cicada

Chapter 1427 [Steam Engine]

The headquarters of the Military Intelligence Bureau in Chongqing was as busy as ever. Staff members walked briskly down the corridor, delivering top-secret intelligence to the heads of various departments.

He Yijun walked to Zuo Zhong's office, raised her hand and knocked on the door. After hearing a "Come in" from inside, she pushed the door open and placed a telegram on the desk.

"Vice-Secondary, this is a top-secret telegram from Deputy Director Gu, sent from Rome."

Zuo Zhongxin, who was processing official documents, felt a chill. The compilation of Class A secret telegrams was extremely complicated and was only used when encountering important intelligence or major situations. Could it be that Lao Gu and his team had run into trouble?
He picked up the coded telegram, which contained only one sentence: Germany is developing a mysterious weapon, possibly related to the Steam Engine Project.

Zuo Zhong's brows slowly relaxed. So that was the thing. No wonder Gu Qi was so nervous. However, it wasn't convenient to talk about this in the office, so he called He Yijun and went to the rooftop of the headquarters.

On the rooftop, Zuo Chong looked at the cityscape of the mountain city and asked, "How is the progress of the [coal blocks]?"

He Yijun replied in a low voice, "Number One has already infiltrated Location A, and Numbers Two and Three have also successfully entered Locations B and C. Infiltration of other locations will require more time and opportunity."

After she finished speaking, she looked around, then moved lightly to Zuo Chong'er's side and quickly introduced the location and function of several mission sites.

Location A is in New Mexico and is responsible for the design, construction, and testing of the steam engine.

Location B is located in Tennessee and is responsible for producing the necessary materials for the [steam engine].

"Location C is located in New York State and is responsible for the overall administrative coordination, financial management, and coordination of scientific research and production in various locations for the entire project."

As He Yijun recounted the story, several place names flashed through Zuo Zhong's mind: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Industrial Complex, and Manhattan Engineering District Headquarters.

He breathed a long sigh of relief. The day had finally come. The Military Intelligence Bureau had spent a lot of manpower and resources to obtain information about that item, and had been preparing for it for nine years in advance.

As early as 1934, Zuo Zhong sent capable personnel to the United States to recruit and subvert moles, an operation codenamed "Steam Engine".

The reason for this name is that Zuo Zhong believed that the thing, like the steam engine, was a great invention that could change the world order.

To maintain secrecy, the recruited moles were collectively referred to as "coal lumps." These individuals were all native-born Americans, each with achievements in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and metallurgy.

Having confirmed that the steam engine had entered a critical stage, Zuo Zhong asked He Yijun, "How are the coal pieces performing? Will they rebel?"

“The probability is very small. Our brothers in the United States have done a lot of work in this regard.” He Yijun shook his head and explained the specific measures taken by the FIRC United States.

“When we were selecting moles, we specifically chose ordinary people from impoverished families. We had photographic evidence of them collecting activity funds and submitting intelligence each time. If they turned against us, they would inevitably be charged with treason.”

"Furthermore, these people have all pledged their allegiance, their hands are stained with the blood of American law enforcement officers and tycoons, and their families are under our surveillance."

Zuo Zhong was satisfied. With coercion, enticement, and the entanglement of his family, the possibility of the mole turning against him was indeed slim. However, the above methods alone were not enough, and the precautions had to be strengthened.

So he added two more instructions: "Tell the American station to temporarily cut off contact with [Coal]. What we need is the knowledge in their heads, not for them to risk stealing intelligence. This is different from previous missions."

The difference between scientific espionage and intelligence espionage is very significant. The latter targets political trends and military deployments, and the information obtained is highly time-sensitive.

The former requires technical data, drawings, formulas, and technical processes, and usually does not consider timeliness; it is a long-term task.

Currently, all major world powers are conducting scientific espionage, with the Russians being the most active, leveraging their religious advantage to win over a large number of European and American scientists.

Compared to the Kuomintang's "coal blocks," these scientists were more pure; they were moles purely for their ideals and did not accept any compensation.

As far as Zuo Zhong knows, the Americans recently formed an organization called Alsos, with the aim of spying on enemy countries, especially Germany's scientific intelligence.

The creation of the steam engine project was a decision made by the Americans after gathering scientific intelligence from various countries; otherwise, the Americans would not have spent billions of dollars to research a seemingly impossible weapon.

At this moment, He Yijun asked Zuo Zhong a question: "Vice-Captain, do bombs that can kill hundreds of thousands of people at once really exist?"

It's normal for her to have this question. Not to mention the Republic of China, most of the world's powerful countries were still in the theoretical stage of research on "it," and no one realized "its" power.

Zuo Zhong did not answer directly upon hearing this, but instead asked her, "What security measures did the Americans take at locations A and B?"

He Yijun paused for a moment, then gave a reply: all residential areas and factories at location A have no names, only numerical codes, and all incoming and outgoing emails are subject to strict censorship.

