Zhang Zhengkui looked at Ning Zhiheng, nodded, and slowly said, "Zhiheng, this morning our original artillery position was heavily bombed, and the entire forest was razed to the ground. Fortunately, you gave us the intelligence last night, otherwise, all the resources we had invested in building this heavy artillery brigade would have been wasted!"
Ning Zhiheng quickly stood at attention and replied, "It's all a student's duty, I dare not accept the commander's praise!"
Zhang Zhengkui waved his hand, stopping Ning Zhiheng, and said thoughtfully, "You're one of our own, no need for such formalities. To be honest, your contribution this time is undeniable. This heavy artillery brigade is our country's only heavy firepower unit. Being able to preserve it in a critical moment is a truly great achievement. I will personally recommend you to the United Front Work Department for commendation, which is enough to raise your rank by one level. Keep up the good work, and you'll definitely have a bright future!"
Zhang Zhengkui had always admired Ning Zhiheng, and now that Ning Zhiheng had made such a great contribution to the right wing battlefield, he would naturally do everything he could to claim credit for his disciple.
Ning Zhiheng said with some difficulty, "The student has only graduated a year ago and has already been promoted to major. I'm afraid the military..."
Zhang Zhengkui said decisively, "Merit deserves reward. I will speak up for you. Putting aside your performance in Hangzhou, your performance on the Pudong battlefield alone is enough for me to speak up for you!"
Ning Zhiheng felt a warmth in his heart upon hearing this. Zhang Zhengkui had shown him great care and concern. Even though he belonged to the intelligence department, with Zhang Zhengkui's status, it would be no problem for him to get promoted again.
He immediately stood at attention, gave a respectful military salute, and said loudly, "Thank you for your guidance, Commander!"
Zhang Zhengkui nodded, then asked, "You probably have something to ask me, right?"
Ning Zhiheng bowed and replied, "I do have something important to report to you. This afternoon at 2 PM, I found the hiding place of the Guchuan Brigade and carried out an encirclement and annihilation operation. Except for a few who escaped, the entire brigade was wiped out."
Zhang Zhengkui said in astonishment, "You acted quickly. Yesterday you said you were going to find their hiding place, and today you've already started the encirclement and annihilation. These Japanese plainclothes officers are no less dangerous than the enemy on the front lines. You did a good job this time!"
Ning Zhiheng then reported: "During this operation, we captured a very important prisoner, the codebreaker of this plainclothes team. Based on some of the information he provided, I discovered that there are serious issues, so I came to you immediately for instructions."
At this point, Ning Zhiheng stepped forward and handed the telegram he had already translated to Zhang Zhengkui: "This is the content of the telegrams received and sent by the radio station since the Tanikawa Brigade infiltrated Pudong."
Zhang Zhengkui took the telegram but didn't look at it. Instead, he placed it on the table and said with a smile, "You intelligence people are so meticulous. I won't waste my brains. I'll just tell you the situation directly."
Ning Zhiheng dared not delay and immediately gave Zhang Zhengkui a detailed report on some of the unusual situations mentioned in the previous telegram.
When Zhang Zhengkui heard Ning Zhiheng say that the Japanese had already been informed of the three large-scale encirclement and suppression operations he had ordered, which resulted in a lot of wasted effort, he slammed his fist on the table and flew into a rage!
"Damn it!" Zhang Zhengkui roared, abandoning all restraint and composure. He immediately picked up the telegrams on the table and, according to the dates marked by Ning Zhiheng, quickly found the three telegrams. Sure enough, the contents accurately notified the time and scope of the upcoming encirclement and suppression, exactly the same as the orders he had given at the time.
"There's a traitor, a Japanese spy! We must find this person; he's our biggest threat!"
Zhang Zhengkui's eyes were cold. It turned out that the previous three failed encirclement operations were not due to his misjudgment, nor to the plainclothes team being too cunning and flexible. It was actually because there were spies infiltrating his own military.
“That’s right! This Japanese spy has caused us far more harm than that. We also discovered that on September 14th and October 1st, he pointed out the approximate location of our heavy artillery brigade’s positions to the Japanese spy headquarters. The plainclothes team was able to locate the brigade’s exact position based on this information. Fortunately, we had moved our positions in advance, preventing the Japanese from succeeding,” Ning Zhiheng confirmed again.
Despite Zhang Zhengkui's decades of military experience and his composure, he still couldn't suppress his anger upon hearing Ning Zhiheng's account. After finding the two telegrams according to the date Ning Zhiheng mentioned, he felt his heart pounding and his mind racing.
It took Zhang Zhengkui a long time to finally compose himself before asking, "So, you suspect there's a Japanese spy lurking around me?"
Zhang Zhengkui now understood the purpose of Ning Zhiheng's report: to point the finger at the war zone command headquarters, with every clue indicating that the problem lay right beside him.
Ning Zhiheng nodded and said in a deep voice, "If the previous three large-scale encirclements were due to the large number of informants who knew the details, making it impossible for us to determine the target, then the subsequent leaks of the approximate locations of the artillery positions indicate that the problem must lie in the core area of our military region command."
Zhang Zhengkui's eyes were piercing and his killing intent was palpable. He said in a stern voice, "We must find this person and investigate him thoroughly, otherwise I will not be able to eat or sleep properly and he will surely cause a great disaster."
At this moment, he stared at Ning Zhiheng and said solemnly, "Zhiheng, gathering intelligence and catching spies is your specialty. Tell me how to find this person."
Ning Zhiheng's purpose in coming to report was naturally this; he had already planned it out in his mind. He puffed out his chest and said loudly, "It is my duty to share the Commander's burdens."
He pointed to the telegram record and said, "Actually, this matter seems difficult, but as long as we can investigate based on the time frame provided, I think we can find the mole very soon."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
