Even Huo Yueze, who was sitting to the side, was taken aback. From Anderson's performance, it was clear that what the station chief said was true. However, the intelligence work of the intelligence station was all handled by the station chief himself. Where did the station chief get his intelligence from?
It seems the station chief must have intelligence channels in the Japanese-occupied area north of the Yangtze River. After all, Shanghai was a major base for the Japanese Central China Theater, and a lot of important intelligence could be obtained from there.
Anderson hesitated for a long time before slowly saying, "Mr. Lin, this is just your personal guess."
"The target of our attack is Xuzhou!" Ning Zhiheng continued.
This time, Anderson was no longer calm. The other party really knew the contents. He unconsciously put the intelligence in his hand back into the file bag.
Ning Zhiheng continued, "Mr. Anderson, your intelligence isn't exclusive, which greatly diminishes its value. However, I'd like to know what other information in this intelligence is still valuable to us?"
Anderson said with some disappointment, "It's a brief record of a Japanese military conference, and the content is very detailed!"
Ning Zhiheng pressed further, "Do you know the Northern Advance Army's attack route, timing, unit number, firepower, and so on?"
At this point, Ning Zhiheng had seized the initiative in the negotiations. Anderson's trump card had lost much of its value, and he had lost his confidence, which made his words less confident.
“I have the route and timing of the Central China Army’s attack, but I need time to get detailed information such as troop numbers and firepower. If Mr. Lin needs it, I can think of a way.” Anderson also roughly knew what Ning Zhiheng needed. The other party had obviously obtained a general idea, but needed more specific information.
Ning Zhiheng naturally knew that after the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Xuzhou and the historically famous Battle of Taierzhuang would take place, but the specific time and process were completely unclear. Today, he had only deliberately tricked this intelligence broker, but he did not expect the effect to be so good. Anderson immediately lost his confidence.
Ning Zhiheng smiled and said, "Mr. Anderson, your information is very time-sensitive. The value of it will drop by one point every day it is sold later. Moreover, it is not exclusive and has no uniqueness. I will not make an offer to buy it outright. Therefore, I think the offer of 10,000 pounds is too high. I propose 5,000 pounds."
Anderson's lips twitched involuntarily. This was a 50% cut in half. He quickly said, "This is impossible, Mr. Lin. I absolutely cannot accept this offer!"
After saying this, he made a move to get up and see the guest out, but Ning Zhiheng smiled and said, "Mr. Anderson, please be patient and let me finish. It is very difficult for the Japanese Central China Army to deploy a large force to attack Xuzhou. There are only a few roads. As long as we conduct reconnaissance from multiple directions, we can still find their direction of attack."
Furthermore, as we just mentioned, no one else is interested in this intelligence except us. Frankly speaking, no one in all of Shanghai will offer a higher price than us. So, I'll compromise again: six thousand pounds! Also, we'll have priority to purchase any further information you gather from your reconnaissance efforts: four thousand pounds! How about that? We're very sincere!"
Four thousand pounds left! Anderson's heart skipped a beat. That would still bring the total to ten thousand pounds. As for the specific unit numbers, personnel, and firepower, it wouldn't be difficult for him to collect these details as a mole. The fact that the other party was still willing to pay such a high price under these circumstances showed that they were indeed very sincere.
Moreover, the other side clearly has other intelligence channels now. The intelligence that he thought was exclusive has actually been used by competitors. He can't let his intelligence go to waste. After careful consideration, Anderson was no longer willing to hesitate.
“Very good, Mr. Lin, the deal is done at your price!” Anderson nodded in agreement.
Both parties were satisfied with the outcome. After the transaction was completed and the money and goods were settled, Ning Zhiheng continued, "Anderson, as you know, we need a lot of intelligence about the Japanese, in any aspect. You've seen our capabilities, and the price will definitely satisfy you. I hope we can continue to cooperate."
Anderson readily agreed. In the intelligence market, top-secret information is hard to find, but suitable buyers are even harder to find. Some top-secret information, once obtained, will quickly depreciate in value over time if a suitable buyer cannot be found immediately, until it becomes worthless.
Just like the intelligence Ning Zhiheng has now, the sooner China obtains it, the sooner it can deploy its forces based on the intelligence's contents. It can choose suitable blocking locations on the Japanese army's offensive route, dispatch sufficient troops based on the enemy's troop strength and firepower, and choose appropriate tactics. In short, the more detailed the intelligence, the greater the success rate of the blocking operation.
However, as time went on and the later it got, even if the intelligence was obtained, China would not have enough time to deploy blocking troops, and the intelligence would be completely worthless.
This is another important reason why Phillips wanted to bring Huo Yueze into the Shanghai intelligence network. So far, in the Shanghai intelligence market, due to their stance, they have almost excluded the Japanese, and most of the intelligence is aimed at the Japanese. Therefore, the Wuhan government has become the best buyer, and Huo Yueze has timely demonstrated sufficient financial resources and strength, so he has naturally become a new favorite of these intelligence dealers.
"Mr. Lin, please rest assured on this point. I will focus on gathering intelligence about the Japanese and inform you as soon as possible!" Anderson nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After Ning Zhiheng and Huo Yueze left by car, Huo Yueze said sincerely, "This guy was so stubborn about the price before, but you, station chief, had a way with him, cutting it in half right away. By the way, are the Japanese really not going to attack Wuhan, but instead turning their attention to attacking Xuzhou?"
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