Ning Zhiheng was not satisfied with Moriki Keio's answer and pressed further, "Is that all? Moriki-kun, your answer has not satisfied me. I'm warning you, we know far more about the intelligence network than you think. I think you're a smart man!"
Moriki Keisei's heart skipped a beat, and he had no choice but to continue, "In the past few days, headquarters has ordered the members of the Mountain Magpie Team to collect as much intelligence as possible about you, especially about your recent whereabouts and activity patterns."
"So what intelligence have you gathered?" Ning Zhiheng pressed.
“No, your whereabouts are uncertain, and we haven’t gathered any valuable information.” Moriki Keio hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
Ning Zhiheng sneered. Two days ago, Nie Tianming and Zhao Jiang spread the news of his attendance at the celebration banquet throughout the Military Intelligence Bureau. So much time has passed, and every department must have heard about it. How could the four Military Intelligence Bureau spies in the Mountain Magpie Group not have heard a word? Senmu Huisheng is still dishonest and dares to conceal the news, trying to get away with it.
"Mr. Moriki, you have disappointed me greatly. If I am not mistaken, you have already received the message and notified the Wuhan headquarters that I will be attending a celebratory banquet for my officers tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. at the Juxianlou Hotel!"
Ning Zhiheng's words, though not loud, struck like a thunderbolt, causing Senmu Huisheng's eyes to widen as he stared intently at Ning Zhiheng. A flash of insight struck him, and he suddenly realized what was happening. He couldn't help but shout, "This is a trap, a trap that was set up long ago!"
“You’re right, this is indeed a trap. Your Wuhan headquarters ordered an armed group to assassinate me and ordered the Mountain Magpie Group to investigate my whereabouts. Did you not expect this? This is a trap I set for them. In just one more day, they will all fall into my hands.”
"You're being too dishonest!" Ning Zhiheng said, then waved for the interrogators to put Moriki Keiyo back into the electric chair. Moriki Keiyo was so frightened that he begged for mercy repeatedly, as he simply could not endure such inhumane torture.
"I will cooperate, I will definitely cooperate. Please believe me, I will answer all your questions truthfully. Please give me another chance!"
Ning Zhiheng looked at Moriki Keisei's current physical condition, which was really bad. He was so weak that he couldn't even breathe properly. If he were to be put on the electric chair, he wouldn't survive this time.
So he nodded and said again, "Mr. Moriki, don't waste my trust in you anymore. Now answer me honestly, what else do you know about the other intelligence groups in Chongqing? Or rather, how can we find the other intelligence groups? Mr. Moriki, I want you to understand one thing: the fact that we were able to find you means that we have a sufficient understanding of the intelligence network. If your account is different from what I know, you know very well what the consequences will be."
At this point, Moriki Kei no longer dared to conceal anything. Just as the other party had said, these Chinese agents did indeed have sufficient knowledge of the intelligence network.
He didn't know how much information the other party actually possessed, and if it didn't match what he had described, he would face even more cruel torture.
"I only have information about the five intelligence groups I am in charge of, and I really don't know anything about the other intelligence groups."
Seeing Ning Zhiheng's unfriendly gaze, Moriki Kei quickly continued, "However, the intelligence network in the Chongqing area is roughly divided into four districts. The four intelligence chiefs are myself, and there is another person named Matsui Kensuke, who is a senior military agent and is in charge of armed operations. I don't know exactly how much power he controls."
There was also a woman named Chiemi Tanikawa, a high-ranking spy who had been transferred from the Special Higher Police. She was in charge of infiltration and defection work, and the intelligence she controlled was probably comparable to mine.
The last one was Matsuda Jiro, who was in charge of weather observation and meteorological monitoring, and he had two or three observation teams under his command.
"Observation groups?" Ning Zhiheng pondered for a moment, then quickly understood the role of these observation groups.
Originally, Chongqing was located on the edge of the Sichuan Basin, surrounded by mountains on all sides, and at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Jialing River. The river water evaporated and did not easily disperse, and the humid air was saturated, making it very easy to condense into fog. Therefore, there was foggy weather for almost half the year, hence the nickname "Fog City".
It was precisely because of this kind of weather that the Japanese bombing of Chongqing had a very unfavorable effect. The Japanese military airfield in Hankou was more than 800 kilometers away from Chongqing. The Japanese bombers had to make a long run to reach Chongqing, but once they encountered heavy fog, they could not see the scenery below. Due to fuel shortages, they had to return to base in time. So they had to drop their bombs haphazardly. Sometimes the bombs were dropped on uninhabited wastelands, mountains, or even rivers, which could not form an effective strike and wasted fuel and ammunition.
To this end, the Japanese military headquarters specially arranged for several observation teams to infiltrate Chongqing. Their mission was to provide meteorological information and coordinates for Japanese bombers. When they observed and determined that there would be no fog, they would send a telegram to the headquarters in Wuhan. Only then would Japanese bombers take off from Wuhan and fly long distances to bomb Chongqing. It can be said that because the fog formed a natural barrier for Chongqing, without the help of these observation teams, it would have been extremely difficult for the Japanese to effectively bomb Chongqing.
Throughout the War of Resistance against Japan, Chongqing was frequently bombed by Japanese bombers, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and injuries. The economic losses were incalculable. Therefore, from another perspective, the existence of these observation groups was even more dangerous than other intelligence groups.
Ning Zhiheng gritted his teeth inwardly. He had to eliminate these observation groups as soon as possible. With them around, it was as if the Japanese bombers had an extra pair of eyes, which posed a great threat to the security of the Chongqing area.
Moriki Keio continued, "Besides that, there should be another mysterious group of high-ranking agents under the sole control of headquarters. They are said to have been taken over from the Shanghai Special Higher Police. These agents are all highly valuable and have special identities, but I don't know the specifics. As for whether there are any other groups, I really don't know."
Moriki Keio was the highest-ranking spy chief in the Chongqing intelligence network, a senior agent second only to Takasaki Shigeo and others. Now, abandoning his principles, he simply revealed everything, disclosing the entire network's operations in Chongqing to avoid torture.
Ning Zhiheng nodded in agreement. It was clear that Moriki Kei hadn't hidden anything; he had even mentioned Tanikawa Chiemi, the woman he had previously been intimate with.
Moreover, Chiemi Tanikawa infiltrated Chongqing after him, yet Keio Moriki still knew of her existence, as well as the identities of the other two spy chiefs. It seems that his rank was much higher than Chiemi Tanikawa's, and he knew far more information than she did.
How can we find them?
Moriki Keio shook his head helplessly and said, "Please believe me, I really can't do this. We are each responsible to headquarters and there is no horizontal communication between us. I have no way of knowing where they are hiding."
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