African Entrepreneurship Record

Apart from strengthening themselves and conferring titles, the profits from Kazan were what the members of the Beliazovka gang valued the most. Making a little "protection fee" in the city was a big gain.

As for this, Beliazovka chose to turn a blind eye, as long as their subordinates did not interfere with the operations of the National Defense Security Bureau, everything was negotiable.

At this time, a large part of the western region of Kazan City had been taken over by the East African National Defense Security Bureau.

In a nondescript complex of buildings, which was the location of the Kazan National Treasury, such important places often appeared plain and unassuming from the outside.

The East African National Defense Security Bureau was loading treasures from the underground vault into cars, then transporting them to the dock.

Kazan City was built along the Volga River, so these riches were evacuated from Kazan in batches by the East African National Defense Security Bureau using both water and land transportation methods.

Prior to this, the National Defense Security Bureau had set up multiple secret outposts along the banks of the Volga River to ensure the security of these riches and had bribed Russian officials along the route to let the ships pass.

For added safety, the personnel escorting this batch of treasures were all disguised as Russian troops. Nowadays, amidst the chaos in Russia, ordinary people would not dare offend the army.

After all, the military discipline of the Russian army was quite poor, especially in such tumultuous times, seeing an army would deter anyone from causing trouble.

Moreover, the East African National Defense Security Bureau was not at all worried about anyone uncovering their identities, since the Russian order had essentially collapsed; a new army appearing from nowhere was not surprising.

This treasure would eventually reach the Caspian Sea and then be transported back to East Africa via warships through the Persian Gulf, which was the safest route at present, as most other areas were battlefields. Taking the Siberia route was too far.

...

Two weeks later.

The news of Kazan’s fall had spread throughout Russia, as this was a major city of Tsarist Russia, and the Kazan Army became quite infamous.

Indeed, the Kazan Army was a previously unknown organization in Russia. They did not belong to the old aristocracy nor to the provisional government, nor were they part of the Labor Party.

The origins of this armed force were thus revealed; Russian factions considered it a rather lucky "bandit group." Bandits ran rampant in Russia, so it was not surprising for such a large bandit group to emerge during chaotic times.

The only thing worth noting about the Kazan Army was that they captured Kazan, a historically significant city in Russia.

At this time, the National Defense Security Bureau’s operations in Kazan were wrapping up, and after deceiving the fooled Russians into joining the Kazan Army, core personnel of the National Defense Security Bureau largely withdrew.

Those who did not withdraw were precisely the members of the Kazan Army led by Beliazovka.

In a conference room at the Kazan City official residence, more than twenty people were having a meeting, with Beliazovka sitting on the sofa within the conference room.

These twenty-plus individuals were currently the backbone of the Kazan Army, and also the most core personnel stationed by the National Defense Security Bureau within the Kazan Army.

"Commander Beliazovka, now that the forces have mostly withdrawn, when shall we detach from the Kazan Army?" asked a brigade commander of the Kazan Army.

Following the capture of Kazan, the Kazan Army’s size quickly expanded from more than 10,000 to over 40,000.

These individuals were divided by Beliazovka into six brigades, among which three brigade commanders were from the National Defense Security Bureau, while the other three, including Beliazovka’s "confidant" Chubalov, were originally leaders of bandits around Kazan.

Beliazovka said, "Currently we cannot immediately withdraw from here. According to orders from above, we need to remain here until early next year, which is roughly a month from now."

"Before then, we need to do final touches and destroy all evidence, leaving no traces. However, you don’t need to worry; by the beginning of next year, we should be able to return home."

"According to information from above, most of our people are to leave Russia in the near term. Before that, we have to complete all tasks."

Why the East African National Defense Bureau should withdraw from Russia is indeed a complex issue, considering the significant investments East Africa had made into Russia’s intelligence system over the years.

Just equipping the early Kazan Army took a great amount of effort; after all, equipping 10,000 people is no small matter.

