boyutpedia Chapter 22 Destroying the Spy Network
Chapter 22 Destroying the Spy Network
Yan Shuo's telegram arrived overnight at the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters in Chongqing. In the brightly lit office, Dai Li's fingers, gripping the telegram, turned white, his face ashen. A traitor within the core ranks, a threat even among his own inner circle—this was a fatal crisis capable of shaking the entire covert network.
Without delay, he immediately drove to the attendant's room, consulted the old man in person, and then activated the highest level of security plan.
"Pass on my order: all personnel in the Confidential Office, report for duty!" Dai Li commanded in a deep voice over the phone, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Immediately seal all original files of all undercover teams in Shanghai, including the Red Bean Team and the Black Blade Team. Rewrite and encrypt them all, replacing all member code names and identity information. Activate the third backup communication cipher system and notify all undercover locations that the cipher replacement must be completed before sunrise tomorrow. The old cipher books must be burned on the spot, and no fragments may be left behind."
After hanging up the phone, he summoned the head of the archives department and slammed the telegram on the table: "Make encrypted backups of the new files. Store one copy in the core underground safe at headquarters, with the key kept by me personally; replace the copy in the personal guard's office archives, and you will personally escort it throughout the process. As for the original files, send them to the incinerator for complete destruction, with someone supervising the entire process to ensure they are burned completely."
"Yes, sir!" The head of the archives department didn't dare hesitate for a moment and turned to leave quickly. Dai Li walked to the window, gazing at the silhouette of the mountain city in the dead of night, his brows furrowed.
"Issue my order again: select key members from the inspection team and action group to form a temporary screening team, which I will personally oversee!" Dai Li picked up the phone again. "Using the leaked information mentioned in Yan Shuo's telegram as a starting point, conduct screening and investigation overnight on key personnel in the Confidential Office, the Attendant's Office, and those in key positions connected to the Shanghai undercover network! Anyone with secret contacts with the Japanese or whose identity is questionable should be detained first and then investigated!"
The Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters was brightly lit late at night, and the screening team was quickly assembled. Dai Li personally drafted the direction of the investigation, taking the details provided by Yan Shuo, such as the "leak of the code names Maodou and Hongdou" and the "leak of the files and photos," as key clues, and comparing them one by one with the personnel's communication records, contacts, and recent whereabouts.
In less than a day, the investigation made a breakthrough—Liu Bin, a clerk in the Confidential Office, Zhang Hao, a liaison officer in the Attendant's Office, and Li Mei, a cipher clerk in the Field Affairs Group, came to light. Their communication records frequently showed clandestine radio waves with the Special Higher Police in the Japanese Concession, and all three had recently received unexplained funds flowing into their accounts.
"Arrest them immediately! Keep the whole process secret, interrogate them on the spot!" Dai Li made a decisive decision. The entire action team was mobilized, and under the cover of night, they quietly set up an ambush. In less than an hour, they arrested the three men one after another and took them directly to the Military Intelligence Bureau's exclusive interrogation room.
The interrogation room was dimly lit, and veteran interrogator Lao Song was personally in charge, holding a thick stack of evidence materials in his hand.
The first person interrogated was Zhang Hao, the liaison officer of the Generalissimo's Office. Dressed in a respectable Zhongshan suit, he tried to appear calm even in handcuffs: "Section Chief Song, I'm from the Generalissimo's Office. You've arrested the wrong person! I work under the Chairman's nose every day, how could I possibly be a traitor?" Old Song didn't waste any words with him and slammed a bank statement on the table: "On the third day of last month, you withdrew an anonymous remittance of three thousand yuan from HSBC. Was this money your operating funds from the Japanese intelligence agency?"
Zhang Hao's eyes widened in panic, but he quickly retorted, "That was living expenses sent by a distant relative! You can't accuse me based on a single remittance!"
