Chapter Twenty-Five: Heart-to-Heart Talk

  Chen Feichen didn't think much about it, after all, this would take time, and he had to sort out the relationships within his troops before focusing on this. Since that damned anti-bourgeois liberalization event began, his own troops had been unstable, and many soldiers had experienced ideological shocks. Most of these soldiers came from the former National Army, they all had a sense of crisis, and were afraid that the GCD would settle accounts after autumn!

  Tang Jingwu and the others also misunderstood themselves, had a big misunderstanding, thinking that they were questioning the orders above, not cooperating with Tang Jingwu's work. Now the team leader is being squeezed from both sides, if this matter is not thoroughly understood, then the troops will not be able to complete their tasks.

  Chen Feichen had been wanting to have a good talk with Chen Mingliang for some time, and now that three days had passed since the troops arrived, he should finally have some free time.

  Chen Feichen thought of it and did it, he immediately called Chen Mingliang and said: "Old Chen, I'll invite you out tonight, just the two of us, nothing special, just a pure heart-to-heart talk. As a team leader and a chief of staff, we should have a good talk about our respective views on future work, what do you think?"

  Chen Mingliang thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Alright, Captain, make sure to stock up on wine. The weather is cold now, we'll need it to warm ourselves up!"

  "Haha, don't worry then, I'll definitely stock up on wine!"

  At night, Chen Feichen and Chen Mingliang sat face to face in their own residence, with a table full of wine and dishes! Chen Mingliang had just arrived, and after sitting down, neither of them knew how to start. It was Chen Feichen who broke the silence first. Originally, Chen Feichen was thinking about how to do a good job on Chen Mingliang's ideological work, but in this brief moment of distraction, he realized that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, which would not be conducive to the conversation that followed.

  Chen Feichen opened the wine and poured a glass for Chen Mingliang, saying: "Come on, fill it up. I haven't tasted this wine before, but I've heard that its flavor is not bad!"

  Chen Mingliang's hand touched the bowl, his eyes fixed on whether the wine was full or not. He said: "Whether the wine is good or not doesn't matter, what matters is who you drink it with?" There's a story behind these words! Chen Feichen nodded in agreement and said: "Yes, that's right. This wine needs to be drunk with people close to oneself, only then can its flavor be fully appreciated."

  The wine was soon filled up, and Chen Fei dust picked up his bowl and said, "Come on, drink!"

  No need to say, both of them drank up in one breath. Chen Feichen and Chen Mingliang looked at each other's bowl, they were very happy at this time, and they smiled at each other.

  After pouring again, Chen Fei put down the wine bottle and said: "Old Chen, I'm not a person who likes to beat around the bush. If I have something to say, I'll say it directly."

  Chen Mingliang immediately interrupted Chen Feichen's words, and Chen Mingliang said: "Captain, I understand. You called me to drink and talk, I know very well. I'm not a narrow-minded person, I know what's important and what's not! I also understand that I just came over, the people above don't trust me, that's normal, if it were me, I would be the same! Captain, you don't need to explain, I understand everything!"

  Chen Feichen saw Chen Mingliang's clear understanding of things, and his sense of apology grew stronger. He said with a smile: "Old Chen, don't laugh at me, I'm putting my age on the table here, you also know that when it comes to fighting, I'm really not as good as you. I hope you can help me out more often, if there's anything wrong with my work in the future, please point it out! Come, let me toast you!"

  After finishing, Chen Feicheng drank the wine in one gulp again. When he looked at Chen Mingliang again, he found that Chen Mingliang had also drunk a mouthful with him. Chen Feicheng's mood improved even more, this is what it means to appreciate oneself! Chen Feicheng's grateful eyes made Chen Mingliang smile and say: "I just said earlier, this wine needs to be enjoyed with the right person, drinking with Captain is wonderful!"

  "I'm the same, let's have a drink with Old Chen and enjoy ourselves!" Chen Feicheng said with some excitement.

  The two of them chatted more and more, and the wine naturally became more and more enjoyable to drink. Unbeknownst to them, each person had already finished a bottle of wine without feeling it. After eating a peanut, Chen Feichen said: "Old Chen, now that the top has transferred our three regiments from the Northeast to this border line, do you think they value us? In my opinion, they do value us. This task looks unrealistic and impossible to complete, but I think this is our opportunity, not just for me, but also for you. It's our chance to prove ourselves. Once we complete the task, no one will dare say that Old Chen has problems. Promotion is a certainty!"

  Chen Mingliang quietly took a sip of wine, and after putting down the wine bowl, he said: "Captain, I know all this, but this task is really a bit difficult. Wait, listen to me finish, the difficulty I'm talking about isn't referring to the Soviet Union or Outer Mongolia, it's referring to upstairs!" Chen Mingliang said as he pointed upwards with his hand.

