Frank looked up at the dark, cloud-covered sky for a second. Then he stared ahead again and recognized some dark shadows behind the veil of pouring rain in front of him. The heart of the rebel was pounding with excitement and fear, while Frank felt how the panic started to strangle him. Adrenaline shot through his veins, burning in his limbs like a corrosive acid. Now, the shadows came closer.
Besides Frank were dozens of other men, who were paralyzed with fear of death just like him. In these few seconds, he thought of Julia and tried to remember her beautiful face. He would never see her again, because today his life would end. The shades stepped forward.
“Firing squad ready!”, it echoed through the rain.
In this moment, Frank wasn`t able to think anymore. Finally, the noise of a volley ripped the silence and agonizing pain seized Frank`s body. He broke down and fell headfirst onto the rain-soaked meadow...
Foreign Minister Wilden grabbed Frank`s shoulder, when the young man jumped up from his chair as if stung by a tarantula. A loud rumbling followed.
“What? What`s up?”, stammered Kohlhaas confusedly, while a lot of heads turned around.
“I should ask you that, Frank! What is wrong with you?”, whispered Wilden, feeling awkward. Artur Tschistokjow and the other members of the Belarusian government were puzzled.
“All right...just got frightened...”, explained Frank meekly in Russian. The rest of the men was still staring at him.
The Belarusian rebel leader cleared his throat and tried to suppress a grin. He had already noticed, that Frank had dozed off during the conference.
“Is not interesting what we are talking about?”, asked Tschistokjow in German and tried to look strict and authoritarian again.
“All right, sorry!”, whispered Frank, looking a little embarrassed at the ceiling.
Thorsten Wilden shook his head and muttered: “I don`t know what to say...”
The leader of the trooper units of the freedom movement just yawned quietly and took a small bottle from the table. Then he drank some orange juice and looked around.
Frank was sitting at a magnificent, long wooden table in the presidential palace in Minsk and around him were the members of Artur Tschistokjow`s new government and the president of Belarus himself.
Thorsten Wilden, the head of the village community of Ivas, briefly smiled at Frank, then he shook his head again and examined some documents. Artur Tschistokjow, the leader of the Freedom Movement of the Rus, that had come to power in Belarus and Lithuania, cleared his throat once more and said to the two Germans: “The political enemies in our country are defeated, my friends. All important positions are in the hands of our men. Now we can use television, radio and the newspapers to educate the people in the sense of the revolution.”
“The Japanese want to form an alliance with us. Likewise, the Philippines. Yesterday, I have talked to the Japanese foreign minister Mori”, returned Wilden.
“Well, I will sign the contracts tomorrow!”, assured Tschistokjow.
Wilden nodded and studied the documents in front of him. Meanwhile, the President explained the current situation and spoke Russian again.
“In the coming months, we will use all tax receipts to overcome the social crisis and to create new jobs. The Global Trust Fond will no longer get a single Globe from Belarus and Lithuania - but that is obvious anyway. In addition, the days of the Globe are counted in our country. We will reintroduce the Rouble as an independent currency, and also establish an own state bank”, explained the president to the members of his cabinet in their mother tongue.
“I am currently working on a concept to rebuild the heavy industry of Belarus. Furthermore, we must help the collapsed middle class. I will give you the documents tomorrow, Mr. Tschistokjow!”, said Dr. Gugin, the minister for economic affairs.
“Remember what I have told you. We will resettle a part of the population in the rural areas as farmers, so that they can look after themselves. About the nationalization of the banks, we will speak in the next days”, replied the leader of the Rus.
“Just as you wish, Mr. Tschistokjow”, muttered Dr. Gugin and nodded approvingly.
Frank looked at his smart uniform. He had become a general. However, in a time of slow reconstruction of a crisis-torn country like Belarus, there was fortunately not much to do for him. Currently, everything seemed to be peaceful and the 33 year old man hoped, that this peace would last.
