My spy diary

Chapter 538 Intelligence (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

At nine o'clock in the evening, Cui Fangping, the stationmaster of Yuzhou Station, was chatting with his wife on the sofa. His wife peeled an orange and handed it to him, complaining:

"You're such a good stationmaster, you're never home!"

Just as Cui Fangping was about to say something, the phone rang at an inopportune moment. He went over and answered it, glanced into the bedroom to make sure his daughter wasn't woken up, and then asked softly into the receiver:

"Which one?"

The excited voice of Cao Lei, the head of the telecommunications department, came from the other end of the phone: "Station Chief, the Kaifeng group has sent important intelligence."

Cui Fangping looked blank: "Which group are you talking about?"

"The Kaifeng group, huh?"

"Oh, what important intelligence?" Cui Fangping shook his head in frustration. This Kaifeng group, which was lurking in the occupied area, only reported trivial intelligence from time to time and kept pressing for funds, which annoyed him to no end. This group was more trouble than they were worth; what important intelligence could they possibly get?

“It is indeed important intelligence.” Cao Lei noticed that the station chief was in low spirits and knew that he had a lot of complaints about those few intelligence agents in the Kaifeng group, so he quickly explained, “Yoshikawa Teisuke is dead, shot dead.”

"Yoshikawa Teisuke is dead? Who did it?" Cui Fangping stood up abruptly, his voice trembling with excitement.

"It is said to be Zhou Chu. In addition to Yoshikawa Teisuke, the Japanese army's Shigeta Command Chief of Staff Colonel Yamamoto, the head of the inspection team of the troops stationed in Beiping to Kaifeng Lieutenant Colonel Ruida, and the Kaifeng Gendarmerie Captain Fujii Osamu were all notorious Japanese leaders."

"Is the information accurate?" Cui Fangping asked incredulously, repeatedly confirming, "You just said it was Director Zhou who did it? Who is Director Zhou? Is he from the Kaifeng group?"

"It shouldn't be. According to the Kaifeng group's report, there were three assassins. They entered the city by impersonating the head of the Japanese army's Xinxiang office. One of them was named Qian Zhong, who claimed to be Zhang's subordinate. So this matter should be the work of Zhang from headquarters."

Cui Fangping was taken aback: "You mean Director Zhang didn't stay in Chang'an, but went directly to Kaifeng?"

"should be."

"I understand." Cui Fangping hung up the phone with a cold face, muttering to himself, "This Zhang Yi is too capable, isn't he?"

The initial joy and excitement in my heart vanished, replaced by a terrible mood.

He had been brimming with confidence, having devised a plan to unite with the Red Party through Niu Zidao, only to find that Zhang Yi had gotten there first? In that case, wouldn't he, the station chief, become a laughingstock?

As soon as he turned around, Mrs. Cui was standing behind him.

"What happened?" Mrs. Cui asked.

"I'll go back to the station first."

"Didn't you just get back? Why are you asking for more?"

Cui Fangping said with a dark face, "Don't interfere in work matters."

Mrs. Cui shuddered: "Why are you yelling at me?"

Cui Fangping ignored him and walked out the door.

"If you dare to go find that vixen, don't ever come back."

Cui Fangping coldly shouted, "Stupid woman!" Then, she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Sato Kenjiro, the head of the Japanese military's Luoyang intelligence agency, entered his secret room. He closed the door, sat down at the table, turned on the radio, and put on his headphones.

Before long, as the beeping Morse code reached his ears, he took out a pencil and began to write on a piece of paper.

After finishing his notes, he pulled out the bottom book from a stack of books on the table, opened it, and flipped through the pages one by one to find the corresponding page numbers, matching the Arabic numerals he had just written down.

Afterwards, he wrote a string of words on the paper: "Command, activate the rabbit, and find a way to eliminate Zhang Yi at all costs."

Under the oil lamp, Sato Kenjiro's face was unusually gloomy.

Later, he left the secret room, left his home, and went into a public phone booth not far from his home. He cautiously observed the outside of the phone booth through the glass before making a call.

He said into the phone, "Is this Section Chief Zhou? Is that me? Do you still have the medicine I sent you from our hometown last time?"

The wind was high and the night was dark.

Outside Kaifeng, a truck travels through the night, its flashlight illuminating a dirt road that is narrow and bumpy compared to ordinary highways.

"Huh, it seems like there are no pursuers anymore? Stop!" The truck made a dull thud as it slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

The car door opened, and a man dressed in a puppet army uniform jumped out, lay down on the ground to listen, and then stepped forward and said, "Chief, it seems the enemy hasn't followed us."

The group consisted of Zhang Yi and two others. Taking advantage of the chaos in the city, they seized a Japanese military vehicle and fought their way out from the pursuing Japanese troops.

"The Japanese devils are leaderless, their morale is low, and they're a disorganized mob. They don't have the guts to keep chasing us." The monkey grinned and then said, "The car's out of gas, what do we do?"

