"The one in the White House is looking for you?!"

As an experienced diplomat who has worked on the diplomatic front for many years, Ding Haijun instantly realized what was happening.

"Well," Chen Geng responded, "I'm afraid that the one in the White House will be a little uneasy about the closer relationship between China and the Soviet Union this time." ”

Ding Haijun breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you can think of this." ”

He knew that Chen Geng had a very good personal friendship with the White House, and if the relationship between Chen Geng and the White House was affected because of this promotion of the Soviet Union's help to China, in Ding Haijun's opinion, the price paid by Chen Geng would be a little too great.

There were some things that he shouldn't have said and was not suitable to say, but in view of the fact that the situation was really special this time, Ding Haijun hesitated, but lowered his voice and said to Chen Geng: "I don't know how you plan to deal with it, maybe you already have a plan to deal with it, but ...... Your Mr. President, who is now in a state of flux because of the Iran-Contra scandal, maybe you can do something about it. ”

Iran-Contra Affair?

Chen Geng patted his head: How did I forget this!

The so-called Iran-Contra incident, also known as the Iran hostage crisis, broke out in 1979, after the Iranian **** revolution that overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty in Iran, the U.S. Embassy in Iran was occupied by Iranian radicals, and roughly 52 U.S. diplomats and civilians were taken hostage.

The crisis began on November 4, 1979 and lasted until January 20, 1981, a process that lasted for 444 days, which not only led to the re-election defeat of then US President Jimmy Carter, but also caused an uproar in the US government and the public.

To understand why the reaction of American politicians and people to this incident was so violent, it is necessary to understand what the United States experienced before the Iranian hostage crisis erupted:

suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield in Vietnam;

Compared with the golden age of the fifties and sixties, although the United States is the world's number one military and economic power, its economic strength has weakened a lot;

President Nixon's Watergate......

A series of events with significant social and economic impact made Americans feel the decline of national power, and their confidence in the country was shaken, and at this time there was an Iranian hostage crisis, which made Americans who have always traveled all over the world nostrils particularly unacceptable, former President Carter's private pollster Cartel wrote in a survey report: "The United States is in a deep crisis, and this near-invisible crisis is different from the Civil War or the Great Depression." It is not so much a material crisis as a psychological crisis, a crisis of confidence, which manifests itself in the loss of confidence in the future. ”

Ronald Reagan, who was elected as the new president of the United States on November 4, 1980, was faced with such a mess, and he had to solve it.

In order to solve this mess, Reagan took the method of secretly selling weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the hostages by the Iranian government, and successfully exchanged all the hostages on January 20, 1981.

The problem was that the Reagan administration at that time was propagating that "after a series of arduous negotiations and pressure, the Iranian side finally agreed to release the American hostages," so when seven years later, in May 1986, a small Lebanese magazine called "Mast" and Iranian Parliament Speaker Rafsanjani jointly poked out this incident, the whole world was shocked: "Damn! This is how this was done back then? What about the "revival of the United States" that Reagan said before he took office? America First"?

Swindler!

Big liar!

For the media who are afraid that the world will not be chaotic, this is the best hot spot, this is the best material, this is the new Watergate scandal, this is the skyrocketing sales......

The whole United States has almost fallen into a big carnival, and the only one who is more uncomfortable is probably Reagan's classmates...... Here, Reagan must be glad that this incident was poked out last winter, and if it was done during the re-election campaign, he would have been re-elected, just like his predecessor, Comrade Carter, and in this sense, Reagan would have to thank the Iranians.

Thinking of this, Chen Geng took a deep breath and said to Ding Haijun: "I know, thank you." ”

He did have a plan before, but compared to his previous plan, Chen Geng felt that it was better to use this matter to make a fuss.

"That's good. ”

As for what Chen Geng plans to do, Ding Haijun doesn't care.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Geng organized his thoughts, and after a while, he picked up the phone and dialed the number that Kelly Hicks gave him.

After a series of transfers, an emotionless female voice rang out: "Hello, this is the White House Office, what is the matter with you?"

Chen Geng said in a deep voice: "I'm Fernandez Chen, and I'm looking for Mr. Baker, Howard Baker." ”

Howard Baker, who had just taken over from Donald Thomas Reagan, who had resigned in anger over his classmates' poor handling of the incident, became the new White House chief of staff.

