Chapter 60 The Kind Old Man
Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 26.
"Uncle Andre!" As soon as he entered the door, Andre heard a voice, and then a little kid ran out of the small building.
This little guy hasn't forgotten me yet! It seems that this is the little brat's home. Then, a smiling woman came out and looked at the two of them.
Ekaterina ran over and took the woman’s hand: “Sister Irina!”
"This must be Comrade Andrei, right? Our Ekaterina has really good taste!" Irina looked at Andrei. At this time, Andrei had already picked up little Ivan and held him high.
No wonder Ekaterina was able to drive away the KGB major and save herself with just a few words. The sister that Ekaterina recognized must have a powerful background!
When Andre entered from the outside, he knew that the person living here must be a special person. There were soldiers standing guard at the intersection, and when entering the apartment complex here, someone checked the ID. This residence is a two-story building, which can be regarded as a villa. The decoration is somewhat like the aristocratic style of the Tsarist era. It may also be a confiscated residence of the aristocracy.
Entering the second floor, portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin are hung on the wall in front of you. The sunlight shines through the window onto the middle-aged man on the sofa.
His hair has turned somewhat gray, and judging from his age, he seems to be around fifty years old. He has a kind expression on his face and wears a pair of glasses. He looks like a scholar who is keen on academic research.
"Hello, uncle." Ekaterina bowed respectfully to the other party. It seemed that this old man should be Irina's father.
"Oh, my little Nana is back." The man on the sofa raised his head and looked at Ekaterina: "This young man, is he Andrei? Yes, our Soviet Union needs such heroes. Ekaterina, Irina, go to the kitchen and prepare dinner. Let me chat with Andrei for a while. Ivan, you also go to the kitchen to help."
It seemed that the other party already knew his identity. Andrei glanced at Ekaterina, who had uneasiness in her eyes. However, it was obvious that the old man's order could not be disobeyed, so she could only leave Andrei alone.
"Come, young man, sit here." The other party asked Andre to sit on the sofa next to him: "Your recent events have really stirred our hearts."
"As a pilot of the Soviet Air Defense Force, I must safeguard the national interests of our Soviet Union. Under the circumstances at the time, I had to do so. I could not let the interests of the motherland be harmed in any way," said Andrei.
It seems that the other party has already investigated her identity clearly, but until now, Ekaterina has not mentioned anything about this family. It seems that the other party is also a person with a high position in the government.
"Your courage is what I admire most." The other party said, "Andrei, you dared to crash into the enemy's plane, punished the traitor, and broke the American plan to salvage our fighter plane. The title of Soviet Hero really deserves you."
"Thank you for the compliment, uncle," said Andre.
"Young man, you are at home, there are no outsiders, relax." The other party continued: "I have a question that I am curious about. Belenko is a pilot we trained. He has always had a high political awareness. We also sent him to fly the most advanced fighter jets. Why did he defect?"
This is probably the question that many people have. Being able to fly a fighter jet, he is definitely not an idiot. Why did he give up a good future and defect, and end up in disgrace? What did he want to do?
As the person closest to Belenko and as Belenko's former wingman, Andrei knows it very well.
"It's all an imperialist conspiracy. The Americans used a beautiful woman as a spy to lure Belenko to defect." Andrei said. This is also the official conclusion. Belenko's defection was an American conspiracy!
The other party shook his head: "I think it's more than that. That woman only had contact with Belenko for less than half a month. Such a short time is not enough for a pilot to change his mind and defect to the West."
Andrei nodded. "Yes, another reason is that Belenko is dissatisfied with the existing troops. In fact, as early as when he was a flight instructor in Salsk, Belenko was dissatisfied with the situation at that time. He believed that the troops at that time were full of alcoholism, alcohol theft and fraud, and nepotism. There was even a Lieutenant Liubach who could not fly and became a flight instructor. As a result, he died with the trainee in a flight accident due to incorrect operation. He thought that the situation would get better when he arrived at the combat unit, but when he arrived at the combat unit, he found that the situation was still the same. Many unqualified people were inserted because of their connections with their superiors. For example, some ground crew members did not have the ability to repair fighter planes, but became the person in charge of repairing fighter planes."
Belenko defected, but his thoughts were slowly changing. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the initial political struggles, and a period of development, various chronic problems of the Soviet Union began to emerge. Especially now, the bloated bureaucracy and various corruptions are rampant in the country, and Brezhnev's lifelong system of cadres is simply the main source of corruption!
Belenko was a relatively extreme person, and he happened to meet a woman like Anne. Belenko, who was full of yearning for the Western world, did something that surprised everyone.
Belenko's defection was a secret in the country and not many people knew about it. Since the old man in front of him, who seemed to be a senior official in the country, asked about it, Andrei naturally told him. Anyway, what Belenko said on the radio when he shot him down was recorded.
"Andre, what do you think about the corruption and bribery that is now rampant in our society?" the other party continued to ask.
In fact, it was very dangerous to talk about this topic in the Soviet Union. Outside, everyone had to say that the Soviet Union was thriving and flourishing. Under the leadership of the great General Secretary Brezhnev, the Soviet Union continued to advance on the road of communism.
Andrei, who came from later generations, naturally knew that the Soviet Union was dragged down by this kind of social ill. The Soviet people were no longer the Soviet Union in the early days of its founding or during World War II. The leadership group was divorced from the masses and overdrawn the people's trust, especially Brezhnev, who created such an ugly situation of old men ruling the country. It was not until Andropov came to power that the situation in the Soviet Union began to be reversed. Unfortunately, Andropov was in poor health and the reform did not continue.
The man who clamored for reform was a short-sighted guy, and the ultimate result of his reform was to bury the Soviet Union.
Now, hearing people around him asking him about his attitude towards these domestic issues, Andrei did not speak immediately. He thought of Shelov, the KGB guy, who was looking for something to hold against him. If that guy heard it, he would be in big trouble.
"It's okay. There are only two of us now. It's safe here. There are no spies." The other party said, "Andre, the future belongs to you young people. If you have any ideas, just speak them out boldly. Our country is now full of corruption and bribery. I know all about it."