was all smiles. He was bubbling with excitement.
‘Our medium-range missiles work well enough, don’t they? What’s the range of the R-12?’
‘A thousand nautical miles.’
‘And the R-14?’
‘Two thousand.’
Malinowsky knew what Khrushchev was thinking, but he took care not to speak the words first. His friend liked it to be known that he was the one who had the ideas.
For a long time, Khrushchev didn’t speak. He was filled with amazement at the brilliance of the idea that had just come to him.
Ever since Truman had demonstrated to the world the awesome destructive power of the atom bomb, the Soviet Union had been struggling to catch up. So long as America had nuclearsuperiority, the Soviet Union was doomed to be a second-rate power. And this, the country that had almost single-handedly defeated Nazi Germany at such a colossal cost in blood! Stalin had vowed to match the Americans’ new super-weapons, and then to surpass them. But however much of the nation’s precious resources they poured into the programme, the Americans were always ahead.
Ten years! Ten more years of weakness! The great experiment launched by Lenin, the hope of the world, would be smothered in its cradle. Stalin was right. They would be strangled like kittens.
‘There is a way,’ he said to Malinowsky. ‘There is a way to defend socialism, and match the might of America, and reduce our defence budget, all in a single stroke!’
‘What is that way, Nikita Sergeyevich?’ said the obliging marshal.
‘We put nuclear missiles on Cuba!’
So simple. So perfect. The medium-range R-12s and R-14s were no threat to America here on home soil. But plant them in Cuba and they could reach half the cities in the United States.
‘Do you think,’ said Malinowsky, ‘that the Americans would allow us to do that?’
‘Why should they know? We’ll do it in secret. Then by the time they find out, it’ll be too late.’
The more Khrushchev thought about it, the better he liked it.
‘Kennedy did nothing when the Berlin Wall went up. He’ll do nothing again. What can he do? Risk a war that would blow up half his own people?’
He turned to Troyanovsky.
‘Well, Oleg Alexandrovich? What have you got to say? You know the way the Americans think.’
Troyanovsky thought the plan insane. But he also knew that direct opposition only served to make Khrushchev more determined to have his own way.
‘It’s a bold idea, Comrade Chairman,’ he said. ‘But there are definite risks.’
‘Of course there are risks! Fortune favours the bold! Even Stalin never thought of such a move! Get your people onto it at once, Rodion Yakovlevich. There’s no time to lose. Work out everything we’re going to need. The missiles, the warheads, the support teams, the transport, the ships.’
He gestured over the sea towards Turkey.
‘This’ll give them a taste of their own medicine!’
*
Khrushchev flew back from Sochi to Moscow that same day. He called a meeting of the Defence Council in the Oval Room, the large amphitheatre next to his first-floor Kremlin office. The meeting brought together the twelve-man Presidium and the heads of the Ministry of Defence. Here he outlined his new and top-secret plan.
‘The Soviet Union is dedicated to world peace,’ he said. ‘We would have no intention of ever using these weapons. I am not a lunatic. The nuclear missiles would act as a threat and a deterrent. In this sense, they are truly weapons of peace.’
The deputy premier, Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, the great survivor from the early days of Lenin, urged caution.
‘You think this can be done without the Americans knowing?’
‘
Maskirovka
, Anastas Ivanovich. The art of deception and disguise.’
Khrushchev’s overwhelming self-confidence forced the plan through. Approval, as was customary, was unanimous.
‘I’ll wait until the American mid-term elections are over,’ said Khrushchev, ‘then I’ll go to the United Nations and announcethe
‘Our medium-range missiles work well enough, don’t they? What’s the range of the R-12?’
‘A thousand nautical miles.’
‘And the R-14?’
‘Two thousand.’
Malinowsky knew what Khrushchev was thinking, but he took care not to speak the words first. His friend liked it to be known that he was the one who had the ideas.
For a long time, Khrushchev didn’t speak. He was filled with amazement at the brilliance of the idea that had just come to him.
Ever since Truman had demonstrated to the world the awesome destructive power of the atom bomb, the Soviet Union had been struggling to catch up. So long as America had nuclearsuperiority, the Soviet Union was doomed to be a second-rate power. And this, the country that had almost single-handedly defeated Nazi Germany at such a colossal cost in blood! Stalin had vowed to match the Americans’ new super-weapons, and then to surpass them. But however much of the nation’s precious resources they poured into the programme, the Americans were always ahead.
Ten years! Ten more years of weakness! The great experiment launched by Lenin, the hope of the world, would be smothered in its cradle. Stalin was right. They would be strangled like kittens.
‘There is a way,’ he said to Malinowsky. ‘There is a way to defend socialism, and match the might of America, and reduce our defence budget, all in a single stroke!’
‘What is that way, Nikita Sergeyevich?’ said the obliging marshal.
‘We put nuclear missiles on Cuba!’
So simple. So perfect. The medium-range R-12s and R-14s were no threat to America here on home soil. But plant them in Cuba and they could reach half the cities in the United States.
‘Do you think,’ said Malinowsky, ‘that the Americans would allow us to do that?’
‘Why should they know? We’ll do it in secret. Then by the time they find out, it’ll be too late.’
The more Khrushchev thought about it, the better he liked it.
‘Kennedy did nothing when the Berlin Wall went up. He’ll do nothing again. What can he do? Risk a war that would blow up half his own people?’
He turned to Troyanovsky.
‘Well, Oleg Alexandrovich? What have you got to say? You know the way the Americans think.’
Troyanovsky thought the plan insane. But he also knew that direct opposition only served to make Khrushchev more determined to have his own way.
‘It’s a bold idea, Comrade Chairman,’ he said. ‘But there are definite risks.’
‘Of course there are risks! Fortune favours the bold! Even Stalin never thought of such a move! Get your people onto it at once, Rodion Yakovlevich. There’s no time to lose. Work out everything we’re going to need. The missiles, the warheads, the support teams, the transport, the ships.’
He gestured over the sea towards Turkey.
‘This’ll give them a taste of their own medicine!’
*
Khrushchev flew back from Sochi to Moscow that same day. He called a meeting of the Defence Council in the Oval Room, the large amphitheatre next to his first-floor Kremlin office. The meeting brought together the twelve-man Presidium and the heads of the Ministry of Defence. Here he outlined his new and top-secret plan.
‘The Soviet Union is dedicated to world peace,’ he said. ‘We would have no intention of ever using these weapons. I am not a lunatic. The nuclear missiles would act as a threat and a deterrent. In this sense, they are truly weapons of peace.’
The deputy premier, Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, the great survivor from the early days of Lenin, urged caution.
‘You think this can be done without the Americans knowing?’
‘
Maskirovka
, Anastas Ivanovich. The art of deception and disguise.’
Khrushchev’s overwhelming self-confidence forced the plan through. Approval, as was customary, was unanimous.
‘I’ll wait until the American mid-term elections are over,’ said Khrushchev, ‘then I’ll go to the United Nations and announcethe
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