cicada

Chapter 1385 Speculations and Meetings

[The Zhongjiu Army launched a small-scale guerrilla war in the Jurong and Jiangning areas, attacking the Japanese transport team and achieving fruitful results]

[Pangolin: The Japanese army planned to ambush important personnel of the Jiangbei Fourth Army]

[The Japanese advisory department to the puppet government may have planted spies in the high-level positions of the Fourth Army. Note: This information has been verified by Daxiong and Pangolin]

[Jinling Station cooperated with the US Strategic Intelligence Agency (OSS) to successfully obtain the Japanese Yangtze River shipping intelligence]

Zuo Zhong looked at the intelligence list reported by the intelligence station in the occupied area and thought silently in his heart.

The most likely reason why the Japanese tracked down the Military Intelligence Bureau's intelligence personnel was that something happened that caused the Japanese to believe that there was a problem within their own ranks.

Only in this way would the Japanese risk disrupting the strategic balance between the two sides and suddenly take action against members of the puppet government.

Thinking of this, Zuo Chong turned his attention to the last piece of information. Could it be because of the shipping information?

He looked up at Gu Qi behind the table: "Old Gu, are there any unusual movements by the Japanese navy on the Yangtze River?"

"No." Gu Qi shook his head and replied truthfully: "Most of the Japanese navies in the occupied areas have business dealings with us. If there is something wrong, they will not hide it."

Zuo Chong nodded. That’s right. Since it concerns his own purse, these people care about it more than the Military Control Commission.

So the shipping intelligence can be ruled out. The remaining intelligence has little to do with the Military Intelligence Bureau or the National Government. What exactly stimulated the Japanese...

Gu Qi also saw Zuo Zhong's doubts and whispered, "Co-pilot, could it be because the Zhongjiu Army attacked the Japanese transport convoy?"

Zuo Chong thought about it and felt that it was unlikely. Regardless of whether the Zhongjiu Army’s achievements were true or false, even if it was true, the Japanese would just send troops to encircle and suppress them. Why bother tracking down the mole?

After all, the Loyal Rescue Army's actions are random. They fight whatever they encounter and do not attack specific targets based on intelligence. It has nothing to do with the mole.

Zuo Chong frowned after thinking for a long time without any result. Should he really activate the dormant intelligence personnel to investigate the matter, or pretend that nothing happened?
No, neither of these two solutions is safe.

There is a risk of exposure if dormant personnel are activated, and it is even worse to leave them alone.

Just because the Japanese didn’t catch the Military Intelligence Bureau’s personnel this time doesn’t mean they won’t do so next time. We must find out the reason why the Japanese are searching for them.

The next moment, Zuo Zhong's eyes swept across the intelligence list again and stopped on the second piece of information.

[Pangolin: The Japanese army planned to ambush important personnel of the Jiangbei Fourth Army]

He pointed to the list and asked Gucci: "What's going on? Tell me the details."

Gu Qi lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "Nobita and Pangolin both sent secret messages, indicating that the Japanese army has a mole in the high-level of the Fourth Army, and the position is very critical.

[Pangolin] also found out that the Japanese had found out about the meeting arrangements of the top leaders of the Fourth Army through this mole. The Japanese had planned to ambush the participants, but the underground party canceled the meeting.

"cancelled?"

Zuo Chong showed a surprised expression, but in fact he broke out in a cold sweat. The Japanese actually wanted to attack the top leaders of the Fourth Army.

If the Japanese succeed in their plot, the anti-Japanese war situation in central China will fall into a low ebb, and the consequences will be disastrous.

As for [Pangolin], that was Xing Hanliang's code name. He did a good job in the Changhe Agency and collected a lot of intelligence.

Gu Qi heard Zuo Zhong's question and nodded gently: "Yes, before the meeting started, the commander of the Fourth Army personally issued a cancellation order. The timing is a bit delicate."

Zuo Zhong understood. The word "subtle" was well used. The Fourth Army must have heard the news and canceled the meeting, but the way they responded was a bit rough.

But this incident shows that the underground party had a high status as a mole within the Japanese army and was able to get their hands on even such important military deployments.

Suddenly, Zuo Zhong's action of flipping through the list paused. Wait, is there such a possibility?

