My own war game

Chapter 437 Cuba (Large Chapter)
October 1962, Moscow.

The weather this year is colder than in previous years. Although it is still autumn, the sentries in front of the Kremlin have already put on high-collared coats.

Kruglov passed through the passage guarded by layers of guards, then wrote down today's codeword in the security room in front of the ***'s office and presented a special certificate that was valid for only 20 days.

"Comrade Minister, I'm sorry, this is our job." An agent apologized softly, raised his gloved hand and touched the KGB minister's exposed skin. After confirming that there was no trace of makeup, he let him into Comrade Mikoyan's office.

This kind of inspection was extremely harsh, but Kruglov did not show any obvious rejection.

Because that person has proved through countless actions that these measures are necessary if absolute safety is to be achieved.

No one likes outsiders coming and going freely in their offices, not even in the Kremlin.

"Comrade ***, I'm coming in." Kruglov knocked on the door in a low voice, then walked into the room.

The completely soundproof door was closed and the recording device was activated.

From this moment on, the conversation between the two people will be recorded and then kept as top secret. The decryption period may be 30 years, 50 years, or even permanently, depending on the situation.

"Comrade Mikoyan, our Swallows deployed in southern Europe report that NATO missile forces have entered combat readiness. In addition, NATO intelligence personnel in Romania, Poland, and Greece have begun to move frequently."

"Washington formally notified our ambassador to inquire about Cuba's deployment of missiles. The US Pacific Second Fleet began to blockade the waters near the Caribbean, and U-2 reconnaissance planes took off frequently. It seems that the other side is serious."

When reporting these issues, Kruglov rarely picked up his notebook. At this time, even if he said a wrong word and affected the Chairman's judgment, he would be held historically responsible.

After listening to the report from the intelligence chief himself, Chairman Mikoyan, who always appeared humble, had an unpleasant expression on his face.

"What does Cuba say?"

"Joshua Herrera called back and they said Cuba had never attempted to deploy medium-range missiles and would keep Moscow informed if there were any plans in the future."

"How did he explain the photos taken by the U-2 earlier?"

"Well..." Kruglov hesitated.

"Please answer truthfully, Comrade Kruglov!"

"Yes! Comrade Chairman!" The KGB chief straightened up. "They said that there are sugarcane fields there..."

"Sugarcane... Hey, ten-meter-long sugarcane?" Mikoyan was so angry that he laughed.

"What on earth do these guys who broke away from the Communist International want to do?! How can they think they can be safe by provoking two major powers at the same time with their own strength?!"

"Comrade Chairman, this is the problem - we all know that the things over there in Havana were not shipped by us, but the Americans don't believe it."

"To make matters worse, not long ago, the Americans intercepted a cargo ship from our country to Cuba, which contained parts for SS-4 missiles. But the shipper here made sure to check before packing, and the contents were all rusty tractor parts."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, the writing on the invoice is so simple that even illiterate people on collective farms in Ukraine can read it."

"Someone switched the names? And deliberately caused misunderstandings among Americans? Want to provoke a conflict between the two sides?"

"I'm afraid this is the only explanation, Comrade ***," Kruglov whispered.

Mikoyan fell silent. Now both the United States and the Soviet Union had been put in a difficult position, and the side that showed weakness first would suffer serious losses in international reputation.

But if we admit that Cuba has broken away from the control of the Soviet Union, putting the face issue aside, as long as the "sugarcane forest" in Havana still exists, then no matter how Moscow explains it, it will seem like a deliberate excuse to evade the issue.

Moreover, NATO's guns aimed at the Soviet Union have been loaded. If they show weakness, the Soviet border will be full of missiles in the future, making it difficult to defend against.

"How many people do you have left in Cuba?" Mikoyan asked the intelligence chief beside him.

"I'm sorry, Comrade Secretary, the communication in Cuba has been completely cut off, and all our intelligence agents have become kites with broken strings." At this time, sweat appeared on Kruglov's head.

"Comrade Kruglov, can I interpret your words as meaning that the KGB is powerless to do anything about this?"

The intelligence chief remained silent. Then Kruglov seemed to have a great psychological struggle and said something through gritted teeth.
"Comrade ***, maybe that person can help with this incident."
-
North America, Caribbean, on a yacht.

