Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 243 Stalking
"What are your thoughts on how to proceed specifically?" Minister Zhou inquired.

Ding Mocun was quite proactive, saying, "I think the key to ruining this matter lies with the person negotiating."

Minister Zhou, "Please elaborate."

Ding Mocun nodded. "You see, we don't know if Chongqing will negotiate with the Japanese right now. Let's assume Chongqing will. Then Chongqing will have to send someone to negotiate, right?"
We certainly can't participate in the negotiations, but if we can find this person, the people sent from Chongqing, we can find a way to make him disappear.

"Kill him?" Minister Zhou understood.

"It's vulgar, but we don't have to say it out loud," Ding Mochun nodded. "The negotiators can't make decisions on their own. They'll definitely have to contact Chongqing after the negotiations. No matter how the negotiations went, if someone's gone, what will Chongqing think?"

“The method is fine,” Minister Zhou pressed, “Then how did you find the person to negotiate?”

Ding Mocun hissed, "It would be best if we could find out about this from the Japanese themselves, otherwise we'll have to make a mistake. You just said that Itagaki is in charge of this matter, so he will definitely contact the negotiator that Japan is going to send. We'll follow Itagaki and determine who this person is based on the people he contacts."

Minister Zhou leaned back, frowning. "Following Itagaki will cause a lot of trouble if we're discovered."

Ding Mocun smiled and said, "It won't be too troublesome. If Itagaki finds out, he will definitely question us. But if we prepare a plan in advance, for example, if we receive a secret report that Chongqing elements want to assassinate Itagaki, then instead of following him, we can secretly protect and investigate him."

As for why it wasn't reported, it's because our intelligence personnel heard about this from a gambling addict who was addicted to opium. Such a scoundrel is full of lies and cannot be trusted. We only conducted protective surveillance out of caution.

This was done for the sake of the Japanese people; it was entirely for the sake of the job.

Minister Zhou's eyes lit up as he looked at Gu Yansheng, "Yansheng, what do you think?"

It's none of Gu Yansheng's business if he's discovered, so of course there's no problem. Even if he kills Itagaki, Gu Yansheng won't object.

“I think it’s fine, I even think we can add two more people, Takeo Imai and Yoshiaki Kagesa.”

“I understand what you mean,” Minister Zhou interjected. “They are in charge of negotiations with us. If Itagaki wants to suspend negotiations with us, we must reach an agreement with them. During this suspension period, they will then switch their focus to Chongqing?”

"The key is that they are familiar with Chongqing. Itagaki wants to negotiate as soon as he opens his mouth. Who can he negotiate with? There has to be a high-class person who can contact Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing. This middleman has to be Kagesa and his team."

Minister Zhou nodded and looked at Ding Mochun, "What do you think?"

Ding Mocun thought for a moment, then clicked his tongue. "Kagesa might not be able to follow. He's different from Imai Takeo and Itagaki. Those two are civil officials, so their vigilance is average, and our people won't be easily discovered. But Kagesa is in charge of the intelligence agency. He's probably been trained as a Japanese spy. Following him would make us easy to be discovered, and it would be hard to explain."

"Then these two will do." Minister Zhou made the final decision. "Originally, it was unlikely that Kagesa wanted to negotiate. Unlike the other two, Kagesa was single-mindedly focused on negotiating peace between Japan and us. He would only get credit if our new government was successfully established."

He's a colonel now, and if he succeeds in this, he could very well be promoted to major general for the credit.

Conversely, if it fails, all his efforts over the past few years in orchestrating peace talks between us will have been in vain.

The chances of this colonel being promoted to general are slim. Japanese generals need to have made great contributions. You can't expect him to compete with colonels who have troops to be promoted without any significant achievements.

Do you think he's willing to accept this?

Even if a peace agreement is reached with Chongqing, it will be thanks to Itagaki, not him.

Therefore, Kagesa can choose not to participate; in fact, I can cut off the internet in this matter. Kagesa absolutely does not want Itagaki and Chongqing to actually reach a peace agreement.

Minister Zhou smiled and said, "If the Japanese General Headquarters gave him the rank of major general right now, he would be willing."

Gu Yansheng and Ding Mocun both nodded in agreement.

This is the question of which is more important, individual interests or collective interests.

Everyone has their own little schemes.

“Okay, I’ll make the arrangements,” Ding Mocun replied.

Gu Yansheng offered a word of advice: "You need to avoid Li Shiqun about this matter; it's hard to say what his stance is."

Ding Mocun scoffed, "He's practically calling Qingqi his father. Do you even need to ask what his stance is?"

Minister Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Seiki Keiichi is the representative of the Doihara organization in Shanghai, right?"

"correct."

"Then don't let him know."

"Yes."

Minister Zhou looked at Gu Yansheng and asked, "We've taken precautions. Is there anything else we can do?"

“Yes.” Gu Yansheng said after a moment of thought, “Itagaki wanted to negotiate, but he himself was driven out of the central government. I’m actually wondering whether this negotiation with Chongqing was the military’s idea or Itagaki’s own idea.”

