Iron Cross

On October 6, 1942, when the Italian Air Force officer Lieutenant Colonel Mustagli once again flew the SM.75GA aircraft to a steady stop at the military airport outside Tokyo, he breathed a long sigh of relief: Even though it was the second time to perform such a The flight mission of more than 6,000 kilometers still left him exhausted. Fortunately, the first experience played a great role. Not only did he successfully complete the flight, the overall time consumption was reduced by nearly 2 hours compared with the first time. .

After leaving his seat and stretching greatly, Maximilian von Kohl, the intelligence adjutant of the Führer and newly awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel, stretched his limbs that were somewhat numb from sitting for a long time while observing the surroundings through the portholes. After a moment, he showed a satisfied smile and smiled at Mustakli and other crew members: "Many years have passed, but Japan seems to have not changed much."

The other person shrugged: "As long as the Americans don't come to bomb, it will be fine."

"Anyway, Japan is still a very charming place. I understood this when I was a diplomat here. Now I still have a different feeling when I visit the place again. I really envy you."

"Envy us?" Lieutenant Colonel Mustakri smiled bitterly, "It should be that we envy you. I didn't know how much hardship I suffered along the way when I flew here last time, but the Japanese ignored us and didn't bother us at all. Take it to heart. Your visit this time even alarmed their foreign minister. What a difference it is..."

Cole knew that Mustakli was telling the truth: this group of Italian crews had already made such a flight three months ago. At that time, they carried a large number of diplomatic and operational documents from Germany, Italy and Japan and set off via the Crimean Peninsula airport. Passing through Soviet airspace, we arrived at the Japanese-controlled Baotou Airport at 10 pm the next day, then refueled and diverted to Tokyo. This group of lovely Italians initially thought smugly that they were the pioneers of a new route from Europe to the Far East. Unexpectedly, the Japanese side was very cold to this. Half a month later, they flew the plane back and finally landed at Odessa Airport. Mustakli originally thought that this adventure story was over, and decided not to think about opening up the axis air channel again. Unexpectedly, he received news from Rome five days ago that the Germans were going to Tokyo asked him to perform another flight mission. Faced with two completely different welcoming attitudes from the Japanese, he was a little angry.

"How can I not envy you?" Cole said in a playful tone, "When I can only deal with these cold poker faces and say some insincere words, you can be carefree and innocent Japanese women. Shouldn’t I envy you for your children to have close contact and relax?”

As soon as these words came out, the crew members burst into laughter.

"I heard that Asian women are generally shy?"

"Japan is the only exception in Asia..." Cole said in an ambiguous tone that all men know, "This is a man's paradise. You will enjoy the most meticulous and thoughtful service, and live like a noble prince in the past. Special. Their kabuki and bathhouses are very pleasant. Although the girls there are not as passionate and unrestrained as Italian women, they are undoubtedly superior in terms of gentleness. The only thing I worry about is your health, don't return home. Can't stand up straight."

"Hahaha." A circle of lewd smiling faces surrounded him.

"Go have fun and don't save money for that Foreign Minister." Cole stepped out of the cabin and walked quickly towards Japanese Foreign Minister Masayuki Tani who came to greet him in person. He respectfully bowed in a standard Japanese style and said, "Meet your Excellency, Minister! "

"Hahaha, Mr. Cole, are you okay?" Although Masayuki Tani was Japan's foreign minister who just took office on September 17, the two are not strangers to each other at all: Masayuki Koh served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when Cole was serving in Japan. , the two sides had already crossed paths; when Gu Zhengzhi went to Europe to serve as the minister of Austria and Hungary, Cole also returned to China to serve. The two also had a relationship in Europe, so they could be regarded as familiar acquaintances, and they could also be said to be friends. , the conversation was naturally filled with warm greetings.

"I heard that Your Excellency just took office, so I came to visit immediately." Cole said, taking out a beautifully wrapped gift box from his briefcase and handing it over, smiling, "The head of state heard that you are very interested in collecting. , and I heard that we are old acquaintances, so I specially asked me to give you this gift. It is really disrespectful."

"What is this?" Upon hearing that the German head of state personally gave him a gift, Gu Zhengzhi's eyes lit up and he felt greatly honored. The surrounding entourage had a great impression of this independent envoy who spoke fluent Japanese and was knowledgeable.

"You can open it and take a look."

After opening it, everyone around them exclaimed. It was a gold-plated limited edition Browning pistol. It shone brightly in the sunlight and was very cute.

"Oh... why is this so embarrassing?" Gu Zhengzhi said insincerely while playing with the pistol fondly.

