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Chapter 1782 Trouble in Moscow (Second update, please subscribe)

Moscow,
One after another, black "Zil" cars drove past the Borovetsky Gate in the Kremlin wall.

This gate is the only way to enter the Kremlin.

These hand-made sedans, the standard vehicles for Soviet high-ranking officials, emitted a low roar from their carefully tuned engines as they crossed the square and drove towards the three buildings at the north end of the Kremlin.

The smallest building is the Kremlin Theatre on the east side, and the middle one is the Council of Ministers. The car crossed the open space behind the Council of Ministers, then sped out of the wrought iron gate, and finally the limousine stopped at the entrance of the Arsenal Building.

The Arsenal Building sounds like it has nothing to do with politics, but on the third floor, in the middle of the east office building, is a conference room that overlooks the courtyard. Every Thursday morning, a regular meeting is held in this inconspicuous-looking conference room.

The decrees issued here not only determine the fate of 2 million Soviet citizens, but also the fate of million citizens of the Eastern Bloc.

In a sense, this inconspicuous conference room is the heart of this Eastern empire.

The Soviet Union is worthy of the name of an empire. To some extent, this empire appeared before the world in an unprecedented form.

This empire controlled the most vast territory in human history - it controlled from the Arctic to the hills of Persia, from the border of East Germany to the Pacific coast of northern Japan.

The empire controls every area of ​​work, thought, residence, learning and entertainment for everyone in this vast territory.

This one is an unprecedented empire.

And this conference room is the nerve center of this empire, the heart of this empire.

The regular meeting every Thursday will determine the fate of everyone in this vast territory.

But today is not Thursday.

But these luxury cars stopped one after another in front of the arsenal building.

Something big must have happened.

What big thing could it be?

In the conference room, in front of the conference table covered with green tweed, Brezhnev looked at his colleagues sitting on both sides of the table.

"My friends, you should know what happened."

Of course they all knew what happened, not because they each had their own news channels, but more importantly, they were all stunned by the gorgeous performance that took place in Libya.

"Just a few hours."

Looking at his colleagues, Brezhnev spoke in the calmest tone possible.

"They flew troops from Asia to Africa, thousands of kilometers, in just a few hours, to seize the capital of Libya and thwart a military coup."

Even last year, having successfully led the operation against Czechoslovakia, Brezhnev still spoke of the operation in Libya with some shock:

"I listened to Kosygin's report. The United States was also very shocked by this military operation. It was hard for them to imagine that the SEA could carry out an intercontinental expedition so easily without any preparation."

When mentioning the "intercontinental expedition", Brezhnev deliberately emphasized his tone and paused before continuing.

"Then they successfully defeated the military coup and occupied the entire country of Libya. In just 24 hours, they airlifted more than 5 troops into Libya. Some sources say it may be 10. In short, they have a lot of troops.

Now they have complete control over the whole of Libya, and with their help, the Libyan king has been restored.”

Brezhnev pointed at the inconspicuous-looking conference table with both hands and swept his eyes over his colleagues.

Finally, his eyes fell on Defense Minister Andrei Antonovich Grechko. Although he was not a member of the Presidium, since it involved military issues, he was also present today.

Facing Brezhnev's gaze, Grechko sat up straight and said.

"Indeed, from a military perspective, this was an amazing military operation. And it was a very successful military operation. It is worth learning from, and we are also collecting details of their operations."

As a representative of the hawks within the Soviet government, Grechko's attention has recently been focused on the East, on his former allies, from the border conflict at the beginning of the year to the several conflicts that have occurred in succession to now.

Compared with North Africa, he was more concerned about how to completely solve the problems in the East, but facing Brezhnev's gaze, he had to respond.

“But from the perspective of war, this intercontinental expedition of the SEA is very enviable, but it is meaningless in a large-scale war. Perhaps tens of thousands of troops can be sent to Libya within 24 hours.

So what?

We all know that large-scale wars cannot be separated from tanks. According to the intelligence we have obtained so far, they only airlifted a few heavy weapons - about a dozen tanks and a small number of heavy artillery. They even had to use weapons captured from Libya. For example, tanks and artillery. "

All that Marshal Grechko pointed out is true.

"If we carefully peel back the veil of this seemingly brilliant military operation that shocked the whole world, we can see that they only airlifted tens of thousands of light infantry to Libya."

Marshal Grechko smiled and asked back.

