Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1616: The Unconscionable Choice (Third update, please subscribe)

Changan, Investigation Department.

After the crisis occurred, the Investigation Department, as the intelligence center, became the center of the storm.

After all, in a crisis, intelligence work is related to the ultimate direction of the crisis.

As the person in charge of all this, Jia Wentao basically lived and ate in the office after the crisis.

Although the workday here is 8 hours, everyone works overtime during special periods.

Camp beds are standard for everyone.

Faced with a life-and-death situation, no one would hesitate for a moment.

Looking through the intelligence sent back from the Berlin Intelligence Station, Jia Wentao said:

"What does he want?"

It was really unexpected that a senior KGB official wanted to defect to this side at this critical moment. That was why Jia Wentao cared about what this person wanted.

There are many different reasons why people betray their country: resentment, ideological differences, not being promoted, hatred of their only boss, fear of being called back and dealt with, etc.

Of course, for the Russians, in addition to these reasons, there is a very special reason - the disillusionment caused by seeing the corruption, lies and nepotism around them.

"According to the information he revealed, the struggle among high-level officials in Moscow is very intense at the moment, and he is likely to be used as a scapegoat and dealt with afterwards.

What he is doing now is just to protect himself.”

Yu Zhentao thought for a moment, then added:
"Of course we cannot rule out the possibility that he was a double agent who was deliberately released. After all, this is a very sensitive period."

In the spy game, releasing a double agent on the other side is a normal operation.

Listening to Yu Zhentao's report, Jia Wentao thought for a moment and then said:

"This is a very critical time. We need information from all sides. Even if he is a double agent, the information he releases may be helpful to us. And our people will find out whether his intelligence is valuable or not. Let's meet his requirements."

And so, after Chang'an approved the action, Shi Jingli began his action.

In such an operation, the first meeting between the two parties is the most dangerous because at this time the other party is likely to set a trap.

So we must be extremely careful.

At the appointed time, after making sure that there were only the two of them and no one else, Shi Jingli gave a signal. Andre, who was hiding in the darkness, saw the signal and appeared from behind the old maintenance shed.

Both men had reason to be suspicious, for one was a traitor and the other a spy.

Shi Jingli stepped out of the darkness so that the other person could see him, then paused to make sure that the other person was also alone, and then walked forward.

"Andre, my friend, we meet again."

When they were five steps apart, they could see each other clearly, thus confirming that the other party was not a stand-in and was not playing any tricks.

There was always that danger when they came face to face, and the KGB and East German secret police had no problem setting a trap to capture a senior SEA intelligence officer.

Or perhaps Andre's messages had been intercepted, and now he might be walking into a trap, followed by a long, dark night in an interrogation room and finally a bullet in the head.

Moscow will show no mercy to anyone who betrays him.

When they met, they neither hugged nor shook hands. Some traitors needed that, the comfort of human contact.

But Colonel Andre in front of him didn't need this. He was a cold man, lonely, arrogant, and confident.

As a senior KGB officer, his training made it impossible for him to need emotional support like others.

What’s more, what they are about to do now is extremely dangerous.

"I have a document here that deals with some of the internal struggles in Moscow, and the struggles in the Kremlin are very intense right now.

And this struggle is not limited to Moscow, it spreads all the way to Europe and even to you.”

Looking at the file bag that Andre took out, Shi Jingli asked:

"So what do you want?"

"$50 million!"

No fuss, no outpouring of emotion... just a straightforward request for money.

$50 is definitely a huge sum of money!
If converted into gold, it is equivalent to 440 kilograms of gold.

Even Americans can't earn that much money in their lifetime.

Such a huge sum of money is enough for an ordinary family to live a carefree life for the next few decades.

Then Colonel Andrei said:
"And you have to give me and my family asylum, and give us a house in a safe place, and bring me to your place, just as you gave asylum to those Germans."

"There's nothing wrong with that."

Shi Jingli said:
"But is it really that valuable just for this one document?"

"The more valuable information is in my brain."

Colonel Andre pointed to his brain and said:
"I believe that once we arrive in a safe area, we will have the opportunity to have more dialogues, and then you will find out what is worth the money."

Shi Jingli had no doubts about this. After all, the man in front of him was the deputy chief of the KGB's East German station. The amount of secrets he controlled was very high. After all, for the Soviet Union, East Germany was the center of their activities in Western Europe. If all the intelligence would pass through his hands once.

Although it is not known how much information he has, it must be very valuable.

"That's right." And just like that, the first transaction between the two was completed.

More than ten hours later, the document first appeared in the Investigation Department and in front of Jia Wentao. Half an hour later, a car drove out of the underground parking lot of the Investigation Department and soon drove into the official residence.

