When Chiang Kai-shek saw Song Meiling helping Chen Zikun speak, he was displeased in his heart, and snorted coldly: "You are thinking about him." ”

Song Meiling said: "Darling, I'm thinking about you, in your opinion, do you think the Russians will send troops to the northeast?" ”

Chiang Kai-shek said: "The Russians are ashamed of the enemy of the battle of Lushun, but they will never send troops to help me in vain. ”

Song Meiling said: "Then do you think the Russians will give up Outer Mongolia?" ”

Chiang Kai-shek shook his head: "Absolutely not." ”

Song Meiling smiled: "If the Russians are unwilling to send troops, it is useless to beg them, if the Russians want to send troops, can we stop them?" The saying that a weak country has no diplomacy still applies to this day. ”

Chiang Kai-shek was silent, not to mention the 800,000 Kwantung Army entrenched in Manchukuo, even the Japanese army in Hunan, Guizhou, could not be expelled with the strength of the national army, his own combat effectiveness was not strong, and the Americans were unwilling to contribute, and the three eastern provinces did not know when they would return.

Song Meiling said: "What you know, how can Chen Zikun not know, speaking of which, his grasp of the international situation is stronger than yours, if you send him to envoy to Soviet Russia, with his temper, he will inevitably break with the Russian side, cause trouble for the country, and fight for glory for himself, and then the mess will not be ordered by you to clean up?" ”

A sentence woke up Chiang Kai-shek, and he nodded slowly: "Reasonable, since that's the case, let's discuss it again." ”

……

During this time, Chen Zikun was very idle, and he did not participate in the dispute between Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek, because he knew that Stilwell was a well-known "vinegar Qiao", and the chairman of the committee was even more rigid and self-serving, with a strong personality.

Jiangdong Province is the basic territory of Chen Zikun, and Jiangbei is the place where he made his fortune, this land has developed from a barren land to a rich land dominated by the coal and iron industry under his management, coupled with the large number of people brought by the famine in Henan, it has gradually become the top priority with extremely rich resources and soldiers.

At dawn, outside Nantai County, Chen Zikun looked at his watch and said to Gai Longquan: "Let's start." ”

A brigade of troops is lying in ambush outside the city at the moment, the muzzle of the gun has been aimed at the turret, ready to shoot at any time, Gai Longquan nodded, made a gesture, the herald took out the signal gun and fired a red signal flare into the sky, the light pierced the night sky, and then the gunfire rang out, but it was not the siege troops who fired, but the fierce battle inside the turret.

Half an hour later, a green flare was raised from inside the city.

The troops went into the city, at this time a round of red sun rose from the east, the day dawned, the traces of the battle in the county town were not very obvious, only some blood stains and bullet shells at the entrance of the old county yamen, the devils in the stronghold died on the ground, they were wiped out by the puppet army anyway, unfortunately, the gendarmerie had withdrawn to Beitai and did not kill these animals.

On the eve of 1945, Nantai was restored.

Chen Zikun came to the place where Zhao Ziming sacrificed, sprinkled a glass of wine, stood silently for a long time, and said to the servants: "Set up a monument for heroes here." ”

The situation in Jiangbei is more complicated, the Eighth Route Army occupies half of the country, the devil is cowering in Beitai City, there are still a lot of troops, I am afraid that the casualties are too great if the trapped beasts are still fighting, and it is not good to meet with the Eighth Route Sword Soldiers, so I have to pass through the south of the Yangtze River.

Since the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army took root in the south of the Yangtze River, it has successively seized large tracts of land in more than a dozen county towns and directly oppressed Gu Zhutong's troops in the Third War Zone.

In November last year, Wang Jingwei died of illness in Japan, Chen Gongbo came out to preside over the overall situation, his prestige could not be compared with Wang Jingwei at all, the building was about to collapse, and everyone was thinking of a way out, vying to catch up with Chongqing.

The puppet army in Jiangdong Province has reached an agreement with the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army under the mediation of Liu Youjin, and privately accepts the reorganization, ready to turn against the water at any time.

The overall situation was set, and suddenly the bad news came, US President Roosevelt died of illness, followed by good news, Nazi Germany surrendered under the attack of the Soviet Union and Britain and the United States, Hitler committed suicide, and the war in Europe ended.

Chen Zikun received a telegram from Chongqing, ordering him to return as soon as possible, and after arriving in Chongqing, he learned that the highest authorities had sent a diplomatic delegation to Moscow for negotiations, and he was one of them.

On the plane to Dihua, Xinjiang, Foreign Minister Song Ziwen said to Chen Zikun: "Zikun, I asked you to be brought here, you are a military expert, I can rest assured that you are there." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Then I have to sacrifice my life to accompany the gentleman, but I'm afraid it will be in vain." ”

Song Ziwen said: "As a diplomat, even if you know that there is no hope, you have to talk, anyway, I am better than Li Hongzhang who went to Maguan to negotiate back then, by the way, I will introduce you to a person, Jingguo, you come." ”

A young man came over and saluted Chen Zikun: "General Chen, I am Chiang Ching-kuo, and I have long admired your great name. ”

Chen Zikun knew that this was Chiang Kai-shek's eldest son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who had lived in the Soviet Union for many years and had a lot of experience, and he could not ban talking to him in Russian, and the two could not stop talking.

The plane stopped for a while in Dihua, and the delegation got off the plane to visit, and everywhere there was a strong Soviet atmosphere; Sheng Shicai had only been running Xinjiang for many years, and took advantage of the chaos in the Central Plains to turn to the Soviet Union, where a large number of Soviet troops were stationed, and even aircraft factories; if it weren't for Stalin's other concerns, Xinjiang would have become a Soviet republic.

