Chapter 33: 33, Military Situation Analysis, Capturing The Japanese Spy
After completing the air raid, the airplanes flew back to Nanjing Airport.
On the airport, four fighter jets had already returned to base.
Two of them were in bad condition: one was hit in the belly, just millimeters from the fuel tank; the other was hit in the tail and wasn’t much better off.
Aircraft repair personnel were carrying out emergency repairs.
Shao Sishen, who had just gotten off the airplane, found his teammate to inquire about the situation, then came back and spoke softly with Fang Wen.
“It’s about what we judged. They were also ambushed and could only retreat individually, so only our one airplane carried out the air raid mission on the battlefield.”
Speaking of this, Shao Sishen couldn’t help but feel a bit proud. As the only one in the aviation team to complete the air raid mission, he had a strong sense of honor.
Fang Wen, however, felt something was strange.
“Even if it was an ambush on us, the number of airplanes doesn’t add up. Where did the remaining enemy aircraft go?”
Shao Sishen was stunned.
“Yeah, today was the Japanese Army’s total attack. The other airplanes couldn’t possibly not be deployed.”
He asked the other teammates, and they all said they didn’t know.
Until the captain came over.
“Assemble. I’ll explain today’s battle situation. Fang Wen, you join too.”
Everyone sat on the grass next to the runway.
The captain took out a military map and pointed at it.
“Today the Japanese Army launched a total ground attack and fought fiercely with the 19th Army.”
“Our air raid missions failed due to interception by Japanese Army fighter jets, except for Shao Sishen’s group.”
“Besides us, Japanese aircraft were also deploying defenses in the airspace over Suzhou and Hangzhou, preventing other aviation teams there from supporting Shanghai.”
“The movements of our several aviation teams are already in the enemy’s grasp. Orders from above: do not attack for now, and cooperate with the people sent from above to investigate.”
So that’s how it was. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force hadn’t all been deployed; instead, they were dispersed to intercept one by one.
No wonder no traces of enemy aircraft were found in the airspace over Shanghai at the time.
Fang Wen felt relieved.
In the afternoon, the investigators arrived in a military vehicle.
Two men and one woman on the vehicle, and surprisingly, the woman was Yue Jinping.
Moreover, she was actually the person in charge of this investigation.
Yue Jinping took out her identification and introduced herself proactively.
“I’m Yue Jinping, team leader of the Revival Society special investigation group, in charge of this investigation.”
The Guangdong Air Force captain actually knew her: “You had a good airplane, why did your dad let you join this department?”
Yue Jinping didn’t answer this and instead asked seriously: “Captain Liu, have you noticed any unusual situations around here recently?”
“Don’t ask me about this. We’re guest troops and don’t know the local situation here. Besides combat, we know nothing. You’d better ask the airport garrison troops.”
“Understood.” Yue Jinping closed her notebook and instructed the two military officers behind her: “You two go investigate over at the barracks. I’ll find someone to talk to.”
After the two military officers left, Yue Jinping walked straight to Fang Wen.
Fang Wen had noticed Yue Jinping’s arrival long ago. Seeing her approach, he put down the repair tools in his hands and walked to the other side of the airport runway.
The two walked and talked.
“I heard you’ve been quite prominent lately. The newspapers and radio stations in Shanghai are all talking about your exploits.”
Fang Wen said helplessly: “It’s their propaganda. They want to create a national hero, and after considering everyone, they picked me.”
“That’s for sure. Besides you, all the others who participated in the Huangpu River bombing were from the Guangdong Air Force. If they don’t pick you, they won’t do this kind of propaganda. I remind you to be careful not to be dazzled by the surface praise. You won’t even know when you’re sold out.”
“Thanks for the reminder.” Fang Wen stopped and looked at the barbed wire outside the airport: “The defenses here are tight, with shifts on night duty. It shouldn’t be someone from inside the airport leaking the intelligence.”
