Inside the safe house at Shanghai Railway Station, Wang Hanmin was discussing the details of the operation with Duan Tiecheng.
“Brother Tiecheng, I have investigated the history of this library building through my inside contacts these past few days. This building was designed and built by the Japanese in 1932. It was located in the center of the Japanese settlement at that time. It was originally just a library. If we want to understand the specific architectural structure and room layout, there should be two ways.”
First, we can check with the Shanghai Municipal Engineering Bureau. This building is not a military unit, so the blueprints should not be classified. If we are lucky, we should be able to find them.
Secondly, we need to find former employees of this library and get information from them. According to our investigation, all the staff of this library were laid off before the Battle of Shanghai began. After the battle ended, the library remained vacant, and the original staff were not recalled. Most of them are scattered throughout Shanghai. I have already found two names.”
After speaking, Wang Hanmin handed a piece of paper to Duan Tiecheng and then introduced, "Hashimoto Kenta, formerly the library administrator, is now a clerk at Arai Trading Company in Japan. Kuwahara Taisei, formerly the library cleaner, is now a waiter at a Japanese confectionery shop. These two should know the layout of the rooms in this library building."
Duan Tiecheng took the paper and examined it carefully. He nodded and said, "Very good. Now we have a clear understanding of the library's internal structure. Next, we need to find out how many guards are in the building, how they are distributed, and how the security arrangements are."
Upon hearing this, Wang Hanmin was completely bewildered. His intelligence capabilities were indeed far from meeting Duan Tiecheng's requirements. The library building was now filled with Special Higher Police agents, whom he had no way of contacting, nor could he access his own informants. This was entirely beyond his capabilities.
He sighed and said in a deep voice, "Brother Tiecheng, I really can't find out the details. The Japanese have guarded the place very tightly, and I have no way of knowing anything about it. You must understand my predicament."
Although Duan Tiecheng was a specialist sent by headquarters and held a higher position than Wang Hanmin, in charge of the entire operation plan, the specific situation was indeed difficult, and Wang Hanmin was powerless to help.
Duan Tiecheng frowned. He knew Wang Hanmin was telling the truth, but if the operation failed, both he and Wang Hanmin would be severely punished. Given the Director's strictness, there would be no room for leniency. They might end up like Zheng Hongbo. So he had no choice but to do his best.
If we don't understand the situation clearly now, mistakes are bound to happen during the operation. For intelligence work, details are the key to success or failure. Even the slightest oversight could lead to the failure of the operation.
"Hanmin, I'm not forcing you, but if we don't understand these situations, how can we carry out our operation? How many people should I send? When should we act? With so many rooms, where am I supposed to find all this legal tender? Our operation cannot be delayed in the slightest. We must strike decisively. If we hesitate even slightly, we will be surrounded. Hanmin, we have no way out!" Duan Tiecheng said earnestly.
Looking into Duan Tiecheng's eyes, Wang Hanmin swallowed back the words he wanted to say. They really had no way out. If such a major operation failed, what awaited them was either the guns of the Japanese or the punishment of the Director!
"Okay!" Wang Hanmin agreed dejectedly.
“There are always more solutions than problems. Are these Japanese agents made of iron? They will definitely come into contact with outsiders. For example, how do we solve their food problem? How do we solve their accommodation problem? How do we dispose of their garbage? How do they purchase the materials they use to forge documents? These are all issues that can be addressed! Your people need to do their work meticulously; they will always come up with some solutions!” Duan Tiecheng said softly. His experience was indeed very rich, and he put forward several ideas, which made Wang Hanmin’s eyes light up.
“Okay, I’ll think of another way. Give me a few more days,” Wang Hanmin said.
After Sun Xin safely escorted Gan Mingxuan back to the safe house, he immediately reported the incident to Wang Hanmin.
Wang Hanmin was already having a headache over the case of destroying legal tender. Now, upon hearing Sun Xin's report, he was greatly annoyed. Gan Mingxuan, the young master, was arrogant and caused trouble wherever he went. It seemed that he needed to complete this task as soon as possible and get rid of this young master to avoid causing any more trouble.
He immediately summoned Guan Han, the head of the intelligence department.
"How's the investigation at the Lian family's old residence going? We can't delay any longer. That young master Gan is too much of a troublemaker; we have to get rid of him quickly," Wang Hanmin said, rubbing his cheek with a hint of helplessness.
Guan Han quickly replied, "The general situation has been investigated. The Lian family's old house was previously inhabited by a Japanese businessman named Imagawa Hiroshi. However, a few days ago, Imagawa Hiroshi was arrested by the Japanese military police. Later, I heard that he was tortured to death, and all his family property was taken over by the Japanese Fujiwara Company."
“Fujiwara Company?” Wang Hanmin asked curiously. Although he didn’t have much contact with Shanghai’s business community, he had often heard of this name.
"Yes, the Fujiwara Company. This company is currently the most powerful among Japanese business associations. Its chairman, Fujiwara Tomohito, is a member of the Fujiwara family, a top Japanese noble family. It is said that he also has a very deep background in the Japanese military. He is ruthless in his methods. Recently, he has also annexed some smaller business associations to expand his power. I estimate that Imagawa Hiroshi offended the Fujiwara Company, which is why he was arrested by the Japanese Military Police Headquarters and his family was destroyed."
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