cicada

In the eighth year of Xian-feng (1858), the former dynasty signed the "Treaty of Jinmen" with Britain, and opened up 11 trading ports, including Jiangcheng Hankou.

After the official opening of the port, the imperialist powers flocked to Hankou and even the entire Jiangcheng to open foreign firms, set up banks, and build churches...

Among them, the colonists paid the most attention to the establishment of shipping and the construction of wharves in order to transport the plundered resources back to the mainland and promote commercial development.

For a time, there were many piers in Jiangcheng, and there were more than two hundred "earth piers" controlled by the Chinese and "foreign piers" controlled by foreigners, and the name of the thoroughfare of the nine provinces spread like wildfire.

As the national government retreated to Jiangcheng, the development of the transportation industry was further stimulated, especially the civilian docks, where people came and went every day, which was extremely lively.

On this day, outside the gate of Lie Nv Du Wharf leading to Hanyang Industrial Zone in Wuchang, several military trucks galloped over and stopped suddenly at the gate.

"Squeak~"

Screaming brakes sounded, and before the car came to a complete stop, armed military and police personnel jumped out of the car and quickly occupied the nearby commanding heights and entrances and exits, surrounding the people inside.

This terrified the people present. They didn't know what the army wanted to do. They wanted to flee, but they were forced back by the muzzle of the black hole.

Just as the atmosphere between the two sides became more and more tense, an order came from the loudspeaker at the pier, requiring everyone to line up and provide documents that could prove their identity for inspection and registration.

If you do not have a certificate, you must state your address, whereabouts, and contact person. If you are not a local, you need to state at least three local certifiers to prove your identity.

Hearing that it was just an inspection, ordinary people in the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, but those with ulterior motives changed their expressions drastically and tried to slip out of the encirclement.

But they soon discovered that, unlike the usual raids, this time the Guojun arrangement was very professional, leaving no loopholes.

All the places where people can leave are guarded by military police, and even a few motorboats are patrolling back and forth on the river to prevent people from jumping into the river.

Not only that, but a group of engineers were setting up field phones in the distance, obviously to verify and check those who could not provide their identity documents.

This is by no means an ordinary public security inspection, but an intelligence screening!

This made some people terrified, endured their fear and began to think about countermeasures, recalling whether they had exposed some flaws that led to their identities being exposed.

Not long after, the line waiting for the inspection became longer and longer. There were several men in black sitting or standing behind several wooden tables, registering and taking pictures for the common people.

A middle-aged man in a long robe with a briefcase in his hand walked up to the man in black, raised his hand and took off his hat, bowed slightly and said hello.

"Boss is working hard."

"Don't talk nonsense, what's your name?"

"..."

"Where did you come from?"

"Wuchang."

"A local? Where's the address?"

"No. 3 Shujia Street, this is my ID."

"Go to the side to take pictures, and then wait, let you go and go."

"Okay, okay, hard work."

Such conversations kept happening, and the men in black quickly screened the crowd, and from time to time, people with doubtful identities were pulled aside for a search and squatted on the ground.

Of course, there are also officials who feel that they are superior to others and refuse to accept the inspection. For these people, the man in black is not so polite, and immediately draws a gun to the opponent's forehead and directly takes him into custody.

Seeing this scene, the people who were originally full of resentment stopped talking, secretly guessing if something major happened, otherwise the inspection would not be so strict.

They didn't know that at the same time that Lie Nv Du was surrounded, all bus stations, train stations, important intersections, military and civilian docks in Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang were also controlled.

The Secret Service, the Jiangcheng City Defense Command, the Gendarmerie Command, and the police made unified deployments, cut off the passages entering and leaving Jiangcheng with lightning speed, and conducted interrogation of pedestrians and vehicles passing by.

For this reason, the Supreme Command approved the dispatch of a division-level unit to cooperate with the operation to assist the Secret Service in completing the task of cleaning up the spies. After all, this task was assigned by the bald head himself.

Such a big fight has made many people feel dissatisfied, especially the big bosses who are in the smuggling business. They don't care about spies, they only care about their own business.

And is this kind of search for a needle in a haystack useful? The Japanese are not fools, so they all waited to see the Secret Service and Dai Chunfeng joke.

On the top floor of a building a few hundred meters away from Lie Nv Du, Zuo Zhong put down the binoculars in his hand, turned to look at Gu Qi and Shen Dongxin.

"Old Gu, the first big fire has been set off, and we will see you next, and immediately send people to search several concentrated residential areas in Wuchang.

Hanyang has Song Minghao and Wu Jingzhong, and Wu Chunyang has just returned from Hong Kong City. He and Gui Youguang are in charge of Hankou, and the three towns are operating simultaneously. "

"Yes."

Gu Qi glanced at the messy pier, with doubts on his face: "But deputy director, didn't you say that this kind of search is too..."

"Too much of a waste of time, isn't it?"

Zuo Zhong smiled lightly and didn't answer directly. He supported the handrail on the roof with one hand, and pointed at the vague outline of the city with the other.

"With such a large area and such a large population, it is really difficult to find a specific target, but what if it is not targeted.

Spies will camouflage when performing tasks, and they will not be able to maintain vigilance all the time in daily life. People are lazy and their energy is limited.

