Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Cuban Crisis (3)
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The Cuban invasion force began assembling in Guatemala, under a pro-U.S. military regime.
The United States had gathered Cuban exiles along with a motley crew of mercenaries scraped together from Central and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia to form the invasion army.
Even the Republic of China’s Nanjing government had stuck its oar in.
“If you send the men, the payment is guaranteed, right?”
“Of course. Just send them over.”
Though called a brigade, the Cuban invasion force—Brigade 2506—boasted a massive force of five thousand men.
The CIA handled all the training program and support.
It wasn’t hard to spot suited Americans issuing orders to the brigade’s top brass around the camp.
“We need to finish operation prep by June.”
“No question about it.”
The massive preparations underway in Guatemala soon reached Cuban ears.
Guatemala had plenty of people resentful toward the United States to begin with.
Once Cuba got wind of the U.S. invasion plans from its sympathizers in Guatemala, it felt like a blow to the back of the head.
They’d begged for reconciliation with such humility to America, and it hadn’t worked?
Well, they had plans of their own.
“If the Americans are going to play dirty like this, we can’t just sit back and take it. Let’s start by seizing Yankee assets.”
The Cuban government ditched its Korean-style compensated confiscation and redistribution policy and immediately seized American assets.
Using the proceeds from distributing those seized assets, it launched a military buildup.
It even reached out again to Moscow, which had rejected cooperation once before.
“The imperialist invasion ambitions of the Americans are now crystal clear. The only ones we can trust now are the Soviets.”
“No worries. We’ll help you.”
The Soviet Union gladly accepted Cuba’s plea for aid.
“Perfect. Let’s use this to give us some leverage in negotiations with Goldwater.”
The Soviets set up the Cuba Revolution Defense Committee and resolved to provide weapons and funds.
Then they dispatched ships loaded with arms.
Officially, it was food aid for the Cuban people.
The United States flew into a rage at the Soviets’ actions.
“The commies are scratching at our nerves—do we just sit back and watch?”
“We can’t very well block civilian ships passing through international waters.”
Goldwater had no pretext to stop the Soviet ships, so he let them pass for now.
But he kept reconnaissance planes up to monitor what the Soviets were up to.
“Weapons support?”
Up to that point, there had been some debate within the U.S. government over whether Cuba was truly communist or not.
But the moment they confirmed Cuba was receiving arms from the Soviets, the debate evaporated.
“Now it’s clear those Cuban reds are as red as they come.”
As the mood in the U.S. government hardened overall, the military gained momentum.
“Your Excellency, deploying the navy and air force briefly for this operation might not be enough.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“If things go south, please consider committing ground troops.”
LeMay proposed pulling out the escalation card once again.
“Ground troops to Cuba?”
“If the situation gets tangled, nothing’s as reliable as ground troops.”
Goldwater was intrigued by LeMay’s pitch to mobilize the Marines if needed.
‘Time to play the ground troop card.’
Goldwater had no strong objections to sending troops into Cuba.
From the 19th century through the early 20th, the U.S. had freely inserted and withdrawn forces from Caribbean and Central American nations whenever it suited them.
Times had changed, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t do it now.
“I’ll consider it.”
“Your Excellency, ground troops are absolutely off the table.”
White House staffers tried to talk the president out of it.
“We can excuse bombings, but shoving in ground troops requires justification.”
Goldwater backed off for the moment under pressure from his advisors.
“I haven’t decided to commit ground troops, either. I’m just thinking of it as a contingency option.”
Everyone knew Goldwater was the type who’d do it if the moment called for it, despite his words.
With the president mulling ground troops, the U.S. military openly provoked Cuba.
They sent some Cuban expeditionary troops training in Guatemala to conduct guerrilla ops on the island, and at night flew planes laden with defoliants to terrorize Cuba’s sugarcane fields.
The Soviets tried negotiations disguised as mediation, but it fell on deaf ears.
“No negotiations with commies. Cut the bullshit!”