"Let's walk back, but we need to find something to eat first. I'm starving!" Having escaped danger, Qian Xiaosan reverted to his usual carefree attitude, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Seeing Zhang Yi remain silent, he remembered a question that had been weighing on his mind for a long time:

"By the way, Chief, what did you mean by leaving Chief Zhou's name at the guard post?"

"Have you heard the story of Zhou Chu eliminating the three evils?" Zhang Yi asked with a smile.

“I know, it comes from ‘A New Account of Tales of the World,’ and it tells the story of Zhou Chu from the Western Jin Dynasty, who went from being a local tyrant to a loyal minister.” Qian Xiaosan shook his head and thought for a moment before saying, “Hey, that’s not right. The core of this story is about repentance and reformation. Zhou Chu himself was one of the three evils, but we are not.”

The monkey rolled its eyes: "Stop nitpicking. If you're not a pest, then who are you?"

"Old Qian may not be an anti-Japanese hero, but he can at least be called an anti-Japanese righteous man, right?" Qian Xiaosan chuckled, walked to the roadside, pulled down his pants, and started to urinate. "Self-proclaimed?" Monkey curled his lip, kicked him in the butt, and Qian Xiaosan shuddered, wetting his pants. He immediately flew into a rage, not bothering to fasten his pants, and turned to take down Monkey.

The monkey nimbly dodged and darted into the darkness.

Seeing that the two were still in the mood to joke around, Zhang Yi smiled and shook his head. He checked the guns and ammunition, then leaned against a big tree and closed his eyes to rest.

Today's intelligence has been updated.

[1. You met with Quan Shenzhai today and obtained relevant intelligence—the Japanese agent Morikawa Insuke, using the alias Zhou Entai, has infiltrated the General Affairs Section of the Yuzhou Station and is serving as the head of the General Affairs Section.]

Zhang Yi suddenly realized that this person had leaked information about his trip to Yuzhou to the Japanese intelligence agency in Kaifeng.

[2. You killed Yoshikawa Teisuke today and obtained relevant intelligence—Yoshikawa Teisuke, in addition to serving as the head of the intelligence agency of the five provinces of North China, was responsible for dispatching agents to gather intelligence in North China, also had a mission.]

Zhang Yi's expression hardened, and he stared intently at the text on the screen.

It turned out that the Japanese cabinet had recently received classified intelligence from an agent planted in Allied Germany, stating that the German Army Ordnance Office had launched a top-secret project codenamed "Uranium Club," with German physicist Heisenberg at its core. Japanese high command organized scholars to analyze that this might be related to the discovery of uranium fission by German scientists Otto and Fritz a few years earlier, speculating that the German military had begun developing an atomic bomb. Therefore, the "Jin Project" and "F Project" were urgently formulated, with the Japanese Army and Navy respectively undertaking atomic bomb development work.

However, as an island nation, Japan lacks uranium resources on its own soil. Although uranium deposits were found near Fukushima, their quality was extremely low and refining was difficult. Therefore, the Japanese turned their attention to China.

Yoshikawa Teisuke, as the Emperor's nephew, was ostensibly the head of the intelligence agency for the five provinces of North China, but in reality, he was secretly responsible for finding uranium mines for the Japanese army.

Zhang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself that, as far as he knew, although Germany had occupied the uranium mines in Czechoslovakia and controlled the heavy water plant in Norway in order to develop the atomic bomb, and had a certain scientific research strength and resource base, the development plan still failed for various reasons.

Instead, it was some German scientists who had emigrated to the United States to escape fascist persecution who told Einstein about the plan. Einstein then wrote to US President Roosevelt, and the United States began to take it seriously, which later led to the "Manhattan Project".

[3. Today you killed Colonel Yamamoto, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army's Shigeta Command, and obtained relevant intelligence that the Japanese army has launched the Central Plains Campaign after the defeat in the Southern Henan Campaign.]

Zhang Yi pondered that what the Japanese called the "Central Plains Campaign" was actually the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain a few months later. The Japanese army amassed about 10 troops, equipped with aircraft, artillery, and tanks, and formed an encirclement of Zhongtiao Mountain from the east, west, and north, employing a tactic of "breaking through the center and attacking from both flanks." On the other hand, the National Revolutionary Army amassed about 18 troops to defend, ultimately suffering a crushing defeat. In addition to outdated equipment and supply difficulties, the biggest problem was that the troops belonged to different factions, resulting in a chaotic command system, with each acting independently and making effective cooperation difficult.
Of course, this is an old problem of the National Revolutionary Army.

Zhang Yi pondered to himself, how should this intelligence be reported? If this intelligence were given to Zheng Huhe and the Red Party intervened, would it change the course of the war? Even if not, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army could strengthen guerrilla warfare in the area, both to contain the Japanese army and fill the defensive gaps, and to expand the anti-Japanese base areas.

