My spy diary

Chapter 535 Arrival
Zhang Yi's car left Chang'an and headed smoothly towards the Central Plains. The scenery along the way was picturesque, with history and nature complementing each other, making people feel intoxicated.

But as they walked on, they saw a completely different scene.

Only two lines of classical poetry can describe it:
"Bones are exposed in the wild, and no rooster crows for a thousand miles."

In chaotic times, the lives of ordinary people are as worthless as grass. The once peaceful homes have long since turned into battlefields of carnage, and lives vanish like ants, inevitably giving rise to indescribable grief, indignation, and despair.

Seeing that Zhang Yi was in a bad mood, the monkey comforted him, saying:
"Everything will be alright once we drive the Japanese away."

Will it? Zhang Yi shook his head, unsure of what to say.

Qian Xiaosan changed the subject, saying, "Director, you said that we can't pick up anyone at Yuzhou Station. What will they think?"

"Who cares what they think? We'll deal with them after we've taken care of that little bastard, Yoshikawa Teisuke." The monkey driving the car said with a disdainful look.

Zhang Yi thought for a moment and said, "Our itinerary cannot be revealed. Send them a telegram first, saying that we will arrive tomorrow and that we do not need to be picked up at the station. We will go directly to the Military Intelligence Bureau."

"Yes."

At the Military Intelligence Bureau's Yuzhou Station, the telephone on the station chief's desk rang.

The secretary went over, answered the phone, and waited for the other end to say something before he said, "Okay, I understand."

He had just hung up the phone when station manager Cui Fangping asked:
"Are you still in the hospital?"

"He's here, his wife is with him. I heard," the secretary said sarcastically, "that he's very ill."

Cui Fangping remained silent, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

"Do you think he's really sick or is he just acting?"

"Last night, he was having a lively discussion with that guy surnamed Niu, and today he's sick. What a coincidence!" Cui Fangping met his secretary's gaze expressionlessly and sneered, "He's forcing me to pick him up at the station. If you say there's no conspiracy involved, I'll never believe it even if you beat me to death."

“Since there is danger, the station chief absolutely cannot go. Although the man surnamed Zhang is a major general, it is only a rank and position. He is not comparable to the station chief, who is a major general appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. He should be the one to take the initiative to visit the station chief. How can he take the initiative to go to him?”

“You can’t say that,” Cui Fangping shook his head. “Once you’re in this circle, you have to abide by its rules. The Military Intelligence Bureau only looks at the position, not the rank. After all, he represents the headquarters. If I don’t go to pick him up, it would make me seem guilty.”

"Should I arrange security personnel right now?" the secretary asked, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

Cui Fangping waved his hand: "No need, I don't trust the action team. I'll call the garrison command later and get a group of people from them."

Before he could finish speaking, there was a knock on the door, and he answered naturally:

"Please come in."

"Station Chief, a telegram from Director Zhang." The person who came was Cao Lei, the director of the Telecommunications Department. He respectfully handed over the telegram. "It's a standard Class B cipher, and I've already deciphered it."

"Oh." Cui Fangping took it, glanced at it, and a smile appeared on his face. He immediately instructed his secretary:
"Notify all department heads to attend a meeting."

"Yes." The secretary nodded, then hesitated, as if suddenly remembering something, and asked, "Should we notify Deputy Station Chief Li?"

"Oh?" Cui Fangping raised an eyebrow. "Notify them? Why didn't you notify them?"

"clear."

A few minutes later, in the station's conference room.

Several department heads sat on either side of the conference table, inquiring about the meeting's agenda.

Cui Fangping walked in holding a page of telegram paper and asked:

"Is everyone here?"

As soon as he walked in, the door was immediately closed by the guards outside, and the conference room fell silent.

"Only Deputy Station Chief Li is absent."

“Deputy Station Chief Li has devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Party and the country. Since he is ill, let him rest well.” Cui Fangping smiled, walked to the middle chair, and sat down, saying:

"I just received a telegram. Director Zhang from headquarters will be staying in Chang'an for a day and will arrive tomorrow. He told us in advance that we don't need to pick him up at the station."

As soon as he finished speaking, apart from Cui Fangping and Cao Lei, the director of the telecommunications department, the other attendees began to whisper among themselves.

The action team leader, Niu Zidao, looked rather grim. Wouldn't this disrupt all of his and Li Mulin's plans?
Amidst the murmurs, Cui Fangping tapped the conference table with his finger:
"Silence. I think this is a good thing. The longer Director Zhang arrives, the more time we have to prepare."

As he spoke, he looked at the action team leader, Niu Zidao, and changed the subject: "Captain Niu, you've been in charge of contacting the Red Party regarding the assassination of Yoshikawa Teisaku. Is there any progress?"

