My spy diary

Chapter 543 Search (Seeking monthly votes)

"Old Huang, did the shops in town close up early today?"

"Hey, I'm not feeling well."

"Is everything alright?"

"It's alright, there's medicine at home, just drink some beans and you'll be fine."

Sato Kenjiro was carrying his goods home when he was greeted by a familiar neighbor. He got a little annoyed by the questions the neighbor asked, so he gave a few perfunctory replies and went home.

He put down the load, closed the door, and his face was unusually gloomy.

Squatting on the threshold, he gulped down a bowl of cold water, rolled a pipe, and began to ponder as he smoked.

The Kuomintang agents have already arrested Morikawa Kakusuke's family, so he is definitely exposed.

Since it was a mistake, two questions arise: Is Morikawa Gonsuke still alive? Did he commit suicide or fall into enemy hands?

If he falls into enemy hands, can he withstand interrogation?

In any case, I am no longer safe.

Sato Kenjiro exhaled a breath of stale air, extremely agitated. The situation had changed too quickly, and all of it was bad news, catching him completely off guard.

The Japanese Empire once boasted that it would conquer China in three months, and Sato Kenjiro was equally confident about it, but what was the result?

Since the stalemate between China and Japan began, Japan, in an effort to cut off China's supply lines, first seized ports along the South China coast, then sent troops south to occupy Southeast Asia. Later, taking advantage of France's surrender to Germany and Britain's crisis, Japan threatened the British government to close the Burma Road, depriving China of its last route for external supplies. The weak British complied, and Japan finally completed its border blockade of China. The idea of ​​ending the war in three months was revived, and the military regained its confidence. Sato Kenjiro was equally ambitious.

However, just three months later, with the changing international situation, the hypocritical and cunning British changed their tune and reopened the Burma Road, further unpredicting the war situation.

During the recent Battle of Southern Henan, the Japanese army occupied Nanyang, Zhumadian and other places, but had to retreat to their original positions because their supply lines were attacked. Retreating instead of advancing was a defeat, although Sato Kenjiro was very reluctant to admit it.

Now, even General Yoshikawa Teisuke and other high-ranking officials of the intelligence agency have been assassinated by the enemy, leaving the group leaderless and forcing him to fight alone.

However, Sato Kenjiro was not discouraged. Thinking of the "Battle of Central Plains" that the military was planning, he was invigorated and snorted coldly: "Victory and defeat are unpredictable in war. A man should endure shame and humiliation. The Yamato people are full of talented people. Who knows if they will make a comeback?"

Thinking this, he stomped out the cigarette butt with a heavy foot, turned around, and went into his secret room.

He sat in the secret room, took out his codebook, sighed softly, put on his earpiece, and began to send a message: "Kaifeng Headquarters: The assassination plan has failed. Rabbit has been captured. Please give instructions on the next steps! Field Mouse."

Radio waves swept silently through the air. In the listening room of the Yuzhou Station's telecommunications department, a monitor wearing headphones listened intently.

Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow and said excitedly, "There's a signal!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi and Sun Shengan exchanged a glance, then quickly went over, put on their headphones, and began to listen.

The radio waves fluctuated, but the "drip-drip" sound never stopped.

After listening for a while, the radio signal disappeared. Zhang Yi took off his headphones and asked with a serious expression:
Can you calculate the originating address?

Sun Shengan pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The transmission time is too short to measure at all."

He then gave a brief explanation of the detection principle.

Radio detection, or lateral detection, primarily uses signal strength and directional antennas to monitor the lateral direction. The stronger the signal, the closer the radio station is, thus estimating its location. Then, by using a directional antenna to take measurements at multiple different locations, multiple azimuth lines are obtained, and these are cross-compared to estimate the approximate location of the radio station.

Zhang Yi thought for a moment and asked, "Isn't there a positioning radar?"

Sun Shengan was surprised that Zhang Yi knew about radar. He smiled wryly and said, "Only headquarters has this, and there's only one."

The world’s first practical radar was invented in 1935 by British scientist Robert, and a radar station was built in 36, mainly for detecting aircraft at sea.

Zhang Yi then said, "When can we get the sidecar back? Go ask Station Master Cui."

"Yes." Sun Shengan hurriedly left. He soon returned, looking troubled.

"Director Zhang, Station Chief Cui said the war zone is playing games, saying the war zone needs something."

