cicada

Chapter 1515 Time to Mow the Grass
Several planes landed on the runway of the mountain city airport, and the military band next to the tarmac immediately began to play, making quite a lively scene with their music.

At the outermost edge of the welcoming crowd, Zuo Zhong and Dai Chunfeng stood together whispering to each other, surrounded by a group of sharp-looking young men with buzz cuts and wary eyes.

"Be careful, this intelligence coordination group may not have good intentions. You need to be careful in dealing with them."

"Yes, the student understands, and I suspect that Adams, the head of the coordination group, is the mastermind behind the recent series of events."

Upon hearing Zuo Zhong's speculation, Dai Chunfeng's expression turned serious: "Oh? What's this person's background?"

Old Dai had to take this seriously. Recently, the Americans had been making frequent moves, from recruiting Kuomintang intelligence agents to assassinating the deputy director of the Kuomintang intelligence agency. Naturally, he wanted to know the details of the culprit.

Zuo Zhong shook his head: "FIRC couldn't find Adams's file. They only know that his public identity is OSS Specialist, that he served in the Army with the rank of Colonel, and that they know nothing else about him."

Dai Chunfeng's expression was solemn. As a veteran spy, he knew what this meant. Adams must be a senior intelligence officer at OSS in charge of black operations, which was why the file was kept highly confidential.

This confirms Zuo Zhong's guess from another perspective; otherwise, given the capabilities of the FIRC, it would have been impossible for them not to find out the background of a US Army colonel.

After a long while, Lao Dai watched the plane gradually come to a stop and whispered a few words of advice: "Keep the surveillance going and collect evidence."

Faced with the Nationalist government's biggest financial backer, Dai Chunfeng chose to swallow his anger. If Adams were a Soviet citizen, the special operations team would have already "visited" him.

Zuo Zhong was not surprised at all. The comprador group's tendency to compromise was clearly stated in history books, and he immediately nodded to indicate that he knew.

At this moment, the plane carrying the US intelligence coordination team finally came to a stop, and the Republic of China Air Force ground crew pushed the gangway to the front of the cabin door, and the military band played even more enthusiastically.

"Hey, what's that music? It's actually quite nice."

Song Minghao, who was behind Zuo Zhong, peeked out and asked, "When it comes to counter-espionage, Old Song is an expert, but when it comes to music, he's completely clueless."

"The Radetzky March, composed by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss Sr., is used by Westerners exclusively during victory parades."

Listening to the rousing performance, Zuo Zhong gave Song Minghao a lesson in music knowledge. This was the kind of background that wealthy families had during the Republic of China era. They had a broad understanding of both Eastern and Western cultures. Ordinary people in the Republic of China era couldn't even afford to eat, so how would they know who Johann Strauss was?

However, to be fair, the Nationalist government officials responsible for welcoming the Americans with the "Radetzky March," a song symbolizing victory, were quite adept at flattery.

But this is bad luck. If he remembers correctly, the 7th Provisional Division was annihilated by the Northwest Army, and the military band attached to it played this very tune.

Huh? We can use this piece when Lao Dai crashes into the mountain to congratulate our cheap teacher on his successful retreat.

Zuo Zhong's thoughts wandered, his gaze falling on the slowly opening airplane door. A middle-aged white man with a high nose and deep-set eyes appeared at the doorway and waved to the Nationalist government personnel.

Almost instantly, the other person spotted Zuo Zhong in the crowd. Their eyes met across the distance, and then they smiled and nodded at each other.

"welcome!"

Upon the arrival of the American guests, a welcoming team composed of Boy Scouts and female high school students shouted slogans, and government diplomats also stepped forward to greet the U.S. special coordination team warmly.

Half an hour later, the coordination team went to the Huangshan official residence to meet with someone and inform the Nationalist government of the results of the Potsdam Conference.

It is worth mentioning that the process of this meeting was very tortuous. Roosevelt died midway through the meeting, Mr. Church lost the election, and both Britain and the United States replaced their representatives.

Ultimately, the bearded Russian leader, the newly appointed British Prime Minister Edley, and the acting US President Truman, after a closed-door meeting, finalized several decisions regarding the treatment of Japan and Germany, which were in reality a way to divide the spoils of victory.

During this period, the Potsdam Declaration, which ordered Japan to surrender, was also issued. The declaration stipulated that the Japanese army must surrender unconditionally, be disarmed, and that war criminals be tried.

The person already knew the contents of the announcement in advance, and upon receiving the official document from the US, immediately signed it without causing any trouble.

Meanwhile, Zuo Zhong, who was responsible for protecting someone at the venue, also confirmed one thing: the middle-aged white man who was looking at him was indeed Adams, but the two did not exchange any words during the meeting.

That evening, the Nationalist government held a grand banquet at the largest hotel in the mountain city. Meanwhile, the Nationalist army along the Yuehan Railway was engaged in fierce fighting with the Japanese army.

The four scenes—a brightly lit restaurant in the background, well-dressed gentlemen and ladies, soldiers fighting desperately in the front, and a battlefield strewn with corpses—create a brilliant satirical picture.

Zuo Zhong looked at the lively scene before him, occasionally smiling and clinking glasses with acquaintances who came to greet him, seemingly enjoying the atmosphere.

Suddenly Dai Chunfeng called out to him, and then led Adams closer and began to introduce him: "Shen Zhong, you should know this gentleman, Mr. Adams from the Office of Strategic Services."

