Soviet Union 1991

The third update

Turkey took advantage of the civil unrest in the Caucasus to repatriate the rebels who had previously fled to Turkey to Georgia as mercenaries. In the South Caucasus Mountains, the CIA provided Gerbachev with nearly 15 M113 armored vehicles and more than 3,000 Kalashnikov rifles to support the Georgian rebellion. So when Comrade Vladimir issued a strong condemnation statement, Sezer was completely panicked.

Turkish leaders have long been afraid of the Soviet Union's military strength, especially in recent years. The contest between the military and religious factions is destined to produce only a moderate leader who can coordinate the balance of interests of all parties in the position of Turkish president, rather than a tough and tyrannical figure. Sezer was born in this context. After Mazier's failure to govern, Sezer, who served as the chief justice, became the president of Turkey in the contest between the military and religious factions.

However, in fact, the pro-American faction within Turkey also saw the profitable situation in the war. If the Caucasus region can be split off, it will be tantamount to creating a buffer zone for Turkey. If Turkey supports the unrest in the Caucasus from behind, then Turkey can completely turn the Caucasus into the first line of defense to prevent the infiltration of red forces.

Both religious forces and military forces are very satisfied with this result.

So in this case, the military put pressure on Turkish President Sezer to let the Turkish government cooperate with the United States to provide financial support for Gerbachev and his rebel army behind the scenes. And gathered nearly 2,000 mercenaries to go to Georgia to participate in the war. They were all refugees who were persecuted by the Soviet authorities and exiled to Turkey. Including some liberal fighters and some religious fanatics.

Tbilisi has now implemented martial law, and Gerbachev uses the Tbilisi Government Building as his temporary presidential palace. Soldiers with live ammunition began to patrol the streets with armored vehicles, and Mi-8 helicopters hovered at low altitudes to be alert, alert to this ancient building to prevent sudden incidents.

But when Gerbachev walked in the city, every resident looked at him as if he was looking at a devil. After years of relentless exposure, Gerbachev's glorious image has been completely discredited among Soviet residents. The executioner who destroyed the Soviet Union, the devil, and all kinds of rumors reached Gerbachev's ears, so that he was so angry that he directly ordered the soldiers to impose martial law on the streets and not allow any residents to enter and leave at will.

Tbilisi was arranged to be watertight, including the anti-aircraft artillery of the Shikele River to prevent attacks by the Soviet Air Force. At the same time, no less than a battalion of T72 tanks were deployed in the suburbs of Tbilisi. Gerbachev hoped that through such a strict deployment, he could stop the Red Army armored forces.

However, the commanders involved in the rebellion suggested that Gerbachev evacuate to the border city area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so that they can accumulate strength and attack with a steady stream of armored clusters. But Gerbachev refuted the other party's suggestion at the beginning, and he called this behavior cowardice.

"Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia, and also the political and economic center of Georgia. Now the autonomous regions in the entire Caucasus are watching our every move. Once we defend Tbilisi, they will respond to the call. At that time, Yanaev will not only deal with Georgia, but the entire Caucasus."

"But..." Minashvili suddenly changed from the commander of the infantry division to the commander-in-chief of Georgia. This span is a bit unacceptable.

"No buts, Comrade Minashvili. You have to try to change your mindset." Gerbachev continued to instill wrong ideas into the newly appointed commander, "Now you are the commander of most of the Georgian army. As long as we hold Tbilisi, everything that follows will not be a problem. If we fail to hold Tbilisi, we can evacuate to the border area for a second reorganization. This battle is about our future, do you understand?"

Gerbachev raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said, "It has only been five hours since our coup, and Moscow's efficiency of action is not so fast. They need the decision of the highest command to mobilize the Black Sea Fleet. So we can completely complete our deployment."

Gerbachev has not been in contact with the political situation in Moscow for too long, so he is not aware that the current Soviet command and combat system has also been rectified, and the Southern Joint Strategic Command is the product of this Soviet command and combat system.

The Southern Joint Strategic Command proposed by Marshal Ogarkov is composed of the former North Caucasus Military District, the Black Sea Fleet, and the Caspian Fleet. Under the command are the Red Banner Black Sea Fleet, the Red Banner Caspian Sea Fleet, the 49th Combined Arms Army, the 58th Combined Arms Army, and the 4th Red Banner Aviation and Air Defense Army. The commander of the Southern Joint Strategic Command has the power to command all the troops under his jurisdiction across military services, which greatly improves the efficiency of joint operations. It was precisely because of the lag in the Soviet command during the Chechen War that Marshal Ogarkov suggested that Yanayev give up some of the power of the Supreme Command.

For example, if the 58th Army needed support from the Black Sea Fleet before, it had to report to the Supreme Command, which would then issue orders to the Black Sea Fleet. This was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and could easily lead to missed opportunities. After the establishment of the Joint Strategic Command, it only needed to report to the Joint Strategic Command or the front-line joint command, and the commander of the Joint Strategic Command could directly issue orders to the commander of the Black Sea Fleet. In this way, the Black Sea Fleet will be deployed more quickly than before. Just like after the Georgian rebellion, the fleet in the Sevastopol naval port completed its combat readiness in just four hours and began to prepare to move toward Turkey and Georgia.

However, Gerbachev did not know that in addition to the Slava-class and Kirov-class frigates that were heading to the Turkish waters to exert pressure, the Thug M-class frigates and Kilo-class submarines had already begun approaching Georgia. Their mission was to destroy military airports and prevent the Georgian army's MiG-27 and MiG-21 fighters from taking off to fight.

Gerbachev did not know that failure was slowly enveloping the entire Georgia.

After coming out of Gerbachev's office, Minashvili said to the people around him worriedly, "I have a bad feeling that the Soviet army may be approaching us..." (To be continued.)