Chapter 170: This Plan Is Genius!
Kill Hoover?
That would be too benevolent.
Handing photos that could end Hoover’s political life to Soviet people, that would be the greatest revenge against him.
Don’t you like hiding behind the scenes and feeling like you’re manipulating everything?
If Soviet people get hold of your weakness, that boomerang would be a fatal blow to someone like Hoover.
Make him unable to sleep at night, full of anxiety, preoccupied with worries, with no peace in his heart forever.
As for what top-notch stunt Soviet people could pull off in America with Hoover’s help.
Lin Ran had no way of knowing.
But at the moment, the instant he heard V introduce himself, Dobrynin’s heart was already suspended in mid-air.
This voice, this tone, the strong confidence brought by this brief introduction, Dobrynin didn’t doubt at all that it wasn’t V.
“I have a big gift about John Edgar Hoover.
It’s placed on the water tank farthest inside the men’s restroom on the west side of the first floor of the Georgetown restaurant at 1310 Wisconsin Ave NW. If you’re late, it might be taken by someone else.”
“Mister, mister, mister!” Before Dobrynin finished speaking, the line went dead, leaving only a brief busy tone.
On Times Square, New York street, with the cold wind howling, Lin Ran wearing V’s mask stood in the telephone booth and put the telephone back in place.
Using the telephone booth as an anchor is great, isn’t it perfect for times like this.
As for how he got Dobrynin’s private telephone number.
It wasn’t told to him by Korolev, nor found in Dobrynin’s personal memoir “In Confidence” published in 1995 in later years.
Korolev never told him, and Dobrynin’s personal memoir certainly didn’t have it.
Even in the publicly declassified information from the Soviet Union in later years, Dobrynin’s private telephone number couldn’t be found.
This was told to him by Long Sifan at Yanjing Palace; Lin Ran estimated it was told to him by China.
The general idea was that in an emergency, if needing to flee, he could try to contact Dobrynin and have Dobrynin provide assistance.
But Lin Ran wasn’t using it to ask for help, but to add a little spice between America and the Soviet Union.
In the January cold wind, the V-letter mask on Lin Ran’s face was noticed by passing pedestrians.
As a mother with a child passed by, the little girl pointed at Lin Ran in surprise and shouted loudly to her mother: “Mommy, look, the mask man from the newspaper seems to have appeared!”
Before the mother could react, Lin Ran had already pushed open the door and disappeared into the cold wind. The mother looked in the direction her daughter was pointing, but saw nothing, only a door that had been pushed open and automatically closed: “You must be seeing things.”
The daughter cried out: “There’s a monster! I clearly just saw the mask man.”
It was just a short three minutes, seen by at most one person.
Lin Ran only needed to consider how to make it the most interesting; Dobrynin had much more to consider.
After the call ended, he called back but no one answered; he almost jumped out of bed, rushed out the door, and shouted loudly: “Yuri! Quickly arrange a car for me to Occidental Grill, right now, immediately, I need to leave in five minutes!”
Yuri was the first secretary, responsible for handling specific affairs.
Their configuration included counselor, first secretary, second secretary, cultural commissioner, and security personnel.
Among them, the counselor was a senior official; the first secretary was the one who handled specific matters.
Yuri immediately got up, picked up the telephone, dialed the motorcade, and concisely conveyed the order.
After hanging up, he asked softly: “Mr. Ambassador, going to the restaurant so late…”
Before he finished speaking, Dobrynin waved his hand to interrupt: “It’s classified, just prepare the car.” Dobrynin’s voice was calm yet carried an unquestionable authority, with tension hard to conceal between his brows.
Yuri asked no more and quickly carried out the order.
A few minutes later, a black Volga sedan stopped in front of the embassy, its engine rumbling lowly in the night sky.
Dobrynin put on his hat, wrapped his coat tightly, and walked down the steps.
The driver opened the car door for him; he instructed in a deep voice: “To Occidental Grill, as fast as possible.”
