Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 639 The Japanese spy organization is wiped out in one fell swoop; the Japanese army launches a general offensive in southern Guangxi.
The commotion in the teahouse lasted only two minutes.

The operatives pinned the two targets to the ground. The few tea drinkers nearby were so frightened that they all got up and tried to get away, but they were stopped by the military police: "We are ordered to arrest traitors. No one is allowed to leave until the investigation is completed!"

Fang Wen and Liu Zhihe arrived shortly afterward, their eyes turning cold as they looked at the two men who were tied to the pillar with their hands behind their backs.

The person who passed the note was the same person who had been called "Fujino-kun" last night. He remained silent and motionless.

The other logistics officer, who was also detained, stubbornly retorted, "Why are you arresting me? I just came here for a cup of tea!"

Liu Zhihe stepped forward, searched the pocket of the logistics officer, found the note that hadn't been hidden yet, and handed it to Fang Wen.

There were no words on the note.

Fang Wen frowned and asked Staff Officer Liu, "What's the situation with the other personnel?"

"They've all been caught; none of them escaped."

"So the notes they received were all on this kind of white paper?"

"Yes, but some people were in a hurry. While we were making the arrest, they were using developing agent. This is what I have in my hand."

Staff Officer Liu took out a small bottle without a label.

"Give it a try," Fang Wen said.

Then, Staff Officer Liu dropped developing solution onto the white paper, and the writing quickly became visible.

It's in Japanese.

【Snake, piece of paper is received and taken, and the king is officially started. This time's mission is to investigate the movements of the 31st Army. 】

Fang Wen, who understood Japanese, read it aloud to Staff Officer Liu in a low voice.

"Snake, after receiving this note, you will officially begin your mission. This mission is to investigate why the 31st Army has such a thorough understanding of our army's movements."

Staff Officer Liu glared angrily, rushed over and grabbed the officer by the collar. "You bastard, you traitor, you're working for the Japanese!"

The officer, realizing he had been exposed, turned pale: "Staff Officer Liu, I didn't want to either."

At this moment, the one who had been silent all along suddenly struggled to raise his head and shouted in Japanese.

Without translating into Fang Wen's language, it was clear that what he said wasn't anything good, and the people present immediately erupted in uproar.

Someone shouted, "Kill the Japanese devils!"

People were about to rush over and give this Japanese spy a good beating.

"That won't do," Staff Officer Liu quickly ordered the action team to protect the two spies and prevent them from causing any trouble.

"Don't do anything rash. These two Japanese spies are very important to us. If we kill them, who will we ask for information from? You're all still involved, so don't cause trouble for yourselves."

Hearing this, everyone could only glare angrily at the two Japanese spies, their eyes blazing with fury.

Given the chaotic situation, it's best not to linger in the teahouse. Fang Wen said, "Staff Officer Liu, take the man back and interrogate him together with the others we've arrested."

"What about here?"

"This is where they meet. I don't think there are any other spies here. You can write down the identities of the people present for future verification."

"Ok."

Immediately afterwards, a group of operatives escorted the spies away, while the rest registered the information of those present.

Because the spies involved 31 military personnel, it was inconvenient to detain them in the military. Therefore, several spies were taken to a temporary interrogation point at No. 22 Xingning Road.

To ensure that the prisoners would not have contact with the outside world, Commander Wei ordered the guard regiment to dispatch 100 men to be stationed and guard Xingning Street.

Time was of the essence, and the interrogation began that very day.

Fang Wen first interrogated the businessman.

The businessman's name was Wang Fusheng, a local silk merchant in Nanning.

He confessed that he had been recruited by the Japanese military intelligence department in 1938 and was responsible for maintaining a single-line contact with Fujino.

"Who is 'Snake'? Have you seen him?" Fang Wen asked.

Wang Fusheng shook his head: "I've never seen 'Snake.' I was only responsible for receiving telegrams and contacting Fujino. I don't know anything else. If my line is discovered, other lines will be activated."

Fang Wen said coldly, "You're in charge of the telegraph machine and know the code, so how come you're an external intelligence agent?"

Wang Fusheng tearfully recounted, "Sir, it really is like that. I was just a pawn that could be discarded at any time. It's all my fault for being greedy and doing such a despicable thing as betraying the country and disobeying my ancestors for money. Fujino found me back then, gave me a lot of money, enough to pay off my gambling debts, taught me how to use the telegraph machine, and even gave me a codebook."

It seems he won't get anything out of him.

Subsequently, Fang Wen interrogated the logistics officer who had been arrested for making contact.