Silent all night.

Early in the morning, at newspaper stands in every corner of Luoyang, many people were vying to buy newspapers.

The newsstand owner shouted: "Breaking news from yesterday! Anti-Japanese patriot Zhou Chu assassinated Yoshikawa Teisuke, Colonel Yamamoto, Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army's Shigeta Command, Lieutenant Colonel Ruida, head of the delegation of troops stationed in Beiping to inspect Kaifeng, and Captain Fujii Osamu, captain of the Kaifeng Military Police. This has shocked the world!"

This event truly shocked both China and the world. As soon as the news spread, the entire land of China was in an uproar, deeply shocked. Subsequently, newspapers from seven countries reported on it, calling Zhou Chu a "fearless national hero." It should be noted that since the start of the War of Resistance against Japan, many Japanese major generals have been killed, such as Kato Jintaro, who died in 1938 in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River; Wu Chunji, who died in 1938 in Yuncheng, Shanxi; and Zhuo Kuni Goro, who died in 1938 in De'an, Jiangxi, and so on, no fewer than ten. However, apart from the killing of Japanese Emperor's special envoy Baron Takatsuki Yasushi and wounding Lieutenant Colonel Nori Kenetsu by Ma Kedi and Qiu Guofeng in Nanluoguxiang Hutong, Beiping, on November 29 last year, it has been a long time since we have heard such exciting news. It immediately attracted everyone's attention. Some were excited, some were furious, and some were wary and hostile. All of these people had their own thoughts. The land of Henan was already turbulent.

In the office of the Yuzhou Military Intelligence Station, Cui Fangping was also reading a newspaper, his face looking very unpleasant.

The secretary stood respectfully to the side, holding a newspaper with a large photo of a popular actress on it. Her long, curly hair and dreamy eyes were accentuated by a dress that had been pulled down to an extremely low level, revealing a large expanse of her fair skin.

He glanced almost imperceptibly at Cui Fangping, and seeing that he was in a bad mood, he jokingly handed him the newspaper, clicking his tongue and shaking his head: "Stationmaster, look at this, the world is going to the dogs. These days, these female celebrities are afraid that others won't see them. Shouldn't they call the government to complain?"

"It's useful to worry about things," Cui Fangping sneered, glaring at his secretary. "What's that Li guy doing?"

"They should be in the office."

Before he could finish speaking, a dull knock sounded at the door. The visitor was a junior agent. As soon as he entered, Cui Fangping noticed something amiss in his expression and asked in a low voice:

"What happened again?"

"Stationmaster, Director Zhang is here."

Cui Fangping frowned: "Where?"

"As soon as I arrived at the entrance, the deputy stationmaster went to greet me."

"Why didn't you report this sooner?" Cui Fangping's face grew increasingly grim, and he grabbed the newspaper and headed outside.

Zhang Yi, along with Monkey and Qian Xiaosan, arrived at the Yuzhou Military Intelligence Bureau building, covered in dust from their journey. As soon as they reached the ground floor, Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin appeared with several men, displaying great respect and a solemn presence.

To be honest, working at headquarters didn't really make a difference. Zhang Yi rarely went down to the grassroots level either. Now, facing so many bright smiling faces, he felt both excited and overwhelmed with mixed emotions. The same person, at the same level, in different positions and environments, experienced such a huge difference in circumstances and feelings—this was clearly the power of authority.

People say that power is the best social tool, and it's certainly true.

"Director Zhang, hello, welcome to Yuzhou. I am Li Mulin, the deputy station chief."

"Oh, it's Deputy Station Chief Li." Zhang Yi chuckled. He was well aware of the strained relationship between Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin and Station Chief Cui Fangping. He smiled and asked:
Where is your station manager?

"The stationmaster is extremely busy."

Just as Li Mulin was about to criticize Cui Fangping, a cold snort rang out. Everyone turned to look and saw Cui Fangping stride down, head held high, saying with a forced smile:
"Director Zhang, I'm so sorry for not greeting you properly!"

Upon seeing the stationmaster arrive, Li Mulin gave an awkward smile and tactfully offered his seat.

Zhang Yi smiled kindly: "You're too kind. Station Chief Cui is a senior from the Whampoa Military Academy. It is I who should pay my respects to you, a high-ranking official in charge of this region."

"You flatter me. I'm just a newcomer. I used to work under Minister Chen, and now I'm fortunate to be working in the Military Intelligence Bureau. I feel like I'm walking on thin ice. If there's anything I haven't done well enough, I hope Director Zhang won't hesitate to point it out!" Cui Fangping brought up Chen Tumu to warn Zhang Yi that he also had connections.

Next, Cui Fangping introduced the various leaders of Yuzhou.

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with everyone, Zhang Yi, accompanied by Cui Fangping and Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin, arrived at a small conference room.

(End of this chapter)