Chapter 783 – Task Force

In Lingao County Town, the Foreign Intelligence Bureau's "Farm" Intelligence Training Center, Section B—the former residence of the Gou Er family—blazed with light. In the four or five wings converted into classrooms sat various Ming subjects, all wearing serious expressions. Doors and windows were shut; apart from numbered code placards at the entrances, there were no other markings.

Li Yan entered each room in turn for briefings. The Ming subjects assembled in these wings had all completed long-term training by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. They were about to be dispatched to the mainland for intelligence gathering, network establishment, and trade operations—laying the groundwork for the next phase of the Continental Strategy.

Neither Guo Yi's Guangzhou Team nor Chang Shide's Leizhou Team was here—those two operated semi-publicly. Guangzhou and Leizhou were now classified as Yellow Zones. Assembled here were personnel heading to Orange and Red Zones. They faced considerable risk. As Director Shi, who delivered their health lecture, put it: the greatest danger wasn't the Ming's hapless counterintelligence apparatus—they couldn't even disrupt barbarian spy networks—but the overall sanitation conditions of ancient society.

Every dispatched agent had signed a volunteer form and, as required, written a will—though some refused. "I have neither children nor family in this time-space. What's the point?"

Tong Guan was among those who refused. As head of the Installation Company, he had spent the post-D-Day period at the General Construction Company handling equipment installation. As soon as the Foreign Intelligence Bureau was established, he volunteered for fieldwork. Now, at last, he had become leader of the "Yangtze Task Force."

The so-called "Yangtze Task Force" was a long-term intelligence-collection project covering military strong points and transportation hubs along the Yangtze River basin. Their mission: conduct geographic surveys of key ferry crossings and customs stations, perform necessary topographic mapping, and collect economic, social, and political intelligence up and down the river—providing the decision-making basis for the Transmigrator Group's backup plan, the Yangtze Strategy. The operation was code-named, per Tong Guan's own suggestion, "Mandarin Duck Tea."

Besides this task force, the Bureau would simultaneously dispatch trade-intel teams to Hangzhou and Beijing, leveraging the "Land and Sea Routes" system. Additionally, the Liaodong Team would travel with the Guangzhou Team first, then proceed to Liaodong via Li Luoyou's arrangements.

Operating four teams in Yellow and Red Zones at once was unprecedented for the Foreign Intelligence Bureau. Over a dozen elders would receive overseas assignments simultaneously—a scale that worried the House of Elders. But given the priority of quickly advancing the Continental Strategy to secure more resources, population, and funding channels, the risk was deemed necessary.

Every team member had memorized their mission brief—documents were collected after reading; not a scrap of paper could leave. Li Yan was now delivering final instructions: transit arrangements into the operational zones and contingency plans for emergencies.

Each team's route and transportation were classified; teams knew only their own arrangements. Only Li Yan knew all the details.

In the largest room sat the biggest undercover unit of this operation: the "Yangtze Task Force." Its four members were drinking tea and chatting idly. Though most had trained for over half a year and held the Ming's counterintelligence capabilities in contempt, on the eve of infiltrating enemy territory, everyone felt tension and pressure.

They drank strong tea and bantered to ease their nerves. A few craved cigarettes, but they had already quit—where they were going, cigarettes were rare foreign imports. Even pipes and water-pipes might be problematic. Chongzhen periodically launched anti-smoking campaigns during his reign; at the worst, smoking was a capital offense. To avoid unnecessary trouble, quitting was safest.

"Once we leave, who knows when we'll be back," Tong Guan mused over his tea.

"I'd say three or four years," Zhang Biao replied. "With ancient transportation, visiting every prefecture and county along the Yangtze—even in the old time-space with cars and trains, it'd take ages." He toyed with a Yongle-era coin, flipping it between his fingers—one coin became three, four, then five, then vanished entirely.

Zhang Biao was a history master's student and amateur magician, skilled in coin magic. In preparation for intel work, he had also trained hard in various "sleight of hand" skills, planning to use a street-performer cover identity. He would be Tong Guan's main operative.

"In peaceful times, that'd be fine. But these three or four years are the Ming's end-times," Ji Jianzhang said uneasily. He was dressed as a private secretary and accountant. Ji Jianzhang wrote an excellent brush-hand and had received specialized training at the Bureau.

