cicada

Chapter 1391 Closing the Net in Advance
"Quick! Quick!"

Late at night, under the command of the officer on duty, a group of armed guards and veteran agents rushed into the Military Control Commission building and surrounded the Telecommunications Office.

Several radio operators on duty were ordered to raise their hands and leave the radio station. If they moved a little slower, guns would be pointed at their heads. This was the first time in the history of the Military Control Commission that such a large-scale internal operation had taken place.

At the same time, the Military Control Commission's dormitory area was also blocked, and a large number of members of the Telecommunications Department were dragged out of their beds and taken to the headquarters compound to await identification.

It was already deep winter, and the spies were shivering with cold, especially the female spies. They were cold and scared, but no one dared to make any unnecessary movements, let alone whisper to each other.

The first rule of the Military Control Commission: absolute obedience.

In the yard, Wu Chunyang and Gui Youguang circled the crowd, their sharp eyes fixed on someone from time to time, making the already frightened little spy even more terrified.

Zuo Chong stood in the office on the top floor of the headquarters building, looking at the people queuing below in silence.

Shancheng had already received information about the Fourth Army's situation. The Japanese spies took advantage of the chaos to escape, which forced the Military Control Commission to close the net in advance, otherwise it would be easy for the big fish to escape the hook.

"Deputy Director Zuo, I want to report everything that happened today to Director Dai!"

The speaker was Wei Daming, director of the Military Intelligence Bureau's Telecommunications Department. He was wearing his coat and shouting angrily at Zuo Zhong, looking a little embarrassed.

Director Wei is a notorious playboy who often hangs out with young ladies and wives, and tonight is no exception.

When the operatives rushed into the room, the other party was hugging a female student and watching the moon in front of the window. But for some reason, their clothes were a little tattered.

Zuo Zhong slowly turned his head, his expression instantly becoming warm: "Hahaha, Brother Daming, you misunderstood. With such a big thing happening, I must consult the Director of the Bureau."

After saying that, he shouted to the outside of the door: "Someone, come and get Director Wei some clothes."

Wei Daming put on the cotton-padded jacket handed to him by the little spy, and his expression looked better. However, he still angrily asked Zuo Chong what had happened.

Zuo Zhong raised his hand to stop the other party from asking more questions, and looked at Gu Qi who came in and asked, "How is it, have you found out?"

"I've checked it out. This is the duty roster of the Telecommunications Department staff on the day of release and the following three days according to the [Rescue Plan]." Gucci glanced at the side while holding the document.

This look irritated Wei Daming. Zuo Zhong first controlled the members of the Telecommunications Department, and then investigated the duty roster. Now Gu Qi still looked at him like this, clearly thinking he was a mole.

Without waiting for Wei Daming to speak, Zuo Zhong spoke first and revealed the news that the Japanese had infiltrated the Fourth Army through the Telecommunications Department.

Finally, he pointed out that there was reliable intelligence showing that there were Japanese spies and traitors within the Military Intelligence Bureau who might be turned against the government.

Wei Daming shuddered. There was more than one Japanese spy in the Telecommunications Department, but Zuo Zhong did not inform him in advance. What did this mean? It meant that he was no longer trusted, and was even suspected.

Thinking of the serious consequences of this matter, Wei Daming hurriedly explained to Zuo Chong that he was willing to cooperate with the investigation and had no complaints.

Zuo Zhong smiled slightly and didn't say much. Instead, he asked Gu Qi to introduce the [rescue plan], which comforted Wei Daming.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qi told the story of how he and Zuo Zhong deliberately leaked the [rescue plan], especially the fact that Shibayama Kenshiro received the news three days after the incident, which he deliberately emphasized.

As a telecommunications expert and intelligence officer, Wei Daming naturally understood what Gu Qi meant by saying this.

Now that we know there may be Japanese spies in the Telecommunications Department, and there is a high probability that the spies are Japanese who were contacted through the Military Intelligence Bureau radio station, and we also know the exact time when the [rescue plan] was leaked, the case will be easy to solve.

As long as we identify the personnel on duty on the day of release of the [Rescue Plan] and the three days that followed, we can preliminarily narrow down the scope of the suspects.

After all, the report from Northwest to the Military Control Commission said that Qiu Fang confessed that the "Ace No. 1941" was also a woman. Both of them used the colored glaze method to incite key personnel to defect, and they were both lurking in early .

This intelligence provided at least three clues for identification: first, the traitor held a certain position in the Telecommunications Department; second, the approximate time when the female Japanese spy entered the Military Control Commission; third, there was a relationship between the two;

After clarifying these three points, if they still can't find out who has the problem, then Zuo Chong and his team might as well give up their intelligence work and go home to sell sweet potatoes.

As time passed, the Second Intelligence Department, led by Song Minghao, reviewed all the personnel on the duty roster, conducting a very in-depth investigation of their family backgrounds, past experiences, daily words and deeds, and political stances.

On the other hand, Wu Jingzhong led the field investigation team to contact various regional stations and FIRC to learn about the details of the relevant personnel from the side.

In addition to routine investigations, agents also searched the telecommunications office dormitory to look for any suspicious items, such as code books or unregistered weapons.

When the first rays of morning glow appeared on the horizon, the identification results came out, and Ma Bocang, deputy chief of the translation and telegraph department, and radio operator Du Jing came into the investigators' sight.

