The August 19 Incident can be said to have given a shot of stimulant to the heads of government of Western countries. Those heads of government and presidents who were originally preparing to go on vacation canceled their vacations and closely followed every move of the Soviet Union. Staff members kept shuttling between the president's office and the intelligence building, delivering first-hand information from Moscow.
At this time, everyone was extremely excited. They hoped to see the red empire that had oppressed them for more than 60 years quietly collapse in the coup, and let this coup become the last straw that broke the camel's back for the Soviet Union to fall apart. These capitalists who regarded communism as a scourge were viciously cursing that all the top leaders of the Soviet Communist Party would be sent to the gallows.
Just when they thought Moscow was in a state of uncertainty, everything was quietly settling down. Yanayev had seized the power of the Soviet Union's top leader, and Yeltsin and his supporters had lost miserably in Moscow. The wavering fence-sitters had already moved closer to the Emergency Committee, but were met with unanimous cold eyes from the top leaders. They might not know that there would be a bigger political purge waiting for these people in the future, and by then, their life or death would be left to fate.
The big clock in the Moscow clock tower struck eleven times, and it was still afternoon in the United States. In the Kennebomb Villa in Maine, an old man was sitting by the phone, anxiously waiting for the phone to ring, while his wife stood beside him, patted the old man on the shoulder and comforted him to relax.
The old man was in a very bad mood. He was the current President of the United States, George Bush, and next to him was the First Lady, Barbara. Bush was originally resting in the presidential holiday villa, but the news of the Soviet Union's emergency coup made him anxious all day.
Standing next to Bush was a bald old man, Brent Scowcroft, the US National Security Advisor. It was through him that the news of the Soviet coup was passed to Bush, who was still on vacation. At this time, he was also responsible for being the mouthpiece between the intelligence department and the president, reporting the latest news to Bush.
"Brent, has the National Intelligence Council sent any latest data?" Bush asked with a frown. "According to the latest intelligence, it seems that the situation is developing in a direction we don't expect. Damn it!"
"I'm very sorry, Mr. President. The National Intelligence Council is currently analyzing all the reliable intelligence currently available. I believe they will give you the best conclusion tonight." Brent said respectfully.
"It looks like the intelligence department will have another sleepless night tonight." Bush laughed dryly and blurted out his inner thoughts, "I hope the situation in the Soviet Union will develop in our direction. After all, we spent so much effort to incite Mikhail to become a running dog of the Western free world. I don't want the efforts of the previous president and me to go to waste. The joy of seeing the enemy that our country has been on guard against for decades fall in our hands is immeasurable."
Bush called Gorbachev a running dog in this private occasion, which shows that he did not really care about this old friend. At most, he regarded him as a key chess piece to make the Soviet Union fall. In fact, the West never wanted to deal with a group of Siberian barbarians. Especially since they always oppressed the West.
"Dear, everything will be fine." Barbara sat down and hugged Bush's head, saying softly. Bush just chuckled and said nothing. He was waiting for the final conclusion of the intelligence department or Mikhail to call his villa personally.
Brent left the room and prepared to wait in front of the phone for a call from the Intelligence Committee. As he reached the corridor, a breathless intelligence officer suddenly appeared at the corner, waving a piece of white paper in his hand while running.
"Quick, give the President the results sent by the Intelligence Committee."
Before he finished speaking, Brent snatched the paper and opened the door of the president's bedroom without knocking. He shouted excitedly without regard for etiquette, "Mr. President, here are the latest conclusions from the Intelligence Committee."
But when he opened the door, he saw Bush picking up the bedside phone, frowning and staring at him, making a gesture to silence him. Then Bush said the historic greeting as if he was chatting with an old friend, "Thank God, my friend, is that you? Are you okay?"
However, the answer from the other end of the phone made George Bush feel instantly disappointed. The person who picked up the phone was not Gorbachev, but Yanayev, the top leader of the State Emergency Committee from the Kremlin office.
"I'm sorry, my friend George. President Gorbachev can no longer perform his presidential duties due to health reasons. From now on, I will take over all his duties. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I am Yanayev, the former Vice President of the Soviet Union and now the top leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union."
"What have you done to Mikhail? He is a friend of us Americans." Bush held the microphone tightly and even used a small threat to warn Yanaev.
However, Bush forgot that Yanayev was not a person who would be easily bullied. He never bought into this and said with disdain, "I thought there were only interests between countries. I didn't expect that Americans, who are always known for betraying their friends, would actually make friends with the country they consider the most evil."
"Mikhail and I are good friends in private. It has nothing to do with you and the Soviet Union," Bush argued.
"Forget it. I don't care what your relationship with Gorbachev is, but there is one thing I want to remind you Americans." Yanaev's voice suddenly became serious, and he said in a cold voice, "So now please put away your disgusting, hypocritical democratic and liberal style. The Soviet Union is indeed facing huge difficulties, but it does not need to completely westernize to save its future. You hypocritical vampires, do you really think that no one in the Kremlin can see through your tricks? Even children know that 'it must be stupid for the enemy to praise what you have done'. Gorbachev is a fool, so you call him your best friend. Indeed, for us, there is nothing worse than disintegrating a huge empire with our own hands."
Bush raised his head and met Brent's gaze. He lowered his head and asked, "So what do you want?"
"Nothing, I just want to tell you that sometimes the relationship between countries should be like a businessman doing business, only talking about interests, not ideology. When there are common interests, we should benefit each other, right? But if the other party tries every means to frame us, the Slavic people, in addition to vodka to entertain guests, also have Kalashnikov rifles to deal with enemies."
Yanayev told Bush cryptically that he did not want to continue the boring ideological confrontation, but if the United States continued its brutal provocations, he would not mind turning the bipolar structure into an abyss of war.
"Well, if there's nothing else, President Bush should go to bed early. After all, you may not have had a good sleep all day. Good night, my new friend." Yanayev hung up the phone without waiting for Bush to finish speaking and let out a long sigh. It felt great to vent all the resentment in my heart.
On Bush's side, Brent and Bush looked at each other in bewilderment. Brent still didn't understand what was going on. Bush explained directly to him, "The coup, the State Emergency Committee won, and our friend Gorbachev lost. Now the Soviet Union has completely slipped into an abyss that we can't control. Brent, I want to call an emergency meeting."
Brent was stunned, standing there as if struck by lightning. Only then did he slowly look at the piece of paper in his hand and saw the most concise summary of the Intelligence Agency written on it, which just echoed the outcome of this call.
The chance of a coup by the State of Emergency Committee succeeding is 65 percent, and the chance of failure is 45 percent.
Bush rubbed his face with both hands and said slowly, "It seems that we are about to face a Stalin-like opponent. This will definitely be another heavy disaster for the free world."