Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 861 Catching Spies on the Island, All in One Fleet

The meeting ended, and the officers left.

Now only Fang Wen and Lieutenant Colonel Terry remain in the meeting room.

Terry closed the door, drew the curtains, turned around and said:

"Fang, what are we going to do about the Japanese spies you just mentioned hiding on the island?"

Fang Wen replied:

"The spies on the island could be among the permanent residents and military personnel on Penang Island; they could also be among the three thousand evacuated soldiers and refugees."

"No matter what type it is, as long as there are spies, the island's air defense deployment, airport situation, and the location of supply warehouses will be leaked to the Japanese army. Then whatever we do next could be targeted by the Japanese army."

Terry broke out in a cold sweat. He deeply understood what Fang Wen had just said: war is not only about direct confrontation, but also about the role of military intelligence.

He didn't want to be targeted by the Japanese army's precision bombing.

Therefore, Terry quickly said, "We must find the spy. You must have a way."

Fang Wen nodded and explained the plan: "Japanese spies are always in hiding and act cautiously. The chances of finding them through routine checks and identity verification are extremely low. The only way to catch them in the act is to use high-value military intelligence as bait."

"Military intelligence bait?" Lieutenant Colonel Terry couldn't figure out how to lure the spy.

"In my experience, there are two major secrets on the island that spies are most interested in: anti-aircraft artillery positions and fortress coastal defense heavy artillery. If we pretend to make a large-scale adjustment of artillery positions and transfer fortress war supplies, the spies will definitely try to find out and then send an urgent report. As long as they start transmitting shortwave radios, my radio detection equipment can lock onto their coordinates and capture them."

Terry seemed to have been enlightened, nodding repeatedly with admiration in his eyes: "Using defense relocation as bait, that's brilliant! I'll cooperate with you perfectly."

The two finalized their plans and then began their operation.

That afternoon, defense readjustments began across Penang.

British artillery units deployed military trucks to tow more than ten 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns, leaving their original fixed positions on the hillside, crossing the city, and moving to positions on the west coast.

Meanwhile, a similar situation occurred at the Batu Maung coastal defense fortress on the west side of the island, with transport vehicles going back and forth to the fortress, seemingly transporting a large amount of supplies to the fortress.

The fortress was deliberately reinforced with sentries to create a specific atmosphere.

Rumors about changes in defense arrangements began to circulate on the island, but because the relocation was kept secret, no one knew the specific arrangements after the relocation.

Meanwhile, three Taishan special forces members, carrying radio spectrum monitoring devices and walkie-talkies, boarded a military vehicle arranged by the British army to conduct mobile monitoring on the island.

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

At a crossroads outside the fortress, a British soldier of Indian descent, Ailey, with the rank of private in the British infantry, leisurely passed by the outer perimeter of the Batu Maung coastal fortress.

He deliberately slowed his pace, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the newly built anti-aircraft gun emplacements and stacked anti-aircraft shell crates inside the fortress, silently memorizing the coordinates of all the gun positions and the troop deployment.

He then went to the guard post and met fellow Indians from the same region.

The two talked enthusiastically about their hometown.

The conversation then turned to adjustments to the fortress's defenses.

"I heard that the command has allocated anti-aircraft firepower, and four new 3.7-inch anti-aircraft guns have been added to the fortress, specifically to deal with Japanese bombers."

"Is that so? With these anti-aircraft guns, Japanese warplanes no longer dare to bomb the fortress at low altitude."

After Ellie finished speaking, she took her leave and went straight back to the military camp in the middle of the island.

This seemingly ordinary British private was actually a spy who had been infiltrating the island for a year and belonged to the Japanese Malay intelligence agency.

Back in the barracks, he remained silent, rested and recuperated as usual, and showed no unusual behavior.

Until late at night, the lights in the island military camp were turned off, the streets and alleys were under curfew, and all was quiet.

Eli changed into dark clothes and, under the cover of night, bypassed the British patrol posts and left the camp.

He arrived at a Malay village near the military camp and went straight to a detached house on the east side of the village.

The rhythmic knocking indicated his identity.

The door opened, and the homeowner said in a low voice, "Come in."

After Ellie entered the house, she explained the situation.

"Four new anti-aircraft guns have been added to Batu Maung Fortress, all anti-aircraft gun positions on the island have been relocated, and the island's air defense system has been reconstructed. These military intelligence reports need to be submitted immediately."

"Please wait a moment."

The homeowner went upstairs and came down a while later carrying a Japanese portable shortwave telegraph machine.

He installed the batteries, tuned the radio, then connected the transmitter key and pressed the telegraph key to send encrypted military intelligence via shortwave.

Encrypted shortwave radio waves pierced through the night sky and were transmitted.

at the same time.

Inside three military vehicles parked by the roadside on the island.

Three radio monitoring devices simultaneously emitted sharp alarm sounds.