“What`s about the support of the Belarusian youth? I have thought about a national youth organization”, remarked the minister for families and youth, a sturdy, brown-haired man named Ivan Morozow.
“Come to my office tomorrow. Then we will talk about everything. This topic is very important and must not be ignored!” Tschistokjow raised his forefinger and his blue eyes were shining.
“What does international press say to our revolution?”, asked the president in German, looking at Frank and Wilden with a smile.
“You already know most of the reports, Mr. President. The reaction of the international media was reserved – more or less. Apparently, they give Belarus not more attention than the Philippines. And the situation is stable in Eastern Asia, as Mr. Mori has told me. Japan has sent about 50000 soldiers to the Philippines to support the revolutionary government”, expounded the foreign minister.
“Well, no big reports about us from our friends of the international media! Nevertheless, they agitate against me, but it is not as bad as the campaign against Matsumoto before the Japanese war”, said Tschistokjow and leaned back in his chair.
Meanwhile, Kohlhaas thoughtfully beheld the conference room and admired the old frescoes at the ceiling, which was covered with dark oak wood. Then he looked out the window and suddenly grinned to himself.
Thorsten Wilden called his good friend Artur Tschistokjow in this official round “Mr. President”. Frank had to smile occasionally because of that. An elderly Russian, the minister for transport, Maximilian Lebed, looked at him quizzically at each grin and shrugged his shoulders.
The Belarusian head of state was now talking about the next steps to consolidate his political power, the elimination of unemployment and the boosting of the domestic industry.
The conference should still last for hours.
Finally, Tschistokjow pointed out that the minister for health should organize help for all citizens of Belarus, who had already been registered with the new implantation Scanchips of the World Government. It was important to remove these dangerous chips as soon as possible. About 200000 Belarusians hab been registered in the time before Tschistokjow`s takeover.
“So what? How was it?”, asked Alfred Bäumer, Frank`s best friend, when the young man slowly came down the numerous stairs which lead to the main entrance of the presidential palace.
“Artur is planning a lot. He is just a fascinating person. Wilden is still in his office”, answered Kohlhaas.
“He wants to stay in Minsk today?”
“Yes, he will drive to his apartment after the meeting!”
Bäumer pointed at the front wall of the presidential palace and smiled: “Look at this!”
Frank craned his head. “Do you mean the bullet holes next to the window?”
“Yes!”
”It`s a crazy world!”
Alf grinned. “It was not me!”
“And I`m innocent too. Maybe a few bullet holes on the east side of the palace are a legacy of my gun”, joked Kohlhaas.
The two men drove back to their home village and enjoyed travelling through Lithuania without sorrows and fear. The revolution in spring of this year had been successful and the rebels had finally made it to force the vassal governments of Belarus and Lithuania to abdicate.
Frank and Alfred had risked their lives to free two tiny territories with barely 14 million inhabitants. Now these countries were independent again. Around them, the overly powerful World Government was ruling the rest of the planet - except for Japan and the Philippines. Meanwhile, it was the question how the World Union
would react on their rebellion. Frank had days of unbridled euphoria behind himself. Yes, the prospect of life in a country that belonged to them, was still like a dream for the two rebels. A dream which could hardly realized. But beyond all revolutionary pathos, they had only won a tiny piece of land for themselves. What did Belarus and Lithuania count in this big world? Meanwhile, Alf had, unlike Kohlhaas, who was still enthusiastic, returned to the hard ground of reality.
“They can crush us at any time. So don`t dream too much of freedom and peace, Frank”, he was telling his friend with increased regularity.
The hall of the lodge house, carried by adorned, red columns, was overcrowded with people. Today, the Council of the 300 had come together for its annual meeting in the central building of the lodge “The Shining Star” in the heart of New York.
No other than the World President himself, as the representative of the supreme body, the Council of the Wise, had visited his fellows on this day, to give them new instructions.
