Ten days after Wan Feng arrived here, the delegation flew directly to Moscow.
It was almost like a whole day's flight, and we didn't arrive in Moscow until it was almost dark.
Moscow was once a holy temple in the socialist countries. Proletarians from all over the world felt it was an honor to come here to work and study.
But in the early spring of 1989, the place felt a bit desolate.
The Soviet people on the streets of Moscow gave Wan Feng a feeling of being dusty and dirty, and even the sun in the Moscow sky looked listless.
This made Wan Feng involuntarily think of the phrase "the afterglow of the empire".
Even though the Soviet reception staff had a smile on their faces, that smile looked so helpless and vicissitudes in Wan Feng's eyes.
The person in charge of the reception on the Soviet side was the then Air Force Commander Shaposhnikov, who later served as the last Soviet Minister of Defense.
Shaposhnikov participated in almost the entire negotiation process between China and the Soviet Union on the Su-27.
After some rather cumbersome reception etiquette, the Chinese delegation was accommodated in a luxurious hotel in Moscow.
During the first two days after arriving in Moscow, the Soviet military did not hold any activities and no prominent figures appeared. Except for two or three small fish and shrimps, it was as if the Chinese delegation did not exist.
"The Soviets are playing this trick again. We are here to buy their products. Is it fun to keep playing this trick?" Zhu Guoxiong was indignant.
Wan Feng chuckled, "The Soviets really aren't necessarily playing hard to get this time. They're probably just too busy with their own issues to handle this."
How could an empire on the verge of collapse not have some messy and sad stories?
Since the Soviets are having a headache, it's a good opportunity to take a good look at Moscow, a place I've never been to.
But you can't travel as freely as you can on a self-driving tour. There are so many rules and regulations that you can't follow.
Wan Feng is quite popular in the delegation.
It’s simple, just rich!
Although these generals are already a high-income group in China, with a salary of several hundred yuan a month, they are still no match for Wan Feng.
Taking this opportunity, Wan Feng also made friends with some generals. Even if it was of no use, it was better to make friends with someone than to make an enemy with him.
Because of this reason, Wan Feng was relatively free to travel. Of course, he was always accompanied by someone when he went out, including both Soviets and Chinese.
Wan Feng would not go out alone, as that would arouse too much suspicion.
But after going out a few times and strolling around some fixed places, I felt bored.
There are Orthodox churches everywhere, and buildings with a style that seems to pierce the sky everywhere.
Even if the sky doesn't pierce me, I'm doomed.
The only fun is probably looking at girls.
The streets are full of Russian women, from all three generations.
Although it is only late March, Russian women are still eager to take off their winter clothes and show off their beautiful figures without fear of the cold.
Women in countries with fewer men are really pitiful.
But Wan Feng had seen quite a few Russian women, and there was no point in just looking at them, so after two days, Moscow was just that in Wan Feng's mind.
The three members of the drinking team were having a great time and were inseparable.
I don’t know if Chen Dao had ever exchanged drinking skills with these two idiots in private, but Zhang Huzi and Li Erjin were very respectful to Chen Dao.
When Wan Feng goes out, he usually goes out with these three people.
How could it be possible for these people to go out without drinking?
In particular, Zhang Huzi and Li Erjin tried all the wines in the Soviet bar.
Even though alcohol was quite scarce in the Soviet Union, you could still get it in bars in Moscow, but it was very, very expensive.
This is the time for Wan Feng to take advantage.
When he was in China, he exchanged some rice and yuan, and when he got here he exchanged them all into rubles.
He almost always paid for the drinks for these people.
Three days passed in boredom. On the fourth day, the Soviets seemed to finally remember the Chinese delegation, and Shaposhnikov finally appeared.
Another Soviet general also appeared this time, and judging from his uniform, he should be a naval admiral.
The naval generals probably came here to conduct submarine contacts with the Chinese delegation.
The main target of the Chinese delegation this time is the Su-27, and submarines can only be secondary. This time they are just making some tentative contacts and it is not necessary to reach any results.
The top leaders of the two delegations held a meeting in the hotel. Wan Feng didn't know what was discussed and had no interest in listening.
His task was to be half a translator, sometimes helping with advice, but the rest had nothing to do with him.
Afterwards, the two delegations wandered to an air force base not far from Moscow, and then watched the MiG-29 flying aimlessly in the sky.
Even if Wan Feng had never seen the real Su-27, he would know that this was not the Su-27.
Although the MiG-29 and Su-27 have many similarities, there is still a huge gap between them.
The Su-27's neck is very iconic.
"Why did the Russians bring us to see the MiG-29? Do we still have to buy the MiG-29?" Wan Feng asked Zhu Guoxiong in a low voice.
"The Russians also want us to buy MiG-29s, saying there's a discount."
"No, absolutely not. This short-legged chicken can't stand being tossed around."
Gorbachev's visit to China opened the door to military trade between the two sides. After hearing the news from Wan Feng, China chose the Su-27 as its fighter jet, which surprised Gorbachev at the time.
The Su-27 was a secret in the Soviet Union, but the Chinese now know about it and can even provide a lot of specific data.
The Soviets thought it was leaked by domestic spies.
They were talking about the Su-27 at the beginning, but Shaposhnikov actually asked them to look at the MiG-29. What does that mean?
Zhu Guoxiong and General Chen Hu went to negotiate with Shaposhinikov.
Although there were some unpleasantness in the middle, Shaposhnikov still ordered the replacement of fighter jets.
When the Su-27 soared into the sky and flew across the sky, the generals of the Chinese delegation were all stunned.
This was not only the first time that Wan Feng saw the Su-27 in person up close, but also the first time these generals saw the Su-27.
Although Wan Feng was a half-military fan in his previous life, he didn't feel that much shock about the airplanes because he had seen few real ones.
But the Chinese officers were very excited.
If you want to buy an airplane, you can’t just look at it, you have to try it out to see how it feels.
The Chinese side brought several meritorious pilots. The first one to board the plane for a test drive was an officer in his forties, who got on the plane with great vigor.
Then the Su-27 flew into the sky with a bang.
Wan Feng was not very clear about the movements of those planes. Although he knew some of them, he could not tell what was a cobra and what was a falling leaf.
Anyway, the Chinese pilots performed a lot of cool moves in the sky.
After getting off the plane, the pilot's eyes were red and his expression was a little silent. He just smiled politely at the Soviet personnel and returned to the Chinese delegation.
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