cicada

Chapter 1296 Beginning and End
A few months ago, Imai-cho, Azabu-ku, Tokyo.

A two-story building is located deep in a low alley. There is only a small path from the road to the building. Through the windows on the second floor, you can clearly see everything happening around.

This is Sorge's residence in Japan. One day, he was sitting on the sofa in the living room and took out a cigarette. An ordinary-looking Japanese woman picked up a lighter and wanted to help him light it, but Sorge stopped her and put the lighter back into the drawer.

As a "Yamato Nadeshiko" known for her gentleness and obedience, the woman was not unhappy. Instead, she struck the match and handed it to Sorge, with a faint smile on her face.

Sorge lit up a cigarette and took two puffs, then softly discussed with the woman, "Longzi, you can leave earlier today. I need to meet some old friends. I will go to your residence in the evening, is that okay?"

Longzi nodded slightly, turned and went to the kitchen to prepare snacks and tea for the party. He didn't care about the content and members of the party at all, and behaved extremely low-key.

Not long after, a Japanese man and a white man came to Sorge's house. Takako knew their names, Miyagi and Clausen, both of whom were Sorge's friends in Japan.

One of them is a painter who is well-known in the upper class society, and the other is a Canadian businessman who is engaged in the business of copying blueprints. Their clients include major Japanese companies and institutions, and even government departments and military agencies.

Sorge and the other two exchanged a few pleasantries and went to the study on the second floor. After serving tea and snacks, Longzi also prepared to leave. However, before leaving, she suddenly stopped and looked curiously at the drawer where the lighter was placed.

A few minutes later.

Clausen stood at the study window and watched Takako walk onto the street. He turned around and waved his hand. Miyagi immediately took out a newspaper and handed it to Sorge. There was a passage written on the headline of the newspaper.

"TASS authorized statement: the rumors about Germany's intention to attack Red Russia are groundless..."

Sorge couldn't believe his eyes. Germany was about to attack Red Russia. This was the content of the telegram they sent to their superiors a few days ago. Why did it appear in the newspaper?

He finally calmed down and continued reading, but saw the following words on the newspaper: "According to reliable intelligence, Germany and Red Russia will always abide by the non-aggression treaty. The rumor that Germany intends to break the treaty and attack Red Russia is groundless."

The newspaper slipped from Sorge's hands. He couldn't understand how the top-secret intelligence that he and his comrades had collected at the risk of their lives could become a "rumor". Could it be that Moscow was doubting their loyalty?

This thought pierced Sorge's heart like a sharp thorn, but he immediately abandoned this absurd idea.

If his superiors suspected them, they would not have kept him in Tokyo at such a critical moment. This might be some kind of strategy or test by Mosk. This was all he could tell himself.

Sorge regained his composure and then thought of a more serious problem. The Japanese must have also seen the newspaper, and his intelligence team was in danger.

Only some high-ranking officials in Japan knew about Germany's plan to launch a surprise attack on Red Russia. The Japanese counterintelligence agency could easily identify the suspects and find them one by one.

Realizing that they were in a dangerous situation, Sorge wanted to order a lie in wait, but Moscow needed intelligence from Tokyo, and they had to perform their duties unwaveringly.

He looked at his deputy Miyagi, then at the radio operator Clausen, explained the current serious situation, and asked for their opinions.

Miyagi and Clausen smiled at each other, and the latter replied calmly: "Dear Davarish, we came to Japan to fight against the reactionaries, just like you and I did in Shanghai. The danger is certain, but I have made all preparations."

"Yes, separating lives is not a treat. Please believe in the determination of me and other Japanese comrades." Miyagi also expressed his attitude without any sign of retreat.

Sorge put aside his worries and extended his hands to the two men: "I am honored to fight with you. When the day of victory comes, I will treat you two with the best wine, for sure!"

"must!"

The three of them held hands tightly. No matter what Sorge did in his private life, he was a brave fighter and a loyal underground party member.

In May 1941, Sorge's group sent the last intelligence before the war to Moscow, clearly stating that the German attack would be launched on all fronts at dawn on a certain day in late June 5.

Unfortunately, the telegram did not have the desired effect. Mosk still had doubts about the intelligence, and the defection of one person accelerated the destruction of Sorge's group.

In the same month that the war between Germany and Russia broke out, Shelikov, the head of the Far East region of the Red Russian NK┴VD, swam across the Tumen River to surrender to the Japanese army.

Upon learning of Shelikov's identity, the Kwantung Army intelligence department was ecstatic and immediately sent a plane to transfer him to Tokyo for interrogation by the General Staff.

During the interrogation, Shelikov revealed the Red Russia's military deployment in the Far East and a large amount of internal intelligence. Important intelligence including espionage communication codes were handed over to the Japanese as bargaining chips, including two top secrets.