His name was Zhao Liming. He was a civilian officer in the logistics department of the 31st Army, responsible for recording logistics accounts and having access to confidential information about the transportation of some military supplies for the 31st Army.

Like Wang Fusheng, he incurred huge debts due to gambling and was recruited by Fujino to provide the logistics department with material transportation routes and troop movement information.

Because this person is quite special, he is codenamed 'Snake' and will not be used except in important situations.

"Was it you who leaked the information about the last attack on the ammunition transport team?" Liu Zhihe asked sternly.

Zhao Liming nodded and admitted: "I told Liu Youtian the transport route. He promised to give me money to go to Hong Kong after Nanning was occupied. ... I know there is no way to survive. I will tell you whatever you ask. I just hope to die quickly."

Liu Youtian, mentioned in the conversation, is Fujino's Chinese name.

Staff Officer Liu interjected, "If you confess honestly, you'll be shot. If you conceal anything, I'll skin you alive to avenge our fallen brothers."

These words made Zhao Liming tremble with fear.

Fang Wen gestured to Staff Officer Liu to be quiet and continued asking questions.

"Besides leaking the transport routes, did you provide the Japanese army with any other intelligence, such as the location of the seaplane base or other military facilities in the city?"

“I didn’t leak this information. Fujino has other contacts, it’s probably those people,” Zhao Liming confessed.

Fang Wen nodded and instructed the team members to take him away.

The third prisoner was Fujino, a key member of the organization and a Japanese spy.

Compared to the previous two, this person showed no remorse and had a fierce expression.

Upon entering the room, he said, "I will not tell you anything. I can endure even the most severe punishments."

"Really?" Fang Wen turned to Gong Xiuneng: "You go."

Gong Xiuneng walked over and immediately took action, first dislocating Fujino's hand and foot joints.

Then he used the Split Tendon Technique.

Fujino, who had been so arrogant just moments before, couldn't help but howl in pain.

However, Gong Xiuneng dislocated his jaw joint.

In a situation where one cannot move or make a sound.

He was like a paralyzed person who had to endure immense pain.

That was truly an excruciating process.

Later, Fujiwara fainted, but was revived by Gong Xiuneng.

Only then did Fang Wen speak up: "Alright, untie him."

Gong Xiu was able to remove the tendons and dislocate the joints, thus restoring them from dislocation.

After Fujino's jaw was restored, he cried out in terror, "I want to confess."

"Fine, I'll give you a chance. Tell me yourself." Fang Wen looked coldly at Fujino.

Not wanting to endure torture again, Fujino confessed.

He was originally a member of the Black Dragon Society, mainly active in Northeast China.

Last year, the Black Dragon Society planned to expand in southern China and took the initiative to contact the Navy. Fujino was one of the personnel sent by the Black Dragon Society to cooperate with the Navy in intelligence activities.

What followed was his confession about how he recruited spies and what intelligence he reported.

Since last year, he had recruited a group of traitors in the Guinan region, and the intelligence they gathered was sent to the Japanese military intelligence agency. Fujino had a lot more to confess, too much to say at once, so Fang Wen ordered the action team to take him away.

He discussed it with Staff Officer Liu.

Staff Officer Liu said angrily, "That Fujino deserves to die. He found out everything about us. No wonder the Japanese army has been targeting us at every turn since they landed."

Fang Wen calmly analyzed, "Judging from the testimonies of these three individuals, Fujino should be the leader of this undercover organization. He controls the entire organization's information transmission. In the next interrogation, I want to approach it from two angles: firstly, to get Fujino to continue confessing, and secondly, to find out from the other prisoners whether this is true. If so, it means we have destroyed a complete intelligence channel for the Japanese army in southern Guangxi. It has also deprived the Japanese army of its informants who know our military intelligence."

"Yes. Then let's continue the interrogation."

"I have other important things to do, so I'll leave this to you."

Fang Wen handed the interrogation transcript to Staff Officer Liu.

"Commander Fang, what do you mean by this?"

"I will tell Commander Wei that the anti-traitor team is in your charge. My duty is in the sky."

After saying that, Fang Wen got up and left with Gong Xiuneng and two soldiers from the Independent Regiment.

He first sent the soldiers to the air defense positions in Jiangnan, and then drove to the 31st Army headquarters to explain the situation.

After completing these tasks, Fang Wen returned to the airport and immediately boarded the Qinyuan.

We arranged a pick-up time with Yangon yesterday, so this is the perfect time to set off.

The Qinyuan took off from the airport.

Fang Wen immediately used his mechanical perception ability combined with radar target acquisition device to conduct reconnaissance.

According to radar detection equipment, a small number of aircraft were detected in the Beibu Gulf region; these were Japanese patrol aircraft.

