Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

French Concession, Avenue Joffre.

early morning.

The leader of the three Guangzhou agents was named Li Guodong.

Thirty-two years old, a graduate of the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy, and a key member of the "Loyalty Group" personally selected by President Chiang Kai-shek. He had fought against Chen Jingming's Guangdong Army and infiltrated Zhang's territory in the north, making him a sharp figure in the National Army's intelligence system.

But as he stood at the window on the second floor of the hotel, he felt a chill run down his spine.

It's not because I'm afraid.

It's because of the air in Shanghai.

The city felt so quiet to him.

It was unusually quiet for a warlord's stronghold that had just annexed five provinces.

For these intelligence agents, such a city was far too abnormal.

French police officers strolled leisurely along the street, rickshaw pullers dozed off by the roadside, and a newspaper boy squatted under a sycamore tree counting his coins.

Everything is perfectly normal.

It was so normal that it sent a chill down Li Guodong's spine.

"Boss, we found it."

Behind him, the intelligence agent codenamed "Glasses" spread a hand-drawn map on the table.

"Cao Qingdi's sulfonamide laboratory is located at No. 13 Huade Road, Hongkou District, not far from the former French Concession. It's a three-story building; the first floor is a regular clinic, while the second and third floors are the actual experimental area. The warehouse area at the back is likely the mass production process laboratory. As for the specific production plant, we haven't found it yet..."

"What about security?"

"On the surface, there are only two doormen wearing long gowns. But yesterday I walked around that street three times and found a black sedan in the alley behind the building. There were people sitting in the car, and they didn't get out."

Li Guodong nodded.

"Anything else?"

"Glasses" hesitated for a moment.

"Something's not quite right."

"explain."

"About eighty meters southeast of the lab, there's a three-story apartment building. I observed that there's an empty room on the second floor, with a window facing the lab's second-floor corridor. If we could rent that room and set up a high-powered telescope..."

Li Guodong squinted.

"You mean, that room just happened to be empty?"

"right."

"...Don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?"

"Glasses" paused for a moment.

Li Guodong was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head.

"Forget it, we don't have that much time to waste. The principal gave us half a month. Whether it's a coincidence or not, let's rent it first. Let's play along, and by the time they realize what's happening, we'll be long gone..."

He made the worst decision of his life.

……

Longhua Road, Garrison Command Headquarters, second floor of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

A report was spread out in front of Su Guiying.

The report was sent five minutes ago.

"Target No. 0803 (code name: Guangzhou A) went to the 'Yong'an Apartment' located southeast of No. 13 Huade Road at 9:17 this morning and rented Room 202 on the east side of the second floor under the name of 'Guangzhou Hongxing Trading Company Shanghai Office'. The monthly rent is twelve silver dollars, and three months' rent is prepaid."

After reading it, Su Guiying's lips curled up slightly.

"It's taken the bait."

An intelligence officer nearby handed over another report.

"Sister Gui, Target No. 0804 (codename: Guangzhou B) went to the secondhand market in Hongkou this morning and bought a German-made Zeiss high-powered telescope. It cost twenty-eight silver dollars, paid in cash, without haggling."

Su Guiying nodded.

"What about Guangzhou Bing?"

"He's still in the hotel and hasn't left yet. But this morning he made a call from a public phone, which our people intercepted. He called a number in Guangzhou called 'Zhenhua Cloth Shop,' and only said one sentence: 'The source of goods has been found, and we are inspecting the goods.'"

Su Guiying gave a cold laugh.

"Zhenhua Cloth Shop. The coded communication code of the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang in Guangzhou National Revolutionary Government. It's so outdated."

She stood up and walked to a map of the French Concession in Shanghai hanging on the wall.

Three points were marked on the map with red thumbtacks.

The hotel, Yong'an Apartment, No. 13 Huade Road.

The three points form a line.

"Their deployment was textbook-perfect."

Su Guiying drew a circle on the map with her finger. "First, rent an observation post and use binoculars to find out the patrol patterns and personnel entry and exit times of the laboratory. Once we've identified the security blind spots, we'll make our move on a dark and stormy night."

"Shall we close the net now?" the intelligence officer asked.

"What's the rush?" Su Guiying turned around.

Her gaze was as cold as the Minjiang River in December.

"Just three rats. We caught them too early; people in Guangzhou will think we only cracked one of their schemes."

"Let them see. Let them think they're so smart."

"Remove two of our people from the card room across from Yong'an Apartment, leaving only one. Also, transfer Old Wang, who sells wontons downstairs from the apartment building, and replace him with a new face."

The intelligence officer was taken aback.

"Sister Gui, what's wrong...?"

