After a whole afternoon of haggling, the two stubborn old men came to an agreement. Stilwell pledged his full support for the joint air offensive of Chennault's Fourteenth Air Force and Bissel's Tenth Air Force, and the two generals would give Stilwell's full support in opening up the Yunnan-Burma Highway.

Moreover, Ron ran out of another bait: the land frog jump. That is to say, at that time, Stilwell's two-way army (the Indian Army and the Expeditionary Force in China) made a posture of overwhelming the border, attracting the main force of the Japanese army to move forward. Then through airborne operations to seize the airfield in the rear of the Japanese army, and then use the powerful airlift capabilities of the US military to airlift an elite unit to cut off the enemy's supply and retreat. If this vision were to come true, Japan's defenses throughout Southeast Asia would collapse with it. And the person who fought this battle will definitely go down in history.

It was a temptation that Stilwell could not resist. Stilwell knew that although he had a good relationship with General Marshall, it was not fun to get a good position in Europe. And in China, it's really not easy to make some achievements, and there are people everywhere who are singing against you. Chang Kaishen obviously did not intend to rely on his own counterattack to drive away the devils, and waited for the Americans to deal with Little Japan, and would not take the initiative to attack unless the devils came to the door. When he ran into him, Stilwell's ideas of a major counteroffensive were all in vain. Stilwell hoped that the squadron would be adapted according to his ideas -- just like the Indian Army, and he hoped that the squadron would be truly nationalized, and he even hoped to get the command of the entire squadron in order to take the initiative to launch an offensive campaign against Little Japan and drive them out of China. However, this kind of intention has violated the interests of too many people, and it can even be said that his request is actually to dig up the root of the lives of a large number of people, including Chang Kaishen. Therefore, the contradiction between him and the Nationalist Government is getting bigger and bigger. In order to force Chang Kaishen to cooperate, Stilwell began to rely on his control of American aid materials, and frequently contacted other forces other than Chang Kaishen, and he promised to provide them with all-American equipment, as long as they were willing to obey his command and honestly resist the Japanese. Among these forces were Yunlong, the Gui faction, and even the Eighteenth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.

This move further angered Chang Kaishen, and now their relationship has fallen from cold to hostile.

However, with the distribution of U.S. aid materials in his hands, Stilwell believes that he can still get Peanut to agree to send troops to open the China-Burma highway.

However, during the campaign, the policy of skewing the distribution of materials in favor of air power was bound to affect China. You know, at that time, almost all the medicine and fuel that China needed, more than 90 percent of steel products, more than 80 percent of ammunition and even paper, had to be supplied through the Hump route. Any move that affects the capacity of the Hump route could have an impact on the Nationalist government, especially during a period when Stilwell and Peanut were so opposed, which would increase the Nationalist government's doubts and cause unnecessary trouble for the conduct of the campaign. So, Stilwell had to do the last thing he wanted to do -- coordinate with the Nationalist government.

"Damn it, to convince those Chinese, we have to reveal to them some of the contents of the campaign plan. However, as you all know, the ability of those Chinese to keep secrets is really doubtful. Although our men are teaching them by hand, their intelligence agency is still infiltrated like a colander. Even to this day, they still don't understand the difference between intelligence agencies and the underworld. It's reassuring to reveal your plans to them. Stilwell complained to Chennault and Ron.

Chennault's sense of the National Government was not as bad as Stilwell's. After all, it was the Nationalist Government that gave him, a depressed lieutenant colonel who was forced to retire early, a chance and made him a hero. In this sense, Chennault was full of gratitude to Mr. and Mrs. Chang. Moreover, as an officer of the air force, and one of the actual founders of the Chinese Air Force, he can also get the full support of the Chinese Air Force, and even be able to directly command it. What could he be dissatisfied with? For Chang Kaishen, the obedience of the Air Force to Chennault will not have much impact on his status, because the Chinese Air Force is too small.

But Chennault knew that although Stilwell's words carried a lot of personal emotions and exaggerated in some places, his criticism of China's intelligence agencies was not entirely unreasonable, and to be honest, he had been in China for much longer than Stilwell, (he had been in China since the war of resistance had not yet broken out), so he had seen many more cases of cheating caused by the negligence of the intelligence services than Stilwell. Stilwell's concerns are not entirely unfounded.

