Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 163 Doihara's New Move

At the request of cabinet officials, Special Higher Police investigators began their investigation into the leak of the report, starting with Hotsumi Ozaki.

Ozaki answered truthfully, "General Aoki and I are friends. We met in Shanghai. So I brought the report back because I wanted to see what incriminating material the Kwantung Army had prepared for General Aoki. I was just curious."

"But even though I hid it well at night, it was still stolen." The investigation team collected evidence of the door being pried open and then left.

The Naval General Staff's response was even simpler: "Our patrolmen found it early this morning under the corner of the wall. 'Report.' You want to take it? No, no, we promised it to General Aoki. Giving it to you isn't impossible, but we'll have General Aoki retrieve it from your Special Higher Police."

Okay then, I'll leave it with you for now. Goodbye.
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After defeating Kenji Doihara, Chen Jiehua felt relieved. He left the Army Ministry General Staff Headquarters and went directly to the Navy Ministry Naval Command to obtain the "Report".

Chen Jiehua read it from beginning to end and was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. Even though he knew about his own family affairs, he didn't expect that he had so many loopholes and oversights.

If it weren't for Nagatomo's impatience, if he had just taken the time to reassemble all the evidence and reasoning, and carefully examined it, the truth would have truly come to light.

Chen Jiehua silently thanked Nagatomo Tsugio in her heart, and said, "Rest in peace."
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Dividing line —
On the evening of June 19, Chen Jiehua had dinner with Hotsumi Ozaki at Senso-ji Temple and assigned tasks to her.

"Closely monitor the progress of the negotiations between those three clowns and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and promptly telegraph any important agreements reached. If there are any secret agreements, please try your best to find them out as well."

"Besides, do you have any other reliable people on your side?"

"Yes, what do you need to do?"

"Arrange for someone to infiltrate the South Manchuria Railway Bureau; they'll be very useful later. Also, find someone clever and not easily exposed to help investigate Kenji Doihara's backers."

"receive."
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On the morning of June 20, Chen Jiehua boarded the "Izumo" and set off first to the Naval Shipyard to see the design drawings of the Yamato, and then returned to Shanghai from the shipyard.

On the same day, Kenji Doihara, with his head wrapped in gauze, was on his way to North Korea, where he transferred to a train to Manchuria.

Upon arriving in North Korea, Kenji Doihara did not rush to Fengtian by car. Instead, he contacted the intelligence agency of the North Korean expeditionary force and directed spies and traitors to plan the "Wanbaoshan Incident".

Doihara incited North Korean farmers to relocate to Wanbaoshan, a suburb of Changchun, and seized local farmers' land, sparking armed clashes between the two sides. He then organized newspapers to publish distorted and inflammatory reports, promoting anti-Chinese movements throughout North Korea, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 Chinese expatriates and the forced return of more than 50,000 expatriates to China.

Doihara's second step was to instruct domestic newspapers to report that: People from the Republic of China had killed hundreds of Koreans, the situation in Manchuria was unstable, anti-Japanese movements were about to erupt, and the safety of Japanese residents and Japanese interests were already threatened.

The "Wanbaoshan Incident" and Doihara's subsequent actions immediately put the entire Japanese archipelago on edge, paving the way for the ensuing war in terms of public opinion.

In a secret meeting, Ishihara Kanji, Itagaki Seishiro, Doihara Kenji, and others decided that the uprising in Manchuria would take place on September 28th. They then divided up their tasks and went back to make preparations.

The next incident was exploited by Doihara once again. In June, when Guan Yuheng of the Northeast Army executed the spy Nakamura Shintaro, his quartermaster stole Nakamura's watch to sell. He used the money to buy alcohol and then boasted that the information had reached Doihara's organization.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Doihara launched another propaganda offensive, with numerous lengthy news editorials appearing in Japan to incite anti-China sentiment among the Japanese public. The Manchurian issue became the top headline topic in Japan throughout the summer.

After public opinion had matured, Army Minister Jiro Minami announced at a meeting of division commanders that he intended to resolve the Manchurian issue.

Then, Yosuke Matsuoka of the Seiyukai party publicly proclaimed in the Diet that "Manchuria is Japan's lifeline."

Japanese radicals have everything ready except for one crucial element.
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On the evening of June 20th, the Izumo arrived at the Takada Naval Shipyard in Miyazaki Prefecture. Zhao Yiyue had arrived earlier and was waiting in the house designated by Chen Jiehua. By the time Chen Jiehua managed to slip out under an excuse, it was already late at night, but fortunately, he knew the area well and it wasn't difficult for him to find her.

“Old Zhao, you’ll be my stand-in for now. I’ll arrange to go home to visit my mother tomorrow at noon. I’ll be taking this route. There’s a ruin by the roadside here. I’ll pee here on the way back. Let’s switch places.”

What will I do after the roles are switched?

“I’ve thought it all out. I’ll find a driver who isn’t familiar with me. We’ll try not to talk in the car. After we switch seats, you won’t need to say much either. He’ll take you directly to the Izumo’s gangway.”

"This is the deck structure diagram of the Izumo. The captain's cabin is here, and the commander-in-chief's lounge is here. I usually go into the lounge to rest and basically don't come out. I also don't allow sailors to go in."

"The restaurant is here, but I usually don't walk in a straight line. I go around from here because if I walk in a straight line, I'll pass by the sailors' cabin door and I'll bump into people during mealtimes."

"Meal times are fixed at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock. The head chef will prepare the food. You can just go and eat. After you finish eating, you don't need to worry about it and can go straight back."

"It only takes a day to get to Shanghai from here. After you arrive in Hong Kong, my wife Fujiwara Mio will come to pick you up. Just get in the car and go home with her."

"Don't worry, Mio is one of our comrades. I've already sent her my plan, and we'll leave the rest to her."

"I will get back to Shanghai as soon as possible."

"You'll be handing over North China to the comrade who will be taking over from you. In Shanghai, follow Meixu's instructions and make an appearance from time to time."

"Then the next task is to go to Chongqing in your original capacity at the appropriate time, and use Chongqing as the center to radiate to the surrounding areas, while also taking into account Changsha and Wuhan, and develop slowly. Buy more houses in Chongqing."

Why buy more houses?

"It can be used as a warehouse, it can be used as a safe house, it's very useful. Listen to me, buy more."

"Your official job is still to expand the pharmaceutical network for the company. You can contact the Shanghai headquarters directly for funds and goods. However, this time the network expansion has slowed down. There may be a wave of boycotts of Japanese goods. Be careful."

"The funds, weapons, and other supplies needed to establish a covert intelligence network will be provided to you at the appropriate time for delivery."

"We'll talk about the rest later. Let's deal with the immediate situation first and not let anything slip and ruin your plans. What do you usually do if there's an emergency before the fleet returns to Shanghai?"

"Go directly to the captain and call him Oshima-kun. That's what I always call him. I've been thinking about a clever escape for a while now, so my persona in the fleet is as simple as possible, and I don't get involved in anything."

"What if I receive an urgent telegram changing the destination, and they can't contact you?"

"Follow the instructions to complete the task. We'll contact you again later."

Chen Jiehua abandoned his complete naval rear admiral uniform and rushed back to the Takada Naval Shipyard.

(End of this chapter)