cicada

Chapter 805
Chief of the agency?
Zuo Zhong was slightly taken aback when he heard Hase Ryosuke's words. The devil's agency originally refers to the departments in the army that are engaged in tasks other than combat, such as propaganda and education, not specifically intelligence work.

Later in the Russo-Japanese War, Akashi Motojiro, as the military attache of the Japanese embassy in Sweden, organized a group of people to go to Belarus to support the opposition. This organization was called the Akashi Organization in Japan.

Probably because of the smoother reason, many special intelligence organizations of the Devils later began to be called agencies, such as the Jinmen Aoki Agency, which is a temporary intelligence agency.

Most of the heads of these agencies are held by members of the planning department, and personnel are transferred from other departments according to the actual situation, and are not necessarily limited to personnel from the intelligence system.

For example, there may be diplomats or doctors in agencies engaged in instigating rebellion, and it is not uncommon to even have courtesans. After all, people like Xu Enzeng are not an exception.

Once the task is completed or fails, such an organization will be automatically disbanded, and the personnel will return to the original department to continue their posts. So what is the task of the agency Hase Ryosuke works for?
Zuo Zhong picked up the whiskey brought by the waiter and took a few sips. When the other party walked away, he asked this question softly.

"What is your scope of work?"

"Due to the failure of the intelligence work in Shanghai some time ago, the cooperating personnel were eliminated by you. The Ministry of the Army, the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducted consultations in an attempt to integrate the intelligence forces of the three parties."

Hase Ryosuke stared at the woman on the dance floor, with a smug look on his face, he covered his mouth with a wine glass and replied softly.

"Tokyo finally decided to establish the Hase Agency, and I will serve as the head of the agency to unify the leadership of the intelligence work on China. It will set up three courses of politics, economy, and culture, and set up special work teams by region.

The staff come from the military, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of the Interior. In addition to the work above, they are also responsible for part of the anti-espionage business, and have the right to conduct loyalty reviews of all institutions in China, including the gendarmerie.

But the military is worried about us, and the military intelligence is still in charge of itself. Kato-kun, in fact, I don’t want to take up this position, but my partners in the navy have recommended it many times, so I can only reluctantly do it. "

This guy, you said you were fat and panting.

After listening to Ryosuke Hase's explanation, Zuo Zhong probably understood the plan of the Japanese. The Japanese army and navy were going to spin off unimportant businesses and concentrate on military intelligence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs took the opportunity to obtain the power of supervision. This may be a game of high-level Japanese. After the February [-] incident, many people are very worried about the military with a traditional military.

It is something that everyone wants to see, including the Japanese military, that a member of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is staring at the Japanese army in Shanghai.

After thinking quietly for a while, he asked another question: "Have you heard about this person, Shilong Kusumoto? What is the purpose of this person coming to Shanghai?"

"I know, the other party is the person in charge of the North China Intelligence Agency, who was born in Lu University, and almost entered the saber team when he was in school, with the rank of Colonel.

This time I came to Shanghai to serve as the commander of the dispatched army headquarters and the general affairs squad of the special affairs department. He is not an easy opponent to deal with. You should pay attention.

I met this person at the Navy Special Marine Corps Headquarters two days ago, as well as a major officer from the Intelligence Department of the Navy Command, named Yamamoto. The two of them seemed to be planning something.

These brainless lunatics always want to destroy the world. If you have this time, you might as well enjoy your life. Well, I should go. "

Hase Ryosuke reported a new situation, looked at the woman who came over, turned around and picked up the coat on the back of the chair, and finally said something.

"The Changgu agency received a group of Chinese eyeliners who cooperated with other agencies, which is what you call traitors, and the number is about 100.

I will put the personnel file into the dead mailbox later, and it is best to clear it after a while, otherwise Tokyo will definitely doubt me.

