Because of the lack of intelligence, Qi Yiming believed that the sudden advance of the Soviets was premeditated, in order to press the Chinese diplomats at the negotiating table in order to gain bargaining chips, and if it went well, it would be best to seize the wreckage of the spaceship in one go. It was not at all clear to him what was really going on on the side of the Soviet Union, how many different ideas were gathered in this huge country. He subconsciously saw the fighting nations as extremely united, at least in the face of external enemies, they would be unanimous with the outside world.

It's just that Qi Yiming was wrong.

The military operation of the second invasion of China's borders caused an uproar in the Soviet Union, this time in all aspects, and if the last time the deception of Gorbachev was a gentle drizzle and a silent moisturizing affair, this time it will simply turn into a storm.

Gorbachev's face was like a dark cloud, and next to him sat Arkhipov, the commander of the Moscow Military District, who he trusted, and after he heard that the people of the Central Asian Military District were once again acting on their own, Gorbachev felt that the country was full of people who did not obey orders, and it was difficult for him to determine whether this kind of behavior was isolated, but if not, those people must have a backhand, and it was very likely that the general secretary who sat in the big seat, that is, himself.

"Commander Arkhipov, the three masterminds who previously promoted this matter have been placed under house arrest, but the phenomenon of disobeying military orders still occurs, and a military district commander has died, and now the Central Asian Military District is in chaos, if it were not for the Chinese's intention to attack, it would have been occupied a long time ago. I'm tormented right now, how many guys in the army lack a sense of honor and discipline, well, I'm not talking about you, Commander Arkhipov. Gorbachev complained.

Arkhipov sat on the sofa and said to him with a solemn expression: "Yes, this time it really caught us by surprise, the Central Asian Military Region has been completely chaotic, there are almost no troops capable of fighting, and our defense is in an extreme emptiness." As to whether this surprise attack was instigated by the three comrades who made the mistake, I think it is unlikely, what did they do it for? It seems to me that they have surrendered power and are now under your supervision, and any irrational behavior could bring great disaster to them. ”

"So you mean that it could be an action launched by the people below to vent their anger?" Gorbachev asked with a glare.

"I can't say, there are all kinds of possibilities, but whatever it is, the situation in the Central Asian Military Region needs to be dealt with immediately, we are there to face the Chinese army that may pose a threat at any time, and even a complete Central Asian Military Region may not be able to deal with the Chinese, let alone a crippled Central Asian Military Region now." I propose to transfer troops from the Siberian and Ural Military Districts for temporary deterrence, and to send a new military commander to put the situation in the military district in order, and ......" At this point, Arkhipov became speechless.

Gorbachev encouraged: "Say it. ”

Arkhipov said stiffly: "Shaking hands with the Chinese, we have no reason to continue to exacerbate the tension on the border, just what the Central Asian Military District and the Turkestan Military District have done this time, they have put a heavy burden on us, your reform plan needs to adjust the structure of our national economy, and a protracted war or tense conflict situation will make the country continue to spend a lot of money, which is extremely detrimental to your plan, and, to put it pessimistically, I don't see any hope that China will be defeated by conventional force, except for nuclear weapons. Now should be the time for us to digest the lessons learned, and not to keep ourselves bled for revenge or something unrealistic. After all, our enemy is not just China. ”

Gorbachev was still frowning when he first said it, but after hearing it, Gorbachev couldn't help but agree that the main opponent of the Soviet Union was the United States, and now it is so difficult to fight a China. Gorbachev differs from his predecessors in that he does not have much pride in the Soviet Union, and does not think that the Soviet Union has completed the construction of communism, as Stalin did, or that the Soviet Union could easily make the United States die miserably, as Khrushchev did.

Gorbachev knew very well what the Soviet Union was inferior to the United States, and although the Soviet Union was inferior or even superior to the United States in many places, there was still a considerable gap in terms of overall national strength. He was not arrogant or arrogant, and it can be said that his understanding of the Soviet Union was quite pertinent. Because of this, he worries that if the situation continues to erode and lead to a real war, and the Soviet Union faces real destruction, what if China or the United States are brought to the end together? Mother Russia is also finished.