"Then the question arises: if a large-scale war breaks out, or a direct military conflict occurs with a major power,
What can we do with just a group of infantrymen with only light weapons? We can do nothing! Besides, these troops will become cannon fodder for the heavily armed troops. "

After reaching this conclusion, Marshal Grechko continued, "So when we acted in Czechoslovakia, we assembled hundreds of thousands of troops on its border, and then we achieved the military victory we achieved there.

As for SEA... they just bully those small African countries."

The marshal's analysis made everyone present nod their heads. Indeed, after putting aside the dazzling appearance, it can be seen that this military operation is not much better than what they did in Czechoslovakia.

After expressing his agreement, Kosygin thought for a moment and said.

"Such an intercontinental expedition may be meaningless. In a large-scale war, it can play too many roles. However, we must also see that many of our friends are weak and small countries like Libya. SEA's attack method is a great threat to them."

Kosygin's reminder made Brezhnev nod and he said.

"Yes, this is something we must consider. Perhaps their way of warfare is not a threat to us, but it can threaten our friends.

So the question we need to face now is what should we do when our friends face such threats? "

Listening to Brezhnev's question, Kirill Mazurov said:

"Then we will provide them with more tanks and help them train their troops."

As someone in charge of industry, he also saw an opportunity, an opportunity to export more weapons abroad.

"I believe they will be very happy to purchase our weapons. After all, nothing is more important than safety for those people."

A considerable number of the people he mentioned came to power through military coups, and they are worried that others will launch a coup to take away their power.

The SEAs style of play does not make much sense for big countries, but for small and weak countries it is simply a dragon-slaying technique that can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.

“This is really an opportunity.”

Brezhnev nodded and said:
"Well, what else?"

"Compared to the military, I think the real impact of this incident is in diplomacy."

As Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Kosygin was responsible not only for the Soviet economy but also for foreign affairs.

"North Africa, including Libya, has always been the backyard of France, Italy and other southern European countries. The SEA's military action in Libya is bound to arouse France's dissatisfaction.

Not only that, it also exposes the problems among Western countries - conflicts of interest or even splits between them are possible at any time."

Kosygin spoke in a low and slow voice. He looked at Brezhnev and said:
"Their military action seems to be successful, but it is bound to worsen their relations with France, Italy and other countries.

The ambiguous statement of the United States will also lead to France's dissatisfaction with the United States. We should seize this opportunity to further ease relations with Western European countries."

In fact, Kosygin, as a representative of the doves, has been doing his best to ease relations with other countries. To a certain extent, he is the only one who restrains the Soviet hawks from going their own way.

"The timing is very favorable for us. After all, the French president and the German chancellor have expressed their desire to ease relations with us on different occasions. We should seize this opportunity to further ease relations with Western European countries and isolate the United States through diplomatic efforts."

Afterwards, Kosygin listed the benefits of easing relations with Western European countries one by one. In fact, he didn't need to list them at all, as Brezhnev and others knew the benefits. At least, it would be more conducive to their introduction of technology from Western European countries. After all, the Soviet Union could not do without the technology of Western countries.

"Well, it is indeed a very favorable opportunity for us. Then let's do as you say."

After expressing his agreement, Brezhnev asked again.

"So what about SEA? What should we do?"

"As in the past, we just need to condemn their invasion. As for the rest... Gaddafi is not our friend, so why should we go into conflict with SEA for him?"

Kosygin's suggestion also represents the thoughts of others. In fact, after dealing with SEAs for so many years, they have already understood this opponent.

Most of the time, it is a typical merchant country, and they will do anything that is profitable.

But if others infringe upon their interests, they will change their attitude and alleviate it in a decisive manner. This is the reaction of businessmen.

If that's the case, why should we have any unpleasantness with them?

Just as the meeting was about to end, Defense Minister Marshal Grechko spoke.

"Now that the Libyan issue is over, I would like to take this opportunity to once again raise the Eastern issue. We must fundamentally resolve this issue..."

As the marshal raised this topic, the conference room fell into debate again. As a representative of the hawkish faction, the marshal naturally put forward his views and opinions.

As for the dove representative Kosygin, he of course took an opposing stance, and the arguments in the conference room became increasingly heated.

Brezhnev did not interrupt them, but just stood there quietly listening to them expressing their own views. It seemed that no one could convince the other.

Listening to their argument, Brezhnev frowned.

"The East... this is such a troublesome problem..."

(End of this chapter)