USSR 1991

"But the UN peacekeeping force didn't know about our secret operation, and they didn't even say hello to them in advance." Hudson said, "And it will take a certain amount of time for them to mobilize the Tenth Mountain Division, and if they let If people from the United Nations know about it, then the Washington government will definitely..."

General Jonathan's expression became serious, and he said to Colonel Hudson, "If he really replied like this, then you tell him that our soldiers are now surrounded by armed militia groups, and people are dying every second. They rescued enemy territory. We need their help now."

"As for Washington's reaction, it doesn't matter anymore. If all our soldiers die in Mogadishu, that would be the most terrifying ending. If this is the case, all of us will be court-martialed!" What General Jonathan said made Colonel Hudson take a deep breath.

"Yes sir, I'm going to contact the peacekeeping force in Somalia now." Hudson stood up and left the command room. Jonathan knew that he would face accountability from Washington, accusing him of why he had taken such a risky action.But the most important thing now is to rescue all the soldiers trapped in the enemy area.Even if he was to be sent to a military court in the future, General Jonathan was willing to take all the responsibilities.

"This will be the most tragic battle for the US military since the Vietnam War." General Jonathan murmured.

This operation was much shorter than in history. Originally, the U.S. troops were trapped for a whole day and night before they escaped from the gunpoint of the Somali militia with the support of the joint forces.General Jonathan knew that a ground force without air support was tantamount to a bloody campaign, which led him to turn to the armed forces of the United Nations.

Armored vehicles and tanks suppressed the frantic attack of the Somali militia. Taking advantage of the cover of night, the bird helicopter also poured artillery towards the place where the militia gathered, in order to achieve the effect of suppressing the opponent.Then the U.S. military's support Humvees approached all the way, and finally reached the place where the convoy was trapped, and the place where the helicopter was destroyed to rescue the injured.

After a day and night of bloody fighting, most of the rangers and special forces members finally safely withdrew from the area surrounded by the enemy. The loss this time was very heavy. 34 American soldiers were killed and more than 60 were injured. People, four helicopters were shot down, four pilots are missing, three pilots were killed and one survived.

This operation in Somalia can be said to have ended in a disastrous defeat for the United States, because no one thought that the Somali militia would have weapons such as anti-aircraft missiles to deal with the hovering Black Hawk helicopters of the United States.Jonathan no longer has the energy to think about why they have such advanced weapons as anti-aircraft missiles. The only thing Jonathan thinks about is that his career has come to an end.

And on the second day after the end of the war, that is, on the afternoon of October 10th, the images of Somalis dragging the dead body of an American black hawk helicopter pilot on the ground with a rope repeatedly appeared on the major TV screens in the United States. A captured soldier was also shown on television, and Aidid did not execute the American, but used him as a bargaining chip with the United States.Aidid was a Somali government official before, and he knows how to use the international public opinion environment to defeat the US government.

Sure enough, this matter made the headlines of the world's major newspapers, and American public opinion was in an uproar, unanimously criticizing the US government for sending troops to Somalia.At the same time, they believe that this is the government's disregard for human life.Knowing that there is no need to launch such an attack and attack in Somalia, the army has paid such a painful price.

International criticism is also endless. After reading the report on Somalia, former British Prime Minister Edward Heath proposed to the United Nations that the peacekeeping force should not be an umbrella for US military operations; Supports back strength.

"We pay so much money to the United Nations and the army every year to maintain world peace, not to let them serve the Yankees." The British Prime Minister complained.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Moussa said that what is happening in Somalia will add new obstacles to the national reconciliation process in Somalia; All our efforts were in vain because of this action by the US military, which was originally easing the relationship between the parties.

French Defense Minister Leotard accused the United States of doing beyond the scope of its humanitarian mission and turned into an intolerable confrontation; German newspapers said that the United States was waging "a dirty war" in Somalia, or for their sake. A war waged for one's own interests.They have no scruples about the feelings of the Somali people. Some people even compare this war to a massacre, the massacre of the Somali people by the US military.