The car then sped along Northwest 16th Street, streetlights flashing past outside the window, but Dobrynin had no time to notice.
His thoughts raced, trying to guess what big gift Mr. V had left.
Because the other party mentioned Edgar Hoover, Dobrynin had some vague guesses about the so-called big gift.
“Could it be intimate photos of Hoover and Clyde Tolson?”
He pondered inwardly.
V’s exploits were known worldwide, having filmed video of Oswald shooting at the time of Kennedy’s death.
In addition, it included Oswald’s recording.
Following this line of thinking, and combining that the other party specifically named Edgar Hoover.
What could threaten Edgar Hoover if not direct evidence that he was homosexual?
Although this matter hadn’t been made public, as the Soviet ambassador, Dobrynin had long heard about the relationship between Hoover and Clyde Tolson.
To be precise, from the day in 1962 when he took over from the previous ambassador in Washington, he had heard it from the other party’s mouth.
But no one has seen the evidence.
The car stopped in front of Occidental Grill, the restaurant’s Japan sign was off, the glass door tightly closed, with faint lights shining through.
Dobrynin got out of the car, looked around, the street was empty. He walked to the door and lightly knocked on the glass. Moments later, a weary middle-aged man came to open the door, eyeing him suspiciously.
“We’re already closed, Mr. Ambassador, whatever it is, come back tomorrow,” the manager said.
Dobrynin said: “Sorry, I forgot something here a few days ago, I need to get it right now, it’s very important.” His tone was low and authoritative.
Behind him were all Slavic burly men, the manager knew these Russians were not to be trifled with.
Although both sides were in the Cold War, with so many people and diplomatic immunity, these Russians might do anything to him.
The night manager had no choice but to open the door and let them in.
Dobrynin found a thick kraft paper envelope at the place V mentioned.
Dobrynin held the envelope in his hand, felt its weight, and a sense of inexplicable tension surged in his heart.
As he left, he nodded in thanks, and before turning back to the car, he asked the night manager again: “Sir, were there any suspicious people tonight?”
He held the envelope tightly in his hand.
The night manager shook his head: “No.”
Dobrynin was still not giving up and asked two more questions: “Recently? Any suspicious people lately?”
The night manager still shook his head: “I don’t know, you’d better ask our manager, not me.”
A bit disappointed, but not unexpected.
After all, all the world’s top institutions were looking for V now.
Not only America was looking, the Soviet Union was looking, England was looking, even including Israel looking for V.
Everyone knew nothing except the other’s mask and very few physical features.
Dobrynin didn’t expect the other to have such an obvious flaw.
He guessed it should be one of the guests at the restaurant tonight, the last to leave being the most suspicious.
As for the night manager, he thought about it and didn’t sense any of V’s presence from him.
After returning to the car, Dobrynin instructed the driver: “Back to the embassy.”
The car sped through the night, he stared at the envelope in his hand, wondering what was inside.
Because these photos, in the Soviet Union’s hands, could directly turn Hoover into a puppet.
To put it bluntly, these photos could make Hoover and Tolson not only leave the BI but also leave Washington, unable to find any public office.
Even the trick Washington senior officials liked—revolving door between politics and business—was closed to them.
Because it was now 1964.
Homosexuality was widely seen as moral depravity and mental illness in the 1960s.
In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) listed homosexuality as a mental disorder, which was not removed until 1973.
Public prejudice against homosexuals was extremely strong, especially in the conservative Cold War culture, where homosexuals were considered vulnerable to blackmail, posing a national security threat.
This view was particularly prevalent in government and sensitive institutions.
Not to mention the so-called “Lavender Scare” in the 1950s, when thousands of federal employees were fired for suspected homosexuality.
Hoover himself was a key driver of this campaign, through the BI’s “Sex Deviant Program,” investigating and purging homosexuals from the government.
Once these photos circulated, Hoover would not only be seen as homosexual, mentally ill, unqualified for White House positions, but also as extreme hypocrisy.
