Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 167 Guiding the Investigation of the Perpetrator (Part 2)
On the evening of the 28th, Shibayama Masao led three truckloads of Marine Corps soldiers to Fengtian City. After entering the city, he drove directly to the gate of the Northeast Army Headquarters compound.

Colonel Shibayama personally stepped forward to negotiate, explaining his purpose and requesting permission to search the compound. In reality, Shibayama was just trying his luck; he believed that regardless of whether the Northeast Army was responsible, they would not allow him to lead troops in to search.

If you let the Japanese into the headquarters to search, where will the Northeast Army put its face?

The news that six boxes of Japanese naval silver dollars had been stolen was no secret in Northeast China. Given the gravity of the matter, the lieutenant colonels stationed there dared not make a decision lightly. After discussing it, they asked Colonel Shibayama to wait while they sent a telegraph operator to request instructions from the Young Marshal.

Since waiting outside was pointless, Kondo Kita requested to take two familiar soldiers with him for a walk around the neighborhood. Colonel Shibayama agreed without hesitation.

Liu Junze knew that Aoki had made all the arrangements, and the young marshal would definitely agree to let the navy go in to search. If he went in too, it would be troublesome if he was recognized by his Northeast Army colleagues inside. So he had to avoid them. This was a precaution that Aoki had already given him!

In Liu Junze's opinion, Aoki was truly terrifying. He calculated every step meticulously, leading Shibayama Masao by the nose step by step, and even made Liu Junze believe that he had deduced it himself.

Shibayama Masashi waited for about half an hour. The Northeast Army soldiers, fully armed, stared at the Japanese Marines outside, almost to the point of saying, "What are you looking at? What if I look at you? If you look at me again, I'll beat you up!" Then, the radio operator inside ran out, panting.

"The young marshal replied: We will handle this amicably and fully cooperate. We will allow the Japanese navy to enter the compound to search, but they will need to accompany us throughout the process."

The lieutenant colonels looked at each other, wondering what was going on. Had the young marshal's head been slammed in a door? And they were "fully cooperating"?
Shibayama Masashi also heard this and was very surprised, completely incredulous! He actually guessed right! So it seems this wasn't the Northeast Army's doing?

The rest was simple: both sides restrained their soldiers and conducted a thorough search of every room and corner of the headquarters compound, including the finance office, prison, and interrogation room.

Although the secret vault of the Northeast Army Headquarters' Finance Office also contained a large amount of silver dollars, Shibayama Masashi lost interest as soon as he saw the seal.

Because Mr. Zhao Shiyu had a very bad habit: he personally numbered every silver dollar that left the head office! And only he and Mr. Zhao knew the number! Looking back now, this habit was truly prescient!
It was already dark when Shibayama Masao came out of the Northeast Army Headquarters compound in Fengtian. Kondo Kita and two soldiers who had gone out to check the streets also returned.

"After a preliminary undercover investigation by my subordinates, there is no trace of that kind of wheeled truck in Fengtian City."

Shibayama Masao nodded, indicating his approval of Kondo Kita's efforts.

"That means our reasoning is flawed; the truck didn't enter Fengtian City. I just searched the Northeast Army headquarters compound, and I observed that their expressions were all normal, indicating that it wasn't them who did it."

"Why would the commander think that way?" Liu Junze had spent a lot of time with Chen Jiehua and had learned to provide emotional value, guide your speech, go along with what you say, make you share, and make you feel good!
"At the Imperial Naval Academy, I learned an ability to observe emotional fluctuations, especially among ordinary soldiers. If they were the ones who did it, they would show a sense of confidence or a simple tension during our search."

"Sounds great! Sir, you're brilliant."

"Haha~, now is not the time to discuss this. I suddenly thought that since the Northeast Army Headquarters compound has been searched, can we also search the Kwantung Army Headquarters compound? And the Military Police Headquarters compound as well?"

Liu Junze quickly lowered his head. "You said it yourself, I didn't mention it, and I'm not going to say anything. Damn it, Aoki, you're a devil!"
Everything was proceeding according to Chen Jiehua's plan. For Lao Zhao, once he woke up, his mission would be complete.

The next step is for Liu Junze and Kondo Kita to lure Shibayama Masao to the Northeast Army headquarters compound, which will complete the mission. There is no need to cause any further trouble.

The next step is for the young marshal to cooperate; once the telegram is sent, the mission is complete. The rest depends on Shibayama Masashi's way of thinking. Those who understand divergent thinking can naturally connect the full cooperation of this compound to another compound.

It was getting late, and the soldiers were hungry. Even though Colonel Shibayama had thought of the other two compounds, they were in Lushun, which was a bit far. He could only go back and check on them tomorrow. Today, he would arrange for the soldiers to eat and rest.

Liu Junze's mission was complete, and Aoki had repeatedly instructed him not to interfere after completing the task, and not to take any actions that deviated from the norm. Even if things went astray, he was not allowed to intervene. Old Liu's strengths were his strong execution and obedience.
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Dividing line —
On the evening of the 28th, at the Kwantung Army Headquarters building, Haruko, a pretty young office worker, routinely went to the first-floor warehouse to put away the neatly organized file boxes, then took new empty boxes back to the fourth floor. This formulaic work, done once a week, had been Haruko's routine for five years.

When Haruko opened the warehouse door as usual, turned on the light, and went to the cabinet by the wall to put the file box, she saw six boxes neatly arranged in the corner.

Who put these six big boxes here? They weren't here last week, were they? That's strange.

But Haruko's strength is that she's not curious; she doesn't touch what she shouldn't touch, and she doesn't ask what she shouldn't ask. Otherwise, even though the commander and chief of staff of the Kwantung Army have changed several times, the internal affairs officer hasn't been replaced.

Business as usual.
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Dividing line —
On the morning of the 29th, Colonel Shibayama Masao gathered everyone onto the vehicle and returned to Lushun City along the silver dollar transport route.

Three trucks arrived at the headquarters of the Kwantung Army first. After getting out of the truck, Shibayama Masao found Chief of Staff Major General Miyake Mitsuharu, and the two briefed each other on the work and discoveries of the previous day.

"General, the army has been searching Lushun for so many days, but still hasn't found anything?"

“Mr. Shibayama, we and the Military Police Headquarters are still searching. There are still two small areas left to search, but I think we will have results soon.”

"General, six large chests of silver dollars is no small amount. With such a large volume, can they possibly fly?"

While Shibayama Masao and Miyake Mitsuharu were communicating, Haruko, who was organizing documents nearby, was shocked to hear "six large boxes"! She covered her mouth to keep quiet.

The observant Shibayama Masao noticed something amiss. "Could it be? Did I really guess right?"

"General, have you ordered searches of the Kwantung Army headquarters compound and the military police headquarters compound?"

"What?! You want to search our Kwantung Army headquarters compound too?"

“General, Chai Shan thinks that since the entire city is being searched, the two headquarters compounds should naturally be within the areas that should be routinely searched. Yesterday in Fengtian City, the Northeast Army headquarters compound cooperated fully, and we searched it.”

"Yoshi, that makes sense. In that case, please have your Marines search the area, Mr. Shibayama. We will cooperate fully!"

"Hi!"

(End of this chapter)