Looking at Huang Baitao with a dull look on his face, Gao Hongming felt helpless.
We Chinese people have been influenced by the castrated Confucianism for thousands of years. We have always been strict at home and tolerant at home.
As soon as a telegram came over from the Americans, the entire Chongqing government became very busy, deploying troops and generals, and even brought the autumn wind to him.
But no one has ever thought of asking the US government for money.
Are these people not smart?
No
In China, who can be an official does not have nine minds?
But why has no one ever thought of asking Americans for money?
To put it bluntly, corrupt ideas are still at work. When it comes to problems involving foreigners, the first thing everyone thinks of is not how to make a profit, but how to satisfy the foreigners.
Of course, it will be different if the rescue target becomes one of your own. It would be strange if those officials don't peel off your skin.
He had to explain patiently: "Chief of Staff Huang, don't worry about the Americans not paying.
Think about it, they did it wrong in the first place.
They flew combat aircraft into our territory and landed without notifying us. For this reason, the Japanese even launched the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign against us, causing huge losses to our military and civilians.
Now they ask us to take something out of the fire for them. Is it difficult to give us some compensation?"
"This...this..."
Gao Hongming talked clearly and logically, but Huang Baitao always felt that something was wrong.
Seeing Huang Baitao with a hesitant look on his face, Gao Hongming added fuel to the fire, "Do you think this will work? Report it to Chief Gu immediately and report the information truthfully.
And I proposed to ask the U.S. government for five million U.S. dollars in operational funds. I only want four cities, and the rest belongs to you. What do you think?"
Good guy, the price has increased!
Huang Baitao thought about it again and again, and felt that what Gao Hongming said was not unreasonable.
Besides, this guy pretends that he won't work unless he's paid, so he really doesn't have any good ideas.
He finally nodded: "Okay, I'll report to Commander Gu right away."
Don't think that money can make the world go round is just a proverb. In fact, this sentence is timeless in any era.
In just two hours, the Chongqing government contacted the U.S. Ambassador to China, Gao Si, and informed him of Gao Hongming's request.
Early the next morning, a DC-5 passenger plane painted with the insignia of the U.S. government quietly landed at the No. 2 Military Airport in Liantai County under the escort of four P-40 Tomahawk fighter jets.
Two officers in U.S. Air Force uniforms carrying heavy suitcases got into the Willys Jeep that came to greet him, and then drove off.
In a small mountain village in Xitianmu Mountain, hundreds of kilometers away from Quzhou.
Doolittle, with shaggy hair and unkempt beard and a haggard look, stood by the threshold of a simple thatched house, looking at the drizzle still floating in the sky with a trace of sadness on his face.
Different from history, in this time and space, Japan attaches great importance to Doolittle and other pilots.
The Japanese base camp not only launched the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign for this purpose, but also conducted a large-scale search throughout Zhejiang.
Although Doolittle's No. 1 aircraft encountered some trouble when parachuting, it was generally smooth. Except for the bombardier, Sergeant Fred, who sprained his foot while parachuting, everyone else was fine and arrived in time.
Got help from nearby villagers.
But their luck seemed to have run out after the jump, even though the villagers notified nearby guerrillas that night and reported it to the local government, who then sent people to escort them to Quzhou.
From the map, West Tianmu Mountain is less than 300 kilometers away from Quzhou. It only takes three hours to drive there in future generations.
But now, it is extremely difficult to go to Quzhou under the layers of blockade and search by the Japanese army.
More than a month had passed, but they had only traveled less than a hundred kilometers. As the Japanese search team approached, they were trapped in a place called Xizigou.
Seeing that there was no way forward and no way to retreat, plus he was worried about the safety of other team members, one can imagine Doolittle's anxiety.
"Lieutenant Colonel."
A voice sounded behind him, and Doolittle turned around to find that it was the co-pilot, Lieutenant Richard Cole.
Doolittle suppressed the anxiety in his heart, forced a smile and asked, "Richard, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"I can't sleep." Richard walked over slowly, looked at Doolittle who had lost more than ten kilograms in more than a month, and comforted him: "Lieutenant Colonel, you don't have to worry too much, those boys will be fine."
"Richard, you don't have to comfort me." Doolittle patted him on the shoulder.
"The environment here is so bad, there isn't even a decent road. We just got help from the villagers because of our luck, but others may not have such good luck.
I was thinking just now, if we return to the United States after being rescued this time, how should I write letters to the mothers of those young men?
Do I have to tell them that I took away eighty of the best young men in this operation, but in the end only five of us came back? Will your son stay in a foreign country forever, and not even his body can be found?"
At this point, Doolittle's voice was choked with sobs.
"Hey……"
Richard suddenly patted Doolittle's shoulder hard and raised his voice, "Lieutenant Colonel, you have to know that everyone in this operation is voluntary.
All of us are prepared to lose our lives. It is completely unnecessary for you to blame yourself for this. This is war, do you understand?"
At the end of the sentence, Richard almost shouted, and his voice also alerted the others. Soon more than ten people came out, including the guerrillas who had escorted them all the way, and the rest of the No. 1 crew.
The first person to come out was the navigator Henry. He asked nervously: "Lieutenant, what happened?"
"It's nothing." Richard quickly showed a smile, "By the way, Henry, how is Fred?"
"The situation is not very good." Henry shook his head solemnly.
"Henry's leg is fine. The most important thing is that his high fever has not gone away, and we don't have any medicine. If Fred is allowed to continue to have a fever, there will be big problems."
"Damn it!" Richard angrily kicked the door frame aside, and then the pain made him grin.
Doolittle looked back, walked up to a middle-aged man wearing glasses and an obviously shabby Chinese tunic suit and asked: "Mr. Zhu Lisan, is there no news yet from the contact person you sent out?
"
Zhu Lisan shook his head. Just as he was about to answer, he heard a rush of footsteps outside, and a young man holding a worn-out old sleeve ran over. He shouted excitedly as he ran.
"Captain...Mr. Zhu, there is news, we have contacted Quzhou!"