Chapter 1139 Unable to complete tasks

The sun is scorching, the streets are white and the temperature is very high, which is so hot that it makes people feel a little unbearable, especially for those who are used to the cold climate, the temperature is now "unbearable".

Soviet ambassador to China Glevic Kachalev stood in front of the window and looked at the asphalt road not far from the embassy. Although the electric fan was desperately blowing the wind for him less than a meter away from him, even so, Kachalev was still sweating all over, and he missed the coolness of Stockholm a little.

Kachalev was a Soviet diplomat to Sweden and took over as the Soviet ambassador to China not long ago. As for his predecessor, the unlucky guy "disappeared" after returning to the Soviet Union. No one knew where the guy went, and no one dared to inquire. Kachalev didn't dare to inquire. He only knew that according to the popular sayings in Dongjiaomin Lane, Comrade Stalin might think that it was necessary to carry out a large-scale purge of the Soviet diplomatic departments. Although this statement was a bit exaggerated, Kachalev kept silent on it carefully. He did not want him to be the next person to be "disappeared".

In any case, it is the most important to complete the tasks assigned by Comrade Stalin. As long as Comrade Stalin trusts you, you will be absolutely safe. Katzalev firmly believes in this.

Now Comrade Stalin has an important task, and Kachalev must complete it. This task seems simple, and is to negotiate with the central government of China to solve the solution of the "Iran crisis".

The so-called "Iran crisis" is the name of Chinese newspapers, and American newspapers also use this name. The direct cause of this incident was the coup in 1939. During the coup, the old king of Iran, Reza Khan, was deposed, and the son of the old king was supported by the coup soldiers as the new king, and "invited" the Soviet army to enter. However, the problem is that both the old king and the new king were very dissatisfied with the coup group. Therefore, after careful planning and careful arrangement, the two kings embarked on the road of escape, first flying to Iraq, and then

He went to Turkey, then rushed to Switzerland, then took Italy, Spain, the United States, Japan, and finally came to China. Now, His Majesty the two kings are the guests of the President of China. Moreover, just a few days ago, His Majesty the old king delivered a speech at the headquarters of the "Asian Liberation Front" in Tianjin, strongly criticizing the military coup group of the Iranian Kingdom, and also strongly criticizing the "foreign forces" that interfered in the internal affairs of the Iranian king. The "foreign forces" referred to by the old Iranian king refers to the Soviet Union.

In fact, before the old Iranian king officially came forward to accuse the Soviet Union of interfering in the internal affairs of the Iranian king and endangering Asian independence and freedom, Asian countries had already accused the Soviet government of being a "neocolonialist". Faced with the accusation, the Soviet government remained silent, trying to exchange silence for time in order to strengthen control of the new Iranian government and strengthen national defense forces in the Caucasus and Caspian Sea.

The silence of the Soviet government did not bring about understanding from Asian governments. Instigated by Chinese public opinion, almost all newly independent Asian countries began to criticize and accuse the Soviet Union of interfering in Iran's internal affairs. The countries bordering Iran also began to increase their troops to the border, looking ready to fight, and seemed to send troops to Iran at any time to uphold justice for the Iranian people.

The Soviet government also realized the crisis, so it took two important actions. One important action was to seek reconciliation with Nazi Germany, temporarily lift the military threat from the west, and at the same time strengthened strategic vigilance against the east. The Central Asian Military Region of the Soviet Union immediately became the most combative military group in the Soviet Union. The other important action was to counterattack through public opinion, not only inciting through the official mouthpiece controlled by the Soviet government, but also using the Soviet agents won over in Southeast Asian countries to promote public opinion, using the slogan of "liberation of Indochina", the "liberation of Indochina" to divert the attention of Asia, especially Southeast Asian countries, and trying to shift the focus of international public opinion from the Soviet Union to France.

Although France surrendered to Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany did not deprive France of its colonies in the Far East. Therefore, the Indochina region is still under the control of Vichy France. In the entire "Asian Liberation War", France has always remained neutral. In exchange, the "Asian Liberation Front" did not take direct military actions against the French Indochina colonies. Therefore, so far, Asia cannot be said to have been "completely independent". At least Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia are still in the hands of French colonists.

