Chapter 1171: Make things happen, make big things happen (Third update, please subscribe)
How important is food?
It is so important that it can trip up a country!
The most famous example is the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was tripped by food.
In fact, the reason why the Soviet Union was tripped up by food was not after the 1980s. Even in the steel age, the Soviet Union's food was very serious.
From the surplus grain collection system to collective farms, they are essentially all aimed at solving the food problem.
However, the Soviet Union destroyed everyone’s enthusiasm by tossing and turning. The farmers did not own the food they grew, so they just farmed as they pleased?
For example, in the Soviet Union, there was a popular method of "bald head transplantation". Since all the food grown by farmers will be taken away, they don't care about the harvest. They can fool them as much as they can. Every aspect is mainly about performance. Whether it is sowing or fertilizing, it is mainly done carefully at the edge of the field, and the further you go, the more confused you become. During the harvest season, the problem was exposed. The crops grew as if they were bald. Only the few areas where fertilizers were carefully fertilized grew well, and most of the areas were bare.
After Khrushchev came to power, he stopped doing it. For example, we have reduced the burden on farmers, abolished collective farms, and raised agricultural purchase prices. Farmers have benefited from this and are not as foolhardy as before, and grain output has been greatly improved. In addition, large-scale land reclamation was also carried out. From 1954 to 1958, the government invested billions of rubles in land reclamation, mobilized hundreds of thousands of volunteers to settle in the eastern region, and reclaimed a total of 40 million hectares of land. The ability of agriculture in the Soviet Union and now Russia to survive had a lot to do with this land reclamation.
But even so, the food problem in the Soviet Union is still very serious - because the Soviet people want to eat meat, the workers in the cities want to eat meat, and the farmers also want to eat meat.
The only problem is - the meat is fed from grain.
So in the Khrushchev era, the Soviet Union’s food problem was still very serious, so serious that it even needed to consider using gold to import food. You know, ten years ago, the Soviet Union exported food to post-war Europe. Woolen cloth!
But now that food production has increased, we still need to import food. This is simply... a bit unbelievable!
Actually, the reason is very simple - because the Soviet people need to eat meat.
Since the introduction of "roast beef with potatoes" in the Khrushchev era, Soviet leaders have had a strong obsession with meat, eggs, and milk. This is understandable, after all, because the living standards of ordinary people have kept pace with Meat consumption is strongly correlated. It’s hard to say that people’s living standards will be very high if they eat meat once a year, right?
Ever since, the top Soviet officials really wanted to solve this problem. Khrushchev, in particular, was more concerned about agriculture than any other Soviet leader. It is for this reason that after discovering the big granary of Africa, he would ask Brezhnev every once in a while - how is our granary?
No, I should say, how is Ethiopia’s liberation cause!
What happened? I was afraid that the leader would be watching from behind. Once he was targeted and did not meet the leader's requirements, he would definitely be punished. So, once again, Brezhnev came. Lubyanka, come to see Shelepin.
When meeting Shelepin, the leader of Lubyanka, Brezhnev asked.
"How's our work going over there? You know, Nikita has always been concerned about it."
Faced with Brezhnev's question, Serev answered without any concealment.
"Everything is progressing. If nothing unexpected happens, they will take action soon. However, now they have encountered a problem."
"Problem? What problem!" Bo Lezhnev asked eagerly:
"Do you need something? Weapons or funds?"
"No,"
Sheleping shook his head and said:
"Congo, the Congolese security forces launched a mutiny demanding the expulsion of Belgian officers and improved treatment. This action quickly received a response from workers and police, and now its scope has been immediately expanded to the whole country, Belgium In order to safeguard its colonial interests, it decided to carry out armed suppression. The United States is seeking our support and trying to pass a resolution to send United Nations troops to Congo in the name of the United Nations to ensure its independence. But you know, the Americans will never do it. If they send troops, they will provide funds, and the emperor of Ethiopia has always been interested in expanding his influence in Africa. He is likely to send troops to the Congo, and the Royal Guard is most likely to be sent, and Mengistu New It is the Royal Guards that Wei relies on, and he must rely on them to launch a military coup."
Since the KGB launched its operation in Ethiopia, Mengistu Newey and his Royal Guards were the main force in the entire operation. The key is also the results of all their work over the past 20 months.
“Without this unit, everything is just talk, Comrade Brezhnev.”
Listening to Shelepin’s report, Brezhnev said:
"So, what do you mean?"
"We have to delay the incident in the Congo."
