Old telegrams piece together the truth
The four departments are located in a two-story villa. The entire second floor has been opened up and transformed into a huge mailroom, with more than a dozen tables arranged in four rows facing each other.
The table was neatly arranged with transmitters and receivers, and about twenty men and women were either wearing headphones to monitor the conversation or scribbling on paper. Their section chief, Ouyang Qiang, had a square face and always looked half-asleep, his eyes perpetually half-closed.
After Wang Renyong brought He Qingcheng to Ouyang Qiang and explained their purpose, Ouyang Qiang cooperated by going to the archives to look up previous telegram records.
A moment later, they saw Ouyang Qiang come out of the archives with two file bags. Qingcheng was a little curious, why did they need so many papers when there were only two telegrams? But when Ouyang Qiang spread the telegrams out on the table, Qingcheng realized that these were all the telegrams intercepted from Xuzhou City recently.
Wang Renyong first selected telegrams with clear dates, then telegrams with clear names, and then telegrams with clear instructions. He collected about twenty telegrams in total.
As he picked it up, he instructed Kiyosumi, "When we read miscellaneous books, we must also consider the context, so intelligence analysis cannot be based on just one telegram."
The logic is clear: define the goal, analyze the problem, build a model, fill in the model, and finally make a prediction. This is not only similar to their statistical requirements, but exactly the same.
To make it easier to organize, Qingcheng borrowed paper and pen from the comrades in the Fourth Department and wrote down the known information:
3:00 Spy raid
At 3:45, a comrade sent a telegram: "Nine Ears has betrayed us." (This may have been sent by a lark.)
19:53 Comrade Amei sent a telegram: "The Lark has betrayed us."
Looking at these few telegrams, they couldn't piece together what happened between 3:00 and 3:45, so they focused their attention on the earliest telegram and discovered that the ten-man group hadn't just recently set their sights on Nine Ears.
Even before Qingcheng came to Xuzhou, Jiuzhier, Principal Ji, Li Yamei, and other peripheral organizations such as Chunmiao Printing Factory were all within their surveillance range.
Team Leader Dai also personally contacted the local police station to help with the surveillance, because there was a high-ranking undercover agent in the police station who could directly give orders.
At that time, Hu Yukun and Caitou participated in an overseas mission at the Dongyang base. To maintain the secrecy of the mission, they almost cut off all contact with their local comrades and did not go home.
Therefore, he wasn't put on the intelligence agents' watch list. Furthermore, they didn't put much effort into monitoring Bai Haoyue; perhaps Team Leader Dai didn't consider him important.
Therefore, the spies' arrival in Xuzhou was premeditated. As for why they only monitored but did not arrest them, it's possible that Team Leader Dai had not yet found what he wanted, or that Team Leader Dai had some unfinished business, or that some unexpected event interrupted Team Leader Dai's plans.
At this moment, Qingcheng and Wang Renyong exchanged a smile. They both thought of the comrade who sent the telegram in plain text. Old Wang picked out the paper with the plain text and asked Ouyang Qiang which radio station sent the telegram.
"I don't know. This is the first time we've heard this radio station. It's a civilian radio frequency." Ouyang was also full of questions, but suddenly his eyes opened and he started talking to them about a strange thing.
About a week ago, the Shanghai Military Commission Office received a codebook from a comrade codenamed "Iron Shoulder," who asked the Military Commission to forward it to the Shanghai Station. All they knew was that the mailing address was a small place called Fengquan Town. Inside the book was a piece of paper made of newspaper clippings that read: "Xuzhou Police Station Code."
The Military Commission, seeing that it was a codebook from the police station, handed the information over to Ouyang Qiang. Along with the codebook was a recording disc; Ouyang listened to it and found that the recording contained the plaintext telegram, word for word.
Fengquan Town? Isn't that just a small town at the foot of Fengshan Mountain? Why is it Iron Shoulder again? Even if it really is Iron Shoulder, why would Hu Yukun send the things to the Military Commission instead of the Second Section? No, Hu Yukun had already sacrificed himself by then. Qingcheng racked his brains but still couldn't figure it out.
