cicada

Chapter 1352 Acting

On the second day after Zuo Zhong arrived in Baoshan, an order was passed down from top to bottom to every department of the expeditionary force headquarters. The army was shocked and those who had ulterior motives were worried.

The reason is simple: the Political Training Department has to review all written materials of the Expeditionary Force, including but not limited to personnel and equipment lists, logistics accounts, and telegrams between various departments.

Soon, boxes of documents were transported from various places to Zuo Zhong's office, and the guards in charge of security were replaced by agents from the Military Control Commission's Yunnan Provincial Station, which made some people even more uneasy.

Corruption, collecting empty salaries, reselling supplies, and smuggling are all traditions of the Guo army. If we really investigate them seriously, there will be more than a thousand people who will lose their heads.

Under the instigation of some people with ulterior motives, the chief officers of several troops found Commander Du to protest against the Military Control Commission's lack of trust in the military and claimed that they would "file a complaint with the emperor" in Shancheng.

Commander Du looked at these people coldly. He originally thought that Zuo Zhong was making a fuss out of nothing. In a war, it is impossible to only win and not lose. But now it seems that there are other factors that led to the defeat.

Knowing the ins and outs of the situation, he did not get angry. Instead, he gently comforted them to remain patient and said he would always keep an eye on them. But then he turned around and called Zuo Chong.

"Deputy Director Zuo, there have been heavy rains and winds in Yunnan Province recently. You should take good care of your health to avoid catching a cold."

"Hahaha, thank you Chief Du for your concern. Zuo and his men are not just talkers. Besides, I am even less worried now that you are here to protect us."

Zuo Zhong's loud voice came from the microphone. Commander Du nodded slightly. The other party was quite courageous. Let's see who will win.

With the "indulgence" of the expeditionary army's top brass, a storm against the Political Training Department slowly formed and gradually expanded. Many unidentified people appeared outside Zuo Zhong's office, which made Song Minghao very worried.

When Li Qiwu went to the military to investigate corruption, he nearly died there. There were fires and floods, and even the ships and planes had several "malfunctions". You can see how dangerous it was.

If someone is forced into a corner and leads troops to attack the Political Training Department, the dozens of spies we have now will not be able to stop these professional soldiers.

Song Minghao and Gui Youguang found Zuo Chong together and suggested that Zuo Chong return to Shancheng first. The work in Yunnan Province could be handed over to them, which would also make those people afraid to act rashly.

Zuo Zhong waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "Continue to investigate. Not only that, but also spread the word to the public that we have already obtained some evidence."

Song Minghao was stunned. Regardless of whether it was wise to do so, the problem was that they had not found any useful information yet. What was the purpose of the deputy commander provoking the other party?

After thinking for a while, he asked tentatively, "Deputy Commander, didn't you intend to investigate cases other than the Japanese spy case from the beginning?"

Zuo Zhong laughed and clapped his hands softly after hearing this: "Old Song, you finally figured it out. That's right, I really don't intend to deal with corruption. This is like a piece of candy wrapped in dog shit. It smells bad and tastes even worse."

After explaining his own thoughts, he pointed to the direction of the border and said: "Before the war, the expeditionary force had three armies, more than a dozen divisions, and more than 100,000 people, but the Japanese knew the movements of the expeditionary force very well.

The Japanese knew exactly when our army would set out, how many troops there were, what route they would take, and their weapons configuration. What does this show? It shows that the number of Japanese spies and the degree of their infiltration far exceeded our imagination.

This matter must involve many people, so counter-espionage is not difficult, but the difficult part is how to tear apart this network of relationships. If we don’t break up this intricate circle, we won’t be able to solve the case.”

Zuo Zhong’s plan was simple, just a warning to scare the enemy. Instead of being disturbed during the investigation, it would be better to scare off a group of people first and create a more stable external environment for the counter-espionage operation.

Song Minghao understood it completely. He asked solemnly, "It's not advisable to alert the enemy for too long. Deputy Commander, when do you decide to show your hand?"

"Wait."

"I am stupid, what do you mean by wait?"

Zuo Zhong walked to the window and looked at the military thugs outside with a playful smile: "Of course I will wait for our Deputy Director Zheng's cousin to come to my house. If no one begs for mercy, I can't take the initiative to stop the investigation."
-

The headquarters of the 598th Regiment.

Zheng Tingji felt helpless looking at his colleagues in front of him. He had explained countless times that he had no friendship with Zuo Chong, but these bastards just didn't believe him.

A major general grabbed Zheng Tingji's hand and begged, "Brother Zheng, I beg you, please go talk to Zuo, don't investigate any further!"

"Yes, we can't check it anymore. With the little military pay we get from above, how can we support the soldiers if we don't just take the empty pay?"

"Tell Zuo Zhong that as long as he lets us go, we will be at his service in the future and will never have second thoughts."

Everyone expressed their opinions at once. Zheng Tingji knew that if he didn't agree, he would become everyone's enemy, so he had no choice but to agree.

After seeing off his colleagues, Zheng Tingji sent a telegram to his cousin Zheng Tingbing, complaining that he should not have let Zuo Chong deliver the letter on his behalf. However, Zheng Tingbing's reply almost made Zheng Tingji angry.