After looking at this confidential document in the study and thinking for a long time, Li Yian said:
“It’s really a bit unexpected.”

Amidst his sighs, his tone was filled with disdain.

"It was very unexpected. I didn't expect the Kremlin to be so fierce. They would even do anything for power."

Jia Wentao said with some emotion:

"I originally thought that his enemies in this job of ours were enemies, but I didn't expect that the biggest enemy would be one of our own."

"Yes!"

Li Yian nodded and said:

"The political struggle between Brezhnev and Shelepin directly determined who would be the master of the Kremlin in the future.

To ensure that he would not be replaced, Brezhnev acted in a way that was... a bit unscrupulous."

When he said "completely unscrupulous", there was a certain anger in Li Yian's expression and tone!
The reason why people are so angry is that the information revealed in this document is infuriating.

In order to defeat Shelepin and take the KGB away from him.

Brezhnev actually chose to cooperate with the British. In fact, it was not really cooperation. He just revealed information about the KGB's spies lurking in the West to the British through certain channels.

The intelligence they revealed was not about one person, nor about 10 people, nor even about one country - it was about the entire Western world.

They betrayed the KGB's intelligence network lurking in the Western world in one fell swoop.

Why would they do that?
Just for rights.

"Once the KGB's intelligence network in the Western world suffers a devastating blow, Moscow will definitely need to hold the KGB accountable, and Semichasny, as its head, must be directly responsible. With this charge, Brezhnev can get rid of him openly, and then he can bring the KGB under his own command.
And what about Shelepin? He also lost the most deterrent institution in his hands. Without the KGB, he lost not only his ears and eyes, but also his fists..."

Analyzing Brezhnev and others' ideas, Li Yian felt a chill in his heart. Once upon a time, in his opinion, Brezhnev and his ilk were nothing but greedy and incompetent.

But no one would have thought that behind their greed and incompetence, these guys could be so shameless.

In order to win the competition with the Kremlin, they even sacrificed the interests of the country and destroyed the entire intelligence network that had been lurking in the Western world for many years.

And its purpose was to overthrow Shelepin.

What about the Soviet spies who were arrested by Western countries while Semichastny, the head of the KGB, was responsible for this matter?

They were thus buried in the hands of their own people without knowing why, because they were sacrificed in the so-called political struggle.

"The authenticity of this information can be confirmed."

Li Yian asked back with some uncertainty:
The reason for asking this question is that all of this is too unbelievable, which makes people doubt the authenticity of this information.

"Although we have no way to prove the authenticity of this intelligence now. However, our contact person in the UK has already received intelligence from London - the UK has obtained some Soviet intelligence personnel lurking here through some channels. They hope to launch a joint action with us to cut off the Soviet intelligence network."

Jia Wentao then added:
"From this, we can judge that the British side has obtained the intelligence they need, and they will close the net at the right time. Of course, this intelligence cooperation has just begun."

"It seems that this information has been confirmed."

Li Yian sighed helplessly.

"Brezhnev is winning."

"Yes, this also means that the power struggle in the Kremlin has basically come to an end."

Although he was extremely angry about sacrificing his own people for political struggle, Jia Wentao still said:
"Brezhnev will ultimately emerge as the ultimate winner in this struggle."

"Yes, he will definitely be the final winner because he is more shameless than anyone else."

Li Yian couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"When water is too clear, there are no fish; when people are too cheap, they are invincible. Brezhnev, that guy, is really invincible!"

When he uttered this sigh, Li Yian's expression was solemn.

He also finally understood why the Soviet Union lost the competition, because what those people lost was not just their ideals and beliefs, there was a deeper reason - in order to gain power, they would do anything and sacrifice everything.

Even national interests can be abandoned and sacrificed in their eyes.

How can such a group of people win the final competition when they hold power in the Kremlin?
Now, many things that were previously unclear are finally clear.

Why was Khrushchev brought down?

Because he touched some people's cake, those people wanted to get rid of him. In order to achieve their goal, they adopted various means.

After that, in order to become the ultimate winner of the coup, Brezhnev even sacrificed the Soviet Union's intelligence network in Western countries as a price to get rid of Shelepin's ears and eyes and take the KGB away from him.

Feeling the cruelty of those guys, Li Yian said:
"It seems that we are bound to be the winners of this crisis."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Jia Wentao agreed.

"Because we want to win the crisis itself, while for them the crisis is just a tool to attack the opponent."

Li Yian nodded without denying it and said:
"Take that guy over. He must have more information than just this. Since he has this information, he must have more valuable information in his hands."

(End of this chapter)