"But what is still left in China ......," he hesitated slightly

Arkhipov shook his head and said: "General Secretary, it is still difficult to predict what the effect of those things will be, and it is likely that they themselves are broken, maybe there is a crisis in them, and it is better to run our country and army in a down-to-earth manner in pursuit of those illusory things." ”

Gorbachev nodded and admitted: "Commander Arkhipov, what you said is very reasonable!" However, if we compromise with China in this way, we will appear to be too weak, and the United States and China will think that we are taking what we want, so we must not relax our diplomatic efforts, and we still have to put on the appearance that we may act at any time. ”

Arkhipov said worriedly: "We have reached a tacit agreement with the Chinese side to cease fire, and now the private actions of the people below make us even more untrustworthy, the difficulty of restarting negotiations is itself, and if the Chinese's nerves are not thick enough to take more drastic countermeasures, then we are playing with fire." ”

Gorbachev was quite annoyed, if everyone had listened to him, the situation would not have developed to the point where it is today, and now he is not only passive on the battlefield, but also at the negotiating table. At this time, all he can do is intimidate, but he can't do more. As long as there is a little intelligence ability, he will definitely be able to listen to the reality of the Central Asian Military Region, and when the Chinese know that he is intimidating and just a fat giant, they will not have any explanation for his demands. On the contrary, Gorbachev and the Soviets also had to withstand the pressure exerted on them by the significantly more powerful Chinese army on the border.

Arkhipov said: "General Secretary, this matter is still hidden under the table, it is better to solve it while it is still under the table, if it drags on for too long, there will always be a day when it will be put on the table, and then it will be even more unfavorable to us." ”

Gorbachev pondered for a moment, and made a decision in his heart, as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, he is still unable to fully control this great country, there are many people who go against the law, and there are many people who make trouble for him and hope that he will fall, Gorbachev wants to be more aggressive, but he finds that he does not have the capital to show strength at all.

"Hmph, then let the Chinese go first, and when I finish rectifying the domestic situation and deal with those guys who lack loyalty and honor, I will settle this account!" Gorbachev thought in his heart that although he was unwilling to break the position, there was no good way.

……

In the conference room of the Sino-US-Soviet trilateral consultation talks, Li Zewang, ambassador to the Soviet Union, protested in righteous words: "The Soviet side has flagrantly ignored the cease-fire agreement we have reached, attacked and invaded our country again, causing huge losses to our country. ”

What he said made both the Americans and the Soviets have a toothache, and it is true that the Soviet army attacked first, but that group of Soviet troops has been sent to the prisoner of war camp by the PLA, and who has suffered the most losses still needs to be discussed. And the Chinese representative took the posture of a victim to protest and demand compensation, which is really speechless.

However, today's Shevardnadze is shouldering an order to make peace, even if the Chinese representative's statement makes him unhappy, but he can't mess around, so he avoids the important and says lightly: "It is still debatable which side is responsible for this conflict, but I believe that both our side and the Chinese side are tired of the constant conflict, and such a conflict is not in the slightest benefit to the peace of the world, let alone the two peoples." Therefore, we propose that an armistice treaty with lasting effect be signed as soon as possible, and that the two sides withdraw from the fighting and shake hands. ”

Li Ze looked at this statement violently, he didn't expect the Soviets to be cowardly, and to act so without warning. He was in Moscow, so he could naturally see a little clue, but he still felt hazy because he could not get a glimpse of the whole leopard, but he instinctively felt that something was going on inside the Soviet Union that Gorbachev and his ruling team had to seek reconciliation with China and stop fighting.

And for the sake of the armistice, Shevardnadze didn't even mention the fragments of the spaceship, which seemed to be an armistice peace treaty with no strings attached, which made Li Zewang hesitate. With the order to fight a diplomatic war with the Soviet Union, he continued to pester the Soviets, but there was no order to sign a peace treaty, so he could only say: "I am very satisfied with the change in the attitude of the Soviet side, which is conducive to the calming down of the situation and the relations between the two countries, and I will also convey the Soviet side's suggestions back home, and the specific decision needs to be further studied by our high-level officials." ”

Shevardnadze said: "It's good, but we hope to be able to do it as soon as possible." ”

US Secretary of State Scholz, who had been stunned for a long time, reacted that China and the Soviet Union, which had been beaten all over the place, suddenly wanted to reconcile? How can this be profitable, and what are the underlying factors driving all this? Scholz could not stand up and say, "You continue to fight, let's continue to talk," and could only keep his head shut down and say a few happy words, but after this meeting, the US intelligence organization stepped up its work of collecting and analyzing intelligence on the Soviet Union and China.