the world is at stake

The fourth round of truce negotiations in Panmunjom has just concluded, and the atmosphere between the two sides has eased.In his personal capacity, Zhou Qingfeng will lead a "civilian medical team" to visit the Bitong prisoner-of-war camp on the border between China and North Korea.

At the moment when the two sides crossed the line of actual control, the Volunteer Army also had a "consolation team" going to the US prisoner-of-war camp on Geoje Island.This kind of sympathy is reciprocal and has very strong political significance.

Originally, only more than 2 of the more than 7000 prisoners of war of the Volunteer Army returned to China, and the rest were sent to Taiwan or a third country.But this time Taiwan is unable to protect itself, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Now that the combat power of China and the United States has changed, each side has more than 1 prisoners of war from the other side.Since the Battle of Changjin Lake was far better than in history, the US side captured more people than the Chinese side.

Crossing the actual control line, Zhou Qingfeng immediately recognized Qin Qing among the volunteers receiving him.He tried to smile at his instructor's fiancée.But Qin Qing kept a straight face and ignored him at all.

The 'Consolation Medical Team' took a car from Panmunjom to Pyongyang and stayed overnight.The next day they took the 'Li-2' transport plane to Dandong, and then took a car to Bitong POW camp.

The Volunteer Army worked very hard to improve the living conditions in the prisoner-of-war camps.But the national power is limited, and the life of prisoners of war is so-so.Originally, there were more than 7000 US prisoners of war, and nearly [-] died in the prisoner-of-war camps.

The conditions of the Volunteer Army are much better now, but more than 1000 American prisoners of war still died of injuries.Zhou Qingfeng arrived at the POW camp as a mascot, and the medical team that came with him played a greater role.

It is not the mascot's turn to intervene in the contact between China and the United States. Naturally, the accompanying diplomats will handle it.Zhou Qingfeng came to the prisoner-of-war camp mainly to cooperate with the propaganda and take pictures, and then nothing happened to him.

Nothing to do but unable to leave, Qin Qing did not know where, Zhou Qingfeng could only wander around the prisoner-of-war camp.After shopping around, he found some famous places.

For example, there is a repair center outside Bitong prisoner-of-war camp, and three or four thousand American soldiers go to work in this center every day.Weekly wages can be exchanged for cigarettes and food.

Captives go to work to make money?The anecdote is coming.

Zhou Qingfeng wanted to go to the repair center to have a look, but the prisoner-of-war camp administrator didn't agree.He only got special approval after applying to the higher authorities.After entering the repair center, I found out that this is clearly the 'Lanxiang Technical School' that opened the branch for 51 years.

Most of the technical school students are excellent fighters, or soldiers who are considered unfit to return to the army after minor injuries.They take English classes first, and more than half of the teachers are foreign teachers from the United States or the United Kingdom, very authentic.

Many soldiers of the Volunteer Army can communicate in simple sentences after working with foreign teachers for three to four months, and there is no problem in simple listening, speaking, reading and writing.

It is easy to handle the language barrier, and the trainees can receive the next step of training.

The prisoners of war went to the repair center to work as masters, teaching volunteer soldiers a craft.The concept of repair is big.Repairing trucks, repairing tanks, repairing radars, repairing airplanes, these are all repairs.

Generally speaking, it only takes three months for a short training course for truck driving and maintenance to start.The soldiers who leave the division do not leave, and most of them stay as teaching assistants to teach and guide the follow-up students.

Tanks are more complicated. The repair class lasts at least one year, and no one has yet left the division.But those who participated in this class were not ordinary soldiers, but more engineers and college students transferred from the Ministry of Machinery Industry in China.

Not to mention radar planes and so on, highly professional technicians.

Zhou Qingfeng asked, how effective is this maintenance center?

The administrator of the prisoner-of-war camp said that the center opened last December and has sent more than 1 skilled workers to the army and society, most of whom are car drivers.

Now that there are more and more domestic cars, the number of drivers cannot keep up.This POW camp repair center not only solves the employment of veterans, but also provides assistance to national construction.

In addition, the number of prisoners of war is complex.Many people have mastered other skills, or have graduated from universities with high cultural quality.Therefore, the maintenance center also trained thousands of plumbers, agricultural machinery workers, machine tool workers and the like.

"The war is over, and we have to build the motherland." A prisoner-of-war camp administrator followed Zhou Qingfeng every day. Apart from being surprised that this foreign devil could speak fluent Chinese, he was proud that the country was getting better step by step.

