Chapter 92: Rooting Out the Traitor!

Tang Yuan, the deputy director, could not help but sigh.

“We must admit that when a nation’s land and resources are limited, the pace of development is indeed affected.”

“After decades of effort and reform, we finally built seventeen first-rate divisions.”

“Yet unexpectedly, Jiang Bai raised two reinforced divisions to the strength of our own first-line troops in just two months!”

“To me, this is an unacceptable reality!”

Hearing the deputy director’s wistful tone, Ono nodded in bewilderment and asked:

“If their military strength is so formidable, then why didn’t our empire simply deploy the garrison to crush them when Jiang Bai’s Seventh Reinforced Division first came to prominence?”

“If we had destroyed them then, there would be no threat today.”

As a veteran intelligence officer, Ono had long been dissatisfied with the battle reports concerning Jiang Bai’s Seventh Reinforced Division.

If they had been defeated earlier, none of this trouble would exist.

In response to his complaint, Tang Yuan gave a helpless smile.

“Do you think we did nothing?”

“Given how complex the international situation was at the time, we simply could not openly dispatch regular forces against them.”

“Therefore, the army secretly sent two second-class divisions to attack them with the assistance of the Wangkou garrison.”

“But in the end, not only did we fail to defeat them, we even lost one of our elite brigades.”

“For us, that loss was extremely heavy, and one might even call it a humiliation!”

As a seasoned figure in the intelligence world, Tang Yuan naturally had access to such classified information.

Ono, whose rank was lower, had not known these details before.

After hearing Tang Yuan’s explanation, he was utterly shocked.

He had never imagined that the empire’s army, which he believed invincible, would be defeated at the hands of the new dynasty’s people.

Especially when one considered that Jiang Bai’s Seventh Reinforced Infantry Division numbered, at full strength, no more than forty thousand.

And yet such a force not only launched a full assault on Wangkou, but also managed to wipe out one of the empire’s elite brigades along the way. It was almost unbelievable!

Had Tang Yuan not handed him the analysis report, he would never have believed it.

Faced with the grim contents of the report, Ono said angrily, “I truly cannot understand why our army did not retaliate afterward.”

“After all, these were the spirits of eight thousand imperial warriors!”

“It is simply incomprehensible!”

Seeing Ono’s indignant expression, Tang Yuan sighed and said,

“The situation at the time did not permit retaliation, not to mention that our empire’s economic condition was already in disastrous shape.”

“Just considering the foreign silk people backing Jiang Bai was enough to give us a headache.”

“Given that we owe the foreign silk people the largest share of our debts under the multination loans, angering them would only make future repayment negotiations even more troublesome.”

“For many reasons, the army’s plan for revenge had to be shelved.”

“This decision caused widespread dissatisfaction within the army.”

“I have a feeling that the balance of power within our court is about to undergo a major shift.”

Hearing this, Ono understood that the time had come and fell silent.

He had no intention of getting entangled in domestic struggles; after all, he still wanted to keep his life.

Fortunately, Tang Yuan quickly changed the subject.

“Therefore, we must cooperate more closely and do everything possible to gather intelligence on Jiang Bai’s Seventh Field Army.”

“In this way, when the army launches an attack on Jiang Bai in the future, we will be able to quickly identify the enemy’s weaknesses and deliver a decisive blow!”

“Do you understand how important this mission is?”

“Understood! Director, I will give it my all and spare no effort!”

At that moment, Tang Yuan seemed to recall something and added, “Also, don’t forget to work with your colleagues at the Tongwen Academy.”

“As an intelligence organization that has been deeply rooted in Chengyun for many years, they must have gathered plenty of information about Jiang Bai.”

Ono replied solemnly, “Understood! Director, please rest assured. I will certainly complete the mission successfully!”

After that, Tang Yuan gave him a few further instructions, changed into plain clothes, and quietly left the place.

On the surface, the Tongwen Academy was an educational institution.

In essence, however, it actively promoted anti-Western ideas led mainly by the little devils.

In a sense, this could be seen as an early form of the little devils’ concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

After leaving the office, Ono immediately hired a rickshaw.

“Sir, where would you like to go?”

A broad-shouldered, dark-skinned rickshaw puller with a powerful voice bowed and scraped before him.

When Ono’s eyes fell on the callused hands of the puller, he could not help but feel that the man seemed to have battlefield experience.

That surprised him. “Have you fought before?”

The puller, hearing this, scratched his head awkwardly and replied with a hint of bitterness:

“Sir, you have a keen eye!”

“When I was young, I followed the old marshal into battle.”

“After the war, I became a wandering soldier with nowhere to go, and had no choice but to make a living doing hard labor.”

Ono did not pay much attention to the rickshaw puller’s story.

In such turbulent times, tales like this were all too common.

Meanwhile, the rickshaw puller quickly drew the vehicle toward the Tongwen Academy on Dongning Lane.

After meeting an intelligence operative from the academy there, the two of them headed together to the Listening Sea Pavilion.

After confirming that the two targets had entered the tavern, the rickshaw puller immediately ran into a secluded alley and carefully took a carrier pigeon from his pocket.

He secured the intelligence to the pigeon’s leg ring, then gently released it into the air.

The pigeon flapped its wings rapidly and flew straight toward a seemingly ordinary, somewhat dilapidated military camp in the suburbs of Chengyun.

Though unremarkable on the outside, that camp was in fact the hidden headquarters of the military intelligence bureau.

Since Dan Peng assumed office, only two weeks had passed, yet they had already sparred with the little devils’ intelligence agencies on several occasions.

Compared with the informants recruited from civilians by the little devils, Dan Peng’s intelligence personnel were all elite soldiers from the army, possessing not only exceptional skills but also decisive methods of action.

Thus, in their many contests, they had almost always won with overwhelming advantage.

As a result, the Chengyun Military Intelligence Bureau had obtained a great deal of important intelligence.

“Director, we have received critical intelligence.”

“Someone made contact today with the target from the Tongwen Academy.”

“They are currently at the Listening Sea Pavilion entertaining a military officer.”

“Entertaining him at this hour? What is their purpose?” Dan Peng, who had been studying a map, immediately stirred and asked urgently.

“Who is it?”

Xu Hu answered without hesitation:

“A brigade commander from the Eighth Combined Brigade.”

“After all this time watching and waiting, we have finally found their trail!”

“Xu Hu, take your men there personally. You must arrest them all the moment they meet!”

“Once they are captured, send them at once to the Beiying Prison.”

“Today I want to see how many people still dare to plead for this brigade commander!”