svetikya Chapter 36: We must find the crow before the Japanese do.
Chapter 36: We must find the crow before the Japanese do.
In Shanghai, on Rue Pétain in the French Concession, in a secret room on the third floor of the "Rongchang Trading Company".
The air was thick with smoke, the atmosphere heavy enough to make you shiver. Station Chief Wang Tianmu's cigarette had burned down to the filter, but he was oblivious, his eyes glued to the two telegrams he had just translated.
A handwritten telegram from headquarters, written by Boss Dai, conveyed a fury so intense it seemed to burn through the paper:
"Shanghai Station: We are shocked to learn that 'Crow' Lin Wuyai has been betrayed by his traitorous colleague 'Owl' Mao Baoying, and his father Lin Yaodong has also fallen into enemy hands! This is a great disgrace to our Military Intelligence Bureau!"
Why didn't you report the matter of the crow and its colleague, the owl Mao Baoying?
Who gave you the authority to conceal such an important matter?
All staff members of the Shanghai Station, as well as Chen Jianghe and Zhao Lijun, have been given a major demerit!
Your department is hereby ordered to: 1. At all costs, find Lin Wuyai before the Japanese invaders and safely transfer him to the mountain city!
The military intelligence network they possess is a national treasure that must be taken over completely and cannot be lost!
Second, the traitor Mao Baoying, the owl, shall be immediately executed according to "family law"—killed without exception! His head shall be displayed publicly as a warning to others!
Third, we must move Lin Wuyai's sister, Lin Xiaowen, to the rear as soon as possible, and we must not let her fall into enemy hands again!
This matter concerns the survival of the "Crow" line. If there is any further mishap, I will answer to you with my head!
Dai Yunong angrily telegraphed.
The other report came from a top-level agent codenamed "Steel Wire" who had successfully infiltrated the Special Higher Police:
"The report by Owl Mao Baoying regarding crows has been confirmed by the Japanese army!"
He has now acquired Japanese citizenship, changed his name to Yamashita Hōei, been awarded the rank of Major, and served as the captain of the 7th Military Police Company.
Today, he led a small squad of Japanese soldiers (33 men) by truck to Kunshan to seek revenge, targeting County Magistrate Luo Baixiang.
After avenging his great grudge, he will most likely return to Shanghai tomorrow. Estimated route: along the Kunming-Shanghai Highway, passing through Zhenru and Caojiadu before entering the city.
This person's crimes are unforgivable; the organization must assassinate him.
I have been cleared of suspicion, so there is no need to worry about being exposed. Eliminating the traitor is the priority!
Wire mesh!
Wang Tianmu stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his voice hoarse and cold: "You heard everything? The boss's anger could burn down half of Shanghai."
We were all given a major demerit. Damn it! I had no idea that Crow had a colleague in the same group, that bastard Mao Baoying, the owl!
That son of a bitch Chen Jianghe killed me! I'll make him pay for this!
Years have passed!
"Here!" Fu Jingnian stood up abruptly, his eyes sharp as knives.
"You will personally lead the team, bringing the best brothers from the action team, along with the 'Pufferfish' Li Guanyu group just transferred from Hangzhou Station, carrying enough explosives, and set off immediately! Set up an ambush on the Zhenru section of the Kunming-Shanghai Highway!"
"When that scoundrel Mao Baoying returns, send him on his way! I want him and those Japanese devils to be pulverized!" Wang Tianmu gritted his teeth. "Remember, be quick and ruthless! Retreat immediately afterward, no lingering!"
"Yes! I guarantee I will complete the mission!" Fu Jingnian accepted the order, turned around and strode away, his eyes flashing with cold light.
Wang Tianmu then looked at another middle-aged man who was not tall but had a shrewd look on his face and wore gold-rimmed glasses: "Qiaoshan!" This man was Lu Qiaoshan, the ace intelligence team leader who had just been transferred from Tianjin Station. His code name was Smiling Tiger, and he was a close confidant and fellow townsman of Zheng Jiemin, the third-in-command of the Military Intelligence Bureau.
"Station Master, Your Majesty!"
"Take your team and immediately go to No. 169 Jing'an Road in the British Concession to make contact with Mr. Han Zhenhua."
He is Lin Xiaowen's boyfriend, has a British passport, and is the one who stood up to the Japanese at the school gate last time.