Of course, these domestic media in the United States have forgotten that the reason why their country launched this war was the invitation from the United Nations, otherwise the US military would not have gone to this troubled water.The U.S. military spent 27 billion U.S. dollars in Somalia for 20 months, but the operation ended without a problem.This is the big joke.

The war in Mogadishu was a blow to the U.S. government. Such a war had brought too many negative effects on the U.S. Mario knew that an emergency meeting on the situation in Somalia was called immediately.The recent months of wars not only failed to catch Aidid, but made Aidid more popular in Somalia. President Mario finally realized that they should take political measures to solve the Somali problem.

Chapter 269 An Emergency Meeting

The atmosphere in the conference room is as breathless as a cold ice cellar, where the breath will freeze.The CIA's Woolsey and Secretary of Defense Lespin did not dare to speak out, fearing that President Mario, who was sitting across from him, would suddenly lose his temper.An invisible pressure was like a python wrapped around their necks, slowly tightening their necks until they suffocated.

After a short period of silence, President Mario, who had been looking down at the report, suddenly raised his head and began to speak, but there was no trace of emotion in his tone, "I want to know why we lost so much in this operation. In the face of a group of black Africans armed with inferior Kalashnikov rifles, four Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over the market in Mogadishu, and now the media all over the world are calling our actions a violation Humanitarianism and interference in the country's internal affairs. This is the worst public relations crisis I have faced since I came to power!"

"And I also read the report provided by General Jonathan to Washington." At this point, Mario directly threw the report on the table, and his tone was a little sullen, "Why does our CIA even connect Somalia? The intelligence that the militia has anti-aircraft missiles has not been obtained, so I may ask Director Woolsey, what exactly has the intelligence agency been doing in Somalia for a few months."

Facing Mario's questioning, Woolsey looked very frightened. He lowered his head and apologized, "I'm really sorry, President Mario. This is not a mistake in our intelligence, but a delay in our intelligence feedback... "

"That's enough, I really don't want to hear any excuses." Mario's emotions broke out suddenly at this moment, he turned his head and said to Minister of Defense Lespin, "There is also Minister Lespin, General Jonathan hoped to be able to withdraw from the National Defense Department. The Ministry dispatched gunboats and tanks, why rejected their request?"

"Because His Excellency the President issued an order, the operation in Mogadishu must be carried out in secret, so as not to attract the attention of the international public opinion. Similarly, we think that sending gunboats is too eye-catching, so we rejected General Jonathan's request." Minister Lespin's answer is well-founded, because Mario personally issued the order, so it is understandable for him to do so.

Of course, the president who is in a period of emotional outbursts is irrational. He rudely interrupted Minister Lespin, "Shut up, is avoiding the attention of the international community more important than the lives of dozens of people in the US military?" ? Use your head to think about it, once an accident occurs, do you think the international public opinion will be more serious than attracting attention?"

The anti-war sentiment triggered by the death of more than 30 soldiers in Somalia is terrible. The US government now has to take into account the feelings among its allies, and on the other hand, it has to appease the dissatisfaction of the domestic public.He does not want another Los Angeles riot to occur in the United States because of this incident.

"So the problem in Somalia can only be solved by political means. We can only negotiate with Aidid in secret, and ask Aidid to hand over the bodies of the downed pilots and American soldiers; Then we released all the Aidid captives we had detained, and stopped targeting the Aidid faction.” The U.S. government, which has always been unwilling to negotiate with the enemy, chose to compromise because of the pressure of international public opinion for the first time.

"One more thing, Director Woolsey, you must find out where the batch of anti-aircraft missiles came from." President Mario has always been concerned about this matter, "Then those involved in this incident People are wiped clean."

Then on October 10, President Mario issued a statement on the Somalia incident at the scene of the press conference. He stated that the U.S. military would withdraw from Somalia within a limited time and hand over the United Nations stability maintenance operations to the United Nations peacekeeping force.Since the U.S. military itself is no longer willing to wade into this muddy water, let those who blame the U.S. have a headache.Anyway, the United Nations has almost reached the point of nowhere. It spent a lot of money in Somalia but failed to stop the warlords' melee.

