Age of Rebirth

Stalin was so enraged that even in the face of Molotov he couldn't help jumping up, his face flushed sickly, and his blue-gray eyes shot out with flames of anger that could kill anyone," Molotov said. Comrade Husband, do you know what your proposal means, which means that the Soviet Union will lose more than 100 million square kilometers of land and lose the only outlet to the sea in the Pacific Ocean!"

"It means that you, Comrade Molotov, will become a traitor who sells out the interests of the great Soviet state. Every inch of the land we have inherited from our ancestors must not be lost—let alone be ceded to that Chinese, do you know?"

Stalin roared, waving his hands mechanically and quickly in the air, and loudly accused Molotov. At this moment, Stalin's face was terrifyingly ferocious. Looking at his posture, he wished he could eat Molotov in one bite. In front of his husband, Stalin would be so unscrupulous gaffe.

Facing Stalin's morbid fury, Molotov looked calm and lowered his eyes, and let him criticize him without moving. Molotov knew that Comrade Stalin needed to vent, and he had already anticipated this before making suggestions , However, the strength was much weaker than expected. Originally, I thought that Comrade Stalin would violently drive him out, or order the guards to temporarily detain him.

Stalin's heart was already filled with pain. When would the Soviet Union rely on ceding territory to gain a chance of survival? Although, the territory that was to be ceded was originally the period of Tsarist Russia, which was forcibly taken from the hands of the Manchu Qing government. What was taken away, now, is nothing but returned to the original owner!

However, in the greed for territory **.Stalin, more than anyone else, never believed that these territories should be returned to the Chinese, especially in such a humiliating way, the land of more than 100 million square kilometers was originally the territory of the Soviet Union, which was inherited from the Tsarist Russia period , in his own hands, lost in a humiliating way.He couldn't tolerate it even more, whether it was emotionally or psychologically, he couldn't accept it.

In Stalin's mind, there are too many things left over from the old tsar, but.Form is stronger than man, Stalin roared in anger.Hysterical venting.Finally, all the pain and anger had been vented, and he slumped on the chair as if he had finished a marathon, his eyes were blank and his face was calm.Molotov said nothing, and the deep pain was hidden in the eyes of the latter.

Suddenly, Stalin couldn't bear to blame him.Then he said weakly: "Comrade Molotov, what if we still can't satisfy the greedy appetite of that Chinese with these conditions? As far as I know, Tang Qiuli is even more greedy than fascist Hitler in terms of territorial greed." strong!"

Molotov was taken aback. This was a problem he said he had ignored. In his own imagination, the Soviet Union would surprise the Chinese with such a big bargaining chip, and he would be ecstatic. I am afraid that he was asking him to send troops. He would agree without hesitation to join forces with the Soviet troops in the east to attack the Japanese. To Tang Qiuli, who is used to taking advantage of the fire, he would kill two birds with one stone, and he would be happy to go Do.

Of course, in the proposal, the territory to be ceded is the final bottom line. The veteran diplomat Molotov will not show all his cards as soon as they meet, and he will bargain like a shrewd businessman , Every penny must be fought for, and the principle is that the Soviet Union pays the least price and obtains the greatest benefit.

The question Stalin raised was obviously beyond his expectation. Molotov's expression became momentarily dull, and then he asked in a stuttering manner: "Comrade Stalin, I'm afraid your worries don't exist. The Chinese are greedy and have no bottom line?"

Stalin sighed silently in his heart, "Greed has no bottom line? After all, Molotov is not a leader. He couldn't understand that the strongman who ruled a country had such a desire for territory, which was almost a pathological desire. If it was him, this 100 The land of tens of thousands of square kilometers cannot meet the requirements at all, especially when the upper hand is prevailing. If you think about it in another way, that Chinese Tang Qiuli will definitely grab greater benefits from the Soviet Union. , throughout the ages, it has never been like this!"

Stalin said in a tired voice: "Comrade Molotov, you'd better prepare for the worst. In the negotiation plan, prepare a set of preliminary plans and try your best to promote the success of the negotiation with Tang Qiuli. We really can't delay it." get up!"

Molotov had already fully believed Stalin's words, "As expected of a leader, he sees people's hearts and human nature more thoroughly than himself. In contrast, his own perspective on issues is much lower, especially for that Chinese man. Understand, this may be a common trait among leaders, knowing what the bottom line of the other party is!" He thought secretly admiringly.