"Nonsense!" Zhang Yi sneered, interrupting him. Professional tasks should be left to professionals. In detection and decryption, the Military Intelligence Bureau was second to none. He was too lazy to argue with these people anymore and directly ordered Monkey and Qian Xiaosan to search the scene.

The area within a one-kilometer radius of the west entrance of Renyi Street has been blocked off. Checkpoints have been set up at all intersections, with two wooden fences on either side of the intersections, allowing only one vehicle to pass through the middle of the road.

Besides military police carrying rifles, there were also plainclothes police officers and Kuomintang agents around the fence, all armed.

They stood at the checkpoint, checking passing vehicles and pedestrians.

Eager to make a contribution, Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin led plainclothes officers and household registration police to search house to house.

The residential area was in chaos, with plainclothes officers and police shouting and cursing everywhere, creating a noisy and uneasy atmosphere.

Sato Kenjiro emerged from the secret room, listened intently, and frowned: "They came pretty quickly."

Muttering to himself, he turned and went into the secret room, throwing the codebook into a porcelain cup filled with sulfuric acid to destroy it.

Next, he took out several grenades from the box and used a thin rope with a hook to connect the grenade fuses to the wooden box containing the radio.

Next, there is the entrance to the secret room.

If the enemy finds this place after he leaves, these grenades will be the most competent gatekeepers, giving them a real headache.

After setting up the grenade, Sato Kenjiro gave a sinister smile, then turned and walked into the kitchen. He picked up a cleaver, cut his left index finger without changing his expression, and then walked outside while clutching the wound.

Once outside, he looked around, tore off a "福" (good fortune) character pasted on the door, then hunched over, clenched his injured and bleeding fingers, and hurried along the wall into the distance with his head down.

Just as they turned the corner, they ran into several police officers and plainclothes officers in charge of the search.

"Wait a minute, what are you doing here?" A plainclothes leader called out to him, slowly walking over with a smile on his face, but his eyes were sharp. "What are you doing here? I need to see your identification."

"Sir, my name is Huang Zhong, I sell tofu." Sato Kenjiro forced an awkward smile and pulled out his ID from his pocket. "My home is nearby. As long as you say 'Old Huang, the tofu seller,' everyone will know. I'm a law-abiding citizen."

"native?"

“Yes, they’re locals. They’ve been living here for a long time.” The plainclothes officer glanced at the identification, found nothing wrong, relaxed, and tossed the documents to him.

"What happened to the hand?"

"I accidentally cut my finger while cutting tofu." Sato Kenjiro grimaced and took a deep breath, then pulled out half a pack of "Victory" cigarettes from his pocket in a fawning manner. "Sir, please have a cigarette."

The plainclothes officer glanced disdainfully at the cheap cigarette in his hand and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go."

Sato Kenjiro bowed and scraped, smiling obsequiously, and quickly left with a hint of barely perceptible disdain.

"Stationmaster, Director Zhang is here."

Meanwhile, a secret agent hurriedly approached Deputy Station Chief Li Mulin to report.

"Where are you? I'm coming right now."

"Director Zhang said you don't need to come over. He asked me to tell you that the telegraph operator we're looking for is a man between thirty and forty years old, physically strong, unremarkable in appearance, single, living alone, with a job that allows for a wide range of activities. He's a smoker or drinker, so pay special attention to his fingers."

"A man between thirty and forty?" Li Mulin pondered this question, completely bewildered, and asked, "Did that bastard Zhou Entai confess?"

"No." The agent shook his head. "I was also puzzled, so I asked a few more questions. Director Zhang said that this was some kind of psychological drawing. The officers from headquarters are too capable, aren't they? Isn't this like being able to predict the future?"

Li Mulin: "It's not psychological drawing, it's psychological profiling, to be precise, it's criminal investigation psychological profiling."

Li Mulin, the deputy station chief, is quite knowledgeable.

The agent suddenly realized, but still didn't understand, and asked, "So what do we do now?"

It's frustrating to compare yourself to others. Li Mulin felt a pang of resentment; she had searched for ages without any progress, while Zhang Yi had quietly created a psychological profile. After thinking for a moment, she said:

"Call over a few group leaders and team captains, I have something to say to them."

The order was passed down, and soon several team leaders and captains gathered around.

Li Mulin had his agent relay Zhang Yi's instructions again, and then asked:
Have you seen anyone who matches these characteristics?

Upon hearing this, everyone began to ponder it carefully.

But soon, everyone shook their heads and said they hadn't seen it.

Li Mulin noticed that one of them was pursing his lips, his forehead dripping with sweat, and asked calmly:
"you saw it?"