His political life, even personal life, would cease to exist.
How could Dobrynin not be happy after seeing them.
Dobrynin didn’t want to waste a moment and directly dialed the secure line to Moscow with Andrei Gromyko:
Dobrynin: “Comrade Minister, I obtained highly sensitive intelligence on Hoover, photo evidence, irrefutable. How should I handle it?”
Gromyko on the other end of the phone, ashes from his cigarette dropping bit by bit on the table, after a moment his voice sounded: “This is crucial, Anatoly.
Use the diplomatic pouch, no risks, supervise personally.”
Dobrynin: “Understood, ready first thing tomorrow morning.”
Gromyko added: “Replicate a copy overnight, original to Moscow.”
Dobrynin said: “Naturally.”
He summoned First Secretary Yuri to the office.
Dobrynin: “Yuri, prepare tomorrow’s diplomatic pouch to Moscow. I have documents, highest priority. I’ll seal them personally.”
The diplomatic pouch is a special package used by diplomatic institutions to transmit official documents, items, or communications across borders.
According to Article 27 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, diplomatic pouches enjoy diplomatic immunity, immune from search, seizure, or any interference by the host country.
In the context of the time, this was considered one of the most reliable methods.
Mainly because the response time was too short, the Federation couldn’t react at all.
Moreover, at this time the relationship between both sides was not so tense; Kennedy had just died, and America’s most important task was to find the truth about V and Kennedy’s death.
Precautions against the Soviet Union side had also been somewhat weakened.
Doing this work, it’s impossible not to be sensitive.
Yuri was the same.
From the moment Dobrynin hurriedly rushed to the high-end restaurant that evening, that high-end restaurant was one they often went to when hosting banquets.
To the sudden order now.
Yuri knew something was very unusual.
The information obtained by Dobrynin was crucial.
He nodded hurriedly and said, “Yes, sir. I will arrange the vehicle and courier. Any other instructions?”
Dobrynin replied, “No details.
Just ensure it gets on the airplane.”
When the courier set off, Dobrynin reminded, “Carry the mailbag on your person until boarding the airplane. No stops, no detours.”
Driver: “Yes, Ambassador Comrade.”
The next morning, a black Volga Sedan drove out from the embassy’s underground garage, with the diplomatic mailbag locked in a briefcase next to the driver.
Dobrynin stood in the shadow, his exhaled hot breath clearly visible in the cold air, until the car disappeared into the fog.
He knew very well that once the envelope successfully reached Moscow, it would become a silent weapon.
A few hours later, the mailbag was loaded onto a Soviet Union flight, exempt from inspection by American authorities.
Days later, it arrived in Moscow, where Gromyko and KGB officials viewed the photos in a secure room in the Kremlin.
Moscow, in the secure meeting room of the Kremlin, all the core members were gathered together.
The meeting room was solemn and dignified, with a tense atmosphere.
A long heavy wooden table occupied the central position, with national flags and scattered documents placed on the table.
At the core position on the table was a photo of Edgar Hoover.
The windows were tightly closed, the curtains drawn tightly, dim lights casting long shadows in the room.
Nikita’s voice broke the silence:
“Comrades, we are meeting here today to seize a major opportunity.
Dobrynin sent photos of Hoover from Washington.
These photos may reshape our relationship with America.
Comrade Gromyko, please report to us.”
Gromyko cleared their throat and opened the file: “According to Dobrynin’s report, these photos show Hoover having an improper intimate relationship with his deputy Clyde Tolson. They are irrefutable proof, which we can use to put pressure on Hoover.”
Shelepin leaned forward, tone cautious: “As FBI Director, Hoover holds a great deal of secrets and control over corresponding operations.
If we can effectively utilize these photos, we can force him to submit.
Or at least make him stay silent on key issues. This will completely change how we conduct our work.”
Shelepin, like Hoover, whatever position Hoover held in America, he held the same in the Soviet Union.