After listening, Wang Renyong's smile faded, and he asked Ouyang Qiang to play the recording for him. It was truly one mystery after another. While Section Chief Ouyang went to get the recording, Qingcheng whispered, "Boss, who is impersonating Hu Yukun to send us messages? Could it be Uncle Hao?"
“No, the item must have come from Xuzhou City. I suspect that the ‘Iron Shoulder’ who sent the item is the same ‘Iron Shoulder’ who transmits the attack deployment map,” Wang Renyong replied decisively.
“But Xuzhou City was already sealed off a month ago. All items entering and leaving were strictly checked. Not to mention codebooks, not even a fly could get out,” Qingcheng hurriedly added.
"Are you sure no one went out?" Wang Renyong asked, squinting. "It wasn't your husband who sent it, was it? He'll be passing through there on his march anyway."
“It wasn’t him. The Military Commission just received the package a week ago. Sending something would take at least a week in advance. He was still in Xuzhou City at that time. I just received the Book of Jin that he sent before he left yesterday.” Qingcheng denied it directly. “Even if we take a step back, Team Leader Dai is also there. Even if he left the city, he and his confidants would definitely be the focus of surveillance. Who would dare to commit a crime against the wind?”
“Don’t underestimate him. It’s not impossible for him to commit a crime against the wind, but there’s no need for it. The police station’s codebook is far less important than Principal Jiang’s reactionary conspiracy. Who is it anyway?” The more Wang Renyong analyzed, the more confused he became, and he scratched his head in frustration.
Under the shadow of the ten-man group, the comrades in Xuzhou were no longer defying the wind, but forging ahead against a level-ten blizzard. However, they still needed to figure out exactly what had happened in Xuzhou.
"That depends on 'who's' the ultimate beneficiary?" Ouyang Qiang struggled to carry the entire tape recorder to the mailroom, and the junior staff from the Fourth Section immediately came forward to help him place the large metal box on the table.
Ouyang Qiang handed the codebook transferred from the Military Commission to Wang Renyong. Qingcheng looked at the palm-sized leather book, which was filled with codes on every page and was entirely handwritten.
"Qingcheng, this is unbelievable! It really is Hu Yukun's handwriting. He copied the code. Only he would be so meticulous as to write down the frequency band and radio station number clearly." Wang Renyong's eyes widened in disbelief, and his hand holding the notebook trembled slightly.
“Leader, we must believe in materialism. The dead cannot be brought back to life.” Qingcheng patted Wang Renyong on the shoulder to comfort him. “The things may have been copied by Comrade Hu Yukun before his death, but the person who delivered them was definitely not him.”
Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings? It wasn't that Qingcheng was heartless enough to shatter Lao Wang's illusions. Lao Wang was the leader of the Second Section, and he couldn't let his emotions sway him and make the wrong judgment. Moreover, they needed to understand Hu Yukun's true intentions and couldn't let him sacrifice in vain.
Ouyang Qiang also put his arm around Wang Renyong's shoulder and let him listen to the recording first, or rather, a recording of a plain text broadcast.
"The appearance of a miniature camera and the cutting of 135 film may be related to Sutt."
There was a man speaking in the recording, accompanied by static. The man's voice was a bit soft, and you could barely make out some key words by turning the recorder up to the maximum volume. They guessed that the listening device was installed under the table or on the windowsill, somewhere some distance from the telephone.
Aside from this section that was clear, there was a previous section that sounded like a leader giving instructions, telling his subordinates to release someone and making promises to that person. The rest of the recording was too noisy to understand. It is certain that there were at least three people present at the recording site.
Wang Renyong played the opening scene repeatedly until he finally heard the line, "Tomorrow in prison... absolutely... less than a single... editor."
The complete sentence is: You definitely won't see a single reporter or editor in jail tomorrow!
Only then did Qingcheng realize that someone had been trying to bail her out of prison. She immediately reported, "Sir, there were two groups trying to bail me out. One was Kui Ye, and the other was Gao Junxiao."