"The U.S. military will withdraw from Somalia within a time limit, will no longer participate in the Somali side, and will return command to the UN peacekeeping force. And we will not leave any soldier behind. We are now negotiating with the Aidid government and will return American pilots captured by them."

The spotlights of the reporters in the audience were shining. Just as they were about to ask President Mario a question, the other party had already left the press conference.Instead, the official White House press secretary answered questions for reporters.

This press conference meant a humiliation to Mario. Since the Vietnam War, the U.S. military has never suffered such humiliation. Even the invasion of Panama and the Gulf operation, the U.S. military conquered it with lightning speed. All enemy troops.

Of course, President Mario will never know that in the Kremlin's office, General Secretary Yanayev is watching President Mario's every move on TV.He is like a conspirator hiding behind the scenes and manipulating the overall situation, playing around with the elites in the White House as puppets.

"Next, the United States will find the South African Congressman based on the clues left by Victor intentionally, and the batch of fake arms that flowed from the South African Defense Force will become ironclad evidence. Of course, the mineral resource transactions between the Soviet Union and South Africa will also make The United States has stepped into a misunderstanding. It mistakenly believes that everything South Africa does is to ensure that its interests in Somalia are not violated." Yanayev said to himself.

"At that time, the United States, which is furious, will inevitably attack South Africa. If de Klerk resigns under pressure, then Mandela, who is just about to take office, will become a scapegoat. Naturally, South Africa, which wants to please the United States, will Those right-wing parliamentarians will be removed as abandoned children, and South Africa will really no longer be dominated by the Boers."

Yanayev did not believe what Mandela said. At least the performance of South African whites in the African National Congress of South Africa made Yanayev really find it hard to believe that all ethnic groups of all colors are united and united. beautiful fantasy.Of course, the Soviet Union would not sympathize with the whites and blacks in South Africa. In front of Yanayev, the moment South Africa wanted to develop nuclear weapons determined his fate to end in tragedy.No country can challenge the nuclear weapons status of the five permanent members.

Mandela's rise to power was just the last straw that would destroy the country from its imminent collapse.What Yanayev has done is to provide the "South African version of Gorbachev" with an excellent opportunity to govern.

Chapter 2 Seventy Retaliation

Dealing with the Somali government can be said to be the most humiliating act the United States has ever done. After negotiations, they agreed to release Aidid's prisoners of war and not conduct military operations in the Somali country.After getting the guarantee, Aidid returned the American pilots captured by the militia, as well as the bodies of some Rangers who did not come.

Although Director Woolsey made some mistakes in Somalia's intelligence, this does not mean that the efficiency of the CIA will be reduced because of this, especially after the Soviet Union left such obvious clues, the CIA successfully investigated from the existing clues. To the South African congressman, and to dig out the source of the needle anti-aircraft missile.

"The batch of arms was originally sold by an international arms dealer named Victor from the Soviet Union and sold to the South African National Defense Force. Later, for some reason, this batch of arms fell from the National Defense Force to the mercenary group, which is EO Resource Cooperation Company Then they were resold to Aidid." Woolsey reported the CIA's findings to President Mario very efficiently.

"EO Resources can be said to be a dog raised by Boer right-wing parliamentarians in South Africa. And just before the war, the Soviet Union resold all resources in Somalia to South Africa at unbelievably low prices. It seems that even the Soviets Had to withdraw from the competition under pressure from South Africa."

"Then the last obstacle to becoming a member of the South African Parliament is our army stationed in South Africa. They want us to withdraw from Somalia completely so that we can take over our interests in South Africa. This conflict in Mogadishu just provided their plan. It’s just a kind of feasibility.” Woolsey replied, “Everyone knows that the warlords in Somalia don’t have such tall things as flying machines, so it’s self-evident who these weapons are going to target. If If this conflict hadn’t happened, I believe they would have provided armored vehicles and even anti-tank guns to the militia in Mogadishu. At that time ... it is likely that our soldiers will not only pay such a price.”

