no longer tell whether Yanayev was telling the truth or a lie, but he knew that someone in the Army Ministry had brought up such a big conspiracy. It was because of the mercy of the General Secretary that Varennikov was not imprisoned. .

He saluted Yanayev neatly: "I will resign as commander-in-chief of the army..."

Yanayev immediately interrupted him: "There are still issues regarding your resignation, including subsequent official positions, which will be decided jointly by the newly formed General Staff and me, but I can reveal a little secret to you, Ah. Khromeyev will succeed you as commander-in-chief of the army, that’s all.”