"Why don't we make a brief version of the plan and show them the key stuff?" Ron said. Seeing that the two generals were looking at him, he added:

"In fact, this plan is basically a conspiracy, even if the Japanese know about it, what they can do is very limited, at most it is just to avoid fighting, but if they do this, not only will it be equivalent to giving up the interception of transport aircraft, but it will also make normal training impossible, if it continues for a period of time, the level of their pilots will be difficult to guarantee. This is also unacceptable to the Japanese. ”

Indeed, this plan is basically a conspiracy, and it does not rely on misleading and deceiving the enemy, but on the superiority of Hongguoguo's strength. Relying on such a strength advantage, it pressed up with dignity and made the enemy unavoidable.

"That makes sense," Chennault agreed, "that even if Japan were to know about this plan, it would not cause us defeat, at most, it would only make the fruits of our victory a little smaller." However, it is best to hide from the Japanese. ”

"So let's discuss what information we can tell the Chinese."

……

"Sir, Black Butterfly has sent new information." In an office of the Japanese Army's Special High Branch in Nanjing, China, a second lieutenant officer was handing over a piece of information to a major officer surnamed Kuroshima.

Kuroshima opened the dossier and began to read. Then he took out some of the information that Black Butterfly had sent back earlier and put it on his desk together.

"A colonel officer named Ron came to the Fourteenth Air Force as a special envoy...... The 14th Air Force War Room was unusually busy...... Chennault and Ron went to visit Stilwell and returned the next day ......"

"Ozawa-kun, have you figured out the identity of that Ron?"

"Sir, I've found some information." Ozawa took out another case file and handed it to Kuroshima.

"Well, ace pilot...... Excellent expert in air combat tactics...... Responsible for a highly classified flying team in the United States...... He suddenly appeared in Kunming, there must be something wrong here. Kuroshima tapped the desktop with the pencil in his hand while looking at the case file, "Obviously, the Yankees are going to make a big move, but I don't know which target this action is aimed at......

Kuroshima pondered for a while, raised his head, and saw that Ozawa was still standing in front of him waiting for his order, so he waved his hand and said, "If you have nothing to do, you can go about your business...... Well, inform Black Butterfly and get as much more specific information as possible. ”

……

With Stilwell's support, the three men split up, with Stilwell going to explain the situation to the Chinese side, Chennault to obtain the understanding of the Chinese Air Force, and Ron to return to India to coordinate the 10th and 14th Air Forces.

Stilwell didn't like to see Chang Kaishen, and Chang Kaishen didn't like him either. So he didn't go directly to Chang Kaishen to explain the situation, but first went to visit the chief of staff of the squadron - Xiao Zhuge Bai Chongxi. In his opinion, General Bai Chongxi is a rare commander with strategic vision and outstanding talent in the squadron. His military level was much higher than that of the group of generals under Chang Kaishen who had spent a few months in the Whampoa military crash course, and could become a company platoon commander in the United States. He believes that Bai Chongxi is the person who can best understand the strategic significance of this air battle.

Bai Chongxi received Stilwell politely, although Bai Chongxi was not familiar with air combat, but after seeing the plan, he did see the significance of this battle at a glance as Stilwell expected. But Bai Chongxi told Stilwell that he was not the best person to convince Chang Kaishen. It would be better for him to find a general who is closer to Chang Kaishen and more trusted.

But Stilwell didn't want to pass the word through these people, and he doubted that they would understand the plan, so he decided to fly to Chongqing himself to meet Peanuts, whom he had always despised.

……

Chongqing, Chang Kaishen's official residence.

"Headmaster, what lessons did you have for the students?" Dai Li saluted Chang Kaishen, who was sitting on the sofa, and Chang Kaishen's gloomy face made him a little apprehensive.

"Yu Nong, what are you doing standing? Don't sit down yet! A middle-aged woman with a noble temperament smiled and said, "Darling, look at you, why are you putting on such a serious look...... Didn't even give a cup of tea. ”

"Yunong, you can sit down first." Chang Kaishen spoke.

Dai Li carefully sat down on the sofa next to him.

"Thank you, Principal, thank you, Madame!"

"Oh, you're the principal's most capable student, why are you so polite? Let's talk first, I'll go out first. Song Meiling smiled, stood up and walked out.

"Headmaster......

"Yu Nong, that Yankee has just come to me, and he told me that for the sake of an air campaign, he must temporarily withhold our supplies. This Yankee is fanciful, but I can't believe him, I think he might be playing some tricks. You're going to have to help me keep an eye on them. ”

"Yes, Headmaster, students understand!"

"Also, that Yankee has a battle plan to fool me, I've asked the squire to prepare a copy, and you can bring this copy back in a while and study it."

"Yes, students understand!"

……