Here is a discount for you this time, one person only charges 100 oceans, buy one get one free, the total price is 5000 oceans or the equivalent in French currency, US dollars, and British pounds. "

After finishing speaking, he walked out chicly with the woman in his arms, and kept saying hello to acquaintances on the way, without any intention of hiding his whereabouts.

If the celebrities on the Shanghai Wind (Harmony) moon field came out to play, they would be suspicious if they were secretive. Who would doubt a generous and heroic head of the agency?

Zuo Zhong continued to sit on his seat, thinking about what Hase just said in his mind, the name was mentioned in the confessions of Major Commander Yamamoto, Ji Yunqing and Chang Yuqing.

According to them, the trap aimed at him was planned and implemented by Yamamoto. The other party and Mitaka Kusumoto got together. Could it be that he didn't give up and wanted to attack himself?

Then let's see who has the better means. After lying dormant for so long, it's time for the Secret Service to show up. Zuo Zhong drank his wine glass and left the ballroom without looking back.

Not far from him, Kuang Fuan, the inspector of the Public Settlement, hugged his partner on the dance floor, and the two moved slowly to a dimly lit corner with skillful dance steps.

"The superior wants to know the situation of the Ji Mansion."

"It should have been done by the Secret Service. I asked the refugees who were on the scene and the servants of the Ji Mansion. The attackers took the two traitors away without alerting any bodyguards.

The whole process took less than 10 minutes. Except for the Secret Service, no agency in the national government can do this kind of action. What's the matter, is there someone in the Ji government? "

"Through special channels, the organization learned that a batch of files from the Intelligence Department of Shanghai Special City was missing. Some of the files in it were related to Shang Wei in Shanghai. According to the investigation, it was likely to be in Ji Yunqing's home."

Hearing what the dance partner said, Kuang Fu'an thought about it carefully for a while and shook his head: "Ji's mansion was completely burned, and no one saw the assailant take away anything, but I will find a chance to check again."

"Okay, Shi Weixin's intelligence chief Chuan Fu has arrived in Shanghai, and you will be responsible for the liaison between the Red Team and Shi Wei in the future. He is an old comrade who has been lurking inside the enemy for a long time.

This is your connection method and password. If you cannot contact me in an accident, you go to the old place to find me. You must be careful. The Japanese intelligence agencies are about to conduct a major investigation of the Shanghai area. "

The dance partner made an announcement softly, and slowly approached Kuang Fuan, and quickly put a pack of cigarettes into the opponent's pocket.

"I see."

Kuang Fu'an was secretly relieved to hear that his future contact was an old underground worker, as long as it wasn't those people who came back from Red Russia.

This is not xenophobia. Those people have no work experience at all, and they are easily exposed in an environment where the struggle situation is getting more and more severe.

After the two finished talking about work, facing his wife whom he hadn't seen for a long time, Kuang Fu'an's eyes were full of tenderness, and he hesitated to ask.

"Xiaobao has been disobedient recently. The tuition fees of the concession schools are getting more and more expensive. I will send you some money in a few days. Don't worry, I will report to the organization."

"No need, the child is very obedient. I heard that the Secret Service Headquarters is going to expand. I may be the chief of the general affairs section of Shanghai Railway Station. The salary is enough to live on. You should pay attention to safety." The dance partner looked up at Kuang Fu'an.

"kindness."

Kuang Fu'an's eyes were slightly red, and he hugged him tightly.

The two hugged silently for a while, and then each walked into the darkness. The love of revolutionaries is not only small love, but also close to each other until life and death.

Their romance has nothing to do with flowers and superior living conditions, but with wars and gunpowder. They are not only heart-to-heart partners, but also comrades in arms through thick and thin.

After a long time, raindrops began to drip from the cold streets, and the first winter rain in Shanghai arrived.

Shanghai Special Marine Corps Headquarters.

Kusumoto Mitaka tightened his military overcoat, looked through the window at the soldiers cleaning up the ruins of the war, and frowned.

To be honest, he doesn't like this gloomy city. If it weren't for General Doihara's order, he would rather stay in North China. There are too many tasks to be done there, such as guiding the establishment of the North China Provisional Government.