Meanwhile, in the southwest direction, at a distance of 260 kilometers, three other aircraft also reported the same information.

Those were three seaplanes that Taishan Airlines had launched from its base in northern Myanmar.

Judging from the distance, they are in French Vietnam.

Immediately, Fang Wen drove the Qinyuan at high speed towards that direction.

Half an hour later, the plane arrived at the border.

Three seaplanes also happened to fly over the border.

Behind them were two old Potez 25 biplane fighters. Fang Wen's first owned fighter jet was the "Qingyun," a modified Potez 25 from the Northeast Army.

These two aircraft belong to the French Air Force of Vietnam. Even in this day and age, they are still using old models from the 20s, and their combat capability is extremely poor.

But they weren't driving away the transport plane; they were escorting it, making a statement.

After all, the French Air Force is already using the Tay Son gunship aircraft and the feedback has been positive, and the Air Force of French Vietnam also wants to purchase a batch of gunship aircraft as a supplement to their air force.

Fang Wen flew over in his Qinyuan aircraft, briefly paralleling the two Potez 25s, and waved to them.

He then flew to the three transport planes, turned on his radio to call them, and directed the three transport planes to follow him.

The plane flew from Chongzuo westward towards Nanning.

The aircraft landed at a concealed waterborne airfield on the upper reaches of the Yong River, unloading all the transported aerial rockets, fuel, spare parts, machine gun shells, and cannon shells.

Fang Wenze piloted the Qinyuan back to port.

Two hours later, the transport plane finished unloading, and Fang Wen took off again, leading three transport planes to the border.

And so, the airlift of military supplies was completed safely.

And at this time.

Inside the command center of a ship in the Beibu Gulf.

A military conference is underway.

During the meeting, the intelligence officer explained the situation: "Our spy organization in Nanning may have been discovered by the Chinese military. From now on, we probably won't be able to obtain military intelligence from there anymore."

"What?!" The Japanese officers were shocked.

Their success in fighting in southern Guangxi was due to their understanding of the local situation, combined with mechanized units and a perfect combat plan.

Currently, the operations in the Guinan region are hampered in many places, and the air force is unable to gain complete air superiority. If the intelligence organization is also dismantled, and the enemy's military intelligence cannot be obtained, this battle will become increasingly difficult.

The commander made a decision immediately.

"We must go all out now and launch an attack before the 31st Army makes any major adjustments. Otherwise, the longer we drag this out, the less likely we will be to capture Nanning."

This decision prompted the entire naval fleet in the Beibu Gulf to mobilize.

August 12th at 7 am.

A large number of warships have appeared in Qinzhou Port.

One by one, landing ships were lowered, carrying naval soldiers ashore.

These units assembled using their respective fleet designations and traveled in military vehicles to the Japanese front lines.

Accompanying them were artillery pieces and tank/armored vehicle units issued to the Japanese troops at the front.

Outside Nanning city, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Fang Wen had already gotten up and washed up, and then he and Gong Xiuneng made a simple breakfast with compressed military rations.

After breakfast, Fang Wen boarded the plane to conduct his daily routine patrol and reconnaissance.

This required piloting the aircraft alone into the front-line battlefield area, which was very dangerous as it was easy to encounter large groups of Japanese warplanes. Only he could return safely every time and scout out the enemy situation.

It was precisely because of this that the Guinan army made targeted adjustments to its response to the Japanese forces.

The plane arrived in the combat zone 14 minutes after takeoff.

Fang Wen observed the area below from high altitude using mechanical sensors.

Something seems wrong.

Why did the Japanese army start operating so early?!

Moreover, the number of Japanese troops deployed at the front appears to have increased significantly.

Fang Wen was somewhat puzzled and continued to observe.

He discovered something else that was amiss.

They are objects covered with green cloth.

This camouflage makes it easy to mistake for trees when viewed from above.

In order to find out what was under the veil, Fang Wen touched the Shu-style vertical gemstone hanging around his neck.

With the infusion of faith energy, his superpower gained the ability to see through things.

Mechanical perception penetrated the covering and saw what was underneath.

Below are rows of Japanese tanks and armored vehicles, as well as mountain guns.

The drivers and operators are inside, in a state of standby.

not good!

The Japanese army is about to launch an attack.

Moreover, it was an attack on a larger scale than before.

Fang Wen's heart tightened, realizing that this would be the decisive moment in the battle of Guinan. He had to fly back immediately to explain the situation to Commander Wei of the 31st Army so that he could make preparations.

If we can withstand this wave of Japanese offensive.

The situation in the Guinan region is probably stable now.

(End of this chapter)