Song Meiling said that Cui Kefu is a third- or fourth-rate person, and there is a reason for that.

Chuikov was already the commander of the army group three years ago, but he behaved too badly in the Soviet-Finnish war. The Ninth Army under his command had more heavy equipment than the whole of Finland, and who knew that it was unfavorable to be out of division, which directly led to the loss of office.

At that time, the 163rd Division, the vanguard of the Soviet army, was ordered to attack, but it was blocked by a small Finnish detachment on the road, and the Soviet army was forced to spread out into a longitudinal formation of more than 20 kilometers along the road. Then, the Finnish army cut off the supply line of the elite division of the Soviet army with the strength of a regiment, and then surrounded and harassed with the main force.

Chuikov immediately sent the 44th Division to rescue the 163rd Division, but the 163rd Division was completely wiped out, and the 44th Division responsible for reinforcements was also left with little left, and the two divisions together lost more than 30,000 people, and countless tanks, heavy artillery, and vehicles were captured. In this battle, Finland invested no more than 5,000 troops.

Chuikov did not have any miscommand from beginning to end, and the biggest mistake of this fiasco was that the 44th Division stopped advancing halfway. But this had nothing to do with Chuikov, it was the 44th Division's commander Vinogradov's misjudgment, thinking that he had encountered the main force of the Finnish army, and disobeyed Chuikov's order to stick to the spot without authorization, which led to the 163rd Division being completely annihilated by the Finnish army.

It is not Chuikov who is rotten, it is the entire Soviet Red Army that is rotten, and the quality of officers at all levels is really unsightly.

But most Chinese don't know ah, just take Chang Kaishen and Song Meiling as an example. They all thought that Chuikov was sent to China by Stalin as a military adviser because he lost the war, and they looked down on him in their hearts, and they were even more unwilling to listen to Chuikov's military advice.

Zhou Mansion.

There are four people sitting on the mahjong table, namely Zhou Hexuan, Zhang Hatshui, Cui Kefu and Owen.

Chuikov and Owen, two foreigners, not only speak Chinese well, but also are good at playing mahjong. The former spent his childhood in China and traveled throughout northern China in his youth; The latter is on his fourth visit to China, and has traveled extensively throughout most of the country during this time.

"Kong!"

The future Marshal of the Soviet Red Army, the commander of the Battle of Stalingrad, the final blow of the Soviet army in the capture of Berlin, was at this time grabbing the dice and throwing them at the card table.

Chuikov touched a card at the bottom of the card, skillfully silently used his thumb, and then slammed it on the table: "Haha, flowers bloom on the bar!" ”

"General Cui's luck, I don't have to say it." Zhang Hatshui shook his head and smiled bitterly and gave the money.

The four of them started a new game.

Zhang Hatshui touched the cards with one hand and wrote the manuscript with the other, and his eyes roamed back and forth between the manuscript paper and the card table. This is his natal skill that he has practiced for many years, and when the writing task is tight and he wants to play cards, he completes it together on the mahjong table.

Especially "The Family of Gold Powder" and "Laughing Karma", these two parts, many chapters were written when playing mahjong.

"Two cakes."

Owen slapped a card and casually asked, "General Chuikov, can your country consider breaking the neutrality treaty with Japan?" ”

Chuikov played mahjong with his fingers and said: "I am just a small military adviser, and I should not think about major international issues." ”

"Ninety thousand." Zhou Hexuan glanced at the two.

Ever since the German artillery advisers were paid off by the Japanese to spy on them, all foreign advisers have been placed under high surveillance. Whether it's Chuikov or Owen, every time they go out, there are military commanders behind their buttocks.

Not only that, but sometimes when they go out, the military commander's agents will sneak into their homes and search for important secret documents.

Therefore, Owen has always had the habit of writing a diary, but during his time as a consultant in Chongqing, he did not dare to write a word in his diary, for fear that the information would undoubtedly be exposed. Even Owen didn't dare to contact Chuikov publicly, for fear of arousing Lao Jiang's jealousy, so there was today's game.

"Eat."

Zhang Hatshui's right hand continued to write, which did not affect his cards at all, and the movements of the two hands were almost at the same time. Even, Zhang Hatshui pricked up his ears and paid attention to the conversation between the two foreign advisers.

While Chuikov was playing cards, Owen said: "I hope you can convey to Mr. Stalin that the United States and the Soviet Union should cooperate." Not only direct cooperation, but also indirect cooperation to assist China. ”

"Four," Chuikov said with a smile, "for this kind of thing, you should contact Mr. Pan Youxin (Soviet ambassador to China)." ”

Owen played another card and smiled: "We are both advisers sent by the Supreme Leader to China, and it is more direct and effective to talk." It was very irrational for the Soviet Union to reduce its aid to China and to sign a non-aggression pact with Japan. ”

Chuikov sneered: "Half a year ago, I came to China with 150 fighters, 100 bombers, 300 cannons, and 500 trucks. How can we, the Soviet Union, increase our aid to China? Will the troops of the Aid Nationalist Party fight the Communist Army? ”

"That's settled, isn't it?" Owen said.

