Spy Wars: I have space, but I choose to work alone

After another series of high-intensity exercises, Ma Liang, who was holding a machine gun in his hand, finally gave in.

"Okay, we've practiced well enough that we can let the foreign journalists take pictures now!"

More than a thousand grassroots officers immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The training over the past few days was simply too much to bear.

That senior officer with the rank of major general was simply not like a human being. He would shoot at the heads of slow-moving people with his machine gun at any time. The bullets flew past their scalps, and many people wet their pants.

Finally, the King of Hell is satisfied!

The reporters, who had been well-fed and well-treated by Ma for more than a week, now took out their cameras and took pictures of the perfect new position and the company and platoon leaders who were all combat backbones.

These combat backbones, wearing brand new military uniforms and holding American-made heavy machine guns and submachine guns "borrowed" from the warehouse, posed in various majestic postures under the guidance of foreign reporters and allowed foreign friends to take pictures.

When being photographed by white foreigners, everyone showed their best spirit and the strongest fighting spirit, and when facing interviews, all kinds of bold words came out one after another.

On the other side, on a huge red screen, written in a huge black pen more than one meter tall was the words "As long as the people are on the battlefield, the Expeditionary Force will never bring shame to the fathers and fellow countrymen!" Under the big words, the personal signatures of the officers of the entire New 28th and New 29th Divisions filled the entire screen.

Behind them were dozens of tanks and armored vehicles from the General Staff Tank Battalion, and on both sides were 12 American-made 105mm howitzers donated by the United States. However, the guns were too heavy and there was a fear that they would be blown up by the Japanese army, so they could not be shipped back to the country for a while and were left here to save face.

"Everyone, raise your fists, be more enthusiastic, grit your teeth, and let's do another one!"

A photographer carrying a huge camera took the initiative to adjust the officers' movements and expressions, striving to make the picture impactful enough.

In the audience, all the soldiers from the two divisions lined up in company units to receive $20 in consolation money.

Liu Gongfeng transformed himself into a clerk. After taking a sip of water, he asked a simple-minded soldier in front of him:

"What's your name? Which company are you in? Where's your hometown?"

"My name is Liu Dazhu, from the 28th Company of the 6rd Regiment of the New th Division, from northern Henan!"

Liu Gongfeng didn't check the roster, but directly registered the information. Finally, he handed two ten-dollar bills from the drawer to Liu Dazhu and asked:

"Can you write? Sign your name!"

Liu Dazhui actually knew a few words and wrote his name crookedly in the notebook.

Just looking at the two unfamiliar green papers, Liu Dazhu curiously asked Liu Gongfeng:

"Sir, is this really money?"

Liu Gongfeng, who had already responded countless times, still patiently replied:

"Of course, this is U.S. dollars. If someone wants to exchange it with you for dollars in the future, don't exchange it for less than 60 dollars. This is hard currency now."

"After you get the money, go over there and form companies. Wait for your company commander to finish and then take a photo together!"

"Thank you, sir!"

Liu Dazhui nodded and left with satisfaction, holding the $20 tightly in his hand. He calculated in his mind that his monthly military salary was only five dollars, which was equivalent to a year's salary paid by his superiors in one go.

Liu Dazhu, who was an honest man, thought:

"No merit, no reward. Since the commander is so generous, I will fight well to repay the commander!"

The officers and soldiers of the two divisions were very happy to have satisfied their desire to perform, and the soldiers who received the money were also very happy.

The last group photo of 10,000 people in a division was held up by the soldiers, with a huge banner that read "As long as we are on the battlefield, the Expeditionary Force will never bring shame to our fellow countrymen!" All of them looked fanatical, with a bit of the style of the elite Expeditionary Force.

After completing these tasks, the impatient reporters left Lawu Town with Ma Liang's generous writing fee.

The reporters who received huge fees from Ma Liang naturally used their writing skills to write all kinds of flattering words, and accompanied them with photos of Ma Liang imitating the oath-taking assemblies of modern troops, which made the front pages of newspapers in various countries.

For a time, the new 28th and 29th Divisions, which originally had only third-rate combat effectiveness, were packaged in this way and became synonymous with the top elite of the Expeditionary Force in the eyes of people all over the world.

Two days later, Ma Liang used his connections to airdrop the newspaper reports from the mountain city to Lawu Town and sent a copy to every company of the two divisions.

In a company camp, the officer who was the company commander saw his own photo in the group photo of officers, and then he was satisfied and read the newspaper to his soldiers:

"The officers and soldiers of the new 28th and 29th divisions of our heroic expeditionary army are strictly trained, well-equipped and have a strong fighting spirit. In an interview with our reporter, they said in a sonorous and powerful manner that as a member of the expeditionary army, they went abroad to cooperate with the allies to fight against the Japanese invaders, representing not only themselves but also the country. They swore an iron-blooded oath that they would not fear sacrifice, fight bravely, cooperate with the allies, and resolutely eliminate the Japanese invaders. They would never be shameful deserters and bring shame to their hometowns and their loved ones."

"Let us cheer and applaud these warriors of the Celestial Empire. With such elite and tenacious warriors, why should we worry about the Japanese pirates not being destroyed and the country not prospering? Great are our heroic expeditionary forces, the heroic new 28th and new 29th divisions. Let us learn from them~"

After the company commander finished reading, everyone in the company laughed so hard that their teeth showed. Many soldiers happily discussed:

"Are we as good as what's written in the newspaper? But it feels good to be praised. I wonder if our parents can see that we are also in the newspaper!"

"Damn it, after hearing this newspaper praise, I want to find some Japanese to practice with. Otherwise, I would feel uncomfortable with such praise!"

"That's right. I didn't do anything, but I'm praised like this. When I go home and meet acquaintances, they will ask me how many Japanese soldiers I killed while serving in the new 28th Division. How can I answer?"

···············

Such conversations were conducted in various companies of the two divisions. The grassroots soldiers of the Celestial Empire were simple and honest. They simply believed that no reward should be given without merit.

In Shancheng, the captain watched the foreign journalists' interview incident unfold across the country. Foreign media outlets were reprinting the news, which greatly enhanced his international prestige. He couldn't help but look at the classic photo of 10,000 people and laughed and scolded:

"This Lao Liu is a master at catching spies, but I didn't expect that he is also good at propaganda. He can always come up with something new!"

At the same time, Ma Liang's radio monitoring records showed that the Japanese secret radio station hidden in Lawu Town was sending messages intensively.

Thanks to the efforts of the press corps, the Japanese 15th Army used various reconnaissance methods to confirm that the two third-rate infantry divisions were still defending Lawu Town, and no other elite troops were added, so the plan continued.

The only strange thing was that the two hundred soldiers escorting the foreign press corps stayed where they were and did not return with them.

However, there were only 200 people. Lieutenant General Iida of the 15th Army of the Japanese Army did not take it seriously, but excitedly imagined:

"It's up to the 56th Division now. They have to expose the Chinese people's star-making activities in one fell swoop. The more high-profile they are now, the more miserable they will be later. What's the point of pretending with two third-rate infantry divisions that have never fought a war!"