Chapter 212: What Do These Numbers Mean Exactly
January 25, 1939, Shanghai, Special Higher Police Affairs Headquarters.
The sunlight after the rain filtered through the blinds, cutting stripes of light and shadow in the meeting room.
General Doihara sat at the end of the long table, his face as gloomy as water.
Seated on either side of the long table were Colonel Fujita Tsuyoshi and Nantian Yangzi,
as well as Director Chen Yang of the Nanjing Special Affairs Committee Shanghai Office.
The air in the meeting room was almost frozen, with a layer of frost on everyone’s face.
“So,” Doihara said slowly, “a carefully planned encirclement and suppression action, deploying over forty elites from the Special Higher Police Affairs and the Special Affairs Committee, not only allowed ‘Qing Hu’ and his action team to escape unscathed, but also resulted in the loss of five Empire agents, and in the end, only a corpse and a set of inexplicable numbers were obtained?”
Colonel Fujita stood up and bowed deeply: “Your Excellency General, this action failed to achieve the expected results, and I take full responsibility. However…”
“However, what?” Doihara interrupted coldly, “I heard that the action failed because someone transferred the bait in advance?”
Nantian Yangzi’s face turned pale, and she hurriedly stood up: “General, the situation was urgent at the time. An unidentified fire broke out inside Ruikang Apartment, and constables from the French Concession were causing trouble at the scene. If we didn’t urgently transfer the target, our entire action might have been exposed!”
“I had no choice but to activate the emergency plan…”
“Emergency plan?” Chen Yang sneered and interjected, “Miss Nantian, as far as I know, the constables arrived because your people arbitrarily created a fire as a false appearance?”
Nantian Yangzi abruptly turned her head to look at Chen Yang: “Section Chief Chen, what do you mean by that? I think the key reason for the action’s failure was that your Special Affairs Committee people left their control posts without reason.”
“Absurd!” Chen Yang slammed the table and stood up, “My vehicle was attacked by the Communist Party, and my subordinates clearly reported that after the shooting incident, they hoped to receive support from the Special Higher Police Affairs, but you explicitly stated that you could not dispatch support! Now you’re blaming us instead?”
“What? Is my life so worthless? Is it wrong for my subordinates to worry about my safety? They just wanted to protect me—what’s wrong with that?”
Nantian Yangzi sneered: “But didn’t Section Chief Chen appear here completely unharmed, without even a scratch on you? That’s the consequence of protecting you?”
“Even an idiot can see that this was a ploy to lure the tiger away from the mountain.”
Chen Yang retorted sarcastically: “Miss Nantian, how do you know my situation wasn’t dangerous since you weren’t at the scene?”
“You’re shirking responsibility at work, and now you’re trying to shift the blame onto us?”
“Who works like that?”
“I now seriously doubt whether your leadership ability is up to par.”
Nantian Yangzi wanted to retort, but Doihara suddenly slammed the table heavily: “Enough!”
The meeting room instantly fell silent.
Doihara slowly stood up, paced to the window, and turned his back to everyone: “The Empire is facing a critical turning point on the China battlefield. Shanghai, as the Far East intelligence center, cannot afford any losses. And you…”
He turned abruptly, his gaze sharp as a knife, “are shirking responsibility for a failed action!”
Doihara walked up to Nantian Yangzi: “Major Nantian, you arbitrarily decided to transfer the target, disrupting the action plan—is that a fact?”
Nantian gritted her teeth: “Your Excellency General, the situation at the time…”
“Yes or no?” Doihara’s voice suddenly became stern.
“…Yes.” Nantian lowered her head, “But I believe it was the most appropriate choice at the time.”
Doihara looked at Colonel Fujita Tsuyoshi: “Fujita-kun, as the overall action commander, you failed to anticipate various emergencies, had insufficient contingency plans, and commanded poorly—is that also a fact?”
Fujita Tsuyoshi bowed deeply: “Hai! I am willing to take full responsibility.”
Doihara looked at Chen Yang and said: “Section Chief Chen, sometimes you need to manage your subordinates properly and stay calm when something happens.”
“Even if they had left half their manpower at the scene to encircle from the rear, this action wouldn’t have ended with nothing to show for it.”
“I know your Special Affairs Committee doesn’t fall under Special Higher Police Affairs command, but since you’re assisting, I hope you’ll act more professionally next time.”
Uh, is this a rebuke? It sounds like he’s pointing out the other’s shortcomings? When did Your Excellency General Doihara become so accommodating?
A hint of doubt appeared in the eyes of Nantian Yangzi and Fujita Tsuyoshi.
Chen Yang stood up and bowed slightly: “Your Excellency General, I will discipline my subordinates properly when I get back.”
Doihara walked back to his seat, scanned the room, and slowly sat down: “Regarding the numbers shouted by that Communist Party agent called Old Zhong before he died, 7662—5362, any progress?”
Fujita Tsuyoshi spoke: “We are working hard to crack it. Preliminary judgment is that it might be some kind of cipher or coordinates, but no breakthrough yet.”
Nantian added: “We have checked all telephone numbers, license plate numbers, safe numbers, and other related number combinations in the Shanghai area, and found no matches.”
