# Chinese army in the Chechen Republiс

Alexey Sukonkin

Перевод Виталия Киселева

To make the story more clear, it should be said that the Buryats look like the Chinese.


The Chines army in the Chechen Republic.


All authorities of the Internal Affair Department of Primorye Territory has arrived to meet a plane from the Chechen Republic.

General Vachaev warmly embraced SOBR`s (the special troop of fast respond) commander, heartily congratulated him on successful accomplishment of the mission and the absence of losses, and then, having passed along the alignment of the group, asked:

-Show me your doctor!

Roman Zakharchenko, the group"s doctor, introduced himself:

-Captain Zakharchenko, the chief of group"s medical service.

-Zakharchenko... - general"s face has reddened. - You will be up in court! You are accused of sowing discord between the nations!

Roman googled at the general, vaguely feeling that something irreparable has happened.

-Why, sir?

- Why?!! He dares ask!!! Take this, read!!!

The general held out the telegram to Roman. The telegram reading as follows:

"The mass demonstration of inhabitants (about three thousand in number) took place yesterday in front of the commandant`s office in Shali (the city in Chechnya). The demonstrators set up a claim to President Putin not to deploy the Chinese troops in Chechnya. Additional forces of the army, internal guards and militia were concentrated at the center of Shali. It was found in two-hour negotiations that the disorders was caused by captain of medical service Zakharchenko who had left to the territory of permanent residence. In view of this fact, captain Zakharchenko shall be interrogated and the materails of the interrogation shall be transferred to the commandant`s office of Shali in order to decide an issue of taking institute proceedings against him.

Col. Gerasimov, the military commandant of Shali."

Roman scratched a bald head and remembered three-day ago events...


The chief of the medical service of SOBR of Primorye Territory captain Roman Zakharchenko idles.

The SOBR of Buryatia arrived yesterday to sustitute them and, of course, both of the troops were involved in the huge booze. Now the soldiers are dead asleep, making up for lost time.

Roman has drunk less than he could, so he woke up ahead of all. Now he is stupidly looking trough a narrow window on the marching column.

It has to get up, but the head is ready to burst, so the additional libation to restore rocky health is inevitable. Roman rummages about under the bed and, fumbling well-known shape, extracts a big bottle with a slanting label "GOST-74-20-10".

-You my honey... - Roman kisses a bottle. - And nobody yesterday drank you...

Zakharchenko taps the bottle by shaking hands and smells the contents - spirit. A mug stands out of striking distance of a hand so Roman has to be up. Some tomato juice has remained in the mug.

-Ok, - think Roman. - Let"s drink "Bloody Mary".

He pours about fifty grammes of fire-water into the mug, mixes a coctail and drinks it at one gulp.

- Splendid! - cries out the chief of the medical service and, having got up, starts to pull on his boots.

Morning has already been at its height. According to the schedule, a first-aid post begins to work at ten o'clock. The most part of patients are usuially not soldiers, but inhabitants of Shali.

During the half-year stay of their detachment in Chechnya, Roman every day handles patiens, and has even handled the delivery and performed acute appendicitis operations a few times. In general, he replaces by his own all the infrastructure of medical care destroyed by the war and radical Islam. Roman is a well-known person in Shali and he is on friendly terms with many inhabitants, so it is no wonder, that people often come to him for no particular reason, just to talk.

Roman doesn"t work as a intelligencer, so he is not able to obtain the useful information from these conversations, but it relieves the bore of everyday duties.

The majority of Buryatiya"s SOBR which came to replace their troop are Buryats. They aren"t inferior to Roman"s detachment in drinking so they also don"t hurry to leave their shelters after recent great binge.

By the time when Roman opened the aid post, two Buryat officers have pulled out a large cauldron on the street and have begun to shred the pig carcass brought from Ulan-Ude by the national knives. Officers are working with gusto and are paying no attention to entourage.

Roman handled a few people with minor illnesses and then he napped a half an hour. He was woken up by Muslim, a sixty-year-old man who was a geography teacher at local school during the Soviet period of time.

-Salam Aleikum, - salutes Muslim.

-Hi, - Roman greets him, standing up from the couch.

-The weather is fine today, - said Muslim.

-Not bad... - confirmes Roman.

Muslim looks narrowly at Buryat officers continuously shredding a pig in the big cauldron.

-Who are they?

Roman has shot a bored look to Buryats. He was about to answer Muslim, but suddenly he ventured on a bold plan.

-There? They are Chinese...

-What kind of Chinese? - askes Muslim.

-Ordinary... - answers Roman idly. - They came to change us. We are going home and they are staying here...

-What for? - asked Muslim emphatically, being entrapped of Roman"s artful plan.

-What does "what for" mean? - ask Roman amazed. - To relieve us. They will serve here instead of us.

-Chinese?

- Chinese, indeed! And what is wrong, in your opinion?

-But formerly the troops form Novosibirsk have relieved you...

-So you probably do not know...

-What?

-Well, about Putin's contract with the Chinese government...

-What kind of contract? - Muslim has already lost any caution worming a secret out.

-Well, - carelessly answered Roman. - According to the contract, Russian troops in Chechnya will be replaced by the Chinese ones...

- Wherefore?

- Russian army has already passed here through the war and the Chinese has asked us to allow their army to gain experience here... The Americans are the next in turn.

-So all of them will fight here?

-Yes, indeed, - nods assent Roman. - The Chinese haven"t been at war for a long time, so they have decided to test the army in battle. - Zakharchenko takes on conspiratorial expression, come nearer to Muslim and whispers: - Do you know, what butchers they are? For every killed Chinese soldier they will seize a hundred inhabitants and will shoot them right here. We had to take a lot of trouble over you, but they don't care a damn about you and any international committees too. How will you exist when they raze to the ground all your cities?

-How many Chinese will come? - askes Muslim dumbfounded.

-I`ve heard that they are not large in number - nothing but two million. And they will bring pigs. Can you imagine, they let dirty pigs go on your sacred ground! Their pigs feed on human meat, - Roman looks at Buryats. - Chineses are real monsters... Look, they are grinning. We are also afraid of them...

-Will bring pigs, - groans Muslim. - Real jackals...

- True animals. There isn"t anybody worse...

Muslim stands up:

-I have to go... I have a lot of business today...

-Well, goodbye! We are returning to home today , - says Roman. - Forever. Probably, we will never see each other. Chinese will destroy all of you... within a week...

Muslim run away.

In a half an hour Buryat"s doctor comes to his senses and Roman begins to transfer him the property of a medical aid station. And by the evening their troop has loaded on lorries and has left to Dagestan, where they must flight to Vladivostok...