The military orders were overwhelming, and after Zuo Zhong gave the order, the personnel of the Military Unification Division and the Second Division immediately launched an investigation around the movement trajectory of the officials in the official residence and the traces of the bonfire.
The entry and exit records are easy to find. The Attendant's Office attaches great importance to this aspect. Except for the bald couple, anyone entering or leaving Huangshan Official Residence must sign for confirmation.
The record includes the exact time of entry and exit, a list of items carried, the reason for going out and the contact person for easy identification after the accident.
After receiving the military commander's request for assistance, the staff in the attendant's office handed the record to Wu Chunyang, while emphasizing that every piece of information in it was absolutely true.
Wu Chunyang didn't comment on this. Whether it was true or not depends on the investigation results. If the official residence was bombed, everyone in the attendant's room would also be suspected.
He quickly returned to Yunxiu Tower with the entry and exit records, handed it to Zuo Zhong, who was observing the surrounding mountains and forests with a telescope, and suggested in a low voice.
"Deputy Chairman, we found it. Do you want to send someone to take over the security work? I'm worried that the spy is in the attendant's room and will affect our investigation operations."
"No need."
Zuo Zhong did not agree, joking, who are the people in the attendant's room? If he offends these close ministers of the Son of Heaven (Separation), the life of the military commander will be difficult in the future.
However, Wu Chunyang's worry was not unreasonable. Now everyone was suspected. Zuo Zhong looked at the records and gave him a trick.
"You can tell the person in charge of the attendant's room and ask them to conduct an internal self-examination first. No matter whether problems are found or not, the other party will accept your favor.
Chunyang, as a leader, you must not only do your job well, but also handle your relationships well with your colleagues. You must consider a win-win perspective in your conduct and work. "
Wu Chunyang nodded and said yes, this is the best way to deal with it. It will not offend anyone, eliminate risks, and at the same time make friends with the powerful people in the attendant's room.
Seeing that his old subordinate had figured it out, Zuo Zhong turned all his attention to the entry and exit records. Since the bald couple had not moved to the mountain city for a long time, there were not many records.
But as mentioned in the attendant room, the content is very comprehensive. For example, the clerk and handyman of the official residence have all visited relatives once during this period, while only a dozen of the guards have gone out.
No one left the official residence in the 24 hours before the incident. The person who guided the Japanese bombers seemed to come from outside, provided that there is no problem with the record itself.
Again, everything depends on the evidence, and you cannot rush to conclusions, lest you be led into a ditch by the enemy. Zuo Zhong read every word very patiently.
There was no sign of signing on behalf of others. Some handymen who could not write used their handprints instead. The work was done very carefully and in full compliance with security regulations.
As for the reason for going out and the list of items, there is no problem by just looking at it. He is not a fortune teller (separation). This requires further investigation and verification.
After pondering for a while, Zuo Zhong handed the record back to Wu Chunyang and slowly said: "Chunyang, check whether the entry and exit times have been forged. The old rule is that relevant witness and circumstantial evidence are indispensable.
Lao Gu said that someone lit a fire on the mountain to provide ground guidance for the Japanese planes. We must find out whether this person is inside the official residence, so we did not focus the investigation on the outside.
In addition, if the person who leaked the location of the official residence is here, he is unlikely to call his accomplices and will definitely find a way to get out. The investigation of relatives you mentioned before is a good idea.
There are reasons for going out in the record. I need to combine the two together to see if there are any mismatches. I want to know where they went after they went out, who they met, and what they said. .
I can only give you three days. This task is difficult and requires a lot of manpower. If necessary, you can ask the Second Division to support you. "
He looked at his watch and assigned a time-limited task to the first department. Everyone in the government was paying attention to the bald man who was attacked, and they had to solve it in the shortest possible time.
Wu Chunyang didn't complain. None of the things they had done in the past were urgent, so he thought carefully for a few seconds before giving an answer and asking a question.
"Yes, Deputy, I will make arrangements right away. It's just that the person who leaked the secret and the one who guided the ground are the same person. If so, I suggest you check the spy who is the ground guide first.
There are so many people in the official residence. If someone comes in and out at a time not recorded, there will definitely be witnesses. This is easier than finding a needle in a haystack to find the suspect's relatives. "
There are no shortcuts in the detection process, but there are ideas for detection. Finding the right direction can get twice the result with half the effort, otherwise it will waste too much time.
Facing his proposal, Zuo Zhong~ nodded and shook his head: "It is possible, but it is only possible. Let's walk on two legs. We cannot afford any mistakes.
Don't forget that the military unification has just been established, and your promotion to a higher level has blocked the way of others. I don't know how many people are waiting to see your jokes. Play it safe first. "
"Understood."
Wu Chunyang saluted and left, feeling a little stressed. In the past, the deputy director was the one to consider everything other than the incident, but now it was him.
Only now did he understand how difficult it was for the other party. It was really difficult to be a good performer in the intelligence agency without affecting the work.
Zuo Zhong looked at the worried Wu Chunyang and smiled. Human life is a process of continuous growth. If you want to move forward, there will be a day like this.
After thinking about it, he raised his binoculars again and looked at the distant mountains and forests. Teams of agents from the Second Division were searching for bonfires inside. This was not an easy task either.
The mountain city is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River, Jialing River, and Yangtze River. The air is extremely humid, and the relative humidity is above 80% throughout the year.
In addition, being located in the eastern part of the Sichuan Basin, due to the terrain, the surface wind force is relatively small, which makes the mountain city more likely to form fog than other areas at the same latitude.