This man was the plainclothes leader who had just questioned Sato Kenjiro. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the man fit the so-called psychological profile.

That old Huang Zhong was 39 years old this year. He looked sleazy, lived alone, and had yellowed fingers, clearly a heavy smoker. He was also a tofu seller, so he could move around a lot, which fit his profession. It's just that I didn't look at his fingers closely at the time.
Thinking about it this way, his expression became somewhat unnatural. He hesitated whether to report it truthfully. If Li Mulin found out that the enemy had slipped away right under his nose, he would definitely skin him alive. But if he concealed it, so many people had seen it. If it got back to Li Mulin or the man was arrested, he might be in trouble.
He was caught in a dilemma.

Li Mulin noticed his expression and secretly placed his hand on the pistol at his waist, looking directly at him.
You'd better tell the truth.

Upon hearing this, the plainclothes officer froze, breaking out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly said, "Your subordinate, I did see someone just now who looked somewhat like the description, but no one told me at the time."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Mulin grabbed his collar and reprimanded him sharply:
"Useless trash, what did I tell you? Better to arrest a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. Look what you've done. Which way did he go?"

The plainclothes leader was speechless, gritting his teeth to calm himself down. After thinking for a moment, he pointed to a location:
"Going that way."

"Then what are we waiting for? Everyone, follow me, let's chase them!"

However, by the time they caught up in a panic, Sato Kenjiro had already disappeared, which made Li Mulin so angry that he kicked the plainclothes leader several times.

The plainclothes leader, covered in dust and dirt, racked his brains in desperation: "Station Chief, that's right, his finger is injured. Let's follow the trail of blood."

"Idiot!" Li Mulin pointed at the dusty dirt road, his anger flaring. "Use your brain! The other person injured their finger, not got shot. And you're following the bloodstains? Where are they? Come on, find them for me!"

The plainclothes leader, in a panic, offered another suggestion: "Station Chief, we can use hunting dogs."

"You idiot!" Li Mulin was frustrated and angry. She pointed at his nose and cursed him a few times. After a moment of silence, she asked again, "You can't hide forever. You still remember where he lives, right?"

The plainclothes leader snapped to attention: "I remember, No. 33 Renyi Street."

"Enough talk, lead the way." Li Mulin thought to himself, even if he couldn't catch the radio operator, finding the radio and the codebook would still be a great achievement.

On the other side, after being questioned, Sato Kenjiro went around to an empty alley, looked around cautiously, and then turned into another alley.

When he came out again, he was already on the street.

He looked ahead and saw a large, dark mass of people, forming long queues, all undergoing checks.

Sato Kenjiro's face was grim. No matter how perfect the plan, there was always a chance of something going wrong. He had considered being arrested, but he dared not think about it too deeply. He had potassium cyanide hidden in his sleeve; biting into it would only take a few seconds, but who would choose to die if they could live?
All we can do now is take a desperate gamble.

After thinking for a moment, he darted into the crowd and moved slowly forward with the group, gradually approaching the checkpoint.

After observing for a while, Sato Kenjiro noticed that in addition to verifying their identification documents, each person being checked had to identify someone nearby and verify whether they knew each other, were neighbors, and knew where the other lived. Those who could not be identified or were not locals were taken aside by plainclothes officers for detailed questioning or were contacted by phone to verify with the police station's household registration department.

He also discovered another problem: for women, the elderly, children, or those with families, the agents would only check their identification and ask a few casual questions before letting them go. However, they were extremely strict with men, especially single men living alone, and would even look at their hands.

Such a targeted investigation made Sato Kenjiro's scalp tingle; he even suspected that Morikawa Kakusuke had confessed and implicated him.

"A secret agent can never survive by luck!" Sato Kenjiro inexplicably recalled a sentence his teacher had said in his spy training class. The more he thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He immediately clutched his stomach and pretended to be unwell as he withdrew from the crowd.

All he could do at that moment was wait.

Waiting for the explosion.

As long as the Kuomintang agents conducting the search detonate grenades, the explosions will inevitably cause chaos, allowing him to slip away unnoticed.

Thinking this, he looked around, then turned and jogged into a small alley.

Sato Kenjiro was walking breathlessly when suddenly he felt something was wrong. He turned around and saw Zhang Yi standing steadily in front of him, with a half-smile on his face.

Their eyes met for a moment, then Zhang Yi looked at him and asked, "Where are you going?"

(End of this chapter)