Three special forces monitors from Taishan immediately performed calculations based on the monitoring signals.

After completing the calculations, they picked up the walkie-talkie and reported to Fang Wen.

"Suspicious radio waves have been detected, and the signal source is near the military camp on the island."

Inside the command post.

Fang Wen put down the walkie-talkie and said to Lieutenant Colonel Terry, "Found it, it's nearby."

"What? A spy is here?" Terry exclaimed in surprise.

Fang Wen explained, "It was a spy sending a telegram, which was discovered by my men. Lieutenant Colonel, let's go and prepare to make the arrest."

"Okay." Lieutenant Colonel Terry and Fang Wen went out and called the troops from the command post to set off.

To avoid alerting the enemy, everyone went on foot.

The group arrived outside the military camp and met up with three Taishan special forces members who had rushed over.

Fang Wen asked, "Has the exact location been determined?"

One of the special forces soldiers replied, "It's confirmed. It's in a village 700 meters west of the military camp. As for which house it's in, we need to get closer to confirm."

Fang Wen nodded: "The message won't take long to send; I'll be there soon."

Immediately, everyone ran.

Two minutes later, the arrest team rushed to the edge of the village. Three special forces soldiers carrying radio monitoring equipment looked at the equipment and pointed together at the house in the east of the village.

"It's right there."

With the target identified, Lieutenant Colonel Terry raised his hand to signal his men to move out.

British soldiers spread out in a fan shape, surrounding the house.

Then, a team of elite infantrymen rushed to the main gate and rammed the wooden door together.

The moment the wooden door burst open, the soldier rushed into the room with his gun.

Then a gunshot suddenly rang out inside the house, followed by a series of gunshots.

The first sound refers to a pistol, and the second to a British rifle.

Fang Wen's expression froze for a moment, then he said to Lieutenant Colonel Terry, "Surround the village; we can't let the news leak out."

Lieutenant Colonel Terry understood the urgency of the situation and ordered the remaining troops to leave the village to control the roads at both ends, while also sending men to the military camp to mobilize troops to surround the village.

After these arrangements were made, the soldier who came out of the house reported.

"Reporting to the colonel, the target has been captured! One person resisted with fire and has been shot dead on the spot; the other spy has been subdued, and no one escaped." Fang Wen and Terry then went inside.

An oil lamp was lit inside, casting a dim, yellowish light.

A man collapsed to the ground, his body covered in blood, already dead.

Another man was pinned to the ground by two British soldiers, next to a broken Japanese shortwave telegraph machine.

Fang Wen glanced at the captured spy, then turned to Terry and said, "We must conduct a surprise interrogation and get a confession from the other accomplices before they notice anything. That way, we can follow the clues and wipe out the entire Japanese spy ring on the island."

Terry nodded emphatically and waved for the burly British officer beside him to come forward and interrogate him.

The burly sergeant stepped forward and signaled two soldiers to hold the prisoner's shoulders down, then clenched their fists and punched the prisoner hard in the waist and ribs.

After a series of heavy punches, blood trickled from the prisoner's mouth, but he gritted his teeth and kept his eyes closed, showing no intention of hiring him.

Fang Wen frowned and spoke up to stop him.

"Stop."

The burly sergeant stopped.

Fang Wen said to Lieutenant Colonel Terry, "Your interrogation methods are ineffective. Let my men handle the interrogation."

Terry readily agreed and immediately waved his hand to dismiss the British officer.

Fang Wen turned to Gong Xiuneng, the bodyguard protecting him, and said, "Go and use your methods to make him confess as soon as possible."

Gong Xiuneng stepped forward with a clear mind, displaying his fighting spirit and deliberately showing off his skills in front of a group of British officers and soldiers.

He gripped the captured spy's limbs, and with a sudden burst of force using his standard bone-dislocating technique, the sound of bones and tendons shifting rang out.

The captured spy immediately lost his limbs and collapsed to the ground, curled up like a shrimp.

The pain from the bone displacement caused his neck veins to bulge and his whole body to spasm violently.

Excruciating pain swept through his entire body, yet he was unable to scream or struggle.

That kind of pain can only be expressed through distorted facial expressions.

Silent torture!

The British officers and soldiers present were stunned and wide-eyed with amazement.

Two minutes later, Gong Xiuneng reset his dislocated jaw, released the acupoint for silencing him, and pressed him in broken English: "Say it or not."

The prisoner was covered in cold sweat, his clothes soaked through, and he was breathing heavily in pain.

"If you're not going to talk, then continue," Gong Xiuneng said coldly.

The prisoner replied, "My name is Ellie, and I'm a soldier stationed on the island."

Gong Xiuneng snorted coldly, dislocated his jawbone again, resealed his speech acupoint, and explored his limbs with his fingertips before using the tendon-separating technique.

