At the Wisteria Villa built on the Crimean peninsula for the leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev, who was in a happy mood, angrily asked someone to pack up his shape, and prepared to leave this summer resort with pleasant scenery and a comfortable climate and set off for Moscow, because he had a big business on his hands.

"Why did I have to wait until the Americans came to mediate, and I learned that the land of the Ludao Soviets had been trampled on by the Chinese, and that thousands of our Union soldiers had actually become prisoners of the Chinese in humiliation!" Ge shook his chubby big hand and wanted to throw a porcelain cup out of his hand, but after thinking that this was his favorite cup again, he still didn't make a move.

In fact, in addition to anger, there is more of an emotion in the heart of the map head at this moment is fear. On a good summer, he sneaked away from Moscow to the wonderful summer resort of Crimea, where the sea breeze surrounded his wisteria villa, the waitress in a one-piece bathing suit by the pool, and he could enjoy special offerings from the whole Soviet Union and even foreign imports, cigars, cigarettes, truffle caviar, luxury watches, luxury suits, and other things that could not be openly revealed in Moscow.

Gorbachev couldn't believe it, he was only away for a while, but he seemed to be a stupid superior, directly set aside by his subordinates, China and the Soviet Union on the border such a major event, actually covered tightly, not only the international calm and waves, people either pay attention to the World Cup football match, or take a look at the European science and technology development Eureka planning conference held in London. Even at home, it was clear to not a single Soviet that tens of thousands of their soldiers had been routed by the enemy, that the Chinese army was moving in and out of Soviet territory as if in their own backyard, and that thousands of loyal and resolute Soviet defenders had been taken prisoner.

At this time, nearly two days had passed since the Solinsky Department entered the Chinese border and began to snatch the fragments of the spacecraft, and a lot of things had happened in the past two days, which was overwhelming. But at such a critical moment, a part of Moscow was so bold as to suppress the matter, concealing that Gorbachev himself, and even the US Embassy in the Soviet Union requested an urgent dialogue and talks.

"Is this still my country?" Gorbachev was vigilant in his heart, because his rise to power had such drawbacks as his shallow foundation, and many party bigwigs did not buy his battles, and the leaders of the localities and various departments were accustomed to doing their own thing and dictating their own way, and everyone wanted to take advantage of Gorbachev's new thinking to reap more benefits, but not many people were really loyal to Gorbachev.

The more he thought of this, the more frightened Gorbachev became, and he left his wisteria villa without hesitation, left behind the hairy waiter in a one-piece swimsuit, and urgently returned to Moscow with his staff.

Before Gorbachev returned to Moscow, he urgently made a phone call to Arkhipov, commander of the Moscow Military District.

"Comrade Admiral Arkhipov, I know that there is an undercurrent hidden under the calm waters of Moscow, and that this undercurrent is most likely something that threatens the great Soviets, and at this critical moment, my loyal and competent commander, will you be willing to follow me and deter the flies and dogs under the flat lake, and restore a real peace to the Soviets?"

A one-party state may have a more chaotic internal form than a multi-party system, except that everyone wears a party emblem. In particular, because of politicization, the armed forces are often prone to split into various factions, and the reason why Arkhipov was able to sit in the most important Moscow Military District is inseparable from his correct position, timely loyalty and political direction.

So Arkhipov did not hesitate to reply to the General Secretary: "Comrade Gorbachev, please rest assured that the guns of the Moscow Military District have always followed the orders of the Party Central Committee, that is, your orders. ”

Gorbachev was slightly relieved that the Moscow Military District was the only military unit he could exert influence on, and the most critical. He thought for a while and said: "Comrade Arkhipov, I believe that you have already understood the situation at the front, and give full play to your professional military ability, please give me some advice on what we should do." ”

On the phone, the general was silent for 20 seconds, which made Gorbachev a little agitated, and after a long time, Arkhipov said: "According to the latest situation, after the Chinese army has eaten up one of our tank divisions and severely damaged one of our corps-level units on the front line, they have begun to retreat and set up a defensive line at Alashankou on the national border, and it seems that they will not have any further excitement to ......."

