Servant of the People in Kyiv

Haniyev's speech did not contain much substantive content. Basically, everything was just to exaggerate emotions. He was very clear about his status and role. Nothing he said would be better than to stir up the national pride and self-esteem of the people of Burkina Faso.

A high-ranking Soviet official, a revolutionary who came to Burkina Faso and selflessly dedicated himself to supporting the revolution, a "foreign monk who can chant the most eloquent scriptures" from the holy land of revolution, Haniyev did not need to talk about theory or work, he only needed to express his attitude, tell all the people of Burkina Faso that all their efforts are correct, tell them that Sankara is the greatest and most correct leader of Burkina Faso, tell them that the road they are taking now has been walked by the Soviet Union and the Khitan, and this road is the only way to success.

Haniyev would pause after each sentence, and then Peter would speak in an emotional French translation that he had practiced for many days. As the two voices echoed back and forth, the people in the conference hall felt their hearts surge, and their eyes were full of admiration and longing when they looked at Haniyev. Whenever there was a gap that Haniyev deliberately left, the conference hall would burst into warm applause from time to time.

Amidst applause that almost blew the roof off the house, Haniyev returned to his seat, while Potanin stood up and walked to the podium.

The speeches of both were written by Peter and Ivan, and revised by Haniyev himself. Therefore, when Potanin was speaking, the secretaries and directors of the Revolutionary Defense Committees of the regions and provinces, who were already somewhat tired, were once again excited by Potanin's speech.

After Potanin finished speaking, there was still prolonged applause in the conference hall.

Sitting back next to Haniyev, Potanin chuckled and said, "It's really exciting. No wonder the top leader loves to talk the most. It's really nice to be the center of attention and have your every move and word influence others..."

We prepared for it a few days in advance, and the speech turned out really well.”

Haniyev whispered, “How can we achieve good results without advance preparation?

Our speech today will surely achieve excellent results, because we have helped the people of Burkina Faso to clarify their faith in the socialist system, their admiration for Sankara, the brotherly friendship between Burkina Faso and the Soviet Union, and their confidence that the people of Burkina Faso are no less capable than anyone else. "Sankara's words alone will have a greater impact than ours."

"That is."

Potanin curled his lips proudly as he spoke.

After the meeting, Sankara kept the leaders of the Thorough Revolutionary Committees and the Revolutionary Defense Committees in each region and province. He planned to conduct interviews on a regional basis to understand the revolutionary situation in recent days and to provide more specific and targeted revolutionary instructions based on the different situations in each region and province.

Haniyev and Potanin, the highest advisers of the National Committee for Thorough Revolution, left the Capitol and prepared to go to the hotel to rest.

Walking to the front of the car, Potanin rubbed his neck, making a cracking sound, and said unhappily.

"We've been running around with Sankara for a month, and we just got back today and went straight to a meeting. We haven't had a good rest yet. I'm going to take a bath when I get back to the hotel, then have a good meal and some drinks. Let's drink together later."

"Okay, I haven't been drinking much lately."

As Haniyev spoke, he couldn't help but stretch.

Chapter 136 The General Secretary wants to arrest you!

October is the last month of the rainy season in Burkina Faso. Although it is not very hot, the occasional rain when you go out will make the roads muddy and dirty, which not only affects the speed of vehicles, but also makes people get covered in mud when walking.

Potanin has been on the road most of the time recently, and even has to go to the fields to feed mosquitoes. He has been very annoyed for a long time. In order to attend the meeting he arranged on time, Sankara rushed back from the Upper Basin area a few days ago and returned to the capital early this morning.

As a result, there was no time to rest. After a meal, the afternoon meeting started.

The continuous running around made Potanin very tired, and Haniyev also felt sore all over and wanted to have a good sleep and rest.

At this moment, he thought of Sankara, who was still full of energy and sharing revolutionary experiences with leaders from various regions and provinces, and could not help but admire him: "Some people don't know how to work hard. They can still be energetic with only two or three hours of sleep a day. They are born to be political leaders!"

