Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

The seeds he sowed in the agricultural sector are attracting attention in other fields, and the concept of informatization is transforming from an agricultural secretary's personal hobby into a policy direction that is being discussed by more people!

This is great news!

In his speech at the plenary session, Chernenko also mentioned the Vietnam and Cambodia issues. Although his wording was still wrapped in the clichés of unity and mutual assistance within the socialist family, the core message was the withdrawal of troops:

He suggested that Vietnam should take a more active role in the political process of resolving the Cambodian issue.

This was interpreted by both the West and Beiping as a sign of further warming of Sino-Soviet relations.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On October 12, a message from Britain was heavily publicized in the Soviet propaganda machine for several days—the Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, targeting British politicians who were attending the Conservative Party's annual conference.

In this timeline, Thatcher is no longer Prime Minister; she stepped down after the Falklands War, and was succeeded by Labour's Ford.

But Thatcher remains a key figure in the Conservative Party, and she attended the conference as a former prime minister and member of parliament.

She was sleeping in her hotel suite when the explosion occurred at nearly 3 a.m. Twenty pounds of nitroglycerin explosives blasted a huge hole in the front of the hotel, and the five-ton chimney collapsed along with several floors. When Thatcher was pulled from the rubble, she was seriously injured—with several broken ribs, lung punctures from rubble, and permanent hearing loss in one ear—but she survived.

Five people were killed and more than 30 were injured in the explosion.

TASS's report, in its tone of describing the incident, infuriated Western diplomats. It juxtaposed the Brighton bombing with the US invasion of Grenada and Israel's military action in Lebanon, implying that the Western world, while condemning "international terrorism," was itself using violence to advance its political goals.

"...It is indeed a good thing that the West is fighting international terrorism, but the West needs to deeply reflect on why these international terrorist groups exist."

P.S.: I do not support terrorism. The United States’ global counterterrorism efforts have indeed contributed to regional stability, but I personally believe that it is precisely because of the United States that many regions have fallen to the point where they need American peacekeeping.

The Pravda editorial devoted an entire page to discussing the inherent contradictions and violent conditions of Western democratic systems, tracing the historical roots of the Irish question back to the crimes of British colonialism.

Pravda has always been scathing and lavish in its criticism of the evils of Western capitalism.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On November 6, Reagan won re-election.

He defeated Democratic candidate Mondale by a large margin, a margin much smaller than the historically dominant sweeps—a series of diplomatic setbacks in 1983 had diminished some of Reagan's image as a hardline president in the United States, but the recovery of the U.S. economy ultimately helped him stabilize his election campaign.

One of Reagan’s first diplomatic moves after his re-election was sending Ambassador Hartman to meet with Gromyko in Moscow.

Gromyko, the cunning old fox who had worked in the Soviet Foreign Ministry for thirty years, took the initiative for the first time during the talks to ask the US to put forward specific ideas on arms control, instead of just making principled statements and waiting for the other side to make its move as before.

He also raised a new issue: all core arms control issues—space weapons, strategic weapons, and intermediate-range weapons—should be discussed concurrently rather than treated separately.

As for what happened next? We'll talk about it slowly. Since the Americans' earlier retreat meant their missiles weren't deployed until 86, the Soviet Union wasn't in a hurry.

In early December, Gorbachev made a visit abroad.

In the original historical timeline, he should have visited Britain at this point, marking one of the symbolic moments of the end of the Cold War. However, in this timeline, the British Prime Minister was Robert Ford of the Labour Party, and the improvement of Sino-Soviet relations was progressing much more deeply and rapidly than in the past. Therefore, when Slava discussed the destination with Gorbachev, he strongly advocated changing the itinerary to Beijing.

A few days later, Gorbachev arrived in Beiping with a delegation composed of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Trade, and the Central Secretariat. Slava and Nian Dao accompanied him as core members of the delegation.

The meeting between Gorbachev and Deng Xixian took place in a reception room in the Great Hall of the People. A huge landscape painting hung on the wall, a deep red carpet was laid on the floor, and white porcelain covered teacups were placed on the coffee table. Apart from that, there was no other decoration.

The formal meeting between the two was short, lasting about forty minutes—because Deng Xixian was eighty years old, and although he was still in good spirits, a long meeting would be physically exhausting for him.

The two sides exchanged their positions on the Vietnam and Cambodia issues. The Chinese side made it clear that if the Soviet Union could push Vietnam to withdraw its main forces from Cambodia by 1986, Beijing was willing to make equal concessions on the issue of border disarmament, and at the same time increase the scale of Sino-Soviet trade to more than 3 billion rubles within two years.

P.S.: The massive demobilization of one million troops in history occurred shortly thereafter.

After the meeting, Deng Xixian asked Slava to stay behind, saying, "Let Comrade Ivanov stay and have a cup of tea with me," which seems to be a personal invitation.

As Gorbachev left the meeting room, he glanced at Slava, who always felt that he was jealous.

