According to intelligence, there are more than a dozen villages scattered at the foot of the western foot of Guanmen Mountain, except for Hekou Village and Xiping Village, which have been occupied by the Eighth Route Army, most of the other villages are currently in a state of political emptiness: the people installed by the National Government of China have fled, and the power of the maintenance association supported by the imperial army has not yet extended there. In this situation, even if there is a case of missing women in the local area, the parties and families will have no way to surrender, which is very suitable for the Hirai advance team to act cheaply.

Since the imperial army's advance and suppression troops are about to sweep through that area, it is natural that the jade and stones will be burned under the flames of war, and the death of a few men and a few women in the homes of ordinary people will obviously not attract attention or even suspicion.

It's two birds with one stone! Hagiwara mumbled to himself. Immediately, he called the head of the secret service, Masao Kojima, to come to the brigade headquarters.

Masao Kojima, who came in a hurry, was urging his subordinates to step up the search for the suspicious traces of the Blue Coat Society in Wencheng City, and he thought that the brigade commander had come to him for this reason. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, Major General Hagiwara mentioned the plan of action of the Hirai advance team. It seems that the small actions that this guy led along the Tongpu Road in the middle of the night two days ago were very satisfying to the brigade commander and major general, so much so that he wanted to repeat the old trick at the foot of Guanmen Mountain.

However, when it came to Guanmen Mountain, Kojima Masao suddenly thought of a situation that his subordinates had reported: there was an entrenched bandit army in Guanmen Mountain, which went out of the mountains to harass nearby villages all year round, killing people and stealing goods, and robbing women. Before, because this situation did not have any military value, Masao Kojima did not take it to heart. At this time, when he heard Hagiwara Akira mention that he was going to secretly arrest the Shina woman in the village at the foot of Kanmen Mountain, his heart couldn't help but move, and he blurted out a plan:

"General, wouldn't it be good to let the advance team of Hirai Teraichi pretend to be bandits from Guanmen Mountain and go to the village at the foot of the mountain to kill people and set fires, rob property and women?"

When the brigade commander Major General heard this, he immediately smiled.

"Good strategy! Hide from the world and cross the sea, borrow a knife to kill people, and let the people of China count the crime of losing the woman on the heads of the bandits in Guanmen Mountain! After a pause, Hagiwara added, "However, this strategy needs to be well prepared, so that outsiders can look like they are indeed bandits. In this regard, Hirai Nakasa is a layman, so you have to think more about it and put in a lot of effort. ”

The head of the secret service immediately said that he would spare no effort.

"One more thing, did this gang of bandits have any anti-Japanese actions or tendencies? Guanmen Mountain is now the area of activity of the Eighth Route Army, and the bandit forces have not been affected by them? ”

Kojima Masao was stunned for a moment, and hesitated for a moment before replying: "As far as I know, there has been no such information yet. It's just that it's not clear if the garrisons here and there have encountered it. ”

Hagiwara rolled his eyes and denied it: "However, we still have to pay more attention to the anti-Japanese forces that the Kwantung Army dealt with in the Manchurian Empire a few years ago, and there were many local bandits. You have been in the army outside the customs for many years, so you must know this well. ”

The head of the secret service nodded frequently, and the phenomenon mentioned by the brigade commander was a prominent situation that plagued the entire Manchurian garrison in those years. At the same time, it also sounded the alarm for him now, because according to the intelligence reported by his subordinates, the bandit forces in the Black Stone Cliff of Guanmen Mountain do not seem to be weakly equipped, and the scale of the personnel is not small, if they really change their course and become enemies of the imperial army, it will undoubtedly be a considerable trouble.

"Please rest assured General, I will deploy special manpower to target the movements of this bandit, it is said that the leader of this Black Stone Cliff Bandit Gang is a woman, and her heart is not inferior to that of a man."

"Female bandit leader? This is the first time I have heard that Shanxi folk customs are known for their simplicity and virtue, why is there still a female bandit leader? Is there any special origin? ”

"Uh, where did you come from...... It's not clear, I'll step up the investigation and report back to the general later. I was thinking, if possible, that we should send someone over to make contact with this bandit, and say that the Imperial Army had promised them a chance to change their ways—that they had resisted in front of the government of China, and now that a new government had been formed, if they were willing to submit, we would not only give them the power to maintain law and order, but also the power to maintain law and order. ”

"Good!" Hagiwara Akira's arm waved violently in the air: "Kojima-kun, your idea is very correct, for the Shina people, we just have to learn to use Hua to control Hua and use it for me." Give this group of bandits a justifiable title, and let them turn around and fight the Eighth Route Army! ”

"Yes, General, but this matter must not be rushed, as soon as I find out the number of female bandit leaders; Second, at present, the Hirai Advance Team also needs to use the banner of this gang of bandits to arrest the women of China. ”

Hearing this, a mysterious smile suddenly appeared on the face of the brigade commander, Major General: "Kojima-kun, the female bandit leader you mentioned is not very old, right?" If she agrees to submit to the imperial army, otherwise, let Hirai Nakasa lead people to sneak into the bandits' den, capture the female bandit leader to the Songjiagou comfort women camp, and let the warriors of the imperial army take care of the fierce women of the ** Zhina! ”

Masao Kojima laughed and gave a thumbs up to Hagiwara, who was dressed in a straight general's uniform.