Nikita nodded thoughtfully: “Indeed, but we must act cautiously. Hoover is very cunning; he won’t submit easily. We need a meticulous strategy.”
Leonid interjected: “No, he must compromise.
In the current situation, if he doesn’t compromise, we just need to release these photos, and he’s done!”
Gromyko mused: “A more subtle method might be better. We can hint to Hoover himself through secret channels that we possess these photos, tell him we might make them public, and whether we do depends on his attitude.”
Shelepin nodded in agreement: “Yes, we can demand that he provide intelligence and turn a blind eye to our operations.”
Nikita frowned, weighing the idea: “But we must make him believe our determination, prove that if he doesn’t cooperate, we will really publish these photos.”
Gromyko added: “Dobrynin can arrange a secret meeting in Washington so Hoover can see the evidence with his own eyes.”
Nikita turned to Shelepin: “Shelepin, how would you execute this plan?”
Shelepin replied: “First, we need a reliable intermediary, someone Hoover trusts, to convey our message.
Perhaps someone inside the FBI for him, or a mutual ‘friend’.
We can hint to let him know we hold his secret, without direct threats. Let him infer the necessity of cooperation himself.”
Nikita nodded: “Good. Let fear take root in his heart. The more afraid he is, the stronger his motive to cooperate.”
Gromyko added: “At the same time, we can continue normal contacts with the American government through Dobrynin to cover our true intentions.”
Shelepin interjected: “But we must be prepared for Hoover’s counterattack. He might try to destroy the evidence or take retaliatory action against us.”
Nikita said firmly: “If he dares, we will publicize these photos. But that will be the last resort. What we want is a compliant Hoover, not a destroyed one.”
The meeting continued in a tense atmosphere, as the Kremlin meticulously planned how to utilize this unexpected gain to gain the upper hand in the Cold War.
“So what exactly are we going to exchange, Director Shelepin needs to think ahead.” Gromyko reminded.
Shelepin said without hesitation: “The conditions are easy to propose.
Regarding all our people who are currently under investigation, Hoover must notify us in advance so we can arrange for their withdrawal. The intelligence in this regard needs to be fully and completely shared.
Additionally, regarding cracking down on various movements within them, Hoover must reduce the intensity, and as for what the standard for reduction is, that depends on the level we need.”
Nikita interrupted: “I have an idea. Since Hoover can monitor the president, can we have him continue monitoring the White House?
Sync the monitoring news to us?”
Nixon can create the Watergate Scandal, why can’t we Soviets monitor America.
Shelepin hesitated: “This might be a bit difficult.
As you mentioned earlier, what we want is an obedient Hoover, not a destroyed Hoover.
Such a task would be too much for Hoover.
He might refuse to compromise with us, resist to the end, and prefer to accept the end of his political life rather than compromise.
This wouldn’t be good for us.”
Precisely because Shelepin’s role is similar to Hoover’s, he can deeply understand what Hoover is thinking.
When he will compromise, when he will be tough.
For something like monitoring the White House, Shelepin felt that if he were Hoover, he definitely wouldn’t dare to do it.
Those present were pensive.
Everyone still trusted Shelepin’s viewpoint a lot, after all, this was his line of work.
Nikita suddenly blurted out: “Homosexuals are really harmful!”
Those present pretended not to hear.
At that time, LGBT was considered heretical in any country.
In the Soviet Union, this was also a taboo topic, a symbol of degeneracy, incompatible with the morals they advocated.
Gromyko raised his hand: “I think Comrade Nikita’s proposal is very creative.
Negotiation, negotiation, doesn’t mean that whatever demands we make, the other side must agree.
The art of negotiation lies in proposing a condition the other side cannot accept, then slowly retreating.
Monitoring the White House, Hoover would think it’s unacceptable; after we propose it, he will struggle, resist, and reject it after ideological struggle.
I don’t deny this; what Shelepin said is very likely to happen.
