There is a reason why Song Meiling said Cui Kefu was a third- or fourth-rate guy.
Chuikov had been the commander of the Army Group three years ago, but his performance in the Soviet-Finnish War was too poor. The Ninth Army under his command had more heavy equipment than the whole of Finland. Unexpectedly, the deployment was not successful, which directly led to his dismissal.
At that time, the 163rd Division, the leading force of the Soviet Army, was ordered to attack, but was blocked by a small Finnish detachment on the road. The Soviet Army was forced to expand into a long formation of more than 20 kilometers along the road. Then, the Finnish army used a regiment to defeat the Soviet Army.
This elite division's supply line was cut off, and then the main force was used to surround and harass it.
Chuikov immediately sent the 44th Division to rescue the 163rd Division. As a result, the 163rd Division was completely wiped out, and few of the 44th Division were left in charge of reinforcements. The two divisions combined lost more than 30,000 people, and captured countless tanks, heavy artillery, and vehicles. And Finland
In this battle, no more than 5,000 troops were invested.
Chuikov made no misdirection from beginning to end. The biggest mistake in this fiasco was that the 44th Division stopped advancing midway. But this had nothing to do with Chuikov. It was Vinogradov, the commander of the 44th Division, who made a mistake in judgment and thought he encountered the Finnish army.
The main force disobeyed Chuikov's orders and stayed put, which resulted in the 163rd Division being completely annihilated by the Finnish army.
It’s not Chuikov who’s bad, it’s the entire Soviet Red Army that’s bad. The quality of officers at all levels is really unsightly.
But most Chinese people don’t know this. Take Chang Kaishen and Soong Meiling as examples. They all believe that Cuikov was sent to China as a military adviser by Stalin because he lost the war. They look down on him from the bottom of their hearts, let alone
I am willing to listen to Chuikov's military advice.
Zhou Mansion.
There are four people sitting on the mahjong table, namely Zhou Hexuan, Zhang Henshui, Cui Kefu and Owen.
Chuikov and Irving, two foreigners, not only speak fluent Chinese, but are also good at playing mahjong. The former spent his childhood in China and traveled throughout northern China in his youth; the latter is already on his fourth trip
Visited China and traveled most of China during this period.
"Bang!"
The future Marshal of the Soviet Red Army, the commander of the Battle of Stalingrad, and the last attacker of the Soviet army to capture Berlin, was grabbing the dice and throwing it at the card table.
Chuikov touched a card on the bottom of the card, silently used his thumb to silently play the card, and then slapped it on the table: "Haha, there are flowers on the bar!"
"General Cui is so lucky." Zhang Henshui shook his head and gave the money with a wry smile.
The four of them start a new game.
Zhang Henshui touched the cards with one hand and wrote the manuscript with the other, his eyes roving back and forth between the manuscript paper and the card table. This was a skill he had developed over many years. When he had a tight writing task and wanted to play cards, he would finish it together on the mahjong table.
Especially "The Golden Family" and "The Cause of Laughter", many chapters of these two films were written while playing mahjong.
"Two loaves."
Owen slapped a card and asked casually: "General Chuikov, could your country consider terminating the neutrality treaty with Japan?"
Chuikov played mahjong with his fingers and said: "I am just a small military adviser. Major international issues should not be considered by me."
"Ninety thousand." Zhou Hexuan glanced at the two of them.
Since the incident in which the German artillery consultant was bribed to become a spy by Japan, all foreign consultants have been highly monitored. Whether it is Chuikov or Irving, every time they go out, they are followed by military secret agents.
Not only that, sometimes when they go out, military special agents will quietly enter their homes to search for important secret documents.
Therefore, Irving originally had the habit of keeping a diary, but when he was working as a consultant in Chongqing, he did not dare to write a word in his diary for fear that the information would be exposed. Even Irving did not dare to contact Chuikov publicly for fear of arousing Chiang Kai-shek's jealousy.
, and thus there was today’s card game.
"eat."
Zhang Henshui's right hand continued to write, which did not affect his playing cards at all. The movements of his two hands were almost at the same time. Zhang Henshui even pricked up his ears and paid attention to the conversation of the two foreign consultants.
While Chuikov was playing cards, Irving added: "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 points," Chuikov said with a smile, "for this kind of matter, you should contact Mr. Pan Youxin (Soviet Ambassador to China)."
Owen played another card and said with a smile: "We are all advisers sent to China by the Supreme Leader, so our talks are more direct and effective. The Soviet Union continues to reduce aid to China and signs a non-aggression treaty with Japan. This behavior is
Very irrational.”
Chuikov sneered: "Six months ago, I came to China with 150 fighter jets, 100 bombers, 300 cannons, and 500 trucks. Just over half a month later, the Wannan Incident happened in China. How can we, the Soviet Union, join us?
How much should we do to support China? Aid the Kuomintang troops to fight against the Communist troops?"
"That matter has been settled, hasn't it?" Owen said.
Chuikov didn't seem to want to talk anymore, and directly showed his cards: "It's pointless for you to discuss it with me. Go find the Soviet ambassador to China."
