Chapter 49: The King of Xihanuk

  While the world was focusing on China's lunar exploration program, the Soviet Union began a new round of global expansion. On April 27, 1977, the Soviet Union orchestrated a coup by young Afghan military officers, overthrowing the government of Mohammad Daoud Khan. In July 1973, Mohammad Daoud Khan, cousin and former Prime Minister of King Mohammad Zahir Shah, overthrew the king with Soviet support and established the "Republic of Afghanistan", appointing himself as head of state. However, Daoud also refused to be a Soviet puppet and showed centrifugal tendencies towards the Soviet Union.

  In April 1977, during Daoud's visit to the Soviet Union, CPSU General Secretary Brezhnev personally intervened and advised him to change his policy of distancing from the USSR. However, contrary to Brezhnev's expectations, Daoud's response was: "I am the President of an independent nation." As recalled by one of Daoud's aides later, this move was equivalent to "signing his own death warrant".

  On April 27, shortly after Daoud's return from Moscow, the Soviet Union orchestrated a coup by a group of young Afghan military officers, overthrowing the government of Daoud. Tanks rolled over the steps of the Presidential Palace, and Daoud was shot with a burst of machine gun fire like a beehive. After the successful coup, Afghanistan established a pro-Soviet regime - the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, with Taraki as Chairman of the Revolutionary Council under the support of Soviet Union.

  At the same time, Vietnam, which had also been thrown into the Soviet bosom, began to expand in Indochina. After the victory of the three countries of Indochina in their war against the US, the strategic situation underwent a major and drastic change. On the one hand, from 1976 on, the US no longer stationed troops in Indochina, in order to avoid getting involved in conflicts in the region.

  On the other hand, the former Soviet Union, in consideration of global competition for hegemony, sought to expand southward into Indochina and find a permanent foothold. This coincided with Vietnam's need to rely on its mountains to carry out regional hegemonism. As a result, the Soviet Union and Vietnam combined together for their respective interests.

  Backed by a superpower, the Vietnamese authorities claim to be "the world's third military power", while actively preparing for war and invading Cambodia, exercising armed annexation over Cambodia, in order to realize its long-held fantasy of a cobbled-together "Indochinese Federation".

  At that time, Cambodia was in the period of Democratic Kampuchea, Prince Sihanouk had been deprived of his leadership and was under house arrest in the palace. In order to meet the needs of the future war against Vietnam, Lin Feng suggested that the Beijing Central Government bring Prince Sihanouk to China. After the efforts of the Beijing government, Prince Sihanouk and his family finally left Cambodia and came to Beijing, and then went to Taiwan, China.

  Lin Feng had a secret meeting with Sihanouk in Taipei, Lin Feng found that his spirit was not good, it seemed that several years of house arrest had caused him great harm. Prince Sihanouk was initially very unwilling to meet with Lin Feng, but after Beijing explained the situation, he understood why Lin Feng, as Taiwan's local leader, was valued by Beijing.

  Moreover, the Beijing side has clearly stated that all matters related to Cambodia will be handled by Lin Feng from now on. At Taipei Airport, Lin Feng personally drove to welcome Prince Sihanouk and his entourage. As he sat in Lin Feng's car looking out at the bustling streets and joyful crowds, Sihanouk sighed and said: "Alas, when can Cambodia truly welcome peace?"

  Lin Feng looked at the king and said, "Your Majesty, now that Vietnam has the support of the Soviet Union, it is eyeing your country covetously. I estimate that war will break out soon, and only by defeating Vietnam can the Cambodian people live a happy life."

  After finishing, the car fell into silence again, with only the king's children constantly exclaiming at the surrounding things. Lin Feng was very familiar with the king's mind and knew that he hoped China would genuinely help him, but also feared becoming a puppet of China in the end. Lin Feng smiled slightly and didn't rush anymore, planning to let the king take a trip around Taiwan first, feel the greatness of China and the good life of Chinese people.

  The next day, Lin Feng arranged for someone to accompany the royal family as they strolled along the major streets of Taipei. The king watched as people walked by, each holding what was called a "mobile phone", occasionally using it to warmly chat with friends or loved ones. He couldn't help but ask the staff beside him: "What's this thing called a mobile phone? Is it very cheap here? I see almost everyone has one."

  The staff said: "Your Highness, mobile phones in Taiwan are about 2,500 New Taiwan dollars, and they have become an indispensable daily necessity for the Taiwanese people."

  Sihanouk sighed, the Cambodian people may not know that there is a thing called mobile phone in the world, while Taiwanese Chinese have already begun to enjoy the convenient life brought by mobile phones. Just as the king was feeling melancholy alone, his wife Princess Monique pulled the king's hand and pointed to a man playing with a laptop on a rattan chair by the roadside, saying: "Your Highness, look what that person is playing with?"

