cicada

Chapter 1445 Each Using Their Own Clever Schemes
Twenty miles west of Yancheng, Wu Jingzhong lay on his stomach beside a haystack, carefully gazing at the distant village.

He was in a terrible state, his face and body covered in sweat and dirt, and his usually neatly combed hair was plastered to his forehead, making him look somewhat comical.

The reason he did this was because Division X had discovered that Zheng Tingbing and the other two had escaped, and Lan Hongchang had mobilized thousands of people to search everywhere like madmen.

All roads around Yancheng were blocked off, and anyone who resembled Zheng Tingbing and his two companions in age or appearance was detained.

To evade capture, Wu Jingzhong avoided main roads and only traveled along field ridges and small paths, narrowly escaping the blockade.

"Huchihuchi~"

The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and a few barks echoed through the pitch-black village. Panting, Wu Jingzhong crawled into a haystack, preparing to act again at dawn.

At this time of year, with fighting everywhere and famine, villagers are very vigilant. Entering the village in the dark is easy to be discovered, while it is safer during the day.

Wu Jingzhong closed his eyes and fell asleep fully clothed, but his ears remained constantly on the sounds outside the haystack, his mind filled with curses for Zheng Tingbing's ancestors.

If the other party hadn't insisted on traveling light, how would Lan Hongchang have dared to attack them? Now it's just a matter of when headquarters will receive that telegram.

Once the mountain city learns about the X Division's affairs, it will definitely send people to support them. At that time, Lan Hongchang will know what it means for military law to be merciless.

As he pondered, Wu Jingzhong's eyes suddenly narrowed. Something was wrong; there was a problem with the Luocheng station!
He was so focused on escaping that he forgot one thing.

Why did the higher-ups of Division X choose to launch a large-scale manhunt after the failure, instead of fleeing?
This suggests that the other side was certain that as long as they were killed, no one would know the truth of the case, and the telegram may never have been sent at all.

Damn it, recalling the humble smiles of the stationmaster and deputy stationmaster of Los Angeles Station, Wu Jingzhong gritted his teeth in hatred.

Just then, several gunshots rang out in the distance. He quickly parted the straw and looked out, only to find a group of soldiers surrounding the village.

These soldiers smashed down any door they saw, ransacked the place, and took anything of value they found, ignoring the homeowner's desperate pleas.

More than an hour later, the soldiers left with smiles on their faces, and the village returned to silence, leaving only the villagers who were heartbroken.

The bandits passed by like combs, and the soldiers passed by like fine brushes. The villagers, who were already destitute, lost their meager possessions, and even their winter food was taken away.

As for the villagers who had just experienced famine, no one cared whether they would starve to death without food.

Wu Jingzhong, who witnessed all of this, remained unmoved. Everyone knew the Guo army's ways; these people hadn't killed anyone, only robbed, which was already considered a sign of strict military discipline.

A few hours later, the winter sun shone on the plains of eastern Henan. Wu Jingzhong secretly sneaked into the village and climbed over into the yard of a house.

Ten minutes later, a village woman wearing a coarse cotton-padded jacket and a triangular headscarf walked westward with a bamboo basket in her hand and a swaying back. Several banknotes appeared on the table of that household.

After walking a few miles, Wu Jingzhong, dressed as a woman, buried the old clothes in the bamboo basket into the ground, checked the direction again, and then quickened his pace.

However, his destination was not Lushan. Penicillin was among the supplies that the X Division was reselling, and who knows if the military hospital was colluding with the X Division.

Given the current situation, there is only one place in Henan Province and its surrounding areas that is the safest: the underground Communist Party base.

Although Wu Jingzhong was unwilling to admit it, it was the truth: the underground party was more trustworthy than the Kuomintang's own people.

As he recalled the map of Henan Province, a place name popped into his mind: Funiu Mountain.

According to intelligence gathered by the Military Intelligence Bureau, in 1938, a group of cadres were dispatched from the Northwest to the Funiu Mountains to secretly develop political and military power.

In the middle of last year, friction between the two parties intensified, the area of ​​the Funiu Mountain base shrank, but the core personnel did not suffer too many losses.

The local terrain was complex, with deep forests and secluded valleys, making it suitable for guerrilla warfare. Guo's army suffered heavy losses at the hands of the enemy.

So even if Lan Hongchang knew he was in Funiu Mountain, he couldn't reach him. Thinking of this, Wu Jingzhong's spirits lifted, and his steps became much lighter.

The straight-line distance from Yancheng to Funiu Mountain is about 250 kilometers. This distance is nothing to a professional agent; he can arrive in two or three days.

Unfortunately, his good mood only lasted for half a day. As they got closer to Mount Funiu, Wu Jingzhong discovered a big problem.

It wasn't just the X Division's troops that were hunting them down; other KMT troops were also in action, involving a total of three division-level units.

This discovery sent chills down Wu Jingzhong's spine. Lan Hongchang had far more accomplices than he had imagined, and such a large-scale troop movement must have been covered up by someone.

Who exactly is Lan Hongchang's backer? Commander Tang? Or other high-ranking officials in the First War Zone?

Wu Jingzhong's mind was in a mess, and he became increasingly cautious in his actions. He avoided villages with more than a hundred people whenever he encountered one. When he was thirsty, he drank dirty water; when he was hungry, he stole—no, he bought—the villagers' food. He headed straight for the Funiu Mountains.

After three days of arduous trekking, Wu Jingzhong finally reached the edge of the Funiu Mountains. However, due to the underground Communist Party, the checkpoints on the mountain roads were extremely strict.

He tried several times, but not only did he fail to sneak in, he was also discovered by the patrol team. Fortunately, the soldiers thought "she" looked like a village woman visiting relatives and did not check her, so Wu Jingzhong escaped a disaster.

