A Journey Through the Flames of War in the Republican Era

Following the Langshan Incident, the Nanjing Garrison Command increased its vigilance both overtly and covertly, and several military police regiments under Commander Gu Jichang also increased the density of their street patrols.

Suddenly, all the high-ranking officials in the Nationalist government and military felt a sense of crisis, and many of them increased their number of bodyguards and guards when they went out.

Under the meticulous planning of Boss Dai of the Military Commission's Special Service Department, a large number of elite agents silently cast an invisible net to conduct secret reconnaissance and surveillance of the enemy's long-standing infiltrated spy network and secret agents.

The area around Duolun Road, Taigu Road, and Xinjiang Road in the northwest of Nanjing is characterized by clean streets, shady trees, and beautiful villas and mansions. The British Embassy in China is located here. Nearby Dingshan Mountain also houses many offices of multinational corporations from Britain, the United States, France, and the Netherlands, making it a high-end business and residential area frequented by foreign businesspeople, expatriates, and Chinese employees.

Yu Dawei, director of the Ordnance Bureau, Chen Houfu, minister of the Navy, and Luo Junren, former minister of foreign affairs and acting minister of justice, and other high-ranking military and political officials purchased and built Western-style houses in this area.

Dingshan Mountain boasts several unique bars and cafes with exotic flair, nestled among flowers and trees in an elegant setting. These are popular spots for European and American diplomats and businesspeople to relax and socialize. They are generally not open to the general public, with the exception of high-ranking officials like Song Caiye, Kong Caiye, Yu Dawei, and Chen Houfu, who all held VIP cards and frequented the area.

Claire, the owner of the most famous Lake Inmeng Cafe in Dingshan, has been quite depressed lately. Since the espionage battle between the two countries has intensified, most of the senior officials of the Nationalist government have chosen to stay at home for security reasons, which has led to a significant decrease in the turnover of restaurants and cafes in the Dingshan area.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents. The foreign business owners unanimously condemned the Japanese devils as evil people who deserve to go to hell.

Finally, the British Embassy and the multinational chamber of commerce couldn't sit still any longer. They specially hired several elites who had retired from MI5 of the British General Staff and professional detectives from Scotland to assist Chinese military and police personnel in strengthening the security of Dingshan. Even cars entering and leaving the area had to be registered one by one. The foreign business owners repeatedly claimed: "The security of Dingshan Business District is absolutely guaranteed. Customers can come and spend money with complete peace of mind."

As evening fell, after finishing his day's work, Yu Dawei's car drove down from the ballistics research institute halfway up Langshan Mountain and headed into the city along the Beijing-Shanghai Highway.

Not far down in Tangshan Town, a car drove out of a quiet alley and followed silently.

"Something's up, watch out for that car behind us!" someone in the car in front suddenly said. Several pairs of alert eyes were fixed on the car following them, and sharp eyes kept checking the car behind through the rearview mirror.

On the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, various motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles shuttle back and forth, and this car always follows closely behind.

The car stopped following at Zhongshan Gate of Nanjing City Wall and turned left, heading straight towards Biaoying Gate.

"Could we have misjudged?" The people in the car in front exchanged glances, secretly smiled wryly, and breathed a sigh of relief, all thinking it was a false alarm. Only one person remained serious, frowning and silent, as if deep in thought.

What the passengers didn't notice was that when the car behind turned left and passed another car parked outside a shop, the driver seemed to glance at the car parked next to him casually and nodded slightly.

The two cars passed each other, and the car parked next to them quietly started up and followed Yu Dawei's car with two cars between them.

As night fell, the streets of Nanjing were bustling with traffic. Two cars drove one after the other from the east of the city to the west. Yu Dawei's car passed through several streets and intersections, but still couldn't shake off the pursuer, who was clearly also a skilled driver.

"We can't shake them off, they're catching up again." The team leader, who had been silent all along in the car, sighed. "Initiate Operation Mousetrap."

The driver nodded, and the vehicle headed towards Dingshan, turning onto a quiet, sparsely populated street.

The car behind followed immediately.

The car behind had clearly not noticed anything amiss when the car in front suddenly stopped.

"Screech—" Accompanied by the ear-piercing screech of brakes, several powerful cars rushed in from all sides, blocking the road completely.

Before the people in the car behind could react, the agents of the Military Intelligence Bureau, like hunters hidden in the dark, leaped out and pounced on their prey in that instant.

"No, I fell into a trap!"

The enemy agents in the car behind realized something was wrong, but before they could resist, they were grabbed by the hair by strong hands and dragged out through the broken car window.

The enemy agent struggled desperately, but was immediately grabbed by the throat and pinned to the ground by more powerful iron hands. Then, his hands were cuffed, he was put into a car and sped away, like a whirlwind sweeping away fallen leaves. The street then returned to calm.

The mousetrap operation went very smoothly. A few passersby stared in astonishment at the sudden and swiftly ending scene. Like the other citizens of the city in the darkness, they would never know what thrilling story had unfolded on this seemingly peaceful and ordinary night.

This was a meticulously planned operation by the Special Service Department. The Director of the Ordnance Department was staying at the Langshan Ballistics Research Institute that night and was not in his car. In the car were several elite Special Service Department operatives who used a counter-strategy to capture the enemy agents who were following them.

The Special Operations Department's office building was still brightly lit. Boss Dai was overjoyed upon receiving the report and breathed a long sigh of relief: "Commend all the operation team members. Immediately begin interrogating the captured enemy agents!"

Boss Dai was ambitious and determined to follow the clues and uproot the intelligence network that had been infiltrated by enemy agents.

After suffering two defeats, the enemy agents were naturally not going to give up, and the temporary calm did not last long.