Multi-billion dollar company bosses, owners of telestations and many other influential persons looked forward to the dark-haired man in the black robe, who walked past them without saying a word towards a speaker`s desk. The World President scrutinized his audience with cold eyes, adjusting the big gold chain around his neck. Then he started with his speech.
“My dear fellows!
I greet you all in the name of the Council of the Elders. Today, I talk to you about some important decisions of the wise and there are a lot of other things to discuss too.
The last months have again been crowned by incredible successes, that have brought us one step closer to the sacred goals of our organization. But also some problems have appeared, which we have to solve in the near future! Before I recall the successes into our memories, I will start with the problems.
After Japan and the Philippines, also Belarus and Lithuania have made themselves temporarily independent. Furthermore, they have reestablished their old countries.
Anyway, the elders have given the uprising in Belarus not much attention in the last months, but now, our internal GSA studies have made it necessary to take a closer look at the situation in eastern Europe.
Belarus is a small country of absolutely minor political significance. I think we all know this. Nevertheless, the revolution of Artur Tschistokjow is quite remarkable and gives us some cause for concern - up to a certain point.
This man has created a powerful mass movement in a few years and something like that could be dangerous on a grand scale one day. Tschistokjow knows us and our plans and has managed it in a brilliant way to gather millions of discontent people under his leadership. His so called Freedom Movement of the Rus is well organized and extremely militant.
Furthermore, he has given his followers more than just a rebellion. He has given them a new belief, a new ideology, and moreover powerful visions of the future. Tschistokjow`s propaganda is intelligent and addresses the patriotic and social instincts of the simple man. And his success is amazing! Not even Matsumoto has created a revolutionary movement like this out of nothing.
This Russian is fanatical, fearless and seems to be incorruptible, what makes it difficult for us to stop him with ordinary means. Apart from this, Tschistokjow fights our organization with a ruthlessness, as the GSA-reports show us, we haven`t seen since decades. Apparently, he is ready for anything and this makes him dangerous!
“Only a man who knows our plans and is able to speak to the masses can become a danger for us!” This is what the writings of the elders say.
And the Belarusian president is such a man. If he can expand his influence to Russia and the Ukraine, then uncomfortable times are waiting for us, my fellows!
The social situation in these regions is completely desolate, and accordingly millions of Russians and Ukrainians are also susceptible for Tschistokjow`s ideology.
Our GSA agents expect a revolutionary atmosphere in eastern Europe in the near future. If the Freedom Movement of the Rus is able to unite the impoverished masses against us in Russia, then this could have global political consequences.
Desperate and angry crowds have never been a problem for us, as long as they have remained leaderless. But under the banner of a hierarchically run organization and a man like Tschistokjow, they can become lethal weapons!
Above all, Russia must remain in our hands, because it is the key to Europe and one of the most important countries on earth. So the Council of the Elders will soon decide, when the GCF will invade Belarus and Lithuania to extinguish Tschistokjow and his regime. This should not be a problem. Belarus is not Japan!
Nevertheless, we have also a so called “Plan B” in our pocket. The risk that millions of frustrated people could rise against us one day, can not be banned only with GCF troops. No, we need something else: A revolutionary movement that has been created by us - and obeys us!
What we have successfully accomplished in the past, we will now do again. Where the masses are poor and desperate, threating to rise against us, there will be our own revolutionary movement, in order to absorb and redirect their anger!
We will preach a new idea to the malcontents, in order to defuse their revolutionary energy in our sense: We will give them collectivism!”
A whisper went through the audience and many Lodge Brothers seemed to be confused. However, the chairman of the World Union continued with his speech, outlining the main ideological principles of “collectivism”. Shortly afterwards, he earned thunderous applause.
He still spoke for several hours about all kinds of aspects of world politics and explained the next steps of the global brotherhood and the goals of the elders. The devilish ideas and plans stayed behind the closed doors of the lodge house and no ordinary man got to hear them.