"Shh~"

A seasoned veteran in the patrol whistled at the "village woman's" retreating figure. His companion looked disgusted; how could the woman, who was so short and fat, even have the heart to kiss her?

The veteran scoffed, "You guys don't know anything. This kind of woman is the real deal."

Wu Jingzhong had no idea that his innocence was almost ruined. He wandered around the area, found a village near the Funiu Mountains, and waited patiently outside the village for something.

They waited all day, and in the dead of night, a man walked out of the village, seemingly heading into the mountains.

Wu Jingzhong smiled and crouched down to quietly follow. Just as he had expected, there were indeed underground party members in the villages near Funiu Mountain.

Having dealt with the Northwest for many years, and having been a member himself, Wu Jingzhong was well aware of the underground Communist Party's modus operandi. The only reason they could grow and thrive amidst numerous enemies was because they relied on the masses.

Despite being surrounded by the Nationalist government, the guerrillas on Funiu Mountain were not wiped out, of course, because they were secretly supported; otherwise, they would have starved to death.

Wu Jingzhong followed the man, passing through a series of blockades, and successfully entered the mountainous area.

Before we knew it, snowflakes began to fall from the sky, turning the desolate mountains and forests white and greatly reducing visibility.

As the figure ahead grew increasingly blurry, Wu Jingzhong could only close the distance. It was a risky move, but better than losing sight of his target.

Once the target is lost, finding the guerrillas in the hundreds of square kilometers of the Funiu Mountains is like finding a needle in a haystack.

As the wind and snow swept across the land, the footprints left by the underground party's informants disappeared in the blink of an eye. Wu Jingzhong was anxious and quickened his pace in pursuit.

As he passed through a mountain hollow, something hard suddenly blocked his way from behind, and the bamboo basket in his hand was also pulled away.

"Don't move! I'll kill you if you do!"

A cold voice rang out, and Wu Jingzhong was so frightened that he quickly raised his hands and tried to explain.

"Don't shoot, I have important information to share with your superior."

The owner of the voice did not answer, but ordered Wu Jingzhong to be searched. The evidence he was carrying was quickly discovered.

"Captain, look, this guy has a note in his pocket, I don't know what's written on it."

After a while, the voice rang out again: "I can't read, what are you showing me? Take it back and let the instructor take a look."

Before he could finish speaking, Wu Jingzhong felt everything go black, and a bag was put over his head.

Amidst the pushing and shoving, he followed this group of people for a long time as they wandered through the mountains, eventually arriving at a cave.

"Instructor, this is a prisoner, and there's a note we found on him. This old guy is dressed as a woman; there's definitely something fishy going on."

The person called the captain explained the situation to another person. Upon hearing this, Wu Jingzhong quickly spoke up, explaining not only his purpose but also revealing his identity.

"Hey, this is the Military Intelligence Bureau. Quickly inform your superiors that the X Division is colluding with the Japanese invaders."

The cave fell silent. The guerrillas had learned something new today: a treacherous spy had actually asked their underground party for help.

The instructor, wearing glasses, frowned, looked down at the note, and gradually his eyes sharpened.

"These beasts!!"

Seeing what the higher-ups of the X Division had done, the instructor couldn't help but curse out loud. After cursing, he called the captain aside and spoke to him in a low voice.

"The information on the note is very important. Go to the transportation station immediately and have them pass it on to their superiors."

"Instructor, could this be an enemy trap?"

"It shouldn't be. Tongzhi in the enemy-occupied area has also collected relevant intelligence before."

The two voices grew softer and softer. Inside the cave, Wu Jingzhong collapsed to the ground, temporarily out of danger. But Zheng Tingbing, hundreds of miles away, was suffering terribly.

Southwest of Yancheng, the barking of dogs and the torches behind him grew closer and closer. Zheng Tingbing scrambled into a grove of trees, filled with regret.

Perhaps it was a tacit understanding between the friends, Lan Hongchang laid a trap in the Yancheng mountain area, and the self-righteous Deputy Director Zheng walked right into it.

If he hadn't sensed the danger and escaped quickly, he would probably be dead by gunfire now. Even so, he was terrified.

As he ran, Zheng Tingbing took off his coat and threw it to the side of the road, and waded through the stream several times.

He did this to get rid of the military dogs, but he forgot it was winter and soon he was shivering from the cold.

In the biting cold wind, Zheng Tingbing looked back and, confirming that the pursuers could not catch up with him in a short time, decisively turned around and circled back to the foot of the mountain via the route he had come from.

Military dogs can track scents, but they cannot discern when a scent was produced. Using this tactic, Zheng Tingbing successfully shook off the X Division's men.

With hope of escape, he darted through the harvested fields, oblivious to the blood streaming from his hands and feet as they were cut by sharp stubble.

After running for an unknown amount of time, Zheng Tingbing stopped by a small river, cupped his hands in his mouth, and put the water in his mouth.

Although the water wasn't clean and had a strange taste, he didn't care too much and immediately drank his fill.

After drinking the water, Zheng Tingbing wiped his mouth with his sleeve and started again. When he climbed over a dirt slope using both his hands and feet, the scene in front of him left him speechless.

The vast plains were littered with countless corpses, and a stench filled the air as countless crows circled overhead.

Upstream, bloated corpses floated on the river; they were victims who had died from overeating after drinking too much water, unable to bear the hunger.

Since two years ago, Henan Province has suffered from an unprecedented famine, affecting tens of millions of people and causing countless deaths from starvation.

This year, with external relief and recruitment by overseas Chinese businessmen, the situation has improved slightly, but many people still embarked on the road of fleeing famine.

What appeared before Zheng Tingbing was a migration route paved with corpses. Thinking of the strange taste in the water and the fish saliva, his stomach churned and he vomited.