cicada

Chapter 1386 Setting up a trap
The recorder was rustling as Zuo Zhong told Xue Zheng the whole story and his own speculations, but he did not mention any specific names and also concealed sensitive information such as time and place.

Xue Zheng fell into deep thought after listening to this. After a long while, he asked uncertainly, "Deputy Director Zuo means that the Japanese think that the source of the ambush plan leak is the Military Control Commission, and even suspect that you took the initiative to warn the Fourth Army, so they launched a large-scale manhunt in Nanjing?"

When he said this, his expression was a little strange. The Kuomintang spies helping the Fourth Army was even more strange than a sow climbing a tree.

Zuo Zhong spread his hands and said, "Team Leader Xue, although it is a little unbelievable, it is very likely the case. Otherwise, the devils would not be arresting our people like crazy. The Military Control Commission needs your party's assistance now."

Xue Zheng fell silent again. He knew the situation in Jinling, and Zuo Zhong's statement did have a certain degree of credibility.

After a long while, Xue Zheng spoke up: "I need to ask my superiors for instructions."

"Go ahead." Zuo Chong did not object. This kind of important matter was indeed not something that the other party could decide alone.

This teahouse was quite large, and the owner had specially installed a telephone. Xue Zheng stood up, walked to the counter, picked up the phone and called the representative office.

"director."

Xue Zheng reported the situation and expressed his own views. A deep male voice came from the other end of the phone.

"This is about the anti-Japanese war. You must fully cooperate with the Military Control Commission. Remember, you must pay attention to the methods and approaches."

"clear."

While on the call, Xue Zheng kept an eye on the movements around him. At the end, he responded, hung up the phone, returned to his seat, and spoke after carefully considering his words.

"Deputy Director Zuo, I can only tell you that we did obtain the ambush plan later than you did, but the source of the intelligence was definitely not Shancheng."

Zuo Chong understood the implicit meaning. Just because the information did not leak from Shancheng did not mean it did not leak from the Military Control Commission.

Otherwise, how did Xue Zheng know that the underground party obtained the intelligence later than the Military Control Commission? He couldn't have calculated it with his fingers.

Combined with the fact that the Fourth Army urgently cancelled the meeting, the action was very hasty. It was obviously a warning received before the meeting started, so the response was so rough.

If I were a Japanese and learned of this information, I might think that the Military Intelligence Bureau was taking advantage of the time difference to kill someone with a borrowed knife.

Hey?
Zuo Chong was stunned. The Japanese wouldn't really think so, right? Who was this smart guy slandering him?

Deputy Director Zuo, who felt that his reputation was damaged, had a gloomy face. Xue Zheng didn't understand why and asked the question he was most concerned about.

"Mr. Zuo, can you tell me who the Japanese mole is who is lurking in the top echelons of the Fourth Army?"

Zuo Zhong came back to his senses, raised his head and said sincerely: "I'm sorry, my people only know that there is a mole in your army, but we don't know the other party's specific identity."

He was telling the truth. Xing Hanliang and even Hase Ryosuke had only heard of the mole and knew nothing else.

Japan's Advisory Department to the puppet government was an independent agency and had no affiliation with the Hase Agency and the Special Committee on China. Even someone as high-ranking as Hase could not obtain intelligence from the other side.

Xue Zheng was skeptical about this and thought that Zuo Zhong might have concealed some information, so he asked again how to get rid of the traitors hiding within both sides.

This was both a request for advice and a test to see whether Zuo Chong was sincere in his willingness to cooperate.

Zuo Zhong didn't keep the secret and replied directly: "This is very simple. We need to prove one thing first."

"Proof?" Xue Zheng seemed to be thinking about something.

"Yes!" Zuo Zhong smiled again and gently patted the table with his hand.
-
Central Jiangsu.

On this day, the commander of the Fourth Army received a guest at the headquarters. The guest came from the northwest and brought him a secret letter from his superior.

Normally, such important letters are usually delivered through transportation stations, but this time it was different.

In order to maintain maximum confidentiality, the guest who rushed to central Jiangsu from the border area did not establish any contact with the local intelligence network.

After reading the secret letter, even the commander who was experienced in combat could not help but be slightly dazed, because the content of the letter was really too shocking.

There is actually a Japanese mole among the top brass of the Fourth Army!

The commander was surprised but quickly regained his composure. In fact, when he received the warning letter that day, he guessed that there was a traitor in the headquarters and sent people to investigate, but nothing was found.

According to various inquiries by the security department, all those who knew about the meeting arrangements had not left the residence recently or had contact with any suspicious persons.

He originally thought that there was a problem somewhere else, but he didn't expect that there were Japanese spies around him. These people are always in danger!

Sighing secretly, the commander expressed his position to the guest: "I obey the decision of the organization and will not disclose this to anyone. What should I do next?"

The guest smiled and nodded: "Well, the protagonist of this play is the Military Control Commission, we are just cooperating."

The commander was curious but did not ask any questions. He did not say anything that he should not say and did not ask anything that he should not ask. This was the awareness that an old underground party member should have.
-
Shancheng, Luojiawan No. 29.

A small agent in charge of delivering documents tiptoed to the top floor, unconsciously slowing down his steps for fear of disturbing the director and several deputy directors.

Suddenly, a roar came from the other end of the corridor, and the little spy quickly pricked up his ears.

"Shameless!"

"We helped the Fourth Army so much, it would be fine if they didn't thank us, but they let us in Jinling take the blame. This is really unreasonable."