  The prince took a glance and found that he had seen this thing in Lin Feng's house, but he was not clear about its specific use. Just as he didn't know how to explain it to his wife, the staff next to him quickly handed over a new laptop and explained the use of the computer in detail. After listening, the prince once again admired China's advanced technology, which also prompted him to decide to let his children stay in Taiwan for further study.

  After inspecting the ordinary life in Taiwan, King Ping has decided to cooperate with China. Later, Lin Feng invited him to attend the founding ceremony of the Third Army Group of Taiwan in order to strengthen King Ping's confidence. The Third Army Group of Taiwan is a missile strike force, which has two missile divisions: Tactical Missile Division and Strategic Missile Division. The Strategic Missile Division is equipped with nearly 100 "Longwang" land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, which can carry nearly 300 nuclear warheads; while the Tactical Missile Division is equipped with more than 500 long-, medium- and short-range ground-to-ground missiles, and even cruise missiles, which can launch devastating attacks on enemy's campaign tactical targets. King Ping looked at these well-trained troops and advanced missile equipment, and once again reaffirmed his determination to cooperate with China.

  Since inspecting the missile troops in Taiwan, China, Prince Norodom Sihanouk has accepted about 30,000 young Cambodians through a special channel in Yunnan, China. These are all supporters of the prince at home. In the next year, these people will receive training from the Chinese army and then form the prince's guard troops.

  Lin Feng personally arranged for the Cambodians to be transported to Taiwan via the Taiwanese Air Force's transport unit, where they were subjected to rigorous training according to the standards of the Chinese army at that time. If Vietnam invaded Cambodia next year, they would be the main force resisting the Vietnamese invasion. Prince Sihanouk himself took command of this unit.

  At this time, Vietnam had already begun military preparations for the invasion of Cambodia with the help of the Soviet Union. The king was also well aware of the strength of both Cambodia and Vietnam, so he attached great importance to this newly formed army, which might be the hope for the future recovery of Cambodia.

  After completing the training of Cambodian troops, Lin Feng began to be busy with the replacement of the entire Chinese army. After the Sino-Japanese War, the mainland military saw the advanced equipment of the Taiwanese military. Now, after upgrading various military factories on the mainland, they have begun producing all kinds of advanced weapons and equipment. At this time, the vast human resources of the mainland played a powerful role, and in less than half a year, two group armies' equipment was produced, and in the second half of the year, three more group armies' equipment entered the military camp. Now, the mainland has begun to form new group armies to replace the original troop formations. Once this military transformation is completed, the Chinese army will thoroughly modernize.

  Lin Feng returned home to find Zhao Yazi sitting in front of the computer, intently staring at the screen. He quietly walked behind his wife and found her browsing online for the latest information about Chang'e No. 1, which was currently the most concerning thing for all Chinese people. Especially after two days of long-distance travel, Chang'e No. 1 had successfully landed on the surface of the moon. Taiwan released some videos taken by the spacecraft on the internet, resulting in widespread enthusiasm among netizens.

  These videos have once again stirred up a wave of "space fever" after being broadcast on national television. Lin Feng wrapped his arm around his wife's fragrant shoulder and asked, "Have you been tired lately?" Zhao Yaqi turned her head and smiled, saying: "I'm not tired, by the way, Ah Feng, our entertainment company's Hong Kong branch has officially opened for business, I signed many stars according to your advice, in the future I have confidence that our company will become Asia's largest entertainment company."

  Lin Feng stared at Zhao Yazhi and said, "Ah Zhi, I handed over the entertainment company to you, not to make it a burden and responsibility for you, but just hoping that you have something to do in your free time."

  Zhao Yazi smiled and said: "A Feng, I'm not tired at all. These are things I should do. In the future when we have children, I'll just stay home as a full-time housewife." After finishing speaking, she also acted cute, Lin Feng looked at her with some helplessness, he was very clear that Zhao Yazi was a person who took things seriously, if you let her do something perfunctorily it's better not to let her do it.

  It seems that Lin Feng is going to have a child now, they have been married for almost two years, but because Lin Feng has always been busy with national affairs and had no time to consider this matter carefully. Now that he has this opportunity, Lin Feng finally decided to have his own child. Thinking of this, Lin Feng picked up the beauty in front of him and walked towards the bedroom.

  The next morning, Lin Feng met Prince Sihanouk in his living room, who was pacing back and forth anxiously. As soon as he saw Lin Feng, the prince hastily said: "General Lin, I just received a telegram from my country today, they told me that the peace talks between Cambodia and Vietnam have broken down, and there have been multiple exchanges of fire along the border area in recent days. What should I do now?"

  Prince Sihanouk, according to our intelligence, the Vietnamese side has not yet made preparations for armed aggression against your country. The Vietnamese will not be able to launch an armed invasion until next year at the earliest. Please do not mind these small skirmishes. What is most important now is to seize the opportunity to train the Cambodian people in Taiwan into a military force. Only when they have formed a combat force can you save your country and people." Prince Sihanouk was speechless after hearing Lin Feng's words, turned around and left Lin Feng's residence.