The scientists inside are subject to the highest level of surveillance, their travel is restricted, and they have to use passwords and pseudonyms to make phone calls, among other things.

Security at location B even considered gatherings of more than seven people to be suspicious, and local residents who asked even a single question would be pinned down by FBI agents within two hours. At this point, He Yijun understood: if the bomb hadn't existed, the Americans wouldn't be so tense.

Zuo Zhong stood by the fence for a moment, thinking, and then told He Yijun, "Inform Lao Gu to find a way to get close to that Italian leader and ask him for information about Germany's new weapons."

"Yes."

He Yijun raised his hand in salute, and the two stood in the afterglow of the sunset, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.
-
Inside a hotel in Rome, Gu Qi and Gui Youguang sat facing each other, with the latest coded telegram from Shancheng on the table next to them, the mission of which left the two scratching their heads.

“That person’s identity is very sensitive. I’m afraid the Italians won’t agree to us talking to them,” Gu Qi said with a troubled tone.

To be honest, when he reported the new German weapon, he was only thinking of the steam engine project from many years ago, and he didn't really think that thing was that great.

But seeing how much importance the co-pilot attached to this matter, Gu Qi quickly adjusted his mindset and resolved to complete the task as soon as possible.

But wouldn't contacting a politician who has just been ousted from power give Italians some bad ideas? If it affects the overall situation, that would be terrible.

Gui Youguang didn't think too much about it. He grinned and said, "We'll find out if we try. If the Italians refuse, we'll think of other ways."

After a moment of contemplation, Gu Qi felt that this was the only way. He immediately called Giovanni and made a request to visit him, explaining that the Allies needed to understand German intelligence. He then waited silently for Giovanni's response.

Unexpectedly, Giovanni agreed very readily, seemingly not caring at all about the influence of the leader, which made Gucci feel like he had punched empty air.

A few days later, Gu Qi and Gui Youguang boarded a seaplane bound for a place in western Italy.

At the same time, a tall, scarred white man walked out of Rome's train station, followed by a group of equally burly young men.

"Sir, where should we go now?" one of the men stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

Scarface looked at the chaotic street and said in a cold voice, "Find out where the target is. I don't think that's difficult, after all, the Italians are still our allies."

Immediately, these men, who looked like professional soldiers, quickly left the train station. One of them threw his ticket on the ground; the departure point on the ticket was clearly Berlin.

Gui Youguang sneezed on the plane. He looked out the window at the city of Rome, muttered a few words, wrapped his coat tighter around his hands, and closed his eyes.

At this time, the German Embassy in Rome also received a telegram from the Wolf's Lair, requesting the embassy's full cooperation in a highly classified operation. The contact person for the operation was named Skorzeny.

Over the next two days, mysterious people with questionable whereabouts arrived in Rome intermittently, totaling 70 people, all of whom carried heavy luggage.

These mysterious figures circled the city several times, and after confirming that they were not being followed, they checked into a hotel owned by a German businessman. This hotel served as a safe house for the German intelligence agency in Italy and also as the command center for the operation to rescue the Italian leader.

The moment the Italian leader was arrested, the Germans received the news. Upon learning that their ally had been overthrown, the master of the Wolf's Lair immediately decided to rescue him.

After investigation, the rescue operation was ultimately assigned to the Fredenthal Unit, an elite German force comparable to British special forces, whose members were mostly paratroopers.

Inside the hotel's wine cellar, several members of the Fredenthal Unit were sorting through various weapons, their dark barrels gleaming coldly under the lights.

"Squeak~"

Suddenly, the wooden door to the wine cellar was pushed open from the outside. The soldiers immediately raised their guns and aimed at the door. When they saw that the person who came in was Scarface, they all stood up and saluted.

"Major Skorzny."

This person is clearly the head of the Fredenthal Unit, and also Skorzeny mentioned in the telegram from the Wolf's Lair to the German embassy.

Hearing his subordinates greet him, Skorzeny nodded, strode to the table in the middle of the cellar, and stared into thought at the pile of newspapers on it.

Contrary to the assessment of Berlin intelligence, although Rome under martial law did not restrict the movement of people, there were no clues about the target's whereabouts, and no one knew where the target was being held.

Just as Skorzeny was starting to get agitated, the intelligence officer accompanying him hurried into the wine cellar and reported an important piece of information.

"Major, there's a political prison on Poncha Island near Gaeta Bay. A local maid got engaged to a policeman who guards the political prisoners, but the two haven't been on a date for a week since the target was arrested."

Skorzeny's spirits lifted. Knowing Italians as he did, he knew that the policeman would never have gone so long unless there was something particularly important to do.

He threw the newspaper on the table into the trash can and gave his subordinates orders: "Depart immediately. Target: Pengcha Island. Notify nearby intelligence personnel to investigate the prison."