Ning Zhiheng's investigative methods this time were rather crude. As long as there was suspicion, he would immediately arrest the suspect, torture him severely to obtain the information he wanted, and then continue to arrest and interrogate him, getting closer to the suspect step by step.
This is the advantage of playing on home turf. By utilizing the privileges you have, you can recklessly use ample manpower and resources to overwhelm your opponents with sheer force. You don't have to worry about making mistakes; at worst, you can just start over after a setback. With such strong resources behind you, you can afford to lose.
The Japanese and the 76th Division had mastered these tactics in Shanghai. Leveraging their home advantage, they forced the Military Intelligence Bureau to retreat step by step, leaving them powerless to fight back. They swept through the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics' (Zhongtong) infiltrating organizations, causing them to collapse and surrender in an organized manner. They managed the Shanghai area like an iron barrel. If it weren't for the existence of the foreign concessions, even the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau would not have been able to compete with them.
Yu Cheng had been waiting for Ning Zhiheng's words. He was more eager than anyone to make a name for himself. He stood at attention and accepted the order, saying, "Yes, Chief. I will take action immediately and will not alert anyone else."
After saying that, he turned and walked away quickly.
Ning Zhiheng continued studying the interrogation records in his office. In fact, the main core members of the Xinfeng Group had already confessed, and the testimonies of others were not important. The materials Ning Zhiheng had at present were enough to analyze a lot of things.
Shortly after, Wei Liangbi knocked on the door and entered, followed by a young man.
"Sir! Your humble servant Qiu Zishi is here to report for duty."
Ning Zhiheng looked up and immediately recognized Qiu Zishi. Qiu Zishi was one of the five team members who had followed Miao Yongyi to infiltrate Wuhan, and also Ning Zhiheng's former subordinate. Naturally, he knew him.
"Zishi, come on, sit down and let's talk," Ning Zhiheng said with a smile.
Wei Liangbi said, "He just came to report to me, saying he came specifically to deliver film. Hearing that you were here, he specifically requested to see me."
Ning Zhiheng pointed at Qiu Zishi and said to Wei Liangbi, "Since you're here too, senior brother, let me explain the mission. These are some people I arranged in Wuhan before. They are all my trusted subordinates. They will send over some film in batches. These film are spy photos that we monitored and secretly took from the Japanese intelligence department in Wuhan. I will give you the details. If I'm not here, I will leave it to you to handle."
This was an assignment being given. When it came to work, Wei Liangbi dared not slack off in the slightest and quickly nodded in agreement.
Ning Zhiheng continued, "I have also set up a radio station in Wuhan. I have already handed over the frequency and time slot to Section Chief Mo. Remember, this radio station is very important and must be taken seriously."
"Understood!" Wei Liangbi nodded in acceptance.
Qiu Zishi quickly took out a wooden box and reported, "It took us some time to set up the surveillance points. After that, Zhou Ziping and I were in charge of the surveillance. These are photos taken over the past two weeks."
Zhou Ziping was also one of Ning Zhiheng's five former subordinates, and was an absolutely trustworthy person.
Ning Zhiheng took the wooden box, opened it, and looked inside. There were about twenty volumes inside, which showed that Qiu Zishi and Zhou Ziping had put in a lot of effort.
"Okay, these photos are very important. We must persevere in this work and not slack off. What is the situation in Wuhan now?"
Qiu Zishi shook his head and said solemnly, "The situation is very bad. The Japanese Wuhan Special Higher Police have transferred back a lot of traitors and agents from Shanghai. They are all old people from the original Wuhan station. Now the entire Wuhan station has been withdrawn to the suburbs. Most of our action team members have also been withdrawn. Now, the entire Wuhan station is left with only our action team. Including the five of us, only a dozen or so people remain."
Ning Zhiheng was aware of the situation Qiu Zishi described. It was he who discovered the situation and promptly alerted Wuhan Station; otherwise, Wuhan Station would have already suffered heavy losses.
Ning Zhiheng talked with Qiu Zishi for a while, and after finding out the specific situation, he let Qiu Zishi leave, as he also wanted to return to Wuhan as soon as possible.
Ning Zhiheng handed all the film to Zhao Jiang and asked him to develop it in the technical department. Ning Zhiheng had many clues at the moment and didn't need these photos.
He still has a lot of materials and film sent by Liu Datong and Chen Yanqing, but he is in a hurry to investigate the case of the Xinfeng Group and must expand the results as soon as possible. He really can't delay and can't take care of it for the time being. He can only deal with it after the Xinfeng Group case is completely over.
At 3 p.m., Shao Wenguang came to report on the interrogation. He had interrogated all the members of the Xinfeng Group. Everything went smoothly. Several core Japanese members had spoken up, and the other Chinese traitors and agents naturally wouldn't resist and suffer unnecessary physical pain. They could only bow their heads and confess. The interrogation was over quickly.
Ning Zhiheng read through all their interrogation records before speaking: "Although we have the locations of the six dead mailboxes that the Xinfeng Group is in charge of, to be honest, they are not of much significance to us."
This dead mail system is only activated under very special circumstances. For example, the Black Mountain group only used it once in the more than six months after it was activated. So we can't expect other intelligence groups to use the dead mail system in the same few days.
"Once this period passes, and the Japanese realize the Trade Wind Group has been captured, they will definitely order their intelligence network to abandon these six dead mailboxes. Therefore, we cannot place our hopes on these dead mailboxes."
Shao Wenguang nodded and said, "The magistrate's analysis is correct. I also think that we lack many conditions to start from this aspect. However, I am still somewhat unwilling to give up without trying."
Ning Zhiheng laughed and pointed at Shao Wenguang, saying, "Well said. In our line of work, we can't miss even the slightest opportunity. Let's arrange for people to monitor these six, no, five mailboxes, and wait for them to run into us."
After saying that, the two men smiled at each other again. Shao Wenguang immediately nodded and accepted the order, then asked, "There is one more thing. According to their confessions, several officials in the River Transport Supervision Office and the Anti-Smuggling Team accepted bribes and made things easy for them, so that their transportation work was unimpeded and they could swagger into Chongqing with weapons, radios and other items. Should we take measures against these people?"
"No rush!" Ning Zhiheng said calmly. He had expected these things. Nowadays, corruption is rampant in officialdom. Corruption exists everywhere, especially in the officialdom of the Republic of China. He was already used to it. Even in Shanghai, those Japanese were no different.
"These people are just corrupt, but fortunately they haven't betrayed us and defected to the enemy, which makes a difference. Moreover, arresting them now would only make a bigger commotion. We need to keep a low profile and minimize the impact as much as possible. Let's wait until the case is closed before making the arrests and let them live a few more days!"
Shao Wenguang chuckled upon hearing this. He had initially thought the section chief was going to show leniency, but after all that talk, he was still going to kill them in the end. So he nodded and said, "These people hold very lucrative positions, and their families must be quite wealthy. It would be a real shame to let them go!"
Ultimately, none of the people in the Military Intelligence Bureau are kind-hearted; once they set their sights on you, you're doomed.
Ning Zhiheng's heart was as firm as iron, so how could he possibly have any compassion for corrupt officials? If they fell into his hands, he wouldn't mind taking a bite out of them.
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