As they were talking, they opened the car door and were about to get in when a figure suddenly rushed over from not far away and shouted in standard Russian: "Director Haniyev, Director Potanin!"

Haniyev and the other man turned their heads and recognized Comrade Eugene, the Soviet ambassador to Burkina Faso.

When the two men met Eugene for the first time after getting off the plane, this ambassador of the same rank as them was dressed in a suit and tie, with a slicked-back hair and powdered face. They hadn't seen each other for a month, and Eugene's hair was disheveled and his eyes were bloodshot. When he rushed in front of the two men and spoke, he smelled strongly of alcohol and bad breath, which made Haniyev frown suddenly and Potanin took a step back.

"Finally found you two!"

Ambassador Eugene's eyes widened as he clutched the arms of Haniyev and Potanin. "You two," he said, "the General Secretary is very angry about your interference in the internal affairs of other countries. He demands that you return home immediately for investigation!"

Haniyev and Potanin smiled at each other and said, "As expected."

"After all, it's been 20 or 30 days already. There's no way the country doesn't know..."

Seeing the two still chatting and laughing, Eugene, who hadn't slept properly for a week because he couldn't contact them and was extremely anxious, stamped his feet and said, "How can you still laugh like that? Don't you know you've committed a crime? A grave one!"

“How come we don’t know that we have sinned?”

Haniyev pried Eugene's hands apart and said gently, "Comrade Eugene, don't be impatient. Tell us what crime we committed and what happened. Take your time."

Potanin spread his hands and asked in confusion, "Well, we went on a month-long field trip with President Sankara and just got back. What happened to your kidneys?"

Seeing that Haniyev and Potanin were still feigning ignorance, Eugene let go of them in a huff and said, "You're still playing dumb. Wasn't it your idea to come up with Sankara's 'Great Revolution to Eliminate the Malignant Tumor of Reaction'? Did you know that Sankara's revolution paralyzed the country? French assets were confiscated by the revolutionary fighters of the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. Many French people were also arrested, allegedly to investigate their serious crime of colluding with reactionaries to overthrow the Red regime. Several French businessmen were beaten by them, and even the French embassy was pelted with feces, urine, and Molotov cocktails..."

Haniyev and Potanin couldn't help laughing. Eugene also chuckled, then continued with a serious face, "It's not a bad thing for the French to be humiliated, but the French ambassador asked me half a month ago to verify whether it was us, the Soviet Union, who instructed Sankara to launch the Great Revolution. I naturally refused at the time. Then a few days later, Alan Deschamps got some documents from Burkina Faso from somewhere, saying that Sankara and the National Revolutionary Committee said that you two Soviet advisors were of great help to them.

Deschamps said this was sufficient proof that it was you two who instigated Sankara to launch the Great Revolution. France then lodged a serious protest and condemnation with the Soviet Union, accusing us of interfering in other countries' internal affairs, plundering their resources, and controlling small countries to inhumanely abuse the French. The General Secretary was furious when he learned of this. The Foreign Minister then asked me to find you two and provide an explanation as soon as possible.

I have been asking Burkina Faso's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of the Interior to contact President Sankara and you, but the revolution has shut down almost all departments in the capital, and you have been moving around the country, so I have been unable to establish contact with you.

The French are pressing hard. Deschamps will be able to find some information proving your involvement in Sankara's revolution in a few days. Then France will put pressure on our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In recent days, not only France, but also Britain and the United States have been condemning us internationally for exporting revolution, saying that our General Secretary is faking reform and peace. When Secretary Gorbachev learned of this, he was furious and has already sent the KGB to arrest you. He said you must return to the country for investigation. If you were used by others, you will be charged with treason. If you acted recklessly, you will be sent directly to the Far East to mine. In short, the General Secretary is angry, and you are doomed...

I just heard that you participated in the National Revolutionary Congress in Burkina Faso, became the highest advisor, and even made an important speech on behalf of the Soviet Union. Oh my God, I think you two are really trying to commit suicide. If the French find out, there will be a reaction. It might even affect Soviet-French diplomatic relations, and the General Secretary will probably be furious..."