And here, although it is the front line of the war against China, there is no room for him to display his abilities at all, so he can only waste time, and he doesn't know what Chief Doihara plans.

"Master Kusumoto, please have a cup of hot tea."

At this moment, Yamamoto walked up to him and handed him a teacup, looked outside and said quietly: "It seems that the air force will not be able to take off tomorrow, and the Chinese have a chance to breathe again."

Holding the teacup in both hands, Shilong Kusumoto blew on the heat and said indifferently: "The overall situation in Songhu has been settled. It is only a matter of time before we defeat the Chinese. Soon we will be able to wash military boots in the Qinhuai River."

Yamamoto didn't answer. He didn't know why. Ever since he saw the fire in the Ji Mansion, he became less and less confident about this war, especially after receiving the intelligence from the front line.

Thinking of this, he took out a telegram: "In the more than 20 days from the occupation of Shanghai to today, we have fought many battles with the Chinese around their defense lines, covering most of the north and south of Taihu Lake.

The enemy fought very tenaciously, relying on simple fortifications to stop the locust army. Every minute, countless warriors fell in front of the enemy's position.

In some places, our soldiers even have to rely on meat (harmony) bombs to break through. So far, our army has suffered nearly 2 casualties.

If the bunkers, forts, and trenches on the opposite side are reinforced concrete structures, I really doubt that after the attack on Jinling, how many people in the locust army will survive.

In addition, the number of casualties announced by the dispatched troops during the Battle of Songhu was more than 4, but according to the statistics of the Military Medical Department, at least 9 imperial soldiers could not continue to serve, and the slightly injured were not included. "

Yamamoto sneered. There was only one reason why the military concealed the real figures. The casualties were too great.

Against the background of rising nationalism, once the people know that the mighty empire~army will pay such huge casualties when they conquer Shanghai, it will definitely trigger anti-war rhetoric in the country.

Moreover, such a huge number of casualties is not easy to explain to the locust. In order to protect the face of the empire~army and some people, the dispatched army had to falsify a large number of casualty data. This is an open secret.

"Nani?"

Shocked, Kusumoto Shilong quickly grabbed the telegram and read it, his face changed again and again. As a professional intelligence officer, he understood what this number represented.

As of this year, the total population of the empire is 7063 million, of which 1693 million are men of service age. The number of men available for conscription accounts for about 56.2% of the men of service age, which is almost 1000 million.

The problem is that the number of people available for conscription does not mean that so many people will be sent to the battlefield, then the domestic agricultural and industrial production will be completely paralyzed, so now the imperial army only has more than 100 million troops.

Combined with the losses in the Songhu Battle and the 2 casualties on the defense line, the locust army lost 10 people at one time, which is close to one-tenth of the total force. This is an appalling figure.

China is so big, there will be many wars in the future, how many 10 people in the empire can be lost, is it really necessary for all the people to be soldiers, so that even if the Chinese are defeated, what can they gain?

"Your Excellency, I know that you are very unhappy to come to Shanghai, but the work we want to do next is related to whether the empire can win quickly. You and I must work together, please."

Yamamoto bowed vigorously and spoke his mind. He understood how much credit he had for supporting a puppet government, and it was natural for the other party to refuse to come.

But in the intelligence war with the Chinese, the empire was defeated again and again. If the two of them were not united, the consequences would be very serious.

After hearing this, Mitaka Kusumoto's expression was serious, and he responded solemnly: "I have been taught, Yamamoto-kun, your reminder is very timely, so let's talk about the mission, when will the plan start?"

"Don't worry, this matter still needs the help of an expert, the other party will arrive in Shanghai tomorrow, please come and welcome him, Your Excellency.

Before that, we have to clean up Shanghai thoroughly, and find out all the intelligence personnel of the Guo Party and the underground party in the hidden corners to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan. "

Yamamoto got the answer he wanted, smiled slightly, stretched out his right hand and clenched it tightly, as if holding the enemy firmly in his hand.

