Li Lixin entered the office, bowed deeply, and asked Zhang Zhengkui, "Commander, you wanted to see me about something!"
Zhang Zhengkui was still feeling frustrated and his head was throbbing. He sat in his chair and waved to Ning Zhiheng.
Ning Zhiheng immediately understood his meaning, so he turned around and introduced some information to Li Lixin. However, he deliberately omitted the part about the telegram, only saying that according to reliable sources, someone had tipped off the Japanese and learned about the commander's two inspections of the heavy artillery brigade's positions, thus determining the approximate range.
After all, the telegram records were provided by Seiji Yasuda, who was to be an important pawn he planted in the Japanese military intelligence department, and his information absolutely could not be leaked to anyone.
Of course, Ning Zhiheng dared not hide anything from Zhang Zhengkui, otherwise he would not be able to gain Zhang Zhengkui's trust.
Upon hearing Ning Zhiheng's account, Zhang Zhengkui quickly understood Ning Zhiheng's intention. He thought to himself that this young man was indeed a secret agent, and he was so careful in his words and actions. In comparison, the officers in his own army were indeed too negligent in this regard.
He picked up the telegram record in his hand and gestured to Ning Zhiheng. Ning Zhiheng understood Zhang Zhengkui's intention; it was to keep it a secret for him. He stepped forward, took the telegram record, and carefully put it away.
Ning Zhiheng then said, "Brother Lixin, what I really want to know is, do you remember October 1st? Does anyone know the commander's itinerary for inspecting the heavy artillery positions?"
Li Lixin listened to Ning Zhiheng's narration. There was actually a Japanese spy in the war zone command? He was obviously shocked by this, but he was also a man of composure. He only paused for a moment before quickly saying, "It's been a long time, and I don't remember clearly. But the only people who would know the commander's itinerary are me, Chief of Staff Luo Yingzhe of the General Staff, and Zhang Zhiye, the guard company commander. Of course, the other operations staff officers might also know."
Confidential secretary Lü Weicai was hit by shrapnel during an enemy bombing raid at the end of last month. He was still recovering in the infirmary on October 1st and has not yet fully recovered, so he can be ruled out.
As for the others, Chief of Staff Luo, Operations Staff Officer Cheng Ting, and Guard Company Commander Zhang Zhiye can be excluded.
That leaves only the other four operations staff officers.
Within the theater command, the staff department is a crucial auxiliary department, especially the chief of staff and the five operations staff officers, who are the senior officers who have the most contact with Zhang Zhengkui. They regularly collect and organize combat information from various departments and units, and formulate specific operational plans and assign specific combat tasks based on Zhang Zhengkui's instructions. Therefore, obtaining information about Zhang Zhengkui is not difficult for them.
Ning Zhiheng nodded upon hearing this and said, "In that case, there are still four suspects. That's not a large number, and we have enough resources to monitor them!"
Zhang Zhengkui paused for a moment, and after a long while said, "These four people are, after all, my subordinates who have followed me for many years. Although we should investigate them carefully, we should not lose face!"
Ning Zhiheng understood Zhang Zhengkui's concerns. He smiled slightly and said, "Commander, please rest assured. Our Military Intelligence Department has many methods to identify such a small number of suspected targets. If we don't want to take a hard line and hurt everyone's feelings, the simplest and most effective way is to release false intelligence and let the target come out on its own. As long as the surveillance is in place, everything will soon come to light!"
Zhang Zhengkui waved his hand and said, "I'll leave this matter to you. After all, you're an expert in intelligence. But we can't delay. Our troops are about to set off, and you don't have much time!"
When he got to the last sentence, Zhang Zhengkui hesitated slightly, but didn't say anything more.
"Yes, I will find this mole as soon as possible and will not allow him to pass on any more information!" Ning Zhiheng replied loudly, then hesitated for a moment, "I have one more thing to report!"
"Is there anything else?" Zhang Zhengkui asked, but seeing Ning Zhiheng's hesitant expression, he turned to Li Lixin and said, "You go first!"
Li Lixin was quick-witted; he immediately stood at attention, accepted the order, and turned to leave the office.
Ning Zhiheng was always cautious. After watching Li Lixin leave, he continued his report: "Through the telegram, we discovered the Noguchi plainclothes team that has been operating in the Takahashi area. They have been hiding in a warehouse called Whittle. I plan to set off tomorrow to wipe out this plainclothes team." Ning Zhiheng stepped forward to report.
"Whitell Warehouse?" Zhang Zhengkui was taken aback. He asked with some doubt, "Wasn't it already emptied out by us? How dare they still hide it there?"
Ning Zhiheng hadn't expected that Zhang Zhengkui also knew about the Whittle warehouse. After receiving the information, he rushed over and, without having a chance to get more details, quickly asked, "You know about this warehouse?"
Zhang Zhengkui nodded, stepped onto a map hanging on the wall, pointed to a marker in the Takahashi area and said, "This is the Whittle Warehouse, located along the Huangpu River. Don't underestimate this warehouse. At the end of August, we fought several battles with the Japanese to seize it."
He then looked at Ning Zhiheng's surprised expression and explained carefully, "This Whittle Warehouse was originally built by a British merchant, but the Japanese somehow bribed this British man and secretly stored a large amount of high-quality coal in such an inconspicuous warehouse!"
"Coal?" Ning Zhiheng asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Yes, it's coal! And it's high-quality coal specifically used to power Japanese gunboats; they've been planning this for a long time."
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