Under his manipulation, the subcutaneous tendons twisted and knotted, and the skin surface bulged with lumps of muscle. The pain of this torture was several times greater than that of bone misalignment.

The captured spy trembled with pain, pounding his forehead against the ground in agony, but he couldn't make a sound despite the extreme suffering.

The British officers turned pale, staring in horror at this set of Eastern torture methods, utterly shocked.

Gong Xiuneng remained calm and composed, allowing two minutes to completely break down the spy's psychological and physiological defenses before finally releasing him from the restraints.

The moment the shackles were removed, the prisoner completely broke down psychologically, and took the initiative to speak, revealing all the information about the spy gang without reservation.

“I’ll tell you… I’ll tell you everything… There are a total of five spies lurking on the island…”

The prisoner was panting heavily, his face ashen white. Fearing they might gag him, they spoke rapidly:

"I and the radio operator who was killed inside the house were responsible for reconnaissance of British artillery positions, coastal fortresses, and airport defenses; there were two people at the port, disguised as dockworkers, keeping an eye on ammunition depots, fuel reserves, and ship berthing intelligence; and the other was our contact, who usually used selling Nyonya rice dumplings as a cover."

Listening to his explanation, Lieutenant Colonel Terry felt a chill run down his spine. It turned out that Japanese spies had already infiltrated the island and had thoroughly investigated the situation there.

In this light, the British army's previous defeats, the precise bombing of its bases, and the interception of its retreat route by air raids can all be traced back to some clue.

He looked at Fang Wen, who had easily identified the spy, further increasing the chances of victory for the island's defenses.

Now, Lieutenant Colonel Terry is completely convinced of Fang Wen's abilities.

Ignoring Terry's stare, Fang Wen coldly pressed the prisoner, "Where are they?"

Ellie dared not hide anything and told them in detail the location of the village where the remaining three spies were hiding and the location of the laborers' dormitory.

Terry immediately left the house to arrange the next steps.

In the dead of night on Penang Island, the soldiers moved stealthily.

At 2 a.m., good news kept coming back to the command center: two labor spies at the port were arrested in their dormitory, and another undercover spy was arrested at his home in a village.

The three captured spies were escorted back to the command post overnight to await trial, and this time it was Gong Xiuneng who took action.

At first, the two labor spies were hopeful and kept silent, but when Gong Xiu used the Bone Dislocation Technique on them, they immediately broke down.

They rushed to confess.

As Ellie testified, these two were merely external spies developed later, responsible only for basic intelligence gathering, and knew nothing else about the spy group.

The third captured spy had a completely different identity; he was Ellie's direct superior and was in charge of intelligence across the entire island.

Faced with questioning from the British army, the man gritted his teeth and remained silent until Gong Xiuneng intervened, at which point he could no longer endure the inhuman pain.

After his breakdown, he confessed.

"I'm just a liaison... Above me is the head of intelligence for the entire north, and he's on the island too!"

These words caused Terry's expression to change drastically, and Fang Wen was also somewhat surprised, not expecting there to be such a big fish.

The spy, panting heavily, continued, "I have never seen the face of this chief commander; we communicated entirely by radio. The night before last, I received a secret telegram ordering me to meet him at the Third Garrison Battalion camp on the north side of the island tomorrow morning, under the guise of selling goods."

"How did you know that the person you were in contact with was the head of intelligence in northern Malaya? Was it mentioned in the telegram?" Fang Wen asked.

The spy shook his head laboriously: "No, the telegram said 'Mr. Wolf' is coming. I once went to the northern intelligence station from the island, and I know that Mr. Wolf is the code name of the intelligence station chief."

It turned out to be the case.

Fang Wen thought to himself that the fighting in northern Malaya was probably only left on Penang Island, and that Mr. Wolf wanted to infiltrate Penang Island to make another contribution.

He looked at Lieutenant Colonel Terry: "With this big fish caught, the Japanese intelligence network on the island should be completely uprooted."

No one could have predicted that the deepest and highest-ranking spy chief of the Japanese army was actually hiding in the Third Battalion, a reorganized ragtag unit of defeated soldiers.

Terry said to the spy in a deep voice, "Cooperate with our act to lure the other side out. If it succeeds, your punishment will be reduced. Otherwise, you know the consequences."

The spy glanced at Gong Xiuneng, fearing further punishment, and quickly agreed.

Gong Xiu walked over and removed the restrictions on him.

The spy immediately felt relieved and quickly promised, "I will definitely cooperate!"

The following morning, the island was shrouded in mist.

The captured spy changed into a merchant's clothes and pushed his double-decker food cart, which was neatly arranged with Malaysian Nyonya dumplings, herbal tea and snacks. He then wandered around the island selling his wares, pretending to be a merchant.

He was surrounded by dozens of British soldiers and special forces members dressed as locals.

We will apprehend the target once they are in sight. (End of Chapter)