That night, there were harsh sirens all over Shanghai, and the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai and the patrols of the two concessions were dispatched on a large scale to search all residential areas.

The Shanghai station of the secret service headquarters was destroyed, more than 30 people were killed on the spot, and more than 50 people were arrested. Xu Enzeng was so frightened that he ran back to Jinling overnight.

Not only the Guo Party, but the Cao Gang also suffered a huge blow. Hundreds of gang members were taken back to the patrol room, and more than a dozen bigwigs were invited to drink tea.

Everyone knew that the Japanese were serious about it. The chaotic Shanghai quickly restored order, and for a while there was a sense of political harmony.

A few days later, Yunke from the French Concession came to the hotel.

In the secret room, Zuo Zhong fell into deep thought with a telegram. This is an urgent message from Lin Fu Yilang, and the content is only a short line.

——The head of the technical department of the Osaka Mint went to Shanghai secretly.

What was the business backbone of the mint doing in Shanghai? Could it be that the Japanese wanted to forge legal currency, and he couldn't think of any other explanation except for this reason.

The Japanese have done this kind of thing in history. If you want to disrupt the economy of the enemy country, the most direct and easiest way is to print the banknotes of the enemy country.

Moreover, the anti-counterfeiting measures of legal currency are very simple. There are only watermarks and secret marks, which can be easily imitated with Japanese technology.

The engraving problem is easier to solve. Since the printing level of the government is too low to print banknotes in large quantities, it is outsourced to British and American companies.

For the sake of safety, the Americans put this part of the work in the country, and after printing a batch, they shipped a batch to the Republic of China, which is quite particular.

Britain is a bit out of character. In order to reduce shipping costs, it directly set up factories in colonial port cities and Southeast Asia.

There are only a few red-headed Asan guards at the gate, and the government is not allowed to send people to protect them, because they are afraid that the government will steal their printing technology.

With John Bull's level of secrecy, it is not difficult for the Japanese to obtain engravings. There is no need to re-engraving them, and they may have succeeded long ago.

It's a pity that this information is too simple. There is no name, appearance, or specific itinerary of the head of the technical section. The Secret Service can't check all the people from Osaka to Shanghai.

Zuo Zhong stared at the telegram, trying to find some clues from the dozen or so words, when he watched it, a thought suddenly came to his mind.

The Ministry of Finance should not be in charge of this plan. The other party only provides technical assistance and does not know the details.

Otherwise, Fu Ichiro Hayashi, who is the head of the Secretarial Section of the Minister of Finance of Japan, should not only know this information.

So, apart from the aloof locusts, who in the Japanese cabinet can make these gods of wealth work?
There is only one, and that is the military.

After all, he had a gun in his hand. If he refused to agree, a few soldiers would "stray into" the Ministry of Tibet and kill some officials to add to the fun.

More importantly, as the Konoe Cabinet came to power and the war of aggression against China began, all actions of the Japanese government were based on the opinions of the military.

After synthesizing the information of Lin Fuichiro and Hase Ryosuke, Zuo Zhong took out a pen and notebook, and quickly listed several known clues.

First, the Japanese military (doubtful) brought banknote printing experts to Shanghai through the Ministry of Finance.

Second, Kusumoto Shilong traveled from North China to Shanghai with unknown purpose.

Third, Yamamoto did not complete the mission, but he did not return to Japan to return to his command.

Four, Kusumoto Shilong and Yamamoto appear together at Marine Corps Headquarters.

"Boom...boom..."

Gently tapping the armrest of the chair, Zuo Zhong had a reasonable guess——Mitaka Kusumoto and Yamamoto were the people in charge of the counterfeit banknote project.

If this is the case, there is a lot of information behind this incident.

First of all, there is a high probability that the Japanese government's economy has problems, and military expenditures are unsustainable, and it cannot support the continued large-scale battles on the front line.

