My own war game

Chapter 365: Cats in Confrontation

In April 1949, with the Berlin Incident as the dividing point, the atmosphere of confrontation between NATO and the Soviet Union suddenly became tense.

The United States issued a public statement accusing the Soviet Union of causing a serious humanitarian crisis without regard for the lives of Berlin citizens.

The Soviet Union responded tit for tat, accusing Britain and the United States of using espionage methods to seriously undermine the security of the Soviet-occupied areas and cause huge losses.

In the end, the focus of both sides was on dozens of German civilians who were detained by the Soviet army for driving armored vehicles into the restricted area without permission. The Allies insisted on their unconditional release, while the Soviet army said it would try these people for espionage.

The verbal abuse continued until late April, and the confrontation between the two sides began to escalate.

The Soviet occupation forces in Germany began to increase their troops, and there were signs of continued Soviet mobilization in Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland.

NATO showed no sign of weakness. The multinational allied forces in the Netherlands and France area began joint exercises. The USS Midway aircraft carrier formation on duty in the North Sea began to gather eastward. Truman mentioned the threat of nuclear weapons many times in his speeches.

The shadow of war seemed to be looming over the European continent again.

A white dove flew through the high barbed wire into the city of Berlin and finally landed on an empty roof. On the balcony, He Chi was cutting a charcoal-roasted pig's trotter for Christine.

"Don't make trouble, you know I can never get used to this..." The French girl slapped her boyfriend's hand holding the fork, and then said seriously, "Aren't you worried about the current situation? The surrounding area seems to be very tense now."

"Not at all. At least before the end of the year, the two sides will at most just have an accidental discharge of weapons." He Chi took back the pork trotter and put it into his mouth and continued.
"Since the Kokura explosion, the world's war situation has actually begun to change. Now the United States is the only country in the world that possesses nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union will not be blind to its own shortcomings."

"What if the Soviets go all out? After all, this is European soil, and the Americans will probably still be cautious about using nuclear weapons." He Chi's reasons did not convince Christine.

"If it was a few years ago, there might be such a possibility, but it will never happen this year," He Chi said affirmatively.

"Why?" Christine didn't understand, but He Chi just smiled mysteriously and didn't respond directly.

If a few years ago there was still a possibility that the Soviet Union would suddenly lose its temper during the conflict, the situation this year is completely different.

Because in a few months, the Soviet Union's first nuclear bomb "Pumpkin" will be successfully tested in Kazakhstan, and only then will the red polar bear truly have the bargaining chip for a full-scale conflict with the bald eagle.

The Soviets would definitely not want to create any complications at this point in time. Perhaps Moscow is considering how to end the matter in a dignified manner.

The white pigeon jumped onto the dining table. Christine took out some corn from the plate and fed it, then took a piece of paper off her ankle.

The girl smiled and handed the note over. "He, an old friend is here to see you."

Colonel Edson, former commander of the 1st Marine Division of the U.S. Army, sat in front of He Chi, fiddling with an exquisite teacup.

Oh no, now he should be called Major General Edson.

The major general drank the tea in his hand, then looked at the empty cup and said, "He, I'm not used to this. Can I have some whiskey?"

"I'll get it."

Kristen smiled slightly, whispered something in He Chi's ear, then left, leaving the two people with space to talk alone.

Edson, who always showed his roughness, sighed and said, "He, I don't want to come, but there is no other way."

"I understand, because those guys probably don't dare to appear in front of me." He Chi did not say anything cold to the major general, because judging from his past performance, Edson was more like a pure warrior, otherwise his rank would not have been only promoted by one level despite so many outstanding achievements.

Edson tugged at his collar awkwardly, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "Regarding the previous compensation, Mr. Marshall wants to discuss it again."

"Want to default on your debt? Bargain?" He Chi's eyes narrowed.

Edson, who had a lot of experience in combat, suddenly felt like he was facing a large beast. He tried hard to restrain his urge to touch his gun. "No, Mr. Marshall means to pay in installments." The major general hurriedly began to explain, "We will pay half first."

"why?"

"Look, although we successfully delivered supplies to Berlin this time, dozens of people were captured by the Soviet army, which caused a lot of trouble." Edson said carefully, "If you can bring these people out smoothly, we agree to pay the rest."

"So he wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Truman really had a good plan." He Chi thought for a moment and smiled. "It would not work if someone else came, but we are friends after all. I will think of a way to deal with the hostage issue..."

"You agreed?!" Edson never thought things would go so smoothly.

"Well, I agree. You're the best gambler I know." He Chi patted the major general on the shoulder and sent him out.

After the major general left, Christine came out from the back and said, "I thought you would be furious."

"Why? The price was originally meant for the other party to bargain. Isn't it the rule of the underworld to cut it in half?" He Chi shrugged indifferently.

"What do you think about the hostages?"

"Let's take it one step at a time. The Americans are obviously trying to save face." He Chi looked out the window with a glass of wine. In the flowers downstairs, two stray cats were confronting each other, and threatening sounds could be heard from their throats from time to time.

"Now the United States and the Soviet Union are like these two stray cats. In fact, neither side is ready for war, but they have to act aggressively for the sake of face."

"They are waiting for a suitable opportunity. Once a certain variable occurs, they will take the initiative to reduce the intensity of the conflict."

Ding ding ding~~ There was a knock on the door, and an agent walked into the room and whispered to the two people, "There is a special envoy from Beria who wants to meet with me privately."

"Look, here comes the variable."

In East Berlin, Cabrera, the Soviet military attaché in Germany, returned to his residence. The first thing the former blasting expert did when he entered the door was to reach for the vodka on the table.

Click!

The Russian sturdy man turned suddenly.

In less than half a second, the two figures in the room confronted each other with guns.

The next second, both sides put away their weapons.

"He, although I took the initiative to find you, this silent approach is really hard to get used to." Cabrera said helplessly.

"There's no other way. This is the only way to keep it absolutely confidential." He Chi shrugged and simply hugged the other person. "Time is tight. If there's anything going on with Belia, tell us quickly."

Cabrera sighed and said, "Well, to make it short, we don't plan to detain those dozens of Germans, but we don't want to return them to the Americans either."

He Chi was stunned for a moment, then tilted his head and thought for a moment before responding, "You want to get rid of the trouble, but you don't want to lose face in front of the Americans?"

"That's about it, so I'm going to have you take them away in secret, just as you brought them here."

"Can you make the decision?" He Chi asked, looking into the other person's eyes.

"This is what Comrade Beria said himself." Cabrera responded affirmatively.

"This~" The Oriental man looked at the other person and rubbed his chin in confusion.
"What you said is not easy to handle..."

(End of this chapter)