When the Soviet political situation stabilized, Yanayev finally had the opportunity to start surgical cuts in the equally bloated Soviet army. To him, the huge military expenditure was another burden on the Soviet Union, so large-scale cuts had to be made. The first to bear the brunt was the Far Eastern Military Region, which Yanayev believed was the least necessary to maintain a large armed force.
To this end, he had to hold a necessary meeting with those stubborn elements in the military. He had to persuade General Valennikov, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Defense Minister Yazov, Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces Akhromeyev, and Commander-in-Chief of the Far Eastern Military District Viktor Chechevatov. Of course, the difficulty of persuading these old stubborn people was no different from the successful launch of the Soviet Union's N1 moon rocket in Baiko**.
With mixed feelings, Victor Chechevatov rushed from Khabarovsk to Moscow. During the August 19th coup, the commander-in-chief of the Far Eastern Military Region was a loyal guard standing on Yanayev's side. However, he did not expect that the Far Eastern Army would face the fate of being disbanded soon after the storm. How is this different from crossing the river and destroying the bridge? There are many people who share the same feelings as him. Akhromeyev and Yazov are both his sympathizers.
So when Yanayev stepped into the conference room, he felt a sense of awe at the sight of a group of red generals with sharp eyes and imposing manner, but for the future development of the Soviet Union, he had to bite the bullet and become the bad guy.
"Everyone, I want to discuss one thing with you today, the issue of disarmament in the Far East." Yanayev didn't say it in a tactful way, and went straight to the point. "The years of confrontation between China and the Soviet Union have led to our accumulation of large-scale military forces in the Far East. The fact that there has never been a war has forced us to spend a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources to maintain the daily operations of this army. This is fatal to the Soviet economy."
Just as Akhromeev was about to speak, he was stopped by Yanayev. He continued, "East of the Sino-Soviet border, the Far Eastern Military District has three army groups and one infantry army, a total of 18 motorized infantry divisions, one tank division and two airborne assault brigades. The total strength of the Soviet army stationed in Asia is 1.27 million, with 14,300 tanks and 4,200 aircraft. The Soviet army stationed in Asia has a total of 59 divisions, 45 of which are close to the Sino-Soviet border, with a total of 675,000 people. I am very curious, do we need so many troops to guard against an impossible war? Is it really necessary?"
"It is very necessary, President Yanaev." Akhromeyev was the first to stand up and refute Yanaev's words. "The reason why the Soviet Union has such a strong power that makes the Americans wary is because we have a powerful and invincible armed force. We can also warn those restless neighbors in the south that the Far East is a back garden and no one can interfere."
Yanayev raised his eyebrows and said softly, "Oh? But I read your previous report. The Soviet army needs at least 1.2-1.5 million army troops to launch an offensive in the eastern part of the Sino-Soviet border. Three fronts will conduct a concentric assault on the northernmost military district of their southern neighbor, and one front will conduct a diversionary attack on the capital Beijing Military District. This requires the mobilization of two fronts and 14 army command systems and their direct units, 67 army divisions, to the Trans-Baikal and Far Eastern Military Districts, in order to reach 20 fronts of four fronts. The size of the army group is 100 divisions. With the transportation capacity of the Soviet Siberian Railway, it would take at least 80 days for all the troops to arrive. This is too slow and will lose the surprise and be discovered, and it is easy for others to launch a preemptive attack. The Soviet army's inventory and transportation capacity in the Far East are not enough to support a protracted war. The actual intention of the Soviet army's heavy military stockpiling is to "get the southern neighbors to sit at the negotiation table." The Soviet Union's focus is still in Europe. These words were summarized by you, Akhromeyev. Could it be that the old general himself is old and his memory is a little bad?"
Yanaev still had a certain respect for Akhromeev, the great Red Army general. After all, he had devoted his life to the Red Empire. He was a true Communist and a great patriot.
