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Chapter 1317 Melos (Never forget the national humiliation and strive for self-improvement)

Early 1942.

Melrose was ordered to lead the American delegation to leave New York and fly to the Republic of China. His identity on this trip was the OSS Far East Coordinator and his military rank was lieutenant colonel.

The delegation first made a brief stop in Brazil, then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, to Cairo, and then to Kolkata via Colombo. The entire journey took a week.

When the weather station was destroyed, Melrose was visiting Kolkata. He had a long talk with the senior US military adviser in New Delhi and the naval attaché stationed in the mountain city who had come specially to visit.

The content of the conversation among the three people involved the politics, economy, military and other aspects of the National Government. In terms of the degree of understanding of the Republic of China, Melrose was obviously not as good as the above two people.

The military adviser and the naval attaché stationed in Shancheng reminded Melrose to be careful of Dai Chunfeng and Zuo Zhong, as these two were the most critical and powerful figures in the National Government's intelligence system.

After the naval attaché introduced Zuo Zhong, he lowered his voice and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Mellors, is Director Deng Novan's plan to control the Republic of China feasible?"

As soon as he said this, Melos stopped him and said, "Wait, don't discuss this here. We must be cautious."

Dunovan, the first director of the OSS, had served in the British military intelligence department and had the support of the US Army.

Mellors represented the interests of the navy, and as he spoke he took the other two into the secret room and did not leave the room until dark.

A few days later, Melos boarded the last civil aviation flight to the mountain city via Mandalay. The plane first transferred in Kunming, and after several hours of thrilling flight, it finally arrived in the mountain city safely.

Compared with the past, the government's welcome for Melrose and his party was rather shabby this time, with only a dozen people and a few unlicensed cars coming to greet them.

When Mellors walked down the gangway, the first person he saw was a middle-aged man who was slightly shorter than him, about 1.67 meters tall.

The man was wearing a khaki suit that was ironed very flat. The buttons on the shirt went all the way to the collar, and there was an turned-up collar at the top.

According to the information gathered by OSS in advance, this kind of clothing is a government civil servant uniform unique to the Republic of China, named after the founding father of the people of the Republic of China.

Thinking in his heart, Melos extended his right hand to the middle-aged man: "Hello, Mr. Dai."

He knew that the other person was Dai Chunfeng, the director of the Military Control Commission. Compared with the photo provided by the naval attaché, Dai Chunfeng himself looked older, with bright eyes, and looked like a very difficult guy to deal with.

"Hello, Mr. Melrose. On behalf of the chairman, I welcome you." Dai Chunfeng had a smile on his face and a kind attitude, making people feel like spring breeze.

But Lao Dai's strong accent made the American translator frown. He had no idea what this senior official of the Nationalist government was talking about.

At this time, a man came from the side and relayed Lao Dai's words in standard English.

When Melos heard this, he looked and saw a smiling young man standing next to Dai Chunfeng. This reminded him of someone, Zuo Chong.

Intelligence shows that the other party is Dai Chunfeng's most trusted subordinate, who led the Military Control Commission to carry out many top-secret missions and has outstanding intelligence and leadership capabilities.

Sure enough, Dai Chunfeng's voice rang out: "Mr. Melos, please allow me to introduce you. This is my student and my deputy, Zuo Zhong."

Melos's gaze lingered on Zuo Chong for a moment. He carefully observed the most dangerous intelligence officer of the National Government and nodded slightly.

Zuo Zhong also nodded slightly and expressed his welcome to the US delegation using skillful diplomatic words. Then the two sides shook hands and greeted each other, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

After chatting for a while, Melos took two boxes from his attendant and gave them to Dai Chunfeng, who opened the lids curiously.

Western etiquette is different from that of the Republic of China. Checking gifts immediately after receiving them shows respect for guests. Old Dai is aware of this custom.

The two boxes were opened one after another. The first box contained a Minox camera, which was small and exquisite in appearance, which was very consistent with Lao Dai's identity as an intelligence officer. The second box contained a .380 short-barreled automatic pistol.

Dai Chunfeng liked this gun very much, at least on the surface. He took off his original pistol and gave it to Zuo Zhong, replacing it with Melos' gift.

Afterwards, Old Dai warmly invited the American personnel: "Everyone, Dai has prepared some wine, please come and enjoy it."

Zuo Chong translated this sentence to Melos, who readily agreed and spoke politely. Who says foreigners don't understand the ways of the world? They will still stand up and toast at a banquet.

After the greetings, both parties got into a car and drove towards the urban area of ​​Shancheng. Dai Chunfeng, Melos and Zuo Chong got in the same car.

On the way, Dai Chunfeng and Melos were chatting, but the more Melos listened, the more surprised he became, even a little frightened.

Because when his sons were mentioned, Dai Chunfeng could call out all their names, and the other party also knew that the color of his car in China was blue. He was like a transparent person in front of the Military Control Commission.

By the time the welcome banquet began, Melrose had a deeper understanding of the Military Control Commission's intelligence gathering capabilities. Seeing that there were no chickens or ducks on the table, he casually asked whether people in the Republic of China did not eat poultry.

Dai Chunfeng's answer was, "My students said you don't like to eat these, isn't that right?" Zuo Zhong, who was standing by, immediately put on a humble expression. Melos finally understood why OSS and ONI attached so much importance to the Military Control Commission. No wonder Washington wanted to cooperate with Shancheng.