Owen sighed helplessly: "If I can contact him, I won't come to you."
During the entire Anti-Japanese War, Soviet representatives in China were strictly monitored, and the government did not want Soviet envoys to have contact with any other country. More than a year ago, Chiang Kai-shek even deliberately arranged for the Soviet advisory group to enter the French ambassador's residence, causing France to be bombed.
The ambassador could not move back to his original location to sow discord between the Soviet and French envoys.
This clumsy little trick made the French and Soviet missions laugh and laugh, but they forged a good friendship as a result.
In order not to arouse Chang Kaishen's nerves, envoys from various countries rarely had private contact. Guys like Irving who believed in moderation would not even dare to talk directly to the Soviet ambassador.
"That's right, Hu, give me the money."
Zhou Hexuan pushed for a showdown because he didn't want to get involved in the topic of two foreigners.
On the surface, the signing of the non-aggression treaty between the Soviet Union and Japan was a huge blow to China's war of resistance. But in fact, it was very beneficial to China, because the purpose of the Soviet Union and Japan signing the contract was to reassure Japan that it would go south.
You can start a fight between Japan and Britain in advance and drag the United States into the war.
The United States has obviously seen this, but the secret treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union has been signed, so it can only persuade the Soviet Union to increase its aid to China, so that Japan will be wary of the Soviet Union and not really dare to attack Southeast Asia with confidence.
Today's poker game is just an initial contact, testing each other out, and then each of us will send the situation back home.
Speaking of the non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Japan, Chuikov played a huge role in it. He obtained information about Japan's military deployment in the south from the government (China seized it from a crashed Japanese aircraft), copied it and sent it back
After receiving this information, the Soviet Union and Stalin immediately agreed to sign a secret treaty with Japan.
That piece of military intelligence exposed the Japanese military's strategic intentions toward Southeast Asia. Stalin finally breathed a sigh of relief, and then added firepower to allow the Japanese invaders to move south with peace of mind.
"Dinner is ready," Cui Huifu walked in and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, let's play cards after you finish eating."
Chuikov shrugged his nose and said excitedly: "It's spicy hot pot. I can already smell the aroma."
Zhou Hexuan said: "We also prepared high-strength liquor."
Chuikov patted Zhou Hexuan on the shoulder and laughed loudly: "Mr. Zhou, when you go to the Soviet Union in the future, I will treat you to pure vodka."
Everyone sat down around the hot pot. Owen did not mention business anymore, but talked to Chuikov about the situation of the Chinese army.
While chewing his belly, Chuikov shook his head and said: "China's military is in terrible shape. Corruption has become the norm, and conflicts between officers and soldiers are very serious. Soldiers' lives are difficult, they cannot meet their food and clothing, and their health conditions are even worse. I have visited frontline positions to inspect,
One time I was deeply impressed. More than half of the soldiers in the 102nd Division were suffering from malaria and could not get treatment. The logistics department said that medicines had been dispatched, but the frontline commander said that they had not received the medicines. I couldn't figure out who said this.
It’s a lie. There are also officials at the Chinese General Staff Headquarters. They themselves don’t know how many soldiers there are in their 300 divisions, because most of the troops are on empty pay, and it is normal for a full division to have only four to five thousand soldiers.”
Zhang Henshui looked ashamed when he heard this. Although he did not do this, as a Chinese, he still did not want to hear that his country's military was so despised by foreigners.
Chuikov drank a few glasses of wine and spoke more and more enthusiastically: "This is not the most terrifying thing. What is even more terrifying is that there is no difficulty in obtaining such information. Because no one in the Chinese military has ever seriously managed these things, I can easily
I heard that Japanese spies can do the same. The situation of China's frontline troops is almost transparent to the Japanese army. Therefore, it is difficult for the Chinese army to engage in mobile warfare. First, their soldiers are too bad, and second, their action routes are easily blocked by the enemy.
I learned that China’s most astute commanders do not dare to issue too specific orders to their troops every time they engage in mobile warfare. This can be regarded as their remedial and preventive measures.”
Owen listened carefully and remembered it in his heart. He needed to know such news, and Chuikov only told it deliberately.
Several people played cards until evening, everyone got something, and they all left Zhou's mansion in a happy mood.
Zhou Hexuan called Lin Guoda and ordered: "Guoda, send this report to Yunxiu Tower and hand it over to President Chiang."
Zhou Hexuan is not an idiot. Two foreigners playing cards at his home will definitely arouse Chang Kaishen's suspicion. He simply took the initiative to record the conversation between Irving and Chuikov, letting Lao Jiang know clearly, and the rest does not matter.
It's his business.
Irving and Zhukov obviously knew this, so they deliberately chose to contact Chang Kaishen at the Zhou Mansion to get in touch with Chang Kaishen's vigilance.
In the following years, the Zhou Mansion almost became a special place for exchanges with these foreign envoys, and people came here every now and then to play mahjong and eat hot pot. Zhou Hexuan was so annoyed that he did not want to write the report himself, and directly asked Cui Huifu, Ma Jue, or Lin Guoda to write it for him.
Anyway, it has to be handed over to Chang Kaishen for review.