Because of the audacity of Haniyev and his partner, Eugene had been frightened for half a month. He was quite dissatisfied when he spoke about it, and was almost openly blaming Haniyev and his partner.

When Haniyev and Potanin made the decision to openly help Sankara, they knew that this day would come sooner or later. The French, who had suffered a great loss, would never resign themselves to this and would certainly believe that it was the Soviet Union's support and would put diplomatic pressure on the Soviet Union. Given Gorbachev's pro-Western character, he would naturally be furious and decide to judge himself.

To be honest, judging from what Haniyev and Potanin did, they would not have been condemned in the Soviet Union ten years earlier, and they might even have been rewarded, because the Soviet foreign policy at that time was to export revolution and ideology.

But now the Soviet Union is trying its best to shrink its defense, and the Gorbachev government is also trying to curry favor with the Western world led by the United States, hoping to embrace NATO to gain opportunities for peace and economic reform.

At this critical juncture, what Haniyev and Potanin did was to go against Gorbachev and to provoke him. Gorbachev was naturally furious and wanted to deal with them both.

If it were any other Soviet official, they would have been scared to death upon learning that they had caused such a terrible disaster, but Haniyev and Potanin were not afraid. They were only excited and thrilled.

Potanin decided to leave the system after he tasted the sweetness of economic reform after cooperating with domestic and foreign companies of all sizes in the Ministry of Foreign Trade. He relied on his connections and resources to do business with the help of economic reform. Now, because of his investment in Sankara, he has gained the friendship of Burkina Faso and has become the highest advisor at the vice-state level. It will be extremely convenient for him to develop gold mines in Burkina Faso or even do any other business in the future.

At this time, Potanin already had a big project worth 1 million US dollars in his hands. Naturally, he was not afraid that Gorbachev would dismiss him or even exile him to Siberia. At worst, he would just be an ordinary citizen in Siberia and do business to make a fortune.

Haniyev was not afraid because he knew that Gorbachev was a narrow-minded person with a weak stance and will. As long as Sankara stood up to protect him, as a member of the socialist camp, and the Soviet Union was still the big brother of the socialist camp, Gorbachev would never dare to deal with him openly. After all, that would make him suspected of being a traitor to socialism, and would also make countless socialist brothers look down on him.

What's more, the Soviet Union didn't have many years left to survive. Even if it was really dismissed, it could make a comeback as long as it endured for a few years.

Whether it was to help Sankara and the socialist regime, or to win the friendship and gratitude of a country's leaders, Haniyev felt that the "investment" he took was worth it and the rewards would definitely far outweigh the costs.

After listening to Eugene's explanation, Haniyev and Potanin smiled at each other. Eugene became anxious: "Don't you know how to be afraid? The KGB who are coming to arrest you should already be on the plane!"

"We are now the highest advisor to the Burkina Faso National Committee for the Continuation of the Revolution, a vice-state leader. Do you think Sankara will allow the KGB to arrest us?"

Potanin shook his shoulders and snorted coldly.

Eugene groaned and was speechless.

Haniyev smiled faintly and said, "Ambassador Eugene, you don't have to worry about us. We are also working for the cause of socialism and have absolutely no selfish motives. Now that things have happened, as a fellow Foreign Ministry member, you can't be so heartless and expect us to be arrested and tortured by the KGB, right?"

Eugene is not a second or third generation red, he has reached his current position step by step through his own efforts, so he has developed a cautious character. He dare not offend the daring Haniyev, nor does he dare to have anything to do with him for fear of being implicated, so he could only hesitantly and vaguely speak.

"Don't be afraid. I'm just asking you, what does our minister mean by this?"

Haniyev pulled him aside and asked.

Eugene said dazedly, "The minister told me that after he finds you, he wants you to send him a telegram immediately with a detailed report."

Haniyev nodded and said, "Okay, let's go back to the embassy and report to the minister what we saw."