In the cockpit that temporarily served as a meeting room, the main members of Red Mercury held a brief combat meeting. Due to the large number of people, the cabin seemed very crowded.

Margaret in the corner hit Hepburn secretly with her hips.

"What are you doing here? This is a secret meeting within the organization." Although the second princess lowered her voice, her tone was still as domineering as usual.

"Uncle agreed, it's none of your business."

"Fu~fu~fu~, you call him uncle? Then I will have a niece."

"Margaret, I didn't expect that you are still so shameless after not seeing you for so many years." Hepburn snorted and started to fight back with small movements of her hands, but what she got was a soft ball.

"Ha, look what I found. Our proud little princess is still padding the cushion. Are you so unconfident?"

"Don't go too far, I'm going to..."

Cough!

The Oriental man's two coughs interrupted the girls' secret confrontation and drew everyone's attention to himself.

"Everyone, Moscow has contacted us. They have entrusted us with full authority to investigate the Cuban missile incident. The payment will be made by using the Soviet Union's foreign exchange reserves or an equivalent amount of gold."

Someone whistled below.

"KGB sources have already made an unofficial reply that the Soviet Union did not deploy medium-range missiles in Cuba, but out of national dignity and relevant positions, Moscow will not make any further reply except a brief official statement."

"The work this time is not complicated. The core mission only has two steps: successfully sneak into Cuba and then lock the location of the medium-range missile and related information."

"Some of our people will disguise themselves as a film crew and pretend to be lost and enter Cuban waters. They will most likely be detained by the authorities. Then an insider will help me leave and investigate the medium-range missile bases that may appear in the Havana area. We need to get accurate information about missile deployment. The specific details and briefings on individual tasks will be sent later. If you have any questions, you can ask them now."

Yulia in the crowd raised her hand. He Chi made a gesture of invitation.

"He, I want to know why we have to mobilize half of our personnel and more than half of our weapons just to gather intelligence. Isn't that an exaggeration?" Yulia still maintained her efficient and straightforward conversation style.

"Because we need to face the special circumstances that may arise, this is a necessary measure."

“What are special circumstances?”

"Once the missiles deployed by Cuba are ready to be launched, it will be a special case, and the mission will be directly changed from investigation to destruction." He Chi then added, "Use all the means at our disposal, at all costs."

At this time, the atmosphere in the conference room began to become solemn, and the smiles on the faces of the people who were originally slightly relaxed no longer existed.

In the ten years since its establishment, Red Mercury has always placed the lives of intelligence officers at the highest priority. He Chi has always demanded that personal safety be prioritized when the mission cannot be completed.

This is the first time that the word "at all costs" appears.
-
Caribbean Sea, Cuban waters.

A Soviet-made P6-class torpedo boat was roaming on the water.

The 25-meter hull is not too long. The gray-green anti-rust primer is exposed where the paint on the side has peeled off. Two DShK heavy machine guns are welded on the deck, and the gun barrels are wrapped with butter cloth to prevent salt spray. The towed antenna at the tail sways in the wind like a dragonfly floating on the reeds.

Captain Alvaro, the sailor, was wearing a faded khaki raincoat and observing the distance with a Soviet-made telescope in his hand. Behind him, the barefoot soldier Carlos was carrying barrels of rum into the cabin - they were originally fishermen in the surrounding area (some of them were also part-time pirates), and after becoming regular soldiers, their income decreased and they had to find ways to supplement their family income.

The young soldier was probably just in his 20s, his dark skin shining with sweat, and as he bent down again and again, his tight muscles tightened and relaxed again, showing the strength and vitality of youth.

Suddenly, a brass cross dropped from the soldier's neck.

"Damn it! How dare you still wear this thing? Put it away quickly. If the gendarmes see it, you will be in big trouble." The captain roughly pulled off the cross and stuffed it back into the young man's pocket.

"Listen, if you don't want to kill everyone, don't bring this kind of thing out, do you understand?" The captain put his arm around the soldier's neck and lowered his voice into his ear.

"But, but why? When I joined the army a few years ago, the officers didn't say that..." The young soldier looked puzzled.

