Although it was a little later than expected, the armored forces successfully entered Leningrad and Volgograd, one of the most important transportation hubs in the west and the other as the granary of southern Russia. Yanayev would never let any city fall and become the base camp of democratic parasites.
Before the troops moved in, he had a long conversation with the commanders of the 16 major Soviet military districts over the phone. Every admiral or general held the microphone tremblingly, listening to Yanayev's instructions. But there was one person who would never hear these instructions. Admiral Shilichenko of the Ural Military District shot himself in his office three hours ago. It is said that a GRU soldier went in and told him something. After coming out, Shilichenko sat on the sofa and smoked a cigarette in a daze. After smoking the last cigarette, he picked up a pistol and shot himself without any warning. Two hours later, Shilichenko's family also lost contact.
Everyone in the army knew that Shilichenko and Yeltsin had been flirting with each other, and less than two hours after Yeltsin fell, Shilichenko suffered. The revenge of the Soviet Communist Party leaders was more brutal than they had imagined.
So when the commanders-in-chief of other military districts received the call from Yanaev, their hands trembled with fear. Most of these generals, who had experienced the bloody Great Patriotic War, showed fear and respect in front of a general secretary who was a civilian for the first time. Yanaev asked them to send troops to the city to impose martial law, and no one was allowed to withdraw the troops without his order. Everyone was correct in the recruitment, and no one dared to disobey.
The higher the position and power, the more they cherish their lives. These old people, who have been ravaged by alcohol and time, will do anything to keep their positions. When Yanayev hung up the phone, he first realized the sadness of the Soviet Union.
Those who fought for the communist ideal have long lost their way. In the joy of power, they have forgotten their goals and started to doubt their ideals and beliefs. Eventually, they became a small group of villains who wanted to change the system to usurp national interests and enrich themselves. And those who are still fighting for their beliefs have gradually become disappointed in the unsatisfactory reality, and finally choose to watch the motherland they have fought for collapse. Then they picked up the rusty and faded sickle and hammer badge in the dust, feeling sad.
Fortunately, Yanayev still had the passion for reform and enough power to support him in doing this. When he signed some appointment letters with his pen, Yanayev knew that a war without gunpowder was being set off all over the Soviet Union.
Although some spontaneously organized opposition groups did not launch shocking demonstrations under Yeltsin's call, many people still took to the streets, holding up banners and shouting slogans for the Emergency Committee to step down. Gradually, the demonstrations turned into riots, many shops were smashed, cars were burned, and even women were harassed and molested in broad daylight. These dirty villains who waved the banner of democracy and freedom always liked to do something completely different in secret.
The people's initial expectations turned into disappointment. These people were not targeting the government, but were plundering their property, just like a blatant robber breaking into their homes and robbing under the banner of justice.
At first, the martial law troops followed the instructions of the Central Committee and secretly observed but did not take any action. However, they reported directly to the Central Committee every half an hour. When Yanayev realized that the actions of these reactionary figures had made the citizens of Volgograd and Leningrad intolerable, he finally issued the long-prepared order to clear the area.
On this day, these parasites who were immersed in the joy brought by fake democracy finally learned the horror of the steel torrent. Those violent machines running on caterpillar tracks will become an indelible nightmare for the rest of their lives.
The army that cleared the area first threw tear gas into the crowd, and when those people realized what it was, they were already choked and unable to open their eyes. Some people tried to set the soldiers on fire with homemade Motolov cocktails, but their legs were broken by snipers who had been ambushed on the roof with compressed air guns.
Then the soldiers cleared the area. The rough style of the Soviet army meant that they would not use artistic repressive weapons such as batons and shields. They all had riot guns in their hands, which were directly loaded with rubber bullets that were very painful but not lethal. Yanayev's order was, do not show mercy to any thugs until you have used up all your bullets. It is God's business to forgive those people, and we are only responsible for sending them to meet them. If they are caught on the street, they will be beaten in the street, and if they are caught in the toilet, their heads will be directly drowned in the toilet.
The rubber bullets immediately tore their flesh apart, and even if they didn't, there would be purple bruises. These young people who grew up in a greenhouse had never experienced such pain, and they immediately fell to the ground and begged for mercy, but the soldiers did not let them go. Whether they fell to the ground or begged for mercy, they continued to suffer the torture of the rubber bullets.
The demonstrators were frightened. For the first time, these opponents realized how terrible the iron fist of dictatorship was. They originally thought that launching street politics would make the Soviet Communist Party's top leaders unable to bear to deal with the people and surrender. They did not expect that the newly appointed General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party was an iron-blooded leader. As long as the army and the state apparatus remained loyal to the leader, those who attempted to fish in troubled waters through social change would never have a chance.
The leaders who launched the demonstrations were frightened, and like a clown who appeared on stage and then quickly faded away, they abandoned their own team and fled in disgrace, leaving those deceived young people to taste the punishment of communism. Having lost their organization and fighting power, they immediately surrendered.
In the clearing operations in the two major cities, a total of six people died in the stampede, 20 were seriously injured, 60 were slightly injured, and hundreds of young people who were engaged in street politics were arrested. Although many people cried bitterly on the news, saying that they were deceived into marching, Yanayev only gave a brief and sharp evaluation of these people, "a farce composed of cowards and garbage."
Some of these people with serious crimes will be sent to the KGB's special mental hospital for warm and wonderful treatment, until they tremble at the mention of democracy and freedom, and then they will be free again. Oh, how ironic.
In response to this cleanup, intellectuals who claimed to be the conscience of the Slavic nation began to criticize Yanaev's actions. Solzhenitsyn, a writer who published "The Gulag Archipelago" and was known as the conscience of Russia, compared Yanaev to a cruel, inhumane, iron-blooded tyrant and described him as a madman like Stalin. Yanaev curled his lips in disdain and mocked him as a fool who could only write hypocritical words but did nothing.
However, in this incident, most of the domestic intellectuals chose to remain silent. Yanayev did not think these people were very sensible. Perhaps it was because of the newspaper ban that they had no place to speak.
Of course, the Western world also criticized Yanayev for what he did. The British even issued a statement saying that the Soviet Union's suppression shocked Britain and hoped that the Soviet government would stop such brutal and bloody massacres and expressed close attention to the development of the situation. Then the United States also issued a similar notice, but it was much more tactful than the United Kingdom. In response, Yanayev issued a statement saying that the British government was simply full and had nothing to do. It first whitewashed its suppression of the Irish national independence movement and then discussed human rights with the Soviet Union. Of course, if the British government continues to talk nonsense like this, it is not certain that one day it will be defeated by the Irish Republican Army with a strong armed force. He also emphasized the phrase "strongly armed Irish Republican Army" again.
Yanayev's direct and sharp speech made Western European countries look at each other in bewilderment. They did not expect the newest Soviet leader to speak so directly. Only the United States hid aside and laughed at the embarrassment of the British government being slapped in the face. At this point, those Western European leaders finally realized that the Soviet General Secretary at this time might really be an iron-blooded tyrant who should not be underestimated.