"You've hit the nail on the head." Minister Zhou raised his finger and suddenly realized that he had been led astray by Itagaki.

He got up and took a few steps, then turned to look at the two of them and said with certainty, "Itagaki was driven out of the central government by the Japanese Emperor. He definitely wants to go back and regain the Emperor's trust. He wants to use this incident to gain merit."

But others in the military might not agree!
At least the incoming Minister of the Army wouldn't want Itagaki to go back.

Out of a sense of public duty, they would not refuse the opportunity to negotiate with Chongqing, so Itagaki came to Nanjing to take charge of the matter.

But we definitely won't let Itagaki make us unhappy, otherwise we'll quit, and we won't get anything done in Chongqing either, leaving them with nothing.

right? "

"Yes." Gu Yansheng nodded.

“Very likely.” Ding Mocun nodded in affirmation.

"Ha, interesting." Minister Zhou smiled. "So, if we hold them back and show displeasure, the Japanese General Headquarters will worry that we'll leave. If they're worried, they'll put pressure on Itagaki and might even refuse to take his advice?"

"That's right," Gu Yansheng replied.

"What methods do you have to sabotage things?" Minister Zhou chuckled mischievously.

"The economy." Gu Yansheng had already thought it through when he proposed the idea. "In the Japanese-occupied areas, what the Japanese want to see most is stability, no one causing trouble, and the economy developing very well."

The previous two incidents involving military scrip have already proven that what the Japanese value most is the economy of the Japanese-occupied territories. If the economy is in chaos, the first thing that happens is that a military police commander is taken to a Japanese military court.

Their military plans to obtain supplies from it to sustain the war effort. If they fail to achieve this goal, they will be anxious.

Therefore, if Shanghai's economy encounters problems again, the military will definitely not tolerate it.

It's now under the jurisdiction of the Military Police Command. We've tried, but it doesn't work.

We sent economic experts, tried it, but it didn't work.

The establishment of the Asia Development Institute was already a result of compromise by the military. If the Asia Development Institute's economy continues to decline, then those responsible will have to be held accountable.

The Asia Development Institute is managed by the Cabinet, with a Vice Admiral in charge. The Cabinet will certainly not admit that there is a problem, and the Navy will not take the blame. So who is to blame?

Isn't it because the new government didn't push forward the strategy of using Chinese against Chinese? Why couldn't it be implemented?

"When the time comes, we can just stir things up in the newspapers, get a few economists to say these things, and hand the knife to the Asia Development Institute. Then I think what will happen next is a war of words between the Asia Development Institute's vice admirals and army officers."

"The economy!" Minister Zhou chuckled. "The Japanese are really afraid of this. They're completely clueless when it comes to the economy. I think it can be used, but do you have any specific methods in mind?"

"There are no specific plans yet. For the economy to develop, it simply requires a stable living environment and stable commerce and finance. Conversely, instability is the opposite. I think we can start from this aspect," Gu Yansheng suggested.

Minister Zhou has to come up with his own solution, and he has to take the blame for the biggest mistake.

Don't make it sound like Gu Yansheng is trying to ruin Shanghai's economy; he's not that kind of person. Gu Yansheng spent some time with the two of them thinking and discussing.

The discussion revealed that things weren't as optimistic as they seemed.

There are two steps to take. One is for Chongqing elements to cause sabotage and create chaos in Shanghai, which is currently underway. However, Li Shiqun is also cracking down hard on them, hoping to limit the progress of the chaos in Shanghai.

What remains is simply economic collapse.

Now that Shanghai is under the jurisdiction of the Asia Development Institute, it is governed by districts. It is not so easy to destroy the entire economy of Shanghai without letting the Japanese find out that it is their deliberate sabotage.

After some thought, the meeting ended. Let's leave it at that for now and see what the Japanese do first, then we can think about it more slowly.

Two days later, the Japanese General Headquarters' strategic plan was implemented.

In order to strengthen unified command over the battlefields in North China, Central China, and South China, the China Expeditionary Army was formed, with Toshizo Nishio as Commander-in-Chief and Seishiro Itagaki as Chief of Staff. The headquarters was located in Nanjing.

He ordered Okamura Yasuji, commander of the 11th Army, to assemble over 100,000 troops to attack Changsha.

For the average person, a simple newspaper report would contain only two pieces of information: the Japanese General Headquarters reorganized its army and Okamura Yasuji attacked Changsha. It would seem like a change of power.

However, from the perspective of someone involved like Gu Yansheng, the intention behind this is quite clear: Itagaki is using force to force a peace.

The first step was to put pressure on Chiang Kai-shek. Itagaki was quite adept at using both carrot and stick tactics.

September is the autumn harvest season, and Changsha is known as the granary of the world. Attacking Changsha at this time had a clear purpose: to seize grain and to frighten Chiang Kai-shek.

Kill two birds with one stone.

The next step should be to make contact.

I glanced at an American newspaper.