After Haniyev finished speaking, he pulled Potanin and Eugene into the car. Ivan and Peter, who were behind the three of them, looked at each other and saw expressions of fear and excitement on each other's faces. They helped Haniyev do such a big thing. If Haniyev fell and was punished, the two of them would definitely not be able to escape. However, Haniyev had already brainwashed them and reassured them. The two of them thought that the director had connections and means to the world, so they were not very afraid and hurriedly followed him into the second car.

Chapter 137 Collusion

The special car that Sankara arranged for Haniyev was still the only Mercedes-Benz in Burkina Faso. The officers driving the car had become familiar with Haniyev and even learned a few common Russian phrases from him.

At Haniyev's order, the Mercedes-Benz quickly drove towards Area A.

District A of Ouagadougou is basically home to embassies of various countries. It is close to the National Assembly and government agencies and far away from the residential areas of the capital. Therefore, it is one of the areas least affected by the Great Revolution.

However, shortly after the vehicle entered Area A, Haniyev saw a large number of people gathered outside the French Embassy not far away. Inside, Burkina Faso soldiers were on high alert and blocking the crowd. From a distance, he could see that many parts of the French Embassy's building had signs of fire, and the windows facing the road were smashed.

Eugene pointed at the French Embassy and said, "Ever since Compaoré, after being repeatedly criticized, confessed that he had colluded with French Ambassador Allen Deschamps and that his wife was also a French spy, the people of Ouagadougou learned this news. Many angry students and red fighters began to attack the French Embassy, ​​throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks, and feces. Several military attachés and secretaries at the French Embassy were injured. You can see how the embassy has been damaged. The French are very angry about this. AFP reported that this is France's darkest moment since World War II."

Potanin chuckled: "The French should not be afraid of the dark hour, because they can raise their national flag when it gets dark."

Haniyev laughed and said, "If this is France's dark moment, then the Vietnamese and Khitans have done the same thing to the French."

Potanin continued: "No amount of darkness can stain the white of the French flag...haha..."

Haniyev and Potanin could easily come up with French jokes, and Eugene laughed angrily at their heartless looks.

"You guys are really..."

As they were talking, the car drove into the Soviet Embassy, ​​and the Renault carrying Ivan and Peter followed closely behind.

After entering the office, Eugene quickly sent a telegram to Moscow. In this era when telephones were widely used in European and American countries, telephones were a rarity on the African continent.

The government departments of Burkina Faso were equipped with telephones and radio equipment, but Burkina Faso did not have satellites and had not obtained authorization from the Soviet satellite, so it was unable to contact Moscow by radio. In addition, Ouagadougou could not communicate with Moscow by phone, so the Soviet Embassy and Moscow still relied on telegrams for communication.

It stands to reason that there must be a time difference between countries in this way of communication. However, the recent revolution in the small country of Burkina Faso has deeply hurt the interests and reputation of the French Fifth Republic, so that France has been jumping up and down to protest to the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union has also been nervous about the Burkina Faso Revolution. Most of the world has recently begun to pay attention to this country that it had never heard of.

Because he could not contact Haniyev and Potanin, who had caused chaos in Burkina Faso and attracted the attention of half the world, Gorbachev was worried that they would do something even worse, so he asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the situation many times a day. Therefore, there was someone guarding the telegraph machine at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 24 hours a day.

After receiving the telegram from Burkina Faso, the staff immediately reported to Minister Shevardnadze, who also ran to the telegraph machine and talked directly to the other side.

In the Soviet Embassy in Ouagadougou, Haniyev summarized his observations during his research trip with Sankara and had the clerk send it via telegram.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded quickly: "Did you help Sankara launch the Great Revolution? What was your motive and what happened? Please write down your answers and send them to me as soon as possible. - Shevardnadze"

Haniyev felt relieved when he saw Shevardnadze's signature. He looked at Potanin, then at Peter and Ivan. Then, under the supervision of embassy staff, the four of them each wrote a confession and sent it to Moscow.

