Chapter 62: Going as an Envoy to the Soviet Union for Negotiations!

  The train traversed the vast plain of snow, through thousands of miles of mountain forests, across Lake Baikal, and across the great Siberian wilderness. The steam locomotive puffed along continuously for seven days and nights before crossing the Ural Mountains into Europe.

  The train arrived in Moscow and the steam locomotive puffed heavily as it came to a stop at the station.

  Zhang Mingyu and they got off the train, but after a long time of sitting in the car, it felt like their body was still on the train. Everything around them was still moving, and their whole head was dizzy.

  On the platform, Soviet soldiers with live ammunition were already standing in full array. Each of those soldiers was a towering figure, and compared to them, Zhang Mingyu and Tieniu's trio were like Yao Ming and Pan Changjiang in terms of disparity.

  As I walked out of the train station, what caught my eye was a Byzantine-style building, and the square in front of the station was filled with robust Russian soldiers armed to the teeth.

  Several black Volga cars were parked under the stairs, and a high-ranking Soviet military officer got out of one of them. He walked up to Zhang Mingyu and his group, saluted Zhang Mingyu: "Hello, welcome, friends from China!"

  "Hello! I am Zhang Mingyu from China!"

  The Soviet officer introduced himself, "I am Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky, the head of the Soviet State Political Administration! Welcome General Zhang to the Soviet Union!"

  Upon hearing this person's name, Zhang Mingyu was shocked: "Good guy! It turns out that this person is the killing devil king under Stalin's command! It was this so-called State Political Security Bureau that slaughtered countless generals and officials in the later purges! This led to the Soviet army being caught off guard when the German army suddenly attacked.

  Zhang Mingyu handed over the letter of introduction and the official document with the seal of the Far Eastern Command to Vyacheslav, who glanced at it and then made a gesture to Zhang: "Please get on the car!"

  The head of the Soviet agent led Zhang Mingyu and others onto the car, a black Volga sedan, which sped towards Red Square under the escort of motorcycles and jeeps.

  The car stopped in front of a luxurious hotel, and Viacheslav said to Zhang Mingyu: "You have arrived, spend the night here first! Tomorrow morning, our great comrade Stalin will meet you!"

  Living in a luxurious hotel, Zhang Mingyu and Tieniu Li Gang were comfortably taking a hot bath inside. The three of them were bathing in the hotel's luxurious bathtub when Tieniu said: "Gangzi, you haven't taken a bath for several days."

  Li Gang said: "And what about you, aren't you the same?"

  "Master, you said that Stalin can meet with us? Besides, will he agree to give us aid?" Tie Niu asked.

  "Don't worry! Absolutely, the tank blueprints I gave them are the biggest temptation. They will also buy aid from me because apart from the G party, they want to find an agent in China." Zhang Mingyu said.

  After a few people finished bathing, they enjoyed their dinner and then slept for the night. Due to the exhaustion from traveling all day, the three of them were extremely tired, so after lying down at around 8 pm, they surprisingly slept until 10 am the next morning before waking up.

  A ray of sunlight came through the blinds, and Zhang Mingyu initially thought it was around 7 or 8 in the morning. But when he looked at the time, he found out that it was already 10 o'clock!

  Zhang Mingyu hastily finished washing up and walked out of the house, but only saw a Soviet military officer walking up: "Please take General Zhang with your people, at 11 o'clock at the entrance of the Kremlin Palace, I will take you in."

  As he walked into the Kremlin, Zhang Mingyu couldn't help but feel tense. After all, Stalin was a ruthless tyrant who had killed millions of people and didn't trust anyone. In front of him, one careless word could lead to fatal consequences!

  Thinking of this, Zhang Mingyu only felt a chill run down his spine, and his body couldn't help but tremble. He knew that he was not worth dying for, but if he died, what would happen to the thousands of independent regiments behind him? The little Japan had not been destroyed yet. Most importantly, there was still Du Yue, that stunning beauty waiting for him, and Takeuchi Kumiko. Thinking of Takeuchi's voluptuous and seductive figure, and her enchanting eyes, Zhang Mingyu felt that the world was so beautiful.

  Neither Tie Niu nor Li Gang knew about Stalin's cruelty and terror, after all, the Soviet Union's purges had not yet begun, at this time neither Soviets nor foreigners knew about Stalin's ruthlessness.

  At this time, Stalin was sitting behind a pile of documents after work, he handled a document in the morning and felt a little dizzy, so he lit his big pipe and took a few strong puffs.

  After finishing his cigarette, he pressed the bell to summon his secretary Boris Bazanov: "Excuse me, Comrade Bazanov, aren't there Chinese Independent Division commanders coming to see you at noon today?"

  Boris Bazhanov replied with a bow: "Yes! They were originally scheduled to meet you at 10 am, but those lazy Chinese slept until 10 am and woke up late, so the plan was postponed to 11:30. We also arranged a grand luncheon."

  " Bazanov, do you think I should receive them? They are not even legitimate ambassadors of the Republic of China government, and they have come behind their government's back." Stalin said indifferently.

  Boris Bazanov hastily opened his briefcase, took out a drawing from it and gently placed it on the table: "This is one of the tank design drawings they brought with them. Please take a look."

  Stalin took a quick glance, and with that one glance he understood - this was an unprecedented new type of weapon! Once this weapon was born, it would be able to enable the Soviet army to sweep across Europe!

  "He thought to himself: 'Good grief! This blueprint is at least equivalent to the power of ten army groups!' Then he looked at the introduction letter again: 'Please let them in!'"

  Zhang Mingyu, accompanied by Tie Niu and Li Gang, walked into the corridor of the Kremlin Palace, passing through the guards armed to the teeth on both sides, making Zhang Mingyu and others look even shorter.

