Chapter 21: A Gamble with History

  "What?" The two were surprised, when did this kid also become willing to gamble?

  "I predict that a Japanese spy named Nakamura Shintaro will be executed by the Third Regiment of the Xing'an League Public Office, led by Guan Yuheng, at the end of June this year!" Zhao Xiaofeng said with a smile.

  "What's that!" Zhi Yong said disdainfully: "Who dares to kill the Japanese?" Meaning you'd better stop talking nonsense!

  Zhao Xiaofeng naturally understood his meaning and smiled: "If I lose this game, each of you will get 100 big oceans! And if you lose...!"

  "What's wrong?" they asked in unison, stepping forward together.

  "You must obey my orders completely!" Zhao Xiao Feng said immediately.

  "Cough! That's easy!" Qi Yong took a deep breath and said: "I thought you wanted us to lose another hundred dollars to you! We two poor devils have never even had ten dollars in our pockets before!"

  "No problem! We were originally your subordinates anyway!" Jin Zhanguo said excitedly.

  "It's not that you're listening to orders, but you've lost and must completely obey my commands! Of course, I won't ask you to kill or set fires, or commit crimes!" Zhao Xiao Feng stared at them.

  "No problem!" Zhi Yong said: "If the battalion commander wins, even if he asks me to kill people and set fires, I'll do it!" In their hearts, Zhao Xiao Feng was not going to win!

  Qizhong whispered to Jin Wenguo, "We've won for sure! The young marshal has already issued an order, strictly forbidding anyone from offending the Japanese. Does Guan Yuheng dare to disobey the young marshal's orders?"

  "Right!" Jin Zhanguo also nodded and said: "The battalion commander is really convincing, just like the truth!"

  Zhao Xiaofeng heard Pu Ye's report and said: "Zhong Batian has already equipped all the captured weapons at the front slope base, Zhao Xiaofeng immediately felt at ease. That place can't be lost, not only is there a convenient noodle factory, but also a large farmland. The development of his own troops now depends on these things!"

  What Zhao Xiaofeng wants to know most now is whether history will repeat itself and whether the Japanese will really attack Shenyang on September 18th.

  I can now lead the troops under the pretext of training and take them to the surrounding areas of Fengtian, but I'm not sure how long I can hold out in Fengtian myself. My only thought is to take advantage of the war chaos to control all the arsenals and munitions factories, so that I can prepare materials for my own future resistance. Besides, these things would be better destroyed than left to the Japanese!

  On June 5th, Nakamura Shintaro arrived in Qiqihar from Taonan under the name of "Member of Tokyo Agricultural Society of Japanese Empire" for so-called soil survey.

  Nakamura Tōi, Sugiyama Tarō, a White Russian interpreter and a guide, four people on horseback set out from Qiqihar to Wangye Temple, where they were supposed to meet another agent named Katakurajin.

  On the morning of June 25, a sentry from the Third Battalion of the First Regiment of the Xing'an Tun Garrison discovered four people riding horses stealthily from north to south. The company commander Ning Wenlong immediately led a squad of soldiers to rush up.

  The muzzles of several black holes were pressed against Nakamura and his group.

  Nakamura never dreamed he would run into trouble in the depths of Charsen's mountains.

  He immediately smiled and said to Lian Changning Wen Long: "Brothers, we are from the Japanese Agricultural Society, coming to your country's Northeast for soil survey research." As he spoke, he casually pulled out a package of heroin from his leather bag and handed it over, then handed over his passport.

  Ning Wenlong carefully looked at the photos and then raised his head to look at these people in front of him. From Nakamura's careless expression, he faintly felt a murderous aura, and he thought that these people didn't seem like scientists, but rather well-trained Japanese soldiers.

  "No way! We must figure out the true identities of these people!" Ning Wenlong decided to take them back to the team headquarters and detain them.

  Ning Wenlong raised his pistol slightly and said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, everyone. You don't have the documents to enter Xing'an Village, and we haven't received orders from our superiors. You'll need to come with us first."

  "Damn it! Big idiot!" Nakamura's face changed suddenly, and he cursed roughly, "We are citizens of Great Japan, let us pass quickly!" After that, he habitually stretched his hand to his waist.

  "How dare you scold someone in front of me!" Ning Wenhao was furious, gritting his teeth. From Nakamura's actions, he already knew that his judgment had been correct. With a glare, he gave the order, "Take them away! Tie them all up!"

  The surrounding soldiers heard the order and rushed up together, tying up Nakamura and 3 others tightly with all their might, and escorted them to the regimental headquarters.

