A Tale of a Cossacks in Spice Island

It does not look exactly life-like, as far as Russia-related matters are concerned. The guy does not look, speak or think like any Russian capable to sign up for merc unit (not that those units themselves are possible in 1965 USSR), and whole Soviet operation does look unlike anything Soviets would have done...

I just asked for USSR and US expert but unfortunately nobody comes..:(:(

Perhaps you could give the detail? I don't mind to rewrite the whole text.
 
I just asked for USSR and US expert but unfortunately nobody comes..:(:(

Perhaps you could give the detail? I don't mind to rewrite the whole text.
Well, see below:

  • For starters, Communist USSR (you have more or less OTL USSR in mind, don't you) would never use armed mercs. It just goes contrary to everything commies believed in. They used regular army troops to fight Soviet battles abroad, or created various temporary forces (most of which adopted "Spetsnaz" lore, sometimes without actually being Spetsnaz), but those forces consisted of regular army people, who were selected "to fulfil international duty abroad". Volunteerism was encouraged, but state wanted to have the last word.
  • Then, description of arrival is extremely unlikely. Soviets wouldn't blunder in unknown port in the middle of civil war just like that. Some kind of recon force would be sent using either speedboats or helos or combination of thereof. It would, most likely, be either marine or airborne infantry units, as those were specially trained in "volverine" and stormtrooper tactic (charge of numerically superior adversary, relying on concentration of firepower and swift maneuver).
  • And Soviet forces would not hesitate to "liberate" Becak. Ability to think on their feet and utilize whatever local resource is available was enouraged, not despiced, among special forces. And if some "locals" would be stupid enough to sneer at Soviet warrior who uses becak or similar contraption, well-aimed burst of AK-47 fire would teach "locals" some manners.
  • On related note, I don't think anyone would mount a MG on becak. This contraption would damn fly, not just move, under power of PK' s recoil.
  • Now, Cossack guy in USSR in 1965 AD wouldn't think in terms of "damn commies". Anti-Communists lost Civil War decades ago (even if you consider von Pannwitz's men "anti-communist freedomfighters" and not "damn Nazi collaborators") and people found psychological accomodation with the system. Besides, Soviet system adopted many quasi-imperial trappings since 1940s, so young and aggresssive Cossack guy would think of them as being "bad tsar" (as in "sometimes fate sends Russia bad tsars, sometimes it blesses us with good tsars, but we Cossacks are bound to serve Russia regardless of what tsar is sitting on the throne"), not as "gang of usurpers who stole Russia".
  • Cossack wouldn't lament inability to bring "his horse" with him on a boat. Cossacks weren't tribal nomads, fanatically bound to their war mounts. They were quite rational folks, trained to fight in whatever formation was most suitable. It was this trait that made them so deadly. Cossack infantry units were always among the best in imperial army, anf their mount forces were dragoons, not cavalry. So, red Cossacks happily traded their war mounts for tanks, trucks and APCs between 1930 and 1945 and never looked back.
 
Well, see below:

  • For starters, Communist USSR (you have more or less OTL USSR in mind, don't you) would never use armed mercs. It just goes contrary to everything commies believed in. They used regular army troops to fight Soviet battles abroad, or created various temporary forces (most of which adopted "Spetsnaz" lore, sometimes without actually being Spetsnaz), but those forces consisted of regular army people, who were selected "to fulfil international duty abroad". Volunteerism was encouraged, but state wanted to have the last word.
  • Then, description of arrival is extremely unlikely. Soviets wouldn't blunder in unknown port in the middle of civil war just like that. Some kind of recon force would be sent using either speedboats or helos or combination of thereof. It would, most likely, be either marine or airborne infantry units, as those were specially trained in "volverine" and stormtrooper tactic (charge of numerically superior adversary, relying on concentration of firepower and swift maneuver).
  • And Soviet forces would not hesitate to "liberate" Becak. Ability to think on their feet and utilize whatever local resource is available was enouraged, not despiced, among special forces. And if some "locals" would be stupid enough to sneer at Soviet warrior who uses becak or similar contraption, well-aimed burst of AK-47 fire would teach "locals" some manners.
  • On related note, I don't think anyone would mount a MG on becak. This contraption would damn fly, not just move, under power of PK' s recoil.
  • Now, Cossack guy in USSR in 1965 AD wouldn't think in terms of "damn commies". Anti-Communists lost Civil War decades ago (even if you consider von Pannwitz's men "anti-communist freedomfighters" and not "damn Nazi collaborators") and people found psychological accomodation with the system. Besides, Soviet system adopted many quasi-imperial trappings since 1940s, so young and aggresssive Cossack guy would think of them as being "bad tsar" (as in "sometimes fate sends Russia bad tsars, sometimes it blesses us with good tsars, but we Cossacks are bound to serve Russia regardless of what tsar is sitting on the throne"), not as "gang of usurpers who stole Russia".
  • Cossack wouldn't lament inability to bring "his horse" with him on a boat. Cossacks weren't tribal nomads, fanatically bound to their war mounts. They were quite rational folks, trained to fight in whatever formation was most suitable. It was this trait that made them so deadly. Cossack infantry units were always among the best in imperial army, anf their mount forces were dragoons, not cavalry. So, red Cossacks happily traded their war mounts for tanks, trucks and APCs between 1930 and 1945 and never looked back.

