In contrast to the exaggerated display of the German troops, the Soviet army's almost secret blitzkrieg, the massive swarm of armored forces that broke through into Estonia without warning, even frightened the East German border troops from Poland and Belarus, and in the depths of their memories still retained the most primitive fear of the Soviet troops who shouted in unison for Ulla and stormed the Reichstag. The West German troops began to hesitate at the border, while the former East German People's Army soldiers applauded the Soviet Union's hard-line attitude.

Yanayev also named the military operation the Great Thunderstorm Project, which is the same name as the Soviet army's plan for World War II, which has not been put into practice in history, but not against Berlin, but on Tallinn.

In Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, President Arnold and Yanayev, who had not yet given up the last resistance, were engaged in a final stalemate and confrontation at the negotiating table. Despite repeated announcements about the fall of the garrison in Estonia, Arnold never moved his way out of the area.

"Congratulations, Yanayev, you won. What a brilliant plan for the attack, the raid on the airport by civilian airliners loaded with soldiers, and the capture of the dock by disguised cruise ships loaded with armored vehicles, is simply a replica of Operation Prague. The slight difference is that you have to be much more courageous than Khrushchev, you are sitting at the negotiating table step by step, and at the same time watching how your opponent loses his soul and throws away his armor, is he satisfied? Happy, right? Congratulations on destroying another country that could have escaped the clutches of an evil empire. "Estonian President Arnold is the only one who has not left the negotiating table. Vytautas and Anatoly were sent out of Tallinn long before the Soviet offensive began. Arnold was also one of the dignitaries who was supposed to leave, but he firmly refused the request.

"The people who supported me are still on this land, and if I were gone, what would the people think of me? I'd rather be a victim of tyranny to wake up more people than a coward on the run. Arnold's attitude of being resolute this time was much more spineless than the last time he was preparing to establish a government-in-exile. Perhaps he knew that even if a government-in-exile was established, it would only be a lack of retribution, because the Soviets had absolute control over the land.

So when the Soviet airborne troops who occupied Tallinn International Airport surrounded the conference room, Arnold told the people around him to lay down their arms and surrender, while Yanayev waved his hand and signaled the airborne troops not to embarrass Estonian President Arnold. Yanayev hadn't left the conference room for more than 13 hours, he glanced at the Estonian coat of arms of the three blue lions surrounded by Nordic oak branches and leaves, and said slowly, "Actually, I have already given you a chance before, but you believe in NATO too much. led to the current situation. It is foolish to entrust your fate to others without your own strength, and unfortunately NATO seems to treat you as outcasts. The fleet that had entered the Baltic has been withdrawn, the German Panzer Army has been frightened, and now your only hope is NATO's mediation. But don't get your hopes up too much. ”

If the old foxes of NATO can be forced to go to the negotiating table with him, then Yanayev can be said to have won half the Baltic crisis. The other half is NATO's attitude towards other Eastern European countries next.

"Is there any benefit to continuing to be a member of your evil empire? Great Dictatorial President. Anyway, now that Arnold is in prison, he doesn't mind breaking the jar, and directly reprimands, "Look at how much our people suffered when you invaders ruled Estonia, we were occupied and ruled by Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Germany, etc. Estonia was ruled by Tsarist Russia for more than 200 years, starting in 1710. The Republic of Estonia was declared independent only on 24 February 1918. Only one day later, the Germans occupied Tallinn, and then in November, you, Soviet Russia, declared sovereignty over Estonia. ”

"Under your terrible rule, there is no future for Tallinn. Those purges, those famines, the people who died because of Soviet tyranny, will never wait for justice and judgment that should come. Kremlin thugs! One day you will be nailed to the frame of shame of history and will never be able to turn over! ”

The last sentence of Arnold almost roared out, but these point-scratching accusations seemed to Yanayev to be nothing more than a crying child complaining to an adult. If you have bitterness and guilt, go to Stalin, Khrushchev, or even Lenin to vent and ask me what I am doing? The only thing I can do is send you to them.

"I'm not at all interested in what happened to Estonia." Yanayev threw a document in front of Arnold, "But you should read it at the negotiating table before you talk to me about independence." ”

Arnold took the document with a puzzled look and opened the cover, but the contents made him more and more excited the more he looked at it, and despite the danger he was in, he flipped through the document in detail in front of Yanayev. It was a long time before he raised his head and sighed, "A country with two different systems at the same time? Why didn't you throw it out as a bargaining chip before the negotiations began? ”

"You didn't give me a chance at first, in fact this is the best option for your member country. In addition to not being able to enjoy diplomatic sovereignty over foreign affairs, you do not have the right to maintain your own army, which must be stationed by Moscow. Except for treaties relating to sovereignty, other economic treaties cannot be freely entered into with sovereign states. Economically, you enjoy a great deal of autonomy, and you can even rectify your political parties, change your political system, and democratically elect the chief executive of the member states, but you must be accountable to the Moscow Central Committee on the issue of territorial reunification, and the Moscow Central Committee has the right to abolish any chief executive who has independent tendencies, and then elect a new chief executive by the people. Oh, there is also the problem of paying taxes on time, not contracting out industries that are the lifeblood of the national economy, such as electricity, heavy industrial manufacturing, to private individuals, especially foreign businessmen, and not being able to declare the Communist Party an illegal party in the country. ”

This is Yanayev's stick-and-date policy, first using military strength to deter the ambitions of Eastern European countries, and then using economic interests to make him compromise. In fact, the Moscow authorities have also made considerable sacrifices and compromises, and if they continue to adopt a high-pressure policy, even if they temporarily restore calm among the member states by military means, they will only prepare the time for the next storm.

And when the time comes, the counterattack will change from a spark to a prairie fire.

To a large extent, Yanayev copied the political systems of other countries, but he grasped some issues of political sovereignty very tightly, while economic issues were relatively relaxed. Isn't it because the people of the three Baltic countries want to be independent because of poverty? Okay, I'll give you the opportunity to develop yourself, but in terms of sovereignty, you are still an inalienable territory of the Soviet Union since ancient times.

If summed up, this document is a radical version of the "Program of Action of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia", as long as the sovereignty of the member states is in hand, as long as they pay their taxes on time, the so-called development of a multi-ownership economy Red Polar Bear simply turns a blind eye. The document was also the result of many days of repeated discussions between Yanayev and Ryzhkov.

"It seems that God has not abandoned Estonia!" President Arnold shed tears of emotion, isn't what he has been fighting for for many years is that one day the country can develop on its own? Although it has not won the country's due sovereignty for the time being, compared with the previous control, the Soviet Union has been extraordinarily generous.

But then Yanayev told Arnold the bad news, "Of course, I'm afraid you won't have a share in the democratic elections in Estonia, Arnold." Given that you are inciting Estonian citizens against Soviet rule, which is almost a crime of treason, you will spend the next few weeks in court, and the next few years will be spent in Siberia in a cold prison for eight months a year. ”