cicada

Chapter 1410 Old Dai is seriously ill
When Tongsuo was going deep into the tiger's den, Zuo Zhong of Shancheng was also a little troubled. The source of his trouble was none other than his cheap teacher Dai Chunfeng.

No one knows why Lao Dai went to Hanzhong, but he got pneumonia within two days. He is now receiving treatment in a local military hospital and his condition is said to be quite serious.

Originally, Zuo Chong was planning to go and see the other party, but was sternly rejected by Old Dai. After all, Zuo Chong still had to take care of the Military Control Commission's affairs.

Looking at Dai Chunfeng's reply, Zuo Zhong rubbed his brows and asked He Yijun: "Why did the director get pneumonia? Is there an infectious disease in Hanzhong recently? Could it be poisoned by the Japanese?"

What he was most worried about was the third one. If the Japanese launched a biological warfare against Lao Dai, they would be in trouble soon.

"The Director did not contract the disease in Hanzhong."

He Yijun replied in a low voice, then pointed outside the door and the wall, indicating that this was not the place to talk.

Zuo Zhong understood and stood up and went to the rooftop with her. After making sure that no one was eavesdropping, He Yijun lowered his voice and revealed a secret.

"Deputy Commander, the radio operator who followed the Bureau Commander to the northwest sent a secret message, saying that the Bureau Commander's public schedule is to attend the graduation ceremony of the Hanzhong training class, but the first place he will go to is Luoyang."

This sentence made Zuo Zhong feel nervous. What exactly was Dai Chunfeng trying to do? An intelligence chief was deliberately creating confusion, so there must be something fishy about it.

Sure enough, what He Yijun said next made his scalp tingle, and he just wished he had an extra pair of ears.

"The Director of the Bureau and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tang of the First War Zone and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Hu of the Eighth War Zone had a secret meeting at the Longmen Grottoes. The spies were not able to find out what they talked about."

"But according to the report from the accompanying guards, Commander Hu wrote a poem called "Oath". This is the content of the poem. Deputy Commander, please read it."

He Yijun took out a piece of paper from his pocket. Zuo Chong took it and looked at it. There were four sentences written on it, each of which was quite meaningful.

[There are three Buddhas under the Dragon Gate, with clouds and mist in their eyes. I wish the world could be in my hands, and we can support each other on this dangerous day.]

To be honest, this poem is not very well written. Neither its style nor its rhythm are worth mentioning. It is simply crappy. Only the "Three Buddhas" are appropriate.

But what does it mean to have the universe in your hands? What does it mean to support each other? This is a typical anti-poem!

Zuo Chong swallowed hard. If this was true, then it would not be unfair for Old Dai to hit himself on a mountain in the future. Any person in a high position would probably lose sleep if he knew that his generals and intelligence chiefs wrote such things.

Deputy Commander Tang is known as the King of Central Plains, and Deputy Commander Hu is known as the King of Northwest. The two of them control most of the military forces in the Northwest. Together with Dai Chunfeng, who is known as the Spy King of the Republic of China, someone is in danger.

There is a proverb in the West that goes, "If God wants to destroy something, he will first make it swell up." Old Dai is now swollen and seriously ill.

After thinking for a long time, Zuo Chong suddenly asked, "Yijun, have you not seen your wife for a long time?"

He Yijun was stunned for a moment, then reacted, looked at Zuo Zhong and nodded gently: "I heard that Madam will be back from the United States in a few days, I will go to the official residence then."

Seeing that she understood what he meant, Zuo Zhong felt relieved and said sorry to Lao Dai in his heart. It was not that he, as a student, was selling out his teacher, but that this matter could not be hidden from someone.

Someone's personnel strategy can be summed up in two words: "checks and balances." No matter how much trust he has in his confidants, private means are indispensable.

Zuo Zhong dared to guarantee with his life that there must be someone's spy around Dai Hutang. Even if the spy had no access to core secrets, some things did not require evidence, only suspicion was enough.

