Chapter 686: They're Back
The Carnation Revolution was quickly succeeded, beyond everyone's expectations. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info Until now, the Soviet Union was a little caught off guard, but the reaction was also very fast, in less than a day, a lot of the situation in this country was sent to the Lubyanka, Serov only knew that there was a carnation revolution in history, but the specific process was not understood at all.
"Vasco? Gonsalves? Serov said to himself, after thinking about it for a long time, he still didn't remember this person, there is too little information about the country of Portugal, but one thing is very obvious, that is, this is a huge opportunity.
"Chairman, the Kremlin called, let you go." The head of the General Services Department, Servanov, came in and reported.
"I'll go right away and get the vehicle ready." Putting on his hat, Serov rushed to the Kremlin, and one thing was certain: the garrison in Portugal at this time must have been pro-Soviet, at least influenced by the socialist ideas that prevailed in this era, otherwise nothing would have happened.
In his previous life, Serov saw a post listing the allies of the Soviet Union in various periods, the post was translated from Russia, and it listed Portugal in the seventies, as if it had only been close to the Soviet Union for about two years. Why did it turn around later, Serov's first thought was not public opinion, but that there was a problem in the army, and the pro-Soviet soldiers who had been dominant later did not have the advantage, and there must be a reason for this.
"I forgot that most of the Portuguese army is in the colonies, and after these soldiers return home, it will have an impact on the original military, and I have to think of a way." Selov, who got rid of the misunderstanding of thinking, walked into the Kremlin, as long as he knew how things were evolving, there was always an opportunity to intervene.
"Now the situation is clear, the Portuguese servicemen liked the Soviet Union, and the Central Committee of Portugal was released in full. This is a great opportunity for us! Andropov's joy was undisguised, he was the head of the Central Liaison Department, and he was very happy that the socialist movement in any country had made progress, let alone decisive progress such as Portugal, and optimistically whether the Soviet Union would be able to leave the country from NATO.
"Comrade Andropov, too optimistic, Portugal is just a country surrounded by NATO. Our support for them is limited, and to think of decades of Spanish Civil War is to know what we are facing. Serov was silent for a moment and said, "There is another disadvantage, that is, the military strength of Portugal is only about a quarter of the total military strength, and these soldiers in their country are pro-Soviet, once the soldiers of the colonies return home?" What will the country become? Will there be a military coup d'état by right-wing soldiers? If there is a coup d'état, do we have the ability to intervene? ”
The Soviet Red Navy was strong, and the US Navy was stronger. If it intervenes from land, there is only one way, the Soviet forces in Eastern Europe launch a full-scale offensive and defeat NATO head-on. If this could be done, there would be no need for interference. The whole world is Soviet, do you care about a small country on the Atlantic coast?
"Once the armies of those colonies return home, will there be a reversal? That's what we're going to think about. Serov reminded the others word by word, "There are several times more soldiers in the colonies than in their own country, and if the soldiers of those colonies have a good impression of the Soviet Union, then the gains of this carnation revolution will not be lost." ”
The "Armed Forces Movement", a group of middle- and lower-ranking officers in Portugal, staged a coup d'état to overthrow the Caetano dictatorship and form a new provisional government. It is worth noting that the Portuguese Communist Party not only regained its legitimacy as a result of the coup, but also had extremely close ties with the prime minister of the second interim government, Gonçalves. Immediately after the Gonsaves government came to power, it announced the beginning of the "decolonization" of Portugal, abandoning all overseas colonies and recognizing the independent rights of all Portuguese colonies. This policy originated from the CPP.
The CPP gradually became the main supporter of the Gonçalves government in the later internal struggles. Over the course of more than a year, the right-wing soldiers staged two coups, both of which were defeated by the left-wing soldiers supported by the Portuguese Communist Party. In July of the following year, Gonçalves organized the Fifth Provisional Government, in which only the CPP participated. The CPP reached its political peak. But nearly a month later, the Gonsalves government was overthrown by right-wing soldiers. The unwilling CPP staged another armed coup d'état in November '75, but it was suppressed, and then the CPP was completely purged from the government.
Serepin nodded and asked Brezhnev, "Comrade Ilyich, what do you think and how to avoid this." ”
"Now that Jura has seen this, let's listen to him." When Brezhnev had no idea of his own, he was very good at listening to the opinions of others, but when he had an idea, he did not listen to anyone's opinion, and the current situation is the former.