First, the Northwest Underground Party has a mole in the Shancheng intelligence system. This mole has been active since the early 1930s and has a high status. Other details are not known for the time being. The Japanese are not very interested in this intelligence. They don't need to remind Shancheng that the more the underground party fights with the Guo party, the more beneficial it is to Japan.

But the second piece of information revealed by Shelikov made the interrogator of the General Staff stand up. He said that he had heard a story from his classmates at the Moscow headquarters, that the Red Russian military had planted a number of spies in high-level Japanese positions, and most of the strategic intelligence on Japan obtained by the Red Russia came from this group.

The Intelligence Department of the General Staff, which had been troubled by the mysterious radio station, suddenly felt like they had found a treasure and could not wait to inquire about the situation of these spies.

Shelikov only provided the code name of the other leader - "Ramza", and then shut up.

This action is normal. If all the information is revealed, Shelikov will be of no use. And a useless captured spy will have only one fate, and that is death.

Shelikov then made a series of requests to the Japanese, and the General Staff did all of them without hesitation. He then revealed that one of the spies in Ramza's group was disguised as a painter.

The newly appointed Intelligence Minister Kiyofuku Okamoto suddenly had an idea and thought of the list of suspects abandoned by the previous minister, on which there was a painter, Miyagi.

Opening the file, Okamoto found the record about Miyagi: a painter who often communicated with officers of the General Staff.
The rest was easy. The Intelligence Department launched a large-scale surveillance on Miyagi. The results of the surveillance made Miyamoto and the top brass of the General Staff shudder. Miyagi had contacts with Ozaki, Sorge, and Hayashi Fuichiro.

Who is Ozaki? He is Prime Minister Konoe's advisor (advisor) and secretary. He has access to a large amount of top-secret information and has good relations with many high-level officials.

Lin Fuyilang is even more complicated. His father is an imperial earl and former chairman of the South Manchuria Railway. His wife is the granddaughter of an imperial general. He himself is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Finance, and his position is extremely sensitive.

After repeated consideration, Kiyohisa Okamoto decided to make the main breakthrough on Sorge, as his status was the lowest and even if there were mistakes in the investigation, it would not cause too much trouble.

With a clear goal, it didn't take the spies long to figure out Sorge's pattern of action, even down to the minute.

Early every morning, Sorge would go to the German Embassy in Japan, spend the whole day there, go to the "Empire" Hotel in the evening, and then go to the "Golden Rhine". Occasionally, he would go to bars, dance halls, and nightclubs for a few drinks.

The other party stayed in the Empire Hotel the longest, and always sat in an armchair against the wall, sometimes chatting with others, sometimes closing his eyes to rest.

Okamoto ordered people to install a bug behind the wall next to the seat, but all the content he heard was worthless. Later, the Japanese checked Sorge's house and did not find any suspicious points.

Not to mention the radio, even the written materials are pitifully scarce, and the pictures taken with the camera are all ordinary scenery, which has nothing to do with intelligence.

The Japanese, unwilling to give up, set up a long-term surveillance point to record who had visited Sorge's house, how long they stayed, and what they did, in an attempt to find more Red Russian spies, but in the end they only found a young woman who came to clean the room on a regular basis and left after finishing her work.

In fact, from the day TASS published the article, Sorge stopped meeting at home. Only Ryuko showed up as usual and took care of his food and daily life.

Kiyohsu Okamoto finally realized that ordinary investigative methods were no match for Sorge, so he decided to directly contact the relevant personnel, even if it would alert the enemy.

All preparations are ready, and multiple action teams are ready to go in front of the Intelligence Department building of the General Staff.

Tetsuji Sudo looked at Kiyofuka Okamoto on the steps, his face flushed with excitement. He had paid too much to grow from the son of a Hokkaido farmer to an intelligence agent.

After Okamoto announced the action plan, Sudo shouted "Hayi" with all his strength. Okamoto Kiyohsu heard the voice, glanced over here, and left with other senior intelligence officials without saying anything.

This sight made Sudo Tetsuji even more excited. He was the first to rush into the car and shouted, "Let's go." This son of a Hokkaido farmer was so eager to make progress.

More than a dozen cars rushed out of the General Staff Headquarters and headed for different destinations. Some of the destinations included real targets and fake targets to confuse the audience.

The vehicle was speeding on the flat road. The spy chief in the front row took out a few envelopes and handed them to the operatives in the back row, and introduced the specific situation of the target.

"Takako Ishii, a native of Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, moved to Tokyo at the age of 22. She has been working as a waitress at the Golden Rhine Restaurant in Ginza since then and met the No. suspect, Sorge. The envelope contains a recent photo of her."

The spy chief said this, glancing at Sudo Tetsuji, sneering in his heart, and called the other's name the next second.

"Sudo, when we get to the target residence, you will knock on the door and then cooperate with us in the search. I need you to follow the target closely. Can you do that?"

Sudo Tetsuji nodded vigorously, looking ready to go, as if he didn't realize the difference between the two tasks of protection and search, but fate played a little joke on him and everyone else.