So, either follow Lao Dai and crash into the mountains together, or jump off the boat early. Do you even need to think about which one to choose?
But directly reporting it is not an option. No one likes subordinates who tell tales. He Yijun only needs to mention it when talking to his wife.

Zuo Zhong and He Yijun were discussing the specific details when they suddenly heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. The next second, Wu Chunyang rushed out of the stairs and reported loudly.

"Co-pilot, the latest secret message from FIRC India Station: Melrose was assassinated."

"what?"

Zuo Zhong was shocked and quickly took the telegram from Wu Chunyang's hand and read it quickly.

Not long ago, Melrose was promoted to major general for his outstanding performance in Operation Revenge, and he immediately returned to the United States to attend the commissioning ceremony.

After the ceremony, Melrose planned to return to the mountain city from India. When passing through Kolkata, he met a British intelligence officer.

The two men were drinking and talking in the bar. A man dressed as a waiter took the opportunity to approach Melrose while serving drinks and stabbed him several times in the abdomen when he was not paying attention.

At present, Melrose is injured and unconscious, and the murderer has escaped. The US and British intelligence agencies have not found him yet and are unclear about the murderer's background.

"A bunch of rubbish!" Zuo Zhong cursed, and raised his head to order Wu Chunyang: "Notify the Indian station to cooperate with the Americans to save Lao Mei with all their strength, and find the murderer as quickly as possible, regardless of whether he is dead or alive."

Melrose's attitude towards the Republic of China is relatively friendly, but he cannot die like this. It would be terrible if the Americans sent another redneck.

Wu Chunyang took the order and left. The FIRC India Station immediately began an investigation, but unfortunately nothing was found after several days of investigation. It was not until Tongsuo sent a telegram to Shancheng that a breakthrough was made.

Wu Sibao, captain of the No. 76 guard battalion that specializes in "dirty work", is in India, and this news gave FIRC inspiration.

The Indian station followed the trail and found something. The operation personnel successfully captured the assassin of Melrose in a factory in Kolkata. According to the murderer's confession, he was the 76th field staff and was assigned by Wu Sibao to carry out the assassination. But as soon as the operation was over, Wu Sibao ran away.

This traitor who came from a gangster background was very cunning. He didn't even say hello when he retreated and escaped alone.

The next day, Wu Chunyang found Zuo Chong with the investigation results and reported to him the causes and consequences of the assassination of Melrose.

Speaking of which, this matter is related to Yamamoto's death. The Japanese Naval General Staff already knew that Melrose was the contact person of "Operation Revenge", so they decided to retaliate with assassination.

In addition to Wu Sibao, other senior members of No. 76 who participated in this operation included Li Shiqun. It was the latter who first proposed the assassination plan and reported it to the Japanese.

"asshole!"

After listening to the report, Zuo Zhong slammed the table hard. Li Shiqun was looking for death. He really thought that their Military Control Commission was a vegetarian.

Compared with Ding Mocun, the director of No. 76, Li Shiqun's methods of dealing with the Northwest and Shancheng were more brutal and aggressive, and he owed countless blood debts.

For example, the murder of Li Wenguang, the brother of a party veteran, the Shu Humanities College case, the large-scale crackdown in the cultural circle, the case of underground party agent Chen Weiren, the "Xicun" massacre, the underground party's Shanghai Wei organ case, and so on.

Over the years, countless intelligence personnel from both parties and patriots died at the hands of Li Shiqun, and even traitor No. 76 was severely harmed.

Two months ago, Li Shiqun suspected that there were Japanese spies inside No. 76, so he purged more than 20 spies and dozens of them were executed by feeding them poison.

From this we can see that this Wang Badan has gone completely crazy. A mad dog like this must be killed as soon as possible, otherwise it will only bring more trouble.

Zuo Zhong's expression gradually turned cold. He put down the investigation report and pondered secretly in his mind.

If you want to get rid of Li Shiqun, assassination alone is not enough. At least he cannot die at the hands of the Military Control Commission's gun, because that would be meaningless.

