In Xiamen in early winter, the weather is a little cold.

On that day, there were raindrops in the sky, and Xiamen was shrouded in rain and fog.

At the home of overseas Chinese, a secret contact point on Xiahe Road on Xiamen Island, Professor Zhang was washing his face when an action team member wearing a worker's uniform walked in.

"Xiao Wang is here, how are the preparations for the Miaofalin venue!" Professor Zhang stopped to wash his face and asked with concern.

Xiao Wang replied happily: "The venue is ready, the venue is arranged in the right wing of the Buddha hall, and the surrounding courtyard and the five doors are arranged with action members. You can rest assured! ”

"The Japanese are very cunning, and the security and confidentiality work must be done carefully, you must know that this morning's meeting is an annual meeting approved by Yan'an, and all the people who come are responsible persons of the underground party in the southeast region, and Haifeng still has to attend the meeting, so we can't afford to make a mistake." Professor Zhang repeatedly admonished.

Xiao Wang said seriously: "Well, I know the importance of this meeting. ”

Professor Zhang picked up a towel and wiped his face and said, "There are still three hours before the meeting, you go back and check again, if there are any mistakes, hurry up and make up for it." In addition, it is necessary to set up secret posts in the alleys near the Buddha hall to prevent accidents. ”

"Yes!" Xiao Wang turned around and walked out quickly.

After washing his face and looking at the rain and fog outside, Professor Zhang walked back and forth in the room in a low mood, and he could see that he was quite unsteady.

In the French-style villa on Gulangyu, Liu Zifeng and Wang Ping were busy translating the strange secret telegram.

Liu Zifeng pondered and frowned. His eyes were red and swollen, and the underside of his eyes was black, and he looked like he had stayed up all night.

Liu Zifeng couldn't stand it anymore and took a nap on the table.

Wang Ping bought breakfast and walked into the house gently, seeing that Liu Zifeng was asleep, he couldn't bear to disturb him, so he put the breakfast on the table and picked up the strange secret telegram and looked at it.

Wang Ping looked at it, and on a whim, she rearranged the password on an empty piece of paper. With a bit of English basics, she looked at it again, and there were words in the password that were written in English words.

Wang Ping was overjoyed to have this new discovery. She happily woke up Liu Zifeng, pointed to the arranged passwords and said, "Zifeng, look at this." ”

Liu Zifeng rubbed his eyes, looked at the password and said excitedly: "The sender uses a method of compiling a 'book cipher code', why didn't I think of it, it's so stupid!" He said and slapped his head. ”

"How is it, Zifeng, do you have an idea?" Wang Ping couldn't help but ask again.

"English literature, English literature......" Liu Zifeng said to himself.

As he spoke, he stood up suddenly, hurried to his bed, and pulled out the English book "The Earth" from under his pillow.

Then, Liu Zifeng pressed the code on the intercepted cipher, opened the book, compared it page by page and line by line, and quickly deciphered the code.

Liu Zifeng was taken aback when he looked at the cipher he had translated, and cold sweat suddenly flowed down his head.

Seeing this scene, Wang Ping hurriedly picked up the telegram and read it, and the message was:

At 9 o'clock on the 19th, the Communist Party's southeast underground party Miaofalin gathered, and Haifeng participated, and it was all in one go.

aardwolf

"Coyote, who is the coyote?" Wang Ping saw that his expression was wrong, and hurriedly asked.

Liu Zifeng wiped a cold sweat and said, "This is a telegram from Yan'an, and the coyote is a Japanese spy lurking in Yan'an." ”

"Ahh Wang Ping was taken aback when she heard this, and asked again, "How did you know?" ”

Liu Zifeng calmed down and said: "I remember that Lao Zhang said that the last time I saw 'Haifeng', 'Haijian' told him that there was a spy codenamed 'Coyote' hidden in Yan'an, and he had not been investigated. After 'Haifeng' is sent to the southeast, 'Coyote' may pass on information to the enemy in Xiamen, so that I can take more precautions. I didn't expect the 'Coyote' to finally make a move. ”

Wang Ping said: "So that's the case, let's quickly tell Lao Zhang and them this urgent information!" ”

Liu Zifeng looked at his watch, and the hour hand was already pointing to 7 o'clock. He shouted: It's bad, it's bad, there's still two hours before the meeting, it's too late.