Thanks a lot for the info, I shall write the second version as soon as possible. Thank You for spending your time to help this TL.:)

More suggestion like this everyone!
 
Version 0.2
(Thanks to Slamet, Ridwan Asher, Hamburger, and CanadianGoose)

21st October 1965, Orenburg
Grateful to say that the sergeant at last picked me for this adventurous task. I admit personally that this 'tsar' is not quite good than my ancestor previous 'tsar'. But nevermind we cossack always ready to serve whenever the time comes. It's my dream to actually fight a war, a real war when I first join the army. It was not until now that they actually decided to send the soldier overseas. The country that we're going to go is named Indonesia, they used to call it spice island by the way. PolkovnikZerevhny, our regiment commander said that the work we have to do is not too difficult other than helping Indonesian military against some unknown coup that I don't know. He also reminded us that the country we're going to go is a Muslim country and the culture is completely different from here. I am really eager to go to that south eastern nation... especially after one of my comrade told me that we're going to face the American...

1st November 1965, Vladivostok
Time goes so fast...I'm now in Vladivostok waiting for the turn to board the transport ship. I had just completed intensive training recently in Volgograd after enlisting to join the special operation, there I met with some new friends and learn how to communicate with the local through simple Indonesian language..pretty hard tough. Guess what? I'm promoted to a starshina. The high command had decided to raise three infantry division and put them under the name of South Asian Expeditionary Corps. I was re-assigned to the 120th Motorized Division, the last division to be raised. The army had also decided to sent another five existing Soviet division to support the operation with also a squadron of migs. Whilst travelling inside Trans-Siberian train to Vladivostok, I noticed some different atmosphere. Everything seems to be so secret that I can't write a letter to my fellow cossacks. I am gratefull though that I still can write my diary. Ah..now it's time for me to board the ship...The ship which is going to travel to the spice island..

4th November 1965, Somewhere over South China Sea

It's already three days after we left Vladivostok and we have not arrived to the destination yet. I'm starting to get bored seeing the sea all the times. About thousand of men are in this ship right now, with a dozen piece of heavy artillery, trucks, and tanks, camouflaged cleverly by the ship crew to avoid unneeded suspicion.. Last night I had a nice converstation with the polkovnik. I'm lucky that I knew the polkovnik before. He told me about his personal live, his wife, and his daughter Maria. Apart from that he also revealed some new information to me regarding Indonesia and the military coup. He said that the great president Sukarno was backstabbed by a group of right wing generals whom in turn was helped by the American. These conspirator tried to assassinate several high ranking generals loyal to Sukarno but it was a failure attempt.... it wasn't over as far as I know, one of the fellow conspirator was able to trick Indonesian people by saying that the communist were the one who tried to overthrow Sukarno and the one who masterminded the coup. Ughh..whatever..I am not really interested with that matter anyway... I'm so sleepy, maybe I'll continue this tomorrow or when we already arrived at Jakarta. Good night.

