cicada

Chapter 1476 Good guy

At the beginning of January 1945, Gui Youguang reluctantly led his elite special operations team to Southeast Asia. They were about to carry out a special mission—to blow up the River Kwai Bridge, a crucial node of the Burma Railway.

This was another joint operation by the Allied forces, initiated by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and the UK Special Operations Executive (SOE), and implemented by the FIRC.

The reason for blowing up the bridge was that it was a vital link in the railway from Siam to Burma and a key part of the Japanese army's land supply line.

With the successful advance of the US Navy in the South Pacific, the elimination of the Japanese army in Thailand and Burma was also included in the Allied plans, so the Thai-Burma Railway and the River Kwai Bridge became the key targets of the attack.

At the same time, the Republic of China Expeditionary Force and the Republic of China Army stationed in India met in Mangyou, Burma, and the Nationalist government reopened the Burma Road.

By destroying the Bridge on the River Kwai, the Allies could cut off the Japanese supply lines, helping the anti-French coalition gain the initiative in the Southeast Asian theater (and incidentally, save face for the British).

Gui Youguang didn't actually want to go on this trip, not because he was afraid of fighting. As a professional agent who had carried out missions behind enemy lines many times, he didn't know what fear was.

His unhappiness stemmed from the fact that this mission essentially cleaned up the mess for the British and Americans, as the Allies had previously attempted to blow up the River Kwai Bridge twice, both of which failed.

As for the reasons for the failures, one was that the wrong targets were bombed, and the other was that British prisoners helped the Japanese.

Out of a sense of honor as officers, the British prisoners of war who participated in the construction of the bridge made it incredibly sturdy. Allied agents who went to blow up the bridge used hundreds of pounds of explosives, but they still couldn't destroy the River Kwai Bridge.

When Gui Youguang learned about this from Zuo Zhong, he thought he had misheard. But when he realized it wasn't a joke, his face turned ugly.

How could there be such stupid people in the world? Building bridges for the enemy is one thing—after all, one has to bow one's head when under someone's roof—but to go to such lengths for the sake of some worthless honor, the British must have something wrong with their brains.

Zuo Zhong naturally understood Gui Youguang's idea, so in addition to blowing up the bridge, he also assigned the other party a top-secret mission.

A few days later at Shancheng Airport, Zuo Zhong watched the plane carrying Gui Youguang and the special operations team fly away into the distance. Just as he was about to turn around and return to headquarters, a junior agent suddenly ran over to deliver the order.

"Deputy Commander, the Director has ordered you to go to the official residence immediately to attend an emergency military meeting."

Zuo Zhong knew in his heart that the meeting must be related to the upcoming large-scale bombing of the Japanese mainland by the Americans, and that General LeMay had decided to repeat the Great Fire of the Forbidden City in Tokyo.

As early as after the Honolulu bombing, the U.S. Navy began bombing Tokyo, but due to the great distance, the bombing was mostly symbolic.

It wasn't until the B-29 appeared that the Americans finally had the ability to carry out substantial strategic bombing. Unfortunately, the hit rate of high-altitude bombing was less than 10%, so the effect was not negligible, but it was better than nothing.

The Americans were very satisfied with the effects of the new incendiary bombs after the previous bombing of Jiangcheng, so it was inevitable that they would use incendiary bombs to "greet" Japan and Tokyo.

When it comes to murder and arson, the Japanese are number one, with only Britain and the United States daring to rival them.

What the Americans did to Native Americans back then was no less than what the Japanese did, and perhaps even worse.

Sure enough, when Zuo Zhong arrived at the official residence's conference room, Li Mei and a group of American generals were telling someone about the plan to bomb Japan, and the person listened and nodded repeatedly.

"Your Excellency Wei, we plan to deploy three to four hundred bombers to conduct a sustained carpet bombing of Tokyo using napalm."

"Judging from the effects of the air raid on Jiangcheng, Tokyo will be engulfed in flames, causing at least 100,000 casualties."

Upon hearing the first sentence, the man's face lit up with excitement, but upon hearing that 100,000 people had been killed or wounded, he frowned.

If, as the Americans claim, the bombing could kill hundreds of thousands, wouldn't the Republic of China and Japan be locked in a life-or-death struggle? What if the underground Communist Party gained power while the two countries were retaliating against each other?
Zuo Zhong walked into the conference room and quietly sat down next to Lao Dai. He wasn't surprised at all by Lao Dai's reaction.

This person never intended to completely offend the Japanese. After the Sino-Japanese War ended, the other side openly recruited Japanese war criminals with blood on their hands to serve the Guo army.

On stage, Li Mei, with a pipe in her mouth, finished introducing the plan and then made a request to someone.

"Your Excellency, I hope that your intelligence personnel in Japan can guide the bombers to help us accurately destroy Japanese military, industrial, and government facilities in the first round of bombing."

Upon hearing this, someone perked up, thinking, "Precise destruction is good, to avoid 'harming the innocent'," and immediately agreed, naming Zuo Zhong.

Has Shen Zhong arrived yet?

"The humble position is here!"

Zuo Zhong suddenly stood up, straightening his back, but inwardly he was cursing wildly. Bombing guidance was no easy task; it was not only dangerous but also easy to expose oneself.

Mainland Japan has very strict security controls, with secret police and military police everywhere, making it impossible to create chaos by setting fire to a castle like in the city.

Moreover, once the air raid siren sounds, ordinary people are strictly prohibited from going out, using lights, or approaching windows. How could the Military Intelligence Bureau guide American bombers? With their heads?
But this person didn't care about any of that. He only wanted to bomb the Japanese to a limited extent so as not to damage the diplomatic relations between the two countries, so he assigned the task to Zuo Zhong.