The Soviet government's move was quite clever, but unfortunately, the Soviet Union's opponent was China. In fact, the Chinese government had long foreseeed that the Soviet government would take this move. Therefore, when the Soviet government threw out the slogan of "liberating Indochina", the Chinese government had officially transferred a diplomatic memorandum to the Vichy French government through diplomatic channels, advising the French government to give the three Indochina the power of independence as soon as possible. Otherwise, China and emerging Asian countries would take "necessary decisive actions" to interfere with the three Indochina.

The French government cannot ignore this diplomatic memorandum from China under such circumstances, and China has set a detailed timetable for the independence of the Indo-China countries, requiring the French government to agree to recall all local foreign government officials to France by the end of 1940. Before the end of 1941, the Indo-China countries will officially declare independence. By then, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia will become official members of the "Asian Liberation Front". Of course, at that time, perhaps the "Asian Liberation Front" had been changed to another name, but its purpose will not change, that is, to unite Asia and defend Asia.

The French government could only accept this suggestion from China and officially announced the news to the world public opinion. The independence of the three Indo-Shanghai countries was on the verge of the arrow. The public opinion offensive of the Soviet government came to an abrupt end. The attention of Asian countries once again turned back to the "Iran crisis". The Soviet government faced greater political and diplomatic pressure.

Now, there are two ways before the Soviet government. One way is to withdraw troops from Iran immediately and transfer Iranian power to the ASL. The other way is to resist to the end, and even go to war with the ASL when necessary.

The problem is that Soviet leader Stalin didn't want to go either way. He wanted to take another way, a way that could not only avoid war with the ASL and maintain the interests of the Soviet Union in Iran. Therefore, he personally issued a harsh order to Ambassador Kachalev. According to this order, Kachalev must consult with the Chinese government on the Iran issue as soon as possible and reach an agreement. In order to obtain the understanding of the Chinese government, Kachalev can promise to China as much as he thinks necessary to transfer half of Iran's oil extraction rights to Chinese companies free of charge.

On the surface, this task seems to be relatively simple. Use oil to buy the Chinese. As long as the Chinese are no longer talking, Asian countries will immediately stop. After all, China is the soul of this "Sub-Resolving Formation".

However, Kachalev knew that this task was impossible to accomplish. This was not because the benefits given by the Soviet government were too small, but because China's ambitions were too strong. What China needed was not only oil from the Middle East, but more importantly, the "Iran crisis" was a very important part of China's national strategy. It was definitely not comparable to the rights of oil extraction. The Chinese central government would not do business of picking up sesame seeds and throwing watermelons. The Chinese people valued global interests, and defeating the UK was just a small step for China to take toward the global strategy.

Kachalev has fully understood this point, but the top leaders of the Soviet government may not be able to understand it. Stalin may think that the Chinese have ambition, but he would never have thought that the Chinese ambition is not just about leading Asia.

As a Soviet diplomat in China, Kachalev has the responsibility to write his knowledge into a report and submit it to his superiors, but the question is, how should this report be written? The diplomat's report cannot satisfy his superiors. This may be just a future issue in other countries, but in the Soviet Union this is a serious political issue. The current atmosphere in the Soviet Union obviously cannot be used to rashly word the report.

Now, standing in front of the window, Kachalev was thinking about the wording of the report. Comrade Stalin asked him to complete the negotiation task, but he could not complete the task. So how should he shirk responsibility in the report? Is it not that the responsibility for not completing the task in Kachalev cannot fulfill his duties, but that Comrade Stalin made a wrong judgment? If he wrote this way, then Kachalev would probably follow the footsteps of his predecessor and return to the Soviet Union and evaporate.

Diplomats from other countries may be thinking about how to wear it at the party or invite a lady to be a dance partner, but Katzalev could only stand in front of the window and worry about the report, which made him feel a little depressed.

"Comrade Ambassador, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a staff member to hope to meet you."

Just as Kachalev was standing in front of the window and sweating profusely, an embassy staff member walked behind him and said coldly, without any expression on his face, just like Kachalev, as if he was afraid that someone would see his mood at the moment.

"Please arrange to the reception room, I'll rush over immediately."