"Asking for money, asking for a lot of money, the Portuguese Communist Party has just been released, and we must immediately contact the comrades of the Portuguese Communist Party and talk to them about the colonial problem to buy time." Serov stood up and said, "Our main purpose is to buy time, especially to delay the withdrawal of troops in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, so that we can be more prepared, I know that the strategic offensive on the ground is in place, but if there is the cooperation of Portugal, we do not have to make a big move and must use military action to solve the problem, with the cooperation of the Portuguese soldiers, we can more easily receive these countries, at least more prepared when fighting." ”
"Go on!" Brezhnev nodded unchanged, earlier he thought that Portugal would not give up the colonies, so it was necessary to seize these countries by military means, but now that the environment has changed, the Portuguese armed forces movement and the Portuguese Communist Party obviously have a very good relationship, so of course the earlier plan must be overturned, and now the problem must be reconsidered.
"The meaning of delaying the withdrawal of Portuguese soldiers overseas is to fear the return of these uncertain soldiers and the impact on the situation in our favor, so when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs visits Portugal, our Central Liaison Department must send comrades to the local colonies, and at the same time, I will also send agents who understand Portuguese to control the movements of these returned soldiers before the withdrawal of troops, and buy time for the current Portuguese armed forces movement. When the time comes, they will let these right-wing soldiers retire, or whatever they can, defuse the military threat to the Portuguese comrades, and as long as the army does not turn around, this country will be our ally. Serov was silent for a moment and continued, "As for ordinary soldiers, we must unite with the local independent armed forces to adopt an attitude of negotiation, and we must make a peaceful handover, and use the time before the withdrawal to influence ordinary soldiers and make them interested in socialist ideas, which depends on the notice of the Central Liaison Department." ”
"We need a lot of money to win over these ordinary servicemen who have returned home and make them have some goodwill towards the Soviet Union. Some watches, or daily necessities, food, can easily touch the hearts of ordinary people, of course, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in this group, which requires us a lot of funds. Andropov followed Serov's train of thought and said, "Influencing this group of soldiers returning home will ensure that the most powerful group in Portugal is pro-Soviet." ”
"That's what I think!" Serov nodded his gratitude to Andropov. There is no precedent for this kind of spending money to buy goodwill, but it did exist after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that was when the Federal Republic of Germany paid for the withdrawal of Soviet troops. He was going to use this process first on the enemy camp.
What was the background to the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the GDR? A large number of East German state-owned assets and enterprises, including the GDR companies whose products sell well all over the world and have world-class technology, were sold cheaply by the West German "State Assets Trusteeship". The capitalists who collude with them buy them up through secret deals and ultra-low prices. The East Berlin City Bank, which had a loan of 11 billion marks, was sold for 50 million marks. The GDR Cooperative Bank borrowed 10 billion, but sold it to the West German Bank for 100 million.
Refrigerators made in the GDR are exported all over the world, and their products can be found everywhere in West Germany, and its first freon-free refrigeration technology has become an international standard. However, Siemens and Bosch pressured the trusteeship in West Germany to stop production, close their doors and leave, and hand over their technology. For this reason, they declared to the public that the freon-free and environmentally friendly refrigerant in East Germany was flammable and dangerous. But when they themselves began to use East German technology to make a lot of money for themselves, they did not mention anything flammable and harmful.
The Federal Republic of Germany used 230 billion marks to get the GDR, worth 200 billion dollars, from the Soviet Union, the world's top ten industrial countries, and at the same time let 500,000 people, the most powerful Western cluster in the Soviet Union, get out. It's a bargain.
"Comrade Gromyko, you go to Lisbon and at the same time bring back the Portuguese who are in exile with us, and discuss with the Portuguese Communist Party, that we can ease the secession from the colonies without leaving any trouble, instead of creating a vacuum in the colonies, which will lead to the risk of civil war." Brezhnev thought for a moment and said to Gromyko.
On 1 May, Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko's plane landed in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, and Gromyko waved to greet the Portuguese, while behind him was a group of Portuguese Communist Party members who had been exiled to the Soviet Union because of Salazar's capture. These people have been away from the motherland for decades, and with gray hair, they hold the hands of their comrades with trembling hands.
"Welcome back, Comrade Baptista, you have worked hard......" whispered the old Portuguese Communist Party member who hugged each other, and they had not seen each other for decades.
"Teixeira, you've been in prison in Salazar for decades, and you're the hero of this country." Baptista, who returned from the Soviet Union, shook his head and said with tears in his eyes, "Life is only a long time, and you spend half of your time in prison." ”
The recollection of old comrades-in-arms brought tears to the eyes of those who heard it, and some reporters took out their cameras to record the moment. (To be continued.) )