Chapter 127: Japanese Agents in Nanjing

“Cheng, your work has been excellent.”

Xi Neng put down the letter in his hand.

“Ellen praised your conscientious work. He thanks you for your hard efforts.”

“This was merely part of my duty.”

Cheng Qianfan spoke with a modest expression.

The Special Service Office had originally planned to embellish this letter somewhat by instructing Ellen Campbell to write that he had fallen into the water, or encountered some other dangerous incident, and had ultimately been rescued by the brave Officer Cheng Qianfan.

Campbell and Xi Neng had a good relationship.

If Cheng Qianfan had saved Xi Neng’s friend, it would naturally deepen Xi Neng’s favourable impression of him.

It was Cheng Qianfan himself who had reviewed the letter and suggested removing that section.

In his view, an ordinary letter and ordinary “courtesy” expressions of gratitude were sufficient.

Adding this “thrilling little story” would create too many variables.

Xi Neng might be grateful to him for saving Campbell, but he might also blame Cheng Qianfan for inadequate protection: why had Mr. Campbell fallen into the water?

Or perhaps Xi Neng might later telephone Campbell out of concern to inquire about the matter.

Before Campbell was permanently silenced, it was best to avoid any contact between him and other Frenchmen, especially Xi Neng.

Campbell was the greatest hidden danger of Cheng Qianfan’s trip to Hangzhou.

Cheng Qianfan had not asked about Campbell’s fate.

The dangers he could perceive would certainly not escape the notice of the upper ranks of the Special Service Office.

As for Campbell’s eventual fate, Cheng Qianfan felt little sympathy.

Campbell was not a law-abiding French businessman.

In the twenty-fourth year of the Republic, Campbell, drunk beyond reason, drove a car and late at night struck and killed a mother and daughter who were textile mill workers returning from the night shift.

The matter was later covered up by the concession authorities and quietly buried.

Returning to the main point, Cheng Qianfan did not believe it was necessary at this stage to draw excessive attention to himself in front of Xi Neng.

Haste makes waste.

Xi Neng and Xiu Gongshen had a very good relationship.

Cheng Qianfan also maintained a close business partnership with Pete.

That was already sufficient for him.

Nanjing.

It was a rare day of beautiful weather, with a clear blue sky stretching for miles.

During the morning, a middle-aged man wearing a long gown and mandarin jacket walked briskly into an opera house.

“Mr. Zheng, you’ve arrived. Your friend has already been waiting for quite some time in the Ding private room.”

Mr. Zheng politely nodded to the attendant.

“Thank you.”

Hearing the attendant whisper to a companion behind him that Mr. Zheng truly was a cultured and learned gentleman and remarkably polite, a faint smile appeared on Mr. Zheng’s lips.

“Old Zheng, why are you so late today?” asked one of the three men in the private room, a bespectacled man. “Hurry up, Mu Guiying Takes Command is about to begin.”

“My apologies, my apologies. There was a lot to deal with today, so I arrived late.”

Mr. Zheng clasped his hands apologetically.

The bespectacled man gave a signal.

A young man in a long gown sitting beside him walked over, closed the door, and then stood behind it on guard.

“Mr. Suzuki, how is the situation?” the bespectacled man asked urgently.

Mr. Zheng glanced at the other man, who was dressed in a Western suit, and frowned.

“This is Mr. Onizuka from the Inoue Residence.”

Suzuki nodded with a serious expression.

“You should not be wearing a suit. You should be wearing Chinese clothing.”

Although there were indeed people in suits who came to the opera house to watch performances, they were comparatively rare.

Wearing a suit would not necessarily arouse suspicion, but adapting to local customs and avoiding attention whenever possible was naturally best.

“Onizuka accepts the criticism.”

Onizuka bowed and apologized.

“Nanjing is the capital of China. Do not underestimate Chinese intelligence agents.”

Suzuki spoke sternly.

“The responsibility is mine. I failed to notice.”

The bespectacled man also apologized with a serious expression.

“Mr. Endo and the others are being held in Tiger Bridge Prison,” Suzuki said quietly.

“The intelligence we have obtained indicates that four days from now, in the morning, they will be taken out of Tiger Bridge Prison and transported by military truck to an execution ground outside the city.”

“What is the strength of the escort?”

“The standard deployment is one squad of Chinese soldiers. The soldiers are equipped with Zhongzheng rifles, and there is one light machine gun. In addition, there should be Special Service Office agents accompanying them.”

After pondering briefly, he continued.

“Assuming five agents per automobile, there will most likely be two automobiles, meaning ten agents.”

The bespectacled man’s expression darkened as he shook his head.

“The difficulty is enormous.”

The main force for the rescue operation would be personnel from the Inoue Residence.

They had twelve men.

The Japanese intelligence organization in Nanjing was only providing support and could spare at most five operatives for the rescue.

A standard squad of the Chinese Central Army consisted of ten soldiers.

Adding the Special Service Office agents meant an escort force of twenty men.

Seventeen Imperial personnel attacking twenty Chinese personnel would ordinarily present no problem.

However, they lacked heavy weapons.

Most importantly, this was the capital of the Chinese government.

Once gunfire erupted, Chinese troops would join the battle within at most half an hour.

“Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Nagano.”

Onizuka bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

“Onizuka Squad has come to Nanjing prepared to die for the Empire. We may die, but Mr. Endo must be rescued.”

Suzuki and Nagano were both deeply shaken by Onizuka’s resolve to die.

Previously, they had looked down to some extent upon the Inoue Residence, which was not part of the Empire’s formal intelligence apparatus.

However, at this moment, the spirit of self-sacrifice displayed by Onizuka Squad changed that attitude.

Central Police Station.

The atmosphere in the Third Patrol’s police hall was somewhat strange.

The Political Department had taken over the Miyamoto Saburo murder case, and the officers had originally been in high spirits.

However, the possibility that He Guan was involved in the case cast a shadow over the entire Third Patrol.

To be fair, although He Guan was Jin Kemu’s nephew and had influential backing, and although he could be somewhat spoiled and frivolous, everyone felt after getting to know him that he was not difficult to get along with.

Moreover, he was not the sort of pampered young master who understood nothing.

His work performance could not be called outstanding, but at the very least it was competent and never dragged everyone else down.

Sometimes when Jin Kemu flew into a rage and started berating people, He Guan would step forward with jokes and distractions to help everyone out of the situation.

Therefore, the officers of the Third Patrol did not have a bad impression of He Guan.

Besides, this case had originally been investigated under the leadership of Deputy Chief Inspector Ma Yishou.

After investigating and investigating, they had somehow ended up investigating one of their own.

That truly did seem rather absurd.

“Little Cheng is back.”

Someone spotted Cheng Qianfan approaching from afar and cried out in surprise.

Everyone subconsciously looked toward Ma Yishou, who was drinking tea.

They had been so focused on He Guan’s affairs that they had forgotten the struggle between Little Cheng and Ma Tou over the position of Chief Inspector.

Big-Head Lu and several others exchanged glances, thinking of finding an excuse to avoid the situation temporarily.

Deputy Chief Inspector Ma was a veteran officer and already held the rank of deputy chief inspector.

Little Cheng had also risen rapidly.

Behind him stood Translator Xiu.

Deputy Chief Inspector Jin regarded him highly.

There were even rumours that Chief Qin and Director Xi Neng appreciated him as well.

There were faint rumours that Cheng’s trip to Hangzhou, while officially described as government business, had actually been to handle a private matter for Director Xi Neng.

Deputy Chief Inspector Ma and Little Cheng, both were major figures.

They could not afford to offend either one.

Better to stay out of the way.