sjar Chapter 1242 Hong Kong
Chapter 1242 Hong Kong
Hong Kong Airport
Li Shaoyi had come all this way to Hong Kong, hoping to do something here, like uprooting the Japanese intelligence agency or discussing matters with the Hong Kong authorities. But none of that mattered; the most important thing was to send Miss Baiyun back.
Miss Baiyun carries a heavy responsibility. Upon returning to the mountain city, she must diligently train a new group of communications personnel. The old methods are no longer very effective; the Japanese can easily find our vulnerabilities. These new communications personnel will be deployed throughout the entire party and state to enhance the secrecy of our communications.
Therefore, Li Shaoyi had to accompany Miss Baiyun back to Shancheng. Furthermore, Li Shaoyi had offended quite a few people in Hankou last time, so this time he should smooth things over to avoid making things awkward for everyone.
Although it is wartime, there are only two major airlines operating over China: the Nationalist government's Central Airlines and Lufthansa from Europe.
The owner of Lufthansa has a good relationship with the Japanese, so as long as it's a normal civil aviation relationship, the Japanese won't fire on them.
Of course, the Japanese wouldn't be so willing to accept a shipment of contraband if it were discovered. Li Shaoyi and Miss Baiyun boarded a plane to Shancheng at that moment; it was clear that the routes between the two cities were suddenly fully booked.
Previously, the route from Huangpu to Hong Kong was probably the busiest in the entire country, sometimes even surpassing the route from Beijing to Huangpu. Now, after the outbreak of war, the route from Chongqing to Hong Kong has become the busiest, with several planes flying directly along this route almost every day.
Of course, this is perfectly normal. As the war intensifies, the only way for Chongqing to contact the outside world is by air. And the only city outside where one can buy things is probably Hong Kong.
These days, there's no such thing as first class on airplanes; most people sit in one cabin, and there are only twenty or thirty seats. Li Shaoyi boarded the plane with four bodyguards, and Miss Baiyun's two assistants were also on board. Originally, Li Shaoyi wanted to charter the entire plane, but Miss Baiyun felt it would be too conspicuous.
After boarding the plane, Li Shaoyi looked at most of the passengers. The colors of their feet were either unfamiliar or friendly. Only then did Li Shaoyi feel completely at ease and take his seat.
Flying in the sky is tantamount to entrusting one's life to others, so one must be extremely careful. If one is even slightly careless, there's no way to save someone in time. After all, no one has the ability to live in mid-air, not even with the system's modifications to Li Shaoyi's body.
"Don't be too nervous. People who can afford to fly are not ordinary people. Even if Japanese spies have ample operating funds, they wouldn't be able to send a large number of people on a plane. Besides, this plane belongs to Lufthansa, and the owner of Lufthansa is the Junker Empire. How could the Japanese have such power?"
Seeing Li Shaoyi's nervousness, Miss Baiyun smiled and explained to him that while her explanations were all very reasonable, she also understood that Li Shaoyi was still a very important target. It was perfectly normal for the Japanese to want to eliminate him. She had initially thought he would only be able to find their intelligence gathering center, but now it seemed his importance had increased considerably. After returning to Shancheng, he would have to rebuild the communication system, which would be a further blow to the Japanese intelligence agency.
Li Shaoyi knew this even before boarding the plane. The reason Miss Baiyun was so highly regarded by the Nationalist government was because she had devised a plan. This plan could help the Nationalist government rebuild a communication system. The Japanese had found far too many loopholes in the original system; no matter how we modified it, we probably wouldn't be able to evade Japanese surveillance.
Given this situation, rebuilding a communication system is an urgent matter. However, for the current Nationalist government, such a communication system would be far too expensive. Having lost a major tax-generating region, the Nationalist government simply cannot afford such a sum.
However, in Miss Baiyun's plan, only some lines need to be eliminated, and most of the remaining lines can still be kept, which would reduce the cost by more than half. But deciding which lines to eliminate and which to keep is not something that ordinary people can know; Miss Baiyun herself must direct the process.
This highlights Miss Baiyun's importance, which explains Li Shaoyi's current anxiety. While he has many skilled communications personnel, overseeing the nationwide network upgrade is likely impossible. It's understandable that the Japanese are investing significant resources to assassinate Miss Baiyun.
From the late Qing Dynasty onwards, the Japanese began to infiltrate my country's communication network, including the laying of telephone and telegraph lines. The Japanese were very proactive, not only helping us solve technical problems but also providing significant financial assistance. What were their motives? Certainly not out of altruism.
These guys were planning to plant their own people and listening devices during the construction process. They now have control over almost all the communications. If everything were replaced, it would mean decades of effort had been wasted. How could the Japanese possibly agree to that?
Traitors within the Nationalist government have already informed them that the government doesn't have enough funds for a complete replacement; only a partial one is possible. However, only Miss Baiyun's oversight can ensure a successful partial replacement. If anyone else attempts to forcibly intervene, the Nationalist government will likely suffer, ultimately ending up with an incomplete communication system—a fatal flaw during wartime.
In this situation, eliminating Miss Baiyun would be the easiest way to resolve the matter. However, Miss Baiyun did not appear in Pujiang, let alone disappear now.
The Japanese intelligence organization in Hong Kong also received this order, but they only knew a code name and didn't even know what she looked like. How could they find this Miss Baiyun?