The devils are eager to use counterfeit banknotes to defraud resources from the Kuomintang-controlled areas or buy traitors and lackeys, so as to support war with war and reduce financial pressure.

Also, if it weren't for the great benefits, I would like to shake hands with the Japanese navy and army, which have deep grievances, unless the sun comes out from the west.

Secondly, the losses of the Japanese army in the Battle of Songhu must have been considerable. The devils could no longer fight, and tried to use economic means to destroy the national economy and quickly win the war.

If there is other circumstantial evidence, these two speculations can be sent to Jinling as a reference for military and diplomatic decision-making. Intelligence analysis is a means of intelligence acquisition.

But these are all things for later, Zuo Zhong walked around the room, and after thinking about it, he decided on one thing. It is imperative to find out whether the technical experts have arrived in Shanghai or not.

Fu Ichiro Hayashi's information cannot guarantee timeliness, technical experts may have arrived and started printing counterfeit banknotes, once these banknotes flow into the market, the government will be in trouble.

The reputation of legal currency is bankrupt, inflation (harmony) is inevitable, and food prices are rising rapidly. No matter how patriotic the frontline soldiers are, they cannot go to war hungry.

Thinking of this, he immediately asked He Yijun to inform Song Minghao to go to the contact point, and then hurriedly left Yunkelai Hotel.

That night, Zuo Zhong and Song Minghao met at a warehouse at the North Bund Wharf. As soon as the two met, he introduced the general situation.

Song Minghao's cover identity was the owner of the warehouse, and he knew a lot of people on the pier. After hearing this, he immediately guessed the purpose of Zuo Zhong calling him over, so he tried to say.

"Deputy Director, do you think the technical expert may have come to Shanghai by boat, and you want to use this clue to investigate the other party's whereabouts?"

"Not a possibility, but a certainty."

Zuo Zhong said in a positive tone: "The railway network in Shanghai was cut off due to the war, and the speed of the car was slow and not safe enough, which ruled out the possibility of this person coming to Shanghai by land.

The air route is also unrealistic. It has been raining in Shanghai recently. Flying in this kind of weather is prone to accidents. In addition, it is too ostentatious and does not meet the characteristics of secret operations.

So the target can only land from Shanghai by boat. You and Old Wu have a lot of people, so find out if the Japanese military has picked up people at the dock in the past few days.

Do not limit the place of departure, whether it is from the mainland of Japan or from other places, you must check to prevent Japanese people from transferring halfway. "

"understood."

Song Minghao nodded. Although Shanghai is not an isolated city, it is not much better. Then he asked another question.

"What if the Japanese hide their identities or pick up people in casual clothes? There are so many people coming and going at the Shanghai Passenger Terminal every day. It is not easy to find the target among so many people."

Zuo Zhong patted him on the shoulder: "Then check the car, the identity of the target is important, the Japanese army in Shanghai will definitely send a car to meet him, there are always fewer cars than people. "

It is really impossible to catch all the habitual thieves on the pier. The rich people are their targets of observation, and the drivers are naturally among them. Be careful not to make too much noise. "

In the era of no monitoring, if you want to trace the time and space position of a certain target, you can only rely on touch and row. Those who have been scrambling here for a long time are just a personal camera.

At this time, someone passed by outside the warehouse, Song Minghao looked outside vigilantly, and turned his head when the other party walked away and said.

"Understood, I will arrange people to investigate when I go back. The war has just ended, and there are not many ships coming to Shanghai from other places, so we should be able to find something."

"Well, be careful of the enemy's trap."

Zuo Zhong warned that if Fu Yilang Lin was arrested or betrayed, that telegram would be the bait to lure the Secret Service out.

This is also the reason why he did not contact Ryosuke Hase. The safety of the other party cannot be compromised. They can only rely on themselves for this operation.

After assigning the task, he quickly walked out of the warehouse and moved towards the Bund. When he passed a smoky wonton stand, he passed a familiar figure from behind.

(End of this chapter)