"But you should know that we cannot allow Belgium to resume their It is our established strategy to rule in the Congo and destroy the British and French colonial empires in Africa. Now it is difficult for France to maintain their rule in Africa. Africa will usher in a wave of independence next, and we must maintain this result. It is difficult for us. Convince Nikita to sacrifice our principles on this issue. After all, our principles are to help them gain independence."
Whether it is the independence of the Congo or the subsequent disintegration of the French colonies, both are in the United States. The two countries worked together to advance the Soviet Union. For them, the most important thing was to destroy the colonial systems of Britain, France and other European countries. After all, only by destroying the old system could a new system be established.
Faced with Brezhlev's rejection, Shelepin said directly.
"It's not to block, but to delay. We need time. Now, our operations in Ethiopia are at a critical moment. We need the entire Royal Guard to participate. Without them, it will be difficult for Mengistu to succeed."
Actually, in another world, Mengistu took advantage of Haile Selassie’s visit abroad at the end of that year to launch a military coup. Because the main force of the Royal Guard was maintaining peace in the Congo, it was unable to arrest important figures at the same time. After the coup broke out, Haile Selassie immediately interrupted his visit to Brazil, flew to Sudan via Liberia, and quickly made contact with the anti-government leaders. Under the joint attack of the Army's 1st Division and the Air Force, the coup was easily crushed. The failure of the other world can only be said to be that Mengistu was too rough. Not only did he not understand the principle of capturing the thief first, but he even rushed to launch a mutiny with insufficient troops. If he didn't fail, who would lose?
But the KGB will definitely not make such a mistake. After all, they are the experts at doing this kind of thing.
“This, Ethiopia is very important and it is also a place that Nikita is very concerned about...”
Can you not pay attention?
That place is the granary of the Soviet Union, and even in Nikita’s plan, Ethiopian food has begun to be included! If he fails to handle this task, he is likely to lose his trust, which is obviously unacceptable to Brezhnev, who has just been promoted to a high-level position.
After thinking about it, Brezhnev said.
"So, do we have any other way to delay this matter now?"
"There is only one way!"
Shelepin looked at Brezhnev and said:
"Diversion, Comrade Brezhnev, we need to divert the attention of Americans, and even the world, away from the Congo. We need to create a A big event."
"Creating a big event?"
Brezhnev looked at Shelepin in surprise, this guy wouldn't want to kidnap Nanyang or American tourists!
"Those tourists..."
Before Brezhnev could finish speaking, Shelepin said.
"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid! I'm talking about overseas, in other countries, maybe we should..."
Leave the desk and walk to the wall, where Xie Leping stood In front of the world map, he pointed at a location on the map and said.
“Comrade Brezhnev, look here!”
Looking at the position of Shelepin’s finger, Brezhnev said in surprise.
"Here? Is there any big event here?"
"Not yet, but as long as we are willing, a big event will break out there at any time!"
Xie Leping pointed to several locations on the map Said:
“In the past few years, they have been asking for our help to help them achieve the reunification of the country.”
“But they have failed once.”
Staring at the map, Brezhnev said:
“If he fails again, that guy will even lose everything.”
“That’s why he didn’t act impulsively like last time. In the past few years, they have been trying every possible means to make their enemies give up their vigilance, while amplifying the contradictions between them, provoking conflicts between them, and amplifying the distrust between them. Facts have proved that they are successful. Yes, according to the intelligence we obtained from the local area, at present, the time is basically mature, but they are still hesitant-"
Looking at the thoughtful Brezhnev, Shelepin said:
“They need our support. If they get our support, they will definitely launch an attack. When they launch an attack, the whole world will look there, and the United Nations will definitely hold an emergency meeting to discuss This incident, and all we need is to express support for them at the joint meeting, which is the fundamental reason why they have delayed it until now. They need the support of big countries, and the affairs of Congo will not be noticed by the outside world for the time being. , Mengetus’s royal guards will not be transferred to the Congo..."
Turning his eyes to the map, Shelepin continued to explain:
"Furthermore, this will also help our actions in Ethiopia. After all, when the world's attention is attracted to this place, it will no longer Someone has noticed Ethiopia. When people turn their attention there again, a brand new country will appear in front of the world."
After Shelepin finished speaking, Brezhnev's eyes looked at the map from time to time! He glanced back and forth, as if he was planning something. After a while, he said.
“This seems to be a good choice, but we need to convince Nikita.”
In fact, it is not difficult to convince Nikita... because food is very important! Because the Soviet people want to eat meat!
A grain of grain can trip up a country, and sometimes, a grain of grain can also destroy several countries. At this time, no one knew that the world had just entered the wonderful 1960s!
(End of this chapter)