7th November 1965, Tandjung Periok - Jakarta

Just one hour after we unload and we're immediately under constant mortar and light artillery barrage. Very nice welcome... The city is in complete chaos. As we speak the 4th Airborne Division as scheduled should already been dropped to secure Jakarta main airbases and important governmental building located in Merdeka Square. Polkovnik Zerehvny ordered all units to advance from the harbor and to secure the harbor so that it is free from artillery and sniper fire. It wasn't easy job though, the transport ship containing fuel and supply for our trucks did not arrived as scheduled so we have to walk from the harbor to the Presidential Palace on foot, well at least for starters we have T-55 and...small tricycle called "Becak" which we seized from the local civillian. Just for me the T-55 already full of men and I don't want to risk my men riding on that becak if we have a number of T-55. So I'm the one who will ride on that becak. Before departing I also heard from the polkovnik that Moscow believes that Indonesian Army will not interverne but I'm sure they will and if they try to do so then it would be a suicide mission since thousand of soldiers will be arriving from Russia by air or sea.

8the November 1965, Tandjung Periok- Jakarta

Riding proudly on a becak wasn't too bad at all despite the crowd laughter when they saw the Red Army soldiers riding on a becak because their transport ship didn't arrived on time. But it didn't took long time until they stop laughing, one T-55 fire a blank shot which dispersed the crowd. From now on they should learn not to laugh at Red Army soldiers anymore because the shell will not be empty next time... My men from the second company easily secured the harbor perimeter from the artillery barrage and sniper fire. In the process we captured hundred of militias. No casualty except three wounded soldiers. Meanwhile the first company with T-55 was able to secure a passage for us to flush out and encircle any remaining militias. Whilst the third company successfully established contact with some hidden PKI members and formed a chokepoint around the harbor. We also received a message that the 4th Airborne successfully secured Halim airbase. The Indonesian were surprised when they saw the para dropping all over place, they surrendered after a brief fight with the para. The airbase was the first target because it will allow President Sukarno to fly whenever there is a danger and it enabled more supply to be transferred using the huge Tu-95. The PKI members reported that the right-wing generals and organization was rallying Jakarta population to fight us back to the sea and to capture President Sukarno and the rest of the government which are currently hiding in safety of Rengasdengklok. Since the airbase was already under control, General Pliyev commanding our forces from Vladivostok can fly to here. Before flying to Indonesia he ordered the force to rescue President Sukarno. His present is vital so that he can tell the truth, the truth to the people that it was those right-wing generals who masterminded the coup and the one who worked with the US. Our only fear is that Indonesian Army will not support Sukarno because most of the leftist generals were already cleared from any important command. Hopefully President Sukarno can settle the matter...

9th November 1965, Tandjung Periok - Jakarta

Just before midnight our patrol from the 4th Airborne caught up with some militias in truck whilst patrolling near Halim airbase. The patrol tried to stop the truck by threatening to fire the truck with T-55 if they did not stop. The driver apparently knowing the dangers crashed the truck to nearby house. Most of the militias ran away after that but we found one unconscious officer left behind in the truck. The patrol quickly brought the officer back to our temporary headquarter in Tandjung Periok harbor. Heavy fighting still occurred when the 4th Airborne tried to secure Merdeka square. The progress is slow but they were advancing. Back to our base we found out that the officer is actually Indonesian Army Commander in Chief, General Ahmad Yani. With the help of our PKI translator, we told that President Sukarno is hiding in safety of Rengasdengklok. He was grateful because he thought Sukarno was captured already by Suharto. He told us that he just survived an assasination attempt by group of Cakrawibawa or Presidential Guards only to find himself captured by militias while trying to reach his headquarter at Lapangan Merdeka. He urged to reach President Sukarno immediately. The major asked if the army would still be loyal to President Sukarno. The general answered that the army is still loyal to President Sukarno but the main problem is that the conspirator is in process of taking command of the army... What a complex matter I thought.

10th November 1965, Tandjung Periok - Jakarta

Today at the morning we received radio message from 4th Airborne that they discovered something near the airbase, after they investigated the area, they were completely surprised, a group of unknown generals were buried there near the airbase. The local called it Lubang Buaya or a 'Crocodile Hole'. We haven't receive any identification yet but hopefully we can know the victim as soon as possible. Meanwhile thousand militias can be seen massing all over Jakarta. We had nearly opened fire but General Ahmad Yani stopped us. The militias were surprised when they saw General Ahmad Yani and quickly back down. The general with the help of our speaker device plugged in to the becak announced that President Sukarno is not dead and it was not Sukarno who masterminded the coup. The general announcement didn't gave significant result as the national radio controlled by the conspirator promptly countered the announcement. Surprisingly at the evening about dozen of militias came to our perimeter and demanded to meet with General Yani. We advised the general that the militias may be planning a trap. But he ignored our advise and persisted to meet with the militias. After meeting with their leader General Yani successfully persuaded the militia to join him to rescue President Sukarno. Two dozen militias also joined the first group in night pleading that they're still loyal to President Sukarno and they already suspicious because of the conspirator plan to kill Sukarno. Several confused soldiers also came in and joined General Yani. With the support of about hundred of militias and several soldiers General Yani borrowed our vehicle, he said that he will rescue President Sukarno. General Pliyev already arrived in Indonesia and now commanding in the captured Halim airbase decided to sent a company of T-55 and a regiment of our troops to support. He ordered all of the soldiers-already arrived both in harbor and Halim airbase to secure Jakarta from the rebel. The regiment the general choosed was actually my regiment. What a coincidence..