"If you're going to put on an act, go all the way."

Su Guiying said calmly, "Their leader isn't stupid; too many informants will make him suspicious. Removing some will make him more relaxed."

"That's called human nature!"

She sat back down in her chair and picked up a glass of iced tea from the table.

"But the black sedan in the alley behind Building 13 on Huade Road was removed from my vehicle."

"Those are our hidden sentries."

"I know."

Su Guiying took a sip of tea. "It's precisely because it's a hidden sentry that their people noticed it. Now that they've noticed, let it disappear. They'll think they've discovered a flaw in our deployment."

"The more someone feels they have seen through the other person's hand, the bolder they become."

The intelligence officer suddenly realized.

"Sister Gui is brilliant."

Su Guiying didn't reply. She put down her teacup and her gaze fell on the three photos on the table.

Guangzhou A, Guangzhou B, Guangzhou C.

Three people who think they're playing the cat in a cat-and-mouse game.

What they didn't know was that there were no cats in this game from the very beginning.

There were only three mice that had already been put in the cage.

……

evening.

Moranzhi pushed open the door on the second floor of the Military Intelligence Bureau.

Today she was wearing a moon-white cheongsam with a military green woolen overcoat. A Browning pistol was tucked into her waistband.

Su Guiying stood up and bowed.

"Director Mo."

Moranzhi waved her hand and walked to the map to look at it for a while.

"Have you figured everything out?"

"Cleared." Su Guiying handed over the entire surveillance report. "There were three people sent by Chiang Kai-shek. The leader was a graduate of the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy, and he was professionally trained. But their counter-surveillance methods were no match for those in Shanghai."

Moranzhi flipped through two pages of the report, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"The goal is a sulfonamide formulation."

"Yes. According to the intercepted phone calls, they had a second target: the warship blueprints from Jiangnan Shipyard. But sulfonamides were the first priority."

Moranzhi closed the report.

There was a few seconds of silence.

"They can't get the formula. But I want them to feel like they can."

Su Guiying's eyes lit up.

"What the director means is..."

"Starting tonight, the perimeter patrols around No. 13 Huade Road will be halved. The padlock on the back door will be replaced with an old one. The window on the east side of the second floor will be 'forgot' to be closed properly."

A dangerous smile appeared on Moran's lips.

"Let them feel their opportunity has arrived. Let them take action."

"The moment they climb over the wall—"

She turned around, her gaze sharp as a knife.

"I'll be waiting for them inside myself."

……

late at night.

Room 202, Yong'an Apartment.

Li Guodong leaned over the windowsill and aimed his Zeiss binoculars at the second floor of No. 13 Huade Road.

He has been observing for three whole days.

Within three days, he recorded the entry and exit times of all personnel in the laboratory, the intervals between patrol shifts, and even knew exactly when the light in the second-floor corridor went out.

Moreover, he discovered an important change.

Since the day before yesterday, the black sedan that was always parked in the alley behind the laboratory has disappeared.

The number of patrol personnel has also decreased.

The iron lock on the back door was replaced with a rusty old one.

More importantly, the window at the end of the east corridor on the second floor was not closed properly tonight.

The wind made the curtains billow.

Li Guodong's pupils contracted slightly.

"Tonight." "Glasses" lowered his voice.

Li Guodong put down his binoculars.

He was silent for a long time.

His intuition told him something was wrong.

But only five days remain in the two-week deadline. The principal's patience is running out.

"Let's do it." He gritted his teeth.

The three men changed into black night clothes and slipped out of the apartment through the back door.

The moonlight was obscured by clouds.

The alley was so quiet that the only sound could be the whistles of steamships on the Huangpu River in the distance.

They crept along the wall like three black snakes, silently making their way to the back door of No. 13 Huade Road.

The old iron lock was pried open by "Glasses" with a wire in fifteen seconds.

The three people climbed up the fire escape to the second floor.

The half-open window was at the end of the corridor.

Li Guodong was the first to climb in.

His foot had just touched the floor.

"Click."

The lights came on.

It is not a lamp.

Instead, all the lights on the entire second floor turned on at the same instant.

The light from the incandescent bulb was so bright that he could barely open his eyes.

Once his eyes adjusted to the light, the scene he saw made his blood freeze.

On both sides of the corridor, a dozen or so military intelligence agents dressed in black uniforms were holding MP18 submachine guns, all pointed at him.

And at the end of the corridor, on a mahogany chair.

A young woman in a moon-white cheongsam was holding a glass of red wine, quietly watching him.

Moranzhi gently placed the wine glass on the armrest.

Welcome!

She smiled.

"Is this all the talent Principal Chang's men are capable of?"