To avoid embarrassment, Lao Dai did not mention the other party's rank, but simply referred to him as "Mr." Otherwise, Colonel Adams would have been required to stand at attention and salute when he met Zuo Zhong.

Adams smiled warmly and extended his hand in greeting: "Mr. Zuo, I've heard of you. You've done an excellent job in Cairo."

Zuo returned the smile with the same polite attitude: "You flatter me, Mr. Adams. I have long admired your reputation, haha."

Seeing that things were not going well, Dai Chunfeng, who was in the middle, decisively shifted the blame: "Shen Zhong, I'm leaving Mr. Adams to you. I still have to see some old friends." Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the crowd, leaving Zuo Zhong dumbfounded. His cheap teacher's legs were really quick.

Adams watched Old Dai walk away, then suggested that he wanted to find a quiet place to talk.

After a moment's thought, Zuo Zhong led the other party to a private room, while all of their entourage remained outside to keep watch.

In the bustling corridor, Chinese and American agents stared at each other, the atmosphere thick with tension.

It was only because the Kuomintang agents knew that the deputy commander's assassination was the work of the Americans, and the Americans also knew that the disappearance of the OSS Nanjing agent was inseparable from the Kuomintang, so it was very normal for the two sides to confront each other.

Inside the private room, Adams didn't beat around the bush. After sitting down, he stated his purpose directly, still using the same old Cannon rhetoric.

“Mr. Zuo, Miss Cannon should have relayed Washington’s conditions to you. I’ll reiterate them here: as long as you hand over the list of FIRC and Military Intelligence personnel, America will try its best to meet all your demands.”

"After this great war, the United States is now the most powerful country in the world. You and I both know that Yamashita is just our Asian proxy. Mr. Zuo, please consider carefully how to choose."

Compared to Cannon, Adams was more aggressive, giving no one a chance to object, which may be related to his personality or experience.

But Zuo Zhong was not frightened. After listening, he not only remained calm, but even had the mood to taste the pastries on the table.

Not to be outdone, Adams also reached out for the cream and ham pastry, but for some reason, he withdrew his hand just before touching the pastry.

Zuo Zhong noticed this scene. He looked at the pastries, then at Adams, and suddenly broke into a bright smile.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Adams, but the chef didn’t know you were Jewish and cooked the cream and meat together. This is not in accordance with your teachings, is it? It’s very rude of him.”

Adams' expression froze for a moment, and he coughed somewhat awkwardly. For thousands of years, the reputation of the Jews has not been very good in any country.

He never expected that with just a subtle movement, the people of the Republic of China would see through his true nature. Although this matter was unrelated to the mission, it would make the other party look down on him.

In a defection operation, once the target develops this kind of sentiment towards the person being recruited, the mission can basically be declared a failure.

Just as Adams had expected, Zuo Zhong smiled, got up to say goodbye, and walked out of the room without looking back.

Seeing that the target of his defection had left, Adams was too lazy to negotiate with the government officials anymore. He called his men back to the hotel where the coordination team was staying.

On the way back, his subordinate asked, "Sir, now that an assassination attempt has occurred, will the Military Intelligence Bureau investigate the Republican-era people who cooperated with us?"

Adams retorted, "Even if that General Zuo knew the identity of his collaborator, what could he do? Don't forget, he has no power to oppose America."

After a brief moment of frustration, Adams regained his composure. Perhaps reminded by his subordinate's words, he paused for a moment and then gave the order.

"Notify headquarters to activate the moles in the mountain city. We must make the people of the Republic of China understand that America can help them defeat the Japanese and drive them out of their current positions."

The subordinate shrugged and replied, "Yes, sir," but in his heart he was guessing that the man from the Republic of China must have offended the colonel.

As night deepened, Zuo Zhong sat in the car on his way back. Thinking of Adams' arrogant demeanor, he felt that this matter would not be over so easily.

The Americans' strategy for turning people into traitors consists of three moves: inviting them to dinner, beheading them, and taking them in as lackeys. Now that the other side has used coercion and enticement, and even staged an assassination attempt, their next move will only be more insidious.

Zuo Zhongxin's heart skipped a beat, and he patted Wu Chunyang in the passenger seat: "Chunyang, are you still listening to those journalists and writers who are cooperating with the Americans?"

“Yes, Vice-Captain,” Wu Chunyang replied, turning slightly to the side. “As per your orders, we are to monitor you 24/7.”

Upon hearing this, Zuo Zhong's eyes sharpened: "That's not enough. Go back and immediately arrange for personnel to secretly track and monitor key targets. I need to know their every move."

Wu Chunyang hesitated for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Do you mean the OSS wants to use these people?"

Zuo Zhong looked out the car window, his voice drifting into Wu Chunyang's ears: "Sometimes a writer's pen is more ruthless than a knife, because it kills without drawing blood. I don't know what our opponents will do, but as a commander, I must prepare for the worst."

Upon hearing this, Wu Chunyang's heart sank. If those intellectuals were pushed out as scapegoats, what would the Military Intelligence Bureau do? Would they really have to go on a killing spree?

Perhaps guessing his thoughts, Zuo Zhong in the back row spoke in an even colder tone: "If there are too many weeds in the garden, they need to be trimmed frequently. Chunyang, do you think I'm right?"

Through these words, Wu Chunyang seemed to see a bloody storm, and the car instantly became extremely quiet.

In a dark room at Temasek, Kuei Yu-Kuang was speaking seriously, while Margaret opposite him had an ever-changing expression and was filled with turbulent emotions.

(End of this chapter)