Soviet Union 1991

Second update

Mogadishu's plan is not part of Yanayev's expectations. To be more precise, it is just a seed that he casually scattered. As for how far it will take root and sprout, we can only leave it to ourselves. It’s up to God to guess. After all, the Americans suffered heavy losses in Mogadishu, which led to the fact that in subsequent battles, whether it was the Kosovo War or Operation Desert Fox against Iraq, they no longer adopted the form of direct intrusion of ground troops. To a greater extent, air strikes are used, using ground intelligence and absolute air superiority to attack the opponent's troops.

At the beginning, General Jonathan hoped that Washington would send tanks and gunships to support the operation in Somalia. However, the United States, considering the cost and coordination issues with the United Nations, rejected General Jonathan's request, which also resulted in the subsequent loss of two black aircraft in Somalia. Eagle helicopter.

Anyway, the Soviet Union's business has been done, and it depends on how the other party ends up. And Yanayev is more concerned about another thing, the decision to cut the Ministry of Internal Affairs' army. The law stipulates that the internal security forces are mainly responsible for maintaining social order, safeguarding social security and national systems; guarding important national goals; guarding judicial organs and carrying out arrest tasks; and defending national territory when the country is subject to external aggression. This also means that they have a significant armed force.

Because the internal defense force implements a special organization, there are combat divisions responsible for emergency reserve teams according to different tasks, mainly responding to emergencies and participating in peacekeeping operations in hotspots; guard brigades responsible for protecting important national targets, including protecting nuclear power plants and other key locations departments; guard brigades responsible for arresting and guarding prisoners; special motorized units responsible for ground support tasks; air forces responsible for air support tasks; maritime forces responsible for maritime duty and combat tasks; in addition, there are some technical and logistical support units.

It can be seen from this that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is already another important army outside the Soviet armed forces. Whoever controls the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is equivalent to having the capital for a coup.

Although Putin was promoted to become the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and made further plans to further control all armed forces in the future, Yanayev is still not sure whether his rights will be challenged. Since the Beria era, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has meant further preparations for seizing power. At that time, Beria, as Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, had enough power to challenge Khrushchev’s Central Committee. The first secretary-recorder's position.

Yanayev knew that Pugo could not accomplish such a feat alone. But what if it is controlled by a small interest group behind the political situation? Yanayev could not imagine whether he, who came to power in the August 19th coup, would be driven out for the same reason.

So he found Putin and asked about the recent situation in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"There are still signs of opposition activities on the borders of the franchising countries, especially in Chechnya and Georgia, where the armed forces seem to never be extinct." After assuming the position of Deputy Minister of the Interior. The heavy responsibility on Putin's shoulders suddenly became much heavier. Coupled with Yanayev's deliberate cultivation, Putin can be regarded as the busiest person in the entire department.

At least many people in the central leadership regard Putin and Surkov as the two-headed horses of the Soviet Union's future.

Putin's busyness always makes the other person seem a bit redundant. Pugo can be regarded as a comrade with Yanayev through life and death. After Putin takes over completely, he will remove Putin's privileges in the form of overt promotion and covert demotion.

Of course, Yanayev did not want to end up like Khrushchev. He was forced to retire by his protégé in the form of a coup.

"What I want to say is another aspect. Do you think the functions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have reached a level of extreme authority?" Yanayev said very vaguely, but he was telling Putin that I have no responsibility for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Something grudge.

Of course, Putin instantly understood what Yanayev said, "Except for the army, the power possessed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs is no longer matched by any state agency. And the most different thing between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the army is that the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs People participate in politics and have armed forces that can subvert the country.”

"It doesn't matter if that force belongs to the top leader, but once it gets involved with other people, or it has the power to subvert the regime, it is extremely dangerous." Putin revealed bit by bit. He didn't know what Yanayev was thinking about writing.

Yanayev just doesn’t want to see a repeat of the October incident that bombarded the Russian parliament building. The sword and shield of the motherland have become sharp weapons in the hands of the enemy under the instigation of conspirators with ulterior motives.