——The underground party did not obtain the ambush plan from the Japanese, but obtained intelligence from the Military Control Commission.

After the incident, the Japanese learned about it and put the blame of the intelligence leak on the Military Intelligence Bureau. They then began arresting people on a large scale in an attempt to dig out the "Military Intelligence Bureau mole."

Otherwise it wouldn't be such a coincidence that the Japanese ambush failed and then launched a large-scale search in Nanjing.

Just like he always said, there are no coincidences in the world. Eliminate all the impossibilities, and whatever remains, no matter how impossible it is, is also a fact.

Zuo Chong scratched his head. After all the fuss, he thought that the Military Control Commission might have taken the blame for the underground party.

How can this be justified? Fortunately, there were no Military Intelligence Bureau agents among those arrested, otherwise Old Dai would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood.

It is easy to confirm this speculation, as long as we find out whether the underground party has channels to access the intelligence sent by Xing Hanliang.

For example, Ling Sanping, as the underground party's mole in the Military Control Commission, if this guy knew about the ambush plan, he would definitely warn the northwest, and then the speculation would be half true.

Zuo Zhong pretended to be casual and asked, "Who handled the information about Pangolin?"

Gu Qi was stunned, not understanding the deputy director's intention in asking this question, but he still gave an answer immediately.

"The existence of Pangolin is top secret. Only Chunyang and I are qualified to access his information."

Hearing this, Zuo Zhong waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about top secrets. The most unreliable thing in the world is top secrets. Aren't there enough redacted documents leaked from the bureau?"

Desensitization refers to the confidentiality measure of processing sensitive information in documents to reduce the risk of intelligence leakage.

A qualified intelligence officer can analyze many clues from the intelligence itself, so desensitization is an essential step after obtaining the intelligence.

Gucci looked embarrassed. This was a top-secret secret of the National Government and its gold content was indeed a bit low.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Zuo Zhong laughed and said, "Okay, let me think about this. By the way, what has Doctor Ling been doing recently?"

"Doctor Ling has been very busy recently, and there are many injured people at Renxin Hospital." Gu Qi thought Zuo Zhong was just chatting, so he replied casually. Oh? It seems that Ling Sanping has no chance to get in touch with the intelligence sent by Xing Hanliang, but this does not mean anything. The underground party has many spies in the Military Control Commission, and any of them has the opportunity to send the intelligence out.

Zuo Zhong's mind raced, and he suddenly had a new idea. In fact, it didn't matter where the underground party got the ambush plan from. What mattered was what the Japanese thought.

If the Japanese get a brain cramp and determine that it was the Military Intelligence Bureau that tipped off the Fourth Army, the Japs will still take action against the Military Intelligence Bureau intelligence personnel in Nanjing.

In short, there is a probability that there is a causal relationship between the failure of the Japanese ambush and the Nanjing raid, at least it makes sense logically.

Moreover, there must have been a traitor within the Military Control Commission, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why the enemy pointed their spearhead directly at the Military Control Commission.

Zuo Zhong's eyes gradually became fierce. All traitors must die! Traitors who dared to hide in the Military Control Commission must die even more!
Of course, the above are all his guesses. If he wants to verify them, he must find solid evidence and other clues.

It seems that it is necessary to have a talk with the underground party.

This is a good thing for both parties. I believe the other party also wants to know why the Japanese have access to information about the high-level meeting of the Fourth Army.

Zuo Zhong looked at his watch and gave Gu Qi an order: "Old Gu, go make an appointment with the underground party representative office. I want to meet with their intelligence chief right now."

Gucci replied in surprise, "Yes", and immediately turned around to arrange a meeting and filed a record with the bureau.

The identity of intelligence personnel is sensitive, and contact with dissidents is even more sensitive. Even Zuo Zhong has to act according to the rules.

Five hours later.

Xue Zheng, head of the military group of the underground party's representative office in Shancheng, appeared in a teahouse with two guards standing behind him.

One of the young soldiers stood on tiptoe and looked outside, and said unhappily, "Team leader, those reactionaries haven't arrived yet. I think they did it on purpose."