"The Northeast is developing state-owned farms, and the tractor drivers we train are very popular. When our big oil field is developed, the whole country will be able to use mechanical farming. By then, one machine will be worth hundreds of laborers." .”

"So these captives are not in vain, and they have indirectly contributed to the construction of national socialism. They have trained many technical experts for the society."

"The country still needs to build bridges, pave roads, and build water conservancy. There is a lot of work to be done. Our troops were demobilized last year, but they were dragged to North Korea to fight with you Americans. Fortunately, you won, Otherwise, the country is doomed again."

The prisoner-of-war camp administrators who were chatting didn't understand what American stars were, let alone talk about great truths.However, his spirit was very high, his voice was bright, and he talked openly with Zhou Qingfeng.

After staying in the POW camp for nearly half a month, Qin Qing suddenly appeared to find Zhou Qingfeng and reported some matters.

"The contact between China and the United States has been smooth, and both sides have the willingness to cease the war. Although the South Korean side is not very happy, a formal agreement is likely to be reached early next year.

As a celebrity in the American film industry, you are allowed to go to the imperial capital for cultural exchanges with your Chinese counterparts as a sign of easing relations between the two parties.

Domestic development is very good, especially the rapid economic growth.The difficulty of mass production of transistors has been overcome, and we have obtained a fist product that can be traded with the world.

Besides, it's time for our wedding. "

Chapter 108 Geographic Balance of Power

It's early December and 'Chanders' shows off at the Bitong POW camp to good effect.

Both Chinese and American diplomats have made it to the top.During the talks in Panmunjom, the two sides decided to exchange a batch of prisoners with poor physical conditions.The number is about 2000 people.

Taking this as an opportunity, George Marshall, who has just stepped down as Secretary of Defense, as Truman's special envoy, will set off with Chanders to go to the imperial capital as representatives of the American political and literary circles.

Marshall can also be considered an "old friend of the Chinese people". In 45, he went to Shanghai to mediate the conflict between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In 46, he visited Yan'an and met the Chairman.He tried to oversee the implementation of the armistice, but of course got nowhere.

Truman tried to end the mess he had made in North Korea in the last year of his term, and sent Marshall out again—Zhou Qingfeng was also surprised that this big boss would come, but thinking that he was a mascot, it was really not enough to control the situation .

Zhou Qingfeng met Marshall's DC-6 plane at the airport in Dandong.He didn't see the big man after boarding the plane, but he heard from his accompanying adjutant that Marshall was not very happy.

Why are you unhappy?

Dandong is the general logistics base of the Volunteer Army. Boss Peng greeted him personally and held a small military parade at the airport to welcome the World War II veteran.

As a soldier, they are more straightforward.

The parade team is not large, only a company, all come from the battlefield and have experienced the test of war.The queue was not neat, but it was full of momentum-seeing Yankees dare to blow their beards and stare.

Marshall watched the parade and felt that he was valued.But the infantry was followed by a row of chariots for inspection, which made him not very happy.

What does it mean to put out a few T-34s?There is actually an improved V-2 missile in the erected state at the back, which looks high-end and elegant.

The U.S. military in North Korea has suffered from these weapons.

The Chinese side feels that this is displaying their best equipment to show respect.It's not that the Yankees don't understand what the Chinese mean, but seeing these things makes them feel uncomfortable.

From the heart, the top leaders of the United States hope that the leaders of the new China will be humble and ask for themselves.As a representative of the military and the political arena, it would be a joke to say how much Marshall valued an agricultural country.

The contrast between this idea and reality made Marshall unhappy.If it weren't for the series of public opinions created by 'Chanders', it would not be so easy for Washington to reverse its mentality.

After boarding the plane, Zhou Qingfeng was randomly assigned a seat, and took off with the passenger plane to the imperial capital.Half an hour later, DC-6 landed at Nanyuan Airport.

The Prime Minister greeted him at the airport in person, and the etiquette was extremely high.Even though Marshall no longer held public office, he only came as a special envoy of the President.

The two sides met to shake hands, exchange greetings, and take pictures. In a few days, the headlines on the front page of the Chinese and American media will be the historic contact between the two sides. 'Chanders' followed Marshall as part of the entourage and also shook hands with the Prime Minister and had a photo taken.

There is a little accident...

