“Shaoxing fragrant cake~”
In the early morning, a hawking call with a Shaoxing accent sounded on Tongfu Road in the Shanghai Public Settlement. The voice was soft but hard. The hawkers carrying poles and steamers avoided the sewage on the ground and walked towards the narrow alley.
Liu Gang, who was in the attic, heard the noise. He got up from the bed and walked to the dormer window. He stretched out his hand to open the window and looked out. White smoke came out from the chimneys of each house, and the air was filled with the aroma of food.
However, Liu Gang's attention was not focused on these things. He was condescending, and his eyes quickly scanned the stall owners, passers-by, and residents opening the doors around the alley, comparing them with the faces in his memory.
Since he was ordered to come to Shanghai from Min Province in May 1937, he has lived in this Shikumen house on Tongfu Road. He has become familiar with the backgrounds of the people around him. How many people are there in each family? Local work is all in his head.
Tongfu Road.
Located at the junction of the Public Concession and the French Concession, the rent is expensive, and it is not on a major traffic route. It has a small floating population and few strangers. In this case, it is easy to determine whether someone is watching.
Liu Gang glanced around the outside and didn't find anything unusual. Then he went back to the bed and changed his clothes. He went downstairs to say hello to the landlord, washed up briefly and went out to the restaurant at the intersection to order a bowl of shrimp skin wontons and eat them. got up.
During this period, he did not look around and chatted with the diners calmly. His movements were very natural, without any trace of training, just like an ordinary Shanghai alley resident.
In a residential area two to three hundred meters away from Tongfu Road, several men in black patrolled the streets, and a truck covered with a tarpaulin was filled with heavily armed Japanese military police.
Behind the window on the top floor of a villa in a residential area, Tossada Osako held up a telescope to take in Liu Gang's movements. Then, under the respectful gazes of Ding Mocun and Li Shiqun, he turned around and asked Chen Mingchu a question.
"Chen Sang, you said that Liu Gang is the intelligence team leader of the military command. Are you sure there is no problem? I need to remind you that there is a price to pay for lying."
Chen Mingchu immediately patted his chest and gave his assurance: "Don't worry, Mr. Osako, I just met him last month. I know this guy even if he turns into ashes, and I will never admit his mistake.
He has seven intelligence officers under him, who are mainly responsible for collecting economic and public intelligence in Shanghai. These military agents are good at disguise. Don't be fooled by their appearance. "
Osako Tosada nodded slightly, seemingly very satisfied with Chen Mingchu's response. In fact, it was not that he didn't believe the other party, it was just a clever beating method, at least that's what he thought.
Ding Mocun, who was on the side, saw this and bent down to report: "Director Osaka, according to the intelligence we have received, the target has opened a hardware store on Broadway Road in Hongkou, and the business is not bad.
But it is more than ten miles from Hongkou to Tongfu Road. Why the other party lives so far away is a bit strange. I think it may be because the empire has stricter inspections in Hongkou.
Of course, it is also possible that Liu Gang's subordinates live and operate between Hongkou and Tongfu Road. He needs to monitor and ensure the safety of team members every day. There is no contradiction between the two. "
Ding Mocun is worthy of being an old spy who has been engaged in intelligence work since the 15th year of the Republic of China. He analyzed two pieces of information based on just one residence. It is also true that it is not easy for anyone to get ahead in these years.
"Yoshi, very good."
Osako Tossada extended his thumb to praise the other party, and then glanced at Li Shiqun, who had an unchanging expression, and Hase Ryosuke, who was studying the furnishings in the room, feeling very proud.
He naturally knew that these two people were cooperating, but working in an intelligence agency did not just require money and background. In the final analysis, it still had to depend on one's ability.
As long as Din Mocun makes no mistakes and makes great contributions, and secures his position as Director No. 76, even if Hase has connections in Tokyo, he cannot arbitrarily target a "hero" who has defected to the empire.
Otherwise, the people in the new government will inevitably have the emotion of being sad for the death of a rabbit and hurting its own kind, which will affect the empire's strategy of using China to control China. Osako thought for a while and looked at his watch before thinking.
"Since we have determined that Liu Gang is suspicious, we will act according to the plan. Twenty minutes later, we will secretly arrest the target on his way to the store. After success, we will immediately start the interrogation. We must use the shortest possible time to find out the identities of the remaining team members.
The arrests of other targets will also be carried out simultaneously. The operations in Jinling and Anqing will be handled by the local gendarmerie, striving not to let go of any military intelligence personnel and completely clearing out the government's intelligence forces in the lower reaches of Changjiang. "
In order to wipe out all military commanders in Shanghai District, Jinling District and Anqing Station, Osako Tongzhen contacted the military and launched joint operations in the three places at the same time, without giving military commanders time to react.
This is also the first joint operation with the Japanese army after the establishment of No. 76. Not only the headquarters of the Central China Expeditionary Force, which will be reorganized into the Republic of China Expeditionary Force, but also many people in Tokyo are waiting for the results. This is a major breakthrough in the "China-Japan friendship".
Being able to perform in this kind of task and be remembered by big shots will be extremely beneficial to future development, and Osako Tosada and Din Mocun, as the persons in charge, will definitely benefit the most.
Hearing this, Hase Ryosuke and Li Shiqun looked at each other helplessly. Ever since Dingmo Village found the Casanova Ballroom, the two of them had been stared at and had no chance to do anything.
Not to mention looking for connections to ask for help, even when he went to the toilet, he was "accompanied" by someone. Obviously Osako Tsusada wanted to use this case to establish his leading position in the Special Committee on China and would not allow anyone to undermine it.
