To the outside world, the Baltic countries appeared ethnically unified.
That impression was completely false.
In reality, Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians were merely the majority populations. Large ethnic minorities from other Soviet republics lived among them, along with vast numbers of migrant workers who had settled there over decades.
Whose opinion the democratic leadership didn't seem to consider when bidding for independence.
So while the free world and the separatist leadership prepared themselves for a dramatic confrontation with the Soviet leader, something else happened first.
Unidentified armed groups began attacking military bases across the Baltic states.
The Baltic presidents, obsessed with the idea of a Soviet invasion, concentrated nearly all their forces along the borders facing the USSR. They never imagined that the real threat would come from inside.
They failed to anticipate that the minorities within their own countries would suddenly acquire large quantities of weapons and overnight transforming from perceived sheep into monsters armed to the teeth.
Victor, who oversaw arms smuggling, had done his job very well.
Lithuania's intelligence service had received a warning weeks earlier: a shipment of weapons intended to support opposition groups would soon cross into Estonia through the Soviet border.
That report never reached the president's desk.
The director responsible for the channel who also happened to be a covert KGB agent intercepted it. That same night, the officers who knew the report's origin died in a "traffic accident" caused by severe injuries.
A few days later, the weapons appeared openly in opposition strongholds.
It was said that during the meeting where riot plans were finalized, Arnold's political rival, Miaev an expert organizer was present and very active.
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9,000 T-72 tanks rolled toward the border—3,000 for each republic. Fully equipped tank and armored divisions unified their artillery fire on the capitals: Tallinn, Vilnius, Riga.
Tank tracks churned, an indestructible torrent of steel ready to crush every obstacle.
2.5 million soldiers marched, their eyes fixed ahead with a resolute, hungry stare—700,000 per front. AK-74 rifles held ready, they sang the "Soviet March," which spread like wildfire through the ranks as they advanced toward the distant battlefield. Political commissars stood among them, voices raised together in the ominous hymn.
Hind helicopters passed low over the soldiers' heads, the thunder of rotors carrying the impassioned song across the plains—and with it, the first stirrings of primal fear in Baltic hearts.
"The… the Soviets… the Reds are coming!"
A Lithuanian voice screamed over the radio before being cut off by gunfire.
Tanks crushed the roads, startling birds from roadside trees. Golden wheat fields bent and flattened beneath the war machines. In a small Orthodox church near the Estonian border, stained-glass windows shattered as stray bullets tore through them.
Civilians stared in terror at the sudden invaders, the same eyes Budapest had shown in 1956.
At an Estonian border outpost, soldiers stood with cigarettes hanging from their mouths, forgotten and unlit. They watched the endless waves of armor roll past.
One soldier was knocked down before he could even raise his rifle. Until the final moment, he didn't believe the "steel torrent" was real.
Estonia's armored units collapsed almost immediately.
The so-called "Maginot-style" defensive line boasted as capable of stopping Soviet tanks was ripped apart with contemptuous ease. Soviet armor drove straight through, suffering barely any losses.
"The Red Bear is coming!"
Despair finally took hold of the Estonian command.
In a single instant, their pride shattered. They understood then that their forces were never a match for Soviet tank divisions.
From start to finish, the offensive took just under four hours.
The CIA chief's assurance that Estonia could hold for a week collapsed into farce.
From radios, from throats, from armored columns advancing through smoke and dust, the chant echoed:
"Ulla! Ulla! Ulla! Ulla! Ulla! "
" What? nearly 3 million troops and 20,000 tanks?!!! Are you kidding me???!!!"
Estonian President Arnold shouted out loud, confirming the news from the CIA chief himself on the phone.
His face became bloodless, he realised he made a historical mistake and his people will have to pay the price.
" Ja.. just..h..how? how d... didn't you notice them ?"
The CIA chief himself wanted to know the answer.
Andrei who heard the conversation like everyone else, which confirmed all the conspiracy theories of the Soviet propaganda on camera, smiled weyly.
Yes 3 million troops and 10,000 tanks sounds impressive but Andrei knew it was just a paper tiger.
As for how he was able to hide such colossal military buildup under satalight surveillance ? well simply,he didn't.
or he couldn't cause it's impossible.
Because that "Army" isn't made of soldiers at all! But a giant mob of guys with Ak47 who were told they could get food and ' quality entertainment ' from the ladies of the Baltic republics.
Of course there were actual soldiers in command but they were few and far between, except the tank and radio operators.
The food shortage in the Soviet union was severe with long lines of bread ques in every part.
After making deals with the black market Andrei suddenly managed to get an unlimited supply of grains .
Which he distributed very liberally at first. But slowly he moved the free grain distribution points closer and closer to the Baltic border.