Throughout the whole World War I period, East Africa’s expenditure on infiltration in Russia was the largest, and the intelligence system and network of connections built with such an immense effort had to be abandoned in a matter of months, which indeed defies logic.

Ernst’s decision to have the National Defense Security Bureau withdraw from Russia was a reluctant move, for the Russian Labor Party is by no means an easy opponent.

First, the Russian Labor Party is adept at organizing masses, which is very disadvantageous to foreign intelligence agencies looking to operate.

Additionally, Russia’s past intelligence departments, especially those established by the Labor Party, were quite renowned worldwide.

If Ernst’s predictions are accurate, by the end of this year, the Russian Labor Party will likely establish the "Cheka" intelligence agency.

In terms of underground work, the Russian Labor Party is highly proficient, as they have frequently interacted with Tsarist Russia’s intelligence systems, police departments, armies, and other powerful agencies.

Without considerable skill, it would be impossible to grow and flourish in Russia, as the Tsarist government would have long imprisoned them.

Look at Labor Party leader Vladimir; he was arrested multiple times by the Russian government and even exiled to Siberia.

Merely looking at Vladimir’s experiences reveals how frequent their engagement in underground work was; it’s no exaggeration to say there’s no organization in the world with more experience than the European Labor Party.

Although the East African National Defense Security Bureau is more professional, they don’t have the capability to conduct intelligence work from within prisons.

Of course, these are not Ernst’s main concerns; his biggest worry is being tricked and losing out.

From past experiences of the United States and the United Kingdom, Ernst knows that intelligence personnel lacking firm "capitalist" or "feudal" mindset are likely to be recruited by the Labor Party.

He fears that instead of achieving significant intelligence successes under the Labor Party regime in Russia, East Africa might end up nurturing a group of "Labor Party" personnel who are converted and returned to East Africa, which would leave Ernst in a tight spot.

Besides the reasons related to the Labor Party, another reason Ernst is withdrawing the National Defense Security Bureau is the collapse and disintegration of Russia’s old order.

In the past, East Africa’s infiltration of Russia primarily relied on connections with the Russian old aristocracy and bureaucracy, a group that is evidently going to be swept into the ashes of history by the Russian Labor Party.

Thus, the "network of favors" and chain of "bribes" established by the National Defense Security Bureau would essentially become obsolete.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, East Africa’s intelligence expenditures in Russia are no small sum; the salaries of tens of thousands of East African spies, operational funds, and other expenses have reached a terrifying level.

Nonetheless, East Africa has also gained substantial benefits; to say the least, just the treasures from Kazan’s National Treasury have allowed East Africa to reap massive profits, with gold yields alone reaching an astonishing more than two hundred tons, along with a vast number of artifacts, artworks, and other valuable items.

A month later.

January 4, 1918.

While the Kazan Army was preparing to make significant moves in the new year, Chubalov and other Kazan Army leaders were shocked to discover that several hundred people, including Kazan Army leader Beliazovka, had surprisingly "run off."

According to the last eyewitness soldier, Beliazovka led several hundred people onto a few motorboats at Kazan’s Volga River port’s dock and left in the night.

This left Chubalov and others bewildered; who would have thought while the Kazan Army was flourishing, their general ran away with his confidants.

Fortunately, the "confidant", Chubalov, remained, preventing the Kazan Army from disbanding on the spot, and he was subsequently appointed as the new Kazan Army leader, that being General Chubalov.

Under General Chubalov’s leadership, the Kazan Army was labeled by the Russian Labor Party as the "Chubalov gang", causing quite a bit of trouble during the later Russian Labor Party’s unification of the country and the subsequent anti-imperialist intervention wars.

As for the runaway "Beliazovka", he became a historical mystery, especially considering Kazan’s National Treasury had numerous ties to this Beliazovka.

There were many speculations about Beliazovka’s identity in later generations, some said he was a confidante of Nicholas II, others said he was a German spy, and some even speculated he took the riches to the United States...