Because of their different perspectives, the four people's confessions were different, but they were basically true. However, Haniyev concealed the fact that he actively helped and persuaded Sankara to leave Ouagadougou and launch the revolution. Instead, he used the story he had agreed with Potanin, Ivan, and Peter.

That is, Sankara discovered that France was colluding with Compaoré and others to carry out a coup. In order to dismantle the enemy's conspiracy, Sankara took the initiative to ask Haniyev for help, and semi-forced Haniyev, Potanin and others to leave Ouagadougou with him and move to Koudougou, the political center of the Central and Western Region.

In order to avoid being harmed by the already crazy Sankara during the transfer, Haniyev had no choice but to agree to help him formulate a plan to launch the Great Revolution. What followed was the process of the Great Revolution. This is all true and is similar to the information already held by the Soviet side.

Although Haniyev and Potanin felt that they were not afraid of Gorbachev's so-called arrest and investigation because of Sankara and their domestic connections, they were officials with strong political acumen after all. In order to minimize their own guilt, Haniyev and Potanin had already made up a set of statements with basically no loopholes based on the facts before returning to Ouagadougou, and they also colluded with Peter and Ivan to make the same statement.

Peter and Ivan, who were dragged into this by Haniyev, knew that they were just small fry in terms of relationship level. If the two leaders fell, their lives might not be saved. If the two of them obeyed the leaders and gave the same confession as them, it would be equivalent to acquitting the four of them. When they got over this hurdle, the two leaders would definitely not treat them unfairly.

It was precisely because of this clear understanding that Ivan and Peter had already memorized the confession, which was three parts false and seven parts true.

After the four confessions were sent to Moscow, it took a long time for a call to be returned: "If what you said is indeed the truth, then the French are making trouble for no reason. Don't worry. Now the four of you stay in the embassy and don't go anywhere. Wait for the instructions of the General Secretary."

Understanding what Foreign Minister Shevardnadze meant, Haniyev and Potanin smiled at each other, then clamored for food.

Eugene was also an old Soviet bureaucrat and a shrewd man. He understood that the minister wanted to confirm that the confessions of the four men were facts, to get rid of all the Soviet Union's responsibilities in the Burkina Faso Revolution, and to save Haniyev and others at the same time.

He heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that he had not offended Haniyev and the other two along the way, so he smiled and asked the embassy's kitchen to prepare the meal. Peter and Ivan, under Haniyev's arrangement, went to order the two cars sent by Sankara to leave, and at the same time secretly told Sankara and the other three about their situation through them.

Chapter 138: The KGB's Defeat in West Africa

Haniyev and Potanin stayed in the embassy. They ate and slept every day, and drank and chatted together when they had nothing to do. The day passed in a flash.

The confessions of Haniyev and the other three can prove that they were not the ones who subjectively instigated Sankara to launch the Great Revolution and the Great Purge. In other words, as long as the Soviet side recognizes this confession, the French protests and condemnations against the Soviet Union can be completely denied and dismissed.

According to Soviet tradition, even if Haniyev and others instigated the incident themselves and the result was beneficial to the socialist cause, the Soviet Union would stand up for its subordinates, refuse to acknowledge the French, and even reward Haniyev and others in private.

However, the Soviet Union now has a last monarch who is spineless and cowardly. If Haniyev and his four companions admit that they were the ones who started the trouble, Gorbachev will really dare to severely punish Haniyev in order to give an explanation to the Western world.

Haniyev saw from Shevardnadze's reply that he wanted to protect himself and should have gone to Gorbachev to report what the four of them had confessed. As long as Gorbachev was not stupid, even if he doubted the authenticity of the four confessions, for the sake of the Soviet Union's international image and to avoid being blamed by France, Gorbachev had no choice but to believe them.

Gorbachev has not yet evolved into a complete bootlicker of the Western world. In addition, when it comes to international disputes, the Politburo members will also be involved. With the relationship between Sherbitsky and Potanin, the support of Shevardnadze, and more stable leaders, they will definitely make the most favorable judgment for the Soviet Union, that is, to put all the responsibility for the Burkina Faso Revolution back on Sankara and refuse to admit that Haniyev and Potanin were involved.