A loud female voice sounded in Frank`s shabby living room. The young man had come back to his home village for a few days and enjoyed the daily idleness.
Now, he was watching a report on Lithuanian television about the Belarusian president, it had the title: “Artur Tschistokjow saves our country”.
For more than an hour, the revolutionary policy of the Rus was introduced in all its particulars. The blond rebel leader was shown at the reopening of an industrial plant in Minsk and happy workers thanked him for their new jobs. Shortly afterwards, Frank saw Tschistokjow laughing and joking with some little children in a Belarusian primary school.
Then, some citizens of Minsk were interviewed, thanking the president for banishing the foreigners, that the Medschenko government hat brought to Belarus and Lithuania. They said, that the crime rate had significantly declined in all bigger cities since then. At the end of the report, the head of state himself was interviewed and talked about the current situation, promising all Belarusians to do everything for a better future.
Frank smiled and said to himself: “Well, Artur, there is still a lot to do for us. Nevertheless, we`ll make it somehow. Yes, we can!”
Artur Tschistokjow and Thorsten Wilden walked down a long corridor in the presidential palace. Outside, a thaw had set in and the huge pile of snow in front of the window was slowly dissolving under the warm rays of the spring sun.
“Japan is our official ally now. I have phoned with foreign minister Mori yesterday. Matsumoto has promised to support us with a bigger sum of money”, explained Wilden.
Artur seemed to be lost in thought. He just nodded and remained silent for a moment. Then he returned: “Sounds good...”
“You`re worried, aren`t you?”
“Yes, the World Government will destroy everything we have built up with a single strike. The GCF will come soon, I`m sure, Thorsten”, grumbled the rebel leader in German.
“But what can we do against them, Artur? We don`t have the ghost of a chance against the Global Control Force!”
“The revolution must go on in Russia, the Ukraine and the Baltic countries. This is our only way to survive”, replied Tschistokjow.
”Yesterday there has been a famine riot in Prague. Several
thousand people have made an illegal demonstration”, said the foreign minister.
“I`ve seen it on television”, answered Artur Tschistokjow.
The new president of Belarus looked at his German friend with sad eyes. Then he ran into his office and Wilden followed him. Tschistokjow showed him some papers.
”Here! I will go to Russia and make the Freedom Movement of the Rus bigger. Some of my people are already there, preparing demonstrations and rallies”, said the blond man in German, while he tried to smile.
“But at frist, we have to establish the revolution here in Belarus to rebuild the country. We still have so much to do, Artur!”, replied his grizzled friend.
“This will be your task, Thorsten. I must bring the revolution to Russia and Ukraine. If we stop now, they will quickly smash Belarus down with their military. You understand?”
Wilden seemed to be confused, but he quickly realized that Tschistokjow was right. It was impossible to defend a small country like Belarus if the GCF would attack. So the revolution had to be expanded to the east with one goal: Keeping the Lodge Brothers in Russia busy and win the masses for Tschistokjow.
Without doubt, Russia was full of millions of poor and desperate people, but a confrontation with the system in would lead to an unspeakably long and hard fight.
“If we go now just in defense, then we will soon be destroyed”, remarked Tschistokjow vigorously. “We have to attack! There is no other way!”
Wilden nodded. The joy about the successful coup in Belarus had already been displaced by the concern for the preservation of everything the rebels had achieved in the last years. But Belarus and Lithuania were nothing but two unimportant and tiny countries, compared with Russia.
A few days later, Tschistokjow started his work and drove to Smolensk, in order to call his men together. Meanwhile, his supporters had already begun with the distribution of leaflets in the regions near the Belarusian border.
At the beginning of April, there was a frist rally with several hundred Rus in the small Russian town Klincy. The police behaved reservedly and just observed the demonstrators from the distance. The media in Russia reported in the usual manner about the rally and slandered Tschistokjow`s supporters as “political lunatics” and “terrorists”.
