Frankly speaking, given the current state of the battle, our retreat is inevitable. I estimate that within a month at most, we will be forced to retreat to our defensive fortifications and continue holding our ground. By then, the Japanese troops in Shanghai will be confronting us on those lines, and Shanghai will inevitably become their rear base. That's when you should start your operation. Show me your skills; this is your forte.
So that's how it is. It seems the high command of the National Revolutionary Army has already begun preparations for retreat. The Chief of Staff is very shrewd; he's laying the groundwork for a protracted war and preparing for future moves.
Unfortunately, the Chief of Staff was unaware that the defense fortifications built over many years at great cost ultimately became useless, and even the capital, Nanjing, was quickly occupied by Japan.
However, China's vast territory provided the Chinese army with sufficient strategic depth, which stretched the Japanese army's offensive lines and ultimately achieved the goal of a protracted war, effectively wearing down the Japanese invading army and winning the war.
At this moment, the chief naturally had his own plan in mind. He continued, "As for the manpower you want, you can choose whatever you want. There are still more than 160 agents left in the Shanghai intelligence station. You can leave another 100 agents. Together, they will be a considerable force. Any more than that, and it may not be conducive to infiltration."
This time, our intelligence unit suffered heavy losses. I plan to replenish its ranks with new blood. Your student soldiers are all promising talents; they are educated and patriotic, exactly the kind of people we need to recruit. I intend to set up two training classes in Songjiang and Qingpu, bringing together all the young students for training and development into outstanding special agents. Therefore, I will take all two hundred of your student soldiers with me. You can choose any other personnel you wish to recruit. What do you think?"
Ning Zhiheng suddenly realized that this was the real reason why the Songjiang and Qingpu classes, the earliest training classes established in the history of the Military Intelligence Bureau, were located here. He hadn't expected that his two hundred student soldiers would soon receive rigorous training and become real agents. This was a good thing, at least they could avoid going to the front lines to fight.
Now I can freely select 100 members from the special operations brigade, so that I can retain my core personnel. However, this number is too small. My own core reconnaissance squadron alone has more than 160 people. I must try to win them over. Maybe I can keep them all.
Ning Zhiheng's eyes flickered, his thoughts racing, and he pleaded again, "The Chief's arrangements are certainly appropriate, but I feel that in order to effectively delay the Japanese offensive and deliver a heavy blow to their rear, we need to strengthen our forces. Could you leave me two hundred men to ensure the implementation of the operation?"
The comrade shook his head and said, "Zheng Hongbo, the station chief of the Shanghai station, only has a little over a hundred men under his command. You, as the deputy station chief, are going to command two hundred agents. Who will be in charge and who will be the deputy? Besides, how are you going to place so many agents in hiding? Have you thought about these things?"
Ning Zhiheng quickly replied, "Please rest assured, Director. The work at the Shanghai station is primarily led by Station Master Zheng, and I will never fail to prioritize tasks."
However, since I'm in charge of the sabotage behind enemy lines, I naturally want to use personnel I'm comfortable with. Besides, I discovered several Japanese traitors within the Shanghai station, and I believe Deputy Section Chief Bian has already reported this to you. So, if I may be frank, I dare not use the original team from the Shanghai station. That's why I want to keep more manpower. My subordinates are all extremely excellent agents; it would be a real waste to send them to the battlefield.”
At this point, Ning Zhiheng took out the codebook that had been seized in Pudong from the drawer and respectfully placed it in front of the section chief.
He continued, "There is another matter I would like to report to you. Just two days ago at the Pudong War Zone Command, Sun Jiacheng, the captain of the reconnaissance squadron of my special operations brigade, led his squadron members to crack a major Japanese spy case, which was highly praised by Commander Zhang."
We arrested one high-ranking Japanese spy, recruited another spy, seized a radio, and more importantly, seized an encrypted codebook. The two spies have been sent to the military court, the radio is being kept as evidence, and I specifically asked Commander Zhang for permission to bring back the codebook, which I am presenting to you now.
"The codebook?" Before Ning Zhiheng could finish speaking, the section chief had already grabbed the codebook and started looking it up. He looked at it very carefully, and after a while, he looked up at Ning Zhiheng and shook his head with a sigh.
"Zhiheng! You really leave me speechless. Even when you're leading troops into battle, you manage to capture a few Japanese spies on the side. You even managed to uncover two Japanese spies in the war zone command post and seize this crucial encrypted codebook. This is already the fourth codebook you've captured. The decryption team in the department is making great progress, all thanks to you! Haha!"
The sergeant, holding the codebook, kept praising it with a smile, nodding repeatedly, and then asked, "What is the position of the spy in the war zone command? Is it important?"
Ning Zhiheng quickly replied, "The Japanese spy is an officer in the logistics department, but the identity of the defector is crucial. He is an operations staff officer in the staff department who has stolen a lot of valuable intelligence and has repeatedly leaked our military plans and the location of the heavy artillery brigade."
"An operations staff officer in the military region! That's a very crucial position. Didn't Commander Zhang say anything?" the section chief asked, puzzled.
"Commander Zhang ordered that he be sent directly to the military court on charges of being a Japanese spy, with zero tolerance, otherwise it would be a disservice to the anti-Japanese soldiers who sacrificed their lives for this cause." Ning Zhiheng relayed Zhang Zhengkui's original words and said solemnly.
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