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Chapter 1320 Self-directed and self-acted
In the private room of the hotel where the American delegation was received, Melrose pointed at the bodies that were carried in and questioned Dai Chunfeng and Zuo Zhong: "You two, is this your sincerity?"

All of the corpses were wearing the uniforms of British and American naval officers. After being frightened, Melrose and others immediately protested and stood up and left.

Facing the accusation, Dai Chunfeng sat in his seat without saying a word. Zuo Zhong answered the question on his behalf: "I'm sorry, Japanese spies attacked the naval base shared by you and the British. Although we went to support you as quickly as possible, we still failed to prevent this disaster from happening."

Regardless of whether the Americans believed it or not, Zuo Chong believed it anyway. Looking at Melrose who was glaring at him, he spoke calmly.

"You don't have to be angry. Please allow me to tell you a story. The story is about a rancher who lent a cowboy a horse, and the cowboy was very grateful.

Unexpectedly, the horse was stolen by robbers, and the farmer said to the cowboy, since you can't pay the money, use your land as collateral.

The cowboy had no choice but to hand over the land, but the rancher went even further, not only squeezing out all the cowboy's property, but also interfering with the cowboy's life."

At this point in the story, Dai Chunfeng looked calm, Gui Youguang and Gu Qi, Wu Chunyang, and Song Minghao who came in later kept sneering, and the members of the American delegation looked confused.

Only Melos seemed to have done something wrong. Cold sweat slowly seeped out of his forehead and he didn't dare to look directly into Zuo Zhong's eyes.

Zuo Zhong's eyes were calm as he continued, "But the truth will eventually come out. The cowboy later learned that the robber was the farmer's man and all this was just a conspiracy."

Melos' head buzzed, blood rushed to his head, his hands and feet became cold, and he couldn't help but think of Dunnovan's speech at the OSS closed-door meeting.

"We must fight for the command of the expeditionary force, the post-war order in Asia, and even the establishment of a puppet regime in the Republic of China."

"The people of the Republic of China would never think that we are the murderers. I know you don't want to do this, but the interests of America are above all else. If the chairman doesn't obey, Washington can use this incident to put pressure on him."

"Don't worry, those Republic of China intelligence officers are just a bunch of reckless gangsters. They don't know that modern intelligence work is not just about killing people, but also involves more strategic considerations."

"I have discussed with the British. They will send special forces to cooperate with this operation. The navy will also send the most elite soldiers. We will definitely succeed."

Mellors really wanted to drag Dunnovan to the mountain city and let him see the gangsters he was talking about. If the Military Control Commission didn't understand intelligence work, what were their OSS?
Seeing that his purpose of warning the Americans had been achieved, Dai Chunfeng asked the young spy to carry the body out, asked everyone to sit down again, and signaled Zuo Chong to relay his words to Melrose.

"Today we are here only to talk about friendship, not conflicts. China and the United States are natural allies. Cooperation will benefit both sides, while conflict will hurt both sides."

"Let the past be the past, and look forward to victory. As long as we can defeat the Japanese, the rest can be discussed."

Melrose felt relieved after hearing this and sincerely toasted Dai Chunfeng. If Sino-US cooperation broke down because of him, he would have no choice but to resign.

After toasting Dai Chunfeng, Melrose hesitated for a moment and raised his glass to Zuo Zhong again. After this incident, he clearly realized Zuo Zhong's ability and knew that his participation was necessary in the intelligence work against Japan.

Don't hit a smiling person. Zuo Zhong did not refuse to clink glasses with Melrose, but his face was still cold. After all, five agents of the Military Control Commission had died.

The exchange of fire at the dock and the big drama just now were naturally arranged by Zuo Zhong. He had only one purpose, which was to use the Japanese to teach Britain and the United States a long lesson.

In fact, when Old Dai said that day that Britain and the United States were trying to compete for the command of the expeditionary force and wanted to place the OSS Far East branch in Shancheng, he guessed the identity of the murderer.

