spy cloud

Somewhere in Yan'an.

Minister Li's lips twitched as he looked at the plaintext telegram that had just been sent from northern Jiangsu.

This was a telegram from Zhang Tianhao, who had just returned to China and was preparing to go to Chongqing to report on his work. In the past, such telegrams would have been sent with the utmost care.

To prevent the Japanese from finding out, things have actually turned out well. Zhang Tianhao sent it out directly in plaintext, and the whole world knows about it.

Minister Li couldn't help but twitch at the corner of his mouth as he wondered what his purpose was in doing this.

"Xiaoyu, what do you think is the purpose of your young master doing this?"

"He's just showing off. Would someone like him die if he didn't show off? It's so dangerous. He was assassinated by so many people in Chongqing last year. Does he want to do it again today?"

"No, Xiaoyu, what is his identity now?"

"Special Envoy, what's wrong?" Xiaoyu was also a little confused, but she still answered seriously.

"What was your status last year?"

"The commander of the Northern Jiangsu Army Group, so what? Isn't it the same thing? It's all him, isn't it?"

"You, you still don't understand what his official position is now?"

"This, this..."

When Xiaoyu thought of the official title of special envoy, she couldn't recall it for a moment, since Zhang Tianhao didn't seem to hold any official position other than the nominal special envoy.

It depends on how much power the higher-ups grant. If they have no power, they are just a figurehead; if they have power, they can achieve anything.

"do not know!"

"You know, he's already given up now. Didn't you receive the news from the international radio station? He went to Rome, Milan, and Paris for fun. Although they were all in German-occupied areas or allied countries, he has a good relationship with the Germans, or rather, he has a good relationship with Miss Martha, so it's natural that he can still have fun."

"It's that simple, but the country wants him to come back for a performance review. Don't you see the significance in that? Don't you see what Zhang Tianhao is trying to express?"

"Is it true that he is very disappointed with the government in China, especially in Chongqing, and would rather abandon northern Jiangsu than stay in China?"

"Yes!"

"Looks like you're not so stupid after all."

"They're not stupid at all, yet the minister criticizes them!"

Xiaoyu also directly acted coquettishly. After all, Xiaoyu looked to be only in her early twenties. Although she had a child, it did not stop her from acting coquettishly towards Li Bu.

"Hehe, you, you, it's all because your young master spoiled him."

"No way!"

"Alright. You can go back now. How is your young lady doing?"

"Miss has already gone back. What happened?"

"there is nothing!"

……

"Baka! Is Zhang Tianhao provoking us?"

Inside the Shanghai office of Tu Feiyuan, Tu Feiyuan nearly coughed up blood when he saw the plaintext telegram sent by Zhang Tianhao.

"General, should we take action against him this time?"

“We have to take action against him. He was in Europe, and we didn’t kill him. Now that he’s back in China, I want to see who he has left to protect in Chongqing.”

"Hi!"

"By the way, inform General Yingzuo to come over. We need to discuss how to deal with Zhang Tianhao. He's too difficult to kill. So many assassination attempts in Europe failed to kill him. Now that we're back, we need to come up with a better plan." "That's right!"

He thought for a moment, then sat down, picked up the new document, and continued to read it.

However, I just can't seem to settle down no matter what I do.

……

"Interesting, really interesting!"

The next day, the newspapers published Zhang Tianhao's report that he was going to Chongqing to report on his work, which directly led to a surge in newspaper sales across the country.

Who would have thought that Zhang Tianhao would dare to do such a thing during a performance review? I wonder who gave him such audacity.

Inside the teahouse, several people sat there, drinking tea while threatening others.

"Tell me, what is the purpose of this Special Envoy Zhang doing this? Is it to make us remember him?"

"Impossible. He's definitely not the kind of person to do that. He's so smart, how could he do something so pointless? Could he be declaring war on the Japanese, or provoking them?"

"That's possible. After all, who is he? Zhang Tianhao, the former head of the Northern Jiangsu Army Group."

"Yes, I guess this is a provocation, a silent provocation."

"I wonder if the Japanese will be so angry when they see this news that they'll be fuming, or even cough up blood. If that happens, it will be hilarious."

"Who knows what it will be like, but the Japanese will definitely be furious!"

"Ok!"

"By the way, what do you think Zhang Tianhao is trying to achieve by doing this?"

"Who knows!"

……

"What do you think Zhang Tianhao meant by inventing the coded telegraph?"

Inside the military intelligence office, the director looked at his subordinates, his voice tinged with anger.

"Director, Zhang Tianhao did this on purpose. He was just a special envoy who was supposed to give a report and then go back."

"But his actions have made things very difficult for us, really very difficult. After all, his influence is too great. His dismissal last time already caused considerable public outrage. If something happens to him here this time, it will be an absolute disaster."

"You mean that since Zhang Tianhao is coming, we have to protect him and prevent anything from happening to him?"

"Yes, we must protect him. There can't be any accidents, at least not while he's with me!"

"Why is that? We used to send people to deal with him, and now we have to protect him. Isn't that a slap in the face, and the kind of slap that makes us feel like we're being thrown to the ground and trampled on?"

"No, it's not just us who need to protect him; both the major bureaus will definitely send people to protect him as well. If he says just one thing, we will all bear the wrath of the entire nation. That's an indisputable fact!"

"Director, he's a living, breathing figurehead! What would happen if something went wrong with him? Wouldn't that be a huge problem?"

"If he were to say directly that he no longer wanted to fight because of the Party-state's distrust, suppression, and assassination attempts, it would be a nationwide disaster, truly!"

"You can imagine how serious the consequences will be then; I feel a little scared just imagining it."

The major also took a deep breath, a hint of fear on his face.

Meanwhile, the other attendees also looked rather grim. After all, it was the truth: Zhang Tianhao had been suppressed here and had even lost his official position. Now he was just an unnamed special envoy.

Despite being called a special envoy, he was really nothing. The best course of action now was to prevent Zhang Tianhao from spouting nonsense. They also understood that Zhang Tianhao wouldn't say such things easily; after all, he had a basic sense of the bigger picture. If pushed too far, he might actually say something, and then they'd have nowhere to turn for help. (End of Chapter)