The operator on the other end of the phone was obviously instructed, and when she heard the person on the other end of the phone claiming to be Fernandez Chen, she suddenly exclaimed and hurriedly said, "Mr. Fernandez, I didn't expect it to be you, I ...... I ......"

As for whether there is something like voiceprint comparison on the other end of the phone, it can allow the operator to confirm that the other end of the phone is Chen Geng himself in the shortest possible time, which is not clear for the time being, but Chen Geng feels that there is a good chance that there is.

"That's right, it's me," Chen Geng interrupted the operator, "please tell Mr. Baker that I will be in Washington in three days." ”

What to do in Washington?

Of course, it is to give the White House an answer to one of the issues that the United States is most concerned about at present.

In the face of this billionaire who has a good personal friendship with Mr. President, the young lady of the operator replied resignedly: "Oh, okay......"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Geng thought for a moment, then picked up the phone again and dialed out: "Mr. Holmdorov, I have something more important and need to go back to the United States immediately, do you want to go with me?"

Chen Geng believes that the phone calls he just had with Ding Haijun and the White House Office must have been tapped by the KGB, but what does this have to do with it.

Alexander Holmdorov's calm demeanor also confirmed that his phone calls with Ding Haijun and the White House Office were eavesdropped on—or rather openly listened to—and he nodded: "If you don't mind, of course." ”

"Then you can go to the United States with me," Anyway, the next thing to do is Alexander Holmdorov, a witness, maybe it will be more convincing, and Chen Geng doesn't mind bringing one more person: "But before that, please help me contact the Soviet civil aviation administration and let my private jet in." ”

As for the question of whether Alexander Holmdorov, the KGB, can go to the United States with him, Chen Geng does not think that this is a problem, and if even this little problem cannot be solved, what kind of trouble will the Soviet Union have? It is nothing more than that Alexander Holmdorov has enjoyed his treatment in the Soviet Union after he arrived in the United States: he has been followed by the CIA and the FBI.

"Yes, sir, no problem," Alexander Holmdorov agreed without even stumbling, apparently he had already received the relevant instructions: "Do you have any other questions?"

"Yes," Chen Geng nodded: "Help me contact Mr. Valentin Starievich, I hope to communicate with him on some issues before leaving." ”

Although he was a little surprised why Chen Geng wanted to meet the deputy director of the General Secretary @ Records Office before leaving, Alexander Kholmdorov still didn't stumble: "No problem, sir." ”

........................

It was said that it was three days, but in fact, the next afternoon, Chen Geng's McDonnell Douglas MD-82 landed at Washington International Airport.

Several black Chevrolet Saab classes were already waiting at the end of the runway, and as soon as Chen Geng got off the plane, several agents in black suits quickly greeted him, and while showing their ID to Chen Geng and the bodyguards around Chen Geng to prove that they were FBI people, they separated Chen Geng from Alexander Holmdorov: "Mr. Fernandez, please get in the car, Director Baker is already waiting for you." ”

It seems that Reagan-san is really in a hurry. Chen Geng glanced at Alexander Holmdorov sympathetically and nodded: "Help me take care of Mr. Holmdorov." ”

"Don't worry," the FBI leader grinned, "We will definitely entertain Mr. Kholmdorov." ”

The convoy flashed police lights and galloped all the way, and came to the White House quickly, before the car stopped, a figure walked quickly towards the convoy, Chen Geng took a closer look: Coincidentally, he still knew Reagan's new chief of staff, that is, Mr. Howard Baker, the chief of staff of the White House - it seems that Reagan was really anxious, so that the president's most trusted intimate person was waiting directly at the door of the main building to greet him.

Seeing Chen Geng, Howard Baker waved his hand, motioning for the FBI agents to leave quickly, and at the same time quickly greeted him: "Mr. Fernandez, what's going on between the Soviet Union and China......

"There are some things that are hard to say on the phone," Chen Geng interrupted Howard Baker, "but now is a great opportunity to get Mr. President out of the current crisis." ”

"Huh?"

Howard Baker was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up, and he asked urgently, "What way?"

Compared with the sudden entry of the Soviet Union and China, the two largest socialist countries are likely to return to normalization, the entire Reagan staff team is actually very clear that with the tension between China and the Soviet Union for more than 20 years, their relationship does not change quickly in a short period of time.