The Americans conducted a more detailed investigation into the reasons why the Japanese army abandoned its attack on the Soviet army.

It's definitely not because they couldn't win that they gave up.

The Japanese actually wanted to continue fighting. Even though they were thrashed by the Soviet army in Mongolia, Japanese officers like Itagaki, in order to avoid taking responsibility and step down, continued to send the Kwantung Army to Mongolia to provide support.

There is only one reason for the sudden withdrawal of troops and abandonment of fighting.

The Soviet Union and Germany actually signed a non-aggression pact in August, a fact that the Japanese only learned about now that they were still fighting.

This leads to a very serious problem: Japan had always wanted to join forces with Germany to attack the Soviet army, but now its strategic intentions were impossible to achieve. It couldn't win in a one-on-one fight, so it had to withdraw its troops.

According to intelligence obtained by the Americans within Japan, this news was discovered by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relayed to the military headquarters. The Japanese army felt as if the sky had fallen.

They were planning to join forces with the Germans, but the Germans betrayed them, not even informing them of the signing of such a major agreement.

As a result, so many Mongol imperial soldiers died in vain, and the army's long-term strategy was completely overturned.

This enraged the Emperor, and Itagaki, the leader of the army's idiots, was sent to the battlefield to atone for his crimes.

The navy even held a banquet to celebrate the army's defeat, but then the army came to their door and beat them up, and then the emperor scolded them.

The news was very logically sound. Gu Yansheng had only one feeling after reading the newspaper: the Americans had a strong intelligence network, and the source of this newspaper knew so much.

Gu Yansheng glanced at the editor's name.

Ding-ling-ling. Ding-ling-ling.

"Hello," Gu Yansheng answered the phone.

Minister Zhou said, "Come to my place."

"Ok."

Gu Yansheng went to Zhou Enlai's residence in the French Concession.

Minister Zhou said as soon as they met, "Itagaki has come to Shanghai."

"What is he here for?"

"He's here to ask for a list of people to contact Chongqing." Minister Zhou chuckled. "He wants to contact Chongqing, but he can't exactly go to the front lines and kidnap someone to relay his message, can he?"

Mo Cun told me that he first went to Ying Zuo to ask for the person, but Ying Zuo obviously did not give it to him. Even if Ying Zuo had someone lying in ambush in Chongqing, they would be spies gathering information. How could he give him such an opportunity to expose himself?
"Well, that's why he came to me again, asking us to help him find people and establish a communication channel with Chongqing."

"Isn't this a bit much?"

Gu Yansheng wanted to laugh. It felt like the Wang faction was asking the original wife to actively help the Japanese find a mistress.

"Instead of negotiating, he asks us to help him find people. He's brainless and has no manners at all."

That's good, though. If we're looking for someone, we won't be excluded.

Minister Zhou had a good attitude. "I talked to Mr. Wang about this matter. Mr. Wang's idea was for us to protest to the Japanese and show our attitude that there is no such disgusting thing."

I spoke with Takeo Imai and Kagesa, asking them to convey our protest to the Cabinet.

If it's convenient for you, you can also talk to Consul Hasegawa. I'm afraid the military is in cahoots and might try to stop the issuance of the order.

“No problem, I’ll go see Consul Hasegawa in a bit.” Gu Yansheng agreed readily.

Hasegawa Jinkawa is also waiting to become an ambassador. In fact, Hasegawa's interests and Kagesa's demands are aligned on this matter; both are for the sake of progress.

What's wrong with making progress?

"Should we ask someone to help us find it?"

"Go ahead and look for him. He's still the Chief of the General Staff and represents some of the military's intentions. We can't just delay taking action."

I know that Chongqing has people in Hong Kong. Gao Zhongwu used to be the Director of the Asian Affairs Department, and Mei Siping was also in charge of Chongqing's propaganda in Hong Kong. They all say that Chongqing has people in Hong Kong. Even though Hong Kong was under British rule, the location of those people should not have changed.

I'm planning to send them to Hong Kong with the Japanese. You'd be willing to go along, even if it's a bit of a hassle.

On the surface, they're in charge of finding people, but you'll have to keep an eye on things internally.

They're alright for doing some work, but if anything really happens, you're in charge. Take some people with you; it'll make things easier. If there's no one available, I'll talk to Ding Mocun and have him bring some men for you."

"The opportunity to go to Hong Kong has come," Gu Yansheng nodded. "It's not hard work, but how far do you think this matter should go?"

"Let's see how things go first." Minister Zhou himself was unsure how to handle the situation. He looked at Gu Yansheng and said, "Negotiations can't be resolved in a day or two. Don't rush to kill anyone. The main thing is to see what the Japanese and Chongqing have discussed. Based on the terms, you can make a decision accordingly."

"Okay, then I understand."

"Yes, I should be leaving in the next couple of days. Pack your bags and wait for my call. Thank you for your hard work."

"Okay, then I'll go back and prepare."

Gu Yansheng needs to go find Shen Linshen.

(End of this chapter)