Shortly afterwards, Artur`s followers systematically infiltrated the villages and small towns along the eastern border of Belarus, and distributed tens of thousands of pamphlets in only a few days. During this campaign, the Rus got a lot of support among the people in the rural areas, who suffered from poverty and unemployment. After a brief stopover in Minsk, Tschistokjow traveled to Velikie Luki and met some of his Russian comrades.
Meanwhile, the men of the Belarusian government continued to implement the political instructions of their leader. Several million Roubles were used to create new jobs. Moreover, a makeshift social insurance system was established. Tschistokjow`s ministers rescued some industrial complexes from collapsing and numerous jobs could be saved. The promotional machinery, that was now in the hand of the Rus, did its work too, carrying the ideas of the new government into the minds of millions.
The majority of the people had a lot of sympathies for Tschistokjow and his social measures, which improved the living conditions of hundreds of thousands. Despite everything, all this did not alter the fact that Tschistokjow could fight the social crisis only rudimentarily. His land was diplomatically and economically isolated, and Japan and the Philippines were the only countries which gave Belarus the possibility to export goods.
“To Russia?”, groaned Frank. “You must be joking!”
“No! Of course not! Artur has already asked for Alf and you. The struggle continues!”, answered Wilden seriously.
“Demonstrations, flyers and fights again?”, huffed Alfred Bäumer indignantly.
“Yes, what else! Did you really think, that the fight is over? What do you think will happen if we sit back here and take things easy?”, asked the foreign minister of the revolutionary cabinet.
“Hey, Thorsten, we are still exhausted from all this...”, moaned Frank.
“No! Absolutely out of question! Either we go on with the political struggle in Russia or the GCF will invade Belarus and our little revolution is over! We have to go on with our assault on the system!”, exclaimed Wilden excitedly. “We can relax enough one day - in our coffins!”
“Yes, but...” Alf was stunned, while Wilden was staring at him with a glare.
“Our next goal must be Moscow”, declared the gray-haired man then.
Frank smiled contemptuously. “Moscow? Are you nuts, Thorsten?”
”No, I am not! Artur and me have already analyzed the situation meticulously. There is no other way for us. Belarus alone is nothing. Don`t think, that we live in a mighty fortress that can`t be touched.”
Kohlhaas rolled his eyes and looked out the window. Wilden banged on the table.
“I see you all in Vitebsk - tomorrow! I have to drive back to Minsk now! Call Sven and all the others, Frank, we need every man!”
The village boss turned around, closed the kitchen door and disappeared. Alf was swearing silently and Frank didn`t say anything at all. On the next day, they drove with the others to Vitebsk. After their arrival, Frank and Alfred were sent to Veliz, together with about fifty Rus. Here, they had to spread propaganda material of the freedom movement till the southern border of the Russian city Velikie Luki. Subsequently, they were sent to the east of Latvia to do the same.
Frank was repeatedly ranting against these “coolie jobs”, but he knew that they were necessary, because without an “intellectual preparation” of the people, they would never revolt in the future.
In the meantime, Artur Tschistokjow had organized a rally in Jelgava. About 5000 of his followers came and Kohlhaas led the trooper units once again. During the demonstration, there were a few clashes with the local police, but all in all, the security forces reacted cautiously, because they were outnumbered. However, the ordinary people cordially welcomed the demonstrators.
The quality of life of the inhabitants of Latvia and Estonia had increasingly deteriorated in the last months. Everything had become more expensive, from sandwiches to electricity. In return, joblessness was meanwhile the general state among the younger men.
Tschistokjow`s television propaganda from Belarus could also be watched in the neighboring regions – although it was illegal - and reached a lot of desperate people who were hoping for a political change. So the Rus found a fertile hotbed for their ideology in the regions beyond the borders of Belarus.
At the end of the month, Tschistokjow led more than 30000 people through the Latvian city of Daugapils, marching with them to the main building of the municipal administration.