Based on the evidence at the scene and speculation, the murderer is most likely a white person, and the only white forces closely connected with the Kuomintang government are Britain, the United States, Germany and Red Russia.

Britain and the United States are allies of the Nationalist government and seem to have little suspicion, but if we eliminate all impossibilities, the remaining improbability is also the truth. Especially when Britain and the United States coveted the Expeditionary Force and attempted to use their intelligence agencies to infiltrate the Republic of China, there is a high possibility that the two countries are crying "stop thief".

Others may not know, but Zuo Chong knows that historically, Britain formed the first professional special forces "Commander" in 1940. Theoretically, the other side has the ability to destroy the weather station.

Although the United States does not have an established special forces unit, it is not short of similar commandos, such as the Rogers Commandos during the French and Indian War, the Swamp Fox Commandos during the War of Independence, the Mosby Commandos during the Civil War, and so on.

There is no need to say much about the strength of the elite troops formed by the two major powers. Using them to deal with the Republic of China is really an overkill.

They killed all the weather station staff not only because they were afraid that their height and skin color would reveal their identities, but also to silence them - the ones who leaked the internal structure and working hours of the weather station were none other than the dead American engineers.

Comparing the lives of a few engineers with strategic initiative, it is not difficult to choose which is more important. The decision-makers of any country will choose the latter, just like the Red Russia gave up the Sorge Group.

However, there is no point in finding the murderer. The Kuomintang government will definitely not investigate the matter further because the Republic of China needs the United States. Therefore, Lao Dai's way of picking up the case high and then putting it down lightly is understandable.

Things got to this point, and both the host and the guest felt a little awkward. The welcome banquet ended in a bad mood, and before it ended, the Military Control Commission handed over all the bodies to the United States.

Outside the hotel, corpses were scattered all over the ground. Gu Qi regretfully explained to the American delegation that these people were killed in a sneak attack by Japanese spies.

U.S. personnel examined the bodies and found bullet holes in the back of many of the victims' heads. This was a standard execution and could not have occurred in a firefight.

Melrose, who had already decided to "keep the peace", was completely enraged. He wanted to ask Dai Chunfeng for an explanation, but Zuo Chong leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Mr. Melrose, your people killed five of my men, and I will return 5 bodies to you. The case is over, and we will still be allies fighting side by side in the future.

I hope you and the British can remember this lesson. This is the first and last time. Otherwise, I don't mind using more corpses to remind you. "

After saying this, without waiting for Melrose to reply, Zuo Zhong and his party got into the car and drove away. The task of escorting the American delegation was left to others.

On the way back to Luojiawan, Dai Chunfeng leaned back in his seat, his eyes half-closed: "Shenzhong, you are impulsive. If the Americans pursue you, not to mention me, even the chairman can't protect you."

Zuo Zhong still looked respectful and replied softly, "Teacher, Westerners have always bullied the weak and feared the strong. Blindly compromising will only make the Americans look down on us. Occasionally showing a tough attitude will be beneficial to future cooperation."

Dai Chunfeng pondered for a long time and nodded: "Your remarks coincide with those of the Northwest. Unity can be achieved through struggle, but unity will die if it is achieved through compromise. We need both cooperation and struggle. These remarks are truly thought-provoking and thought-provoking."

Zuo Zhong was shocked by this. He pretended to be embarrassed and said, "How can a student dare to be compared with that person? What I just said was just a summary of my daily work."

When the master and the disciple talked about the top leaders in the Northwest, they expressed a lot of respect in their words. This is normal. When one reaches a certain position, there is no point in slandering the opponent.

In the dim carriage, Dai Chunfeng continued with Zuo Zhong's words: "That's a good summary. I mean the same thing. It's not a good deal to rush forward. At least in terms of intelligence work against Japan, the Americans still have to rely on our Military Control Commission."