If the Nationalist government was as professional in gathering intelligence on Japan, then America must do everything possible to make friends with the Military Intelligence Bureau. This could save the lives of countless young men and greatly increase the U.S. military's chances of winning in the Pacific battlefield.

During the meeting, Melrose tentatively proposed that the US Navy needed meteorological and hydrological data for the southeastern coastal areas of the Republic of China, as well as the Japanese army's mine deployment situation.

Dai Chunfeng laughed, Zuo Zhong clapped his hands, and someone immediately presented a thick stack of information. When the members of the US delegation opened the information, they were shocked.

The document contains extremely detailed intelligence on the Japanese military in the southeastern coast of the Republic of China, Ryukyu, Annan, Burma, Thailand, and the Philippines.

The location of Japanese garrisons, the names and resumes of commanders, the level and quantity of technical equipment, and the patrol routes of the fleet are all intelligence that the US military urgently needs.

Looking at the surprised Melrose, Dai Chunfeng was in a good mood. He boasted to him that the Military Control Commission could get any intelligence the OSS wanted.

Melrose was skeptical about this, so he just laughed it off and turned the topic to the specific matters of Sino-US intelligence cooperation.

The United States hoped that the Sino-US Special Technical Cooperation Institute would quickly launch attacks and sabotage against the Japanese navy, army, businesses, mines, factories, warehouses and other military facilities in the occupied areas in order to weaken the strength of the Japanese army.

To achieve this goal, the Military Intelligence Bureau needed to provide the United States with all intelligence on the activities of the Japanese army and navy in China, and assist in solving food, accommodation and transportation issues for American personnel while in China.

The United States provided the KMT with much-needed weapons, radio equipment, meteorological equipment, and transportation and medical equipment, and helped the KMT train special operations forces.

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The content of the cooperation was not much, but it involved intelligence, operations, and funding. Therefore, Dai Chunfeng did not express his opinion on the spot, but only said that he would seriously consider it, and then started toasting again.

Melrose was very dissatisfied with this answer. He pointed out bluntly that after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, although the strength of the Military Control Commission had improved, it had been plagued by problems such as funding, equipment, technology, and personnel quality, and its development was slow.

If the Military Intelligence Bureau is willing to fully cooperate with the United States, in addition to the previously agreed conditions, the OSS can also provide special funds of hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. Most importantly, there is no record of this funding.

Melrose's words were equivalent to telling Old Dai that as long as the Military Control Commission cooperated with the United States, this money would be a personal benefit to him, and would be paid every year.

Halfway through his speech, Melrose turned to look at Zuo Zhong and other accompanying personnel, saying that officials at all levels of the Military Control Commission would also receive varying amounts of "special funds."

Americans are very generous. Dai Chunfeng winked at Zuo Zhong, who raised his glass and clinked it with Melrose's and asked a question.

"Mr. Mellors, I know you are anxious, but don't worry. Things need to be solved one by one. I want to know how you plan to train the special operations force?"

Mellors patiently introduced the American training courses, which mainly covered the use of American carbines, submachine guns, pistols and explosives, relevant knowledge of guerrilla warfare, etc.

After the training, the trainees will take an assessment. Those who pass the assessment will be issued American weapons, and those who fail will either be eliminated or retrained.

Dai Chunfeng and Zuo Dian nodded. Having advanced weapons does not mean everything will be fine. Training is essential, but there is one thing that must be made clear.

Lao Dai emphasized that during training, American instructors can only teach the use of weapons and cannot involve political aspects.

Melrose smiled bitterly in his heart. According to Washington and Dunnovan's plan, they could take advantage of the opportunity of Sino-US cooperation to gradually control the Military Control Commission and make the other side serve America.

With the strength of the United States, defeating the Japanese was only a matter of time. Controlling the Military Intelligence Bureau could help the United States gain intelligence advantage in post-war Asia.

Furthermore, the United States might have the opportunity to establish a puppet regime in the Republic of China and use it as a bridgehead for the capitalist world to fight against Red Russia.

All of this is inseparable from the support of the intelligence system, or in other words, inseparable from the support of Mr. Dai.

But the people of the Republic of China were not fools. They were obviously prepared for infiltration, and Dunnovan's plan ended before it even began.

It seems that we must put some pressure on the Military Control Commission to prevent them from getting too aggressive. Melos' expression became serious, and he slowly put down his chopsticks and asked.

"Mr. Dai, Mr. Zuo, has there been any result in the murder of an American citizen at the weather station?"

Lao Dai and Zuo Chong smiled at each other and thought, here they come, they are here to cause trouble, but you have a plan and I have a ladder to climb over the wall.

Suddenly, there was a muffled rumbling sound outside the window. The Americans thought they were being bombed by the Japanese and looked a little panicked.

"Gentlemen, don't worry." Zuo Zhong stood up to appease everyone, and then said to Melos with a smile: "Please wait a moment, we will discuss the case later, okay?"

Melrose remained noncommittal. He wanted to see what tricks the Republic of China were playing. Delaying time would not solve the problem.

After waiting for about half an hour, the door of the hotel's private room was opened and Gui Youguang walked in with heavy footsteps, followed by a group of young spies and... several corpses.

Melos looked at the bloody corpse, shocked beyond words. Then he felt so nauseous that he almost vomited.