"Your Military Intelligence Bureau must fully cooperate with the actions of the American allies. You must not allow the bombs to land in residential areas. The war is important, but international perception is also very important. You must remember this."

Zuo Chongqiang suppressed his anger and loudly replied, "Yes," before slumping back into his chair, sulking. This was unreasonable; could he possibly order bombs not to be used against Japanese civilians? The Kuomintang officials present had varying reactions. Some, like Zuo Chongqiang's former principal Zhu Liuxian, secretly shook their heads; others, like Xu Enzeng, were gloating.

But neither side is prepared to oppose it. They know very well what kind of person someone is, and opposition would be pointless.

To everyone's surprise, Li Mei actually spoke up for the Military Intelligence Bureau. She frowned slightly and refuted someone's order without any politeness.

"Sir, I must remind you that we are using incendiary bombs this time. No one but God and the devil can control where the fire burns."

Li Mei's voice rang out in the spacious conference room. The translator looked troubled and whispered his words to someone.

Most of the KMT officials present had received Western education and could generally understand English. Upon hearing this, they couldn't help but look surprised and silently watched the spectacle unfold.

Under everyone's gaze, the person's face flushed red, and finally, he forced a smile and nodded.

"Alright, General Li Mei's suggestion is very pertinent, I agree with it. Meeting adjourned. Chunfeng, Shenzhong, you two stay behind."

The meeting ended, and the Americans strode away, while the other participants also left in twos and threes. Zuo Zhong and Dai Chunfeng followed someone to the rest house.

Upon entering the office, the man immediately flew into a rage, spewing out all sorts of profanities from his hometown. Finally, he asked Dai and Zuo what the purpose of the United States' bombing of Japanese civilians was.

Dai Chunfeng gave Zuo Zhong a wink, and Zuo Zhong reluctantly took a step forward. As a student, he had to take the blame for his teacher.

"Your Excellency, I believe the Americans do not want to see a tacit understanding between China and Japan. After all, the Pacific Ocean is too small to accommodate two powerful nations."

Zuo Zhong subtly flattered someone, saying that while the Republic of China was indeed not a powerful nation, if China and Japan were to cooperate after the war, it would pose a significant challenge to the United States' dominance in the Pacific.

As for war between the two countries, when national interests are at stake, former enemies can become friends, and current friends can become future enemies.

Someone nodded with satisfaction and said in a high-pitched voice, "That's right, that's also my judgment. So we must not let the Americans succeed. You must do your best to avoid harming the Japanese people."

Damn, how come we've come back to the same topic? Zuo Zhong looked cautiously at his dear teacher, and Lao Dai had no choice but to speak.

"Leader, incendiary bombs are indeed difficult to control. Why don't we secretly leak the information to the Japanese and make them more vigilant?"

Hmm? The man fell into deep thought. This was a good idea. It satisfied the Americans' demands without causing a complete breakdown in relations with the Japanese. With that thought, he turned his gaze to Zuo Zhong.

“Leader, our Military Intelligence Bureau has many informants within Japan, and we can use them to pass on intelligence.” Zuo Chong quickly agreed.

At that moment, the clock in the room began to chime, and someone finally made up their mind and approved Dai Chunfeng's plan.

But then he asked another question: "Chunfeng, I heard that there's been a lot of commotion in the Northwest lately. Does the Military Intelligence Bureau have any relevant intelligence?"

Dai Chunfeng and Zuo Zhong immediately broke out in a cold sweat. The reason was simple: the momentum in the Northwest was not just large.

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Dai Chunfeng slowly moved back a few steps, afraid of being attacked with spittle. Zuo Zhong had no choice but to bite the bullet and give his report.

"Leader, according to field investigations, the Northwest has developed its strength very rapidly after several years of fighting against Japan."

"Currently, there are 19 so-called base areas, with a population of 10 million under their control, a total military force of approximately 910,000, and a militia of over 2 million."

The man stared wide-eyed, stunned for a long time, before finally exploding and jumping up to yell and curse.

"You're ruining the country! Dissidents are practically holding a knife to my throat, and you're still hiding things from me! %^&%^&%^"

Zuo Zhong automatically blocked out the profanity, took out a handkerchief to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. Damn it, what does this have to do with their Military Intelligence Bureau? They exploit people on one hand and care for the people on the other. Even a fool knows who to follow.

After venting his anger, someone pointed at Dai Chunfeng and Zuo Zhong and loudly ordered, "Gather intelligence on the Northwest as soon as possible. I need to know all of their movements."

Dai Chunfeng breathed a sigh of relief, this hurdle was over. In his relief, he mentioned two other things, which Zuo Zhong had not known before.

“Principal, you don’t need to worry. The Americans have agreed to allocate Lend-Lease supplies to help the Nationalist government build and train mechanized troops.”

"If the plan goes smoothly, in three months, the Kuomintang army will have a total of 13 corps and 39 divisions of American-style mechanized troops, making it easy to deal with the underground party."

"US Ambassador Hurley also intends to publicly state that Washington will only support the Nationalist government, and those redheads won't be able to make much of a splash."

The words "American mechanized forces" acted like a shot of adrenaline, instantly brightening someone's expression as they began to fantasize about a steel torrent attacking the border region.

With his head down, Zuo Zhong pressed the stop recording button through his pocket with his right hand. Old Dai is such a good guy; the intelligence has arrived.

The two bombings are a story