When riding in the car, Marshall stared at the "Mercedes-Benz" assigned to him for a long time, and stood in front of the car door for a long time before sitting on it.

Zhou Qingfeng was also very dumbfounded when he saw that car in the back. He never expected that this '770K' would be used as a courtesy car by the locals.Because this car was Hitler's car, only 17 were produced in total.

After the U.S. military occupied Germany, these specially made '770K' were assigned to the U.S. military and police stationed in Le Havre, France as spoils of war.

It is estimated that the U.S. military and police have no love for the head of state's car, so they threw this thing in the warehouse, and it was obtained by the "Holy Light" personnel who were sweeping the goods in Europe.Zhou Qingfeng knew about this, and thought about getting it to drive himself, but it was just a thought.

There are currently no luxury cars that can be sold in China.

The Turkish Communist Party only knew that these German Mercedes-Benz cars were good, both in terms of appearance, power and defense, so they used them as courtesy cars to save face.

Who knew it was Hitler's car? !

"Damn it, the Führer's inheritance is at the Rabbit's house, and even the Führer's car has been moved here. Thinking about the World War II German equipment that served in the Volunteer Army, this place can't be cleaned.

Could it be that the East German military officers who aided China were all blind?Why didn't anyone say a few words?Or are they happy with what they see?The gang of Hans sometimes wilt. "

Zhou Qingfeng bit the bullet and drove into the urban area with Sun Luoji, and was placed in the temporarily cleared Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.Also at the State Guesthouse, Marshall met with the American diplomats who had arrived in the imperial capital earlier, and listened to a report on New China.

U.S. diplomatic and intelligence personnel have been out of China for only two years.

After 'Chanders' opened the communication channel between the two parties, most of the people who returned to the imperial capital were actually the original Stuart gang.U.S. diplomats are quite amazed by the changes in the mere two years.

Times have changed, really.

When Zhou Qingfeng lingered in the prisoner-of-war camp for more than half a month, American diplomats were allowed to visit many major cities in New China, and the farthest one even went to Chongqing.

"We visited a steel factory code-named '101' in Chongqing. The equipment of this steel factory is completely at the level before World War I, which is very backward.

But steel is the most important material during the war. During the rule of the national government, this steel factory has been in a state of paralysis, and it has not been able to produce normally for decades, even in the period when steel is most scarce.

After the Communist Party took over the steel plant, it was able to produce at full capacity immediately.Although the equipment is backward, it provides rails for the construction of railways in the southwestern part of the country.

Apart from this inland steel plant, the industrialization process in other parts of China is also very fast.

Its top management originally planned to put most of the industry in the Northeast according to the Soviets' suggestion.But recently they changed their minds and started doing it in every province.

The talents needed for industrial construction are constantly pouring in from the Soviet Union and East Germany. We still don't know how Communist China attracted so much help from its allies, but it is a fact that they have no shortage of people.

In addition, Communist China is still desperately running schools and sending overseas students.They not only sent people to the socialist camp for training, but even sent people to Britain and France to study. "

Mentioning this series of cases, the US personnel frowned.

“We must revise our perception that the Communist government of this country has very urgent expectations for industrial construction and strong enough organizational capabilities.

No matter how bad the conditions are, they are trying to find ways to improve.

It cannot be compared with the previous incompetent and corrupt national government.Although they are all Chinese, they are completely different Chinese. "

Marshall was fine with that judgment.He has been to Yan'an, has personally contacted the top leaders of the Tu Communist Party, and understands the capabilities of the Tu Communist Party.This is not the imaginary 'sit and wait' Aboriginal government whose drive makes white people uncomfortable.

Marshall 'liked' the National Government and did his best to support it.Money, supplies, transportation capacity, whatever you want, you are short of letting the U.S. military end in person.

However, Lao Jiang is really a fool who can't afford it. The only job he can do is to be the captain of the transportation team.

Not to mention the fact that the Volunteer Army was "drawn" with the U.S. military in the Korean battlefield. This has surprised many U.S. military generals in the Pentagon, and they hate it.

Compared with the Soviet Union, it is more difficult for white people in the United States to accept being defeated by backward yellow people.This is challenging their founding consensus of 'white supremacy'.

"The East German aid team helped China formulate a five-year short-term development plan and a 15-year long-term plan, which will be implemented next year. China hopes to achieve initial industrialization in 15 years."