Riots and street fights with the police followed, about 300 people got wounded or even killed. At the end of the day, the Rus had prevailed and the local security forces were forced to give up the city. Frank and Alf had stood in the front row once again, but they finally left Daugapils unharmed.
Some days later, they continued their propaganda campaign for Tschistokjow. Day and night they were on the road, until total exhaustion.
In the first week of summer 2036, foreign minister Wilden flew to Japan to talk to president Matsumoto about some important questions of a future alliance policy. His family remained in Ivas and had not seen the former business man from Westphalia since weeks.
With a loud snort, Frank sat down on the battered plastic seat of a dilapidated bus shelter in the outskirts of Roslavl. He threw his backpack, which was filled to the brim with leaflets and newspapers of the freedom movement, into a corner of the bus shelter of gray concrete. Alfred Bäumer and some Russians came and positioned themselves in front of him with questioning looks.
“We still have to distribute leaflets in some streets, general Kohlhaas”, said a young man and smiled timidly.
“Damn! I`m not a mailman, I fed up with all this! Throw your leaflets into the next garbage can, boy!”,
grumbled Kohlhaas and put the young activist off. Alf scratched his beard, looking down at Frank.
“Just a few streets, then we will drive back home...”, said Bäumer, while his friend gave him an angry glance.
”No, I do not want to! For today, it`s closing time! Call the rest of our men together and then we will go to our cars. Back to Belarus, to hell with this ugly Russian city...”, hissed Frank annoyedly.
Alf, also tired and unenthusiastic, tried to tell Frank something about discipline and perseverance, but the general remained on the plastic seat like a stubborn mule.
”General Kohlhaas with the burning feet capitulates now!”, he moaned.
”Artur Tschistokjow has said that every man is needed for our propaganda campaign. Even the men of the trooper units”, said Bäumer.
“Good night, buddy!”, answered Kohlhaas with a tired smile and closed his eyes.
After a few minutes, Alf and the other activists of the Rus walked away to distribute some more leaflets. Frank just ignored them and finally dozed off.
Roslavl was a dreary looking city in the immediate vicinity of the eastern border of Belarus. Out here in the suburbs, the men met only a few locals in the streets. Everything looked ugly and depressing, like the cloudy sky, which reminded Frank on a gray wall, keeping the sunrays away from earth.
About an hour later, Bäumer came back with the other men. Now, even the rest of the Rus fed up with running through the streets and distributing leaflets.
Meanwhile, Kohlhaas had fallen asleep and was lying on three plastic seats. From a distance, he looked like a homeless man who had settled in a bus shelter.
“Get up, you bum!”, whispered Alf softly into the ear of his friend, while the Russians started to laugh.
Frank stood up, growling and ranting. Then he rubbed his eyes and grinned broadly.
“I could just sleep and sleep and sleep”, muttered Kohlhaas, when they were on the way back to Minsk.
“I don`t like this too, but we must keep up our discipline”, admonished Bäumer.
“Shall we distribute these fucking leaflets till Siberia, Alf? I thought we are troopers of the movement and no paperboys...”
“Without an intellectual groundwork, there won`t be a revolution here. At first, the Russians must know what Tschistokjow wants, Frank. Artur has explained this several times.”
“Yes, but Frank does not want to do this crap as well, Frank is in fact not a robot with a giant battery in his ass”, moaned Kohlhaas.
”But Artur has said...”
“Artur is not my daddy!”
“But something must be...”, returned Alf energycally.
His friend shook his head and grumbled: “I just want some free days, some holiday, Bäumer. Artur is crazy, if he really believes that we could liberate a land like Russia. It is the biggest country on earth!”
“Artur and Thorsten have told me, that our first strategical goals are the cities in western Russia. Moreover...”, said Alf, but he was interrupted by Kohlhaas.
“Shut the fuck up, you big baby from Dortmund.
General Kohlhaas wants to make a nap now!”, muttered the young man, leaning his head against the window of the passenger door.
