African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1477: Chapter 29: Taking Over the Police Station

One o’clock in the morning.

All the core members of the Labor Party in Xiqueslav had gathered together, and with the cooperation of the workers at the Xiqueslav steel plant, the steel plant had been turned into a temporary command post.

The steel plant was ablaze with light; five thousand workers, along with some representatives from the officers and men, were clustered around Malinkov and the others.

These workers were mainly from the Xiqueslav steel plant and the railway; all of them wore red sashes distributed uniformly by the Xiqueslav Labor Party, wrapped around their necks to distinguish friend from foe.

More than seven hundred of the workers had been issued weapons, which showed that in these past days Malinkov and the other leaders hadn’t been idle—they’d managed to get hold of more arms.

Malinkov said, ”I plan to set the time of the uprising at three in the morning. At that hour, the citizens of Yekaterinoslav will be fast asleep, and our operation can greatly reduce casualties and avoid damaging Yekaterinoslav as much as possible.”

Hearing Malinkov say this warmed the hearts of many workers who were ready to do something big with the Labor Party. After all, keeping the lives of the people foremost in mind was, to a certain extent, proof that this organization really was, as they claimed, a people’s force.

”Besides that, given the disparity in strength between the enemy and us, starting at three in the morning means we can use the cover of night to catch the Yekaterinoslav city government and the puppet troops completely off guard.”

”Next, I’ll divide the workers into three units. Two units will seize the Yekaterinoslav city arsenals, and one will take the city police station.”

”As you’re occupying the police station and the arsenals, the troops outside the city will definitely get word and come into town to put us down. But you don’t need to worry—there are people of ours in the army. When the troops march toward the city, the units that support us will...”

As Malinkov calmly and systematically assigned tasks to everyone, morale rose further. Having a workable plan and scheme was itself proof that this uprising had a good chance of success.

If Malinkov and the Labor Party organization he led had no plan and no preparation, then this action would clearly be unreliable.

...

Xiqueslav City Police Station.

At three in the morning the police station was very quiet; because it was a public institution, most of the lights in the station were still on.

The duty staff at the station were not fully resting at this hour; some had gathered in the break room to play cards—of course, the kind with money on the table.

The cramped little break room was thick with the smell of smoke, alcohol, sweat, and other mixed odors.

Mlinovic had a cigarette clamped in his mouth, brow furrowed as he stared at the lousy hand of cards he’d been dealt. He took a deep drag and blew out a cloud of smoke. ”Goddamn it, my luck is shit tonight. I’m starting to wonder if you bastards are palming the cards when you shuffle.”

No wonder he was so pissed and frustrated—he’d already lost more than seventy kopeks tonight, which for a low-paid small-time cop like Mlinovic was enough to make his heart bleed.

Of course, public employees in Xiqueslav weren’t paid much, but most of them had gray income, and in a violent organ like the police station, the cops down below had plenty of chances to skim some fat.

Mlinovic’s words naturally stirred his colleagues’ displeasure.

”Mlinovic, you lay a bet, you accept the loss. You’re a living, breathing man sitting right here, it’s all open and aboveboard, and a couple of decks you shuffled yourself—you didn’t see yourself draw anything good, did you?” said Yuridovsky.

Another officer, Anton Rozhine, chimed in, ”Yuridovsky’s right. Or are you suspecting the three of us are in cahoots to screw just you? We’re all colleagues, we know each other’s tricks. I lost a bundle yesterday and you didn’t see me whining like this.”

”And everyone around is watching. How the hell are we supposed to cheat?”

Mlinovic curled his lip. ”I’m just losing my shirt tonight, can’t I bitch a couple of times? Of course I know you’re not cheating. I’m just messing with you a bit, don’t go making a federal case out of it.”

Everyone accepted that explanation; after all, the guy who’s losing griping a little is pretty common.

Having been watching the show, Tarkovsky changed the subject: ”I heard the army’s been redeploying a lot lately. You think we might actually end up in a war with the Russians?”

Talk of war always perks up men’s interest.

In a foul mood, Mlinovic said, ”Would be great if it did! It’s not like we’d be the ones sent to the front.”

At this piece of schadenfreude, Anton Rozhine snapped back, half joking, ”Heh, if the Russian Labor Party really pushes in here, don’t count on getting off easy. I’ve heard the Russian Labor Party is brutal as hell.”

”A bad cop like you, swaggering down the street every day, rotten attitude, always collecting protection money—odds are someone will denounce you. Then the Labor Party will make you a target case and haul you out for a firing squad.”

To this, Mlinovic said arrogantly, ”That kind of thinking is totally pointless. If the Labor Party wants to haul me out and shoot me, they’d at least have to make it in here first. And you really think they can punch through the Donbass line?”

”Say nothing of the rest, the Russian Labor Party has pissed off the whole world. There’s not one Great Power among the UK, France, Germany, Austria that doesn’t want Russia dead.”

”With so many Great Powers behind us Ukraine, and with our own strength not exactly weak, no matter how tough Russia is, they’re not getting in here.”