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Chapter 1322 Lao Mei, do you want a plane?
Shancheng, No. 29 Luojiawan, Military Intelligence Bureau Headquarters.

Zuo closed a document and rubbed his temple wearily. After the Americans entered the war, his workload not only did not decrease, but became even busier.

Washington sent several telegrams a day, asking the Military Intelligence Bureau to provide information on the movements of Japanese troops in Southeast Asia, the whereabouts of the Combined Fleet, and the resumes of the main Japanese commanders. The only thing missing was asking what color loincloth Tian Huang wore.

If the first batch of 50 million US dollars in aid had not arrived, Zuo Zhong would not have bothered to pay attention to the other party. The Military Control Commission is not a turtle in a wishing well that can spit out intelligence by throwing a silver dollar.

But no matter how tired you are, you have to keep working on it, otherwise someone won’t agree, and the top leaders of the Democratic Party will definitely not agree. Everyone is dazzled by the US dollar.

After a while, He Yijun came in with a telegram and reported to Zuo Zhong: "Deputy Commander, there is an urgent telegram from Harbin Station."

Zuo Chong, who was reviewing the documents, paused. Harbin was the focus of the Military Control Commission, after all, it was the base of the Kwantung Army's water supply unit.

Because the beast Saburo Iguchi took too much penicillin, he was "honorably" retired after receiving a commendation. The water supply unit replaced its commander because of this. I just hope that the secret message has nothing to do with this matter.

Zuo Zhong put down his pen, took the telegram and started reading it. At first glance he saw the code name of the sender, Meihua and Guyou.

It turned out to be this "couple". Zuo Zhong smiled slightly and looked down. As he looked, his expression became serious.

The Harbin Station reported three pieces of information: a puppet Manchukuo pilot surrendered, there might be an underground party in the gang, and new Japanese Navy fighter planes appeared at Wanggang Airport. The Harbin Station asked the headquarters whether to attack Wanggang Airport.

The second piece of information was normal, as everyone in the world knew the underground party. But the remaining pieces of information were more valuable than the other, especially the third one.

It reminded Zuo Zhong of a Japanese fighter plane that had the upper hand in the early days of the Pacific War, the Zero carrier-based fighter, also known as the Zero Fighter, with the code name A6M.

The fully enclosed retractable landing gear, electrically heated flight suit, large-caliber machine gun, constant-speed propeller, super-hard aluminum load-bearing structure, wide-view cockpit and disposable auxiliary fuel tanks were all firsts for the Zero.

In fact, the Military Intelligence Bureau had long known that the Japanese army had such a cutting-edge fighter. In July 40, intelligence stations in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Gangcheng reported that a new type of fighter had appeared in the 7th Air Wing of the Japanese Army.

In September, a group of Japanese bombers bombed the mountain city under the escort of new fighter planes, and on the way back, they shot down more than 9 Guo army fighter planes in the Bishan area.

After the Bishan air battle, the Japanese authorities publicly broadcast the documentary "News No. 22", which showed footage of the Japanese naval aviation returning from an air raid on the mountain city, including footage of the Zero fighter.

But the Kuomintang government and the military high-ranking officials did not care about this at all, because the Kuomintang Air Force was weak, and it would be meaningless no matter how strong the Japanese Air Force was, because the situation could not get worse anyway.

There is a saying that as long as I am weak enough, you can't do anything to me. This is what it means.

But this is a different time. The Japanese army is now attacking Burma, and the last land supply line of the Republic of China is about to be cut off.

At present, the combat supplies, weapons and ammunition of the Guo army are barely enough to sustain for two months. The Shancheng Arsenal was forced to stop production due to lack of steel, and the Air Force's aircraft were also grounded due to fuel shortages.

During the third Battle of Shacheng, the front line asked the mountain city for artillery shells. What was the reply from the General Staff? The artillery shells were still in Rangoon waiting to be shipped!
Emergency telegrams requesting supplies from all sides kept flying to the mountain city. People in the Kuomintang-controlled areas were in a panic. Many merchants were selling off their stocks at low prices in preparation for fleeing, and some even proposed moving the capital again.

After the Pearl Harbor incident, those writers and poets who had just changed from peace advocates to war advocates kept jumping back and forth, writing about desperate resistance today and saving the country through roundabout ways tomorrow, leaving readers at a loss as to what to do.

All these chaos proved that the Nationalist government had reached the end of its rope. US President Roosevelt was well aware of the importance of the Nationalist government. In addition to economic assistance, he also ordered that an air route from India to the Republic of China should be opened regardless of any difficulties.

Once Zero fighters appeared on this route, the consequences would be disastrous, and the Nationalist government would completely lose the channel for transporting international aid.

The more Zuo Zhong thought about it, the more anxious he became, but then he thought, the ones who should be most anxious about the Zero fighter are not the National Government, but the Americans.

The strategy set by Washington was that the European army would take the lead, and the navy would take the lead in Asia. The first to experience the power of the Zero fighter was the rebuilt Pacific Fleet.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zuo Zhong felt that this matter could be manipulated. If successful, the Military Control Commission would not only be able to gain more benefits from the Americans, but also be able to destroy the Zero myth as soon as possible.

He thought of a countermeasure and rushed to Dai Chunfeng's office, reported to him the contents of the secret message from Harbin Station, and expressed his concerns about the air routes.

Old Dai's face turned heavy after hearing this. He certainly knew the importance of air routes to the National Government, but he couldn't think of a way to deal with Japan's new fighter planes for a while, so he had to turn his attention to Zuo Zhong.

"Shen Zhong, tell me what you think." Dai Chunfeng wanted to hear the opinion of his favorite disciple first.