This plan was decided when the previous station chief was still in office, and Cui Fangping was willing to follow it because he had other motives.

In his view, assassinating an enemy major general in occupied territory was no easy task. This wasn't some fictional tale where "amidst a chaotic battlefield of thousands, one moves as if in an empty field, sword flashing like lightning, a cold glint appearing, and in an instant, the enemy general's head is taken." Killing eight hundred enemies while losing three thousand of one's own—rather than the Military Intelligence Bureau operating "alone," it was better to cooperate with the Red Party. Firstly, this would allow them to observe the strength of the underground party; secondly, they could use them as a vanguard, killing with a borrowed knife to weaken the enemy's strength.

Then, they secretly monitored the Red Party's movements, followed the clues to find the underground party's hiding place and concealed identities, and arrested them under the pretext of "rapists and murderers," achieving three goals with one action.

Finally, they openly and legitimately arrested Niu Zidao, this Red Party undercover agent. Wasn't he in close contact with the deputy station chief, Li Mulin? Under the protection of Sanmu, what could one not obtain?
Only by taking down his two natural enemies, Niu Zidao and Li Mulin, and establishing his authority, and then using Commander Chen's name to bring others under his command, could he truly secure his position as station chief.

Cui Fangping was inexplicably full of confidence in this regard.

Upon being asked this question by Cui Fangping, Niu Zidao immediately stood up. He frowned and said:
"They recommended someone over there. I've met him once. He's not only a great shot, but also incredibly brave. He's the perfect candidate for assassination, but he has conditions."

"What conditions?"

"First, lift the arrest warrant for him; second, release his arrested wife and brother; third, give him a reward of 200,000 yuan; fourth, provide compensation for any casualties in the operation."

"A wanted poster?" Cui Fangping frowned. "What's this person's name?"

"Wu Fengxiang".

As soon as these words were spoken, someone slammed their hand on the table. Everyone turned to look and saw Hui Kaidong, the head of the intelligence department, saying indignantly, "So it's this guy!" He snorted coldly and questioned Niu Zi, "Captain Niu, this is someone I went to great lengths to get from the Garrison Command's Inspection Department. Your action team interrogated him for so long but couldn't get a confession. Last month, you even had him bailed out. Didn't you say he wasn't a member of the Communist Party? How come he's a member of the Communist Party now?"

Wu Fengxiang was from Jia County. He attended a private school and studied traditional Chinese medicine at the age of 14. At the age of 17, he abandoned medicine to join the revolution and participated in the peasant uprising in Jia County. After the uprising failed, he entered Jia County Normal School.

After the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japan, he joined the Red Party and engaged in student movement work in Jiaxian County and Guangshan County, mainly mobilizing and escorting young students to Baota Mountain. In July 1939, while escorting 16 young students from Guangshan to Baota Mountain, he passed through his hometown and went home to visit his seriously ill mother. He was arrested by the investigation team of the inspection office who were lying in wait at his home.

“You’ll have to ask Station Chief Yue. He ordered the release of those people. How would I know?” Niu Zidao retorted sharply.

"Hmph, Station Chief Yue is probably in the military law enforcement department's prison right now. You've certainly found yourself a good backer." Hui Kaidong sneered. "With your close ties to the Red Party, who knows what role you've played in all of this!"

"What do you mean by that?" Niu Zidao was furious, glaring at him. "Doubt me? If you can produce evidence that I'm red-faced, I'll surrender immediately and let you do whatever you want with me. If you don't have any evidence, shut up."

"Hmph, if you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. The evidence will come."

"Enough, all of you shut up! What kind of time is this to be fighting amongst yourselves?"

Seeing the two arguing, Cui Fangping slammed his hand on the table, made them sit down, and said coldly, "Captain Niu reported to me about this matter before. I believe in Captain Niu's loyalty to the Party and the country, and he would never have any connection with the Red Party."

After pausing for a few seconds, he rubbed his temples and said, "There are priorities. Although Wu Fengxiang's conditions are quite harsh, it's all worth it as long as we can kill Yoshikawa Teisuke."

"Captain Niu, coordinate with them and tell them I agree to their conditions. To show my sincerity, the arrest warrant will be withdrawn immediately, and his wife and brother can be released. As for the reward and compensation, we'll discuss that after the operation. What are your next steps?"

The atmosphere in the meeting room improved somewhat once the action plan was discussed. Niu Zidao thought for a moment and said:

"The Japanese invaders were heavily guarded in the city, making it impossible for them to get close to officers like Yoshikawa Teisuke. However, their informant on the Red Party side provided information that Yoshikawa Teisuke had a corrupt and lecherous special agent captain named Quan Shenzai, and they planned to use this man as a breakthrough."

