The "Director" Yu Guangyou was referring to was Huang Xianzheng. He and Wei Liangbi took Ning Zhiheng into a special car, and the group quickly drove towards downtown Chongqing.
An hour later, they finally arrived at Huang Xianzheng's official residence. Ning Zhiheng got out of the car and entered the residence, where he saw Huang Xianzheng, who had been waiting for his return, pacing anxiously back and forth in the living room.
Ning Zhiheng quickly walked a few steps to Huang Xianzheng, stood at attention, and saluted, saying, "Chief, Zhiheng is here to report for duty!"
Huang Xianzheng felt a sense of relief when he saw Ning Zhiheng appear. He grabbed Ning Zhiheng's hand and said with a smile, "Zhiheng, you're finally back safely. It's too dangerous to travel by air now. I was on tenterhooks as soon as I received your telegram. Seeing you in person puts my mind at ease. In the future, it's best not to fly unless necessary. It's too worrying!"
Now that the airspace is under the control of Japanese aircraft, there is no need for them to travel by plane; even high-ranking military and political officials avoid taking flights.
Ning Zhiheng nodded in agreement, saying, "There's no other way. Headquarters has sent two telegrams urging me to return to Chongqing as soon as possible. Time waits for no one. I'm sorry to have worried you. It's already so late, and I've disturbed your rest!"
Huang Xianzheng waved his hand, and Yu Guangyou withdrew. Ning Zhiheng and Wei Liangbi followed Huang Xianzheng into the study.
After the three of them sat down, Huang Xianzheng said to Ning Zhiheng, "It's no wonder that headquarters has been urging you so many times. This time the situation is indeed very urgent. Japanese spies in the Chongqing area are becoming more and more rampant, and the intelligence department is not handling it well, so there has been no progress for a long time."
Seven days ago, even the Chairman's official residence in Huangshan was bombed by Japanese planes. If it weren't for the quick reaction of the generals at the meeting, there could have been a major disaster. The Director and I were severely reprimanded. This time, we must quickly eliminate the Japanese spies operating in the Chongqing area. There was no other way, which is why I asked you to return to Chongqing as soon as possible.
The telegram from headquarters was rather brief, only ordering Ning Zhiheng to return to Chongqing as soon as possible to eliminate Japanese spies, but it did not mention the bombing of the Huangshan official residence. Now, hearing Huang Xianzheng's account, Ning Zhiheng was immediately shocked.
He asked in bewilderment, "Is the situation in Chongqing really that bad?"
Wei Liangbi explained from the side: "Every day, people fleeing from the country are flowing into Chongqing, and the city is expanding every day. Refugee camps and slums are being built one after another. The terrain is also complex and changeable, making it difficult to manage systematically. The intelligence department arrested several spies, and they confessed that in the past year, the Japanese have sent many groups of spies to infiltrate Chongqing under the guise of refugees. They are now distributed in all walks of life."
"Sigh! Chongqing isn't Nanjing after all. In fact, even our Military Intelligence Bureau has only been stationed here for less than a year, and many things haven't been sorted out yet. To put it bluntly, Chongqing is a giant sieve right now, leaking information everywhere. The Second Intelligence Division, responsible for internal counter-espionage, is in a complete mess. Gu Zhengqi has repeatedly requested that you take charge of counter-espionage, but there was no other way. Otherwise, do you think he would be so kind?"
Ning Zhiheng was shocked to hear this. He hadn’t expected that the situation in Chongqing would be so serious after only a year away. No wonder the two bureau chiefs had to return to Chongqing to suppress spies, even though they had to give him $400,000 a year.
However, Ning Zhiheng also had his own trump cards. He was confident that with the resources he had, such as the list and photos of the six Japanese spies provided by He Siming, as well as the photo of Takasaki Shigeo, the main person in charge of intelligence work in the Chongqing area by the Japanese military, he could achieve some results in a short period of time.
He turned to Huang Xianzheng and said, "Chief, since that's the case, I'm naturally duty-bound to help. But what exactly was the agreement this time? Is it that the Second Operations Division will act on its own, or will all the departments work together?"
Huang Xianzheng pondered for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Zhiheng, it depends on how confident you are. If you are confident that you can make a difference in this operation, then I would like to let the Second Operations Division take charge of the work. Don't be fooled by the Chairman's stern reprimand this time; it is actually an opportunity. It shows that the Chairman attaches great importance to our operation. If we can perform well in this operation, it will be of great significance to us!"
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