"We have been old friends for many years." Cole joked, "Does it mean that you look down on me now that your status is high and your official position has been promoted? Or should I keep saying, 'Please take care of me?'" Cole said while greeting. The secretary who was traveling with him at random took out cigarettes and distributed them, and the foreign ministry bureaucrats present each received two packs. The secretary explained sheepishly: "I came in a hurry this time, the flight is far, and the plane's load is limited, so the gifts are not many. Please take care of me."

The entourage around Gu Zhengzhi all laughed, thinking that this special envoy was very interesting and very humane: now Tokyo's material supply is tight, and imported cigarettes have been out of stock for a long time. Don't underestimate these two packs of cigarettes. They are good hard currency, better than the Japanese yen.

Gu Zhengzhi was very satisfied with Cole's series of performances. He felt that the other party had given him face in front of his subordinates, so he naturally had to return the favor, so he ordered his subordinates to settle the crew well - Hua girl was naturally indispensable. Now Lieutenant Colonel Mustakli and others finally understood why this special envoy Cole could be so successful in Japan. They couldn't learn this skill.

The Japanese side attached great importance to Cole's visit this time. Although the other party's official position was only a lieutenant colonel, his status was not trivial - he was the chief adjutant and imperial envoy of the German head of state, and in a sense, he directly represented the head of state. Therefore, not only did they arrange to stay in the best hotel, but they also sent the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the airport to greet him in person.

After the courtesy visit, Cole suddenly said, "Sir, I have a special mission this time. I need you to introduce me to your Majesty."

"You want to see His Majesty the Emperor?" Gu Zhengzhi was shocked. "Is there something that must be reported to His Majesty? I'm afraid the Prime Minister..."

He wanted to say that Prime Minister Tojo Hideki would be very unhappy. It is well known that Tojo was extremely power-hungry. He was not only the Prime Minister and the Minister of War, but also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for a period of time. He gave up the position of Foreign Minister some time ago. If the German envoy did not communicate with Tojo Hideki and went straight to see Emperor Hirohito, it would not only be inconsistent with the usual procedures, but also easily be resented by Tojo.

"I have been in Japan for many years. Don't I know what kind of character this Prime Minister has? It's just that the matter is of great importance, and I have to consider meeting your Majesty."

"Even I can't meet your Majesty casually. You must have a suitable reason to meet him."

"I have sufficient and necessary reasons." Cole was confident. "I not only have the full power issued by the government, but also brought a personal letter from the head of state. From the perspective of equal negotiations, I should be able to meet your Majesty in person."

"It's just... that..." Gu Zhengzhi said hesitantly, "Others are easy to talk about, but the Prime Minister... Why don't you try to communicate with him first? If he agrees, things will be done with half the effort. In the future, you will always have to deal with the Prime Minister. A too stiff relationship is not good for the diplomatic relations between the two countries, and it is even more detrimental to your work."

"I know this factor, but I can't tell him - say I am afraid that I will not be able to see your Majesty even more. In the future, I will shoulder the main mission of promoting diplomatic relations between Japan and Germany. The head of state and the foreign minister have given clear instructions, and my country's ambassador to Japan also needs to obey my command and arrangement. "Kohl said proudly, "I provide important news related to Japan's fundamental interests, and the prime minister will think it is not good for him based on his own interests. If you can be responsible for promoting this matter, based on my personal relationship with you, plus the gifts and recognition given to you by the head of state, it will fully demonstrate your status and value, which will be an additional benefit for your future consolidation of your status. Are you willing to be a foreign minister who is controlled by others and has no substance for the rest of your life? "

When Kohl accepted the mission assigned by Hoffman, he had carefully considered the relevant plans and decided to use Gu Zhengzhi, who he was most familiar with and had a friendship with, as a breakthrough. Hoffman expressed his full support and said that he would do anything as long as he could achieve his goal. So Kohl did not go around in circles with Gu Zhengzhi - the Japanese have a special art of ventriloquism, and he knew that the result of doing so would be that he would be confused and then confused, so he simply said it directly.

Sure enough, Gu Zhengzhi's face changed drastically after hearing these words. He never expected that Cole, whom he had not seen for several years, would give him such a sharp general right away. He smiled bitterly and said, "Mr. Cole, it's not that I don't want to help you, but there are too many constraints in our country, and many factors are intertwined and cannot be easily touched. You can be regarded as a 'Japan expert', so you won't consider this situation, right?" Cole knew that if he didn't give the other party some dry goods, a cautious bureaucrat like Gu Zhengzhi would not dare to speak. He thought about it and whispered some secrets in the other party's ear in the simplest language. Hearing the other party's face flushed and white, he seemed to have made up his mind in the end: "Okay, I'll do it, don't let me down."