  It is said that several Japanese people were caught, and they were armed and exercising the third battalion outside. The commander of the third battalion, Guan Yuheng, was shocked. He thought, what are the Japanese doing with guns here? But the situation was urgent, and he had no time to think about it, so Guan Yuheng hastily rode his horse back to the battalion headquarters.

  As soon as he entered, Guan Yuheng saw that the table was filled with captured items, including a military telescope, a Type 38 rifle, a South-style automatic pistol, military maps, and three small booklets.

  Guan Yuheng examined each item one by one, then picked up the southern-style handgun and loaded a bullet with a "click". He muttered to himself: "Good gun." However, he didn't say whether or not he would let them go.

  After Nakamura and the other three were taken away, Guan Yuheng re-examined the seized items. He laid out the Japanese 1:100,000 military map and the Chinese 1:100,000 military map side by side, and found that certain locations on both maps had pencil marks, indicating that they had already conducted field reconnaissance of these areas.

  In the three volumes of registers, two of them recorded the natural conditions and population, products, military and civilian distribution of certain places. What is surprising is that the third volume of register clearly and accurately records the troop deployment of Xing'an District's Tuntian Army, types and calibers of guns and cannons, number of officers and soldiers, names, duties, garrison locations, capacity and solidity of barracks, etc.

  Looking at these pieces of evidence, Guan Yuheng fell into deep thought. Things came too suddenly, he had no mental preparation at all.

  "Head of the group!" The deputy head, Dong Pingyu, who was following behind, said: "These things are conclusive evidence and fully explain that they are Japanese military spies."

  "Right!" Guan Yuheng said decisively: "First interrogate, then deal with it!" As for how to deal with this group of military spies, he couldn't make up his mind for the time being.

  On the morning of June 26, the Third Regiment's headquarters was heavily guarded with sentries standing inside and out. In the office, Guan Yuheng had a serious expression, not saying a word, his piercing eyes staring at Nakamura who stood in front of him.

  Nakamura Shintarō, of medium build, with a rugged face, wore a Russian-style leather jacket, a train conductor's hat on his head, and short leather boots on his feet. He stood up straight, eyes fixed ahead, exuding the air of a strictly trained soldier from every pore.

  The interrogation reached an impasse from the very beginning.

  "What's your name?"

  No answer.

  "Nationality?"

  Still won't answer.

  Sly Nakamura shook his head and refused to answer questions, citing the reason that he would not speak Chinese, attempting to cover up his crime of engaging in military espionage activities.

  "I don't believe we can't pry open your little Japanese mouth!" Guan Yuheng said to himself. He immediately ordered the use of Japanese for interrogation.

  "What task have you come to our Northeast for? What is your purpose?"

  Nakamura did not expect the other party to use this move, so he had to respond to the interrogation with a pre-compiled confession: "Investigating soil, examining agriculture, studying agricultural development directions..."

  "Nonsense!" Guan Yuheng's attitude changed, interrupting Nakamura's answer, and said sharply, "Why carry weapons and military maps, and collect military intelligence?"

  Nakamura knew well that a small team leader of the Chinese army had no great power in his hands and did not dare to do anything to him. Therefore, he was arrogant, loudly defending himself, and refused to answer substantive questions. The interrogation had to be suspended temporarily.

  But the interrogation of Ikesue Entarō went smoothly. Under the stern gaze of the military officers, a look of panic flashed across Ikesue's face, and he was left speechless, bowing his head in silence.

  "He stammered out a statement: 'We are military personnel. Nakamura Shintaro is an army captain; I am a sergeant, Nakamura's assistant. Our mission this time was...'"

  The evidence is conclusive and the truth has been revealed. How to deal with Japanese military spies? Guan Yuheng paced back and forth in the team department, thinking.

  The Kwantung Army had stationed large numbers of troops in Fengtian, Lushunkou and Haicheng, and had long been eyeing the Northeast. At this time, they sent military spies to conduct reconnaissance, and their intentions were obvious. If they let them go, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains; if they didn't let them go, Japan enjoyed extraterritorial rights in China's Northeast, and once news leaked out, the Japanese would find a way to demand the return of Nakamura, with consequences that were equally unthinkable.

  It's a matter of great importance. As the team leader, Guan Yuheng had no choice but to seek opinions from his subordinate officers at this critical moment. He called over the communications officer and issued an order to "hold a meeting for platoon leaders and above in the evening".