"Time is pressing, Ze Shigenobu must have received the telegram as well, maybe they have already started the operation, what can we do?" Wang Ping was so anxious that she didn't know what to do for a while.

"Yes, if they are allowed to succeed in their conspiracy, they will inevitably cause heavy losses to the underground party in the southeast, and Hai Feng will also face danger to his life!" Liu Zifeng also stood up, at a loss for a moment.

Liu Zifeng is worthy of being a spy with rich experience in struggle. He forced himself to calm down and figure out what to do.

Liu Zifeng stood up and walked around the house twice, and finally thought of a solution.

He hurriedly said to Wang Ping: We will treat others in the same way, Wang Ping, you come to help me.

Wang Ping nodded hurriedly, her eyes full of surprise.

Liu Zifeng picked up the pen and wrote on the telegram and said: You take the book "The Earth" and check the "absent" English for me, in a few pages and a few lines.

Wang Ping quickly flipped through the book and said: 5 pages and 3 lines.

"Okay, check the English 'postponement' again?" Liu Zifeng said again.

Wang Ping flipped through the book again and said, "7 pages and 9 lines!" ”

Liu Zifeng quickly wrote on the paper, and after a while, he prepared a telegram. He looked at it carefully, hurriedly turned on the transceiver, and quickly sent it out in the name of "Coyote" with the frequency of intercepting the cipher.

He turned off the radio again and let out a long breath.

Liu Zifeng said to Wang Ping again: "You go to Xiadao immediately, find Miaofalin and tell Lao Zhang about the situation." ”

"Okay!" Wang Ping said and left in a hurry.

introduction

In late March 1938, the Itagaki Division and the Isoya Division of the Japanese North China Front launched the Battle of Taierzhuang with the aim of capturing Xuzhou. Li Zongren, commander of the Fifth Theater of the National Revolutionary Army, launched an active frontal defense. At the most tense juncture of the Sino-Japanese Battle of Xuzhou, the eyes of the Japanese Navy Admiral Matsui Ishine suddenly fixed on the southern corner of the battle map against China - Xiamen.

Although the Japanese Empire threw its main forces on the battlefields of North China and Central China and had no time to take care of South China for a while, in order to contain the Chinese army in South China and consider the development of the future war situation, it was necessary to quickly lay an important base for the southward invasion of China, and the Japanese Empire chose Xiamen.

Matsui Ishone, the executioner of the Nanjing Massacre, was already the commander of the Japanese Central China Front at this time, and concluded that his plan to attack Xiamen was correct, so he summoned Miyata Yoshiichi, Ichiro Ohno and other generals, and said majestically: "The war in Xuzhou is tense, and the soldiers of our empire are fighting bloody battles and are determined to win. The Battle of Wuhan will also begin, and the navy is now idle and should be used to prepare for the great military deployment of the empire. ”

"Listen to the general."

In the Admiralty War Room of the Japanese base camp, Vice Admiral Shiro Kawako, commander of the Fleet on the Shina side, and Vice Admiral Kiichiro Kawa, commander of the Fifth Fleet under his jurisdiction, were standing on a large map in the war room to study the military situation.

In the corner, several transceiver radio stations were constantly ringing "tick, tick...", and several transceivers were busy operating the radios, transmitting all kinds of orders and information to the Japanese naval forces. The tense atmosphere on the eve of the Great War is reproduced.

Fleet Commander Kawakoshiro pointed to Xiamen Island on the combat map, pointing with a pencil in his hand, and said arrogantly: Xiamen Port is the middle point of the Shanghai-Hong Kong shipping route, very close to Taiwan and the Nanyang Islands, and is one of the five major treaty ports along the coast, as well as the import and exit of 20 million overseas Chinese in Nanyang and the receiving port of 40 million yuan in remittances of overseas Chinese in Nanyang. After our navy imposed a blockade on the coast, the three ports of Kowloon, Guangzhou, and Xiamen were still important ports for Chiang Kai-shek's military supplies. The fall of Xiamen would be a blow to the mainland and hasten Chiang's defeat in the Battle of Xuzhou. Jiang Zhenglun has lost his financial source in Shanghai, and now he has lost Xiamen, blocking trade with overseas Chinese in Nanyang, which can be said to be the end of his fate. By occupying Xiamen, we are severing ties with overseas Chinese in Nanyang and choking the mainland.