"What are the specific plans?"

"Wu Fengxiang has currently gathered a guerrilla force of thirty to fifty men in Xiaomoshan. The initial plan is to fabricate a roster for him and have him take it to Quan Shenzhai, falsely claiming that he wants to defect to the Japanese army. If Yoshikawa Teisuke is interested in this, he will surely summon Wu Fengxiang, and then we can..."

"A feigned surrender?" Cui Fangping raised an eyebrow and asked, "Captain Niu, how long do you think it will take for the plan to show initial results?"

"Well," Niu Zidao thought for a moment and said, "it will probably take at least a month, as both sides will need to test each other."

“Alright.” Cui Fangping sighed, thought for a moment and said, “Here’s what we’ll do: after the meeting, write a detailed report immediately so that Director Zhang can refer to it when he comes tomorrow.”

"Yes."

Meanwhile, Zhang Yi's car was already not far from Kaifeng.

"Chief, the enemy's outpost is just one kilometer ahead."

Zhang Yi took the binoculars and saw a team of black-clad, fully armed secret agents setting up a roadblock at the city gate. Rows of cars were parked in front of the roadblock, undergoing inspection.

The roadblocks were flanked by towering sandbags, with machine guns mounted behind them, forming a network of firepower.

"Change clothes."

As soon as he finished speaking, the monkey drove the car to a secluded spot and opened the bags and packages inside.

A state-of-the-art American radio, a dozen or so handguns of various types, a German Kar98K sniper rifle, several uniforms of Japanese military police and officers, various identification documents needed, and even various cleverly disguised listening devices and bombs.

Of course, the most shocking thing was the three suicide buttons injected with potassium cyanide.

Qian Xiaosan changed into a blue casual outfit stained with blood, disguising himself as a wounded, captured, and ferocious Kuomintang agent.

The monkey, on the other hand, changed into the uniform of a Japanese lieutenant and served as his adjutant.

Zhang Yi solemnly took out a "human skin mask" from the bottom of the bundle.

Ancient legends tell of the rudiments of disguise. It is said that during sacrificial rites and ceremonies, the ancients would paint their faces and bodies or wear masks.

But legends are just legends.

Historical records indicate that human skin masks existed during the Tang Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the emperor died suddenly after consuming an elixir from the alchemist Zhao Guizhen. The court issued an arrest warrant for Zhao Guizhen, who escaped death by wearing a human skin mask. However, the veracity of this account is difficult to verify.

Abroad, in 1915, a British sculptor created masks to restore the faces of disfigured soldiers, which can be regarded as the beginning of the modern lifelike mask.

Zhang Yi, however, used silicone.

Centuries ago, Spanish chemists produced silica gel by dissolving and acidifying silicates. However, it wasn't until around 1915, when American chemists invented a method for producing silica gel using sodium silicate as the main material, and applied it to gas masks during World War I as an absorbent for mustard gas, that silica gel began to be produced and used on a large scale.

Zhang Yi also went to great lengths to find this thing in the mountain city. Making a human skin mask from silicone is a complicated process, involving molding, detail enhancement, fixing, mixing and casting, color matching, and so on. In the end, he had to find several Peking Opera actors, and with their help, he managed to make one with great effort.

However, because there was no real face to make the mold, and only a photo for reference, the mold made looked a bit awkward no matter how you looked at it.

But at this moment, there's no time to worry about that. If they can sneak in, great; if not, they'll have to fight their way out.

At this moment, Zhang Yi put on the human skin mask, then used makeup tools to enhance his appearance, donned the uniform of a Japanese colonel, crossed his arms, and performed a standard Japanese bow:
"Mr. Qian, Mr. Kuroda, I am Yogo Oe. Greetings! Please take care of me!"

Oe Yogo was the head of the Xinxiang Special Service Agency branch.

Qian Sang is Qian Zhong, a Kuomintang agent who was arrested.

Kuroda-kun is actually Kuroda Saburo, the Japanese army adjutant disguised as a monkey.

Qian Xiaosan and Monkey carefully examined the photos for a while and both thought the disguises were good enough to fool the shrewd Yoshikawa Teisuke and Oe Yogo's acquaintances, but sneaking into the city shouldn't be a problem.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let's go!"

Zhang Yi waved his hand, instructing Monkey to handcuff Qian Xiaosan, tie him to the car, and place the guns, ammunition, and radio in a conspicuous position as "trophies." He then removed the flag from the car, replaced it with the Japanese flag, and drove onto the main road without any concealment, heading towards the city gate.

(End of this chapter)