Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 123 Leaving the Mountain
"There's no chance of anything going wrong; we'll definitely find out." Those three hotels were specifically given to us by Yingzuo, so Gu Yansheng was certain there wouldn't be any chance of anything going wrong.

"Immediately confirm his location. Who has he seen? Has he seen you?"

"He has never seen me, but he has seen two of my men."

"I've only met the person, but I don't know their name, right?"

"Yes, all I know is that he's from the Military Intelligence Bureau. I've told him that, but I definitely won't tell him his name."

“The team members are being sent to Hong Kong, leave immediately. You go to the waiter’s house now. If he’s home, send his whole family away. If he’s not, send his family members away first.”

"There are no ships today. The fastest departure is a British ship tomorrow afternoon. I checked before the operation."

"A day and a half is too long; things could go wrong if we wait too long."

Currently, shipping is controlled by the Japanese. If a problem arises and the crew is found out, as long as the ship is still in the Shanghai area, Japanese patrol boats can force it to stop, and the crew's family members will definitely not be able to escape.

As for the two team members, they were actually fine. Even though the waiter was arrested immediately, he was interrogated and asked to provide a portrait of the person.

It will take time for the intelligence headquarters to find these two people.

Chen Mo said, "Let's think about it and do it at the same time. I'll go check on the waiter first. If he comes back, that's great. If he doesn't, I'll take my family with me first."

"Okay, you go and verify it first. I'll wait for you here. The reason is that I'm planning to have you organize a small gang and become its leader, so we have something to discuss."

"it is good."

Chen Mo returned an hour later.

"The waiter was locked up in Hongkou and hasn't come back yet. His wife went to Hongkou to look for him after the incident, but the military police wouldn't let her in. Later, the phone line was repaired, and they made one phone call. He said that everything was fine and he was still working at the hotel, but he didn't say anything else."

"Where are the people now?"

"I've moved them to a new hiding place, so they're safe for now."

This is good news, and Gu Yansheng can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"As long as the family members haven't been arrested, it means the intelligence headquarters hasn't found this waiter yet. There's still a chance. We still need to find a way to get this person out, and it would be best if he could walk out on his own without arousing suspicion."

Even if he escapes, the problem remains: leaving Shanghai will be difficult because he's not alone, he has a large family, and that would be too conspicuous.

By stepping out, you can buy yourself more time.

"It won't be easy for him to get out. The Japanese haven't lifted martial law yet, and it's uncertain when they will. His get off work hours are around 7 PM, and I don't know if he'll be able to get out by then. He's a legitimate employee, so the Japanese might be more lenient."

"But by 7 o'clock, could Li Shiqun have already found out?"

That's up to fate.

"Seven o'clock, let's give it a try. Old employee, let's bet he can come out. Before seven o'clock, let's make sure Li Shiqun can't see him."

"Why can't I see it?"

"Lure the tiger away from the mountain."

Gu Yansheng pondered for a moment and then asked, "How is the Shanghai district head doing now?"

"Following your method, I stabbed the British in the back and am now out on bail but under supervision."

"The people from the Secret Service are still keeping an eye on things, right?"

"Yes, the police say they're supervising us, but there's no need for supervision at all. The Special Agent Headquarters is there to keep an eye on things for them, so we can rest assured. We don't even need to send anyone."

"Are your men still able to move?"

“They are able to move, but they are all injured to some extent. However, the new district head of Shanghai has arrived. If we need to take action, I can send a telegram to them and ask them to cooperate.”

"That would be even better. Go and send a telegram immediately, ordering the action team to launch an attack on the people at the intelligence headquarters. Just a sneak attack is fine. Whether they can be rescued or not doesn't matter. The main thing is to kill them. Tell them to call for backup. Don't kill them all."

"It's not difficult, but is it even useful?"

“It will definitely work! The people from the Special Agent Headquarters are like headless flies in Hongkou right now. Yingzuo gave the Special Agent Headquarters three days to find the Military Intelligence Bureau, so you should give them a Military Intelligence Bureau, a whole bunch of Military Intelligence Bureaus!”
On one hand, there's the aimless search; on the other, there's the living, breathing Kuomintang agent. If you were Li Shiqun, and both were tasked with fulfilling their duties, which would you choose?
If it were me, I would definitely choose to survive first.

Therefore, never kill them; give them a chance to call for help, or even a chance to capture them.

On the other side, Hongkou.

Li Shiqun and Ding Mocun, along with their men, have completed the investigation of the explosion site and the location where the special envoy was staying, gaining a complete understanding of everything that happened at the time.

The explosion site was a complete mess, nothing could be seen anymore. Even if there were witnesses who saw the military intelligence agents during the attack on the armory, they are now buried in the ruins.

The Hongkou Grand Hotel incident occurred after the explosion, when all the lights went out, there were many signs of intrusion, and a gunfight broke out, killing several guests, but there were still no eyewitnesses.

If the Military Intelligence Bureau could find this place, the special envoy's whereabouts must have been leaked. However, if we want to deduce the truth from the special envoy's whereabouts, we need to involve the core personnel of the negotiations, who are not people they can participate in. Thus, the most valuable clue is lost.

Then the target was reduced to three hotels.

The Military Intelligence Bureau didn't choose to act here, either because they had no internal leads, or because the deceptive tactics employed by the three hotels had been dispelled.

However, Li Shiqun felt that the former was impossible.

