Inside a room at the Japanese Consulate in Hong Kong, two middle-aged men sat facing each other, talking in hushed tones.
The slightly younger man was burly and slightly overweight, but his face was pale, his eyes were sunken, and there were a few blood vessels in his eyes. He was clearly in poor health and lacked rest. This man was Suzuki Hidehiko, the military attaché at the consulate.
The person opposite him had a dignified appearance and neat features. If Ning Zhiheng were present, he would recognize him at a glance as Major General Harada Takeo of the General Staff of the Japanese Expeditionary Army in China.
Suzuki Hidehiko was in low spirits at the moment and said respectfully to Harada Takeo, "General, the blueprints are having a significant impact now. The British will definitely send people to keep a close eye on us. Your mission is of great importance and cannot afford to have any problems. Please be extra careful when entering and leaving the consulate."
Harada Takeo also frowned. He had come to Hong Kong on another mission. Because Japan's power in Hong Kong was weak, the only place they could stay was the consulate. So he was temporarily staying here. But he never expected that before he could finish his work, a sudden situation would occur: the blueprints would be lost. This had greatly restricted his movements these past few days.
However, he nodded slightly and said gently, "Suzuki-kun, I'm sorry to have troubled you. I'll be more careful. I've noticed you haven't been resting well these past few days. Is there still no progress on the blueprints?"
Upon hearing this, Hidehiko Suzuki shook his head and said somewhat dejectedly, "We have no clue. The main reason is that we have too few clues and have no direction to search. Last night, I sent people to search the Notting cruise ship, but the operation failed. None of the five people sent out have returned. It seems that they are likely to be in grave danger."
Upon hearing this, Harada Takeo remained silent for a moment, then said softly, "You did act rather rashly. The British probably don't understand our situation for the time being, so they set a trap to lure us into finding the blueprints for them. Now they know our situation."
Harada Takeo's tone was somewhat tactful. Although he was also a high-ranking and powerful figure, Suzuki Hidehiko was, after all, the head of intelligence at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There was no subordinate relationship between the two, so he couldn't say some things too harshly.
Hidehiko Suzuki couldn't help but smile wryly and spread his hands, saying, "I've been receiving several telegrams a day from home, ordering me to retrieve the blueprints as soon as possible. I had no choice but to risk entering the Notting to search, and then..."
The two were silent for a long time before Harada Takeo finally spoke: "After all, this is British territory. We are in a dangerous situation, and our intelligence capabilities are not enough to compete with them. Our actions are also inconvenient. However, you have been operating here for a long time. Haven't you developed some local forces? Or you can use them to do some things for us. To be honest, the British are the most likely to find the blueprints right now. We also need to keep track of their movements."
Hidehiko Suzuki didn't hide anything and answered directly: "Hong Kong is different from the Chinese government. The British are very powerful. They have no scruples about us and have always imposed deep restrictions on us, making it difficult for us to carry out our work in Hong Kong. Over the years, I have spent a lot of effort to develop some external forces. I will get them moving to gather information about the British."
Around noon, Ning Zhiheng and his group disembarked at the Oriental Pier in Hong Kong. Shen Xiang, who had been waiting there, quickly came to greet them.
Although Ning Zhiheng had disguised himself, the changes were not significant. Moreover, Shen Xiang was very familiar with his superior, and Ning Zhiheng was also accompanied by guards such as Ji Hongyi and Zuo Qiang, so Shen Xiang recognized him at a glance.
The two sides didn't exchange many words upon meeting. Shen Xiang picked up the group and put them in the car. Ning Zhiheng's operation in Hong Kong this time was top secret, so Shen Xiang, following Ning Zhiheng's orders, did not take them to Ning Zhiheng's original residence, but arranged for them to stay in another secluded villa.
After assigning tasks to his subordinates, Ning Zhiheng called over Ji Hongyi, Zuo Qiang, and Shen Xiang to discuss the next steps. He directly asked Shen Xiang, "Any news in the last two days?"
Just three days ago, after receiving a report from He Siming, Ning Zhiheng sent a telegram ordering Shen Xiang to closely monitor the situation in Hong Kong.
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiang quickly replied, "Not yet. We have no intelligence sources with the British and we don't know what progress they've made. However, I arranged for personnel to monitor the dock where the Notting is being housed. Just last night, our people reported that a gunfight broke out in the dock in the early hours of the morning, and then a large number of armed personnel left. I estimate that an unknown force clashed with the British. We still need to investigate the specifics."
Ning Zhiheng pondered for a moment and quickly made a judgment: it must be the Japanese. The most anxious and impatient people at the moment are the intelligence department of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are eager to retrieve the blueprints, which is why they might risk entering the dock.
Ning Zhiheng was unsure what the British had gained this time, and he was secretly anxious, but he had no intelligence channels to find out more.
He thought for a moment and then said, "Now I will arrange the specific tasks. First, we need to focus on the movements of the British. They have the home ground, the most resources, and are the most likely to find the blueprints. However, we have no intelligence sources about their movements, so we can only do this through a third party. Hongyi, contact Yongfeng as soon as possible, using the same method you used to contact her. This woman must have her own intelligence channels with the British, otherwise she wouldn't have known so much inside information before."
"Yes! I'll contact her as soon as possible." Ji Hongyi nodded quickly to accept the order. He had often dealt with Yong Feng in the Shanghai intelligence market and they were familiar with each other, which was why Ning Zhiheng had specially brought him to Hong Kong.
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