  The dusk of Xing'an Ridge, the bloody sunset still radiated scorching heat. In the team office, Guan Yuheng scanned more than 20 company-level officers with a calm and composed gaze, and straightforwardly expressed his own opinions.

  Deputy Regimental Commander Dong Pingyuan said bluntly: "According to international law, foreign military spies can be sentenced to death. The only solution now is to secretly execute them."

  The battalion commander thought this was reasonable and expressed approval.

  The officers discussed and unanimously agreed that executing Nakamura was reasonable. The meeting decided unanimously: after obtaining Nakamura's confession, they would immediately secretly execute the four of them. Guan Yuheng immediately ordered a retrial for Nakamura.

  This time, Nakamura faced a room full of angry officers and didn't think he would die at all. He became even more arrogant, not only refusing to admit his guilt but also loudly scolding them. Suddenly, he rushed towards a soldier next to him, attempting to grab the gun and resist. Failing to do so, he began hand-to-hand combat with the soldier.

  "Give me a punch!" Guan Yuheng was so angry that he slapped his hand on the table and stood up.

  The officers and soldiers rushed forward, punching and kicking.

  Nakamura went crazy and resisted, fighting desperately with the officers. With a "swish", Guan Yuheng drew out his command knife, pressing the cold and shining blade against Nakamura.

  The officers also pulled out their pistols and loaded them with a "click-click" sound.

  Nakamura was stunned. In an instant, his spirit had been completely crushed, and he stood there like a mummy.

  Time flew by quickly. After Nakamura finished confessing his crimes of military espionage in one breath, he secretly glanced at the "San Dao Liang" watch on his wrist and knew it was already late at night. He became uneasy, and his eyes, filled with bloody tears, revealed a desperate expression.

  "Nakamura Shintarō's involvement in military espionage is clear, with solid evidence and his own confession to the crime. Order the criminal to sign the confession."

  Upon hearing this, Nakamura felt that he had reached the end of his life's journey and was filled with fear and hatred. Taking advantage of the opportunity to sign, he suddenly threw a punch at the military officer beside him. Due to the excessive force used, the watch on his wrist flew off immediately.

  Seeing him struggling desperately, the officers and soldiers rushed up, and with a few gun butts, they knocked him unconscious to the ground.

  Sanlian steward Li Debao stood at the door, caught a glimpse of Nakamura's watch flying to the door, took advantage of the chaos and no one noticed, quickly picked it up and slipped out of the house.

  "Attention!" With the crisp sound of heels clicking, Regimental Commander Guan Yuheng stood like a judge, solemnly declaring: "Regimental Order No. 3: Establish an execution squad led by Company Commanders Ning Wendong and Wang Bingyi to carry out the shooting of Japanese military spy Nakamura Shintaro and three others. Deputy Regimental Adjutant Zhao Heng will serve as the supervising officer."

  That night was deep and quiet.

  Ning Wenlong and Wang Bingyi led the firing squad to secretly take Zhongcun and 3 others to a mountain valley behind Charsen, where they were executed by shooting at 0:30 on June 27.

  "Bang bang bang..." The sound of gunfire had barely faded when Zhao Heng ordered his soldiers to douse the corpses and luggage with gasoline and set them ablaze.

  The raging flames illuminated the execution ground as if it were daytime, and soon everything was reduced to ashes.

  On June 27, Guan Yuheng led the guards to the Xing'an Tunken District Government in Taonan Prefecture. He reported to Acting Director Gao Renxu on the detailed situation of handling the military spy Zhongcun and presented important evidence.

  On the same day, the Xing'an Tun Garrison Headquarters reported the situation to General Zhang Xueliang, who was in Beiping at the time, by telegram. General Zhang immediately gave instructions and ordered Guan Yuhe to "thoroughly eliminate all traces and keep it strictly confidential".

  In accordance with General Zhang Xueliang's order, Guan Yuhe implemented strict confidentiality measures within the troops.

  But unfortunately, the leak happened soon after. He never thought that the reason for the leak was on Nakamura's "Triple-Layer" watch.

  Afterwards, the Japanese special agency learned of the detailed circumstances of Nakamura's execution from Li Debao through various means.

  Then, Consul General Lin Kojiro of the Japanese Consulate in Mukden and Mori, Chief of Staff of the Army, met with Zhang Shiyi, Governor of Fengtian Province, using the watch as evidence to declare that soldiers from the Northeastern Army's 3rd Regiment had killed Nakamura for financial gain. The Japanese Cabinet also held a special discussion on the "Nakamura Incident" and threatened the Chinese government.

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