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Chapter 1537 Reorganization (Happy New Year)
Several hours after Dai Chunfeng's disappearance, Zuo Chong, who had successfully taken control of the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters, reappeared at his official residence in Huangshan.

Looking at Zuo Zhong who had come to report, the man got up and walked from behind his desk to the sofa. He gestured for Zuo Zhong to sit down next to him and then asked the question that had been bothering him.

"Shen Zhong, your plane disappeared along with Chunfeng's private jet. Why are you in Shancheng? And where did Chunfeng go?"

Zuo Zhong carefully sat on half of his buttocks and said in a hoarse voice, "Reporting to the leader, my teacher's plane and I separated after flying a distance over the sea. My teacher went to Shanghai, while I flew to Nanjing as you ordered."

"But as the plane was about to land, a thunderstorm occurred over Nanjing. For safety reasons, the pilot decided to make an emergency landing at Wuhu Airport."

"After I landed, I soon received news that the teacher's private plane had gone missing. I suspected that there was an enemy plot involved, so I did not disclose the itinerary to the public and immediately rushed back to the mountain city."

When talking about the disappearance of Lao Dai's private plane, Zuo Zhong's expression was extremely painful, his eyes were red, and his voice was almost choked with sobs.

Someone gave him a deep look, a look of satisfaction on their face. What superior wouldn't like such a sentimental subordinate?

In the cold and indifferent world of officialdom, double-dealing and hypocrisy are commonplace; only loyalty is truly precious.

After a moment, someone sighed: "So that's how it is. Shen Zhong, the most urgent task is to find out the whereabouts of Chunfeng's private plane."

“A secret telegram just arrived from Jinling, saying that there seems to be a plane crash at Daishan outside the city. I have decided to send you to Jinling to investigate this matter. In case Chunfeng is unfortunately killed, you can send him off on his final journey.”

Zuo Zhong suddenly stood up, his body trembling uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face as if he couldn't accept the bad news, putting on his best acting skills.

He gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Thank you, leader. The plane that crashed in Daishan is definitely not the one belonging to the director. I will go to the scene today."

It's said that the best actors are all in officialdom. Seeing Zuo Zhong's appearance, someone couldn't help but sigh, "Chunfeng has really taken on a good student." Then, the old fox pressed down his palm again.

"Sit down. I know you care about Chunfeng, but the work of the Military Intelligence Bureau cannot be neglected. I will immediately order you to temporarily take over as director. Go back to the bureau and arrange your work first. It's not too late to set off tomorrow."

"In addition, there is another task: go to Nanjing and dispose of Ji's grave. What right does such a traitor have to have his tomb located near the late president's mausoleum?"

It seems that someone truly hates their old rival, otherwise they wouldn't risk public condemnation by targeting the other party's tomb. If this gets out, it will definitely attract criticism.

Without any hesitation, Zuo Zhong bowed respectfully and said, "Yes, Leader."

Although digging up graves wouldn't sound good if word got out, Zuo's reputation wasn't great to begin with, so he didn't care about being cursed again.

Moreover, Ji was a traitor who sought personal gain by betraying his country. Digging up the other party's grave was not only not a crime, but actually a meritorious act. Later generations might even give him a nickname, like "the grave robber."

Under the cover of night, Zuo Chong returned to No. 29 Luojiawan. By this time, the Kuomintang agents had recovered from their panic, at least on the surface.

As he got out of the car, the top and bottom leaders of the Military Intelligence Bureau, led by Wu Chunyang and Gui Youguang, stood in two rows in front of the building, shouting, "Greetings, Director!"

While Zuo Zhong was still on his way, the official residence's staff conveyed the appointment news by phone. If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, some people in the intelligence department would probably have laughed out loud.

Faced with his subordinates' greetings, Zuo Zhong frowned, waved his hand, and ordered them to disperse: "Alright, get back to work."

