My spy diary

Chapter 536 Crimson Cherry Blossoms

Special agent captain Quan Shenzhai was on duty when suddenly he saw a jeep driving recklessly towards him.

He squinted, and when the vehicle approached, he looked closely and saw that it was a car with license plate number 2389. The driver was an officer in a second lieutenant's uniform. In the middle of the car was a bloodstained and ferocious man, and next to him sat a Japanese colonel with his legs spread wide.

This man had a pale, thin face with a high, large hooked nose and a pair of round, bulging eyes that were fierce and menacing, giving off a chilling aura.

Colonel Oe?

Quan Shenzhai was momentarily distracted and was about to step forward for a closer look when he saw the jeep suddenly dart over. The driver slammed on the brakes, and the car slid a considerable distance along the dirt road before coming to a stop, nearly hitting a spy holding a small red flag.

The agent's face flushed red, and before he could say anything, the second lieutenant driving pulled out a pistol from his waist and roared angrily:
"idiot!"

Quan Shenzhai quickly waved for the agents to step back, took a step forward, lingered on Zhang Yi's face for a few seconds, and then snapped to attention with a salute:
"Colonel Oe, welcome! What brings you to Kaifeng?"

Zhang Yi was taken aback when he realized this person actually knew "himself," understanding that this was a real test. However, he remained outwardly calm, raised his eyelids slightly, and asked in Japanese:
"Who are you?"

Quan Shenzhai quickly pulled over a chubby translator wearing glasses: "I'm Quan Shenzhai from the Special Agent Committee. We met at General Yoshikawa's banquet last time, don't you remember?"

"Have you seen me before?" Zhang Yi pondered these words, feigning remembrance. His attitude softened considerably, and he smiled slightly, saying:
"So it's Captain Quan. I think I remember him."

After speaking, he looked Quan Shenzhai up and down again, and gave a slight bow in return:

"Captain Quan, as an elite member of the Special Service Committee, I hope you will serve the Imperial Japanese Army faithfully and live up to General Yoshikawa's expectations."

"Yes, sir!" Quan Shenzhai nodded repeatedly. He thought to himself that this person was clearly Japanese, judging from his demeanor and tone. His build and face also matched the image of Oe Yogo that he remembered. However, his keen sense of smell, honed over many years, made him unwilling to overlook any suspicious points. Oe Yogo's base was in Xinxiang. Why had he come to Kaifeng for no reason? He hadn't heard Yoshikawa Teisuke mention it.
So he asked casually, "Colonel, what brings you to Kaifeng?"

"Baka, do I need to report to you?" Zhang Yi snorted coldly, reached for his pistol, and stared at him warily.

Quan Shenzhai panicked and waved his hands repeatedly, "No, that's not what I meant."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Yi burst into laughter: "Captain Quan, you Chinese are too cowardly."

As he spoke, he pointed triumphantly at the "spoils" on the car and asked boastfully, "Do you know where these things came from?"

Quan Shenzhai broke out in a cold sweat and said awkwardly, "This humble servant is ignorant, please enlighten me, Colonel."

“Of course they are spoils of war, they are all my trophies!” Zhang Yi glanced at Quan Shenzhai triumphantly, took out a pack of “Xuguang” brand cigarettes from his pocket, and tossed one to him.

Upon seeing that these were special cigarettes produced by the Qingdao Cigarette Factory specifically for the Japanese Navy, Quan Shenzhai was flattered and accepted them with both hands, asking with a fawning expression:
"Colonel, is the person you arrested a member of the underground Communist Party or a member of the Military Intelligence Bureau?"

Zhang Yi glanced at him disdainfully, pointed to the American radio and various weapons in the car, and sneered, "Have you ever seen such a wealthy underground party member?"

"Then it must be the Military Intelligence Bureau, from Xinxiang?" Quan Shenzhai hurriedly changed his words.

"No, this person's superior is very famous."

"The famous one? Niu Zidao? Or Cui Fangping? Could it be that the Military Intelligence Bureau of Luoyang has gone to Xinxiang to carry out its activities?"

"No, he is far more powerful than them. This man is the empire's mortal enemy."

"Who is it?" Quan Shenzhai asked in surprise. In his opinion, Niu Zidao, the action team leader of Yuzhou Station, had first killed Liu Xingzhou, the garrison commander, and then assassinated Xu Baoguang, the head of the maintenance association, which had caused great panic. He was so feared that people would turn pale at the mention of him. Was there anyone more notorious than him?
“A cunning and treacherous fellow, and you should have heard of him.”

"I've heard of it? Who?"

"Zhang Yi, Director of the Judicial Division of the Military Intelligence Bureau Headquarters."

"Him? Didn't he just arrive in Luoyang this afternoon? How come he went to Xinxiang?" Quan Shenzhai was astonished; this news was truly unexpected.

