Chapter 334: Full of Doubts

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The mechanical clicking sounds rose and fell, and countless machines made all sorts of crisp noises. The busy scene here was a bit like a te

The mechanical clicking sounds rose and fell, and countless machines made all sorts of crisp noises. The busy scene here was a bit like a textile factory, but looking at the strange equipment, one could see that this was definitely not a light industry textile factory.

“X… X… G…” At the German intelligence collection center in Berlin, a woman was concentrating on verifying the coded message that had just been typed out from the telegraph machine. She had to do this kind of repetitive work every day and could not easily make a mistake.

The original text of the coded message she had verified had to be handed over to her superior, the intelligence director, for another check, and then given to different military code translators for decryption. This was a massive and arduous job, but the rigorous style of the Germans made these women not feel oppressed when they did this work.

And in the workshop, which was as large as a public square, there were more than 300 female workers like this who worked until evening every day. The night shift also had the same number of people at work. With their diligent labor, they supported the information collection work of Germany’s massive intelligence network.

Suddenly, a female worker stood up and, with a grave expression, handed a telegram with a row of special letters on it to the team leader who had seen her stand up and had come over to ask about the situation. The team leader glanced at the telegram and then hurried to the end of the entire workshop. After knocking on the door, she handed the document to the SS major who was on duty.

Soon, the SS major on duty stood up and picked up the phone. “Heil Führer Akado Rudolph! General Gascoigne? The telegram you instructed to be sent directly to you has appeared. Yes… I reported it to you directly as soon as it was discovered, without any delay! Yes, sir! Understood! I will not leave the office before you arrive!”

Not long after, Gascoigne arrived with his men. The major immediately stood at attention, saluted, and gave up his office seat. Gascoigne waved his hand, and everyone left the office. When he was the only one left in the room, he opened a codebook and personally began to translate and verify the contents of the message.

“A few days ago, a submarine transported five British intelligence agents who landed in the Netherlands. Three have been confirmed as the operatives who assassinated the Führer. The whereabouts of the other two are unknown. Please be careful—Poison.” Gascoigne recorded the contents of this document himself, then sealed it in a file bag along with the coded version of the translated telegram, and only then did he let the others return to the office.

“Immediately find the patrol records of the coastal areas of the Netherlands for the last half a month, carefully check for any suspicious situations, and then send them to my office along with the results!” Gascoigne commanded the several officers he had brought with him. “Immediately apply to deploy a special operations team from the 0th SS Division, find several of our intelligence department’s most capable personnel, and call General Heydrich of the SS. Have him send some formidable people over. This is an important matter that must be dealt with as soon as possible.”

“As you command!” The several officers immediately turned and walked out. Gascoigne, on the other hand, returned to the Army General Staff with the file.

Soon, the terrifying efficiency of the German intelligence department in full operation was demonstrated. Reinhard Heydrich personally led the elite troops of the SS and drove to the Army General Staff. Then Gascoigne, in front of him, personally opened the sealed file bag and handed the translated telegram inside to Heydrich.

“Poison? It’s intelligence from him… No wonder,” Heydrich knew as soon as he saw the signature that this agent was a nail that the Führer had personally planted in Britain years ago. Its level of secrecy was about the same as Germany’s nuclear physics research project and rocket experiments. After he finished reading the telegram, he frowned, extended his hand, and gave a slight wave.

An officer stepped forward and put his face next to Heydrich, whose other arm was still in a sling. “General, what are your orders?”

“Immediately find the person in charge of handling the case of spy infiltration in the Netherlands! I want to personally hear all of his reports!” Heydrich said coldly. This assassination attempt had wounded him and had almost sent him to his grave. It was clear that this intelligence was also very important to him personally, because from the moment he had regained consciousness in the hospital, he had been thinking of nothing but the word “revenge.”

“There have not been many cases of British spies infiltrating from the Netherlands recently, General. As far as I know, it seems there has only been one,” soon, the relevant heads of the military intelligence department and the SS had arrived. They placed the relevant files on the table, as well as some of the related records and photos that had been left at the time.

“The physical evidence has to be retrieved from the local garrison’s archives management department in the Netherlands. I believe it can reach Berlin in two days at the earliest,” another officer added. “But that time in the Netherlands, although no one was caught, it was determined from the evidence left behind that the other side only had four personnel!”