"Gao Junxiao is one thing, but what makes you so sure that Master Kui is here to bail you out, and not someone else?" Wang Renyong asked suspiciously.
Qingcheng explained to Lao Wang that when she was in jail, a plainclothes captain from the police station asked the passengers on the preferential treatment vehicle, "Do you know Brother Kui?" Everyone else denied having any connection with the triads, but she did. Then the man tried to get her out, but Gao Junxiao intercepted him.
Of course, she didn't just grab onto any straw randomly. Back when she was writing a feature article about Kratos, she took advantage of Kratos's sense of superiority as a local tyrant and expressed her desire to put on a big show for him.
Some small fry might emerge who could challenge his authority. When that happens, the old man will have to teach those fools a lesson so the show can continue.
“You’re taking too much risks. It’s only because that old man was really bored that he played games with you.” Wang Renyong stroked his chin, lost in thought. “Plainclothes officers are usually police officers in charge of criminal cases or major cases.”
He asked around, which meant he didn't know who Kratos was trying to rescue, but he was probably one of the people in the recording. The person sandwiched between the police chief and Kratos was probably at the level of a commissioner or deputy commissioner.
The person who sought out the director was called "Third Master," which should be Kui's younger brother, Third Master Hua, basically meaning that seeing the order was like seeing me.
“When Master Kui makes a move, he won’t go after a deputy; he’ll definitely go after the highest decision-maker in the police station. And this voice is the same one that’s broadcasting the announcement later. Although the sound quality is too poor to compare, the tone and intonation of the two sentences are exactly the same, even the accents are the same.” Qingcheng carefully analyzed the recording.
"Why did 'Iron Shoulder' send us the audio tape and the codebook together? Was there some deeper meaning behind it?" Wang Renyong fell into deep thought again.
“I think this recording was made by Comrade Tie Jian, probably in preparation for stealing the codebook. Who knew it would accidentally record something else, such as the director being a hidden agent, and maybe more.” Ouyang Qiang’s words enlightened Wang Renyong and Qingcheng.
When a cockroach appears in the room, the unseen corners are already crawling with cockroaches. It is clear that not only our comrades can infiltrate the enemy's ranks, but the enemy's pawns can also fall into our ranks. Hu Yukun should have made other discoveries.
However, Wu Hao personally set a rule: none of his intelligence personnel were allowed to conduct reconnaissance within the organization. Even though this would put him in a passive position, in the long run, it was beneficial in maintaining internal unity.
Therefore, Hu Yukun had two choices: one, to violate regulations and conduct an investigation to eliminate the mole; two, to pretend he hadn't found anything and continue with his work, but remain vigilant about certain suspected individuals.
"Boss, when was the Nightingale assigned between two important figures?" Qingcheng asked seriously.
“A month and a half ago.” Wang Renyong finished speaking and his mouth remained open for a long time. He roughly understood Qingcheng’s question.
What a coincidence! The personnel changes just happened before the incident, so it seems Hu Yukun chose the second path. One of his suspects is Liu Rentang with nine ears. Unfortunately, Xuzhou City did not strictly adhere to the rule of single-line contact.
With Team Leader Dai coming prepared, it remains to be seen how well the Lark's "lock" function will be utilized.
Ring ring—
The shrill ring broke the silence. Ouyang Qiang answered the phone and gave a few words of reply. At the same time, he winked at Wang Renyong. Wang Renyong answered Lingzi and instructed Qingcheng to continue organizing the intelligence. Then Ouyang Qiang pulled him into the office to answer the phone.
After the two left Qingcheng, they carefully compared the two key transmission contents. Comrade Yamei sent 7 words from the relatively safe room, while the military radio station in Xuzhou only sent 6 words.
Kiyosumi tapped the table with his right hand, simulating sending a telegram back then. Although it was only a difference of one word, it could actually save 20-30 seconds when sending a telegram.