But during his struggling process, during his thinking process, what if we take a step back?
We let him not monitor the White House, but monitor congressmen instead.
Wouldn’t he feel this condition is acceptable? Feel that we have retreated a step?
Monitoring congressmen should be okay, right?”
Nixon did this too.
Gromyko made those present pensive; he continued: “If monitoring congressmen is possible, we might be able to turn it into controlling the US President.
We find senators and congressmen with sufficient potential, have Hoover cooperate with us to monitor them, and seize their handles.
If the number of monitors is large enough, presidential candidates will emerge from these potential congressmen.
And once congressmen whose handles we hold become presidential candidates, we can use our resources in America to help him become president.
Our help should best have evidence.
Similar to entrepreneurs we actually control donating to him, providing him help, promoting him.
Then we also have his recordings, which can fully prove our close relationship.
Then rely on these to threaten the other side, make the other side compromise.
If this plan doesn’t work in one year, three years, maybe five or ten years, but even longer?
Twenty years, thirty years, even fifty years?
Don’t forget the photos we hold are not only Hoover’s, but also Tolson’s.
Hoover has been able to work at the BI for forty years; he can continue, and when he leaves, Tolson can take over.
Compared to Hoover, Tolson is easier to control; we can even learn in advance through Tolson who the next director is, and make him our puppet in advance.
Taking Hoover’s photos as the opportunity, a plan spanning decades, with the BI as the anchor, slowly developing our forces, weaving a big net among Washington congressmen!”
Gromyko’s voice was full of allure; when it sounded in this secret meeting room, it was just like a conspiracy villain character in a movie.
But obviously, his proposal was full of imagination; just thinking about it could make those present feel excited, tense, and expectant inside.
Lin Ran probably could never imagine that just giving the Kremlin a set of photos, they could come up with this kind of play.
If he knew, he would probably guess that old T wasn’t just the fruit of your plan.
Nikita took the lead in applauding: “Comrade Gromyko’s proposal is excellent; perhaps the professor is wrong. The outcome of the Cold War is not determined by the technological singularity of artificial intelligence technology, but by who breaks through the other’s internal fortress first.”
After everyone applauded in small rhythm and high frequency, Gromyko said: “This is all the merit of Comrade Nikita.
“If it weren’t for your creative suggestion, I wouldn’t have thought of these either.”
Gromyko was able to sit in this position for twenty-eight years; their EQ is no joke.
“I approve of Comrade Gromyko’s proposal; it’s not only creative but also highly feasible, and the final effect will certainly be much better than those I proposed earlier,” Shelepin expressed approval.
Since Nikita had said so, Shelepin couldn’t help but approve.
After hearing Shelepin out, Nikita added sternly in his voice: “Comrade Shelepin, after you return, you must conduct a serious and comprehensive internal investigation of the KGB to ensure there is not a single homosexual in our ranks!”
Everyone present thought about what they were going to do to America, and then thought that if such a character emerged among them, everyone would have the same idea as Nikita before: homosexuals are deadly.
Leonid, who had been silent until now, said: “The entire negotiation is very complex.
I suggest that the comrade in charge of the negotiation needs sufficient experience, enough flexibility, and sufficient wisdom.”
After hearing this, Nikita nodded: “Comrade Leonid is right; we must be cautious in selecting the person.”
Gromyko said: “I propose that Comrade Dobrynin be in charge of the talks.”
After those present whispered to each other, they agreed to Gromyko’s proposal.
Then Gromyko continued: “It’s best if we let Hoover gradually accept our proposal, starting with listening to one, then two, three, increasing slowly.”
Nikita nodded: “So do you have any good candidates? Like the professor?”
Shelepin shook his head: “The professor is usually at Redstone Arsenal, and his security level is higher than we imagined; this risk is too great. There are too many people watching the professor.
I do have a good candidate, Fred, Fred T.!”
To be honest, I think this chapter is very interesting; if you don’t think so, don’t scold me!
