At seven o'clock in the evening of August 17, 1991, the bronze bell carved with the wrinkles of time on the Kremlin bell tower had just struck the seventh time, and the streets were already sparsely populated and desolate. The empire established in this long and twilight land is like this gradually cooling sunset, with the last rays of light dissipating, emitting a silent but desolate sigh.

The red polar bear entrenched in Siberia unwillingly raised its head to look back at the glory of the past years, and then died powerlessly waiting for the death verdict at the end of its life.

At this time, Yanayev, who was holding a goblet at the banquet, had the same melancholy as his homeland, especially looking at the young, hopeful faces at the banquet, who were full of longing and hope for reform and the future. Yanayev knew that his negativity at this time was not suitable for a cheerful banquet, even if it was just a bleak and prosperous road.

He slowly stood up, and the laughing crowd immediately stopped talking to each other, forcing everyone to stand up with him, forced by the rules of the bureaucracy, but Yanayev resolutely stopped this behavior. He picked up his wine glass, and under the puzzled gaze of the audience, he said slowly, "Our motherland is undergoing all kinds of crises and tests, as you can see, not everyone understands and supports our construction, our lofty ideals. But it cannot be denied that her greatness, our warriors, the sacred faith will never be erased, and her brilliance still shines on each of us, guiding us forward, forever. ”

When he finished speaking, the audience burst into applause that was as unchanged as a mechanical regularity. Yanayev knew that these subordinates were only perfunctory, even if they spoke from the bottom of their hearts. So he chose to close his eyes and did not speak.

He was originally a wretched creature whose name no one would remember at all, but because of the accident of the time-travel, he was given a high-ranking but doomed tragic role, the vice president of the Soviet Union, Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev. As a participant in the August 19 incident, he died in 2010 after the failed coup d'état.

It is simply that Comrade Yanayev, who crossed over, advanced the timeline by a year, which can be regarded as giving him better than nothing to prepare.

"Comrade Yanayev, you can now announce what you are going to say, right? I did as you commanded to gather all the members of the Alpha, though I don't know what you're planning. Sitting next to Yanayev was a middle-aged man with a Mediterranean hairstyle, wearing a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses that looked like an amiable intellectual, but the first thing that came to mind when those who knew his identity saw that face was the appearance of a demon. Because he was Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov, holding the position of chairman of the infamous First Main Directorate of the KGB and head of the First Main Directorate.

"Of course, Comrade Kryuchkov. In fact, I will assure you that it was a wonderful presentation. Yanayev smiled mysteriously at Kryuchkov and took a sip of his glass.

However, Director Kryuchkov did not have Yanayev's calm expression, because what was to be done tomorrow was a shocking conspiracy, and if it failed, they would be punished for treason. And what was Comrade Yanayev thinking at this time when he was in a good mood to summon thirty members of the Alpha Special Forces to hold a banquet in the secret KGB stronghold on Lenin Street?

Yanayev got up together, and everyone in the audience was watching the vice president's strange behavior, but Yanayev walked down from the stage as if no one was around, walked up to these people, walked up to the group of former KGB members with a wine glass, and asked softly, "Do you believe in democracy?" Do you believe that freedom can save the Soviets? ”

In an instant, everyone even breathed on thin ice, although the people were also privately discussing democracy, freedom, and criticizing the centralization and dictatorship of the Soviet Union. But it's not a good thing that the country's top leaders openly talk to them about democracy. Those members of Alpha and Signal Banner all looked at each other, they didn't dare to answer this question casually, yes or no, they could ruin their future, to put it bluntly, and they could threaten their lives.

Yanayev didn't expect the gang to answer his own questions, and he said to himself, "Democracy, democracy, I'm sorry that democracy is not what we need." And to the disappointment of all of you, Americans have tried to get democracies to take root in other countries for nearly a hundred years, but not once. On the contrary, a large number of third country dictators were established, Diem Dinh Diem, Syngman Rhee, Saddam Hussein, Pahlavi. These countries do not have even the most basic conditions necessary for democracy to be established. Also, the so-called tolerance of those who disagree with politics, respect for people of different faiths, and humbly accept journalists who disagree with the president are not important at all. ”

Yanayev's speech stirred up a thousand waves, and even the deputy chairman Kryuchkov next to him changed his face in an instant, not to mention the members of the special forces who had not seen much of the high-level methods.

He continued, "Do you really think that you can build a democracy based on fundamentalists and religious principles, drop a few bombs and elect a dictator? No, the people don't really need freedom, and they don't need democracy. They need to be able to make ends meet, they need rules and regulations, they need someone to defend them against foreign invaders, and they also need to beware of internal groups. Someone needs to lead them, give them security and imprisonment, so that war and famine don't happen again, and if you give them enough of that, everyone will be willing to obey your orders and have the right to change everything, you know? Everybody. ”

Yanayev's words were too explicit, and could even be said to be heart-wrenching. It is not bullshit ideology or faith that feeds you, but the sword and shield in my hands.

Yanayev was so engrossed in his speech that he had to put down his glass when he made certain body movements. When he had finished speaking, he picked up the cups on the table again, and looked at the poor creatures with a look of pity. It was this group of people who were brainwashed by democracy and freedom who refused to carry out the mission of assassinating Yeltsin in the attack on the White House the day after tomorrow, which led to the subsequent series of failures of the collapse of the Domino. I wonder if two years later, when the Kremlin opposed Yeltsin's bombardment of the White House, they would regret not acceding to the pleas of the Soviet top brass in 1991.

The atmosphere of the banquet fell to the freezing point, and no one dared to say a word, not even to answer Yanayev. That's the terrible thing about power, which can turn even an unarmed coward into a supreme king in an instant. Yanayev sighed, his gaze swept over everyone's faces, and then slowly asked, "If I give you a mission tonight to assassinate Yeltsin, will you go?" ”

This was Yanayev's last request, and he hoped that someone would stand up, and not as in history, when all the Alpha soldiers put down their military ID cards and shook their heads and refused to carry out the order.

"No, I won't say yes." Sure enough, the first voice of resistance sounded, although faint, but it smashed like a hammer into Yanaev's heart, like the last straw that crushed his only remaining hope. Yanayev hadn't even seen the face of the first person who refused, and then someone followed the words of the previous person and made one after another requests for refusal. Never agree.

Their slogan? For the sake of democracy, for freedom, for hope, I choose to refuse.

The spark of hope in Yanayev's eyes quickly dimmed, in fact he had no hope in the first place. He had already given these people a chance, but they didn't cherish it. The alpha member's answer even made him breathe a sigh of relief. Yanayev smiled and took a few steps back, retreating to a safe enough distance before raising his glass, which was no longer a drop of wine, and toasted to them, "Very well, this is a tribute to your freedom, and ...... Your sacrifices for freedom. ”

Then Yanayev let go of his hand, and in full view of everyone, the delicate crystal wine glass fell to the ground at a free-fall speed, splitting apart with a crisp sound. This is a code that only Yanayev and the traitors know, and even the deputy chairman of the KGB, Kryuchkov, who was sitting on the stage, had a confused expression.

The masked face who was lying in ambush outside the house rushed up, and according to the script that had been laid down long ago, he invariably took out a submachine gun from his jacket and aimed it at the crowd at the banquet.