cicada

Chapter 1394 An unexpected gain
Since its establishment, the Military Intelligence Bureau has handled cases involving espionage or major cases concerning national interests. When has it ever taken on such a small case?

Gui Youguang muttered a few words reluctantly, obviously dissatisfied with Dai Chunfeng's decision, but when he saw Zuo Zhong's eyes, he was so scared that he immediately shut his mouth.

Gu Qi was the most mature and prudent. He thought for a moment and said, "Second Commander, Miss Hua's luggage was robbed. There must be a traitor. I think we can find the rescue personnel to ask about the situation."

Everyone present nodded in agreement when they heard this. The robbers had a clear target and had set up an ambush on the trail in advance. There must be an insider providing the information.

"Okay, Chunyang, take some people to the Relief Committee and be careful about your attitude." Zuo Zhong gave the order.

The head of the relief committee is named Kong. It is better to keep a low profile when operating in his territory. After all, this is Lao Dai’s personal mission.

That afternoon, Yang Min, who was responsible for rescuing Miss Hua, was invited to the Military Control Commission headquarters, accompanied by her fiancé.

Zuo Zhong welcomed the two men warmly for a simple reason: Ms. Yang Min had risked her life to swim across the Sucheng River during the Battle of Shanghai, delivered flags to the defenders of the Sihang Warehouse, and brought back the list of eight hundred warriors.

After the Battle of Shanghai, Yang Min joined the Relief Committee and was responsible for the transfer of refugees. He was highly respected by all sectors of society.

Therefore, Zuo Zhong did not believe that the other party was colluding with the robbers. If Yang Min really wanted to make money, she could just embezzle some relief funds. Why would she have to rob Miss Hua's property?

However, no matter how much he didn't believe it, he had to find out why the robbers knew the luggage transfer route. Zuo Chong didn't beat around the bush and asked directly about the doubts in his mind.

Yang Min was called to the Military Control Commission and was confused at first. But when he heard that it was because of this matter, he became so angry that he started cursing.

According to her, there were only a few personal belongings in Miss Hua's luggage, and the vast majority of the rest were high-end smuggled goods that Miss Hua helped the wives of the rich ladies in the mountain city and the concubines of the Kuomintang officials to carry.

This was certainly not in compliance with the transfer rules, but considering Miss Hua's fame and her pitiful plea, Yang Min made an exception and arranged the transportation.

Before the goods were shipped, Miss Hua had been saying nice things to Yang Min. Now that the goods were lost, the other party actually turned against her. How could Yang Min not be angry?

Zuo Zhong was not surprised at all. In fact, when he heard that as many as 38 boxes of luggage were lost, he had guessed this possibility.

It is impossible for a star, even a once-famous star, to retain so much wealth after going through years of war.

But he had to give face to the young master's wife, so Zuo Zhong ordered the young spy not to record this, and then asked Yang Min who knew about the cargo transfer route.

Yang Min suppressed her anger and gave an answer after careful consideration. Since the goods needed to pass through enemy-occupied areas, in order to maintain confidentiality, only she, the escort and the driver knew the specific transfer route, but the driver and the escort were already dead.

At this point, Yang Min gave a bitter smile. Among the three people who knew about the matter, she was the only one still alive. It was really hard to explain.

Zuo Chong said a few words to comfort the other party and then asked about the transfer route and types of goods.

According to the plan, this batch of goods was transported from the port city to Guangzhou, and was originally intended to be transported to the mountain city by truck via Hunan Province and Cangcheng.

The problem occurred between Guangzhou and Hunan Province. When a transport vehicle passed near the Dongjiang River Basin, a group of robbers blocked the road with dead trees, tricked the driver and escort personnel out of the vehicle, killed them, and then fled with all the property.

The cargo that Miss Hua lost included a large number of imported goods such as Italian leather shoes, French perfumes, German glassware, and several pieces of high-end jewelry.