It is somewhat against diplomatic protocol for a member of the Central Secretariat to be asked to stay for tea by the host country's top leader, but Deng Xixian clearly did not care much about protocol.

Only Deng Xixian and Slava remained in the reception room.

He sat on the sofa, holding a teacup, and peered at Slava from above the rim of the teacup.

“Your Chinese is really good,” he said, his Sichuan accent barely audible within the framework of Mandarin. “It’s better than many of the translators in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Where did you learn it?”

“Talent,” Slava gave the standard answer he had used countless times, “My mother is Chinese.”

"Oh? Where are you from?"

"From the Northeast region."

Deng Xixian nodded.

“You were a secretary in the Amur Region, and the Heihe River is right across the river.”

"Yes, I stayed there for nine months."

“Nine months—” He placed the teacup on the coffee table, the lid hitting the rim with a crisp sound. “What did you discover about our side during those nine months?”

Slava paused for a moment in the face of this question; he needed to think carefully about what to say, what to say, and what not to say.

"It's clear that your direction is good, but you haven't reached the end yet. The household contract responsibility system has solved the incentive problem, but price reform is still underway. Township enterprises are dynamic, but management is extensive. The dual-track system is effective, but the cost of rent-seeking is not small. You are making changes as you go, and you are making changes quickly and boldly, but there are also many pitfalls along the way."

Throughout the 80s, the internal dynamics of the Zhong family were constantly shifting, with some wanting to return to the past, some wanting to defect to the West, and some experiencing ideological confusion.

Slava understood that if he were to reform the league, he would likely face the same situation.

A strongman is needed to steer this state apparatus. Russia can tolerate tyrants, but not cowards!

Deng raised an eyebrow slightly. For a Soviet official to say such a thing required a certain level of academic cultivation and policy insight. At most, an ordinary Soviet diplomat could only utter nonsense like "Old Zhong's reforms have achieved remarkable success."

“You’re right, the road is winding.” His response was very frank; someone in this position no longer needed to be polite to anyone.

“I think walking is better than standing. Your problem is that you've been standing for too long. Your legs are numb and you can't walk anymore.”

Slava smiled and said, "The key is to be willing to try and make mistakes. Dogmatism won't put food on the table. Let's do some pilot projects first. Even if we make mistakes, at least we can stop them."

"Well said. So what if we make mistakes? We've made many mistakes in the past. The best outcome is that we can learn from them. Comrade Ivanov's awareness is higher than that of many of our veterans. Many comrades in our party are worried that we're taking too big a step and that we'll make mistakes."

I don't see anything wrong with it; at least it's quite lively!

They talked for about twenty more minutes, discussing everything from agricultural reform to industrial informatization and specific areas of Sino-Soviet trade. Deng Xixian showed some interest in Slava's agricultural research and development alliances and informatization projects in the Soviet Union, asking a few specific questions.

This is a reformer examining the practices of another reformer.

When the door to the meeting room opened and a staff member came in to remind him that it was time, Deng Xixian stood up, shook hands with Slava, and then said to the staff member next to him after letting go.

"I like Comrade Ivanov, we can do a lot of business."

This statement spread throughout the entire delegation that very evening and was relayed back to Moscow the following day through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Slava immediately signaled to Gorbachev, who then facilitated the signing of an economic and technical cooperation agreement between China and the Soviet Union during subsequent negotiations, further deepening commercial and political cooperation.

But news from Moscow prompted the Soviet reformists to quickly recall the delegation visiting Old Zhong, because on the 19th, one of the three musketeers of the Brezhnev era—Defense Minister Ustinov—suddenly fell seriously ill and went to see his mentor, trembling.

Ustinov, Gromyko, and Chernenko were considered the three key figures in Soviet decision-making over the past year. Now, Ustinov's death has disrupted this power structure, exacerbating the already deep crisis of supreme power in the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Chernenko was still unable to take charge of the situation while in the hospital, and news came from the Politburo that Romanov had been appointed to preside over the funeral. Western analysts generally believed that this was a signal that he would become Minister of Defense.

The reformists' long-awaited opportunity to seize power has arrived; they must contend with Romanov for control of the Ministry of Defense!

Chapter 45 The Reformists Split (7.5K)

At 2:17 a.m. Moscow time on December 20, 1984, Ustinov went to see his mentor, trembling.

The news reached all members of the Politburo within thirty minutes.

While Gorbachev and Slava were still visiting China, Romanov took the lead and became the person in charge of presiding over the Minister of Defense's funeral.

In the alliance's power tradition, whoever presides over the funeral is the next successor.

Andropov presided over Brezhnev's funeral and then became General Secretary; Chernenko presided over Andropov's funeral and then became General Secretary. Romanov presided over Ustinov's funeral—while this didn't guarantee him becoming Minister of Defense, it meant he was already in a favorable position.

From today onwards, he can legally contact every senior military officer under the guise of funeral preparations, and ascertain their attitudes and positions through handshakes, expressions of condolence, and arrangements for ceremony details!