"Gu Qi, you must organize people to carry out the rescue immediately! We cannot leave our arrested brothers alone." In the office, Zuo Zhong shouted to Gu Qi in a fake manner with a smile on his face. Gu Qi opposite him also looked relaxed, glancing outside the door from time to time.

The young spy shuddered. The person who had just cursed was Deputy Director Zuo. It was the first time he saw him so angry.

Without any hesitation, the young spy walked downstairs. The document could be delivered at any time, there was no need to cause trouble for himself.

Not only him, but other people who came to the top floor to do business also scattered like birds and beasts. They were all a group of smart people.

By noon, the news that the underground party had betrayed the Military Control Commission, leading to a large-scale raid in Nanjing, spread to all departments.

Everyone suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the Japanese were arresting people everywhere, contrary to their usual practice. Dissidents were indeed despicable.

In an office, several agents were discussing this matter while smoking.

"Do you think the bureau can rescue people?"

"I think it's hopeless. Jinling is the territory of Ji Ni and the Japanese. We are out of reach."

"What a pity. So many brothers were arrested. The good situation was ruined."

Similar conversations occurred in various departments until the superiors gave an order before the end of get off work, and the discussion of the matter gradually stopped.

But this was only on the surface. In private, the little spies were still chatting animatedly, talking about all sorts of things.

Among the crowd of people who were talking, there was one person who was very low-key. He occasionally agreed with his companions and listened quietly the rest of the time.

Three days later, in the suburbs of Jinling.

The Japanese Army's 13th Independent Mixed Brigade's base was heavily guarded, especially in the core area, where fully armed soldiers could be seen everywhere.

In one of the barracks, Gangcun, the captain of the Jinling gendarmerie, with his bare arms, whipped the prisoners on the wooden frame with the steel whip in his hand, while threatening them.

"Baga, quickly tell me your superiors and missions, or I will send your wife to a comfort station."

The dying prisoner hung his head and cried out in an inaudible voice that he was innocent. He didn't even have the strength to cry out.

Who would have thought that not long ago, this person was a senior adviser to the puppet government's Financial Committee and could speak fluently even to the Japanese.

But in the blink of an eye, he went from being a guest of honor to a prisoner. The change in circumstances was so great that he suspected that he had just dreamed.

"Snapped!"

Another whip hit the chest, and the severe pain woke the prisoner up and pulled him back to reality from his fantasy. This was not a dream, the Japanese in front of him really existed.

"Taijun, I have nothing to do with Shancheng. I support Mr. Ji and the Locust Army."

Driven by the desire to survive, the prisoner shouted with his last bit of strength, his voice sounding like a cuckoo crying blood.

Gangcun put down the steel whip, a look of suspicion flashed in his eyes. After beating him for so long, he still didn't admit it. Could it be that the other party really wasn't a mole?

Moreover, up to now, the gendarmerie has not found any suspicious items in any of the suspects' homes, but they have seized a large amount of money of unknown origin, which cannot help but arouse suspicion.

At this time, Shibayama Kenshiro walked into the room from outside, and Okamura hurriedly stepped forward to report the current progress and expressed his own doubts.

"Hmph, don't be fooled by this cunning guy. Take a look at what this is first." Shibayama Kenshiro snorted coldly and handed a telegram to Gangcun.

Gangcun took it and saw that it said: [Military Control Commission plans to rescue captured accomplices]

Feeling that he had been fooled, Gangcun became angry. He soaked the steel whip in salt water, picked it up and started hitting the prisoner with it a few times.

Listening to the prisoner's screams and howls, Shibayama Kenshiro was still not satisfied. He shouted at Gangcun to increase his efforts and pry open the mouth of this stubborn criminal as soon as possible.

It wasn't just the people executed in Gangcun who were unlucky. Afterwards, all the arrested traitors enjoyed an even warmer [welcome ceremony].

Some prisoners could not withstand the torture and were forced to admit that they were moles, but their confessions were irrelevant, which made the Japanese so angry that they cursed them and swung their steel whips even more frequently.

This resulted in a situation where the prisoner would be severely beaten regardless of whether he confessed or not.

What happened at the 13th Brigade’s headquarters quickly spread to Nanjing and Shanghai, and also reached the ears of the moles in the Military Control Commission and the underground party.

Zuo Zhong and Xue Zheng received the news and met again in a teahouse. Looking at the intelligence from Nanjing, Zuo Zhong only said one sentence: "The Japanese do have spies in the Military Control Commission."

His face didn't look good. The Military Control Commission was the front line of the National Government's intelligence work against Japan, but they were stabbed from within without knowing it. This was a serious mistake.

In addition, the fact that the Japanese reacted so quickly to the false information released by the Military Intelligence Bureau proves how deeply this mole was hidden.

What worries Zuo Chong the most is that this time, if it weren’t for the Nanjing devils’ outrageous actions, they might not even know of the other party’s existence.

When he thought about the mole operating brazenly in the Military Control Commission, he became furious. What was Song Minghao, who was in charge of counterintelligence, doing?
Xue Zheng did not laugh at Zuo Zhong, because the border area was also deeply harmed by Japanese spies. Many people were deceived or ambushed by Japanese spies and fell forever on the defense line.

The two drank a cup of tea quietly, and Zuo Zhong was the first to break the silence: "Team Leader Xue, I think we can proceed to the next step. What do you think?"

"Okay, here's the list."

Xue Zheng agreed and took out a piece of paper and pushed it to Zuo Zhong. There were more than a dozen names and addresses densely listed on it.