The War of Resistance Against Japan: Special Operations Battalion Traverses Shanghai and Slaughters

Zhigalev then smiled mysteriously and clapped his hands twice.

Two members of the delegation came up carrying a wooden box. Out of concern for Long Fei's safety, the monk immediately stopped them from going any further.

"Stop, I need to check."

Zhigarev hurriedly signaled his entourage to stop, and then carefully placed the wooden box on the ground.

Then, Zhigalev gestured to the monk that he could inspect the box, and he even walked up to the wooden box and opened the lid.

Upon looking inside the wooden box, the monk saw a Buddha statue. Even though he had seen many Buddha statues during his time as a monk at Shaolin Temple, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"A two-headed Buddha... This is a two-headed Buddha... This is the first time I've ever seen a two-headed Buddha like this..."

The monk's shouts aroused Long Fei's curiosity, and he hurriedly went up to see what kind of Buddha statue could have shocked the monk so much.

When Long Fei got closer, he saw a Buddha statue about 60 centimeters in size inside the box. What was peculiar about this Buddha statue was that it had two heads.

Moreover, the two Buddha heads have different expressions, one slightly tilted to the left and the other slightly drooping, with spiral buns on top of their heads, straight noses, eyes looking down, and full, kind faces with a slight smile.

Of the four arms of the Buddha statue, two arms are clasped together in front of the chest, while the other two arms hang down and extend to the left and right.

From any angle, the Buddha's head, body, and arms are perfectly integrated into a whole, creating a unique and rare design.

If even a monk, a former member of both the Taoist and Buddhist sects, didn't recognize this two-headed Buddha, then Long Fei would be even less familiar with it.

So Long Fei asked, "Zhigarev, this Buddha statue is..."

Zhigalev replied in a serious and solemn manner: "Dragon, let me explain to you, this Buddha statue is a gift I gave to you on behalf of the Russian government."

"A gift?" Long Feihu asked doubtfully.

"Yes, that's right. This is a Buddha statue from the Western Xia Dynasty of your Huaxia Kingdom. The Western Xia Kingdom vigorously promoted Buddhism, built many temples and pagodas, and placed this lifelike clay sculpture of a double-headed Buddha inside the pagodas to express their loyalty and faith in the Buddha."

“This two-headed Buddha is from your Blackwater City. We discovered it many years ago and brought it back to the Rakshasa Kingdom.”

"This is also the only two-headed Buddha statue in the world. To express our sincerity in the negotiations, Comrade Stalin decided to present this Buddha statue to you."

Long Fei glanced at Zhigalev and thought to himself that Stalin had gone to great lengths to send acquaintances and gifts.

However, this Buddha statue is a precious cultural relic belonging to China, so Long Fei naturally had to accept it.

"Thank you for your gifts, I like them very much, monk, please accept them."

"Yes, Commander Long."

Then, Long Fei extended the hospitality of a host. Indeed, the place that had once been occupied by the Rakshasa Kingdom had now become Long Fei's home ground.

However, Long Fei did not have dinner with the others, but instead took Zhigalev to a private room where the two drank alone.

Several dishes were laid out on the table, but the most eye-catching were six bottles of Moutai liquor.

Zhigalev was in an exceptionally good mood when he saw his savior again, so he didn't need Long Fei to persuade him at all; he started drinking cup after cup on his own initiative.

Although Zhigalev had a good alcohol tolerance, he was still no match for Long Fei. So after a few bottles, Long Fei was still quite sober, but he had begun to speak incoherently.

Seeing that the time was right, Long Fei began to ask questions.

"Zhigarev, what do you think of the demands I made on your country?"

"Well, I'm just a deputy commander of the Air Force, so my opinion isn't important. But if you really want me to say something, I think you're really brave. It seems like the Russian Empire has never been bullied like this before."

"Zhigalev, you're drunk and starting to talk nonsense. Aren't you being bullied by the Hans right now?"

Zhigalev turned to look at Long Fei and sighed, "Alas, you are right. The Hans's lightning attack has caused us a lot of trouble. A large number of our planes were destroyed at the airport before they even took off."

Zhigalev became increasingly depressed as he spoke. He poured himself a glass of wine, downed it in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and said in a resentful tone.

“Dragon, you are my savior, so even if you kill me, I won’t say a word. But I think your actions this time are completely opportunistic and blatantly taking advantage of my misfortune.”

“You know perfectly well that we are fighting against the Hans’s attack with all our might, and we are in dire need of manpower and weapons. There are a large number of industrial enterprises and arsenals in Siberia that we have strategically relocated there.”

“I am truly saddened that you are threatening us and making unreasonable demands during the most difficult time for our country.”

Long Fei, expressionless, put a cigarette in Zhigalev's mouth and lit it for him.

"Zhigarev, I don't quite agree with what you said, and I don't think there's anything wrong with my behavior."

"I want to ask you, didn't your Rakshasa Kingdom bully us back then because you saw that our Huaxia Kingdom was backward?"

"Which of the countries in the Eight-Nation Alliance didn't use force to invade and oppress us?"

"I ask you, if China back then were as powerful as the United States is today, capable of sweeping across Europe with its own strength, would the Eight-Nation Alliance have dared to come? Would we have signed so many humiliating treaties? Would we have paid so much indemnity? Would our Old Summer Palace have been burned down?"

Zhigalev took a deep drag on his cigarette, utterly speechless at Long Fei's rebuttal.

After a few minutes of silence, Zhigalev turned to him and asked, "Dragon, I want you to tell me the truth: is there any room for negotiation on your demands?"

Long Fei shook his head slightly: "There's no room for discussion. If you don't agree, I'll use force to achieve my goal."

Zhigalev sighed deeply: "You really know how to seize the opportunity and completely grasp our weakness. Is there any time to discuss it? You know that even if we want to evacuate, with so many factories and so many people, it can't be done in a short time."

Long Fei asked directly, "How much time do you want?"

Stalin gave Zhigalev a bottom line of one year, but allowed him to ask for two years.

But Zhigalev is now asking Long Fei for three years.

"Three years is impossible. You're trying to stall until the situation changes dramatically in your favor, and then you can deal with me when you have the time."

Having been hit where it hurts, Zhigalev deliberately picked up the wine bottle and poured wine for Long Fei in order to cover up his mistake.

“Dragon, if you don’t agree to three years, then how about two years? That’s our bottom line. We can give you the territory, but you have to give us enough time to relocate.”

Long Fei directly refused, saying, "Two years is impossible. You have your bottom line, and so do I. How about this, I'll give you one year to relocate all personnel and supplies."

"But I have one condition..."

"What conditions?"

"Within a month, your more than one million troops in Central and Eastern Siberia must withdraw to the west of the Yenisei River."

"The area east of the Yenisei River will be taken over by our Longyan People's Army. In the future, if you need to relocate personnel and supplies, we will cooperate and supervise the process."

Zhigalev wanted to try again after hearing this, but unexpectedly Long Fei's tone changed.

"Zhigarev, do you think I would drink with someone else? Would I give in so easily? Would I waste so much time talking to him?"

"So, stop testing my limits and my patience. I've already given you a lot of face and made the biggest concessions."

"Otherwise, with a single order from me, you won't be able to leave even a hair on your head."