Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 212 What exactly do these numbers mean?

January 25, 1939, Shanghai, Special Higher Police Headquarters.

Sunlight after the rain streamed through the blinds, creating streaks of light and shadow in the conference room.

The fat, round general sat at the end of the long table, his face ashen.

Colonel Fujita Tsuyoshi and Yoko Minamida sat on either side of the long table.
And Chen Yang, director of the Shanghai office of the Jinling Special Service Committee.

The air in the conference room was almost frozen, and everyone's face was covered with a layer of frost.

"So," Tu Feiyuan said slowly, "a meticulously planned encirclement operation, mobilizing more than forty elites from the Special Higher Police and the Special Affairs Committee, not only allowed 'Blue Fox' and his action team to escape unscathed, but also resulted in the loss of five Imperial agents, and in the end, all we got was a corpse and a set of inexplicable numbers?"

Colonel Fujita stood up and bowed deeply: "General, I take full responsibility for the fact that this operation failed to achieve its intended results. However..."

"But what?" the chubby guy interrupted coldly. "I heard the operation failed because someone moved the bait beforehand?"

Nantian Yangzi's face turned pale, and she hurriedly stood up: "General, the situation was urgent. There was an unexplained fire inside the Ruikang Apartment, and the French Concession police were causing trouble at the scene. If we didn't urgently move the target, our entire operation could be exposed!"

"I had no choice but to activate the emergency plan."

"Emergency plan?" Chen Yang sneered and interjected, "Miss Nantian, as far as I know, the police arrived because your people staged a fire without authorization?"

Nantian Yangzi suddenly turned to look at Chen Yang: "Section Chief Chen, what do you mean by that? I think the key to the failure of the operation was that your Special Affairs Committee members left their posts without cause."

"Absurd!" Chen Yang slammed his fist on the table and stood up. "My car was attacked by the Red Party, and my men clearly reported that after the shooting, they hoped to receive support from the Special Higher Police. You explicitly stated that you could not send support! Now you're blaming us?"

"What? Is my life so worthless? What's wrong with my men worrying about my safety? They just want to protect me, what's wrong with that?"

Yoko Nanta sneered, "But you, Section Chief Chen, didn't you appear here unscathed? You didn't even lose a single skin. Is this the consequence of protecting you?"

"Even a fool could see that this is a diversionary tactic."

Chen Yang retorted sarcastically, "Miss Nantian, how do you know I wasn't in danger since you weren't there?"

"You've neglected your duties, and now you're trying to shift the blame onto us?"

"How can you do things like this?"

"I now seriously doubt your leadership abilities."

Yoko Nanada was about to retort when the chubby-faced man suddenly slammed his hand on the table: "Enough!"

The conference room fell silent instantly.

The chubby-faced man slowly stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to the crowd: "The Empire is facing a critical turning point on the Chinese battlefield. Shanghai, as the intelligence center of the Far East, cannot be lost. And you..."

He turned abruptly, his gaze sharp as a knife, "yet they're shifting blame for a failed operation!"

Doi-Yuan walked up to Minamida Yoko: "Major Minamida, is it true that you made the decision to change targets without authorization, causing the operation plan to be disrupted?"

Nan Tian gritted his teeth and said, "General, what was the situation at the time?"

"Yes or no?" Doihara's voice suddenly became stern.

“Yes.” Nantian lowered his head. “But I think it was the most appropriate choice at the time.”

Doi-Yuan looked at Colonel Fujita: "Fujita-kun, as the overall commander of the operation, it's a fact that you didn't anticipate various unexpected situations, your contingency plans were inadequate, and your command was flawed."

Fujita Tsuyoshi bowed deeply: "Hai! I am willing to take full responsibility."

Tu Feiyuan looked at Chen Yang and said, "Section Chief Chen, sometimes you need to manage your subordinates better. You need to stay calm when things happen."

"Even if they left half of their manpower on site to flank from behind, this operation will not be a complete failure."

"I know your Special Affairs Committee is not under the command of the Special Higher Police, but since it is an assistance role, I hope you can be more professional next time."

Uh, is this considered a criticism? It sounds more like pointing out the other person's shortcomings? When did Mr. Tufeiyuan become so easy to talk to?

Both Yoko Minamida and Tsuyoshi Fujita showed a hint of doubt in their eyes.

Chen Yang stood up and bowed slightly, saying, "General, I will discipline my subordinates properly when I return."

Tu Feiyuan walked back to his seat, looked around, and slowly sat down: "What's the progress on the numbers that Red Party agent named Lao Zhong shouted before he died, 7662-5362?"

Fujita spoke up: "We are working hard to crack it. Our initial assessment is that it might be some kind of code or coordinates, but we haven't made any breakthroughs yet."

Nantian added, "We have checked all phone numbers, license plate numbers, safe deposit box numbers and other related number combinations within the Shanghai area, and found no matches."

Chen Yang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Is it possible that it was just ramblings before death? Or some kind of misleading statement?"