Yoshiichi Miyata continued: "Xiamen is an important gateway to China's southeast coast, a natural port for the distribution of goods in southern China and the entry and exit of overseas Chinese, and a major port for maintaining exchanges between Taiwan and Chinese mainland. ”

The officers of the War Department nodded incessantly.

Kawa Kiichiro pondered for a moment and said: "The enemy has cut off the material import channel because the sea is blocked by our navy, and in addition to using the Guangdong-Yunnan railway, they are also trying to use Xiamen to import materials, and there are many signs that they are using third-country ships to secretly avoid the blockade line, which is very unfavorable to our frontline battlefield in occupying Greater East Asia, so the island can no longer be left alone." ”

Kawagu Shiro nodded, and then said: "After the occupation of Xiamen, the Chinese army will be forced to disperse its forces in order to consolidate the coastal defense, and it will not be able to drive to the northern front, and the soldiers of our empire will have no worries at that time." If our navy is disrupted along the coast of 'China,' its arms will also be blocked, and it will not be able to transport to and from Hong Kong. ”

"The general is clever." The generals exclaimed in unison.

Yoshiichi Miyata replied: "The Imperial Japanese Army has begun to recover Xiamen, and it is necessary to create a pretext for attacking Xiamen as an open basis for sending troops. ”

Shiro Kawakoshi narrowed his eyes and said: "On this issue, General Matsui has already thought of a reason for sending troops, and at that time, he can make the following statement to the press: This attack on Xiamen is due to the presence of the Cantonese army in this station, which is the center of anti-Japanese activities, and Chinese arms have also entered the interior from this place, but there are 30,000 Japanese and Taiwanese expatriates in this place, and the imperial army should be responsible for protection."

"The general is clever!" The Japanese generals nodded again and again like chickens pecking rice.

As he spoke, Shiro Kawakoshi quickly drew a circle on Xiamen Island on the map with a pencil, turned around, threw the pencil on the table, and shouted to the Japanese general, "I announce the implementation of the Emperor's order." ”

All the Japanese officers and soldiers stood up in unison.

Shiro Kawako said loudly: "I announce the implementation of the 'Dahai Ling No. 112' plan to capture Xiamen Island!" ”

In a huge house on the beach of Taiwan Island opposite Xiamen Island, Sawashigenobu, the South China Intelligence Minister of the Japanese Army, sat on the sofa, leisurely sipping rock tea from Wuyi Mountain, while hearing the female secretary reading the newspaper.

The female secretary was holding a May 10, 1938 newspaper full of Chinese traditional Chinese characters.

She read aloud with interest: "The southern branch will be taken sooner or later" for a long time...... The tomahawk swinging to the corner of South China is our need. Although the island is only a 40-mile island, it has a public concession of Gulangyu Island across the inner harbor. Kinmen Island, on the eastern side of the sea, is the key point of the coast of South China.

In addition, the island is the entry and exit port of overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and overseas Chinese ...... Instigated by anti-Japanese elements, they boycotted Japanese goods in Nanyang and at the same time financed the army on the mainland. Therefore, it is necessary to resolutely block this entrance and exit and stop the movement of overseas Chinese, which is the most urgent matter at present.

Third, South China and Taiwan are separated by a strip of water, and from the perspective of national defense, we cannot underestimate the movements of the other side, because Taiwan's proximity to the enemy's bases is always harmful and unhelpful.

In short, the occupation of Xiamen, the key port of Fujian Province, which is closest to Taiwan, and the elimination of all kinds of instigation centered on it is an inevitable measure of the empire, and it is also necessary from the point of view of national defense and operations.

Hearing this, a hint of smugness appeared on his face, he stood up and came to the window, looking in the direction of Xiamen Island......