Chapter 55

"West Berlin is the safest city in the world; they are under the strictest protection!" Shefov said proudly to the accompanying KGB and Stasi agents, "I want the people inside the wall to experience the most stringent security. If they don't leave West Berlin and return to West Germany, they will stay in the high walls for the rest of their lives. If they can endure this environment, we can only admire them, after all, we can't eliminate cockroaches..."

Looking up at the high wall, the solid structure represented Shefov's greatest achievement on this trip. Although he couldn't see the completion of the canal, there was still time to witness its excavation. Once the protective dike was breached, the water supply for 1.2 million West Berlin residents would be cut off. The United States had been lingering in West Berlin, not to protect the so-called rights of the West Berlin people, nor was it closely related to the Four-Power Agreement. The people's rights were determined by the capitalists; if they didn't give it to you, you couldn't take it. The people of the Wall Street movement were also well educated by American police. As for the Four-Power Agreement, it could be mutually compromised. The Americans stayed in West Berlin entirely because of its strategic location deep within East Germany.

Turning West Berlin into a window would make it easier to leverage the Americans' greatest advantage, which was the power of capital. Using what the Americans were most skilled at and strongest in, they could radiate through West Berlin to Eastern Europe.

"Are you kidding? How could I let that happen? Now this window has been sealed. West Berlin covers only about 400 square kilometers, and it is surrounded by East German territory. The city has no self-sufficiency. The daily garbage produced by over a million people is enough to turn this capitalist window into a refugee camp. If West Germany is willing to bear this heavy burden at great cost, I welcome it very much."

"After checking the wall, I am quite satisfied!" Shefov said, very pleased with the Berlin Wall, "After the river is rerouted, I want to see if the groundwater can sustain the current life in West Berlin. How will they handle the garbage? Power? Will it be supplied from West Germany? Unfortunately, my time in Berlin is limited, but I really want to see how West Berlin will solve these problems. Food? If all these issues can be resolved, please tell me, we should learn from capitalism..."

Marcus Wolf, who got into the car with Shefov, chuckled and said, "Now we can rest easy and use this hard-won precious time to develop the economy! Over the past decade, East Germany has lost more than two million people. It's unknown how long it will take to make up for this loss..." Marcus Wolf was right. In Shefov's memory, East Germany's economy took off in the 1960s. Compared to West Germany's ten years of development in the 1950s, East Germany's catch-up was quite difficult, but it was still the strongest economy in the socialist bloc, with per capita income exceeding the Soviet Union by one-third.

"To be honest, East Germany still has a heavy burden, and the consumption of the Western Group is also a big problem. I hope I will have the ability to solve this issue in the future! Personally, I believe that East Germany's development needs to break many constraints!" Shefov, facing the equally young and powerful Marcus Wolf, said as if to an old friend, "With the power of your Stasi, if you find a good foothold, you can actually achieve self-sufficiency and no longer rely on state funding!"

"No longer rely on state funding? Do you mean we should develop our own enterprises? That's not good, is it?" Marcus Wolf frowned, thinking that if a department like the Stasi started to try self-sufficiency, it would almost immediately create a situation where the tail wags the dog, which would destroy other departments' enterprises and be detrimental to the state! Marcus Wolf was startled. Could the Soviet KGB already be trying this?

"Of course not domestically, as it would harm the state's interests! What I mean is to use our superior information and organizational capabilities to think outside the country!" Shefov looked at his colleague with a self-satisfied expression, "This way, we won't form interest groups within our own country, and we can expand our organization's power in other countries. Led by our intelligence agencies, we can plant seeds around the world. Since we and the capitalist bloc's economic systems do not interact, we can't influence each other, and they can't influence us. What's the point of a competition where we just coexist peacefully? We should take the initiative, which is what our intelligence agencies should consider..."

Within the KGB, such enterprises and funding sources have always been under the First Chief Directorate, but in reality, it has always been Shefov himself who has been setting up these arrangements. The enterprises controlled by the First Chief Directorate are concentrated in Italy, including food, electronics, and machinery, with the Technical Management Directorate responsible for research and development, and the First Chief Directorate responsible for factory construction. No wonder Italy has been increasingly inclined to neutrality between the US and the USSR in recent years. KGB leaders disguised as capitalists have been subtly influencing the judgment of ordinary people. People are always easy to deceive...

Shefov has always favored collective action, not just the Soviet Union alone against the US, UK, France, and Japan, but all socialist countries acting collectively. This action cannot treat other socialist countries as vassal states. They need to leverage their national strengths, rather than the current Soviet Union's efforts to limit the development of its allies.

He couldn't influence the state level yet, but in the intelligence field, he could start with joint operations. In the future, the KGB would work with intelligence agencies from other countries on the global secret front. With the assistance of these brother country intelligence agencies, the KGB would certainly be even more formidable than in history.

It didn't take long for the two to reach the location of today's press conference. However, before that, Marcus Wolf changed into a military uniform, swapping his major general's uniform for a lieutenant colonel's, hiding in a corner to listen. By nature, he didn't want to expose himself to everyone's gaze, and this experience was enough for him.

"We have discovered a very shocking issue. In the future, we will establish a mechanism with the host countries, such as the current East Germany. If Red Army soldiers commit crimes in East Germany, East Germany naturally has the right to try the soldiers. Countries are equal. I will issue relevant documents upon my return to the Soviet Union in a month. Before that, I have already communicated with the Stasi leadership. From the issuance of the documents, starting in the second half of the year, all Third Chief Directorate garrison institutions will accept complaints from the host country's residents and resolve conflicts between the garrison and the residents!" Shefov said to the seated journalists.

"Mr. Shefov, does this mean that the Soviet Red Army is not welcome by the people of the host countries?" An American journalist stood up and asked.

"Which newspaper are you from?" Shefov asked with a smile, his right hand supporting his chin.

"I am from the New York Post!" The American female journalist's eyebrows twitched, showing a bit of the cowboy's rebellious spirit.

"We never avoid problems but try to solve them! However, you should first study your country's garrison laws. The process we handle today can be made public, and the involved soldiers can be handed over to the host country for trial!" Shefov looked directly into the female journalist's eyes and said firmly, "This is something your country cannot do..."