It turns out that this afternoon, the president of the United Press International, Taichi Ihara, called the Military Police Headquarters, saying that he had discovered a suspicious person following Takasugi Hitoshi, a senior intelligence officer of the United Press International. Based on the assassination of the Minister of the Control Yuan a few days ago, they suspected that this was another attempt by Kuomintang agents. Since the United Press International did not have strong operatives, they notified the Military Police Headquarters to arrest the suspicious person, which was also the duty of the Military Police Headquarters.
Without delay, Koda Kanan mobilized his personnel and, after communicating with the United News Agency, set up a trap. He had Takasugi Hitoshi lure the trackers to the ambush point and capture them unexpectedly. However, the trackers were quick to react and were armed. In their haste, they did not know the identity of the attackers and drew their guns in resistance, inevitably leading to a conflict that resulted in two trackers being killed and one injured.
The military police headquarters came prepared, launching a surprise attack with a large number of personnel, naturally gaining the upper hand. Only after the arrest operation ended and they revealed their identities did they realize the situation was bad and hurriedly reported to their superiors. As a result, the three leaders met and all believed that the other was responsible. In particular, Imai Yuji, whose men had suffered heavy losses, was unwilling to let it go, and things got out of hand. Only then did he urgently report to Uehara Junpei.
Koda Kanan was the most aggrieved. He tried his best to explain, "General, our Military Police Headquarters arrested the follower entirely based on the intelligence provided by President Ihara and at his request. I really don't know the specific reasons behind this. I am also very sorry that this happened!"
After listening, Uehara Junpei turned to look at Ihara Taichi, who quickly explained, "This afternoon, our newspaper's chief reporter, Takasugi Hitoshi, reported to me that he had discovered someone following and monitoring him. I thought it was the Military Intelligence Bureau trying to harm Takasugi-kun, so I asked Koda-kun for assistance in arresting him. But I never expected it to be someone from the Special Higher Police..."
Uehara Junpei looked at Imai Yuji one last time. It seemed that the root of the matter was with the Special Higher Police. Now that things had come to this, Imai Yuji had no intention of hiding anything. He directly recounted the whole story.
The others in the room then realized what was happening, and Uehara Junpei pressed, "Where are the photos?"
Yuji Imai quickly took out a photo from his briefcase and handed it to Junpei Uehara.
Uehara Junpei took the photograph and examined it carefully for a moment. Then he turned it over, looked at the words written on it, and read aloud in a low voice: "Workers of the world, unite!"
Upon reading this, Uehara Junpei looked up at Ihara Taichi and handed him the photo. Ihara Taichi hurriedly took it with both hands and examined it carefully. After a long while, he looked up and said, "The person in the middle is indeed Takasugi Hitoki. Judging from the time, it is an old photo from at least more than ten years ago."
However, I am very clear about Takasugi Jinki's history. From his youth, he was specially selected by the Empire and recruited into the East Asia Tongwen School for study and training. After graduation, he directly joined the intelligence department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which time he never showed any signs of communism. Moreover, he was repeatedly ordered to go to China to collect various intelligence, achieving remarkable results. Three years ago, he was transferred back to China to begin preparing and establishing the United News Agency, where he also performed outstandingly, leading teams deep into the front lines multiple times to conduct interviews and propaganda for the Imperial Army, making significant contributions. To judge him as a communist based solely on an old photo from over ten years ago, showing him with communist elements, is far too arbitrary. Furthermore, I am familiar with Takasugi Jinki's handwriting; the writing on this photo is definitely not his. Therefore, I believe that the Special Higher Police's unilateral speculation is insufficient, at least not conclusive.
At this point, he looked at Yuji Imai: "Especially the Special Higher Police (TAT) has exceeded its authority. Even if you have suspicions about Takasugi Jinki, according to procedure you should notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that our department can conduct an internal investigation, instead of unilaterally tracking and monitoring him. If I'm not mistaken, you will secretly arrest Takasugi Jinki next. I solemnly warn you that this is a provocation against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we will never allow such a thing to happen."
Ihara Taichi's words were firm and resolute, showing that he would not back down in the slightest.
In fact, he was very clear that even if things were not as simple as he had imagined, and Takasugi Hitoshi had obviously concealed some information from him, the conflict had already caused serious consequences. If he took a step back at this point and admitted his department's mistakes, it would be as if he were guilty, and if the old fox Imai Yuji saw through it, he would definitely pounce on him and bite him hard, pushing the responsibility onto him.
Therefore, at this point, he had to stick to his position no matter what and shift the blame onto the other party. Moreover, given his decades-long friendship with Takasugi Jinki, how could he possibly hand Takasugi Jinki over to the Special Higher Police? He knew the Special Higher Police's methods very well. Once he handed him over, Takasugi Jinki's identity as a communist would be confirmed, and he would be doomed. Even as Takasugi Jinki's superior, he would inevitably be implicated in the end. In short, there would be endless troubles. So, no matter what, he had to protect Takasugi Jinki first. As for the details, he would naturally ask Takasugi Jinki about them when he got back, but those were matters to be resolved internally.
When Yuji Imai heard Taichi Ihara's question, his momentum faltered. Taichi Ihara's analysis was correct. As long as the headquarters gave the order, he would secretly arrest Taichi Ihara. But since it was a secret arrest, it couldn't be said in public. Now that he had been exposed, he suddenly felt somewhat weak.
But he wasn't about to give up so easily. He forced himself to argue, "Mr. Ihara, don't exaggerate. When it comes to authority, our Special Higher Police has been the main department responsible for investigating communist organizations for many years. Tracking down and arresting communists is within our authority."
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