Even he himself didn't believe that the intelligence headquarters could be completely free of people from Chongqing. He hadn't forgotten that when the Military Intelligence Bureau's Shanghai branch was destroyed, the information had been leaked.

However, confirming this is not very meaningful.

Even if the Military Intelligence Bureau knew that the special envoys at these three locations were fake, the problem still came back to the same question: how exactly was the whereabouts of the real special envoy leaked?
Anyway, it couldn't be a hotel.

Therefore, the only purpose of the trip to the hotel was to investigate whether there were any traces of the Kuomintang's military intelligence presence.

If the Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) came, it proves that the MIB did not know where the special envoy was from the beginning. This confirms one thing: if one party leaves a trace, all three parties should also leave traces.

By meticulously investigating, the first hotel he found among the three families was the Astor House Hotel, which his own intelligence headquarters had visited.

Checking hotels is tedious because without a specific target, you can only ask what strange things have happened in the last few days, and what strange guests have stayed there.

The hotel manager told him that they generally did not concern themselves with the guests' affairs. As one of the most prestigious hotels in Shanghai, especially in Hongkou District, the Astor House Hotel was a favorite haunt of Japanese officers and other prominent figures, so they had no comment.

Here, people are clearly considered inferior; even the manager acts arrogantly and is very domineering.

Li Shiqun had to move out of the military police headquarters and after a long period of communication, he finally obtained the residence registration certificate to check.

But you can't tell anything just by looking at a register. If we're talking about leaks, the Chinese could be spies, but the British couldn't be? And the Russians couldn't be?

Even Japanese officers themselves could be moles of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

A hotel alone took up a lot of time.

The second one is the Broadway Building, which was visited by city government officials.

This hotel is even more assertive; some of its departments are places that even the Military Police Headquarters cannot afford to offend.

They were made to copy the list, and they weren't allowed to ask any further questions; they were simply told to get lost.

After being turned down, they went to the third company.

The third one was finally easier to talk to; it was owned by a Japanese businessman with an average background.

However, after inquiring, they said nothing strange had happened.

After this round of investigation, it seems that the Military Intelligence Bureau never even came.

While they were investigating, a car sped up to the door, and a team member jumped out, shouting, "Director, a fight has broken out in the concession! The Military Intelligence Bureau is trying to rescue that district chief and forcibly take him away. Our men can't hold out much longer!"

Without a second thought, Li Shiqun ordered, "Quickly send reinforcements!"

After saying that, he got into the car, and Ding Mochun followed at the same time, his eyes almost shining with a rare light. This wasn't the Military Intelligence Bureau; this was a damn chance to survive.

He got on the bus later, but the bus sped off even faster than Li Shiqun.

A fierce gunfight is underway in the International Settlement.

The newly appointed action team of the Military Intelligence Bureau was ordered to rescue the district chief and stall for time to continue the attack, so they desperately fired at places where no one would die, making their marksmanship look very off.

The old district chief's men had not received any notification and assumed that the Military Intelligence Bureau was coming to rescue them. Since they had already come, they naturally fought desperately. They were the main force and fought the fiercest, but there were not many of them.

The remaining twenty-odd people at the intelligence headquarters fought back fiercely with their marksmanship. The enemy couldn't overpower them, so they fought even harder.

The more ruthless they were, the more the Military Intelligence Bureau's action teams shrank, as long as no one died.

In the darkest corners and alleys, Chinese police officers and Indian men were squatting, not even daring to blow their warning whistles, but huddled to the side watching the show, waiting for them to finish fighting before they went on stage.

The old district chief's men grew increasingly anxious as the fighting intensified, cursing under their breath. They thought these newly arrived Kuomintang agents were utterly useless; after all that fighting, they hadn't killed a single person. In fact, their fierce attacks made them the focus of the enemy's firepower.

Looking at those people made me furious. They didn't seem like they were here to rescue them; they seemed more like they wanted the people at the intelligence headquarters to kill them.

Is the new district head using a proxy to do his dirty work?
Twenty minutes later, the reinforcements who rushed from Hongkou finally arrived.

Once the main force arrived, suppressive fire began.

When the Kuomintang's military intelligence team saw that the people had arrived, and that they were supposed to delay them to give them hope of making the arrest, they launched a strong counterattack.

The more he shoots, the more accurate and courageous he becomes!
The old district chief's men were in despair. What the hell is the point of you attacking so fiercely now?
With hundreds of reinforcements arriving, how can they possibly escape?
Stop fighting! Why are you running? We're not running anymore.

Li Shiqun and Ding Mocun were excited when they saw these Military Intelligence Bureau agents. As long as they made a profit, it would definitely be enough to fool Yingzuo.

They said they'd found a trail, and that these Military Intelligence Bureau agents were assassins. Even if Kagezo couldn't deny it, as long as no one was left alive.

When the Kuomintang agents realized they couldn't hold out any longer, they began to retreat according to plan.

Li Shiqun's men chased after them while fighting.

Finally, the Public Works Department couldn't stand it anymore and tolerated them for a whole street. But the fight ended up in a shopping mall in the downtown area. If they got inside, what would the newspapers say about it?
They ordered the police to be deployed and sent Marines into the area.

Some fought, some retreated, and eventually, the smoke of battle cleared.

That evening, the martial law in Hongkou was lifted under pressure.

As a long-time employee, the waiter finished his shift normally and was picked up by Chen Mo when he got home.

(End of this chapter)