Xue Zheng, who was wearing the uniform of the Northwest Army, took a sip of tea and, ignoring the curious or wary looks of the tea drinkers around him, smiled and made a joke with the other party.

"After all, it was the Guo Party who invited us here. Whether they come or not, the money for the tea will be reimbursed by the Military Control Commission later. In the end, I am the one who got the better deal."

The little soldier grinned, with a simple smile on his face, but soon regained his seriousness and looked out the door.

In the distance, a dozen black cars drove over quickly. When they arrived at the entrance of the teahouse, the convoy braked suddenly.

With the shrill sound of brakes, a group of young spies jumped out of the car and drove away all the passers-by. The patrolman who had followed Xue Zheng and the other two here also bowed and nodded and left.

"Bah, what a bunch of dog spies!" said the young soldier indignantly.

Xue Zheng smiled and said nothing. Cooperation between the two parties is cooperation between the two parties, but some blood debts cannot be erased. The class views of these soldiers are very simple, and their likes and dislikes are very clear. There is no need to blame them harshly or exaggerate.

At the same time, a small spy entered the teahouse and drove away other tea drinkers. His attitude was not very friendly, but he did not take any action.

Zuo Zhong, who had just gotten off the car and walked into the gate, paused and told Gu Qi who was accompanying him: "Give these people some compensation. We are the Military Control Commission, not the Central Control Commission. We must be fair in doing things."

The young soldier who had spoken earlier muttered quietly: "The cat cries over the rat, false sympathy."

Xue Zheng narrowed his eyes. It was true that Deputy Director Zuo's style of doing things was different from that of other spy chiefs.

When he received the invitation from the Military Control Commission, the head of the representative office reminded him that in terms of the degree of danger, Zuo Zhong was the most difficult opponent in the Kuomintang intelligence agency.

The other party is good at disguising himself and appears to be friendly, but he is more ruthless than anyone else.

This kind of enemy is the most terrifying because he can confuse the uninformed people. Xue Zheng instantly became alert and was extremely alert.

"Hahaha, hello, Team Leader Xue."

Zuo Zhong walked over with a big smile, stretched out his right hand from a distance, and greeted Xue Zheng enthusiastically.

Xue Zheng smiled and shook hands with him and Gucci. Without much greeting, the two sides sat down and immediately started talking about business.

But before the conversation, Gucci took out a wire recorder and placed it on the table.

"Team Leader Xue, this is the rule of our Military Control Commission, don't mind it." Zuo Chong said politely.

Xue Zheng kept smiling: "It's okay. I've heard that Deputy Director Zuo is a cautious and self-disciplined person. Today I see that his reputation is well-deserved."

Zuo Zhong waved his hand and explained in a sincere manner, "The officialdom is treacherous. I have been walking on thin ice all these years, fearing that I would be framed. I hope you can understand me."

After saying that, he pressed the recording button and asked a very sensitive question.

"Team Leader Xue, let's get straight to the point. I want to know if you received any intelligence in advance about the Japanese ambush on the top brass of the Fourth Army?"

Xue Zheng looked surprised and asked Zuo Zhong: "Oh? Is this true?"

That being said, Xue Zheng's heart skipped a beat. He had just learned about the ambush of the top brass of the Fourth Army, and he didn't expect the National Government to come knocking on his door so soon.

Zuo Zhong's smile gradually faded, and he looked straight at the other person: "Team Leader Xue, this is boring. We are all in this business, and some things don't need to be explained too clearly."

Xue Zheng smiled bitterly: "Deputy Director Zuo, please don't embarrass me. I really don't know anything about this."

There was silence for a moment. Zuo Zhong said nothing with a sullen face. Then he suddenly burst into laughter.

“Okay, since Team Leader Xue doesn’t know, then I will tell you that my people have found out that the Japanese have planted an insider in the high-level positions of the Fourth Army.

Unfortunately, there are also traitors in our Military Intelligence Bureau. These two moles provided a lot of top-secret information to the Japanese. What do you think if we work together to eliminate them?"

Xue Zheng's eyes flashed, he slowly sat up straight, and raised his hand to signal Zuo Chong to continue.

Zuo Chong just felt tired. It was too difficult to deal with these old underground people. It was really a case of not releasing the eagle before seeing the rabbit.