"That was when Mr. Castro was here. It's different now, you know?" Sailor Captain Alvaro pulled the other man into a corner and said to him, "Now in the army, you either believe in the [Almighty God] or say you have no faith. You can't bring these things out anymore, you know?"

Carlos nodded, but the captain could see from his confused eyes that he did not understand his current situation.

"Okay, just in case, do you have anything in your hands that shouldn't be on the ship? If so, hand it over quickly, and don't wait until trouble occurs." The captain spread his hands towards the soldiers.

Faced with his superior's question, Carlos shook his head subconsciously, and then nodded hesitantly.

Really? !

The captain grabbed the dark-skinned young man and said, "Go, take the things out and give them to me! Now!"

Carlos' face suddenly turned red, and under the gaze of his superior, hesitantly pulled out a magazine covered in English from a gap - the front of the magazine was printed with a blonde woman wearing a swimsuit, showing off her figure generously.

This is not a magazine that focuses on sexiness. The illustrations in the fashion-themed copy are child's play compared to Playboy - at most the models show their white thighs and tight belly, and even the swimming trunks are full-coverage.

But for young people with hot tempers, they have to hide and read the "private information" secretly.

Seeing the thing in their hands, the captain and other soldiers laughed, as if they didn't care much about this thing compared to the cross.

"Hey, Carlos, it's nothing. I did something similar when I was your age." The captain patted the soldier on the shoulder and said half-jokingly, "When we get back, I'll take you to see some women. I'll treat you. I know there's a beautiful black pearl in the sugarcane fields in Havana..."

"No, that's not necessary." The soldier explained haltingly, "I just want to take a look, that's all..."

"Just take a look? That's boring. No matter how pretty she is, she's just a woman in a magazine..." The captain picked up the magazine and unfolded it to take a look. He couldn't help but whistled, "Look, it's Monroe. Not bad. It's a pity that you probably won't meet a woman like her in your lifetime."

"Look ahead! There's something going on!" The shout of an observer on the side suddenly interrupted the conversation of several people. The soldiers quickly returned to their positions and aimed their machine guns at the sea in the distance.

A white cruise ship appeared in the field of vision, with the "Aphrodite" logo and the fluttering American flag faintly visible on the hull.

"Isn't it an armed ship?" The captain frowned as he held up the telescope. After confirming that there were no other ships around, he gave the order, "Get closer! Stop it!"

The P6-class torpedo boat quickly caught up.

When the two sides were less than one nautical mile apart, the other side seemed to have discovered something unusual and hurriedly tried to turn away, but was soon caught up by the torpedo boat.

A special grappling hook was hooked onto the yacht's railing, and the barefoot soldiers jumped onto the yacht like wolves and tigers.

Everyone's eyes lit up. There was a beautiful white hull, a pine floor, decorations whose value was unknown but looked very valuable, and a dining table filled with a rich meal, with turkey juice still slowly dripping from it.

The overwhelming atmosphere of capitalist wealth is overwhelming.

Several people holding filming equipment were obviously panicked when faced with the intruders. Some of them tried to explain something in English in a panic, but were held at gunpoint by the soldiers.

"We are the Border Guard of the Republic of Cuba. Who here speaks Spanish?" The captain shouted loudly in front of everyone.

An Asian man stood up trembling and explained in Spanish, "Sir, I, I know a little. We are just filming a movie. Please don't hurt us."

"Filming a movie?" The captain looked at the camera that was still working nearby and gestured backwards.

"Carlos, go check down there and see if there's anything dangerous?"

After receiving the order, the dark-skinned young man rushed down like a leopard.

About three minutes passed and there was no response.

The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became solemn, and the soldiers pointed their guns at the passengers on the boat.

"Hey! Carlos! What's wrong?! Is there anything dangerous down there?!" The captain called out twice in a row before there were intermittent responses from down below.

"No, there is no danger, sir, but, but..." The young soldier's mouth was tied, and he couldn't finish his words for a long time.

The blonde girl in a swimsuit under the cabin was looking at him in panic. The little soldier subconsciously turned his eyes away, as if the person in front of him was not a woman but a pile of high-powered TNT explosives.

(End of this chapter)