“These photos were left for the archives at the time. Indeed, only four sets of clothes, for three men and one woman, were found,” an officer said, pointing to some black and white photos. “Judging by the number of clothes, they did indeed only have four people.”

“Three sets of men’s tights and outerwear were found at the scene, and also one set of women’s tights and one set of outerwear…”

“Get Wiens in here!” Heydrich said, his eyes narrowed. “Isn’t he known as the lecherous ghost who goes for both men and women? Let him come and see what’s different about these clothes.”

Speaking of which, this Wiens was a real character in the SS. He was lustful by nature but also a workaholic. He was tireless in the office during the day, and at night, he would seek pleasure every night and went for both men and women. The number of spy cases he had solved was as numerous as the hairs on an ox, and similarly, his boyfriends and girlfriends were also countless—you’re not mistaken, he didn’t just like women.

Soon, this expert on women’s underwear walked into the office and was taken aback by the rank of the intelligence officers sitting inside. The two big shots in charge of intelligence, plus almost all the prominent figures in the German military intelligence department, were there. The lowest rank inside was lieutenant colonel.

“Look at these clothes. After you’ve said what you have to say, you can go,” Heydrich said, pointing to the photos on the table after he had walked into the room. “If you see anything of value, I’ll owe you a favor!”

To have the Commander-in-Chief of the SS owe him a favor? Then he would be just a step away from soaring to the top. Wiens hurriedly walked forward and carefully examined the photos of the clothes. After a few seconds, he seemed to have discovered something, and a confident smile appeared on his lips. “General, I’ve found the problem.”

“Let’s hear it!” Heydrich immediately perked up, sat up straight, and pricked up his ears to listen to Wiens’s analysis.

“General! These are the clothes of three men and two women!” Wiens’s one sentence made everyone present stare with wide eyes. Is he that professional? Not only did he immediately state the number of people, but he even determined their gender? Is this some kind of international joke?

Wiens just pointed to the photos and said with a smile, “There’s no problem with the men’s clothes, but it’s clear they were wearing a bit too much! Although they landed on the coast, we’ve done this kind of thing a lot. Usually, you only wear one outer garment so that you can change into the clothes prepared by the contact personnel at the fastest possible speed.”

He pushed aside the three photos of the men’s clothes. “But these clothes are clearly too much. And from the perspective of warmth, they were wearing too little. So I speculate that there was a purpose to their wearing two layers of clothes. Therefore, I observed the other set of women’s clothes—and sure enough, I found a problem!”

“What problem?” Gascoigne asked, raising his eyebrows.

“This set of women’s clothes does not belong to one person!” Wiens said, pointing to some of the details. “The legs of this loose outer coat and trousers are too long, but the tights inside are a bit short, by about… about 2 centimeters.”

All the officers looked at Wiens with contemptuous eyes, their expressions all carrying a kind of “just how lecherous do you have to be to be able to tell from a photo that the length of the clothes is off by a little bit?” Even Heydrich on the side coughed twice in embarrassment to cover up his own awkwardness.

“In addition, there’s also this underwear…” Wiens wanted to continue.

“Alright! Don’t say any more! How sure are you that there were five people, and how sure are you that there were three men and two women?” Heydrich quickly interrupted his continued analysis. To say any more would be a complete disgrace to the SS.

“Reporting to the General! I am certain that there were definitely three men and two women!” Wiens replied with a nod.

“In that case, it’s much easier to handle!” Gascoigne nodded. “From that date on, any woman who has appeared around German officers and politicians is to be investigated! Don’t let a single one go! When the physical evidence arrives, have Major Wiens identify it, confirm their height and weight, and then narrow the scope of the investigation!”

“Submit this intelligence to the intelligence analysis room of the 0th SS Division. Have them pay attention to the Führer’s personal safety. After all, these British intelligence agents came over together. The most likely possibility is that these two women are also here to carry out an assassination mission!” Heydrich added with a frown.

“That’s right! Start the secret investigation in regions like Cologne first! Don’t alert the enemy!” Gascoigne nodded. “Deploy a company of special operations teams over there. After confirming their identity, arrest them directly. Don’t alert the local police… I suspect they have an intelligence station in the local area, and I’m afraid they will cover for each other.”

“That makes sense! This time, let the Army Intelligence department take the lead in handling this matter!” Heydrich also agreed with this method, but he then added sinisterly, “If you catch these two women, leave them to our SS for processing… I will make them regret ever coming into this world!”