Yang Min had a good memory. He made a list of the stolen items and gave it to Zuo Zhong, while repeatedly assuring that he had never colluded with the robbers.

But at this time, Lao Dai called. Without asking the reason, he directly ordered the detention of Yang Min and her fiancé, and his tone sounded a little drunk.

Needless to say, it must be that Old Dai and Miss Hua drank too much during the meal and deliberately acted big in front of each other. It's just a pity for Yang Min and the others.

Military orders are as firm as mountains, so Zuo Zhong had no choice but to apologize to Yang Min and order his men to temporarily detain the other party and wait for Dai Chunfeng's next instructions.

This wait lasted for half a month. Even after the Guangdong Provincial Station had submitted its investigation report on the case, Old Dai was still indulging in the pleasures of life, spending every day eating, drinking and having fun with Miss Hua, completely forgetting about the case.

[Don’t deify Lao Dai, many things are more exaggerated than what I wrote]

According to the report from the Guangdong Provincial Station, villagers living near the crime scene confessed that the robbers acted very quickly, and it took less than ten minutes from the time they committed murder and looting to their retreat.

Moreover, this method of using dead trees to block the road to trick people into getting off the bus often occurs in the local area. Rumor has it that it is related to a thief named Wang Hu.

Zuo Zhong immediately ordered the Guangdong Provincial Station to send personnel to conduct undercover investigations in Guangdong and Hong Kong. If the goods were robbed by professional robbers, the robbers would definitely sell the stolen goods.

Imported items are easy to deal with. These things are very common in Guangdong and Hong Kong, and you can sell them by finding a black market merchant or even a store.

But jewelry is different. Each piece of jewelry is a unique product with special craftsmanship and materials, and can be traced along this line.

He did this not to take pictures of Old Dai and Miss Hua, but because what Yang Min did during the Battle of Shanghai was more worthy of respect than General Feiqi and his ilk.

Following Zuo Zhong's order, the Guangdong Provincial Station dispatched capable personnel to various places in Guangdong and Hong Kong to secretly investigate sales stores, black markets, jewelry stores, and gold and silver stores to find out recent transactions and goods.

That morning, a couple came to a market town in Dongjiang area. They were sitting in a luxury car and were accompanied by several bodyguards.

In just half a day, the couple bought hundreds of yen worth of goods, and they paid without blinking an eye, showing their extravagance. Such generous guests naturally attracted a lot of attention, and local shop owners came to promote their products one after another. Among them, the owner of a shop called [Daxin Sales Store] was the most enthusiastic and the most arrogant.

"Sir, Madam, I have a lot of good stuff in my store. I guarantee you will be satisfied." The boss, who called himself Zheng Daxin, said with a smile.

The wealthy couple looked at each other, smiled and left with their bodyguards. They walked and talked until they came to a shop on the edge of the town.

Generally speaking, shops selling goods are opened in downtown areas, firstly because it is convenient to attract customers and secondly because it is safer with more people.

But the Daxin Sales Store did the opposite. Judging from the age of the sign, this store has been open for a long time, which is really a bit strange.

The wealthy couple and their bodyguard immediately became alert. They were agents from the Guangdong Provincial Station of the Military Control Commission. They had been wandering around outside for several days in search of the stolen jewels.

When they walked into the store, they saw several bodyguards standing by the doors and windows with their hands on their waists. The owner Zheng Daxin didn't care and called the waiter to serve tea to the wealthy couple.

After some pleasantries, the same waiter came from the back room to the lobby with a tray containing several pieces of jewellery, sparkling in the sun.

The wife picked up the jewelry one by one and examined them. Finally, she selected a ring and a jade bracelet and asked about their prices. Zheng Daxin gave her a number for each.

"Okay, pack it up." The husband told his attendant to pay the money without any intention of bargaining.

Zheng Daxin looked excited. He bowed and nodded as he escorted the Haoke couple to the door. He watched them completely disappear from his sight before turning back to the store.