While the Japanese and the traitors were scheming, Liu Gang got up after finishing his wontons and returned to his residence. He picked up his briefcase and prepared to go to the hardware store he was running under a disguised identity.
When passing by the door, he subconsciously glanced at the mailbox, then opened his briefcase, flipped through it, and then turned around and walked back. It seemed that he had forgotten something, and Agent No. 76, who was watching from a distance, did not pay attention.
After walking into the house, Liu Gang casually asked the landlord something: "Landlady, did the "Morning News" not arrive this morning? Wouldn't the little red guy who delivered the newspaper forget it?"
The landlady didn't pay attention. She applied makeup and powder and replied nonchalantly: "Yes, it's normal for a child to be careless about things. I'll help you with the reminder tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you."
Liu Gang was immediately shocked when he heard the other party's answer, and almost screamed. He replied casually and went out again. On the surface, it was no different from usual. He still called a rickshaw and headed to Hongkou.
However, his heart was not as peaceful as his appearance. Stopping the delivery of the "Morning News" was an agreed upon early warning method. Once something happened, he must immediately confirm his own safety and look for opportunities to evacuate.
Liu Gang, who was sitting on the back seat of the rickshaw, thought calmly for a while, whispered to the driver to slow down, and then used his peripheral vision to carefully observe the movement nearby and behind him. He really found some unusual signs.
First, the patrolmen who patrolled the road every day disappeared, and then the Caogang members who could be seen everywhere in Pingchang disappeared. All unstable factors were eliminated, which was a harbinger of arrests.
Liu Gang was a little confused as to when he was exposed. His team was only responsible for collecting economic and public information, so the risk was very low. Normally, there should be no danger.
Also, how did Shangfeng know that he was being targeted? He thought about it for a while and still couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. The most important thing now was to evacuate. Other things would come to light when it was safe.
"Excuse me, let's go to the French Concession first." He suddenly leaned over and patted the coachman's shoulder. After speaking, he leaned on the seat and closed his eyes. He slowly adjusted his breathing and accumulated energy bit by bit.
In a street in the distance.
Osako Tosada, Hase Ryosuke, Ding Mocun and Li Shiqun were sitting in a car. Two Japanese were in the back seat, and the co-pilot was Ding Mocun. As for Li Shiqun, he could only play second place as the driver.
The four of them just sat quietly, ignoring each other. The atmosphere was a little awkward. This was not surprising. One party took the credit, and the other was deprived of the credit. It was only natural that they were completely at odds with each other. It was normal for them to have nothing to say to each other.
At this time, a No. 76 agent trotted to the front of the car and reported to several people in a low voice: "Your Excellency Osako, Your Excellency Hase, the rickshaw suddenly turned to the French Concession. Please give instructions if you want to arrest me."
"Nani?"
Osako Tsusada frowned and whispered a question. According to the intelligence, Liu Gang's life and actions were very regular, and his daily itinerary was basically the same.
Why did he change his usual habit and go to the French Concession today? Could it be that the other party discovered the stalker? This was impossible.
In order to ensure the secrecy of the operation, all operators today are conducting fixed-point surveillance. Without close tracking, there is absolutely no chance of being discovered.
It is even more impossible to tip off the information. The other party's residence is under strict surveillance. No one has been found to have had abnormal contact with the target, and there is no phone in the house rented by the target.
Moreover, the premise for tipping off was that the arrest operation was leaked, but after Chen Mingchu was controlled, all insiders, including the Special Committee on China and No. 76, had their freedom restricted.
He was the only one who could move freely, but how could he tell the people of the Republic of China the information? In short, with such strict confidentiality, it was absolutely impossible for the information to be leaked.
Maybe the goal is to go to the French Concession for business matters, so wait until the other party returns to the public concession before taking action, lest the erratic French people detain the person.
After Osako Tosada thought clearly, he ordered Li Shiqun to drive up and follow him from a distance. Although he didn't think there was a big problem, he was still a little worried without seeing the target with his own eyes.
The car started slowly and turned out of the street. A few hundred meters away, a rickshaw drove onto an iron bridge over the Sioux City River. Across the river was the French Concession. There were checkpoints from Japan and France on the bridge.
After the Battle of Songhu, Britain, the United States and other countries handed over the security work along the Sioux City River to the Japanese. The external reason was the shortage of troops. In fact, they were cowardly and used the Japanese to check and balance the French.
Osako Michizada watched from a distance as the rickshaw carrying the target passed the Japanese checkpoint smoothly, and he was not too surprised. The military commanders must have a way to obtain the documents. For example, some non-citizens specialize in this business.
He glanced at Hase Ryosuke next to him with a slight disdain. He was about to say something taunting, but found that the other person stared blankly into the distance with his mouth wide open, his eyes full of shock.
Inexplicably, Osako looked in the direction Hasegu was looking, and happened to see the target who was supposed to be in the car appear beside the iron bridge. He quickly climbed over the fence and jumped into the Sioux City River.
"Baba...Baga! Go and arrest people!!"
A few seconds later, Osako Tsusada, who was in a daze, reacted and roared. But when the agent quickly ran to the river, there was no trace of Liu Gang on the river where the boats were coming.
If Osako was shocked and angry, then Ryosuke Hase and Li Shiqun were surprised and happy. They looked at each other in tacit understanding, knowing that the opportunity to turn over had come.
But they didn't know that not only something went wrong in the arrest of Liu Gang, but there were also more or less problems at several other arrest locations, and many firefights broke out in Shanghai.
(End of chapter)