"Find a way to gain his trust. We must get Lin Xiaowen out safely by tomorrow night and send her to Shancheng as soon as possible through our secret passage! This matter concerns the future of the Crow Line; success is not an option!"
"Understood!" Lu Qiaoshan nodded without hesitation and quickly gathered his men to set off.
Kunshan County, Luo Family Mansion.
The former county magistrate's residence has now become a living hell.
Mao Baoying, no, he should now be called Yamashita Baoying, was wearing a brand-new Japanese army major's uniform, his face a mixture of vengeful pleasure and twisted madness.
He watched as his Japanese soldiers dragged Luo Baixiang and his family members and relatives, a total of seventeen people, into the courtyard one by one.
"Luo Baixiang! You old scoundrel! When you killed my father and seized my family's property for the sake of my Mao family's herbal tea recipe, did you ever think that this day would come?!" Mao Baoying kicked Luo Baixiang, who was kneeling and begging for mercy, to the ground, snatched a bayonet from a Japanese soldier, and instead of killing him directly, he proceeded to slowly torture him to death, slice by slice, as he had planned beforehand! The shrill screams echoed throughout the courtyard.
Then, he ordered all the remaining male members of the Luo family to be machine-gunned to death, while the female members... (200 words omitted here).
The massacre lasted for two whole hours, and the once domineering Luo family was completely wiped out.
After venting his lust and hatred, Mao Baoying led his men, along with the few remaining servants of the Luo family, to the Mao family ancestral graves outside the city.
He personally placed Luo Baixiang's mangled head in front of his father's grave, knelt down with a thud, and cried out in anguish, "Father! Your son has avenged you!"
You can rest in peace now! Your son has no choice but to work for the Japanese... I hope this will bring about a change of dynasty! Father, please bless your son from beyond the grave! Your son will definitely come to burn paper money and offer incense for you during Qingming Festival and the forty-ninth day after Qingming Festival!
Whether it was from crying himself to exhaustion or from some unseen premonition, just as he was kowtowing and offering incense, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and the hairs on his body stood on end. A strong sense of unease instantly gripped him.
He suddenly raised his head and looked around. Apart from the Japanese soldiers and the trembling servants, there was nothing unusual.
"Is it just my imagination?" he murmured to himself, but the unease in his heart wouldn't go away.
After thinking for a moment, he ordered his Japanese sergeant subordinate: "On the way back, my car should not be in the lead. Let the second truck lead the way, and my car should be at the very back."
"Yes, sir!" The sergeant, though puzzled, immediately obeyed.
Evening, Kunming-Shanghai Highway, Zhenru section.
Fu Jingnian and his elite team had already taken advantage of the terrain to conceal themselves. Explosives had been planted beneath the road surface, and the remote detonator was firmly held in Fu Jingnian's hand.
In the distance, the roar of trucks could be heard. Three Japanese trucks drove along the road, the lead one being the same sedan Mao Baoying had arrived in, followed by two trucks full of Japanese soldiers.
Fu Jingnian's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the car, calculating the distance... Now! He abruptly pressed the detonator!
"BOOM!!!"
A deafening explosion rocked the sky! The planted explosives detonated violently, and towering flames and thick smoke instantly engulfed the lead car, blasting it to pieces with parts flying everywhere!
The trucks behind them braked suddenly. After a brief moment of panic, the Japanese soldiers quickly calmed down, jumped off the trucks in an orderly fashion, formed a combat formation, and began firing in all directions.
However, Fu Jingnian, through his binoculars, discovered that the traitor Mao Baoying's car had already been blown up. He then coldly ordered, "Mission accomplished, retreat!"
Taking advantage of the darkness and the terrain, the team members quickly and quietly withdrew from the ambush site.
Having narrowly escaped death, Mao Baoying looked at the burning wreckage of the car and the dead and wounded soldiers before him, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
The intense palpitation I felt just now must have been my father appearing to protect me and save my life!
The fear of surviving the ordeal quickly transformed into an even deeper hatred for the Kuomintang and unwavering loyalty to their Japanese masters.
He roared with a ferocious expression, "Baka! It's the Military Intelligence Bureau! They want my life! From this day forward, I, Yamashita Baoying, will never let the Military Intelligence Bureau get away with this!"