Zheng Tingbing said that he had never asked Zuo Chong to carry any letter. He also warned his cousin to pretend that he didn't know about this matter, otherwise if he was targeted by Zuo Chong, he would be skinned alive if not killed.

After reading the telegram, Zheng Tingji took a deep breath and decisively decided to follow his brother's advice, got in the car and headed for the headquarters. Surrendering is a kind of wisdom, and surrendering to the Military Control Commission is not a shameful thing, but Zheng Tingji is not sure whether Zuo Zhong will show leniency.

If the other party does not agree to stop the investigation, he will definitely be hated by his colleagues in the army. When he needs support from other troops on the battlefield in the future, I am afraid that no one will come to rescue his 598th Regiment.

Sighing, Zheng Tingji arrived at his destination. Unlike what he had imagined, Zuo Chong immediately agreed to stop the investigation after listening to his story.

Zheng Tingji was stunned on the spot, and it took him a while to react. He held Zuo Zhong's hand and thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, Director Zuo. Don't worry, we will never forget your kindness."

"Haha, Brother Zhuzhai, you're too polite."

Zuo Zhong sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, the smile on his face never stopped: "Deputy Director Zheng is Zuo's senior, I still have to give him face, but I have something to trouble Captain Zheng."

Here it comes! This dog spy finally made a request. Zheng Tingji tensed up and asked what it was, but he didn't take on too much responsibility.

Zuo Zhong looked at him and asked a question softly: "Zuo wants to know, in addition to the commanders of each unit and the top leaders of the Military Wei Association, which people and departments are aware of the expeditionary army's various combat plans."

This question was a bit complicated. Zheng Tingji thought about it carefully for a long time and reported the names of several departments, including the Expeditionary Force General Staff, the Secretariat, the Political Training Department, and the Quartermaster and Communications Department.

Zuo Zhong frowned slightly and first excluded the Political Training Department from the list of suspects. Most members of the Political Training Department were from the Military Control Commission, so the possibility of Japanese spies appearing in the department was low.

Even if there really were KMT spies who violated family rules and became spies for the Japanese, it would not be too late to investigate the Political Training Department after investigating other departments.

The next to be excluded were the quartermaster and communications departments. The intelligence these two departments possessed was limited. A single radio operator only knew part of the combat plan, and the same was true for the quartermaster.

Only the General Staff and the Secretariat have access to the entire plan, and their personnel have complex backgrounds. Zuo Zhong sorted out his thoughts, called Song Minghao over and whispered a few words to him.

Zheng Tingji, who was standing next to him, faintly heard words like "screening one by one" and "external file retrieval". He swallowed subconsciously and wanted to cover his ears with his hands.

If the Military Control Commission's plan fails, who knows whether the man named Zuo will push the blame on him. Zheng Tingji became more and more worried, so he stood up and said goodbye to Zuo Chong.

Zuo Chong sent him to the door, and the two of them exchanged some meaningless polite words before going their separate ways. Only after they walked out of the political training office did Zheng Tingji completely relax and went to report the good news to his comrades with a smile.

The next day.

Cao Anguo came to the headquarters as usual. As soon as he entered the door, he saw an acquaintance coming towards him. He was about to say hello to the other person, but the man ran away with his head down, as if he had seen a ghost.

Confused, Cao Anguo scratched his head and looked around. He immediately realized that the headquarters was a little quiet today. There were only a few spies with gloomy expressions moving around in the compound.

This situation was not normal. Something big must have happened. He walked quickly towards the confidential room and met Zheng He and Lu Banqing on the way.

The three of them walked together and talked as they walked. The well-informed Zheng He said something that surprised Cao Anguo and Lu Banqing.

"Director, Sister Banqing, the Political Training Department needs to screen all personnel in the Secretariat and the General Staff Department. Our Confidential Office is part of the Secretariat and is also within the scope of the screening."

Cao Anguo suddenly realized that it was no wonder that everyone in the headquarters was in danger and didn't want to say a word. It turned out that the Military Control Commission wanted to identify them and everyone was worried about being implicated.

Lu Banqing's expression changed slightly, but returned to normal in a blink of an eye. She stroked her hair and asked casually, "Xiao He, when does the screening start?"

Zheng He shook his head and said that he had also heard about it from his father, but the specific situation was not clear yet. As they were talking, the three of them had arrived at the door of the confidential room.

Cao Anguo opened the door and entered the office, and the three of them started a new day's work. Zheng He still looked carefree, and Lu Banqing also slowly took out the secret files for inventory.

Half an hour later, the second-generation rich man Fang Chengze arrived late. He once again revealed some gossip about the screening to everyone, and when he talked about Zuo Chong, he no longer had the rebelliousness of yesterday.

Before the four of them could say a few words, a young spy appeared outside the confidential room. He checked the names on the list and then made a cold announcement.

"Please be prepared. You will be screened in twenty minutes. You will decide the order by yourselves. You are not allowed to leave this room before the screening is over."

Perhaps worried that Cao Anguo and others were unaware of the seriousness of the matter, the young spy patted the pistol at his waist and swept his eyes across the faces of several people one by one. The threat in his eyes was self-evident.

Not far from the door, there is a team of armed guards on guard. Anyone who dares to disobey orders or try to escape will be shot.

The office fell into silence. Zheng He looked at the others and raised his hand first: "I'll go first."