"Okay, teacher." Zuo Zhong straightened his body slightly and told Lao Dai about his plan. The plan could be summarized in six words: get the Americans involved.

"Invite Americans to join in?" Dai Chunfeng seemed to be thinking about something, as if he understood Zuo Zhong's meaning.

Zuo nodded, his tone very sure: "The plan proposed by Harbin Station to attack the airport is only a temporary solution. The Japanese can rebuild the airport after bombing it. It is better to seize the planes directly." "The US Navy must be interested in the latest fighter jets of the Japanese, because it is a huge threat to their fleet."

"We can use the plane as a bargaining chip in exchange for the Americans' exclusive assistance to the Military Control Commission, such as funding, equipment, and even technology. I don't think Mellors will refuse."

Speaking of aid, Dai Chunfeng sat up straight immediately. The Americans were big spenders, and any little that slipped through their fingers would be enough for the Military Control Commission to feed themselves. This plan had great potential.

He suppressed his excitement and said calmly, "Oh? Shen Zhong, what are you going to ask the Americans for?"

Zuo Zhong did not hesitate and stated the conditions he had in mind: three million US dollars, a certain amount of weapons, ammunition, and various medicines.

Old Dai was shocked by the $3 million and kept muttering, "Isn't it too much? What if the Americans don't agree?"

After he said this, he realized that he seemed to have lost his composure, so he immediately regained his seriousness and ordered Zuo Chong to find Melos and facilitate this cooperation as quickly as possible.

Zuo Zhong held back his laughter as he left the director's office and drove to the Sino-US Special Technical Cooperation Institute to meet with Melrose.

On the way, he was thinking about the next plan and how to fool the Americans. When the car arrived at the cooperative, he immediately put on a smiling face.

Besides, when Melrose learned of Zuo Zhong's arrival, he immediately became alert. The American delegation was well aware of the cunning and cruelty of this Republic of China spy.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Because of the other side, dozens of naval soldiers died on the ally's territory. What is even more infuriating is that Washington chose to forget this incident and pretend nothing had happened.

Melos was determined that no matter what Zuo Zhong said, he would not believe it. However, ideals are full and reality is skinny. Zuo Zhong's first sentence made Melos forget his decision.

"Old Mei, do you want the Japanese Navy's new fighter plane?" Zuo Zhong held Melos' hand and threw out the bait: "As long as you ask, I promise to deliver the plane to you intact."

In Zuo Zhong's mouth, the new Japanese aircraft seemed like a toy that could be reached with just a stretch of the hand. Combined with his confident tone and relaxed demeanor, one could not help but believe it.

Gollum~
Melos swallowed his saliva. This was the latest fighter jet of a country's navy, and this country was the most hated enemy of the American people. If Zuo Zhong had not lied to him, he would have become a hero of the navy, no, a hero of the entire country.

But then he thought of an important question: Is it necessary to pay attention to Japanese aircraft?
A few years ago, the Japanese army and navy copied a number of American aircraft through trade and technology transfer, such as the Kawasaki Type 1 transport aircraft, the Tachikawaguchi transport aircraft, the Nakajima Type 9 land attack aircraft, and the Zero transport aircraft, all of which were products of Lockheed and Douglas.

Melrose, who was originally ecstatic, suddenly became depressed. A country that even imitated transport aircraft could not possibly produce fighter jets that were more advanced than the F2A Buffalo, F4F Wildcat, and P40 Tomahawk.

Zuo Chong guessed what Melrose was thinking and took out two documents and their translations at the right time. One was a telegram from Harbin Station, and the other was the Air Force's internal record and summary of the Bishan air battle.

Melos, who didn't want to talk anymore, took the document and quickly looked through it. There was nothing surprising about the first report, but the second report quickly caught his attention.

璧山空战当日，果军空军第3、第4大队从太平寺机场起飞了25架伊-15和9架伊-16战斗机，以总共34架战机对日本飞机进行拦截。

When the Republic of China aircraft group approached the Japanese bomber group, 13 escorting Japanese fighter planes suddenly dived down from an altitude of more than 7000 meters, and the battle began.

In the report, several fruitful pilots who participated in the battle recorded: At the beginning of the battle, they discovered a metal single-wing fighter that they had never seen before.

This new fighter plane had an extremely fast flying speed and a very small turning radius. When the Guoan pilots intended to lock onto the plane from the tail, the Japanese planes could easily get rid of the pursuit and turn at an extremely fast speed to catch up with the Guoan planes.

At this point, the handwriting of the Guojun pilots became extremely messy, which shows how much of a shock the scene at that time brought to them.

After only half an hour of air fighting, with an absolute numerical advantage of 34:13, 24 Korean Air Force planes were shot down, while only 3 Japanese planes were damaged. 24:0, such a huge disparity in the result shocked Melrose.

He did not think that this was caused by the low quality of the pilots of the Republic of China Army. Through these days of observation, he believed that the pilots of the Republic of China Army Army had at least half the professional ability of the US Army Air Force.

Even in terms of determination to defend the country, the Republic of Korea pilots are far superior to American pilots. At least American pilots will not fly their planes into the enemy's technical weapons.

So what was the reason that caused a group of pilots who were well-trained and had a strong fighting spirit to be beaten without any chance of fighting back? It could only be the gap in weapons.

Leaving aside the biplane I-15, the I-16 is by no means an outdated model. It first appeared at the Red Square parade in 1935 and was the absolute main force of the Red Russian Air Force for a long time.

If the Japanese could quickly defeat the Republic of China Air Force with new fighter planes, they would also be able to use them to threaten the Pacific Fleet.

Melos couldn't sit still anymore and asked Zuo Zhong quickly, "Tell me, what do you need?"