On the other side, the wealthy couple returned to the car and drove out of the town. The woman took out the diamond ring and said to the man, "It looks the same as the ring in the list, and the weight of the diamond is the same."

"Report to headquarters immediately and ask for instructions." The man replied in a deep voice, and then added: "Order the other teams to join us and check if there are any remaining robbed jewels in the store."

If there are more robbed jewels in the [Rixin Sales Store], it is likely that it is the robbers' fixed selling point, and they can find the robbers and the remaining luggage through the store owner.

Zuo Chong, who was in the mountain city, received the report and confirmed the plan of the Guangdong Provincial Station. He also gave instructions to arrest the suspect immediately once he was confirmed.

The purpose of this case is not to recover property or to eliminate the thief, but to allow Lao Dai to act big in front of Miss Hua. There is no need to play the long game to catch a big fish.

The sooner this matter is over, the better. He still has a lot of work to do and has no time to accompany Lao Dai in this idol drama.

In the following days, the Guangdong Provincial Station's operatives visited the Daxin Store using different identities and reasons, and finally found out the situation.

Just as the Hao Ke couple had speculated, Zheng Daxin still had other robbed items in his hands. This opened up a breakthrough in the case and it was time to arrest him.

Because the operation was carried out in enemy-occupied territory, the Guangdong Provincial Station decided to conduct a secret arrest. The station chief of the Guangdong Provincial Station mobilized a large number of personnel for this purpose, planning to give the robbers a thundering blow.

Late at night, with an order, dozens of agents broke into the store and captured the unsuspecting Zheng Daxin and several shop assistants in one fell swoop.

Zheng Daxin thought he had encountered robbers and wanted to speak, but the little spy blocked his mouth with a cloth and he could not speak. He could only watch this group of "fellow gang members" rummaging through the store.

"Report, the stolen imported goods were found in the warehouse." Someone whispered to the spy chief.

The spy chief was overjoyed and immediately walked quickly into the warehouse to start counting the evidence. During the counting, something fell to the ground from between several rolls of foreign cloth.

Looking at the object rolling to his feet, the spy chief picked it up and observed it carefully in his palm. He was suddenly shocked to find that it was a micro film. He immediately called Zheng Daxin for questioning.

"Are you Wang Hu's man? Are these foreign cloths the supplies on that truck? I'm telling you the truth. We are the Military Control Commission. You know what the consequences of lying are."

"I understand. I am Wang Hu."

Zheng Daxin's answer shocked the spies. No one had expected that the famous bandit from Guangdong Province would be hiding in a retail store.

Wang Hu here has completely given up resistance. He said that Zheng Daxin was just his alias and the foreign cloth was indeed stolen. As to whether it was stolen from a truck, only the robber who was responsible for counting the goods knew that.

"Where is that man?" The spy chief frowned.

"He was beaten to death while doing business a few days ago." Wang Hu replied stutteringly.

A fierce light flashed in the spy chief's eyes. Considering that this was not a place to talk, he ordered all the people and goods to be taken away and prepared to interrogate them in detail in the safe house.
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Two weeks later, the mountain city gradually took on a New Year atmosphere. Lanterns were hung in the streets and alleys, and people's faces began to smile.

Just as countless people were looking forward to the arrival of 1943, a small steamer docked at Chaotianmen Wharf, and several plainclothes men and covered prisoners got off the ship.

One of the plainclothes officers set off first and took a car to No. 29 Luojiawan. The man claimed to be the deputy station chief of the Guangdong Provincial Station and wanted to see Zuo Chong. He looked very anxious.

The young agent in charge of the reception did not dare to be negligent. After verifying the other party's identity, he took him to Zuo Zhong's office. As soon as the man entered the door, he fell to the ground and shouted tremblingly.

"Co-pilot, this is bad! Our personnel list in Guangdong Province, safe house address, radio station call sign, wavelength, and password have all been leaked!"