The rebellion in Xinjiang dragged down hundreds of thousands of national troops in the 44-year war when the war situation was in danger, all because of the Soviet Union's troubles, and it is unfortunate that China has such a strong neighbor.

After a long flight, they finally arrived in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, where the cool weather in July, the magnificence of Red Square, the towering spires of the Kremlin, and the solemn ceremony of the Changing of the Guard at Lenin's tomb by the Red Army soldiers had nothing to do with the delegation, which was engaged in intense negotiations as soon as they arrived.

Stalin received them, a Georgian man with a small stature and a mustache, wearing a dark gray tunic uniform, holding a pipe, and like to pace when he spoke, exuding an air of superiority, which was different from Roosevelt, somewhat similar to Chiang Kai-shek, but more intense, and Chen Zikun understood that it was the breath of a political butcher with thousands of lives on his hands.

The meaning of the Soviet Union is very clear, everything is based on the Yalta Agreement, Lushun and Dalian are allocated to the Soviet Union, the Middle East Railway, the South Manchurian Railway and ancillary undertakings are returned to the Soviet Union, and China must recognize foreign ****.

The delegation stated that Outer Mongolia could be given a high degree of autonomy and that the Soviet Union could be allowed to garrison troops, but not independently.

The two sides engaged in tug-of-war negotiations on this issue, Stalin was extremely arrogant, and did not have the slightest intention of backing down, Song Ziwen was powerless, and asked Chen Zikun, Chen Zikun was temporarily cramming, and after thinking for a long time, he finally had a plan to delay the army, so that the Soviet Union would guarantee the territorial sovereignty of the three eastern provinces, not support the CCP's secession, and not encourage the rebellion in Xinjiang, and China promised that after the victory of the War of Resistance against Japan, the citizens of Outer Mongolia would be allowed to vote on whether to become independent.

Negotiations began again, and it turned out that in the face of the great strength of the Soviet Union, all tricks were weak and powerless, Stalin refused on the spot, saying: "It was you who begged me to send troops, not me, after the brutal Great Patriotic War, the human resources of the Soviet Union have been exhausted, and the elite of the Kwantung Army is still there, why should the Soviet Union sacrifice its own young men to help you fight?" If you have the strength of your own, even if you go and fight well, since you ask the USSR to send troops, you have to accept the conditions, which is a very reasonable exchange. ”

Chen Zikun said: "Outer Mongolia is China's territory, territory cannot be discussed, if the Soviet Union is unwilling to fulfill the obligations of the allies, then we have better send our own troops, otherwise we will not be able to account to the 40,000,000 people." ”

He spoke Russian with a Petersburg accent, and Stalin was a little surprised, looked closely, pointed his pipe at Chen Zikun and asked Song Ziwen: "Who is he?" ”

Song Ziwen was so anxious that he sweated, the Soviet Union was no better than the United States, Stalin was the best person who said the same, which angered him, anything could happen, he hurriedly explained: "This is General Chen Zikun, one of the members of the delegation. ”

On diplomatic occasions, Stalin still maintained a certain demeanor, he looked at this guy who dared to contradict himself, and suddenly said: "I have seen you, in Morocco." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Your Excellency has a good memory, I have attended the Moroccan conference. ”

Stalin paced two steps and said, "You say that China sends its own troops?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "It is not impossible for China to form a new army, all American-style weapons, and solve the Japanese army in the northeast with the support of American planes and warships, but it is just a few more deaths, and it has been 12 years since the Northeast was lost, and millions of people have died, and it is nothing to die again." ”

Stalin laughed: "Courageous, really a soldier, but do you think that in this way you can leave Outer Mongolia in China, no, this is something that the Soviet Union does not allow to happen, whether you agree or not, the Soviet Union will send troops to Manchuria, all the way to Shanhaiguan, no, to Beiping." ”

Chiang Ching-kuo said: "Comrade Stalin, I do not see how important Outer Mongolia is to the USSR and would make you risk war with the allies to make such a decision. ”

Stalin said: "If someone attacks the Soviet Union from Outer Mongolia, as long as the Trans-Siberian Railway is cut off, the Far East will be finished, so Outer Mongolia must be independent and placed under the protection of the Soviet Union." ”

Chiang Ching-kuo said: "After the defeat of Japan, no one will occupy Outer Mongolia, China and the Soviet Union are friends, and they will not fight you, take 10,000 steps back and say, China does not have such strength." ”

Stalin said: "Japan is a very resilient nation, and sooner or later it will have to be rejuvenated, as for China, as long as you are reunified, it will develop very quickly, even if China does not attack the Soviet Union, it is difficult to guarantee that the United States will not use the excuse to send troops." ”

The negotiations reached a stalemate again, the Soviets did not speak diplomatic rhetoric at all, the negotiations were all straightforward language, like bandits, the delegation was trapped in Moscow, at a loss, Song Ziwen said to Chen Zikun: "I now deeply understand Li Hongzhang's powerlessness and shame, China is the same as the European war, although it is nominally the victorious country, but it is still inevitable to cede land and pay reparations, Outer Mongolia can not be saved, the three eastern provinces are also in danger, this treaty is signed or not, the consequences are almost the same, if signed, at least a little bit of binding, if not signed, The consequences are unimaginable. ”

Chen Zikun said: "You plan to sign?" ”

Song Ziwen shook his head: "I don't want to be a national sinner, sign the treaty that sells the territory, whoever wants to be the foreign minister will do it, I will resign." ”