That very night, Ning Zhiheng sent the information he had obtained to the Second Operations Division. The next morning, Wei Liangbi rushed to the Bureau Headquarters to request an audience with the Bureau Chief.
In the office, the bureau chief was reviewing the documents in his hand. Looking at Zhao Ziliang and Bian Ze in front of him, he asked in a deep voice, "Have the personnel to be sent to Qingdao been decided?"
Having received a report from Ning Zhiheng, it was already known that the tripartite talks would be held in Qingdao, which gave the Director a real headache.
Because Qingdao was the city most strictly controlled by the Japanese, it not only housed a large number of Japanese expatriates, but also had the Japanese North China Army and Navy stationed there. It could be said that in terms of Japanese control, it was even stronger than Shanghai.
More importantly, the Military Intelligence Bureau's strength in Qingdao was far less than that in Shanghai. As the front line of intelligence stations for both China and Japan, Shanghai had deployed a large number of elite troops. The Military Intelligence Bureau's most mysterious and combat-effective intelligence department, the Shanghai Intelligence Section, had been operating in Shanghai and had never suffered a defeat.
However, the situation in Qingdao was far worse. The personnel of the Qingdao intelligence station were almost wiped out at the beginning of the battle with the Japanese. The entire Qingdao station hid in the suburbs and barely managed to survive. Later, with the support of the headquarters, it gradually recovered some strength, but it had almost no intelligence activity capability in Qingdao.
Even the Director himself felt it was impossible to put them in charge of disrupting the tripartite talks, which is why he decided to send an elite team of agents from headquarters to carry out the mission.
Zhao Ziliang nodded and said, "It's all settled. The action section chief, Luo Yuze, will lead a team of forty elite members to form a special operations team. They are just waiting for your orders and are ready to depart at any time."
"Luo Yuze?"
The director pondered for a moment. He knew this person; he was an old man from the Nanjing Military Intelligence Bureau and a confidant of Zhao Ziliang. He was quite capable.
The director finally nodded and said, "Alright, that's him. Have them head to Qingdao as soon as possible, lie in wait, and await further instructions. I think news should be coming from Shanghai as well."
"Yes, I'll arrange it right away!"
Zhao Ziliang nodded in agreement, but then asked, "Director, does the special operations team need to maintain contact with the Qingdao station? The Japanese control Qingdao extremely strictly; without identification, it's impossible to move an inch. Their infiltration is very dangerous."
The bureau chief looked up at Bian Ze beside him and asked, "What is the current strength of Qingdao Station?"
Bian Ze was already prepared and quickly replied, "Currently, the entire station only has 65 people, of which 24 are operatives, mostly distributed in the suburbs. There are six intelligence officers in Qingdao city, but they are not high-ranking and have no access to valuable intelligence. Their situation is not good. However, they are capable of forging local good citizen certificates, which can help the special operations team infiltrate Qingdao."
The director nodded and instructed, "Then notify Fu Shengyuan and tell him to prepare as soon as possible to cooperate with Luo Yuze's work. The operation should be led by Luo Yuze and assisted by Fu Shengyuan. Use any means necessary and pay any price to disrupt the meeting."
Fu Shengyuan, whom the Director mentioned, was the head of the Qingdao station of the Military Intelligence Bureau. He had long been in charge of the work of the Qingdao station and was also a veteran agent.
"Yes! I'll send him a message right away!" Bian Ze replied, accepting the order.
After thinking for a moment, the bureau chief asked, "How's it going in Shanghai? How's Chen Hongchi's work progressing?"
Bian Ze said, "So far, things are going smoothly. The first batch of team members has arrived in Shanghai, but they are facing many difficulties."
"What difficulties?"
"First, there is a lack of funds, and second, there is a lack of weapons. They have already set up their base, but Chen Hongchi is also planning to set up some safe houses in downtown Shanghai. However, the funds he brought are not enough, so Chen Hongchi has applied for an additional allocation of funds."
Furthermore, the team members had traveled a long distance to Shanghai, and the checkpoints along the way were heavily patrolled. For safety reasons, they did not carry weapons. Weapons on the black market were too expensive and unsafe. Therefore, Chen Hongchi applied to have their equipment procured as soon as possible, otherwise they would be unable to carry out their work.
Upon hearing this, the director frowned. In the Shanghai and Nanjing areas, the Military Intelligence Bureau had almost lost all its strength except for the Shanghai Intelligence Section. The National Salvation Army in southern Jiangsu did have weapons, but there was no way to transport them into Shanghai. If things were not handled discreetly, and any mistake was made along the way, the newly established Shanghai station would be lost for nothing. It would be too late to regret it then.
As for funding, the Director was in a difficult position. The finances of the entire Chongqing government were deteriorating, especially since the second half of this year. The exchange rate of the legal tender had plummeted, directly leading to a significant economic downturn in the Kuomintang-controlled areas, and the Military Intelligence Bureau was facing considerable financial difficulties.
Just then, Secretary Liu knocked on the door and entered, reporting, "Deputy Director Wei requests an audience."
"Please let him in!" the bureau chief ordered.
Wei Liangbi strode into the office and handed the telegram directly to the bureau chief.
"This is a coded telegram from the Shanghai Intelligence Bureau, sent late last night."
The director quickly took the telegram and, after reading it, was overjoyed. Ning Zhiheng's intelligence had arrived just in time, and he had already figured out the exact location and time of the tripartite talks between the puppet government and the government almost a month ahead of schedule. This gave the special operations team ample time to prepare, making the Qingdao operation even more successful.
He handed the telegram to Bian Ze and Zhao Ziliang, and said with satisfaction, "The intelligence department's information is always accurate and timely, and has never let us down. This time, Luo Yuze and the others will have enough time to make arrangements."
When Zhao Ziliang saw the telegram, a smile appeared on his face. This operation was of great importance, and Zhao Ziliang was under a lot of pressure. Now that there were detailed objectives, the difficulty of the mission was reduced by half.
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