Chen Yang hesitated and said: “Could it just be delirious ravings before death? Or some kind of misdirection?”
Doihara shook his head: “According to your action report, this Old Zhong was an experienced agent. In that situation, he wouldn’t waste his last chance on meaningless words.”
He paused and looked at the three: “I want you to form a joint investigation team, led by Fujita-kun, with Major Nantian and Director Chen fully cooperating to focus on cracking the meaning of these numbers.:
“This is our most important clue right now and may relate to the Communist Party’s underground network in Shanghai and even the entire East China region.”
“Hai!” the three responded in unison.
Doihara waved his hand: “Dismissed. Remember, the Empire’s cause cannot afford any more mishaps.”
The three bowed and exited the meeting room.
In the corridor, the atmosphere was still tense. Fujita Tsuyoshi looked at Nantian and Chen Yang and said gravely: “You two, since the general has ordered it, let’s put aside our differences for now and cooperate fully.”
“The first analysis meeting will be held at three in the afternoon in my office—no problem, right?”
Nantian and Chen Yang exchanged a glance and nodded reluctantly.
“Then,” Fujita Tsuyoshi’s gaze deepened, “before the meeting, please both think about the possible meaning of these numbers.”
“I have a premonition that the answer may be more important than we imagine.”
With that, he turned and left, his footsteps echoing in the empty corridor.
Three in the afternoon, Shanghai Joint Special Higher Police Affairs, Colonel Fujita Tsuyoshi’s office.
Sunlight filtered through the glass window, casting bright spots on the mahogany desk.
Fujita Tsuyoshi, Nantian Yangzi, and Chen Yang sat around the desk, with a white paper in the middle bearing “7662—5362”.
“Let’s begin.”
Fujita Tsuyoshi said slowly, “Everyone share your thoughts. Major Nantian, you first.”
Nantian Yangzi nodded and took out a notebook: “I reviewed all cipher communications related to the Communist Party over the past three months and found they often use number codes to represent time, locations, and personnel codenames.”
“Based on this pattern, ‘7662’ might indicate a date and time—July 6 at 6:20, or July 6 at 2 pm（14:00）.”
She paused and continued: “While ‘5362’ might be a coordinate or telephone number.”
“I had people check all telephone numbers ending in 5362—there are seventeen in total, distributed across various areas, including some foreign companies and consulates.”
Chen Yang shook his head: “Major Nantian’s line of thinking is too broad. If it really were a telephone number, why add another set of numbers in front? I think this might be a book cipher.”
“Book cipher?” Fujita Tsuyoshi raised an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Chen Yang explained, “In my judgment, the Communist Party often uses specific editions of books as cipher books. The numbers might represent page, line, and word position. For example, the 2nd word on line 6 of page 76, and the 2nd word on line 6 of page 53.”
Nantian retorted: “But that requires knowing which book they used. The Shanghai Central Library has hundreds of thousands of books—it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Fujita Tsuyoshi thought for a moment and said: “You both make valid points. But I have a different idea.”
He picked up a pen and wrote the two sets of numbers on the paper: “Look, 7662 and 5362—if we consider them as coordinates?”
“Coordinates?” Nantian and Chen Yang asked simultaneously.
Fujita Tsuyoshi nodded: “Shanghai’s geographic coordinates are approximately 31 degrees north latitude and 121 degrees east longitude. These numbers might indicate a more precise location. For example, 31.7662 degrees north latitude, 121.5362 degrees east longitude.”
Chen Yang shook his head: “Colonel Fujita, that coordinate point is near the Yangtze River estuary, almost in the water—not very likely.”
“What estuary? How can Section Chief Chen be so sure that coordinate is near the estuary?” Nantian was the first to disbelieve.
Chen Yang sneered: “Major Nantian seems to have forgotten what Chen’s main job is?”
“You might be better than me at intelligence, but when it comes to coordinates, transportation lines, and such topics…”
“I’m afraid ten Major Nantian tied together wouldn’t match one finger of mine.”
“Baka.” Nantian was instantly furious.
“Enough,” Fujita Tsuyoshi said with some headache, “Major Nantian, Section Chief Chen is right—that coordinate is indeed at the estuary.”
“What I mean is, could there be a Communist Party liaison ship docked there, or frequently appearing there?”
Chen Yang said categorically: “Impossible. Navy patrol boats have always controlled the Yangtze River waters—I have never received any abnormal reports about that location.”
The office fell silent. The three stared at the set of numbers, as if it could suddenly speak and reveal the secret.
Suddenly, Nantian Yangzi’s eyes lit up: “Maybe it’s not mathematical coordinates, but some kind of codename?”
“I remember a Communist Party underground radio station we busted last year—their ciphers used numbers for personnel codenames. 7 might represent the seventh district, 6 the sixth group, and 62 the agent number.”
Chen Yang sneered: “Then what about the other set of numbers? 53 and 62? By that logic, it’s the 62nd agent of the third group in the fifth district? Too chaotic.”
Nantian Yangzi sighed slightly, unusually not retorting.
Indeed, by her logic, she couldn’t explain what the latter set of numbers meant.
So, what information was Old Zhong trying to pass to the Communist Party?