 
Is there any complain or critique? So I can repair it asap before moving on.

Thanks also to 388 people who view this TL.
 
I just want to make the composition of Soviet Expeditionary Force clearer.

South Asian Expeditionary Corps

  • Commander: General of the Army Issa Pliyev
    • Composition:
      • 4th Airborne Division
      • 120th Motorized Division
      • 103rd Motorized Division
      • 115th Motorized Division
      • 154th Tank Battalion
    • Other Attachment:
      • 31st Fighter Squadron
      • Transport Aircraft
      • Transport Ship
      • 3x Destroyers
      • 4x Frigates
  • Total: 42.000 Men, 120 Tanks
Suggestion for the composition?

 
Main body of my comments is due in next 24 hours but here are some quickies.
Commander: General of the Army Issa Pliyev
You know that Pliyev was an Ossetian, don't you? Ossetians are Christians, but they live among Muslim mountaineers, so he knows how to interact with Muslim, it is in his blood and bones.

  • 154th Tank Battalion
Why? Mechanized divisions had plenty of armour on their own (in fact, I would suspect it would be considered an overkill to send four mechanized divisions to support an ally in far-off island nation; Soviets had quite limited logistic capability and it would be better used to transport more infantry, so a mission like this would be heavy on light infantry, like airborne troops, marines and mountain infantry).

      • 31st Fighter Squadron
      • Transport Aircraft
      • Transport Ship
      • 3x Destroyers
      • 4x Frigates
No helicopters, too few supply ships, no AA capability.
 
I just want to make the composition of Soviet Expeditionary Force clearer.

South Asian Expeditionary Corps

  • Commander: General of the Army Issa Pliyev
    • Composition:
      • 4th Airborne Division
      • 120th Motorized Division
      • 103rd Motorized Division
      • 115th Motorized Division
      • 154th Tank Battalion
    • Other Attachment:
      • 31st Fighter Squadron
      • Transport Aircraft
      • Transport Ship
      • 3x Destroyers
      • 4x Frigates
  • Total: 42.000 Men, 120 Tanks
Suggestion for the composition?


Could you put in the Indonesian PKI army composition, perhaps later? CanadianGoose is an expert on the USSR, so maybe he can comment on the weapons and stuff of the Indonesian PKI Army. I can maybe comment on Indonesian politics.

BTW, is Suharto actively trying to search for US help?
 
Main body of my comments is due in next 24 hours but here are some quickies.
You know that Pliyev was an Ossetian, don't you? Ossetians are Christians, but they live among Muslim mountaineers, so he knows how to interact with Muslim, it is in his blood and bones.

Why? Mechanized divisions had plenty of armour on their own (in fact, I would suspect it would be considered an overkill to send four mechanized divisions to support an ally in far-off island nation; Soviets had quite limited logistic capability and it would be better used to transport more infantry, so a mission like this would be heavy on light infantry, like airborne troops, marines and mountain infantry).

No helicopters, too few supply ships, no AA capability.

I'm aware that Pliyev was an Ossetian, I choosed him because Indonesia is a big muslim country and he's most suitable choice.

I will change it asap, but first is it possible for the Russian to hand their transport and supplies matter to the navy or airforce?

Could you put in the Indonesian PKI army composition, perhaps later? CanadianGoose is an expert on the USSR, so maybe he can comment on the weapons and stuff of the Indonesian PKI Army. I can maybe comment on Indonesian politics.

BTW, is Suharto actively trying to search for US help?

There is no PKI army, only usual TNI at the moment. Fifth Army proposal wasn't fully rejected like IOTL, only that it still under TNI jurisdiction.