When the US personnel uttered such astonishing figures, their tone and expression were particularly awkward.They subconsciously felt that this was impossible, but after carefully visiting the projects and construction sites currently under construction, they found that the plan was possible.

"According to the information conveyed by the Chinese side, they believe that China's population will exceed 15 million in [-] years. In this process, huge demand and production capacity will be generated, and they are willing to trade with the whole world.

Our concern now lies in the current close allies between China and the Soviet Union, and China will be the Soviet Union's greatest support.Its population, resources, market, and military power will multiply the Soviet Union's threat to the free world. "

The Soviet Union was established in 1922, and when it was founded, it also suffered from internal and external troubles.But it was largely industrialized before the outbreak of World War II, which took less than 20 years.

By 51, the Soviet Union, which had been established for less than 30 years, had become the great enemy of the United States.

If this enemy is coupled with China, which has a vast territory and a large population.If the alliance of the two countries develops smoothly for another ten or twenty years—the industrialization experience of the Soviet Union can be replicated, the Western free world will inevitably shudder.

"We have to dismantle the Sino-Soviet alliance, don't we?" Marshall had experienced World War II, and just opponents like Japan and Germany made him exhausted.

Japan is poor imperialism, Germany is inherently flawed.Their land, resources, and population are limited, and they are at a strategic disadvantage, so they are relatively easy to deal with.

But who can say that the Third World War is not China and the Soviet Union fighting against the West?It's going to be a lot of fun when that happens.

Both China and the Soviet Union are land powers, and the powerful U.S. Navy cannot suppress them.Don't know what year and month the war will last?

"The war in North Korea has proved that China cannot be resolved by war. So we must find other ways, at least not to let China completely fall to the Soviet Union. Otherwise...disaster will come."

China is short of oil, but the Soviet Union is not.

The Soviet Union lacked access to the sea, but China did not.

China and the Soviet Union straddle the Eurasian continent, and there is no shortage of population and resources, so they are naturally invincible.

To maintain the balance of power in the world, the only way is to contact and even establish diplomatic relations with China, so that the two countries can have normal diplomatic relations, relying on the US national power to subtly influence China.

But whether such a strategy could succeed, Marshall was not sure.He smiled wryly and said, "Don't we have to do our best to win over China? To prevent it from falling completely to the Soviet Union."

The American diplomat shook his head, "At present, this possibility is unlikely. But we can see that there are also conflicts between China and the Soviet Union, and the Russian chauvinism will always break out from time to time.

For long-term strategy, we must do something now.Maybe one day China and the United States join forces to attack the Soviet Union? "

Marshall laughed loudly when he heard this, shook his head and said, "This is impossible, impossible!"

Chapter 109 'Supercomputing' Diplomacy

1946 2 Month 22 Day.

U.S. Embassy in the Soviet Union.

Chargé d'affaires George Kennan sent a long telegram to the State Department.The subject is to respond to whether the Soviet Union will join the World Bank and the World Monetary Fund.

This is the famous 'long telegram' in the US 'containment strategy'.George Kennan analyzes Soviet policy thinking after World War II and sets the tone for how to respond.

In the ensuing half century or so, the United States did implement George Kennan’s advice in its countermeasures against the socialist camp—contact, induce, and contain.Use soft power to erode the opponent's ideology instead of hard power.

Contrary to the opinions spread on the Internet, the United States did not have a model of "massiveness, coolness, and bombardment" in international relations in the 60s and [-]s-it was only after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The American politicians facing the new China are still a bit smart. After all, they need to face the competition of the Soviet Union, not the loneliness of being invincible in the world after 91.

Taiwan's Lao Jiang was forced by bombers to hide in underground fortifications, and his navy and air force completely lost the ability to contain the mainland.Americans must face the fact that if China really develops, what will the white world do?

"Blind blockade and suppression will only make China and the Soviet Union become back-to-back allies. The Soviet Union will have no choice but to support China's industrialization. Once they control the World Island, the United States will be isolated."

Facing the world map, Marshall could clearly feel this threat.After he arrived in the imperial capital, he had contact with Chinese diplomats for several days. The prime minister and the chairman met with him, and the two sides had candid and constructive exchanges.

China's attitude is very clear...

The Korean War was imposed on China by the United States, and China never intended to fight this sudden war from beginning to end.

The Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and Chiang Kai-shek's government must be eliminated.If the United States intervenes, the war will expand.

The Sino-Soviet alliance is the cornerstone of national stability, and China will never abandon the socialist camp.