Chuikov didn't seem to want to say any more, and said directly in a showdown: "It makes no sense for you to discuss with me, go to the Soviet ambassador to China." ”

Owen sighed helplessly: "If I can contact him, I won't come to you." ”

Throughout the war, Soviet representatives were strictly monitored in China, and the government did not want Soviet envoys to come into contact with any other country. More than a year ago, Lao Chiang even deliberately arranged the Soviet advisory group into the official residence of the French ambassador, so that the French ambassador could not move back to the original location after the bombing, so as to sow discord between the Soviet Union and the French envoys.

This clumsy trick made the French and Soviet missions laugh, and they forged a good friendship as a result.

In order not to arouse Chang Kaishen's nervous tension, envoys from various countries rarely had private contact. A guy like Owen, who believes in the golden mean, is even more afraid to talk directly to the Soviet ambassador.

"Yes, yes, Hu, give the money."

Zhou Hexuan pushed the card showdown, so he didn't want to get involved in the topic of the two gringos.

On the surface, the signing of the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Japan was a great blow to China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. But in fact, this was very beneficial to China, because the purpose of the treaty between the Soviet Union and Japan was to reassure Japan to go south, so that Japan and Britain could fight in advance, and drag the United States into the war.

The United States obviously saw this, but the Japan-Soviet secret treaty had already been signed, and it could only persuade the Soviet Union to increase its aid to China, so that Japan would have some scruples about the Soviet Union and would not dare to attack Southeast Asia with confidence.

Today's game is just a preliminary contact, testing each other, and then sending the situation back to China.

Speaking of the non-aggression pact between the USSR and Japan, Chuikov played a huge role in it. He obtained information on Japan's military deployment in the south from the government (captured by China from a crashed Japanese plane), copied it, and sent it back to the Soviet Union, where Stalin immediately agreed to sign a secret treaty with Japan.

That military intelligence exposed the Japanese army's strategic intentions in Southeast Asia, which made Stalin finally relieved, so he added fire to let the Japanese invaders go south with confidence.

"It's time to eat," Cui Huifu walked in and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, let's play cards after eating." ”

Chuikov shrugged his nose and said excitedly: "It's a spicy hot pot, I can already smell the fragrance." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "I also prepared a high-grade liquor. ”

Cui Kefu patted Zhou Hexuan's shoulder and laughed: "Mr. Zhou, when you go to the Soviet Union in the future, I will invite you to drink pure vodka." ”

Everyone sat down around the hot pot, and Owen did not mention anything more about business, but told Chuikov about the situation of the Chinese army.

While munching on his hairy belly, Chuikov shook his head and said: "China's army is so bad, corruption has become the norm, and the contradictions between officers and soldiers are very serious. The soldiers had a difficult life, could not meet food and clothing, and their health was even worse. I once went to the front line to inspect the positions, and once I was deeply impressed. More than half of the soldiers of the 102nd Division suffered from malaria and were not treated. The logistics department said that the medicines had been dispatched, and the front-line commanders said that they had not received the medicines, and I couldn't figure out which of them was telling a lie. There are also the officers of the Chinese General Staff Headquarters, who themselves do not know how many soldiers there are in their 300 divisions, because most of the troops are eating empty salaries, and it is normal for a full division to have only four or five thousand people. ”

Zhang Hate Shui listened with a look of shame, although he did not do it, but as a Chinese, he still did not want to hear that his country's army was so despised by foreigners.

Chuikov drank a few glasses of wine, and the more he spoke, the more energetic he became: "This is not the most terrible thing, what is even more terrifying is that there is no difficulty in obtaining these similar information. Because no one in the Chinese military has ever taken these things seriously at all, I can easily inquire about it, and Japanese spies can do the same. The situation of the Chinese front-line troops was almost transparent to the Japanese army. Therefore, it is very difficult for the Chinese army to fight a war of movement, first, their soldiers are too bad, and second, their course of action is easily known by the enemy. China's most astute commanders, every time they fight a sports war, do not dare to issue too specific orders to their troops, and this can be regarded as their remedial precaution. ”

Owen listened carefully and remembered that he needed to know such news, and Chuikov only told it on purpose.

Several people played cards until the evening, each with their own gains, and they all left the Zhou Mansion happily.

Zhou Hexuan called Lin Guoda and instructed: "Guoda, send this report to Yunxiu Tower and hand it over to President Jiang in person." ”

Zhou Hexuan is not stupid, two gringos playing cards in their own house will arouse Chang Kaishen's suspicion 100%. He simply took the initiative to record the conversation between Owen and Chuikov, so that Lao Jiang knew it clearly, and the rest was none of his business.

Owen and Zhukov were obviously also clear, so they deliberately chose to contact Zhou Mansion in order to contact Chang Kaishen's vigilance.

In the years that followed, the Zhou Mansion almost became a specific place of exchange for these foreign envoys, and every once in a while, people came to play mahjong and eat hot pot. Zhou Hexuan was so annoyed that he didn't want to write the report by himself, so he directly asked Cui Huifu, Ma Jue, or Lin Guoda to ghostwrite, and they had to hand it over to Chang Kaishen anyway.