This is also the reason why the government has set this place as the rear area. Without enough anti-aircraft firepower and fighter jets, it can only rely on the power of nature to stop the Japanese.
But this brings great difficulty to the search work. At this time, the sun is rising, the surface of the mountain is covered with fog, and the visibility is very low. If you are not careful, you will fall into the mountain stream.
Even if you can see the road clearly, trekking in the airless, wet and cold mountain forests in early winter is not a pleasant thing and requires a lot of physical energy.
"Come here, let the kitchen of the official residence cook some ginger tea and send it to the foot of the mountain. Watch it and let the chef drink it first to prevent someone from poisoning it."
Worried that his men would catch cold in such an environment, Zuo Zhong asked a small agent to prepare. For a war, logistics work was the only thing to do. It was impossible for the operatives to fall first without breaking the gun.
Soon pots of steaming ginger tea were picked up at several search points. The agents went down the mountain in batches to drink some tea to warm themselves up, and their originally low morale began to recover.
As soon as morale was high, things went smoothly. At about ten o'clock in the morning, the first trace of a bonfire was discovered, located halfway up a hill one mile southeast of Huangshan's official residence.
After receiving the news, Zuo Zhong brought a few guards to the scene in person. God knows if there are any spies hiding in the woods, but it is better to be careful. Carelessness is a taboo in this business.
The journey to the hill was uneventful. Under the guidance of the secret agent who stayed at the foot of the mountain, everyone walked into the thick fog and climbed to the mountainside, and successfully met up with Gu Qi and others.
"Vice-seat Officer, you are here, this is the scene."
Gu Qi pointed to a piece of land with traces of fire burning. At this time, several technicians in white clothes were surrounding the scene to take photos and collect evidence.
However, looking at the burnt black and hardened soil, Zuo Zhong felt that there might not be any useful clues in the fire scene, but there was hope in the outer (divided) area.
No matter who set the fire, unless you can fly, the first thing you have to do is to climb up from the bottom of the mountain. There will be traces of footprints and movement along the way.
As long as you find these clues, you can use them to trace the other party's movement trajectory. There is no doubt that the power of the national (separation) machine when fully activated is huge.
Sure enough, Gu Qi brought another gypsum rubbing board of footprints and introduced: "After discovering the scene, I immediately asked people to search nearby, and found a string of adult footprints not far away.
Since our people were wearing cloth shoes and leather shoes, and the other party was wearing military boots, it was easy to distinguish between the two, and the footprints were very fresh, so it was basically certain that they were left by the enemy. "
Military boots?
Zuo Zhong looked at the unclear rubbings and was fascinated. Was the person who set the fire a soldier, or was the enemy trying to mislead them? Can he find clues through the footprints?
Footprint identification is an important branch of criminal technology in later generations. It is a type of trace in trace identification and plays an important role in criminal investigation.
Studying footprints can first help scouts figure out the structure of the feet and shoes and socks worn by the person who left the footprints, so as to facilitate later tracing.
Secondly, we can grasp the pace characteristics of those who left behind footprints. We must know that people have habits in walking, and these habits are formed and fixed repeatedly in life.
Due to differences in gender, age, height, weight, occupation, walking posture and other factors, the pace characteristics reflected by each person are also different.
For the analysis and identification of footprints, the person's height, age, weight, walking posture, etc. can be determined, and the time left behind and the direction of walking can also be analyzed.
When the footprints are well preserved, they can also be followed, or the footprints can be used as sniffing sources for police dogs to directly capture and identify criminal suspects.
However, this subject is still in its infancy at this stage. In the past few years, some people in the Shanghai Concession Patrol Room did some research, but it was not very sophisticated and could not be applied in practice.
Countless pieces of information flashed through Zuo Zhong's mind. He raised his hand and tapped on the tablet: "Send this to Ling Sanping and ask him to find some footprint samples of different ages, heights and weights.
Try to see if you can sum up some rules. The purpose is to know the basic information of the target from the footprints. This is not easy. I tell Dr. Ling not to worry and treat it as a long-term task. "
Gu Qi scratched his head after hearing this. Why did this sound so mysterious? How could a footprint reveal basic information about a person? However, he still happily agreed.
After all, the deputy director often had similar fantastic ideas, and the final result proved that these seemingly unreasonable ideas were effective, so he immediately sent someone to send the expansion board down the mountain.
Seeing the footprints being sent away, Zuo Zhong walked to the campfire mark and squatted down to observe for a long time. Unfortunately, he found nothing, so he had no choice but to give up. He stood up and stood on the edge of the cliff and looked forward.
In the distance, the Huangshan official residence was shrouded in clouds and mist, appearing and disappearing like a fairy palace. Then he raised his neck and looked at the thick gray clouds above his head, and slowly pursed his lips.
It looked like it was going to rain. With this heavy rain, the originally few evidences and clues would disappear. Thinking of this, he suddenly turned around and gave Gu Qi a deep order.
"Send a police dog to follow the spy's footprints. We are only a few hours away from the incident. We have sniffing conditions. Try to restore the enemy's trajectory. I want to know where the enemy came from.
Let everyone go up the mountain and make sure to find all traces of the campfire before noon today. You and I are no exception. We have to compete with God for time and inform us as soon as possible. "
Just at this time, a dull thunder sounded, and the originally not bright sky turned gray. Then a strong wind suddenly rose, and Zuo Zhong's windbreaker was blown loudly.