Tong Guan waved it off. "The real chaos hasn't arrived yet. The Yangtze prefectures and counties we're visiting still have law and order. Besides, we have a martial-arts master as bodyguard."

"I don't trust martial-arts masters much. I'd rather bring extra bullets." Xu Tianqi had originally served in the Foreign Affairs Department, but found the current work boring and had volunteered for intelligence duty. His training time was short; Tong Guan planned to station him at an intel outpost as permanent staff. Xu Tianqi's specialty was English—useless here—but he had researched Jianghuai dialects extensively, a valuable skill.

"Martial-arts masters or handguns aren't the key. The key is money," Tong Guan said leisurely. "With money, you can go anywhere; without it, you can't take a step."

The Yangtze Task Force's operations were long-term. The Executive Committee and Bureau imposed no specific limitations on their work—only broad direction. Their operational range stretched from Nanjing down to Chongqing and Chengdu upstream. Once dispatched, the team would have to operate entirely on their own, including raising part of their subsequent operating funds.

"How much will the Bureau give us?" Xu Tianqi asked.

"Li Yan discussed it with me last time. About 500 taels of silver. Enough to get started. We're traveling far; we can't carry too much. Flashing money invites trouble."

As they talked, Li Yan entered, smiling, carrying a canvas bag.

"Director Li, there you are." Tong Guan stood up enthusiastically to shake hands.

"Heh, sorry to keep you waiting." Li Yan placed the canvas bag on the table. "Here's your equipment."

"When do we leave?"

"Within the next three days." Li Yan sat down, opened the bag, and distributed the contents. "You'll first take a ship to Guangzhou. In Guangzhou, you'll rendezvous with your native bodyguard at Qiwei Escort Agency—this man." He handed Tong Guan a paper dossier. "Here's his file. Read it, then return it to me."

Tong Guan opened it and burst out laughing. "Li Xiaogang? His father's Li Dagang?"

"That's right," Li Yan said. "Li Dagang is a senior member of Qiwei Escort Agency—excellent martial arts. He's been too old and frail to escort convoys in recent years. His son is skilled with fist and staff—a rising star of the new generation."

"Reliable?"

"Very reliable," Li Yan said. "Lingao saved Li Dagang's life. Li Xiaogang has also attended training here. Political Security rates the whole family highly. And Li Xiaogang's son has been sent to Fangcaodi for schooling."

This time, in addition to Li Xiaogang serving as the Yangtze Team's security escort, Li Dagang and Li Xiaogang's wife, Xiang Chunhua, would accompany them.

"Xiang Chunhua was also raised as a household escort. She'll be very useful to your team."

"The whole family's going? Truly devoted."

"More hands is never a bad thing." What Li Yan didn't mention was that this also served as a means for the Colonial Trade Division to split up the Qiwei Escort Agency system. Li Dagang was from Jiangxi, one of Sun Kecheng's most loyal "fellow-provincial old brothers," part of the Jiangxi faction's core. This was a convenient opportunity to break it up.

Li Yan then pulled a cloth bundle from the bag and opened a corner: gold leaf gleamed inside.

"Fifty taels of gold," he said. "At Ming exchange rates, roughly 600 taels of silver." Gold was easier to carry than silver; merchants traveling with large sums often converted beforehand.

Finally, four Glock handguns, two magazines each—standard elder personal weapons. These had been their original sidearms, sent out a few days ago for inspection and maintenance. Also included were 200 rounds of 9mm ammunition in a tin box.

Some intel personnel argued that trade-intel work didn't require handguns, but ancient society's security was poor; without a weapon, one felt unsafe. After much debate, they decided to issue handguns to trade-intel personnel. Of course, agents could choose not to carry one.

The Yangtze Task Force was not assigned a radio, since Tong Guan hadn't yet decided where to base the task force. The Bureau suggested Nanjing, but Tong Guan felt Jiangnan would be covered by the Hangzhou intel team—putting another station in Nanjing would be redundant. He personally favored Wuchang.

Wuchang was a contested zone in the late Ming; the Bureau was dubious about his proposal—after all, elder safety came first.

"Wuchang's location is crucial," Tong Guan argued. "It's not only a major city in the middle Yangtze but also connects to Shaanxi and Hanzhong—a strategic north-south chokepoint. In Wuchang, we can gather a lot of useful intelligence."

(End of Chapter)