Gorbachev interrupted him and said: "Comrade Commander, do you mean that we will also forget about it?" ”

Arkhipov denied: "Of course it is not, but Comrade General Secretary, you would like to see a full-scale war with China, a nuclear war that could even involve the United States and NATO?" What about your reform plans, and will the conservatives who oppose you curtail your power through war? ”

This time, it was Gorbachev's turn to be silent, and his new thinking campaign was itself difficult, challenged by vested interests on all sides, and greatly criticized. Arkhipov's words opened a new direction for him, he was not Joseph of World War II? Stalin, whose prestige was not enough to overwhelm the entire Union, once the war broke out and he suffered an initial military defeat, a large number of conservatives would chase after him like sharks that smelled fish, until they had nothing left of their flesh and bones.

Gorbachev would never hand over power, so anything that might threaten his own power should be avoided as much as possible.

Arkhipov said: "Another tricky thing is that we don't know how far China's military science and technology have developed, according to intelligence, the size of their troops fighting on the border is much smaller than ours, but except for the initial defeat, the Chinese side has won almost many battles, from the overwhelming superiority of the air force, to their electromagnetic supremacy, and even the army's terrible firepower and advanced armored vehicles, almost any aspect, It is really strange that the combat strength displayed by the Chinese exceeds the strength of our Central Asian Military Region and the Turkestan Military District. ”

Gorbachev couldn't help but nodded, "Indeed, we should have a good understanding of the details of the Chinese." ”

Then he said with some reluctance: "A military defeat of this magnitude will probably have a great impact on the reputation of our Soviets!" ”

Arkhipov said treacherously: "Comrade General Secretary, we don't say it, the Chinese don't say it, the Americans don't say it, who knows what's the way?" ”

Gorbachev patted his head, narrowed his eyes, and said, "That's right." Well, but we can't be deterred at the negotiating table. ”

Arkhipov said knowingly: "This is not my field of expertise, and you need to consult other comrades." ”

"I understand, Comrade Admiral Arkhipov, I will take note of your loyalty, after this turmoil, I am afraid that some seats will be vacated, what position you are interested in, please be sure to tell me later."

"Thank you, Comrade General Secretary."

The phone hung up, and Gorbachev sat on the plane and fell into deep thought again. He's not really an idiot, and naturally he has some skills. However, he knew that because of the stupid defeat of the 32nd Army, their bargaining chips at the negotiating table became extremely scarce. On the other hand, the Chinese side mastered the cause of the conflict, the ship's debris, and achieved military success, capturing thousands of Soviet soldiers. Externally, China is a quasi-NATO ally, and the United States will certainly support China's position as much as possible.

He pulled out a piece of sticky paper and began to sketch out his bottom line and plan for diplomacy.

"Squeeze out the benefits of China to the maximum, if it is possible to make them spit out some of the fragments of Naraush's spaceship." Gorbachev wrote, "The biggest and most effective weapon that can deter China is, of course, nuclear weapons, and we will not hesitate to use nuclear intimidation to achieve our goals." ”

He wrote for a while, feeling distraught, because some of the words seemed ridiculous to him. What also bothers him is that he can't control the situation in Central Asia, and if the people at the bottom continue to do their own thing, it is very likely that Moscow will find itself in a more difficult and embarrassing situation.

Gorbachev threw down his pen, leaned on the back of his seat, straightened up again, grabbed the pen and wrote three names in Cyrillic letters on another piece of paper - Aliyev, Sokolov, Chebrikov.

"The deputy secretary of the party, the minister of defense, and the head of the KGB, all key figures in the ******, actually betrayed me? What kind of intentions did they have, why did they behave so recklessly in this matter, and was there anything else I don't know about after that? Gorbachev was irritated, he was not exactly an emperor in Moscow, and he had a group of his own subordinates and forces, and when he wanted to know the truth, the initiator would immediately come to the surface.

It's just that the specifications of these three behind-the-scenes mirror collectors are a little over-standard, and the exceedances are shocking, making it difficult for Gorbachev to sit still.

"They must be removed, only when this force is cleared in Moscow can I truly grasp the supreme power of the alliance and effectively advance my reform policies!" Gorbachev is already in a high position, and for all politicians, historical positioning is a very important thing, and what they have done and then left a name in history is what they pursue the most.

Gorbachev found it extremely tricky to take down this small group, because the KGB secret police were involved, and Chebrikov had this power in his hands, and he could turn against him at any time. Unless he was at the end of the day, Gorbachev did not want to use Arkhipov's military strength to engage in any kind of counterinsurgency action.