I just want to remind that Suharto position here is bit over wicked, I am working to change the way it works. Any suggestion for the politics?
 
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There is no PKI army, only usual TNI at the moment. Fifth Army proposal wasn't fully rejected like IOTL, only that it still under TNI jurisdiction.

I just want to remind that Suharto position here is bit over wicked, I am working to change the way it works. Any suggestion for the politics?

Hmm, so there are some PKI militias - under the TNI you mean? Has the TNI ITTL been further effected by the Red Guardist movement than IOTL? If, in such a turbulent time as ITTL, more of the TNI come over to the Sukarno bloc, it would be the end of Suharto. Ahmad Yani is still alive ITTL and compared to Suharto he was a deity, so it is more likely than not that the TNI come under his banner. Remember, Suharto was just some guy commanding a division, and Ahmad Yani was next to Sukarno.

Could you go into some detail into the coup? Via interrogation of Gen. Yani (ITTL under Soviet jurisdiction) perhaps? I could then comment if Suharto has been overpowered or not.
 
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Better, but still some nitpicking.

General comment: the guy sprinkles around too much details and possess too much knowledge of Indonesia. This is a diary, not a recon report of a Green Beret. He would mention Jakarta (might be not even that, "damn city where we landed" would do), "presidential palace", "airbases", but wouldn't know place names or care about it. Even more so abbreviated names of political organizations. "Our guys" and "American puppets". This might me a big problem with your story. You chose too low-level guy to inform uneducated reader of niceties of Indonesian political situation. That might work for "WWII in Europe" story, as most folks here know relatively a lot about it. However, I don't think a lot of your readers would know a lot about 1965 Indonesia though. I certainly don't. However, would you pick a different storyteller (say, young GRU officer of Cossack origin, there were scores of them) it all starts to look quite believable. However, for now I'll stick to your "storyteller".