Such a race against time indicates that the external situation in Xuzhou was even more urgent, and the telegraph operator had to explain the situation in the simplest terms possible; of course, it could also simply be a matter of language habits.
As for the telegram in plain text about the discovery of a Soviet spy camera in Xuzhou, she hadn't quite understood why that comrade had done it back in Xuzhou. Wouldn't sending a telegram in plain text mean the enemy would know? Now it seemed like a brilliant move!
He retransmitted the enemy's broadcast in plaintext, which served to alert the organization, keep his identity secret, and also confuse the enemy to some extent, making various forces want to get involved and muddy the waters—killing three birds with one stone.
This intricate and convoluted technique impressed Qingcheng, who couldn't help but exclaim, "Our Second Department is truly full of talented people!"
Kiyosumi also browsed through the other intercepted telegrams, which were mostly routine tasks or encrypted telegrams, but Kiyosumi noticed something unusual in those ordinary telegrams.
Why does Team Leader Dai keep sending encrypted messages to the wrong frequency band, and then we get several English warning messages about communication errors?
The error codes are all pre-set, just like when you dial the wrong number and the operator tells you "the number you dialed is not in service"—they're meaningless. Besides, they can't make the same mistake every time, right? It's really strange!
“You also discovered these telegrams with communication errors.” Ouyang Qiang, the head of the Fourth Section, appeared behind him at some point. “The channel the spies were trying to communicate on was a medium wave. Medium wave mainly propagates through ground waves, with only a small portion propagating through sky waves. It can only travel about two or three hundred kilometers. Moreover, due to the limitations of the propagation path, it is difficult to receive medium waves during the day; they can only be received at night.”
Qingcheng only had a superficial understanding of telegraph technology, so she only half-understood Ouyang Qiang's explanation of the technical aspects. However, Qingcheng Bo grasped the key information: after Team Leader Dai arrived in Xuzhou City, he would only contact the wrong frequency band at night.
As the saying goes, "A dark night with a high wind and a bright moon is the perfect opportunity for murder and robbery." After several consecutive nights of incorrect communication, Team Leader Dai's motives became even more suspicious.
Qingcheng said, "Section Chief Ouyang, although I am not that professional in radio, I have studied in the foreigners' ship communications group. Ship communications generally use long waves, but some people have proposed using medium and short waves, and transmitting the signal back to the directional location on land through fixed signal relay stations on the sea. This is more stable and will not reveal the location. Some coastal areas abroad are already building relay signal towers."
Drawing inferences from this, Qingcheng boldly guessed that in a place where medium wave signals could be received, there might be a signal relay station. When spies sent messages, it was equivalent to triggering a switch on the relay station, and then the relay station would send out the actual message.
“Hmm, that’s possible. The spies went to great lengths to set up transit stations, simply to conceal the real intelligence receiving location. But every province and city in China has spies. It’s an open secret that Principal Chiang likes to infiltrate other people’s homes, unless it’s… his hometown.” Ouyang Qiang opened his eyes again and glanced at Qingcheng.
Qingcheng nodded silently. The other two or three hundred kilometers from Xuzhou were nothing more than Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Anhui. Henan was a mess; the transit point needed a stable environment.
Jiangsu is a stronghold of spies, so there's no need for them to do this. Shandong is essentially someone else's territory, so it would be a waste to use it as a transit point, as half of the region is still embroiled in war. Only Anhui is a suitable place to store a transit point.
“Xiao He, do you remember the extremely serious leak that happened within our organization before you went to Xuzhou? In the end, we used your method to find problems in Panzhihua, Xuzhou, and Wuyuan. The closest point in Wuyuan, Jiangxi to Anhui is only a shortwave distance away.” Ouyang’s face showed excitement. “Xiao Zhi, start monitoring this medium-wave band and the radio waves near Wuyuan tonight. See if there is any synchronization.”
It seems that there was such a thing. Qingcheng really admires Ouyang for her good memory. She had forgotten about such a long time ago. If there was a risk of leaking secrets before she went to Xuzhou, then Nine Ears might not be a traitor for the first time.
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