The two of them had laughed enough, and the brigade commander, Major General, ordered his men to wait for the refreshments to come up, so he changed his tone and began to inquire about the progress of the search for the Blue Coat elements in the city.

As soon as the head of the secret service, who was still in a happy state just now, heard this topic, his scalp immediately began to tighten, and he hurriedly changed his serious face and carefully introduced the situation.

Since the outbreak of the train station attack a few days ago, the main forces of the Wencheng secret service, including the Shina Detective Team, have all been engaged in the pursuit and search operation; An infantry squadron transferred into the city from the eastern suburbs and the Kawasaki squadron of the divisional cavalry wing, which had just returned from the Jinnan front, also began a dragnet search and inventory.

So far, there are three important discoveries -

First, two officers of the Otsuka Wing Wing Headquarters who mysteriously disappeared on the night of the attack on the train station: Second Lieutenant Sakata, a military doctor, and Lieutenant Sato, deputy squadron leader of the communications squadron, whose bodies have been found, and the body is located in a south exit alley on City Hall Street. The deceased's throat bones were shattered, his entire military uniform was stripped away, and he was tied to a tree trunk in the alley; It was reported by the people who lived in the alley after dawn. It can be inferred that Second Lieutenant Sakata had also been killed because the military uniform and military ID of Second Lieutenant Sakata, who had been out drinking with Lieutenant Sato that night, appeared on the anti-Japanese activists who had been killed in the railway station square.

In addition, after investigation, it has been proved that the two officers drank at the Kansai Restaurant Hotel on City Hall Street that night, and there was also a junior officer who participated in the drinking at that time, whose identity is unknown; However, after several days of inventory and roll call by the garrison units in Wencheng City, it was found that a senior soldier of the Independent Infantry Brigade defending the city was missing, because the senior soldier was a native of Longshan in the empire along with Second Lieutenant Sakata and Lieutenant Sato, and it was inferred that he was one of the three people who drank together that night, and it was very likely that he was killed at the same time.

The alley where Lieutenant Sato's body was found is very close to the Kansai Restaurant Hotel, and it can be judged that it was the scene of the murderer's crime. However, the whereabouts of the other two missing persons are unknown. Lieutenant Sato's throat bone was shattered, and it was supposed to be a blunt force gravity injury, and the perpetrator may have planned in advance, did not use a firearm or knife, and apparently intended to keep the victim's military uniform intact in order to camouflage and infiltrate.

At present, the garrison and the secret services are making every effort to search for the whereabouts of the remaining two.

Second, in an alley near the Nanyang Hotel in the northwest of the city, the bodies of three members of the detective team were found. Captain Meng Longsheng testified that the three members of the detective team were deployed on duty outside the railway station square on the night of the incident, but they were killed far away from the duty location for a strange reason. The killer was using a pistol, and the three 7.65 caliber cartridge casings found at the scene were believed to be Browning M1910 pistols, which were rarely installed in the Chinese army.

The murderer was proficient in marksmanship, and the three members of the detective team who were killed were all shot dead at close range, and the bodies showed no signs of resistance. This kind of close-range combat is either a surprise attack from an ambush or the hands of fellow travelers.

Third, the explosion that occurred in the military station in the south freight yard of the railway station, and the small amount of explosive remnants left after on-site investigation, seems to be a timed detonation device, which requires corresponding blasting expertise from production to delivery, and is by no means controllable by ordinary anti-Japanese elements. Its technique is exactly in line with the style of the Blue Coat Society.

In addition to the above three circumstances, no other valuable clues have been found so far. A search of the shantytown, including the square in front of the railway station, was unsuccessful.

Hagiwara listened expressionlessly to the head of the secret service sitting in front of the coffee table, and was silent for a long time before he spoke:

"So it's basically certain that the people of the Blue Coat Society are causing these turmoil in the city?"

Masao Kojima's jaw is said to be.

After another silence, in the fragrance of tea gradually rising in the room, the brigade commander, Major General, said in a low tone:

"Senior Staff Officer Suzuki of the Front Army Headquarters has informed me that Major General Seiichi Kita, the head of the Beiping Agency, has verbally agreed to the request of the Wencheng Special Service to seek help from the Pingjin Area Special Service, but it will take some time before it can be put in place when it involves the transfer and handover of personnel within the army. Until then, despite all your arguments and reasons, I ask you not to use this as an excuse to relax the pursuit of the Blue Coat Society! This gang of anti-Japanese forces has become more and more rampant, and has become a major problem for the long-term peace and stability of Wencheng, and it must be eradicated as soon as possible! ”

The brigade commander, Major General, became more and more agitated, and finally threw the teacup in his hand into the delicate wooden tea ceremony tray, with a sonorous sound.

Masao Kojima, who was terrified, hurriedly stood up, stood with his feet straight, and shouted in a low voice: Hey!