The special agents that Kitaoka Ryoko mentioned had always been a thorn in Sagawa Taro's side and the most threatening enemy force to the Japanese military in Shanghai. Sagawa Taro had long wanted to eliminate them as soon as possible, but they were like a dragon that could only appear and disappear without a trace, and it was impossible to find their whereabouts.
Kitaoka Ryoko nodded in confirmation, "Just a few days ago, Iwai Nosuke reported to me that he had found a suspicious person. This person is Rong Hao, the owner of the Da Dong Gong Ballroom on Avenue Joffre in the French Concession. Our investigation found that Rong Hao opened the Da Dong Gong Ballroom after the Battle of Shanghai, which is now a year and a half ago. Half a year ago, our Shanghai intelligence station was just cracked and all of them withdrew from Shanghai. According to your information, the new Shanghai intelligence station was also established half a year ago. In other words, Rong Hao should be a member of the special agent unit led by Ning Zhiheng. The timing matches up. You can also tell from their fighting style. This attack, from luring Iwai Nosuke into the trap, to the end of the interrogation and the completion of the attack, took no more than two hours. The other side acted swiftly and quickly, and their combat power was extremely strong. Currently, only this unit in Shanghai has such execution capabilities, so this must have been done by them!"
Sagawa Taro, his hand on his forehead and a hint of hatred flashing in his eyes, said to Kitaoka Ryoko, "Go and send someone to check the Da Dong Palace Ballroom immediately. We will also put pressure on the French consulate through the military to make them hand over Ronghao."
"Yes, I'll send someone to check right away." Kitaoka Ryoko nodded in agreement, but quickly gave a bitter smile. "However, I reckon it's already deserted. Given the style of this Chinese intelligence team, they wouldn't leave us with such an obvious loophole."
Taro Sagawa knew perfectly well that even if the French consulate knew Rong Hao was a Chinese agent, they wouldn't hand him over, as doing so would offend the Chongqing government. However, Japan's actions were also a warning to the French consulate, demonstrating that they were not completely unaware of these Chinese agents; it was merely a gesture.
Sagawa Taro began, "It seems your undercover team isn't making much progress. You know that the Chinese agents in the concession are far more powerful than we imagined, and the safety of the Imperial agents is hard to guarantee. Do you still want to continue the operation?"
Hearing that Taro Sagawa intended to withdraw the undercover agents, Ryoko Kitaoka was unwilling to give up. She hurriedly said, "Section Chief, please give me some more time. Although this operation failed, we still managed to get a glimpse of this group of agents. Also, my other undercover team has made some progress. Currently, Yoko Chiba has gotten close to Chen Ting, the big boss of the Green Gang. I think it won't be long before we can successfully control this gang's power for our own use. This is a good opportunity."
Sagawa Taro knew about Chiba Yoko, the woman Kitaoka Ryoko had mentioned. She was a female agent Kitaoka Ryoko had brought from North China, a female spy handpicked by the Special Higher Police headquarters. She was highly trained and one of Kitaoka Ryoko's trump cards. For men, she was indeed a rare beauty. Sagawa Taro had only met her once. As soon as he arrived in Shanghai, Kitaoka Ryoko sent her to operate in the French Concession, and it seemed to be having some effect.
"Tell me the specifics!" Sagawa Taro said in a deep voice.
"Hi, Chiba Daiko is using the alias An Ruwei. I arranged for her to enter the Shulan Book House in the French Concession, and she quickly became the top courtesan. Chen Ting's eldest son, Chen Jiaping, is a regular at this book house, and their relationship is progressing smoothly. Chen Jiaping has already redeemed her. In the next operation, I plan to eliminate Chen Ting and promote Chen Jiaping. With Chiba Daiko's abilities, controlling Chen Jiaping will not be a problem. At that time, we can completely control this Green Gang force. Section Chief, Chen Ting is one of the top leaders in the Green Gang, with a large number of followers. Many of the Green Gang's minor leaders in Shanghai are his protégés, and even the chief Chinese detective in the French Concession, Lei Daming, is his student. If we can use such a force, I can say with certainty that the Chinese spies hidden in the concession will have nowhere to hide. Finding them will not be difficult for us," Kitaoka Ryoko reported.
"Yoshi, Team Leader Kitaoka, well done! Haha, sometimes, the effect of a woman is worth a thousand troops. The military intelligence department has always wanted to control the Green Gang in Shanghai. They spent countless resources and energy to control Lu Tianqiao, but he was killed in the street by Ning Zhiheng as soon as he showed his face. This move of killing the chicken to scare the monkey has deterred them. After that, the leaders of the Green Gang dared not contact us again. This made that guy Uemura lose face. Now, if our Special Higher Police can directly control such a large force, it will play a very important role in controlling the situation in Shanghai."
Taro Sagawa was very satisfied with this, so he stopped mentioning the withdrawal of the undercover agents, which made Ryoko Kitaoka breathe a sigh of relief.
Sagawa Taro then asked, "Has the Eclipse Project already begun?"
Kitaoka Ryoko hurriedly replied, "Our technicians are currently debugging the printing press. This batch of legal tender is only missing a few final steps, mainly the coding printing and the final engraving printing on the reverse side. This involves many aspects, including pigment formulation and engraving production, among other things. Experts from China need to be brought to Shanghai to conduct research and development for these steps, which will take a considerable amount of time."
Sagawa Taro nodded slightly. He wasn't familiar with the process of making legal tender, and besides, his work was extremely demanding, leaving him no energy to oversee every step of the Eclipse Project. He said, "Team Leader Kitaoka, the Eclipse Project is now under your full responsibility. You can utilize all the resources of the Special Higher Police, including all personnel, to ensure the project's completion. As for the experts needed, prepare an application form, which I will submit to the military so they can contact domestic printing and engraving experts. In short, if the Eclipse Project is successfully completed, I will personally recommend you for credit. I believe Chief Tsuchihara will once again be proud of you!"
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