"Oh?" Old Song sneered, then produced another deciphered telegram draft. "This is a Special Higher Police telegram we intercepted. It mentions that 'Liaison Officer Zhang has sent out the latest list of the Shanghai undercover team,' and the date is the day after you withdrew the money. Your so-called distant relative is Matsumoto, the Special Higher Police liaison officer, isn't he?"
With the evidence laid bare before him, cold sweat beaded on Zhang Hao's forehead. He swallowed hard, then suddenly changed his tone, pointing at the door and roaring, "It was Liu Bin! It was Liu Bin from the Confidential Office who dragged me into this mess! He first colluded with Japanese spies, saying we could make a lot of money, and even said he'd take responsibility if anything happened. I was confused for a moment and that's why..." Old Song narrowed his eyes, not responding to his words, but coldly said, "Whether you were confused or not, we'll find out when you confront Liu Bin later."
Next to be interrogated was Liu Bin. He was thin and weak, and his legs went weak as soon as he entered the interrogation room. When he saw Zhang Hao being held in the next cell, his face turned pale instantly.
As soon as Lao Song placed the radio communication records in front of him, he knelt down with a thud: "Section Chief Song, I confess! I confess everything!" Liu Bin's voice trembled as he confessed that a year ago, he was caught by Japanese agents and forced to become an undercover agent, responsible for transmitting intelligence from the Confidential Office. "Zhang Hao and Li Mei were both my recruits. Zhang Hao was responsible for contacting core instructions, and Li Mei was responsible for deciphering the codes. The three of us each managed our own area, all under the command of Yamada from the Special Higher Police!"
Li Mei, who was interrogated last, was the most stubborn. She bit her lip tightly and, no matter how much evidence Lao Song presented, she only said three words: "I don't know."
Seeing this, Old Song signaled his men to turn on the high-powered spotlights and shine them directly into Li Mei's eyes. At the same time, he said in a deep voice, "Zhang Hao and Liu Bin have already confessed. Do you think you can get away with it by stubbornly resisting? You have elderly parents and young children at home. What will happen to them if you keep putting up with this?"
Upon hearing "parents and children," Li Mei's body visibly trembled, and tears welled up instantly.
Old Song pressed his advantage: "We know you were coerced. As long as you confess truthfully, Director Dai may consider leniency." After a full five minutes of silence, Li Mei finally broke down in tears: "I confess... I confess... Yamada made us set up a spy network. Besides the three of us, there was Staff Officer Wang from the Ministry of Military Affairs, Clerk Zhao from the Ministry of Transportation... a total of fifteen people, all under his unified command, specifically to collect information on our military deployments and infiltrators."
Old Song immediately reported the interrogation results to Dai Li, who showed no mercy and immediately ordered: "The action team will split into five groups and launch a surprise attack tonight, based on the list and addresses provided by Li Mei! We must wipe out this spy network completely, leaving no one behind!"
The Military Intelligence Bureau's action team quickly assembled and, under the cover of darkness, launched a simultaneous raid on the hideouts of fifteen members of the spy network.
By dawn, all fifteen members of the spy network had been captured, and five radios, three encrypted codebooks, dozens of intelligence drafts, and nearly 10,000 yuan in operating funds were seized on the spot.
Thus, the Japanese spy network that had been lurking in the mountain city for many years was completely destroyed, and the potential for leaks at the core level was temporarily eliminated.
After handling the screening and elimination matters, Dai Li rubbed his throbbing temples and then instructed his confidential staff: "Send an encrypted reply to Yan Shuo, informing him of the file adjustments, password changes, and the situation regarding the elimination of the spy network, and at the same time issue an emergency mission."
The following day at noon, Yan Shuo received an encrypted telegram from Dai Li, which not only informed him of the details of the file adjustment and password change, but also issued an urgent mission: "Immediately infiltrate the Shirasaka Izakaya on Baifu Road in the Japanese Concession, assassinate Japanese Colonel Takahashi Nobuhiko, and seize the top-secret documents on the military deployment and personnel dispatch of the Third and Ninth War Zones that he is carrying. After the mission is completed, immediately send an encrypted telegram and be careful to conceal your whereabouts."