With talks going nowhere and teeth bared on all sides, the Soviets grew frustrated too.
The Americans were shoving military bases down Turkey’s throat, but wouldn’t tolerate a thorn under their own nose?
What kind of double standard was that?
Once they saw negotiations wouldn’t work, hardliners emerged within the Soviet ranks.
“Comrade General Secretary, we need to send a strong message before the imperialist bastards attack Cuba and stop their mad behavior.”
“You mean issue a warning?”
“Yes. With that in mind, how about deploying missiles to Cuba?”
Placing missiles in Cuba would achieve mutual assured destruction and firmly check the enemy’s military options.
“Deploy missiles to Cuba.”
It sounded plausible, but given the opponent’s belligerence, it was uncertain if it would work.
Worse, it risked provoking Goldwater to the extreme.
Khrushchev had no desire to cross such a dangerous bridge rashly.
“It’s a good idea, but table it for now.”
Khrushchev intended to avoid any confrontation that could spark direct conflict until they were fully ready to face America.
Seeing Khrushchev hesitate again, the anti-Khrushchev faction sensed an opening.
“With Cuba, he’s dithering again. Khrushchev won’t stand up to Goldwater properly. How can he claim to lead the socialist bloc like this? Time to oust the spineless Khrushchev who can only spout hot air.”
“True, we saw his weakness during the North bombing issue too. I’m for impeachment.”
Everyone was already resentful of Khrushchev’s power monopoly.
The anti-Khrushchev forces coalesced around the Cuba issue as their chance.
At a ministers’ council meeting days later, Kaganovich, representing the faction, submitted a motion to remove Khrushchev.
“Comrade Khrushchev, judging by the weak and spineless attitude you’ve shown, we’ve concluded you can’t confront the new imperialist leader.”
“I agree with Comrade Kaganovich.”
Nikolai Bulganin, the Communist Party General Secretary and Khrushchev’s figurehead, led the charge, followed by Malenkov, Voroshilov, Molotov, and others turning against him.
“With Bulganin on our side, it’s game over for him.”
They immediately put the resolution to a vote.
The ministers’ council vote swiftly tilted toward Khrushchev’s ouster.
The result: 7 to 4.
Khrushchev’s defeat was sealed.
“As chairman of the ministers’ council, I declare Comrade Khrushchev removed.”
The anti-Khrushchev faction was certain of victory in that moment.
‘Khrushchev’s done for.’
That’s when the hero of the Battle of Moscow, Zhukov, stepped in.
“Comrade Bulganin, you haven’t given the council comrades a proper explanation yet. Pushing such a vital matter to a vote without one—is that any way to proceed?”
“The vote’s already happened. What does it matter?”
“This concerns the federation’s future. I can’t recognize a vote without full explanation.”
Defense Minister Zhukov and Khrushchev used that logic to stall any conclusion in the council.
“This should’ve ended with one vote.”
By the time the anti-Khrushchev side realized something was off, the tide had turned.
Khrushchev swiftly convened a Politburo meeting to strike back at his attackers.
“Comrades, you had your fun for a bit? But this is my turf, full of my loyalists.”
Khrushchev mobilized his Politburo cronies to impeach the entire opposition led by Bulganin.
“Nikita! You bastard! Kicking us out like this!”
The opposition shouted, but it was futile.
Khrushchev seized Bulganin’s figurehead post and took the General Secretary title for himself.
Yet he took no joy in his power struggle victory.
‘Going soft on foreign policy just gives the hardliners an opening.’
The incident left Khrushchev feeling more crisis than triumph.
What if it had been the military hardliners who’d risen up this time, not the party? Would he have survived?
The event gave Khrushchev a clear lesson.
Keep retreating out of fear of confrontation, and his position would crumble.
At this point, Khrushchev felt the need to show a hard line toward America.
“Prepare to deploy missiles to Cuba.”
To deny the hardliners any room, Khrushchev chose to cross the dangerous bridge.