While Niu Zidao was known for his ruthlessness, he paled in comparison to Zhang Yi. Before becoming the captain of this special operations team, he had already heard of Zhang Yi's infamous reputation. Before the Japanese army occupied Yuzhou, the intelligence work in the area was mainly carried out by organizations that used the "Cultural Research Institute" as a cover, but Zhang Yi wiped out all of these secret agencies in one fell swoop.

Upon hearing Quan Shenzhai's words, Zhang Yi's eyes flashed, a thoughtful expression on his face, but he smiled dismissively.
"This man is cunning and treacherous. His so-called work in Luoyang might just be a smokescreen. Hmph, I've captured this guy named Qian Zhong alive. Once we're in the interrogation room, I'm not afraid he won't reveal Zhang Yi's hiding place. At that time, no matter if he's a cunning fox or a vicious tiger, he won't escape my grasp."

At this point, Zhang Yi threw away his cigarette butt and patted Quan Shenzhai's stiff shoulder:

"Captain Quan, I'm going to report to General Yoshikawa now. Why don't you come along?"

"Yes, sir." Quan Shenzhai replied sternly, imitating the Japanese spies by standing at attention with his legs together and saluting. Then he turned around and jogged forward to direct his men to release the sentry post.

His turn immediately exposed the imposter's true colors—everyone turns around from the right, but he turned around from the left.

Zhang Yi coldly observed the traitor's every word and action, feeling utterly disgusted by his sycophantic behavior.

After successfully passing through the checkpoint, Zhang Yi got into Quan Shenzhai's car at his enthusiastic invitation. The two sat in the back seat, with a secret agent acting as the driver in the front and a bespectacled translator in the passenger seat.

Two more agents guarding the "Military Intelligence Bureau's wanted criminals" were added to the jeep behind.

The two cars sped towards the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall, one after the other. After driving for a while, Zhang Yi, sitting in the front car, pulled down the window curtains, glanced outside a few times, and revealed a lecherous look:

"Wow, Kaifeng is much more prosperous than Xinxiang, and the girls there are even prettier."

Upon hearing this, the translator turned his head and smiled ingratiatingly, saying:
"Sir, there is a woman in the city named Sayuri who is exceptionally talented. If you are interested, I can introduce her to you."

"Little Lily? Isn't she pretty?"

"Beautiful, an absolute beauty. There are many beauties in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. With your charm, Colonel, I'm sure you won't leave empty-handed tonight."

"A prostitute?" Zhang Yi frowned, looked at Quan Shenzhai, and said in broken Chinese, "As the Chinese saying goes, 'Homegrown flowers are never as fragrant as wild ones.' I don't like prostitutes; I like wild flowers." Suddenly, he pointed to a woman in a cheongsam walking down the street with a vegetable basket in her hand and her head down, and excitedly shouted:
"Hey, this pretty girl is not bad, stop the car, bastard, stop the car!" Seeing Colonel Oe suddenly get angry, Quan Shenzhai and the translator exchanged a glance and quickly told the driver to stop the car.

With a screeching sound of brakes, the car came to an abrupt stop.

Zhang Yi pulled out a few bills from his pocket and tossed them to the translator: "Here, give these to that girl and tell her to get on the bus, understand?"

"Understood!" The translator smiled ingratiatingly, took the money, and was about to open the door and get out of the car when a "bang" was heard. A bullet flew out from under Zhang Yi's armpit and entered Quan Shenzhai's temple. The translator turned around in shock, and another bullet went straight into his brow. He fell headfirst out of the car.

The driver was terrified when he saw this and frantically tried to draw his gun. Zhang Yi sneered and shot him dead.

At the same time, the jeep stopped. The two agents were confused when suddenly, Qian Xiaosan, who was wearing handcuffs, jumped up and grabbed one of the agents by the neck, while Monkey pulled out a pistol and shot the other dead.

Zhang Yi got out of the car and waved, signaling, "Let's go!"

The monkey deftly unlocked Qian Xiaosan's handcuffs, and together they threw the spy's body off the road. They then threw a grenade at the car in front of them, and with a "boom," flames shot into the sky.

Zhang Yi smiled with satisfaction, jumped into the jeep, and drove off.

On the street, a few pedestrians stared in astonishment at what had just happened.

After a while, they recovered from their shock and began to run and shout like headless flies, and the streets quickly descended into terrifying chaos.

Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall.

When Kaifeng government official Osamu Kanjiro received the telegram from Luoyang, he rushed to Yoshikawa Teisuke's residence to report to him.

"General, news has just come from our inside sources that Zhang Yi has postponed his arrival in Luoyang."

"Could it be that our plan has been leaked?" Yoshikawa Teisuke knelt on the tatami, his face grim.