“But I thought the invasion of Belarus and Lithuania was scheduled for the end of the month?”, said a gray-haired man at the end of the large table.
“Yes, but we had to redispose”, answered the chairman of the Council of the Elders.
“Iran stands close to a civil war! Our sub-governor in Teheran is increasingly under pressure, because of the Islamic rebels”, added the World President.
“And what does that mean now?”, he heard from the side.
“It means that we have to redeploy GCF troops from Russia to Northern Iran, brothers. An escalation of the situation there could torch the whole Near East and these Islamic franctireurs in Iran can`t be compared with a horde of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who throw some stones at our people”, grumbled the head of the World Union.
The chairman of the council nodded approvingly. The World President continued and said: “We can smash Tschistokjow and his bunch of ridiculous revolutionaries even in the next months. In addition, we have already talked about this topic at our last meeting.
The most powerful weapon against all kinds of rebellion will nevertheless be the ideology of collectivism, especially in Russia, but also in other countries, where it will be represented by our agents - members of our organization!
This will quickly steal Tschistokjow`s thunder. Moreover, it will minimize the danger of a real revolution in Russia.”
“And you expect that this tactic will be successful, brother?”, asked one of the elders thoughtfully
The president looked at him with a blank expression and replied: “I think that this method will be much more effective against men like Tschistokjow, than GCF occupation troops and police forces.
We will incite the poor people and the different classes against each another, so that they fight with all their hatred among themselves. It has already worked in the past and this time it will work too!”
“What`s about Matsumoto? This morning he has threatened us to occupy the island of Sakhalin and other parts of Siberia with his troops if we attack Belarus”, remarked one of the gentlemen.
“He will not do anything! I don`t think that he would invade Siberia, risking a war outside his damn islands! Only to help Belarus? Such a small country? He just tries to play with his muscles, that`s all!”, muttered the chairman of the Council of the 13.
The World President showed a self-righteous smirk and drummed his fingers on the tabletop. Then he said: “It`s time to talk about more important things than Belarus or Lithuania, my brothers. For example about the mass registration with our implantation Scanchips. What do you have to say to the development of the operation, gentlemen?”
The chairman of the council stonily looked at the other elders, waiting for answers. An old man in a fine suit requested to speak and raised his hand...
Artur Tschistokjow had temporary returned to Minsk to clarify some important political questions. He was still surprised that no GCF troops had mustered at the borders of his country so far. Moreover, the foreign media propaganda against him was not that aggressive as he had expected.
Meanwhile, Tschistokjow was ruling over Belarus and Lithuania since four months, but there was no sign of a military strike against his regime. The rebel leader wondered. Even a small GCF-army was able to crush his tiny country like a bug under a heel, but everything remained eerily quiet.
So the Rus just gave their best to restore order in Belarus and tried to carry the revolution into the regions beyond the borders of their tiny dominion. They went on unwaveringly. Just as they had always done it before.
Latvia was selected by the Freedom Movement of the Rus as the next target for a political overthrow. Frank, Alf, Sven and several thousand supporters flooded the country with propaganda material and joined a big demonstration in Liepaja. Here, 20000 people gathered under the banner of the dragon head and protested in the port city. The event ended without any major clashes with the local police.
Artur Tschistokjow`s next step was a march to Riga to bring down the vassal government. Now, the preparations for the coup were in full swing and the trooper squads of the Rus were equipped with more weapons from Japan.
The leader of the freedom movement was planning to come to Riga with about 30000 armored men. Before that, important strategic goals should be brought under control, as already proven in the Belarusian revolution. Wilden had meanwhile returned to Minsk and brought good news from the Far East. The Japanese president Matsumoto had assured to lend Belarus and Lithuania his support in the case of an GCF attack. But what he really meant with this was still vague. Nevertheless, it sounded good and Tschistokjow hoped the best for the invasion of Latvia.
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Prey World - Counterrevolution Page 2