Diplomatic matters are mostly just empty talk, especially when a small country involves several big countries, which is even more impossible to explain clearly.

The Soviet Union's handling of the matter and its views have not yet been released. Sankara became anxious when he learned that Haniyev and Potanin were required by the Soviet Union to be confined to the embassy and might be held accountable.

He sent several groups of people to express his condolences and personally called to tell Haniyev and Potanin not to worry, and also clearly informed Eugene:

"Comrade Haniyev and Comrade Potanin are good friends of the Burkina Faso people and close comrades of mine, Sankara. I hired these two top advisors so that they could help me build my country. The Burkina Faso Revolution is an internal affair of Burkina Faso, a settlement of old and new grudges between a colony and a colonial power, and a struggle between Burkina Faso and France. It has nothing to do with the Soviet Union or the two top advisors."

After hanging up the phone, Sankara first informed Burkina Faso's ambassador to the Soviet Union, Coulibaly, and the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and personally explained to the Soviet supreme leader Gorbachev.

Then, he officially met with French Ambassador Alan Deschamps for the first time since the Revolution, and explained and responded to the questions he raised on behalf of France. The general content was similar to the explanation he gave to Gorbachev, but the wording was more blunt and unpleasant.

At this time, Burkina Faso's news media and newspapers had already reported extensively on the content of the First National Congress of Thorough Revolutionary Committees on November 8, with a focus on the speeches of Sankara, Haniyev and Potanin. The news that two Soviets became vice-state-level supreme advisers to Burkina Faso's newly reorganized highest power center also became a topic of discussion among people around the world.

The Great Revolution of Burkina Faso and the First National Congress of Thorough Revolutionary Committees were reported in many socialist countries including the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. However, the Soviet Union's reports were very concise and China's reports were even more obscure. Only Vietnam, Cuba and other countries were jubilant and described the Great Revolution of Burkina Faso as "a victory of socialism over capitalism."

In Burkina Faso, it is no secret that Haniyev and Potanin are the country's highest advisers, close friends of President Sankara, and one of the initiators of the Great Revolution. France, Britain, the United States, and even the Soviet Union have long known this.

But now Sankara has come out to explain in person, refusing to admit that Haniyev and Potanin had anything to do with the matter. He only said that everything in Burkina Faso is its internal affairs, and that it was a decision he made as the supreme leader based on the country's internal and external troubles. The two Soviets just happened to be there and were used by him.

Gorbachev and Mitterrand could only express respect for the choice of the Burkina Faso people, while the other could only stop dwelling on the issue and instead angrily demand that Burkina Faso protect French expatriates and return all confiscated assets belonging to the French government and people.

At this time, from the official announcements and all the explanations, Haniyev, Potanin and others were beyond reproach, but in fact everyone knew in their hearts that they must have played an unspeakable role in it.

But at this point, there was no point in arguing further, so France and the Soviet Union tacitly chose to forget about Haniyev and Potanin.

France no longer pursued the matter with the Soviet Union, but some news media were still discussing the huge damage caused by the Burkina Faso Revolution to its national culture and economy, in an attempt to discredit the socialist cause.

After receiving a response from the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Sankara's launching of the Great Revolution and the French's slander would not affect Haniyev and his companions, Sankara called Haniyev directly to explain the matter.

After learning about the efforts Sankara had made to protect himself, Haniyev was deeply moved and asked Peter to express his sincere gratitude.

After a few polite words, Sankara suggested sending a car to pick up Haniyev and the other three to stay at the presidential palace for a few days, because he also learned that Gorbachev had already sent the KGB to arrest Haniyev and others. Although the Soviet Union now accepted his statement and promised on the surface not to vent his anger or pursue Haniyev and others, in fact, politics is never reasonable. As long as there is still suspicion about Haniyev and others, Gorbachev will most likely conduct internal investigations and secret interrogations of them, or even suppress and deal with them for other reasons.