Think of a group of Mogadishu armed forces equipped with Dow anti-tank missiles and SAM anti-aircraft missiles, facing a US military convoy whose firepower is far from enough to support a war, what terrible casualties this raid will cause.

"Release all the information." Mario opened his eyes, blue pupils showing anger, "Release all the information obtained by the CIA, and publish it in the newspaper in the name of a newspaper reporter. I want that A bunch of Boers in Africa face the world's accusations."

"I'll arrange it right away," Woolsey replied.

"Do you really think that peace can be achieved by giving up nuclear weapons? We absolutely cannot tolerate the emergence of countries that dare to challenge the power of the United States. They like to fight against us, so let South Africa be ready to accept US sanctions now."

Three days later, the inside story about the dirty deal between the South African congressman and the Somali warlord was published in the newspaper, and the CIA also specially fabricated some data to make the public mistakenly think that the operation of the US military was planned by the South African government congressman. .Soon popular anger shifted from the government's combat blunders to the South African Boers.

Subsequently, US President Mario once again held a press conference to condemn the actions of the South African government.He said he would make South Africa pay for what he did.Poor de Klerk was subjected to more severe economic sanctions and political isolation by the United States before he understood what was going on.

And this time, what the United States did actually received the support of the Soviet government. On the second day after the US government imposed sanctions, the Soviet Union also reprinted and reported the secret transaction between the South African governments for the first time.But this time they did not adopt a cynical approach, but stood on the side of the United States, sympathized with and accused the South African government of disrupting peace.

This is also a signal released by the Soviet government, suggesting that the US government may be willing to unite with the United States to attack South Africa.After all, the enemy of an enemy is a friend. The Soviet Union could choose South Africa as a friend, or it could choose to be a friend with the United States.

After that, Yanayev received a presidential hotline from the White House, and Mario offered to join forces with the Soviet Union to sanction South Africa.In addition to political isolation and economic blockade, South Africa has also been brought down by internal and external cooperation.The internal method is to support the opposition, which both countries are well versed in.

"It is an established fact that Mandela, the savior of the South African people, came to power, so we might as well propose a deal with Mandela or de Klerk." Mario said, "De Klerk wants to change the bad economy. You have to cooperate with us. And now the Democratic Party has nowhere to go. A collapsing economy and the repeal of apartheid.”

"Turn the blame on the white South Africans in Africa. Although we don't like a group of black people in power, it's better than being controlled by a group of white people who want to develop nuclear weapons all day long. A country with potential?"

Ironically, Mandela's prison life was also given by the CIA, and even now his name is still on the list of terrorists in the United States.However, the Americans also have the opportunity to cooperate in order to deal with the disobedient South Africa, even if they are terrorists in their eyes.

Of course Yanayev knew that this was just a rhetoric on the table. Both the United States and the Soviet Union hoped that South Africa would fall into turmoil and collapse, but only Yanayev understood what was going to happen in South Africa under Mandela's rule.

“Rather, it is in our interest that President Mario wants to see a long period of chaos and struggle between these two factions. A united, ambitious South Africa is not in our interest.” Yanayev resumed He said, "It's better that we are pushing a straw, making the South African government hand over those right-wing members of Congress, and further harming their interests. What do you think will happen?"

"A coup?" President Mario replied in disbelief, apparently both he and Yanayev guessed.Politicians at the top always consider very different results.

The era of black rule in South Africa can be said to be an established fact. The Boer political parties who are not reconciled to failure naturally want to come back. If they are all driven to a desperate situation, then a coup d’état may break out in South Africa .On the one hand, there are whites who have mastered the armed forces, and on the other hand, blacks who demand the equality of the South African nation. Once a conflict is triggered, it will be a war that will pull the entire country into the abyss.

Anyway, for Yanayev, it doesn't matter whether the coup will break out or not.If there is no coup Mandela's smooth transfer of power, South Africa will never have a chance to rise.If there had been a coup d'état, a civil war in South Africa would have divided the country, only that the latter outcome was more tragic than the former.