cicada

Chapter 1351 Not good

June 1942, Baoshan, Yunnan Province.

A man in his forties walked into the compound of the Expeditionary Force Headquarters. He was carrying a half-new briefcase, and he nodded and greeted the staff passing by from time to time, with a fake smile on his face all the time.

In front of a row of bungalows, the man stopped, took out the key from his waist and opened the safe door. On the nameplate next to the door, the words "Secretariat Confidential Office" were clearly visible.

Walking into the room, there were four desks and a row of metal filing cabinets in the small office. The man put his briefcase on the innermost table, put on his sleeves, picked up a rag and started cleaning.

Soon, two women in Guojun uniforms pushed open the door. Seeing the man's actions, one of the younger women hurried forward.

"Director, please take a seat. Leave this to me."

As the young woman took the rag, the other woman opened the stopper of the thermos to test the water temperature, poured a cup of hot water for the man, and joked with a smile.

"Lao Cao, let Zheng He do this kind of small things in the future. Otherwise, if people see the chief of the expeditionary army's confidential office wiping the table, they will say that we, the subordinates, are ignorant."

The man rolled his eyes at her, but still handed the rag to Zheng He, whom the other person was referring to. He went back to his desk and sat down. He picked up the teacup and took two sips, then said something self-deprecating.

"I don't know how long I can remain the director of the confidential office. You guys should be more careful with what you say and do in the future, especially you, Lu Banqing. Don't be so sarcastic all the time."

Lu Banqing, who had a fashionable low-cut hair, was startled when he heard this, and quickly came closer to ask, "Everyone in the army knows your name, Director Cao Anguo. You are an old subordinate of Deputy Commander Du. Who dares to remove you from your post?"

Lu Banqing has outstanding looks and a modern lifestyle. Even across a table, Cao Anguo can still smell a faint scent of perfume.

Under normal circumstances, Cao Anguo would have made a few jokes, but at this moment he just smiled bitterly: "Who dares? Banqing, do you think I'm some big shot? My position as director ends with a word from my superiors."

Zheng He, who was wiping the table nearby, was dressed like a good girl. There was a clear stupidity in her eyes under her mushroom-shaped bangs. When she heard the conversation between Lu Banqing and Cao Anguo, she timidly interrupted.

"I heard from my father that the leader was dissatisfied with the war and the military's secrecy, so he appointed a new deputy director of the Political Training Department. I think his name is Zuo Zhong."

Lu Banqing's hand trembled, and he looked at Cao Anguo in disbelief. The name Zuo Chong was not a secret among those who were interested, and there were many different rumors about him.

Something like he enjoyed killing and couldn't eat unless he killed a few Japanese spies every day.

It is difficult to tell whether the news is true or false, but one thing is certain, this Deputy Director Zuo is by no means an easy person to deal with, he is a hungry wolf that will eat people.

The confidential office is closely related to confidentiality work. Now that the other party has become the deputy director of the Political Training Department, he might investigate those involved in confidential matters, and they will be the first to be affected.

Cao Anguo adjusted his sleeves and said helplessly to Lu Banqing, "You know what I am, so don't say I am Commander Du's old subordinate. Even Commander Du is troubled by this person's arrival.

Besides, the confidential office is called a key department, but in reality it is just doing clerical work, with no power at all, but there are many troubles. Look at my sleeves, they are dirty again."

The quality of today's ink is poor and it spreads very poorly. If you are not careful, the ink will easily stain your cuffs, so you need to wear sleeves when writing.

Lu Banqing smoothed her hair and sat down in her seat gracefully, her movements very charming. Cao Anguo smacked his lips and continued to sip his tea.

At this moment, a pretty boy with greasy hair and powdered face pushed the door open. He first stared at Zheng He greedily, then came up to Lu Banqing, took out a small box and showed it off, his tone was very frivolous.

"Banqing, look what this is, pearl cream from Nanyang, this is a good thing my uncle brought from Shancheng, come, let me help you rub it on."

Lu Banqing leaned back, raised her eyebrows, and scolded in a delicate voice: "Fang Chengze, don't think I don't know what you are up to. If you say something frivolous again, I will report this to my superiors. The new deputy director Zuo will not tolerate any sand in his eyes."

Fang Chengze's face froze, and he took two steps back, but he still said stubbornly: "The man with the surname Zuo is a major general, and so is my uncle. That's why I am not afraid of him."

This made Lu Banqing sneer continuously, Cao Anguo also shook his head secretly, only Zheng He blinked her big black eyes, as if she didn't understand anything, but if you look closely, you can find that there is a trace of mockery in her eyes.

Fang's uncle was just a division commander. Although he held the rank of major general, that was a positional rank, and was far from the rank of major general officially appointed by the Military Commission.

Not to mention that Zuo Zhong is the leader's confidant. As a mere commander of a ragtag division, he probably doesn't even have the qualifications to speak loudly in front of the other party, let alone put on airs.

Seeing Fang Chengze's embarrassed expression, Cao Anguo laughed and said, "Okay, Chengze, go to the headquarters and deliver today's telegram. Banqing, take out yesterday's secret file."

Hearing the director calling him, Lu Banqing chuckled twice, stood up and walked to the filing cabinet with a gust of fragrance, turned the password dial, took out a few documents and handed them to Zheng He.

Zheng He's face was solemn. He picked up a pen and wrote down the name, time, and information of the person in charge in the registration book. Then he began to write the secret message by referring to the code book.

