Spy Wars: Return of the Red Luan

Chapter 168 Honjo Shigeru Takes Over as Commander

This was Liu Junze's second time entering the Kwantung Army Headquarters compound. The last time he entered, he was arrested by Sakurada Takeshi. If it weren't for Chen Jiehua, he would have been imprisoned in the interrogation department's temporary jail.

Therefore, Liu Junze dared not go to the interrogation department to avoid being recognized, but he could no longer ask to go out and look around.

Liu Junze was lost in thought in the courtyard when Colonel Shibayama came down and ordered the entire team to split into groups for a search: the first group searched the small building, the second group searched the first and second floors of the main building, the third group... and so on. After the groups finished searching, they would cross-search again.

"Um, Major Matsukata, you and Kondo come with me."

Shibayama Masao called Kondo Kita and his confidant Matsukata Yakichi to a corner and assigned them a separate task: to secretly follow the office worker.

Major Matsukata didn't ask why, and Kondo Kita naturally wouldn't either. The closer they got to the target, the less they could mislead them. This was something Chen Jiehua had repeatedly emphasized, hoping that he would discover the target on his own.

But things went more smoothly than Liu Junze had imagined. Qingzi had not received counter-espionage training and was not a special agent. Under such circumstances, the normal reaction would be to immediately report to the Chief of Staff.

After Shibayama Masao left the office, Haruko walked to Chief of Staff Mitsuharu Miyake's desk. "Chief of Staff, yesterday evening, when I went to the warehouse to put away the file boxes, I found six extra boxes in the corner."

"Nani?!"

Even Mitsuji Miyake, as stupid as he was, understood! Those six extra boxes couldn't possibly be anything else; they must be silver dollars stolen from the Navy!
Who the hell did this? A framing by the Navy? A thief crying "stop thief!"? Impossible. Killing eight of his own guards to frame the Army? Absolutely unnecessary. Besides, if the bullet hadn't gone slightly off-target, that Navy officer in charge of the economy would be dead!
Mitsuji Miyake immediately ruled out the possibility of a naval sabotage. Even if there were conflicts, they would be minor and wouldn't escalate to this point.

Who could that be?

Who has the warehouse key?

"I only know the heads of each section, the logistics section's internal staff, and I have [something], but I don't know about the others."

"Come on, take me to see you."

"Chief of Staff, the Navy will find the warehouse soon. Is it really okay for us to go there now?"

"The warehouse is a room with a door. Refusing to search it only makes things more suspicious. Let's go."

Just as the two stepped out, Shibayama Masao came up with two other people.

"Chief of Staff, there are two locked rooms on the first floor. Please arrange for them to be opened."

What's meant to happen will happen eventually.

At the entrance to the warehouse on the first floor, Haruko opened the door. After the five of them entered the warehouse, Shibayama Masao immediately noticed the six large boxes piled in the corner.

Upon opening the box, it was immediately clear that each envelope of silver dollars bore the seals and special markings of Zhao Shiyu and Chai Shanchangsheng, leaving no room for denial. "We request your assistance, Chief of Staff, in investigating this matter and providing an explanation as soon as possible. Changsheng will report the truth to headquarters."

The rest was simple: everyone reported to their superiors and to headquarters that the lost silver dollars had appeared in the warehouse of the Kwantung Army headquarters building.

Haruko first answered the routine questions truthfully, saying that she saw the box yesterday evening when she went into the warehouse to file documents, but she didn't pay attention to it at the time.

I was surprised when I heard my superior mention in the chief of staff's office that six boxes had gone missing, which reminded me of the six extra boxes I'd seen last night. But I promptly reported this to the chief of staff.

The chief of staff confirmed Haruko's words.

Although Haruko was temporarily cleared of suspicion, she was not allowed to leave the headquarters compound. The Kwantung Army Headquarters immediately began to screen each person individually.

This kind of expert screening isn't new.
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Dividing line —
On the afternoon of the 29th, Chen Jiehua, who had just returned to Shanghai, learned from Fujiwara Mio that the English police had extracted keywords from his plaintext telegram, and the Municipal Council had also submitted a diplomatic note to the embassy, ​​but it was suppressed by the protective Shigemitsu Mamoru.

Ah, I see. Oh well, I don't plan to escalate this any further; it's pointless now. I'll just have to be careful of the British Concession police in the future.

After a short rest, Chen Jiehua walked to the Marine Corps Headquarters. In his office, he first received a telegram from the Fushimi's shipborne radio, which essentially said: Found it, the Army did it.

The telegrams from the Naval Headquarters arrived almost simultaneously, essentially saying that they would give them a satisfactory explanation, and that they should stop issuing coded telegrams! No more coded telegrams were to be issued in the future!
Alright, then let Shibayama-kun handle it entirely; I'll leave it to him for now.
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Dividing line —
Now that the money has been found, the bigwigs at the Naval General Staff Headquarters can breathe a sigh of relief. Although there were deaths in this incident, it was only a few soldiers. The head of the Manchurian Economic Network can recover and continue to operate. It's not a big deal.

The only question is, is this robbery committed by just a small group, or the entire Kwantung Army? Surely the Kwantung Army isn't that poor? Why would they need to rob the navy? Why don't they rob the Northeast Army instead?
As for other reasons, they did not consider them. The conflict between Aoki and Doihara flashed through the boss's mind and was immediately ruled out. Aoki returned to Shanghai from Kagoshima.

Furthermore, Mr. Zhao was Aoki's trusted butler. He would have died if the bullet hadn't been slightly off target. Aoki is quite protective of his subordinates and wouldn't have done such a thing. There was neither motive nor time.

Then let the Kwantung Army provide a reasonable explanation. Inform the Marine Corps that they can't help in Manchuria, and you should return to Shanghai with the Fushimi.

Within the cabinet, the Navy Ministry and the Army Ministry were locked in a fierce battle of wits, with the Army Ministry trying to shirk responsibility. But could it really be absolved? The silver dollars were clearly found in your treasury.

Ultimately, the cabinet mediated, recalling Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army, Hishikari Takashi, to the Imperial General Headquarters for a report, and appointing Lieutenant General Honjo Shigeru as Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army. The two would hand over the reins after Hishikari Takashi arrived in Tokyo, and they would depart immediately after the handover was completed.

The Army Ministry's General Staff explained to the Navy that Honjo Shigeru was a student of Sakanishi Rihachiro, and was considered the senior brother of Doihara Kenji and Aoki Takashi. It was most appropriate for him to go to the Kwantung Army to first investigate the truth of this silver robbery, and secondly, he could also mediate the conflict between Aoki Takashi and Doihara.

When Chen Jiehua woke up and received the telegram about the transfer of the commander of the Kwantung Army, which the Naval General Staff euphemistically called a compromise by the Ministry of the Army, he was so angry that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

No wonder these idiots were completely fooled by me. Didn't you guys even bother to check Honjo Shigeru's resume?
It's true that Honjo Shigeru is a student of Sakanishi Rihachiro, but he graduated from the Army University and was classmates with Itagaki Seishiro and Doihara Kenji! My temporary intelligence team was able to find this information, how come you didn't know?
All this trouble I've gone through, with all the effort I've put in—from escaping like a cicada to framing someone, even risking everything to screw over Lao Zhao—has ultimately resulted in me making a terrible mistake.
Not only did it not provoke a confrontation between the army and the navy, nor did it disrupt the army's plans, but it actually helped Itagaki Seishiro by sending Honjo Shigeru over ahead of schedule.

(End of this chapter)