  Chen Feichen looked at him and began to ponder the meaning of Chen Mingliang's words. Soon, Chen Mingliang continued: "The key to this task is to see the determination above, this is not just a simple fight or arranging a few people to gather some intelligence, this is a confrontation with the Soviet Union, now Mongolia has become independent, in a strict sense, this is a war between countries. Such an important matter, if the determination is not made above or if it is just a solo idea of the Wild Bureau, then this task will be a powder keg for you and me. If we complete the task, we will also have to take the blame. If we don't complete the task, then we might as well solve our own problems!"

  Chen Feichen's slight intoxication immediately disappeared, and he was reminded by Chen Mingliang. Ah, this is still Lin Gang's own idea. If this doesn't have the approval of the chairman and the party central committee, would they dare to take action on their own? If the task is completed well, then the credit will go to Lin Gang, if it's not done well, then it's even more hopeless. Thinking about this, Chen Feichen felt disheartened, what kind of thing is this.

  Chen Mingliang seemed to have not noticed Chen Feichen's change in mood, and continued: "This time the task is very vague for us. What's the point of investigating the Soviet and Mongolian troop deployments, what's the point of investigating the internal factions within Mongolia? This is fundamentally the task of the intelligence department, what does it have to do with our field troops? There are already security forces stationed here, what are we doing coming over? These are all puzzling things."

  "Yes, Old Chen, this is also where I'm puzzled. Do you have any good ideas?" Chen Feichen didn't think about it anymore and directly threw the question to Chen Mingliang, waiting for his response.

  Chen Mingliang quietly ate a peanut, chewing and saying: "I think this is the vanguard battle allowed by the top. If the central government agrees with Ye's plan, then we won't have done it in vain. If the central government disagrees, then we really came to let the sheep loose!"

  Chen Feichen's face stiffened, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Chen Mingliang's analysis was not bad. If the Central Committee did not agree, then his side had indeed come to exile. Lin Gang really was a good strategist! One move, two gains! The Central Committee disagreed, so the commotion he had stirred up recently had an answer - wasn't he exiled to this border?!

  Chen Feichen said with some reluctance: "No way, we can't just sit and wait for death, handing over our own fate to others. I absolutely cannot agree to this, it's too suffocating!"

  Chen Mingliang's eyes lit up when he heard Chen Feichen say this, and he said: "Captain, are you really saying this from the heart or just saying it?!"

  Chen Feichen said with a bad tone: "Am I such an easy-going person? A single spit and a nail! Are you, a talented military personnel, going to waste away here like this? You may agree but I don't!"

  "Alright!" Chen Mingliang said forcefully. "Actually, we do have a way out. Our troops are already here, so let's get started. First, we need to gather intelligence on the enemy's deployment and make contact with the Soviet coordination officers to see if they can provide us with any useful information. Once we know the Soviet Union's deployment, we'll have a clear understanding of the enemy's border defense. Then, our focus should shift to the internal situation of the enemy. Fortresses are often breached from within, that's the best method! We'll cast our net and wait for someone to take the bait. As long as we get one person, it's a success. And then there's Outer Mongolia, I don't believe they don't have any grievances against the Soviet Union, or that no one in Outer Mongolia likes our country. If we make contact with these people, we won't be in the dark anymore. After we've done all this, finally, we need to create some disturbance and let the Soviet Union or Outer Mongolia's running dogs get more and more arrogant, until they're completely out of control. Then, we'll seize the opportunity to strike a fatal blow, and when that happens, they won't even have a place to cry. The responsibility will be entirely on their side, and then it's up to us to see what situation arises and take corresponding measures! That's all I have to say, what do you think?"

  "Great, after all, you're my chief of staff, with you here I can rest assured. This approach is well thought out, I have no issues with it. I think we can follow this line of thinking, the most important thing is to understand the central government's intentions and at the beginning every step must be taken carefully, one misstep and we'll fall into the old Maoist's trap, at that point you and I will really become guilty!"

  "Uh, the old Maoists aren't human! TMD! They let us recognize Outer Mongolia's independence and then sent troops, but who knew that not long after the Americans dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and the Japanese surrendered just like that? This agreement is a scam, the old Maoists are here to steal our territory! The land they took from us isn't little, is it? Why didn't I join GCD's team back then? It was because of the old Maoists! You guys listened to them back then, what kind of dog legs are you?"

  Chen Feicheng, as a later generation, understood it very well. Without saying anything else, Lenin had originally promised to return more than 14 million square kilometers of land occupied by Tsarist Russia, but this was never implemented. Which strategy adopted by Stalin after he came to power was truly in favor of China?