"What is the relationship between Hou Xiangchen and Zhang Fangwen?" Ning Zhiheng asked.
His intuition told him that Zhang Fangwen had a special identity and must be an important figure in the Japanese spy organization. She was Ning Zhiheng's primary target for capture.
"Zhang Fangwen, whose real name is Tanikawa Chiemi, codename Silver Fox, is a senior agent of the Special Higher Police and Hou Xiangchen's superior."
Ning Zhiheng was puzzled upon hearing this. He asked in a deep voice, "Hou Xiangchen is the leader of the Camel Hump Team. He should be directly responsible to the Wuhan headquarters. How come he has an upstream contact? What exactly is Tanikawa Chiemi's identity?"
Yu Cheng continued to explain: "The spy organization in Chongqing is slightly different in structure from the spy organization we cracked in Nanjing before. They also work in the form of intelligence teams, but because the spy organization in Chongqing has developed too rapidly in the past year or so, there are dozens of intelligence teams alone. These teams have a large number of people, Japanese spies and traitors are mixed together, and because the Wuhan headquarters is too far away from Chongqing, etc., it makes the management of the intelligence network very difficult. Therefore, they have divided the intelligence work into several intelligence zones according to different priorities. Each zone has an intelligence chief in charge, and this intelligence chief is responsible to the Wuhan headquarters."
Ning Zhiheng suddenly realized: "Tanikawa Chiemi is the head of the intelligence district?"
"Yes, Chiemi Tanikawa is in charge of recruiting and arranging undercover agents. The Hump Team was transferred to Chiemi Tanikawa's leadership a little over a month ago, so Chiemi Tanikawa has contacted him several times this month and assigned him tasks."
Hou Xiangchen didn't know much about Tanikawa Chiemi, only that she was a veteran special agent, one of the top agents of the Japanese Special Higher Police before the war, who later transferred to the military intelligence department. She was known for her secrecy and caution; he had only heard of her before, never seen her in person, and this was the first time he had actually met her in person.
This is absolutely a huge fish of immense value!
Upon hearing this, Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but clench his fists, inwardly lamenting the loss. Such an important intelligence chief had slipped away right under his nose, and he was determined not to let her escape again this time.
Ning Zhiheng said, "Since Tanikawa Chiemi is his superior, they must have a way to communicate. Lure her out; we absolutely cannot let her escape this time."
It's easy to imagine that Chiemi Tanikawa, as an intelligence agent, was responsible for leading far more than just the Hump Group. Capturing Chiemi Tanikawa would undoubtedly lead to the capture of at least a large number of Japanese agents, which would be enough to create a huge hole in the Japanese intelligence network in Chongqing. Such a temptation would be impossible for anyone to resist.
That's how intelligence work works: once an important enemy figure is captured, all the people and organizations he comes into contact with will inevitably suffer significant losses and setbacks.
Just like the Shanghai station back then, the capture of Cui Guangqi directly led to the loss of more than half of the elite personnel of the entire intelligence station overnight. The Shanghai station was in a life-or-death situation, and all the remaining personnel were forced to evacuate Shanghai urgently. The station chief, Zheng Hongbo, is still imprisoned in the Military Intelligence Bureau and his fate is unknown. The Shanghai station completely collapsed, which shows the cruelty of intelligence work.
Ning Zhiheng's current task is to do everything in his power to capture Tanikawa Chiemi, making her the Japanese version of Choi Kwang-ki and dealing a heavy blow to the Japanese spy organization.
Yu Cheng reported: "Hou Xiangchen confessed that as long as an advertisement about Yuanze Trading Company is published on the third page of the Shudu Daily, and the content of the advertisement is in the interrogation record, Tanikawa Chiemei will take the initiative to show up and contact Hou Xiangchen. This is the best opportunity for us to arrest Tanikawa Chiemei."
Very good!
Ning Zhiheng couldn't help but stand up and pace excitedly back and forth in the office, carefully considering the information Yu Cheng had reported. However, he quickly calmed down and realized that things were not as optimistic as he had imagined.
Was the advertisement published in the Shudu Daily really a signal to contact Chiemi Tanikawa? No, it could also be a warning signal sent by Hou Xiangchen to Chiemi Tanikawa. Only Hou Xiangchen himself knows the truth.
Logically speaking, Hou Xiangchen had already submitted, and his life was in his hands, so he shouldn't lie or hide anything. However, Tanikawa Chiemi's identity was too important, and Ning Zhiheng dared not take any chances. He had to confirm the authenticity of this communication signal.
Thinking of this, he ordered Cheng, "We cannot publish this advertisement based solely on Hou Xiangchen's one-sided statement. If Hou Xiangchen has ulterior motives and uses us to send a warning signal to Tanikawa Chie, ultimately causing this Silver Fox to escape, then we will become a laughing stock!"
"Go immediately and find all the newspapers in the Shudu Daily from the past month. Tanikawa Chie and Hou Xiangchen met multiple times during this month, so there should be similar or identical advertisements in previous issues. I need to verify the veracity of his testimony."
Upon hearing this, Yu Cheng couldn't help but admire him inwardly. When he first obtained this information during his interrogation, he was overjoyed and focused solely on capturing Tanikawa Chiemi, an important figure. He hadn't even considered verifying the authenticity of the information.
However, Ning Zhiheng was able to calmly face all of this and quickly realized the uncertainties involved. Indeed, if Hou Xiangchen really used a self-inflicted injury to deceive him and then used his own hand to warn Silver Fox, then he would really regret it in the end.
"Yes, I'll go and check the Chengdu Daily right away." Yu Cheng stood at attention, accepted the order, and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute!" Ning Zhiheng called out to him, then looked at his watch and frowned at Yu Cheng, asking, "It's already two in the morning. Where do you think you can find all the old newspapers from a month ago? You know Hou Xiangchen has been beaten half to death by you and is barely clinging to life. He definitely won't be able to show his face after dawn. You only have four to five hours. Have you thought about what to do?"
Ning Zhiheng's idea was to act quickly. He was well aware of the ruthlessness of intelligence work. Sometimes, even a second's delay could lead to drastically different results. He couldn't be sure if the disappearance of Ji Anmin and Hou Xiangchen would affect the continued investigation of the case tomorrow, so all the work had to be done without delay and everything had to be resolved today!
Yu Cheng was stunned upon hearing this. He was also extremely anxious. Under Ning Zhiheng's direction, the case was progressing too fast. From the secret arrest of Ji Anmin yesterday noon to now, only fourteen hours had passed, and the Camel Peak team had solved everything. Now Ning Zhiheng was going to lure and capture Tanikawa Chiemi. All these actions were dazzling, and Yu Cheng couldn't keep up at all. He was still completely confused about the overall plan. He was now relying entirely on Ning Zhiheng's command. When Ning Zhiheng asked him a question, he didn't know how to answer for a moment!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
