cicada

After leaving the official residence, Dai Chunfeng and Zuo Chong returned to the Luojiawan headquarters, and the master and apprentice conducted further research on the northwest trip.

According to the condolence group's plan, the other party planned to arrive in Chang'an first, inspect the local situation, and then head north to the seat of the border region government, a journey of several thousand miles.

Screening of accompanying personnel, equipment of weapons, selection of routes and means of transportation, formulation of communication passwords, food and accommodation along the way, etc. All these tasks must be prepared in advance.

Especially in terms of security, it must be foolproof. Nothing can happen to the Nanyang Consolation Mission, at least not in the hands of the military commander.

With international trade cut off and internal tax revenue deteriorating, donations from overseas Chinese are vital to the government. Without this income, the frontline war effort will inevitably be affected.

Dai Chunfeng lowered his head and looked at the map of the Kuomintang-controlled area. When he saw the Japanese-occupied area on the other side of the Yellow River, he frowned unconsciously and said worriedly.

"Shen Zhong, if the Japanese learn about the inspection by Mr. Chen and his party, they will definitely find ways to sabotage it. Chang'an and the underground party are so close to the Japanese 1st Army on the other side of the Yellow River.

If the other side sends out spies or a small group of elite troops to infiltrate and launch an attack midway, you and the condolences group will be in danger, and it may not be appropriate to move by land.

I think you can take a plane directly from the mountain city to Chang'an, and then fly to the bandits' den again after lingering for a few days. This is safer, and there is an airport there. "

Hearing Lao Dai say that flying is safer, Zuo Zhong's expression was a little strange, but he still nodded and expressed his opinion.

"Flights are indeed convenient. The condolence group should be willing to take the flight from Shancheng to Chang'an. After all, the journey is long and the road conditions are poor.

However, according to inquiries, they planned to take a car from Chang'an to the bandits' den so that they could have close contact with the soldiers and civilians of the Anti-Japanese War and understand the cause of the friction. They probably would not obey our arrangements.

This matter can be easily solved. You can ask the military to closely monitor the movements of the Japanese 1st Army, and order the Shaanxi Province and Japanese-occupied area intelligence stations to step up the collection of relevant intelligence.

At the same time, the special operations team led by Gui Youguang is responsible for protection. As long as they do not encounter a large enemy force, there is no problem in covering the retreat of the condolences group.

In terms of intelligence, let Wu Chunyang from the first department accompany him. Firstly, he can find out the reality of the bandits' nest, and secondly, he can clean up the friction. "

Dai Chunfeng's plan is very good, but the condolences group are not fools.

Chinese newspapers in Nanyang have many reports on the friction between the border areas and the central government. The local overseas Chinese are very concerned about this and want to know the truth of the matter.

This is also an important task for Mr. Chen and others during this trip. Naturally, it is impossible to take a plane and just take a casual walk around the northwest. In-depth investigation is definitely required.

After hearing this, Lao Dai thought about it and found out that Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang were both old men in the military command. They were reliable and capable, so they were indeed suitable candidates to accompany them.

As a result, the personnel for the northwest trip were decided, with Zuo Zhong in charge of the overall situation, Gui Youguang in charge of operations, and Wu Chunyang in charge of intelligence.

In terms of communications, the Telecommunications Office will dispatch capable operators to join in so that the condolences group can communicate with the mountain city in a timely manner, and can also contact the surrounding Guojun troops when necessary.

All operational personnel are equipped with pistols and automatic firepower, and only a few rifles. Since we are not engaged in positional warfare, there are few places where long rifles can be used, so it is better to bring more ammunition.

Smoke bombs, medicines, ropes and other special items must also be provided. The northwest is not like a mountain city, so it is difficult to replenish some supplies.

After discussing with Dai Chunfeng for a long time, Zuo Zhong said goodbye and left. He called the staff from the first and second divisions to his office, informed him of the situation, and made some arrangements.

During his absence from the mountain city, the work of the two offices was managed by Gu Qi, and everything else remained as usual.

Everyone stood at attention and said yes, Gui Youguang winked at Wu Chunyang, his face was full of excitement, and he couldn't wait to set off immediately.

Seeing this guy's appearance, He Yijun said coldly: "Protect the co-seat, otherwise you won't have to come back."

The big bald head suddenly became mute. He touched the shiny top of his head and nodded vigorously. Everyone laughed when he saw this.

Zuo Zhong also smiled slightly and waved his hand to tell He Yijun not to worry. The security in the border area was much better than in the mountain city. The real danger of this trip was in the Kuomintang-controlled area.

Not far to the east of Chang'an is the Japanese-occupied area, where various forces are intertwined. The Japanese army, the Japanese army, the bandits, the landlord armed forces, and the Shanxi-Sui army each have their own agenda. Even the government cannot completely trust it.

If you are a human being, you can be bribed.

If you can't buy it, it's just because the price is not enough.

Wu Chunyang also thought of this and said that he would immediately study the intelligence of the garrison, government and related forces along the way to find out the hidden dangers and nip the danger in the bud.

The so-called strangulation is to dispatch agents from the local military intelligence station to secretly sanction targets suspected of being Japanese espionage.

After dealing with the business, Gu Qi mentioned Xu Enzeng with some schadenfreude. The other party was an old rival with the underground party and had a lot of blood debts. This time he went to the border area station, and he was afraid that he would be in bad luck.

Everyone agreed. Since the days of the Party Affairs Investigation Section, Xu Enzeng's main target has been dissidents, and the two sides have long had a bloody feud.