After expressing his attitude, Lao Dai asked again: "Shen Zhong, what are your plans for the next step of intelligence cooperation and specific matters?"

Zuo Zhong's heart moved. What Teacher Bianyi said was interesting. He talked about cooperation but did not mention the Sino-US Special Technical Cooperation Institute. It was obvious that he had other plans. So he tentatively put forward a suggestion.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"Teacher, first of all, we need to set a premise for cooperation. The work of the Military Control Commission must be independent and we cannot rely too much on the Americans. Before they were gone, the brothers did a good job. It is always better to rely on yourself than on others."

Dai Chunfeng nodded repeatedly. These words really touched his heart. There could only be one helmsman in the Military Control Commission, and that was him.

Perhaps in the future he would hand over this heavy responsibility to Zuo Zhong, but now, he would not allow anyone to get involved in the core power of the Military Control Commission.

Noticing the change in Old Dai's attitude, Zuo Zhong had an idea in his mind, and immediately began to talk incessantly, with the main point being that he was an understanding person.

“Students believe that we need to take charge of the daily management of the Sino-US Cooperation Office. The Republic of China has its own national conditions. Melrose is an outsider after all. He does not understand or is not familiar with many things. We need your attention in this regard.

In addition, intelligence personnel who receive training at the cooperation institute must receive ideological and political education on a regular basis to prevent bad elements from colluding with foreign countries. The Americans are now powerful, and there are some things that must be prevented.”

Dai Chunfeng opened his eyes and looked grim. He valued loyalty the most when employing people. It didn't matter if they had poor abilities, but they would never betray their own people.

With a cold snort, he assigned a task to Zuo Zhong: "You are responsible for ideological and political education. Anyone who dares to sell out the country will be killed without mercy. Don't pay attention to anyone who comes to plead for mercy.

The Sino-US Cooperation Office is also handed over to you. I have too many things to do and don't have the energy to argue with the Americans. As the Chinese person in charge and the landlord, you should help Melrose and others."

Zuo Zhong agreed obediently. With Old Dai's order, the Sino-US Cooperation Office would not be able to cause much trouble. At most, Melrose would place some spies among the training staff, and then he would find a chance to send these people to the northwest.

Historically, Americans have used cooperation as a springboard to win over many people. One person was "seriously harmed" by it and almost retired with Darling.

After discussing how to guard against the Americans, the car arrived at Luojia Bay. The master and the apprentice separated downstairs. Lao Dai returned to the office, and Zuo Zhong called Gu Qi to ask about the follow-up arrangements for the firefight at the dock.

"Lao Gu, where is the new guy named Jiang Baochun?"

"He has already reunited with the head of the Japanese spy agency, and the other party has no doubts about his identity."

"Well, very good. The Japanese have planted a lot of spies in the National Government. Daxiong only has a grasp of a part of them. The rest depends on whether Jiang Baochun can infiltrate the grassroots of the Japanese spies and find more clues."

"Please rest assured, Vice Commander. Chunyang is very optimistic about Jiang Baochun and believes that he has the potential to become a senior intelligence officer."

"That's good. By the way, Jiang Baochun is from the Hanzhong training class, right? Most of the students in the Hanzhong class were sent to bandit areas. Why did he come to Shancheng? Is there any problem with his foundation?"

In response to Zuo Zhong's doubts, Gu Qi said that Jiang Baochun was very reliable, and Wu Chunyang investigated his background and past experience, and everything was normal.

After graduation, most of the students of the Hanzhong training class did sneak into the Northwest under the false identities of progressive youths, but a small number of students with outstanding grades were selected to be transferred to the headquarters.

Zuo Chong, who was just pretending, nodded slightly when he heard this. He had asked all the questions he should have asked. If something really went wrong, it would not be his responsibility.

Gu Qi didn't know that Jiang Baochun, whom he called "absolutely reliable", was whispering with someone at this time, and the eyes of both of them were filled with a light of hope called faith.

(End of this chapter)