Yue Jinping nodded and asked: “Then what direction do you think I should investigate from?”
Fang Wen thought for a moment.
Although he had no agent experience, he had watched a lot of spy movies.
After putting himself in their shoes and thinking it over, he had his own insights.
“Actually, they just need to lurk in residential buildings near the airport, record the airplanes’ departures daily, and in less than two days, they can figure out the general situation inside the airport. With this intelligence, it’s not hard for the enemy’s analysts to make judgments.”
Yue Jinping looked thoughtful.
After a while, the two military officers came to report the investigation results, and Fang Wen tactfully walked away.
After hearing the officers’ report, Yue Jinping went straight to the barracks. She led a team of soldiers away from the airport and actually began investigating nearby.
Fang Wen’s heart stirred. Wanting to see if they would really catch Japanese spies, he walked over and asked if he could join.
Yue Jinping hesitated: “Stay by my side and don’t participate in the action. If there really are Japanese lurking, it will be very dangerous.”
Fang Wen nodded, ran into the dormitory, took out the Broomhandle Mauser he had kept for himself, and put it in the gun case.
When he came back, Yue Jinping saw the gun case hanging at his waist and couldn’t help laughing.
“Air Hero, this pistol of yours isn’t suitable.”
Truth be told, the Broomhandle Mauser wasn’t good-looking and had to be put in a gun case when worn at the waist.
But this thing had great power and was fully automatic. Fang Wen felt it suited his amateur shooting skills pretty well, so he didn’t agree to swap with Yue Jinping’s Browning pistol.
A team of soldiers with live ammunition came out of the airport, followed by Fang Wen, Yue Jinping, and the two military officers.
The investigation began.
The area facing away from the airport runway was not conducive to observation and was excluded first.
To the left of the airport was a piece of farmland, open ground with no houses.
To the right were some scattered residential buildings, the most likely spot.
The soldiers guarded the possible escape routes, and one military officer knocked on the door to inquire.
The first room was opened by an elderly person.
He panicked a bit upon seeing the soldiers.
“Officer, what do you want?”
The military officer asked coldly: “Is this house yours?”
“Yes.”
“How many people in the family, and what do you usually do for a living?”
“We farm. A family of five farming six mu of land. During the slack season, we also sell some seasonal fruits and vegetables in the city.”
The elderly person answered honestly, not daring to hide anything.
Yue Jinping exchanged low words with Fang Wen.
“His accent is the thick local dialect from around Nanjing. We can rule him out directly.”
“Since he’s a local, he must be familiar with the neighborhood. Why not ask him about the nearby residents?” Fang Wen gave a suggestion. This was basic spy movie procedure: mobilizing the masses for the foundation of the investigation.
Yue Jinping looked at Fang Wen in surprise, then walked to the door herself and said gently.
“Elderly person, don’t be afraid. We’re here to catch bad people. Let me ask you something: are there any outsiders renting houses nearby?”
The elderly person clearly relaxed, and his words flowed much more smoothly.
“There’s a large courtyard house to the west. The whole family moved to the city, and it’s usually empty. A while ago, some outsiders came and rented the house from the landlord at a high price. These people stay in their rooms all day, don’t cook themselves, and every day one of them goes nearby to buy food portions for several people and brings it back.”
After hearing the elderly person’s words, everyone had the feeling that the people in that courtyard house were probably Japanese spies.
To prevent them from escaping during the upcoming arrest, Yue Jinping sent two soldiers back to call for reinforcements.
After some time, another group of soldiers from the airport garrison battalion arrived, totaling about two hundred people. There was no way they could escape now.
Then, the courtyard house was surrounded tightly. One soldier in civilian clothes knocked on the door, while on the other side, a team of soldiers set up a ladder to prepare attacking over the courtyard wall.
The moment the door opened, five soldiers rushed out from hiding and forcibly pinned down the person who opened the door.
In the panic, this person actually shouted a warning in Japanese to the room inside.