Tu Feiyuan shook his head: "According to your operation report, this Old Zhong is an experienced agent. In that situation, he wouldn't waste his last chance to say something meaningless."

He paused, then looked around at the three men: "I want you to form a joint investigation team, led by Fujita-kun, with Major Nanta and Director Chen providing full support, to focus on deciphering the meaning of these numbers."
"This is our most important clue right now, and it may be related to the underground network of the Red Party in Shanghai and even the entire East China region."

"Hai!" the three responded in unison. The chubby man waved his hand: "Go down. Remember, the Empire's cause cannot afford any more mistakes."

The three bowed and left the meeting room.

The atmosphere in the corridor remained heavy. Fujita glanced at Nantian and Chen Yang, and said in a deep voice, "Gentlemen, since the General has given the order, let's put aside our differences for now and cooperate."

The first analysis meeting will be held in my office at 3 PM this afternoon. Is that alright?

Nan Tian and Chen Yang exchanged a glance and reluctantly nodded.

“Then,” Fujita Tsuyoshi’s gaze deepened, “before the meeting, please think about the possible meaning of these numbers.”

"I have a feeling that the answer may be more important than we think."

After saying that, he turned and left, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor.

At 3 PM, in the office of Colonel Fujita Tsuyoshi of the Shanghai Joint Special Higher Police Section.

Sunlight streamed through the glass window, casting bright spots of light on the mahogany desk.

Fujita Tsuyoshi, Minami Yoko, and Chen Yang sat around a table with a piece of white paper in the middle that read "7662-5362".

"let's start."

Fujita said slowly, "Everyone, please share your thoughts. Major Minamida, you go first."

Yoko Minami nodded and took out a notebook: "I reviewed all the coded communications related to the Communist Party in the last three months and found that they frequently used numerical codes to represent time, location, and personnel codes."

“根据这个模式，‘7662’可能表示日期和时间——7月6日6点20分，或者7月6日下午2点（14点）。”

She paused, then continued, "And '5362' could be a coordinate or a phone number."

"I had someone check all the phone numbers ending in 5362. There were seventeen in total, distributed across various regions, including some foreign companies and consulates."

Chen Yang shook his head and said, "Major Nantian's line of thinking is too broad. If it really is a telephone number, why add another set of numbers in front of it? I think it might be some kind of book code."

"The book's password?" Fujita raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Chen Yang explained, “In my judgment, the Red Party often uses specific versions of books as codebooks. The numbers may represent page numbers, line numbers, and word positions. For example, the second word on the 6th line of page 76, and the second word on the 6th line of page 53.”

Nantian retorted, "But that requires knowing which book they are using. The Shanghai Central Library has hundreds of thousands of books; it's like finding a needle in a haystack."

Fujita pondered for a moment and said, "What you both say makes sense. But I have a different idea."

He picked up a pen and wrote down two sets of numbers on the paper: "Look, 7662 and 5362. What if we consider them as coordinates?"

"Coordinates?" Nan Tian and Chen Yang asked at the same time.

Fujita nodded: "Shanghai's geographical coordinates are approximately 31 degrees north latitude and 121 degrees east longitude. These numbers may indicate a more precise location. For example, 31.7662 degrees north latitude and 121.5362 degrees east longitude."

Chen Yang shook his head: "Colonel Fujita, this coordinate point is near the mouth of the Yangtze River, almost in the water, so it's unlikely."

"What estuary? How can Section Chief Chen be so sure that these coordinates are near an estuary?" Nan Tian was the first to disbelieve.

Chen Yang sneered, "Major Nantian seems to have forgotten what my job is?"

“I may not be as good as you when it comes to intelligence, but when it comes to topics like coordinates and supply lines.”

"I'm afraid even ten Major Nantians tied together wouldn't be worth a single finger of Chen's."

"Baka!" Nantian was instantly furious.

“Alright,” Fujita said with a headache, “Major Nanta, Section Chief Chen is right, the coordinates are indeed at the estuary.”

"What I mean is, could there be a Red Party liaison boat docked there, or that it frequently lurks there?"

Chen Yang said firmly, "Impossible. Naval patrol boats have always controlled the Yangtze River waters, and I have never received any reports of anything unusual about that location."

Silence fell over the office. The three men stared at the set of numbers, as if they could suddenly speak and reveal their secrets.

Suddenly, Yoko Minami's eyes lit up: "Perhaps it's not mathematical coordinates, but some kind of code?"

“I remember a Communist underground radio station that was busted last year. Their code used numbers to represent personnel codes. 7 might represent the Seventh District, 6 represents the Sixth Group, and 62 might be an agent number.”

Chen Yang sneered, "What about the other set of numbers? 53 and 62? According to this logic, that means Agent No. 62 of the Third Group of the Fifth District? This is too confusing."

Yoko Nanada sighed softly, surprisingly offering no rebuttal.

Indeed, according to her logic, it's impossible to explain what the following set of numbers actually means.

So, what message is Lao Zhong trying to convey to the Communist Party?
(End of this chapter)