Kanjiro Osawa shook his head, denying his guess: "Those who participated in this operation are all imperial loyalists, who are extremely loyal to the Emperor. They would not leak information."

"So, it's just a coincidence?" Yoshikawa Teisaku frowned, deep in thought.

“Not only that,” Osawa Kanjiro continued, “Our inside sources have received information that the Military Intelligence Bureau’s Yuzhou station just held a meeting and discussed and approved a joint assassination plan between the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Red Party against the General.”

"Assassinate me?" Yoshikawa Teisuke laughed mockingly, as if he had heard a joke.

"General, you must not be careless. As the Chinese saying goes, 'A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof.' We must strengthen your security." Ōsawa Kanjiro said solemnly, "According to intelligence provided by an inside source, they have a mole in our government. This person provided information about the personal preferences of Captain Quan of the Special Agent Team, saying he is greedy and lustful. We plan to cater to his tastes and use his connections to have a Red Party agent named Wu Fengxiang feign surrender to deceive you, gain your trust, and then suddenly attack and injure you."

Yoshikawa Teisuke's face darkened. He took a sip of tea and said contemptuously, "That idiot Quan Shenzhai is just a dog, a dog that bites people for us. If he dares to betray his master, I will kill him with my own hands."

At this point, he seemed to remember something and asked his assistant, Fujiwara Masao, who was standing beside him:

"Fujiwara-kun, what is that idiot doing right now?"

"They should be on duty at the city gate."

"Send him to come running immediately."

boom---
Before he could finish speaking, a faint explosion could be heard in the distance, startling both Osawa Kanjiro and Fujiwara Masao.

Yoshikawa Teisuke was also startled by the explosion and jumped up from his seat.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yi, Qian Xiaosan, and Monkey had already sneaked into a movie theater one kilometer away from the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall and were now lying on the roof.

The three of them split up and conducted an emergency reconnaissance of the area near the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall, but they did not find any very good sniping spots. Only the rooftop of this movie theater was somewhat suitable.

But this distance is a bit far.

Zhang Yi used the German Kar98K sniper rifle, which has a maximum range of 4700 meters. However, this is only the theoretical maximum range. In actual use, its effective range is usually around 800 to 1500 meters.

The Kar98K sniper rifle uses 7.92x57mm Mauser ammunition and, with its 6x optical scope, can achieve accurate shooting at a distance of 800 meters. Within 1500 meters, although the bullets still have lethality, the accuracy drops significantly beyond the effective range.

Fortunately, Zhang Yi was prepared.

While in the mountain city, he specially asked someone from the technical department of the bureau headquarters to specially process several bullets with a hand-cranked electric drill—that is, to drill holes in the bullet heads and then add mercury into the holes to modify the bullets into mercury bullets.

When a regular bullet goes beyond its effective range, its lethality drops significantly, but the mercury will continue to move forward due to inertia, thus exploding the bullet and creating an open wound.

At this moment, Zhang Yi lay prone on the ground, took out several bullets with holes drilled in them, and then took out a thermometer. He smashed the head of the thermometer, carefully dripped mercury into the holes of the bullets, and then carefully pressed the bullets into the chamber one by one.

He held his breath and aimed his scope at the half-open window on the second floor of the "Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness" in the Shanxi-Shaanxi-Gansu Guild Hall. He adjusted his posture and remained motionless, with only the sound of the wind passing by him.

Just then, he saw a short figure appear in his line of sight, angrily scolding someone. He glanced at the photo beside him and confirmed that it was Yoshikawa Teisuke.

"Yoshikawa Teisuke!" Zhang Yi sneered. Seeing this guy offering his precious head to his gun, he expressionlessly pulled the trigger.

Inside the "Hall of Loyalty and Righteousness," a secret agent anxiously reported to Yoshikawa Teisuke: "Chief, the people who died at the explosion site were Captain Quan Shenzhai and his men. We have already verified with the city gate checkpoint. His men said that they encountered Colonel Oe from the Xinxiang Special Agent Agency a dozen minutes ago. The car not only contained arrested Kuomintang agents, but also radios, sniper rifles, and other spoils of war. The two sides chatted happily and entered the city together. Now we think this so-called Colonel Oe is very suspicious. We suspect that he is an anti-Japanese element in disguise."

Yoshikawa Teisuke's face twitched, and he roared through gritted teeth, "Close the city gates immediately, block all major transportation routes, and use every available force to find these anti-Japanese elements, even if it means digging three feet into the ground!"

With a "whoosh," a bullet pierced Yoshikawa Teisuke's temple, causing his head to slam heavily to the right and crash onto the floor with a "bang." Crimson, hot blood flowed down the floor, staining a cherry blossom petal that remained on the floor, resembling a butterfly wing scorched by flames—a horrifying sight.

(End of this chapter)