One or two days can persist, but what about one or two years? Now that the war is intensifying and the spies are busy stealing information everywhere, they will naturally relax in other areas.

This is our opportunity. Today, the screening of personnel at stations and docks, and even the search of residential areas are all aimed at finding and discovering flaws in life scenes.

As long as you can find a spy with this, follow the clues to destroy several intelligence teams, and give an explanation to everyone. "

Looking at the smoky river surface, he expressed meaningfully to the two of them.

"Old Gu, Dong Xin, we must pay attention to strategies and methods when we do things. You must know that the most urgent task at present is not to eliminate spies, but to satisfy the chairman of the committee.

Intelligence warfare is not a game, it requires a lot of time and resources to invest, so many years of infiltration of the Japanese ~ turn a blind eye, can Yuyu be clarified in just a few days, a joke!

Since you can't find that special leaf from a forest, then don't look for it. Anyway, the ultimate goal is to destroy it. Why don't you show the fire to Shangfeng and make a gesture.

Only then did Gu Qi and Shen Dongxin understand that the so-called arson was not to deter the spies, but to let the leaders know that they had done their best.

Yes, I usually don’t pay much attention to anti-espionage, so what’s the use of trying hard at this time, I can only do my best and obey the destiny.

"Go on the mission. I'll go to Hankou to have a look. There is a concession there. I'm not at ease."

After Zuo Zhong finished speaking with a blank face, he went down the stairs and got in the car, and drove towards the customs wharf. When he arrived at the place, he changed to a traffic boat and headed straight to Hankou on the other side.

Hankou.

An ancient town located on the alluvial plain of the Han River, so named because it is located at the mouth of the Han River into the Yangtze River.

Named Hangao, Xiakou, and Miankou in ancient times, it is one of the four famous towns, known as the most prosperous place in central Chu, and the commercial center of the three towns in Jiangcheng.

In the 12th year of the Republic of China, it became the first municipality under the direct jurisdiction of the government. The economy was highly prosperous, and the population accounted for half of Jiangcheng, reaching one million. It was known as the Oriental Chicago.

Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Japan, and Belgium successively established concessions on this land. After the establishment of the national government, most of the land was taken back, leaving only France and Japan.

Before the war between China and Japan, Japanese overseas Chinese retreated under the order of the Japanese government. The Eguchi government took the opportunity to take over the concession, leaving only the French concession.

Standing at the bow of the boat, Zuo Zhong looked over, and saw that the buildings on the shore were densely packed. Although there were not as many high-rise buildings as in Shanghai, the density of buildings was very high, and all kinds of architectural styles were different.

The Eastern and Western cultures are mixed with each other without being obtrusive, and they appear extremely harmonious. Compared with the overall (anti-404) westernized Shanghai, he prefers this kind of architectural style that is inclusive and has national characteristics.

"chug chug~"

The traffic boat slowly approached the China Merchants Wharf on Minsheng Road not far from the former British Concession. Wu Chunyang, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried forward, helped Zuo Chong ashore, and reported in his mouth.

"Deputy Director, Gui Youguang is leading people to search Hualou Street, but nothing has been found so far. The train station and bus station are all normal."

"kindness."

Stepping from the boat to the shore, Zuo Zhong said as he walked: "Go to Hualou Street, and let me introduce the situation by the way, this operation is entrusted to you and Gui Youguang, I am only in charge of watching the show.

Specifically where to search and how to search, you all discussed and decided, you have completed the mission in Hong Kong City very well, and you have done your work with heart, I will be of great use to you after the promotion. "

"Thank you for the cultivation, Deputy Director."

Wu Chunyang cheered up, and introduced: "Hualou Street is very prosperous, with salt, tea, medicine, groceries, oil, grain, cotton, and fruit shops lined up everywhere, known as the Eight Great Trades.

There are a lot of permanent residents and migrants with complicated sources, so we set it as a key mobilization area. People from the Jiangcheng Police Station follow us, and the military is in charge of peripheral security. "

As he spoke, he led Zuo Zhong across the road by the river, and after walking for a few minutes, he came to an intersection. A team of military police wearing steel helmets not only stopped the two of them to check their documents, but also asked the secret service personnel to come and collect them in person.

Zuo Zhong nodded in satisfaction. The personnel in the multi-party operation are not familiar with each other. If there is no strict discipline, or the discipline is not implemented in place, it is easy for the enemy to fish in troubled waters.

"Deputy Director, Chief Wu, Chief Gui is in front, there is something wrong with a store."

The little spy who came to pick him up whispered to Zuo Zhong and Wu Chunyang, then walked in front to lead the way, and brought them to the door of a milk cake shop.

This is a two-story brick-and-wood structure Chinese-style residence, with colorful floral decorations painted on the eaves and beams and columns, and patterns carved on the doors and windows. No wonder this place is called Hualou Street.

"Hello, deputy director."

"Deputy Director."

When the charters saw Zuo Zhong, they all raised their heads and raised their chests to say hello.

"Well, keep on duty."

Zuo Zhong replied casually, walked slowly to Gui Youguang's side, glanced at the panicked buddy and boss, then at the file in the hands of the big bald man, and wandered around the store with his hands behind his back.