21st October 1965, Orenburg
Grateful to say that the sergeant at last picked me for this adventurous task.
It wouldn't be sergeant who would pick men for such task. Soviet Army's sergeants didn't play a role they have in an army built after British or German pattern (being "framework of army, holding it together"). This role fell to junior officers, like platoon commander lieutenants. And, for a mission like this, it would likely be company commanders (Senior Lieutenant or Captain) who would scrutinize the list very closely and informally and give his seal of approval. Besides, it was very established routine to send conscripts to serve far from their home province (officially explained by desire to "toughen them up", although ordinary folks always suspected good portion of it was to not have Army closely related to locals). So if the guy serves in Orenburg, he's most likely from either Don or Kuban host (if not from Siberia).
Polkovnik Zerevhny, our regiment commander said that the work we have to do is not too difficult other than helping Indonesian military
Although "polk" is translated as "regiment" and "polkovnik" is technically "colonel", usually it were Lieutenant Colonels who were in charge of land force regiments (Soviet Army did not have brigadier general rank, so Colonels were substituting). However, some regiments (usually best ones, like airborn infantry, stormtroopers and such) had Colonels in charge. So, either guy is serving in some tough regiment or his regimental commander is likely Lieutenant Colonel. BTW, Zerevhny doesn't sound like Russian at all. "Zarevny" would be better, and it hint on the colonel's Cossack ancestry too.
He also reminded us that the country we're going to go is a Muslim country and the culture is completely different from here.
Muslims were like a third of Soviet population (and far fromunheard of things in traditionally Cossack regions), so the guy wouldn't be really surprised by this encounter. But CO would still remind that "cultural sensitivity is required to handle locals, they're Muslims".
1st November 1965, Vladivostok
Time goes so fast...I'm now in Vladivostok waiting for the turn to board the transport ship. I had just completed intensive training recently in Volgograd after enlisting to join the special operation, there I met with some new friends and learn how to communicate with the local through simple Indonesian language..pretty hard tough. Guess what? I'm promoted to a starshina.
Something isn't right with timing. The guy was approved for the adventure sometimes in October, right? It takes express train a week to get from Orenburg to Vladivostok, so troop train would require double that. Unless there're superhumans in your TL, it isn't possible to go to Volgograd, "undergo intensive training", learn basic Indonesian and arrive to Vladivostok in 6 weeks. If the guy is picked in October, it would take 3 weeks in transit, give or take, which leaves 3 weeks for him to mit his new comrades, learn their mission and participate in couple of short training excercises (to get people a taste of working with each other, not so much to train them). During this time they could be issued base phrasebooks to learn greetings, basic commands and stuff like this in Indonesian.
Everything seems to be so secret that I can't write a letter to my fellow cossacks.
This is really nitpicking, but he's more likely to write letter to "fellas back home". Cossack areas always were multi-ethnic (and undervent significant urbanization and industrialization during Soviet times), so his circle of buddies is bound to include couple of non-Cossack Russians and (if he's from town) some others.
4th November 1965, Somewhere over South China Sea
It's already three days after we left Vladivostok and we have not arrived to the destination yet.
Aren't you rushing things? Vladivostok to South China sea is some considerable miles, so it would take a weekor something to sale, wouldn't it?
I'm starting to get bored seeing the sea all the times. About thousand of men are in this ship right now, with a dozen piece of heavy artillery, trucks, and tanks
APCs aren't mentioned and they were absolutely integral in Soviet doctrine by 1965. Even light infantry (marines and such) are bound to have hordes of them.
Last night I had a nice converstation with the polkovnik. I'm lucky that I knew the polkovnik before. He told me about his personal live, his wife, and his daughter Maria.
They guy should be 19 or 20 and Polkovnik is unlikely to be younger than 35, more likely in his 40s. Quite an age distance to cover, plus difference in status between ordinary conscript grunt and high-ranking officer. I'm not saying this is impossible to have some kind of personal relationships in this situation, but it would be uncommon. Most likely, polkovnik might have some kind of pre-existing relationships with the guy's family (his uncle's friend from military school or osmething of this kind).
Apart from that he also revealed some new information to me regarding Indonesia and the military coup. He said that the great president Sukarno was backstabbed by a group of right wing generals whom in turn was helped by the American. These conspirator tried to assassinate several high ranking generals loyal to Sukarno but it was a failure attempt.... it wasn't over as far as I know, one of the fellow conspirator was able to trick Indonesian people by saying that the communist were the one who tried to overthrow Sukarno and the one who masterminded the coup. Ughh..whatever..
This orientation session would be given by political officers to all soldiers. There's no need to be friends with polkovnik to find that out.
As we speak the 4th Airborne Division as scheduled should already been dropped to secure Jakarta main airbases and important governmental building located in Merdeka Square.
Just idle curiosity, where did those planes take off from? The planes would be AN-12s, they would not be able to fly Vladivostok-Jakarta and back. Viet Nam? Uhh, I don't think it is wise...
The airbase was the first target because it will allow President Sukarno to fly whenever there is a danger and it enabled more supply to be transferred using the huge Tu-95.
To the best of my knowledge TU-95 was never intended for transport duty. It is a strategic bomber. Everything would be hauled on AN-12s.
The patrol tried to stop the truck by threatening to fire the truck with T-55 if they did not stop.
Paras would not have tanks buttressing their checkpoints, not that soon. AK-47s, MGs, RPGs, plus HMGs and bazookas on all-road cars and/or light armoured cars like BRDM (not that I doubt that burst of bullets from KPVT could stop a truck).
Today at the morning we received radio message from 4th Airborne that they discovered something near the airbase, after they investigated the area, they were completely surprised, a group of unknown generals were buried there near the airbase.
How do you distinguish dead general from dead merchant? Were corpses buried in their full uniforms?

I'm aware that Pliyev was an Ossetian, I choosed him because Indonesia is a big muslim country and he's most suitable choice.
Either him or Bagramyan (another Christian from Muslim-majority area), althout Bagramyan looks a bit too old for me.

I will change it asap, but first is it possible for the Russian to hand their transport and supplies matter to the navy or airforce?
I would still think that supply system would fell under land force commander's responsibility, even if air force and navy are handling day-to-day operations.
 
. How do you distinguish dead general from dead merchant? Were corpses buried in their full uniforms?

In this case, yes. The generals were assassinated and the blame put on the shoulders of the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party), so that Suharto could undermine Sukarno and take power, since Sukarno was closely associated with the PKI.
I believe they would make the Generals as 'general-like' as possible so as to make it convincing.

