"Ning Zhiheng!"
Li Zhiqun had certainly heard of this name. This man was a leading figure among the younger generation of the Military Intelligence Bureau, wielding significant power to monitor the military, and was currently the top-ranking spy chief in the Military Intelligence Bureau.
It is said that this person founded the Shanghai Intelligence Section and single-handedly suppressed all of Japan's major intelligence agencies to the point of being unable to raise their heads. Fortunately, this person was transferred back to headquarters more than a year ago, otherwise I would be facing this person now!
"No wonder, I was wondering why there was no trace of the intelligence department in so many assassination attempts in Shanghai over such a long time, so that's why."
Li Zhiqun finally understood the reason and couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate. Otherwise, with the strength of the Shanghai Intelligence Section, if they had gotten involved, he wouldn't have been able to gain the upper hand so easily.
He asked, still somewhat unwilling to give up, "In all this time, apart from that one contact at the flour mill, you haven't had any contact with the Shanghai Intelligence Section at all?"
Wang Hanmin hesitated for a moment before saying, "There should have been another time, but it was a long time ago. It was when I first established the Shanghai station. My telecommunications section chief was in a merchant caravan and was forcibly detained by Japanese soldiers at the checkpoint on his way to Shanghai. I had no choice but to urgently contact Ning Zhiheng and ask him to pull some strings to get him released!"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhiqun quickly pressed, "You mean Ning Zhiheng used his connections to get the Japanese garrison to release the people? Which checkpoint? And when?"
“The Jingshui Bridge in western Shanghai, in mid-June last year,” Wang Hanmin said. He recalled the details carefully. “And the day after I asked Ning Zhiheng for help, the Japanese garrison at the checkpoint released all the caravan members and even returned all the caravan’s goods to us without any damage.”
"So fast! And they even returned all the goods?" Li Zhiqun asked in surprise. He knew how greedy and tyrannical the Japanese garrison was. Back then in the Shanghai area, the Japanese army burned, killed, looted, oppressed the people, and arbitrarily detained and requisitioned goods. They were completely unscrupulous.
While it's possible to smooth things over and bribe the garrison to release the people, getting the local garrison to return the transported goods intact is something that money can't solve. There must have been a powerful force compelling the local garrison to relinquish those valuables. Moreover, the fact that Wang Hanmin sought help from Ning Zhiheng the very next day further demonstrates Ning Zhiheng's influence in Shanghai and his ability to quickly implement his influence. What kind of force could accomplish this?
Li Zhiqun felt that he had grasped something crucial, which was likely the only clue he had to get in touch with the Shanghai Intelligence Section, this extremely mysterious department.
If Ning Zhiheng did this through the intelligence department, it would be an extremely valuable lead. His only worry now is that this lead will be lost because Ning Zhiheng left Shanghai. But no matter what, he must investigate it thoroughly.
At this moment, Wang Hanmin spoke again: "Director Li, I would like to ask, when do you plan to take action against the Shanghai station?"
Li Zhiqun hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I want to take action against the Shanghai station as soon as the battle in Jingze is over. However, it is the French Concession, French territory, and I need to make some preparations."
Li Zhiqun has now identified all the locations in Shanghai, but making an arrest will not be an easy task.
There are nearly a hundred armed special agents at the Shanghai station. This force cannot be easily eliminated; it requires a significant advantage.
More importantly, relations between the Western powers and the Japanese had always been poor, especially after the Japanese sent agents into the concessions, which provoked a strong counterattack from Chinese agents, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Japanese agents in the concessions. As a result, consulates of various countries strongly protested against the Japanese interference in concession affairs and disruption of concession security. They even placed the only two foreign troops stationed in the concessions at the checkpoints on the Suzhou River and demonstrated for several days, leading to extremely tense relations at one point.
Therefore, Li Zhiqun did not dare to openly send a large number of armed personnel to make arrests. Fortunately, most of his men were members of the Green Gang, which could be disguised as a conflict between gangs. However, this required careful planning.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