  As they approached Stalin's office door, Boris Bazhanov said to them: "Friends from China, you have arrived! Our great leader is waiting for you inside!"

  Several guards came up again, although they had already been searched at the entrance of the Kremlin Palace and no weapons were found. However, before entering Stalin's office, those soldiers still had to search Zhang Mingyu and others once more.

  Having confirmed that there were no weapons on him, Boris Bazhanov made a gesture: "Please go in, General Zhang!"

  As soon as he pushed open the tall iron gate, Zhang Mingyu saw a man with a dense beard and a pipe in his mouth, smiling at them.

  Stalin felt a strange sense of affection towards Zhang Mingyu, who was not particularly tall. As Stalin himself was not very tall and often felt that his own height was a bit of an issue, he finally met someone who was even shorter than him, yet was called the new war god of China. (Zhang Mingyu became famous after the Battle of Nanjing and was heavily promoted by the Nationalist government as the new rising war god of China.) Naturally, Stalin felt a sense of closeness to him.

  Stalin walked in front of Zhang Mingyu and stretched out his right hand: "Welcome, friends from China!"

  "Hello, Comrade Stalin," Zhang Mingyu hastily replied in fluent Russian.

  Seeing the smile on Stalin's face and looking into his eyes, Zhang Mingyu knew that Stalin had a good impression of himself. The fear he had just felt suddenly disappeared.

  "Please come in and take a seat!" Stalin warmly gestured to Zhang Mingyu.

  After sitting down on the sofa inside, Stalin asked: "I don't know what kind of help friends from China need to find me?"

  "I need blast furnaces, high-quality steel from the factory and production lines, as well as a team of engineers and technicians." Zhang Mingyu replied directly.

  Stalin puffed out a ring of smoke, then stared straight at Zhang Mingyu and said: "You need these things, they all come with a price! I don't know how much money you've brought to negotiate with us?"

  Zhang Mingyu thought for a moment before responding: "I don't have much money, so what I need is your country's selfless assistance."

  "Hahaha!" Stalin burst out laughing, "Unconditional aid? How much unconditional aid has the Soviet Union given to the National Government of China?! If you want to buy something, you can come to me. But if you need unconditional aid, I'm afraid I won't agree! Because I've already given it! You want more, then the representative of the National Government must show up in person! And you are not even representatives of the National Government!"

  "But, respected Comrade Stalin!" Zhang Mingyu hastily explained: "We can drive away our common enemy Japan! Moreover, I can obtain those materials in the form of a loan, and we will not forget the help your country has given to the Chinese people!"

  Stalin smiled and asked: "I can agree with the loan method! But what should you do if you don't pay back this money?"

  "Respected Comrade Stalin, what do you think the tank design drawings we provided to you are worth?" Zhang Mingyu asked with a smile.

  Stalin, with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, stretched out five fingers and waved them.

  "Five hundred million rubles?" Zhang Mingyu's mouth opened wide in shock.

  "No, five hundred million rubles!" Stalin said.

  "Respected Comrade Stalin, isn't five million rubles too little? Can't you give a higher price? It should be at least twenty million rubles." Zhang Mingyu said anxiously.

  Stalin smiled and said: "Sorry, at most you can only count on 70 million rubles, this is the limit!"

  Originally, Zhang Mingyu wanted to say: If you don't want it, we'll sell it to the United States. But he really didn't dare say that, after all, Stalin was a ruthless and merciless person, and once he offended him, the consequences would be unthinkable.

  So, thinking of this, Zhang Mingyu had to answer: "Okay, 7 million is 7 million. But these mere 7 million rubles are too few, I need at least 100 million rubles worth of things."

  Just as Zhang Mingyu was speaking with trepidation, Stalin surprisingly agreed and said: "You need something worth 100 million rubles, I can naturally give it to you!"

  Zhang Mingyu exclaimed with joy: "Thank you, respected Soviet leader Comrade Stalin!"

  "Hold on!" Stalin said: "You're too hasty in thanking me, my assistance naturally comes with conditions!"

  "What conditions?" Zhang Mingyu asked, "As long as it's within my ability, I can agree to anything."

  Stalin raised his big beard and said slowly: "I also know the purpose of General Zhang's visit to the Soviet Union. Let's put it this way, after driving away the Japanese, General Zhang has stabilized his foothold in China, you should be a little brother united with Big Brother Soviet Union, you understand yourself."

  Zhang Mingyu understood Stalin's meaning and hastily said: "We took things from your country, we are willing to repay your country with the peace of the Soviet Far East and the friendship between the two peoples!"

  "This talk is a bit too vague, we need something more concrete," Stalin said.

  Look at the Soviet Union's performance in World War II, this country is self-proclaimed as "socialist big brother", they helped many Eastern European countries and later some Asian countries to seize power, after which those countries became without exception The "vassal states" of the Soviet Union, giving the sovereignty of the entire country to the Soviet Union.

  In real history, it was also because China "didn't listen" and wasn't willing to give up its sovereignty that led to the tension in Sino-Soviet relations later on.

  "But now, most of our land in Northeast China and North China is in the hands of the Japanese, and there is also the National Government. We really can't take out anything to return. Let's do it this way: after we defeat our common enemy, at that time, we can come back to negotiate specific things between us."

  "Good! That's good! One day, General Zhang will complete his great undertaking in China and don't forget our agreement." Stalin said with a smile: "Now, let's prepare for a pleasant lunch together!"

  Brothers, today has been updated with more than 6,000 words, which is two chapters and one chapter! There will be no updates today. Everyone still needs to support a lot!