After saying that, he glared at Wu Chunyang. This is not how you flatter someone. Old Dai is now "missing," but the Military Intelligence Bureau is openly congratulating him. What will others think of him if this gets out?

After dismissing these muddle-headed fellows, Zuo Chong walked alone into the director's office. Looking at the furnishings in the room, he seemed to see the shadow of Lao Dai.

To be fair, Lao Dai treated him quite well, and even if there was an element of exploitation involved, he still benefited greatly from it.

Zuo Zhong touched the dusty desk and thought to himself that people really do forget you when they're gone. If Lao Dai were still here, the staff would have polished the desk to a shine long ago. How could they allow it to collect dust?

He pulled out the cheap teacher's chair and sat down, gazing towards the door as he fell into reminiscence. What he was reminiscing about was, of course, someone's performance that day.

Many people in later generations speculated that Lao Dai's death was related to someone, who, even if they did not give a direct order, at least tacitly approved of it.

But during the conversation just now, someone mentioned Lao Dai, and his grief was tinged with anxiety, but there was nothing wrong with him.

Of course, this is normal. Trying to deduce someone's true thoughts from their words and expressions is simply unrealistic.

Zuo Zhong lit a cigarette but didn't smoke it. Staring at the glowing red cigarette butt, he thought carefully about his situation.

The position of director of the Military Intelligence Bureau may seem glamorous, but it is also very risky. The wise thing to do is to be a figurehead, otherwise Lao Dai is a cautionary tale.

Having figured this out, he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and walked out without looking back.

The following morning, Zuo Zhong, along with He Yijun and Gui Youguang, flew to Nanjing, while Wu Chunyang remained at headquarters to stabilize the situation.

As soon as the plane landed, Zuo Zhong went straight to Daishan on the outskirts of the city, accompanied by the leaders of Jinling Station and the local Party branch. The group braved the heavy rain and walked into the mountainous area.

During the journey, the person in charge of Jinling Station reported: Yesterday afternoon, someone heard a loud noise coming from the mountains, accompanied by a towering flame.

Jinling Station originally planned to send people into the mountains to search and rescue overnight, but the mountain city ordered them not to act on their own and to wait for Zuo Zhong to arrive before conducting the search. Jinling Station had no choice but to obey the order. Upon hearing this, Zuo Zhong remained silent and simply kept his head down as he walked. He refused Gui Youguang's help and walked alone at the front of the group.

Three hours later, the group climbed a small hill, and what they saw in the distance stunned them all.

Hundreds of meters away from the hill, countless pieces of aircraft debris were scattered in the woods. The entire forest was charred black, with branches lying down and the burn marks extending for nearly a hundred meters.

"There's light. Take some men to check the situation," Zuo Zhong said with difficulty, his body swaying precariously.

Gui Youguang dared not delay and quickly gathered a few junior agents to rush over. After an emergency investigation, more discoveries were made at the scene.

The fuselage and wings of the crashed plane were almost completely destroyed, but the tail was intact, and the number on it was the registration number of Lao Dai's special plane, "222".

As the search expanded, the junior agents found many items in the wreckage, such as several gold bars and a nearly intact sword, which were immediately presented to Zuo Zhong.

The gold bars don't prove anything, but the sword was a treasure from the former imperial tombs, which Ma Han Sanmei had placed in his luggage when he left the island city. Many people know this.

The presence of this sword at the crash site, along with the serial number "222," confirms that the plane that crashed in Daishan was indeed Dai Chunfeng's private plane.

With both hands gripping the sword, Zuo Zhong cried out in pain, "Teacher!"

Those present immediately offered words of comfort, showering the scene with kind words.

"Director, Director Dai in heaven certainly wouldn't want you to be too sad. Please take good care of yourself."

"Yes, yes, it's truly a pity that Director Dai passed away so young."

People can't be brought back to life. No matter how powerful Dai Chunfeng was, that's all in the past. Now, Director Zuo is in charge of the Military Intelligence Bureau, and they must make their stance clear.

