Navy exercise

A man and woman with all types of jewellery walk into Brezhnev's office after Andropov leaves.

"Father, what is his explanation to you?" The women sit in front of Brezhnev without asking him.

Brezhnev told them what Andropv had said to them.

"Father, can you believe what he said? He is simply lying to you, in my opinion, he is trying to undermine your authority. How could it be such a coincidence that all those who are being controlled are from the 'Rashidov Clan' or those we know to be corrupt? Father, trust me, he is planning a coup against you. You must act before it's too late, or our family will have no chance of survival."

The man beside him immediately spoke, he was Yuri Chubarnov, Brezhnev's son-in-law. The woman next to him was his wife, Galina Brezhneva, Brezhnev's daughter.

"Calm down, Chubarnov. That's why I called both of you here. Andropov is too powerful now, I'm considering promoting you to take over as Minister of Internal Affairs. You both know how I reached this position, I got here with the support of Kosygin and others, most importantly the military."

"But now, both of them are likely not on my side. It's nearly impossible for me to take action against Andropov. I am old, and you both know my health is failing, I don't think I can last much longer. By then, Andropov will most likely be the one to take my place."

"It was a good time when 20 years ago, we were united, always discussed whenever there was a problem, and came out with the final solution. It was my problem for being so dictatorial after entering the 70s, resulting in the current status now."

"Andropov was one of us, I believe he will not do anything to you, Galina, but of course, you should prepare yourself, giving up all your jewellery store. However for you, Chubarnov, the only I can say to you is to take care of yourself. Andropov wouldn't let you escape away, he knew you participated in the 'cotton' case. Perhaps surrendering yourself to him can give you some chance."

---

Andropov finds the Navy admiral Gorshkov after leaving Brezhnev's room. About the military exercise. 

"The Karak have been a bit naughty lately and have been causing trouble, Comrade Secretary was considering giving them some punishment. How many ships does the Black Sea Fleet currently have?"

"Well, Comrade Andropov. After the battle of Leningrad, we started to dig several canals, to transport some surface ships to the Black Sea, nothing could be done to those submarines except for those that stayed in the base and above the sea. It was a big construction, but luckily we did it. Now the Black Sea fleet, including those that just finished building, has more than 100, almost 150 surface ships, and remain with 50 submarines as before." Gorshkov said.

"Great, send all of them to the Karak, we need to hold a military exercise just in front of their home."

Gorshkov listened feels a little bit confused.

"I am sorry Comrade Andropov, may I know some more details about the exercise and punishment? Are we going to launch a full invasion of the Karak? If it is, the navy will need to do some extra preparation, there is a distance between us and the Karak, and the Red Navy still can't launch a massive landing with this distance."

Andropov laughs.

"Ha, of course not. There is a reason we signed the peace agreement, some changes need to be made within our country, and we will not take the initiative to start any war. However, we must let the world know they need to show respect to the USSR. I want you to detonate a few nukes along their coastline, not to damage any of their facilities or harm their people, just a simple show of our strength."

"Well, of course, their nobles may not feel it too much if we only do this. Launch a missile, and let it fly over their capital. We can test their anti-air capabilities and see how effective they are. I believe Comrade Secretary will authorize you to proceed with all this, just remember, no war, only punishment."

Gorshkov continued to ask,

"What if they fire at us and the war begins? Should we nuke their cities as well?"

"Don't worry, they won't. Our espionage on the Karak has been successful, except we are still unable to penetrate their administration. Just remember, although we are experiencing some instability within the country, no matter how strong a dog is, it can never defeat a bear. Not to mention, we are a growing big bear, we are just temporarily unwell."

"They have to accept our actions even if they can't. They should know what they have done to the Soviet Union and understand the price they have to pay. If they can't accept it, then go to war with us. After all, even powerful enemies like the Undead are defeated by us, so what could the Karak do to us? Although we don't want to start a war at this stage, we are never afraid of war."

Gorshkov nodded his head, he has already a plan inside his mind about the military.

"Any requirement on the exercise location? Shall we just hold it on somewhere near their capital or just the port?"

"It will be your choice, Admiral, as long as you do what I ask."

After speaking, Andropov leaves Gorshkov's room. Gorshkov remained in the room, picked up the phone on his table, and ordered,

"Black Sea Fleet, prepare for operation!"

Today marked the end of April 1980, transitioning into the first day of May. Many residents of the coastal areas of Ukraine witnessed some of the most spectacular scenes of their lives. The different detachments of the Black Sea Fleet started to depart from their bases and gather outside Sevastopol, ultimately forming a substantial fleet of nearly 200 vessels, including supply ships.

The Karak knew nothing about what the Soviets were going to do. Despite their attempts to enhance sea detection, they did not even realize that nearly 200 Soviet ships were sailing toward them.