"Then, Comrade Stalin, what else do we need to come up with, you give me a bottom line!" Molotov thought for a long time, and he felt that today, the Soviet Union can come up with something to make Tang Qiuli There are not many things that are tempting—probably, the Chinese will not be interested in anything except the territory. Therefore, Comrade Stalin must set the final bottom line. Don't dare to call the shots, including yourself!

Stalin was silent for a while, walked to the map of the Soviet Union with difficulty, refused Molotov's support, picked up the magnifying glass, the muscles on his cheeks trembled uncontrollably, and examined the map for a long time, with stiff fingers, Landing on an area, "Comrade Molotov, this piece of territory can also be added. Remember, this is the last bottom line of our Soviet Union, and breakthroughs are not allowed!" He said heavily, breathing quickly.

Molotov went to the map, looked at it carefully, and immediately understood that the area pointed out by Comrade Stalin, from the Balkhash Lake in the south to the Tannu Ulianghai area in the north, has a total area of ​​44 square meters. Of course, these lands that are now in the Soviet Union were still seized from the hands of the Manchu Qing court at the end of the last century, during the Tsarist Russia period.

In other words, Comrade Stalin agreed to take out the chips that he had won before, and now that he lost, it was not enough to cause such heart-piercing pain, "Yes, Comrade Stalin, I understand. Do you have any specific instructions for Qiuli's negotiations?" Molotov asked respectfully.

Stalin staggered back to his chair, shook his head, and said, "It's nothing more, what do you think about the channel for negotiating with Tang Qiuli?"

Molotov replied: "Comrade Stalin, I am going to get in touch with Tang Qiuli through our ambassador to China, Comrade Simba Pumiyan, and convey our intention to negotiate. The venue of the negotiation will be chosen by the Chinese. If everything goes well , within two days, I will set off!"

Stalin stood up with difficulty, looked at Molotov with complicated eyes, and said: "Comrade Molotov, I am making it difficult for you. You shoulder the arduous mission of determining the future and destiny of the Soviet Union. I will stand with you for all the infamy. bear!"

Molotov's throat choked up, but he couldn't speak. He just squeezed Stalin's hand tightly, and then he turned and left. His back was so heavy, as if he was carrying a mountain on his back. However, because of the German attack, the place could already smell the smoke of gunpowder. Compared with before, the nights in Moscow were sparsely lit and looked a lot more desolate.

In the huge office, the shadows of night diffused in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and everything in the room was shrouded in a layer of illusory blur. Stalin did not turn on the light, but buried himself in the darkness, only the light from the pipe flickered from time to time , reflecting his pale face from time to time.

On the Far East battlefield, in the cover department of the Soviet Far Eastern Front Command, the commander, General Zhukov, buried himself in a pile of statistical tables. Now, there is basically nothing to do, and all the measures that should be taken have been taken, including With more than one million soldiers, I have won a piece of living space on the battlefield. All that remains is to wait, to wait for the stormy Japanese attack, and to wait for Moscow's call back.

Zhukov needed to know how much money he had left in his current home. The shells exploded near and far, shaking the soil on the roof of the shelter, and fell into the half-cup of cold coffee on the shell box. Zhukov frowned. Frowning, he poured the coffee away, looked up from the statistics table, walked to the door of the shelter, and looked at the cannonballs with dark red tail flames in the night sky, blasting into balls of flames in the distance.

Even at night, the Japanese troops on the two flanks of the Brea Mountains and the Kukan Mountains still did not stop attacking, and the Far Eastern Front Army Command, which commanded more than one million troops, was also within the range of the Japanese artillery fire. , the life at this moment will not be more valuable than that of an ordinary soldier, and if a shell falls, it will still be torn apart!" Zhukov thought to himself.

Looking from the position of the shelter, the left and right wings of the Far East Front Army, the sound of guns and guns was extremely intense, and the flames from the explosion were boiling like magma. It was his four group armies, which were desperately fighting bloody battles with the Japanese troops attacking the two wings. We tried our best to ensure that the positions on which the Far East Front Army relied for survival, with more than a million troops, would not be compressed into long strips by the Japanese army and turned into Russian sausages for the Japanese to cut.

"Chirp - chirp - chirp - chirp!" A shrill scream came from far and near piercing the air, and a dozen large-caliber artillery shells from the Japanese army were fired at a place less than 50 meters away from the shelter. The place exploded, the flames flared up suddenly, a shrill and brilliant flash appeared in front of my eyes, a thick soil pillar soared into the air like a fountain, and a huge shock wave spread out, knocking General Zhukov who was at the entrance of the sheltering department back a few steps, and fell to the ground all at once .

(to be continued) (to be continued..)