The Ordnance Department's Baguazhou Artillery Range conducts irregular test firings of various imported artillery pieces and shells to collect data and improve technology. For security and secrecy reasons, the Ordnance Department Director Yu Dawei's visits to the island are strictly confidential.

One morning, Yu Dawei and several others from the Ordnance Bureau boarded a small motorboat at the Yanziji Wharf at the foot of Mufu Mountain to conduct artillery test firings at the Baguazhou Artillery Range. These were the latest Bofors 75mm mountain guns produced by a subsidiary of Krupp in Sweden, boasting advanced performance. The Ordnance Bureau was attempting to produce its own shells and needed to conduct numerous test firings.

Everything went smoothly, and Yu Dawei and the others were very satisfied and in high spirits.

In the afternoon, the sky darkened, and the wind and waves were high on the Yangtze River. Yu Dawei and his group chatted and laughed as they boarded the motorboat and returned to the Yanziji Wharf on the south bank.

However, they were unaware that Mei Liangshi, a technical officer at the Baguazhou artillery range, had recently been bribed by enemy agents with a large sum of money to provide them with information about the travel itineraries of high-ranking officials from the Ordnance Department who were visiting the island.

After Yu Dawei arrived at Baguazhou in the morning, Mei Liangshi secretly transmitted intelligence in accordance with the pre-arranged method by enemy agents.

Then a motorboat sailed from the direction of Qixia Mountain downstream towards Baguazhou and anchored on the river downstream, seemingly conducting net fishing operations.

Halfway through their journey, Yu Dawei and his group's motorboat was caught off guard by a modified sailboat that sped towards them, even faster than the motorboat. Several burly men disguised as fishermen on the sailboat pulled out pistols and opened fire on the motorboat, creating a dangerous situation in which two people on the motorboat were injured.

The guards fought back fiercely, and Yu Dawei was held down in the cabin by the guards and his adjutant. Fortunately, after the incident with the enemy agent, the guards increased their vigilance and firepower, and were equipped with MP28 submachine guns, a detail that neither the enemy agent nor the traitor had known beforehand.

The powerful bursts of submachine gun fire prevented the motorboat from getting close, and the two sides faced off on the river. At this critical moment, Song Hongfei's 3rd Regiment was training at the Yanziji training ground when the observation post heard the intense gunfire on the river and immediately reported to Song Hongfei.

Through the artillery telescope, Song Hongfei observed the perilous situation of the Ordnance Department's motorboat and immediately organized Vickers amphibious assault vehicles to fire at the motorboat with their machine guns, repelling the mysterious motorboat of unknown origin.

A motorboat belonging to the Nanjing Water Police discovered the unusual situation on the river and sped over to provide assistance, forcing the motorboat to turn around and flee in panic.

The Special Service quickly determined that the attack on the Ordnance Department's motorboat was carried out by a gang of river bandits entrenched in Shibuzhai on the Yangtze River at the foot of Qixia Mountain. The bandit leader was named Xie Baoqing. Xie Baoqing had gathered a group of bandits who had long been committing murder and robbery on the river, causing havoc in the area.

Because they never dared to touch the officials or their goods, and instead spent large sums of money to bribe the tribute recipients, the local government repeatedly dispatched military and police to suppress them, but these efforts were all just for show and never came to fruition, after which they would return.

This time, enemy agents bribed the gang of river bandits with 60 gold bars through an intermediary. Sixty gleaming gold bars were incredibly tempting, enough for a lifetime of eating, drinking, and whoring. Xie Baoqing and his men gritted their teeth: "Damn it, let's do it! After this heist, we'll flee far away and live in anonymity!"

"Xie Baoqing?!" Song Hongfei felt a little dazed for a moment. Had he wandered into the wrong set of "Bright Sword"? Or was his memory playing tricks on him?

"Xie Baoqing, you've got some nerve, daring to attack a regular army!" Song Hongfei could only smile wryly.

The Military Commission was furious, and a company of the military police surrounded Jiang Zemin's hideout. Regular troops dealing with petty thieves was a foregone conclusion, but this time Xie Baoqing couldn't escape via the back mountain with a rope. The entire gang of Jiang Zemin's bandits were captured and, along with Mei Liangshi, the traitor at the artillery firing range, were subjected to severe interrogation by the Special Service.

The intelligence agency investigated thoroughly and concluded that this was a hostile spy operation by Japan. However, the cunning Japanese always acted as the masterminds behind the scenes, bribing Chinese spies on the periphery. Once they were caught, the intelligence agencies stationed in Shanghai would treat them as if they had been cut off, making it impossible to find any direct evidence against them.

Boss Dai of the Special Service Department made another astonishing discovery: he uncovered a directional clue pointing to the faction of a high-ranking official surnamed Wang who was colluding with Japanese enemy agents.

For a long time, the Nationalist government had been structured with Wang Jingwei in charge of the government, Chiang Kai-shek in charge of the military, and both Wang and Chiang jointly in charge of the party. Although Wang Jingwei's faction had gradually weakened, it still held considerable power within the Nationalist government.

Boss Dai found himself in a very difficult situation, as he lacked concrete evidence. The infiltration of China by Japanese spies was a long-standing affair, and their connections with various warlords and powerful factions were undeniable. Boss Dai was deeply troubled and could only report the situation truthfully to his superiors for a decision.

Amidst the complex factional struggles within the Nationalist government, the matter was ultimately downplayed and left unresolved.

The Nationalist government's high command considered that, at the time, the two countries had not yet engaged in large-scale warfare, and the high command still harbored illusions, hoping that there would be room for maneuver in the future. Therefore, they only made an example of the enemy to deter them, and although the results were not small, they did not take drastic measures against Japanese spies, fearing that doing so would anger Japan. Thus, they endured the humiliation and chose to temporarily give them a break.