As these people, mostly guys, travel hundreds of miles to get free food they were rounded up by the political commisars , given a uniform and an AK47 and told they can do whatever they want after crossing the border.
These unfortunate poor, hungry people with little other choice joined this official Pirate ship willingly or unwillingly.
And as expected a terrible fate befell upon the civilians of both sides as the politicians kept using them as chess pieces for their own goal.
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Three Tu-160 bombers specially escorted by Su-27 fighter jets took off from the Soviet home airport and flew towards the Baltic Sea.
Known as the "Pirate Flag" by the West, the Tu-160 bomber spread its huge wings, flitting across the blue sky like an elegant and noble swan, and flew over the three Baltic countries like a floating white island.
And these three Tu-160 bombers are loaded with nuclear warheads, and they have become a nuclear weapons arsenal moving in mid-air. As long as kramlin gives an order, the pilot will press the red button, and the death in the air will fall in piles on the territory of the Baltic Sea. In an instant, the three countries will become a replica of Chernobyl .
After receiving the radar warning, the three Baltic countries urgently dispatched MiG-27 fighter jets to intercept them, but no pilot dared to attack him openly.
First, the Su-27 fighter jets that followed Tu 160 were staring at the MiG-27's attack. Every move, as long as he dares to make deviant behavior, the MiG 27 driver has to weigh whether he is the opponent of the Su 27 "air scalpel".
The second is that the Tu-160 bomber is full of nuclear warheads. Even if it flies over the three Baltic countries, no one dares to attack.
Once those nuclear bombs explode, Estonia will also be unable to escape the fate of becoming Chernobyl.
The pilot of the MiG-27 was ordered to monitor the movement of the Tu-160 bomber throughout the entire process, and only when he passed over the capital could he intercept it.
The Estonian Air Force is very helpless.
Therefore, the moment Estonian President Arnold received the news, his expression was also not good. He even wanted to rush outside the conference room to see if the bomber was aiming at him where the bomb fell.
He forgot the courtesy and shouted,
"Andrei, what are you doing? Threatening us with nuclear weapons?" Arnold gritted his teeth, and in front of the powerful Soviet armed forces, the whole of Estonia was like a lamb.
"Threat? President Arnold, you think highly of yourself."
Andrei shook his head,
"Countries like the three Baltic countries don't need to dispatch the warheads. Don't think too highly of yourself.
The Soviet Union has never been afraid of small players like you."
"Andrei!! Is this your 'love and peace'? Do you realize what you've just done? You're trying to spark a war among brother states! You've destroyed the basic premise of the Union—the fraternity between republics! You've trampled the Soviet constitution, crushed democracy, dishonored every promise Stalin ever made to the Estonian people!"
Arnold was nearly incoherent with fury.
Andrei dropped the mask of civility entirely.
"No, Acting President Anatoly, that is merely your interpretation. In fact, everything proceeds according to law. Since you love the constitution so much let me show it to you."
Putin swiftly produced a newspaper from a briefcase, spreading it neatly on the table before stepping back.
Andrei pointed to the headline of the newspaper, "Look , The Supreme Constitution of the Soviet Union has been amended. Without more than 100% of the votes of the Soviet citizens, any member country may not withdraw from the Soviet Republic without authorization."
According to the time calculation, this news has only been released for less than two minutes. Andrei just asked the newspaper to make a special edition in advance to humiliate the leaders of the three Baltic countries at the meeting.
In other words, as long as one Soviet citizen casts a negative vote, the independence plan of the three Baltic countries will come to naught.
Andrei just likes to use black humor to satirize his opponents.
Don't you advocate freedom and votes? Well, I will give you the right to choose.
Failure to pass it only means that the government represented here is rubbish that the people do not support.
Anger! At this time, Arnold's pale face turned into a sauce-purple because he was too angry.
.....
Andrei ignored him, turning instead to the press corps, making sure every camera had a clear shot. He took the microphone.
"The will of the people is absolute! From the Baltic to the Black Sea, from the Carpathians to the Pacific the Soviet Union is one and indivisible!"
Nailed it, he thought. I should really try acting.
Under a storm of camera flashes, he calmly returned to his seat, a mocking smile on his lips. He did not notice the strange, desperate look in Arnold's eyes.
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"Everyone, listen to me." Seeing the uncertain faces of the other leaders, Arnold said, "I don't think the issues you are thinking about now should be how to get the referendum to reach 100% and how to calm down domestic tensions.
If you hold The Soviet leader hostage in this parliament now, you have achieved the goal of threatening the Soviet Union, do it!!"
Take their president hostage and declare war on the evil empire! Arnold always felt that there was a voice in his heart constantly bewitching him, launching the state violence machine to resist the Soviet tyranny.
boom
Yor noticing the security guards arming themselves shot first. Sparking a firefighter as chaos set in.
In seconds the conference room turned into a battlefield.