Li Shiqun is dead, as are Wang Shiqun and Zhao Shiqun. To kill someone, one must destroy their heart. It is time to contact those who have disloyalty in the puppet government.

After the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal, even a fool could see that the Japanese were strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Many traitors who followed Ji to surrender to the enemy began to look for a way out, and the Military Control Commission could use these people to achieve its goals.

Doing so would not only destroy the already fragile sense of trust among the traitors, but would also encourage more people to turn to the light, fundamentally weakening Ji's ruling foundation.

Zuo Zhongzhao waved his hand and called Wu Chunyang to his front. He muttered something and mentioned two names, Xu Jili and Qinglan.

Xu Jili, a native of Hunan Province, was the younger brother of a general of the Kuomintang. He was a student of the fourth term of the Whampoa Military Academy. He was classmates with many important figures of the two parties, and he also had a teacher-student relationship with the one in the Northwest.

In the 16th year of the Republic of China, Xu Jili learned that his former elementary school principal had revolted and was short of ammunition, so he personally led a company by train from Hankou to Wenjia City, Liuyang, and delivered more than 300 Hanyang-made rifles and nearly 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

The other party is not only loyal, but also sociable, knowledgeable, courageous, and has extensive connections. He is very successful in the Kuomintang officialdom and is on good terms with his classmate Lao Dai.

It is natural that the son of a powerful and wealthy family with a strong background and good interpersonal skills will be promoted quickly. Before Xu Jili was thirty, he had already become a lieutenant general and councilor of the National Government's military council, which can be said to be a young and successful person.

In addition to his smooth career, Xu Jili was also a winner in his personal life. He married Qinglan, a female star who is as famous as Miss Hua and Miss Ruan.

Compared with the other one, Zuo Zhong's [Imperial Yellow Jacket] is considered to have a shallow foundation. There is no way around it, the value of [Principal] is different.

But such a person openly surrendered to the enemy in 1940. When Xu Jili and his wife arrived at Jinling Railway Station, high-ranking officials of the puppet government gathered on the platform. Xu Jili's brother was so angry that he publicly published an announcement in the newspaper to sever ties with him.

Wu Chunyang was quite surprised when he heard the names of Xu Jili and Qinglan: "Deputy Commander, are you really going to wake up the Fourth Brother? Isn't that a bit hasty? He is an agent sent to the puppet government by the Commander himself. He must not be activated unless it is absolutely necessary."

As Wu Chunyang said, Xu Jili and his wife pretended to surrender. As for the code name "Fourth Brother", it came from the fact that Xu Jili was the fourth child in the family.

"No problem." Zuo Zhong waved his hand, narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Fourth Brother and Ji Ni are old friends. Without evidence, No. 76 dares not arrest anyone. We can just throw a stone to test the water and see which ones are human and which ones are ghosts."

He spoke the last few words one by one, and Wu Chunyang seemed to understand the deeper meaning behind them. He said yes softly and a smile appeared on his face.
-
Two days later.

No. 76 intercepted a secret message from the Military Control Commission. After deciphering it, the content of the message was "If you have any questions, please find Fourth Brother."

This telegram was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing quite a stir among the top officials of the puppet government in Shanghai and Nanjing.

When the secret telegram was delivered to Li Shiqun, the deputy director No. 76 was sitting in a dimly lit office, tapping the table with his fingers and his eyes flickering.

He looked at the word "Fourth Brother" and thought for a long time. Finally, he suddenly stood up from his chair and shouted to his secretary, "Prepare the car and go to the train station."

Not only Li Shiqun, but also Director of No. 76 Ding Mocun received the message. The difference was that Ding Mocun just smiled slightly, tore the message into pieces and threw it into the wastebasket①.

A smart person won't stand in the middle of the table before the wind changes. Placing a bet too early will only lead to self-destruction. Some things need to be waited and seen.

① This is a non-historical text, set in an imaginary time and space, so Ding is still the director of No. 76, which makes it easier to unfold the story.