Chapter 139 China-US Cooperation Institute was formally established

Meanwhile, in Washington, Mellors was joined by William Purnell (who fired General Willis A. Lee), Jeff Metzel, an intelligence Representatives of the Bureau, together with Major Shaw, brought the draft agreement to General Marshall, who signed it with his initials.The chief of staff, General William Leahy, then presented the document to President Roosevelt, who approved it. On April 15, 1943, the SACO agreement was officially signed by Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox representing the United States and Song Ziwen representing China.General Deng Nuowen, Major Shaw and Melles also signed on it, and the agreement reserved space for Dai Li's signature, and he finally signed his own name in Chongqing on July 4, 1943.

The Chinese version of the SACO agreement required the United States to provide enough weapons to form five "special armed forces" and eighty "action columns" and "action teams."Thirteen SACO training courses will be organized, plus four intelligence stations and some meteorological and radio broadcasting units. The U.S. version of the agreement stated: "In order to strike a common enemy in China's coastal areas, occupied areas and other Japanese-occupied areas, the Sino-U.S. Special Technology Cooperation Institute was organized in China. Its goal is, through joint efforts, to adopt the equipment and technical training, and based in the Chinese theater of operations, to effectively attack the Japanese navy, Japanese merchant ships, and Japanese air force, as well as their mining areas, factories, warehouses, stations, and other military installations in the Japanese-occupied areas in various parts of the Far East.” The U.S. version of the changes is accompanied by a letter from U.S. Naval Chief of Staff William Leahy to Mellas.

You are told that the Joint Chiefs of Staff are concerned with the implementation of the US-China special technical cooperation agreement and support for extraordinary measures in the war against Japan, as well as the reports exchanged between General Stilwell and the Chiefs of Staff that General Stilwell had In it, applaud your participation in taking these steps on behalf of the United States under the leadership of China.The Joint Chiefs of Staff have approved this arrangement and expect you to do your best to cooperate with the Chinese designated responsible authorities in the war against Japan.The President is aware of this plan and has approved you as the direct leader of the US side according to the agreement.

Regardless of the military value of SACO to both sides, Melles' unwavering support for the Chief of Military Command, combined with this secret but formal agreement, greatly enhanced General Dai Li's standing in the Chinese government.Shen Zui routinely portrayed Dai Li as overly subservient to the United States, but he accurately reflected that Dai Li was greatly promoted in Chiang Kai-shek's inner circle because of his American approval. Melles understands Dai Li's psychology very well. In order to permanently use the military reunification organization to engage in espionage activities in China, besides promoting Dai Li's mythical rumors in the United States and his role around Chiang Kai-shek, which made Dai Li feel comfortable, He also tried his best to persuade Dai Li that he should travel to the United States.The gift that Dai Li was most grateful for and will never forget was that during the Cairo Conference, President Roosevelt proposed to Chiang Kai-shek that he hoped to meet China's Himmler.After Dai Li heard about it, he knew that it was Melles who boasted for him in the United States that made him so valued by his master's master.He felt more and more that Melles had too much to do with his future, so he bowed his head even more.

Although intoxicated is not without exaggeration, Dai Li did keep a certain distance from the Americans so as not to be regarded as their lackeys.Therefore, from the very beginning of the establishment of SACO, while ensuring his supreme control over it, he also made Melles think that he had the leadership.But in reality, Melos had no real control over the guerrilla operations in the field, although the Americans spared no expense in training, arming, and deploying every guerrilla unit locally.