"As you said, the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is so great that there is no organization within the government that can compete with it. Just like the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, once the power of a certain position overwhelms others, it will There is a risk of arbitrariness,” Yanayev said, “so the situation in the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot continue, and a new organization must emerge to divide the power of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.”

"General Secretary, you mean..." Putin was shocked that he would be the first to know about such a major reform measure.

"Yes, I am ready to split the powers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Some of the powers that can be transferred to other departments will be delegated to other departments. For example, those who serve as guards and the security of national leaders can only be fully handed over to the KGB Leader's Security Service, including all armed forces. Strength," Yanayev said.

"Then the guard brigade responsible for guarding prisoners will be placed under the management of the police department of the political department newly established by the Supreme People's Court of the USSR and will no longer be under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"In terms of armed forces, the Ministry of Internal Affairs cannot own tanks. Weapons that can be possessed by regular Soviet armed forces such as fighter jets are limited to light armed forces such as infantry fighting vehicles."

"But if a major battle such as the Chechen War breaks out, what should we do? Call in regular Soviet troops to suppress it?" Putin asked. Conflicts among the participating countries are not a trivial matter. What if we take advantage of the situation that day? When the Soviet Union is in decline, if it breaks out again, it will still require the power of the powerful Ministry of Internal Affairs to suppress it.

"I will discuss this issue with Minister Yazov to expand certain special 'authorities' of the Soviet Army. Including the authority to carry out internal suppression." Yanayev's words are already very clear. The Soviet regular army will serve as part of the The mission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, although their ability to protect the country has not changed, but in major events, the Ministry of Internal Affairs no longer has the power to make decisions and take action. This is the most fatal power withdrawal.

In this way, with a few words, Yanayev took away at least one-third of the power of the Soviet Union's most popular department. I wonder what Comrade Serov would think after seeing this?

"As for other detailed matters, we need to discuss them with other people in the Political Bureau before making a decision." The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is now the scope of collective leadership, and such a major matter cannot be left to Yanayev One person makes the decision, otherwise others will have different opinions. Isn't reform just about using the interests of the vast majority of people to deny the vested interests of a small group of people?

"I think this matter should be discussed with Comrade Pugo. After all, he is now the Minister of the Interior. In terms of qualifications, he is far above me."

Putin said with some uneasiness that according to the tradition of the Soviet system, such a thing should be notified to Pugo first, but Yanayev obviously skipped Pugo first. In the eyes of outsiders, does this mean that the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Are there already some gaps between you and the Minister of Internal Affairs?

"I will make separate announcements about Putin. I am just here to have a casual chat with you. Also, Comrade Putin, I hope you can become familiar with the methods of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as soon as possible and better take over. The work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, after all, the tasks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be relatively lighter after the reform, allowing you to adapt and get started faster. "

Yanayev is eager to cultivate young people. After the hard-liners who originally supported the change turned into conservatives, Yanayev hopes to gather around him candidates who are more supportive of his reform measures. After all, those old people were the ones who suffered deeply from Gor-Bachov's reforms, so they had certain prejudices against any measures. Even after Yanayev carried out steady reforms, they still had a sense of distrust. feeling.

"I will not disappoint the general secretary's expectations of me." Putin nodded towards Yanayev and said,

Just as he stood up and was about to leave the office, Yanayev suddenly said from behind Putin, "I heard that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is planning to implement a public security campaign recently. I am also very interested, and I hope you can Comrade Putin, this is also a credit to you."

When Putin walked out of Yanayev's office, he felt a sense of relief. Although he is one of the candidates for whom Yanayev has high hopes, I don't know why there is always an invisible pressure every time he talks to the general secretary.

Just like sitting across from him was the benevolent Comrade Stalin. This idea just flashed through Putin's mind and was quickly forgotten. The Ministry of Internal Affairs still has a lot of work waiting for him to complete, including occasional border riots and the anti-riot and anti-terrorism activities within the Soviet Union that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is preparing to organize.

Compared with matters such as reform and other matters that the upper levels of the political bureau are concerned about, public security prevention and control is an issue that Putin considers urgent. (To be continued.)