Akhromeyev was speechless for a moment. He did not expect Yanayev to use the previous report to refute him, but he insisted, "But if you want to disband all the armed forces in the Far East, it will cause a defense vacuum in the Far East, and it will also give the Americans a feeling that the Soviet Union is exhausted, and then they will be more relentless in pressuring the Soviet Union. Also, how are you going to place the millions of disarmament personnel? You can't just exile them to the country at will, right? What about the disbanded tanks and armored vehicles? What about the fighter jets?"
"Calm down, Chief of General Staff Akhromeyev. I have thought of ways to deal with the measures you mentioned. I will explain them to you one by one." Yanaev resisted the urge to slap Yanaev in the face. "I believe everyone knows that after the end of World War II, our army, on the basis of carefully summarizing the lessons learned during the war, further developed the German blitzkrieg concept, taking deep depth and high speed as the basic combat concept, coupled with a large ground force and advanced weapons and equipment, formed the most powerful ground force during the confrontation period, the red steel torrent."
"So if a large-scale ground war breaks out, our army's idea of simple is good may be correct. Although the overall technical level of main battle tanks is slightly lower than that of the opponent, it can ensure that the country can produce in large quantities, the army can adapt quickly, and the factory can repair quickly. With the absolute advantage in quantity, the Soviet armored forces still have the ability to overwhelm the opponent. But you have forgotten one thing. Since the end of World War II, it has been impossible for large-scale wars to break out under the confrontation between nuclear-weapon countries. Haven't the local conflicts in the past 70 years given everyone a new awakening? Modern wars are more local small and medium-scale military conflicts. Under the conditions of equal quality of combatants and small differences in the number of equipment, the side with tactical and technical advantages has more chances of winning."
Yazov was the first person to understand what Yanayev said, "Is our army beginning to change its thinking and move towards electronic technology warfare?"
Yanayev took a deep breath. "Thank God, you finally understood what I was talking about. That's right, the electronic technology war. So when can you invite Marshal Ogarkov, who was kicked out of the General Staff and had profound insights into the development of electronic technology in the Soviet army, back to the General Staff, instead of letting him regret it for the rest of his life as the Director of the General Inspection Group of the Ministry of Defense?"
In 1984, Marshal Ogarkov left the General Staff and was dismissed for making remarks "opposing the reduction of military research and development expenses for the development of civilian products". From September 1984 to June 1988, he was transferred to serve as Commander-in-Chief of the Western Direction. From 1988 to 1992, he served as Director of the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Defense. Ultimately, the military science and technology reforms he advocated came to nothing.
Although Yanayev did not say it out loud, Yazov had already heard his dissatisfaction with him and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. President, we will transfer him back to the General Staff and let him take up his important position again."
"Well, very good. You are all senior marshals, and your thoughts may still be stuck in the memory of the victory of the Great Patriotic War in the past, but I have to say something unpleasant. I am a firm supporter of technological warfare. Only an army equipped with powerful high-tech can be invincible in modern warfare. Of course, if anyone wants to stop me from disbanding the armored forces and building a digital information army, I certainly don't mind letting him end up like Admiral Shilichenko of the Ural Military District."
Yanayev used courtesy before force. His first move was out of respect for the Soviet army, and his next move was a serious warning to those who blocked the military reform. Of course, no one expected Yanayev's tone to be so strong, and everyone was silent for a moment.
"Apart from this, are there any other questions?" Yanayev looked around at these old guys who were several times his age, and glanced at Chechevatov, who had just expected other powerful people to stand up for him but was now silent. Mans said in an orderly manner, "Next, I will tell you about the resettlement plan for the disbanded armored forces and personnel. Of course, everything will be done step by step, and I will not do it recklessly. The disarmament of the Far East will be divided into several steps, but before explaining, I would like to introduce someone to you. Come in, Comrade Chemezov."
Everyone's eyes were focused on the door. Under Yanaev's orders, Chemezov, who was still a little green in front of Moscow's top leaders, stepped onto the political stage for the first time.