“We’re going back right away. Gorbachev has already packed his things.” Slava immediately woke the young leader from his sleep.

"Go, quick!"

...

Two hours later, the entire reformist delegation boarded a flight from Beiping to Moscow.

Gorbachev barely closed his eyes during the eight-hour flight. He sat in his seat, writing rapidly in a notebook, occasionally glancing up to exchange a few words with Slava, who was sitting opposite him, before lowering his head again to continue writing.

Slava and Gorbachev compiled a list, which consisted mostly of Politburo members and alternate members, with each name followed by an indication of their possible stance on the issue of the defense minister nominee:

Support Romanov, support the reformist nominee, or wait and see.

“Our worst-case scenario is that Romanov gets the Ministry of Defense,” Gorbachev said to Slava as the plane finally closed his notebook as it flew over Ulaanbaatar.

"If he simultaneously controls military production and military command, his influence in the Politburo will surpass mine, and we must stop this!"

"Romanov might get the Ministry of Defense, but it's unlikely he will, Comrade Gorbachev." Seeing Gorbachev's anxious expression, Slava lit a cigarette for him to calm down.

"The Minister of Defense is theoretically not allowed to be the General Secretary, especially with Gromyko watching over him."

Gorbachev paused for a moment.

"Then who should we push up?"

"For the sake of political balance, the conservatives, especially the military-industrial complex, would never accept Ogarkov. Romanov's entire power base is the military-industrial complex. If Ogarkov comes to power, he's finished. He will fight to the death to oppose him."

Moreover, as far as I know, even many within the military establishment have reservations about Ogarkov's "overly ambitious" approach.

Although Chernenko was still hospitalized, he was lying in a hospital bed, not in a grave, so it was unlikely he would approve the appointment—he didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and appointing Ogarkov would definitely cause trouble.

We'll make Sokolov the nominal minister, then set up a committee to sideline him, making Ogarkov the real head of the Ministry of Defense.

Gorbachev nodded, agreeing with his assessment.

Sokolov, 73, is the First Deputy Minister of Defense. A career soldier with no political ambitions, he is a safe choice that everyone can accept.

"Get Ogarkov a powerful position in the Ministry of Defense—whatever his title, whether he's a deputy minister or chairman of the military reform committee—we need to ensure that the power to advance military reform is in the hands of someone we can trust."

That makes things much simpler.

Slava added, "That requires Gromyko's approval."

"I know."

...

The plane landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport on the morning of December 21.

Gorbachev started making phone calls on the way from the airport to the Kremlin.

The first call was made to Ligachev to confirm that the reformist base had not been siphoned off by Romanov while he was away on business.

The second call was made to Chebrkov, the new head of the KGB, asking the KGB to provide intelligence on which military generals Romanov had contacted in the past 48 hours.

The third call was to Ryzhkov to coordinate the positions of several swing members of the Politburo during the vote.

Slava went directly to the General Staff building to find Ogarkov.

The two talked for less than twenty minutes in Ogarkov's office.

“Romanov is trying to recruit people,” Ogarkov said before Slava sat down, standing in front of a wall covered with maps of Soviet military deployments. “Last night he met with the Air Defense Commander, the Navy Commander, and the Strategic Rocket Forces Commander under the pretext of funeral preparations. The three of them came out looking like they’d just been given a bowl of vodka.”

What promises did he make?

"I don't know, but I can guess—it's nothing more than guaranteed military spending, priority in equipment procurement, and no reduction in the size of each branch of the armed forces."

Romanov's strategy was simple: he came from a military-industrial background, fully understood the army's needs, and his presence would make things much easier for the military.

"What about you?"

Ogarkov looked at Slava. His eyes were still sharp on his sixty-year-old face; he was a man who had risen from platoon leader to marshal in the army, a man who had seen as much death on the battlefield as he had seen in the intrigues of the Kremlin.

"I support military reform. I will support whoever can guarantee that military reform will continue to move forward."

Slava offered his bargaining chip: "If Sokolov becomes Minister of Defense, you will become—"

"Position doesn't matter. What matters is whether I have the authority to continue working. Just give me a position where I can do the work and enough authorization. You can decide the title yourself."

"Pleasant to work with."

It's so refreshing to talk to professional soldiers.

Under the gaze of the mentor's statue on the wall, Slava stood up, and the two shook hands.

Cooperation between military personnel and politicians doesn't require much rhetoric. You give me what I need, and I give you what you need—clear, straightforward, and efficient.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Gorbachev's operation began three hours later in Gromyko's office.

He brought Slava with him when he went.

He didn't need Slava to speak for him; he only brought him along because Slava represented a voice within the reform movement that wasn't entirely the same as his own.

They wanted to show Gromyko that while the reformists were not a monolithic group, they were united at least on key issues.

Gromyko sat behind his desk, which he had used for thirty years, his seventy-five-year-old face expressionless.