BTW, bump :D
 
[FONT=&quot]Indonesia, Halim-Jakarta[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Comrade General, we have the agent!”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Let him in…” A brown middle-aged man entered the room. His height was shorter than typical European. No doubt he’s Javanese Pliyev thought. “Comrade, please be seated.” He just stood still. “Alright then, do you understand me?” Still no words, Pliyev noticed that he’s still speaking in Russian. Then someone knocked the door. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Yes?” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The same yeoman opened the door. His face was blushing in shame. He had forgotten to bring the translator with him. “Comrade General, I’m so sorry. Here’s the translator.” He said with a brittle in the end of the sentence. He knew that he would be send to front immediately. The translator he escorted looked very different than the Javanese standing in front of his general. Rather like Chinese to say. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“All right, let him in, you’re wasting my time!” the new Ukrainian private is just dumb, he even forget his own weapons. Should I throw him into the frontline? No it would be a catastrophe. He could destroy one army because of his idiocy Pliyev thought. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The door was closed, the yeoman had left. There were only three men in the room. One was the Chinese looking translator. He was wearing white shirt and black trousers. He brought several folder with him. The second was the Javanese PKI agent. His face was shattered, his eyes were swollen. Pliyev can saw bruise along his small body. No doubt that the local must had already tortured him because of his communist background. The last was General Issa Pliyev, commander of South East Asian Expeditionary corps. He decided to start. “Gentlemen, may we begin?” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]At first there were no respond. Pliyev gazed the Chinese looking translator. “You, the translator do you understand me?” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Uh…yes sir, yes sir…I understand.” said the translator in least certifiable Russian.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Now please ask our friends over there…” Pliyev gazed the PKI agent in a moment before continuing. The agent gave him coldly. He can hardly raise his own face. “Ask him, if he know the location of President Sukarno? [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The translator walked few steps closer to the agent and said some Indonesian language. The agent replied the translator slowly. It took a minute to finish. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]“He said that President Sukarno is hiding with the rest of his cabinets somewhere near Rengasdengklok.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“I see, now please ask him if PKI know anything about the general assassination attempt?” [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The Chinese looking translator turned toward the agent and spoke some Indonesian. Not like before, he was able to raise his face and stared the general. “Comrade General, are you really dared to accuse third largest communist party in the world of doing an assassination?” Pliyev was surprised. The agent spoke Russian clearer than the translator. It was a perfect Leningrad school accent. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“You speak Russian?” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Why I should not, you expect all of Javanese to be dumb, uncivilized people Comrade General? The reply was harsh. That was Pliyev thought few moments ago. The agent had read his mind.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“I do not wish to offend any of your people. You have not answered my last question.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“It has a name Comrade General, my name is Sadikin. I’m PKI senior agent. I want you to know that PKI has nothing to do with this mess, it must be that bastard right-wing generals!” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“How do we believe you, we’ve just found several uniformed general buried?” Pliyev realized that the translator I still here and he were talking about sensitive thing. “You there get out!” The Chinese translator nodded, scared by the general voice and action. He quickly exited the room.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“It’s not our fault, we didn’t know anything. I just woke up from my bed this morning and all of sudden a group of angry crowd burned and destroyed my house. I tried to escape but I got captured and I was beaten by the crowd. Then with luck I am able to meet with your paratroopers. We believe that CIA was involved.”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Comrade, you do not need to blame anyone. You should remind yourself that the communist reputation in your country is badly weakened. Perhaps in the future you should all be careful-well if there’s still future for your communist party…” [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Sadikin pounded his fist to the table in fury. “Comrade General you should not teach us about this matter! NEVER! Do you ever remember your own Comrade Stalin? He killed half of his people!! Half of his people for goodness sake!! And you shall not teach us about killing or doing assassination!! [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] Pliyev also in anger after hearing the agent comment stood up from his chair. “How dare you to insult our great comrade?”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] “Don’t tell me that fucking ‘great comrade’ word!! I know you hate him also!” [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
Silent engulfed the room for a moment. “This is useless…I should return to my party headquarter.” Sadikin turned towards the door. [/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]“Go ahead, it’s a heap of rubble now. I’m not going to stop you. Your communist party is now technically disorganized and crushed. There is no more chance. Moscow will not tolerate second Cuba to happen. We’ll have Jakarta controlled by the end of the day, and then we’re going to rescue Sukarno. ”[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] Sadikin stopped for a while and then continue to leave the room without saying anything. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“This Javenese is the most arrogant people I’ve ever seen.” Pliyev muttered. He then took the nearby field telephone sitting on his table. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]“Nikolai Petrovich, I want your division to move out of the harbor right now. I want Jakarta to be secured as soon as possible…” [/FONT]
 