Kachalev nodded, took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face, then quickly put on his coat, turned off the switch of the electric fan, and then hurried downstairs.

When Kachalev arrived at the reception room, the staff sent by the Chinese Foreign Ministry had already sat upright. Kachalev had seen this person before, but he couldn't remember his name. He only knew that his status in the Foreign Ministry was not high.

"Hello, Mr. Ambassador, I am sent by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is my translator. This is my translator. I am ordered to submit a diplomatic memorandum to your government. This is the joint resolution of the 'Asian Liberation Front'. Please be sure to deliver it to your government as soon as possible through diplomatic channels. At the same time, our ambassador to the Soviet Union has also been ordered to convey this situation to your diplomatic department. I believe that the ambassador will receive a telegram from the country soon."

The visitor simply introduced his mission, then handed over a diplomatic memorandum to Kachalev, and then said goodbye and left without any intention of staying.

Kachalev sent away the Chinese diplomats, then quickly returned to the embassy, ​​preparing to take a closer look at the contents of the diplomatic memorandum, but when he rushed back to the reception room, he found that the diplomatic memorandum that was originally placed on the table was gone. He was shocked and hurriedly called security guards to search the embassy, ​​but it was finally proved that it was a false alarm. There were no thieves in the embassy, ​​and no foreign spies appeared. The person who took the diplomatic memorandum was actually a secretary of the embassy. He took the diplomatic memorandum and went directly to the telegram room and took the summary of the content of the diplomatic document back to the Soviet Union with the telegram at the first time. When the security guards found the diplomatic memorandum, the diplomatic document was in the hands of the secretary.

Although Katzalev was very annoyed, he still suppressed his anger. Who knew who this secretary was contacting the telegram with? Who can confirm the true identity of the secretary? Or choose to remain silent, and at most tell the diplomatic department about this matter.

Katzalev silently waited for the telegram to be sent, and then took the diplomatic memorandum handed over by his secretary without expression. It was not until then that the ambassador saw the content of the diplomatic memorandum.

There are not many contents, and the key points are four: First, the "Asian Liberation Front" believes that the Soviet army's behavior of entering Iran is an "armed invasion" and is illegal, and the Soviet Union's support for the Iranian general as the ruler of Iran is unacceptable. This is interfering in Iran's internal affairs and threatening the collective security of Asia; Second, the "Asian Liberation Front" formally proposes to the Soviet government, requiring that the Soviet army must withdraw all Iranian territory before the end of 1940, and must return Iranian military and civilian ships stolen by the Soviet Navy; Third, the above requirements are required by the Soviet government to give a formal reply within five days; Fourth, if the Soviet government does not give a formal reply after the deadline, Asian countries do not rule out "decisive action" to safeguard the collective security of Asia.

Looking at the content of this diplomatic memorandum, Katzalev was covered in sweat. In his opinion, this was not a "diplomatic memorandum", but an "ultimatum". Although the wording was more tactful than the ultimatum, it could not deny its potential threatening tone.

Although the secretary had sent these four points back to the Soviet Union through encrypted telegrams, Kachalev still shot the second telegram with the same content as the Soviet ambassador to China. The telegram was taken to his direct superior, that is, Comrade Molotov.

An hour later, Molotov's signed call was taken to the embassy, ​​and the content was very simple:

"Comrade Kachalev, your work is very serious and Comrade Stalin is very satisfied. The Soviet government decided to ignore China's unreasonable demands. At the same time, the Soviet government also decided to authorize you to continue to negotiate with the Chinese government. If necessary, all the right to exploit oil in Iran can be given to China, on the condition that the Chinese government can no longer point fingers at the actions of the Soviet government, and the heroic and loyal Soviet Red Army commanders and fighters will be firm defenders and defenders of the interests of the Soviet Union."

Seeing this telegram, Kachalev was extremely frustrated. He finally made up his mind. He stopped writing the report because he realized that the will of the top leaders of the Soviet government was unshakable. What is the source of this unshakable will? Kachalev believed that this might be because of the huge military machine of the Soviet army. The Soviet army, which eliminated those "traitors" and "imperialist lackeys", might be more combat-effective.
Chapter completed!