During this period, everyone deliberately kept a certain distance from her, including Cao Anguo.

After the secret message was completed, Fang Chengze also signed his name in the register, and then reluctantly took the sealed file bag marked with top secret to go to the headquarters.

This is the working process of the confidential room. Confidentiality officer Lu Banqing keeps confidential files, confidential officer Zheng He drafts telegrams, correspondent Fang Chengze picks up and delivers documents, and director Cao Anguo is in charge of the overall situation and is responsible for supervision. At this time, Cao Anguo and others were not the only ones who were concerned about Zuo Zhong's arrival at the expeditionary base. In a certain office, a group of people were talking in low voices.

"What's going on? Why did you invite Zuo here? Do you know how difficult that guy is?"

"Brother, what do you mean by that? It is our unanimous decision to shift the blame to the Japanese spies. Do you want to jump ship?"

"Well, let's talk it over nicely. This plan is good, but I didn't expect the chairman to send Zuo Chong to the front line."

Seeing that a dog-eat-dog drama was about to unfold, a man at the top slammed the table and made corresponding arrangements, either to cheer his subordinates or to himself.

"Okay, stop scaring yourself. What's wrong with Zuo Zhong? Just clean your ass. I don't believe Zuo Zhong can find any problem."

"Brother, you are right. People with the surname Zuo are not gods!"

"It's the best, it's the best"

Half a day passed quickly, and the people from the confidential office came to the cafeteria to eat. The officers at all levels, who were rarely seen in the past, were now crowded in front of the door as if waiting for something.

Zheng He stood in the crowd and waved to a major general. The major general looked at him with a fierce face. Zheng He stuck out his tongue and pulled Lu Banqing to the back.

"Here we go, here we go, hurry up and line up."

At the command of the team, more than a dozen senior officers immediately straightened their appearance, stood in two rows according to their rank and position, and looked straight ahead with their heads held high.

Soon, several luxury cars drove up to the cafeteria and stopped. Amid the guards' dazzling security measures, Commander Du and a smiling young man walked out of the car.

The moment they saw the two men, everyone present saluted. They didn't know the young man, but since he could chat and laugh with Commander Du, he must be Zuo Zhong, the protagonist of this welcoming ceremony.

Officer Du was not good at socializing. Seeing this, he turned around and said calmly, "Deputy Director Zuo, since you have come from afar, I should welcome you all. However, the battle on the front line is difficult, so I can only let you eat in the cafeteria first."

Zuo Zhong, who was taken to the cafeteria right after getting off the plane, smiled and said sincerely: "Commander Du, Zuo is also a soldier, so I should put national affairs first. The cafeteria is very good."

Song Minghao and Gui Youguang, who were accompanying them, nodded in agreement. The army was different from the mountain city. When you were in someone else's territory, it was better to keep a low profile, otherwise you would have no place to complain if you were shot.

Commander Du was somewhat surprised by the performance of Zuo Chong and his companions. He had thought that all spies were arrogant and insolent, and it was not an exaggeration to say that they were good-for-nothings. He did not expect that the Military Control Commission was so sensible. That would make things easier for him.

Commander Du's calm face finally showed a hint of smile, and his attitude became a little warmer. He walked up to the officers who came to greet him and introduced everyone's titles to Zuo Chong.

Not everyone could remain calm like Commander Du when facing the leader's confidants. For example, a division commander named Fang was extremely flattering and bent very low while speaking.

When introducing the major general who knew Zheng He, Zuo Zhong stepped forward, grabbed his hand and said affectionately, "Brother Zhuzhai, hello. Before leaving, Deputy Director Zheng asked me to bring you a letter from home. Let's have a good chat after lunch."

This person is Zheng Tingbing’s cousin, Zheng Tingji, the major general infantry commander of the 200th Division of the Expeditionary Force and the commander of the th Regiment. His name is Zhuzhai and his nickname is Chongsheng. He is the future leader of the Gongdelin Bathing Group.

There are several famous lines in Rebirth Brother:

"It's too early to die (take a bath), everyone line up, the first team will die first, and then the second team will die!"

"You guys go die soon", "You die first, and he dies later."

Although he speaks incoherently, he is a rare and powerful general who once killed the Japanese brigade commander Masao Nakamura at Kunlun Pass.

However, Brother Mengjiang is not in a very good mood now, especially after seeing the wary eyes of his colleagues around him.

No matter which army you are in, making friends with spies is a big taboo. Zheng Tingji cursed his cousin and Zuo Chong in his heart, but nodded slightly on the surface.

Commander Du didn't take it seriously. He raised his hand to invite Jun Yi and his group into the cafeteria. After a quick meal, everyone left. Zuo Zhong, Commander Du, and Zheng Tingji found a meeting room to sit down and have a detailed discussion.

As a professional soldier, Commander Du did not beat around the bush and directly asked Zuo Zhong how to carry out counter-espionage work and whether he needed the cooperation of the superiors' department.

Zuo Zhong also came straight to the point and stated his plan: "My first priority this time is to determine whether there is any connection between the defeat and the Japanese spies. Only after this is determined can the counter-espionage work be carried out."

Commander Du and Zheng Tingji frowned. The other party's implication was that there might be other reasons for the defeat. Whether it was due to improper command or dereliction of duty, that would depend on the conclusion of the Military Control Commission.

It’s not good, it’s very bad! Commander Du and Zheng Tingji looked at each other, picked up their teacups silently and said nothing more.