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[FONT=&quot]Indonesia, Halim-Jakarta[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

Pretty good chapter, I would admit. Couple of very small points, as usual:
1. There's such thing as "Leningrad accent" but Pliev, being from Caucasus, is unlikely to recognize it (Caucasian peoples mostly retain their "accent" for life; even Stalin had a hint of accent). It is very subtle. If you want to underscore that "Sadikin" speaks better Russian than Pliev, you could just say so.
2. Whatever else, Pliev is unlikely to consider "Sadikin" dumb from a get go. You don't go to top generalship being ethnic minority if you think that accent or color of skin makes people automatically inferior. He was likely very arrogant and tough, but I doubt he was a racist.
3. "Yeoman" would probably be a leutenant, not private. Soviet generals had "Yeomen", but this person's role was to maintain general's household, so to speak. There were special adjutant to assist generals.
 
Halim Perdanakusuma few hours later,

One Mig-21 Fishbed was approaching Halim Perdanakusuma runway. It was not the Soviets one instead the plane was the Indonesian one observed by the red and white pentagonal markings used by the Indonesian Airforce. Every piece of AA in the airbase was put into an alert in case of sudden attack by the airplane. Even though the Soviets controlling the airbase only had couple of Shilkas and several captured 85mm AA guns.


The small fighter deployed it's landing gear and approached the runway shakily. There must be something wrong with the pilot. Captured emergency vehicles were already alerted. The plane touched down hard in the middle of the runway, because of the speed and pressure the nose landing gear gave away. The Mig's nose crashed almost immediately. Friction caused by the metal and the concrete runway spattered a small fire, the plane then uncontrollably swung into the nearby padi fields out of the runway. It then crashed into a heap of mud.

Without waiting emergency and local population began to rush to the Mig's crash site. Fortunately there was no fire lit up and the pilot can be rescued at once. The pilot surprisingly under his jet suite did not wear any uniforms. In fact the pilot only wore a tattered shirt and people could see bruises scattered along the pilot body when Soviets emergency crew tried to take the unconscious pilot from the cockpit. One local apparantly noticing something shouted loudly. "Capture him, he's the communist pigs!!" He then climbed to the plane wreck and rallied the rest of the people. "My countrymen don't rescue him, he's the traitor, kill him instead!!"

Chaos engulfed as more people reached the area. They tried to retake the pilot. One carried a knive. He ran towards the pilot but one Soviets fireman blocked him. Furious, the Javanese stabbed the Soviets fireman. The fireman fell whilst the Javanese stood above his body. "Kill the communist, kill them all!!" He shouted. Other followed his action by trying to beat the pilot and harmless Soviets fireman crew. One Soviet riflemen seeing the chaos tried to disperse the crowd by firing his Ak-47 sporadically to the air. "Move or I'll shoot you bastard!!" One of the crowd punched the rifleman in the back, he grabbed the soldiers rifle and fired it to the other Soviets soldiers, killing two of them instantly.

As more militias and armed citizen arrived one T-55 approached the scene. The T-55 fired its co-axial 7.62mm to the crowd. Dozen of harmless local were injured or killed. The recent action quickly dispersed the crowd. Most of them ran whilst the armed one tried to fire back. Of course the bullets bounched harmlessly when it hit the tanks steel armor. Two firemen, beaten by the crowd were able to reach the pilot and ran behind the tanks. Most of the armed locals and militias were either killed or injured in the scene. The rest ran away. Three Soviet soldiers laid dead on the fields whilst five firemen were injured. The T-55's and the remaining survivor marched back to the airfields. The incident was a complete mess. General Pliyev watched all the events clearly from the airfields tower.

"Those damn mobs..today is going to be a bloodbath indeed." he muttered. He was right, at the same time several incidents like that recent one happened all around Jakarta as the Soviets division advanced to secure the city. Before withdrawing back to his quarter Pliyev new adjutant, a lieutenant came and gave him another bad report. The Indonesian army led by Suharto was encircling the city. Cutting all communication and road to Rengasdengklok or other villages outside Jakarta. The army wasn't just an armed mobs. It was an elite, well-trained and equipped. With ironically superior Soviets and American supplied weaponery. Pliyev knew that he would need Sukarno assistant.



 
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