If they were an underground party, they would definitely try their best to get rid of the person named Xu. Even if they couldn't assassinate him, what about the accident?
When you get to someone else's place, you don't just let them round you up and flatten it. It is impossible for the government to fall out with the other party over a deputy director. Xu Enzeng's death was in vain.

The atmosphere in the office suddenly became heated, and Gu Qi and his gang began to speculate on how Lao Xu died, whether he fell into the water, was accidentally injured by a stray bullet, or fell off a cliff. Listening to the discussion among his men, Zuo Zhong smiled and whispered a few words to He Yijun. The two of them didn't say anything about their love for each other, they just chatted.

Living in this chaotic era, they have too many choices and can only go with the flow.

On the south bank of the mountain city, Chen Mansion.

Xu Enzeng, who was said to have died hundreds of times by the military commanders, ran to his eldest cousin's house, knelt on the soft carpet, hugged Minister Chen's legs and cried bitterly.

"I can't go to the northwest! The dissidents will definitely kill me. Minister, please intercede with the commissioner and let me go this time!"

After receiving the order to accompany the condolences group to the northwest, Xu Enzeng felt that the sky was falling.

Didn't he just mess up a few, no, more than a dozen errands? The chairman of the committee was so heartless that he wanted to send him to the bandits' lair, which was tantamount to sending him to death.

Not to mention anything else, there are not even one thousand but eight hundred underground party members who have died at his hands in recent years.

I don’t know how many people dreamed of killing him. They had no chance in the mountain city. Now, if he sent it to his door, they would definitely take action.

Facing his little cousin's pleading, Minister Chen didn't even raise his eyelids. He slowly picked up the tea cup and took a sip before replying calmly.

"What's your order as chairman of the committee? Is it papyrus? Huh? Stand still!"

At the end of the sentence, Minister Chen shouted loudly and slammed the teacup on the coffee table. The hot tea splashed and Xu Enzeng jumped up from the ground in fright.

Minister Chen wanted to drive away this unsatisfactory cousin, but out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at his aunt who was hiding on the second floor and peeked. He sighed secretly and spoke in a slightly slower tone.

"Don't judge a gentleman with a villain's heart. You are publicly accompanying the condolences group, and the underground party will not do anything to you.

When you arrive in the northwest, look less, talk less, and just follow Mr. Chen closely. Leave other tasks to the military commander. Do you understand? "

"Understood."

Xu Enzeng responded humbly and made up his mind. Apart from following Mr. Chen closely during sleep, the underground party couldn't kill people in front of the condolences group.

As for collecting intelligence, his life is about to be lost. If he collects intelligence about a P, all the Central Command’s informants in the bandits’ lair are dead anyway.

Not to mention how Xu Enzeng had a misfortune with his eldest cousin, the consolation group quickly made preparations and embarked on a journey to Chang'an despite someone's repeated attempts to stay.

Three days later, in the early morning, several American DC-2 passenger planes soared into the sky from Shancheng Airport and flew towards the north.

The straight-line distance from Shancheng to Chang'an is more than 500 kilometers. At the speed of DC-2, it only takes more than an hour to reach it.

However, considering the presence of the Japanese Air Force, the fleet deliberately detoured westward and landed at Chang'an Xiguan Airport two and a half hours later.

Chang'an Camp Director Jiang Mingsan went to the airport to greet them. After some greetings, Mr. Chen expressed condolences that the group was tired from the trip and wanted to go to a booked hotel to rest first.

But resting is just an excuse. The real reason is that the Northwest Representative Office made an appointment with him as early as when he was in Shancheng. The commander-in-chief of the Northwest Team wanted to have a meeting in Chang'an with the purpose of introducing the progress of the underground party in the war against Japan. .

In fact, before returning to China this time, Mr. Chen knew very little about the northwest, and all he heard were one-sided words from state officials.

For example, "the rebels committed murder and arson, wandered without fighting, disobeyed the central government, undermined unity, and engaged in friction," etc. Naturally, he had a bad impression of the underground party, and he never gave any donations to Northwest China.

However, what he saw and heard in Shancheng and Southwest made Mr. Chen doubt these claims, and he strengthened his determination to go to the border area to have a look.

However, when Jiang Mingsan heard that Mr. Chen was going to a hotel, he immediately argued that it was not safe to live outside, and dragged him to the heavily guarded Xingying Guest House, cutting off the condolence group's contact with the outside world.

On the day when Mr. Chen met with the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Team, the guest house ruined the meeting on the grounds that there was no car and no banquet.

A few days later, after the condolences group had finished attending to the government's entertainment, Mr. Chen personally visited the northwest Chang'an office and wanted to apologize to the commander-in-chief in person, but the commander-in-chief had already returned to the border area.

After this incident, Mr. Chen no longer had a good look on Jiang Mingsan, and forcefully asked the other party to prepare a vehicle, otherwise he would have to walk north even if he walked.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Mingsan had no choice but to agree, and held a farewell ceremony the next day. After the ceremony, the members of the condolence group set off from the north gate of Chang'an in several cars and began to investigate the truth of the friction.

In one of the cars, Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang were driving, while the other was sitting in the co-pilot and looking out the window vigilantly. Zuo Zhong, who had not been seen the whole time after arriving in Chang'an, closed his eyes and meditated on the left side of the back seat.

On the right side of the back row, Xu Enzeng was restless, as if there were nails under his buttocks. He twisted his body from time to time, looking very uneasy.

As for Mr. Chen, the middle one between them, he was still immersed in the excitement of the journey, looking at the scenery outside curiously, raising his camera and pressing the shutter from time to time.

None of the five people spoke. The dust kicked up by the car became larger and larger, and the convoy slowly disappeared on the desolate Loess Plateau.
(End of this chapter)