Zuo Zhong ignored the praise from the crowd and stared blankly at the wreckage of the plane. After a long while, he ordered that they try their best to find Lao Dai's remains and belongings.

But after such a severe explosion, finding the remains was no easy task. The search and rescue team stayed in Daishan for three whole days, and in the end they only found a few of Lao Dai's gold teeth.

During this time, Gui Youguang found Zuo Zhong and reported two strange things.

First, a lot of metal fragments were found at the scene, but some of the fragments were not structural materials of the aircraft itself, but were similar to the remnants of an explosive device.

Secondly, witnesses heard two muffled explosions that day, with a very short interval between them; the first was soft, and the second was loud.

After hearing the order, Zuo Zhong told Gui Youguang to forget about it. It was good for everyone that Lao Dai died because of the weather, and there was no need to dig deeper.

The next day, Zuo Zhong, "heartbroken," led his men to blow up Ji's grave, and the people of Nanjing applauded.

On March 21, the Nationalist government announced that Dai Chunfeng, the former director of the Military Intelligence Bureau, had died in a plane crash.

In April, Lao Dai's memorial service was held in the mountain city. Someone personally presided over the ceremony. In his eulogy, he talked about "loyalty", "hard work and great achievements", the role of the Military Intelligence Bureau in the War of Resistance, and also about "the loss of a pillar of the nation".

These words sound like nice things, but those familiar with the situation know that the timing of Lao Dai's death was too subtle, and the Military Intelligence Bureau probably wouldn't last much longer.

Sure enough, less than two months after the memorial service, just as some of the Nationalist government offices had moved back to Nanjing, an order was delivered to Zuo Zhong's desk.

Following someone's instructions, the Kuomintang's openly armed agents were transferred to the Second Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense, while the secret core forces were reorganized into the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, which remained responsible for domestic intelligence work.

The Second Department of the Ministry of National Defense is a newly established agency with the authority to supervise the operations of various intelligence agencies. It is a key institution connecting the intelligence system with the political decision-making level.

Zuo Zhong reaped significant benefits from this reorganization. He not only continued to serve as the director of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics and the FIRC, but also successfully became the director of the Second Bureau, making him the de facto number one figure in the Nationalist government's intelligence system.

But titles aside, Zuo Zhong knew very well that the so-called Director of the Bureau of Secrecy and Director of the Second Department were just nominal positions; only the Director of the FIRC was a real position.

Therefore, he entrusted the daily work of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics and the Second Department to Zheng Tingbing, while he focused on building an overseas intelligence network. He only stamped documents on domestic affairs without expressing his opinion or getting involved.

One day, He Yijun was tidying up the director's office when she asked Zuo Zhong whether Lao Dai was really dead. Zuo Zhong smiled slightly but did not answer.

Old Dai may be dead, or he may not be dead (the following is all speculation and has nothing to do with this book).

On that day, as Dai Chunfeng walked towards the gangway, the baggage cart blocked the view of the crowd seeing him off. A middle-aged man with a similar build to Dai Chunfeng got off the baggage cart and boarded plane number 222 in Dai Chunfeng's place.

While everyone's attention was drawn, Lao Dai turned around and crawled into the suitcase in the luggage car. Then Wu Chunyang and Gui Youguang carried the suitcase into Zuo Zhong's private jet.

Later that same day, Zuo Zhong stood at a small dock in Wuhu and waved goodbye to a cargo ship heading east.

After the cargo ship disappeared on the river, he looked down at the brown paper bag in his hand. On the cover, he saw a line of small red writing: "[List of Surprise Attack Team]".

In mid-1946, Zuo Chong led a group of his old subordinates overseas, and the Kuomintang also began to attack the Central Plains Liberated Area. The Republic of China, which had been at peace for a few months, was once again engulfed in the flames of war.