Three days later, in an apartment in the French Concession, Ryoko Kitaoka was talking quietly with Kota Nakajima.

Kota Nakajima said, "Team leader, we have been monitoring the Fujiwara Company's cargo transportation process for some time and have made some preliminary findings on their material operations."

"Tell me more about it!"

"Fujiwara Company has a very large volume of material transportation. Their materials arrive in batches every seven days, usually landing at the Queen's Wharf in the French Concession. Each batch is transported to four large warehouses near the wharf. Their turnover speed is very fast, and the goods are transported out in two to three days."

Strangely, only the goods from the two western warehouses were transported to the Fujiwara Company in downtown Shanghai, while the supplies from the two eastern warehouses were transported to Nanshi and then westward through our checkpoints out of Shanghai.

Kitaoka Ryoko asked, "Westward? You didn't follow?"

Kota Nakajima paused, shook his head, and asked cautiously, "Should we follow them?"

Kitaoka Ryoko glared at him and said seriously, "Of course, I need to know where the supplies went. You must investigate every detail, especially what happened after the supplies entered the Chinese-occupied territory. If the Fujiwara Company wants to maximize profits, its smuggling channels must penetrate deep into the Chinese war zone. What I want to know is how deeply they are involved. If they are distributing the goods locally to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, then they are cooperating with Chinese merchants to earn high profits. But if the supplies go directly to the rear of the Chinese-occupied territory, then the meaning is completely different. Being able to pass through the many checkpoints in the Chinese war zone means that Fujiwara Tomohito must have a tacit understanding with certain forces in China. This is very serious. Fujiwara Tomohito's identity is definitely not simple. Do you understand?"

Kota Nakajima looked at Ryoko Kitaoka with surprise. He didn't understand why she would do this, since it meant making an enemy of the highest-ranking officials in Shanghai. However, he still had to obey Kitaoka's orders, so he nodded and agreed, "Yes, I will do my best to track the final destination of these supplies."

Kitaoka Ryoko continued, "Judging from the current situation, at least half of Fujiwara Company's supplies are transported to the Kuomintang-controlled areas of China, and the other half will be supplied to Shanghai and southern Jiangsu. No matter how large their transportation volume is, it is still very tight."

"That's why they forcibly acquired supplies from other smuggling associations to plunder the maximum amount of goods!" Kota Nakajima interjected.

"They're aiding the enemy!" Kitaoka Ryoko said fiercely. "These people have gone mad for money. How much harm will so many controlled supplies cause to the front-line operations if they're transported into the Nationalist-controlled areas? Don't they realize that?"

Seeing that Kitaoka Ryoko was somewhat agitated, Nakajima Kota comforted her, saying, "Team leader, with the capabilities of the Chinese government, even if these supplies are transported in, it won't change anything. Our army is winning victory after victory, and they will ultimately be futile."

"Damn it!" Kitaoka Ryoko scolded sternly. "We've spent so much effort imposing an embargo on the Chinese resistance government, yet the Fujiwara Company is taking advantage of soaring prices in the Nationalist-controlled areas to rake in money like crazy. This is blatant treason!"

Although Kota Nakajima disagreed, he still bowed and listened attentively to the teachings, not daring to show any disapproval.

Kitaoka Ryoko was clearly not confident enough. In fact, the biggest smugglers in Japan at this time were not the Fujiwara Company in Shanghai, but the major chambers of commerce in the Beijing-Tianjin area of ​​North China. However, the North China Area Army supplemented this by issuing military scrip, which was a combination of buying and looting. Merchants in the Chinese Nationalist-controlled areas suffered a lot of losses, but it is undeniable that a large amount of controlled goods still entered the Chinese Nationalist-controlled areas. As for who ended up in their hands, it is unknown.

Both Kitaoka Ryoko and Nakajima Kota were transferred from North China and were well aware of these situations. They were just like the pot calling the kettle black. In fact, what Kitaoka Ryoko wanted to know was not these things. What she wanted to know was how deep Fujiwara Tomohito's relationship with the Kuomintang-controlled area was.

She knew perfectly well that smuggling goods alone posed no threat whatsoever to a powerful figure like Fujiwara Tomohito; she needed to find evidence that was far more threatening.

Kitaoka Ryoko composed herself and then asked, "Anything else discovered?"

Kota Nakajima nodded and said, "I have found out through some means that the two warehouses on the east side are the dedicated warehouses of two Chinese trading companies, one called Huifengyuan Trading Company and the other called Zhonghui Trading Company. I also bribed an official of the French Concession Tax Bureau and found out that these two companies do not have any trade with other companies in the French Concession. In other words, these two Chinese companies are the dedicated downstream companies of Fujiwara Company. They are just shell companies used to cover up their activities."

Kitaoka Ryoko had anticipated this, as it was an essential part of the smuggling route. She nodded and said, "Fujiwara Tomohito certainly wouldn't dare let others know that he was directly involved in smuggling into the Chinese Nationalist-controlled areas. Necessary cover-ups are still necessary. What you need to find out now is who is handling these matters. Such a large volume of freight transportation, warehouse entry and exit management, vehicle arrangement and dispatch, etc., this is not a simple matter. Fujiwara Tomohito must have deployed people in the French Concession to handle these matters. You need to find out that as well."

Kota Nakajima nodded and said, "Don't worry, I've already assigned someone to guard the warehouse every day, secretly monitoring everything. They'll find something."

Kitaoka Ryoko repeatedly warned, "You must be extremely careful in your actions. You must not alert them. Fujiwara Tomohito is no simple man. With his power, he can easily deploy sufficient forces to protect the transportation routes here. If they discover you, it's hard to say what might happen!"

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