This result was actually not unexpected. The Military Intelligence Bureau had a strict work process in telecommunications. The most basic discipline was the separation of sending and receiving, that is, the radio, translation, and monitoring departments did not overlap with each other to prevent leaks.

When sending a telegram, the cipher section first writes the cipher, and then hands it over to a telegraph operator for transmission. The person in charge of handing over the cipher is the chief of the cipher section and three deputy chiefs, who will randomly select or find a familiar telegraph operator to perform the task.

The reason why Ma Bocang’s problems were not discovered before was because he was very low-key and seldom interacted with other people.

For this reason, he was the least suspicious among the four section chiefs and deputy section chiefs on the investigation list of the Second Department.

If investigators had not found out that Ma Bocang had bought jewelry at a gold shop, and that piece of jewelry [happened] to appear in Du Jing's hands, the case might have been delayed for a few more days.

The members of the Telecommunications Department who had been standing in the yard all night finally received the order to disband. Everyone noticed that two people were missing, but they all pretended to know nothing.

The chaotic noise outside was heard in the underground interrogation room. Ma Bocang looked up at the ventilation window, his eyes filled with regret.

Gu Qi tapped the table with his pen and said in a cold voice: "Ma Bocang, you are a veteran of the Zhejiang Provincial Police Academy training class. You know the rules without me telling you. Just tell me straight away, or you will suffer in vain."

Zuo Zhong, who was standing next to him, folded his arms, his eyes cold. It was a first for the Military Control Commission that a veteran spy who had been in the business for ten years was turned against the Communists.

By the way, Ma Bocang was also his student. He had followed him in the Intelligence Department of the Secret Service for a period of time. Such a person actually betrayed him!
Zuo Zhong was angry but also confused. What methods did Du Jing use to make Ma Bocang risk his head and surrender to the enemy? This matter must be investigated thoroughly, otherwise he would not be able to sleep well.

Because if the Japanese can successfully incite rebellion in this way once, they will be able to succeed a second and a third time.

When Ma Bocang heard what Gu Qi said, he seemed to age a dozen years in an instant. His lips trembled for a long time, and he first expressed his regret to Zuo Zhong.

"Deputy Commander, I'm sorry. I, I was wrong."

He lowered his head and cried, his hatred for Du Jing became stronger. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

Zuo Zhong slammed the table and shouted, "You know you are wrong but you still surrender to the enemy. Tell the truth now. For the sake of our past friendship, I will allow you to commit suicide to make amends."

The Military Control Commission's house rules clearly state that traitors will only have one way to go, and that is death. So there is no need to say empty words like "spare your life". This will not fool Ma Bocang.

"Thank you, Vice-President. I'll tell you everything."

Knowing that he was doomed to die, Ma Bocang not only did not despair, but thanked Zuo Chong again and again and confessed the whole process of how he was instigated to rebel.

At the end of 1941, Du Jing joined the Military Control Commission as a graduate of the special communications personnel training class and soon became acquainted with Ma Bocang.

Ma Bocang is 37 years old this year. He married and had children before he entered the industry, but his wife and son died in a shipwreck during the westward migration, and now he is alone.

As soon as the two met, Ma Bocang discovered that Du Jing had a beauty mole on her forehead, and the position was exactly the same as his deceased wife. This coincidence made Ma Bocang pay special attention to Du Jing.

A few months later, Ma Bocang, who was on vacation, met Du Jing by chance on the street. The two took a walk and chatted together, and their understanding of each other deepened.

During the communication, he was surprised to find that Du Jing's personality, hobbies, and even tone of voice were very similar to those of his dead wife.

As a result, the longing hidden deep in his heart could no longer be suppressed, and Ma Bocang began to contact Du Jing intentionally or unintentionally in order to seek psychological satisfaction.

Once this emotional gap is opened, it is difficult to close it. The two of them went from occasionally meeting secretly outside to having private meetings during night shifts, and they would also create "chance encounters" in the corridor from time to time.

There is no need to say much about what happened next. It was nothing more than Ma Bocang leaking information, Du Jing forcing him to add colored glaze, and Ma Bocang getting deeper and deeper into trouble.

Zuo Chong laughed out of anger. The Military Control Commission's internal security training class had been held countless times, and the enemy's infiltration methods had been mentioned more than once. How could Ma Bocang not have noticed such a low-level subversion tactic?

Even a fool could see that all the coincidences mentioned above were traps set by the enemy based on his experience. The old intelligence Ma Bocang was really bewitched.

Of course, Ma Bocang might have had doubts, but his emotions clouded his reason and made him make a wrong judgment.

The interrogation had reached this point, and there was no point in continuing to listen. It was only a matter of time before Du Jing confessed. Zuo Zhong left the interrogation room and returned to his office.

Seeing him come back, He Yijun put a document on the desk. It was the Military Control Commission's investigation report on the traitor Fang Zicheng of the Fourth Army.

Zuo Chong opened it and flipped through it. The contents were rather messy, including household registration files, transcripts of inquiries from relatives and friends, correspondence, and many other materials.

Zuo Chong just glanced at these casually, but he stayed on the remittance record for a long time.

Records show that Fang Zicheng would send a small amount of money to his mother every month through his fellow villagers, and the earliest could be traced back to three years ago.

In addition, based on visits and investigations, the young spy found out that Fang's mother moved to the suburbs of the mountain city with fellow villagers and made a living by washing clothes for others.

Isn't Fang Zicheng's mother in her hometown in Hunan Province? Zuo Zhong pondered for a long time and raised his hand to pick up the phone.