369. London spy warfare
I have to admit that Walsingham, as the number one person in the British Privy Council and the number one secretary of Elizabeth I, is still a fairly trustworthy and reliable figure.
The source of this trust lies in his meticulous duty and his boundless devotion to Elizabeth I, including his fear and hatred of the Catholic Church and the sense of steadiness that Protestantism gave him.
The source of all this lies in an "unforgettable" terrifying experience in his early years!
In 1572, the still young Walsingham took his family to Paris, only to encounter the Saint-Barto-Lo Miu tragedy that shocked the world by the Queen Regent Catherine!
As a Protestant*, he hid in his house and witnessed thousands of Catholics* being dragged into the streets and brutally murdered!
There were men and women, old men, children, pregnant women, but they all ended up in the same place - the Seine, red with blood!
Especially his friend, Admiral Gaspar de Collini, the leader of the French Huguenot court, was brutally killed in his house and his body was thrown out of the window! This respectable nobleman ended up on the streets and let others trample on it!
Although Walsingham escaped bloody Paris a few days later, the experience left a huge shadow in his heart that could not be bridged!
Walsingham secretly vowed never to let this tragedy happen again in Britain! For this goal, he swore to do whatever it took to achieve it!
Even if you go to hell after death!
Elizabeth I was the daughter of King Henry VIII of England. For the sake of national interests and sectarian issues, it has greatly offended the Holy See!
After his return, the question of the successor caused widespread concern and intervention in Europe - Elizabeth I, who also believed in Protestant*, was strongly hostile to the Catholics of conservative countries such as Spain and France, believing that she would harm the interests of other neighboring countries.
In addition, in order to maintain the purity of the British royal family's bloodline and the Tudor family's control over the country, Elizabeth I chose not to marry for life!
Especially after she resolutely rejected Philip II's marriage proposal, she fundamentally eliminated the possibility of the Spanish king annexing England through marriage!
This annoyed the conservative forces of the Holy See, including Spain, France, and Germany! This also led to a long-term military confrontation between Britain and Spain, and a long-term economic confrontation between Britain and France.
Of course, this also contributed to the close integration of the British and Dutch brothers! This move touches the core interests of Spain! After all, the Netherlands has always been Spain's backyard and purse. The British move is undoubtedly his biggest cheese.
So Spain has been trying to overthrow Elizabeth I and change the Catholic * Christians * Christians * Christians * * Christians * * Christians *
Therefore, Mary, the Queen of Scots, who is young and capable, ambitious, and has always sought to ascend to the throne, has become their first choice!
It's a pity that Elizabeth I is a step ahead, and she found a reason to put Mary under house arrest in advance, and it is more than ten years in one pass!
In the past two years, with the continuous deterioration of Anglo-Spanish relations, the infiltration and subversion of Britain by Spain and France have also intensified!
A large number of Catholics, who had fled from England to France and Spain, began to sneak back to England, fanatical youths who sought to rescue Mary, while they all regarded themselves as apologists and had a calm and even hopeful attitude towards martyrdom.
But lately, Walsingham's intelligence system has brought back terrible news - these supporters of Mary are no longer satisfied with rescuing Mary, but plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary!
These fanatics poisoned Elizabeth I's sheets, saddles, food and water, expecting Elizabeth I to get her way!
But the Queen of England, who had ruled England for twenty-four or five years, was still rock solid - she had discovered many of the misdeeds of Mary's party, but she did not say anything about itβshe needed proof, evidence sufficient to convict Mary and even execute her!
For this, she did not hesitate to risk her life!
And Mary's level of struggle is constantly improving, and with the help of her native Sir Moske, her level of information transmission is getting higher and higher! Not only began to use ciphers to transmit information, but also accurately grasped the queen's itinerary and army scheduling.
Walsingham racked his brains for this, his letter interception system is actually quite mature, especially since he has the best intelligence analysis expert in the world, Thomas Phillips, and his professional team, which makes intelligence acquisition more efficient!
They continued to decipher the letters of Mary and Sir Moske, and sent intelligence officers to disguise themselves as Catholics who had been sent to prison, and went deep into the front line to spy on intelligence, and obtained quite a lot of effective information!
Walsingham firmly believes that the queen should not be worried about the throne all the time! These things should be resolved as soon as possible!
So he put a lot of effort into building an intelligence network from London, Paris, Lisbon to Constantinople, arrested hundreds of Catholic* priests and supporters, and used cruel* criminal laws, including iron virgins, to make almost all of them have no return!
But for some time, Walsingham was puzzled to find that they could intercept less and less information about Mary!
He believed that these changes came from Sir Moske's henchman, the cryptography expert Thomas Morgan, and the French priest Gilbert Gifford as a messenger!
As the two men infiltrated England - MI5 and 6 got the news but didn't catch the two - Mary's message was almost cut off, and the occasional gain was only to say something inconsequential!
Walsingham knew that Mary was still in contact with the outside world, but he could no longer find any clues, which made the intelligence chief panic!
He ordered a thorough investigation of all those who came and went to Mary's side, and that all those entering and leaving the hall of Chatteret were to be thoroughly inspected - they had to take off all their clothes and be inspected without any restrictions!
Even with Queen Mary's maids - these were against international conventions, so Walsingham applied for special executive power from the royal family, and the struggle between the two sides became even more acute!
But despite this, Mary's message was still missing, which almost made Walsingham restless!
At this moment, he received a call from the Queen, and saw me, and I couldn't help but sigh, "Blessed fellow, you should pray for meeting me!" Your God has not given up on you, lost lamb!
Located in a private house in the heart of downtown London, it looks like the surrounding houses, but there is something else inside!
Countless intelligence officers are like hard-working bees, working intensely and efficiently. I was greeted by a curly-haired man, and Walsingham introduced me to Thomas Phillips, his intelligence specialist.
There's a rule here - there are only two kinds of people who come in: their own people, and prisoners in shackles. I was at the front, and Walsingham was respectful, of course.
Walsingham gave Thomas Phillips an inquiring look, and the intelligence expert immediately scratched at his hair in annoyance, and he moved so violently that I almost thought he was going to scratch his scalp off!
"No clues! Yes! No clues! Thomas Phillips muttered in anguish: "We can't find information about Mary, yes!" Can't find it at all! β
The atmosphere in the room was very solemn, and I walked over to a large table, sat down slowly, picked up their search records, looked at them, and handed them to Mo.
Walsingham and Thomas Phillips looked at each other silently when they saw my movements, but they were silent.
Mo looked at it three times, shook his head slightly, and said, "Sir, their examination is very rough, I think I can easily entrap information in it."
Walsingham and Thomas Phillips were stunned at first, and the latter almost jumped: "You're questioning my professionalism!"
Mo glanced at them with disdain, but first turned back to me and asked, "Sir?"
I said lightly: "For the sake of the queen, teach them how much."
Mo nodded, beckoned, and a shinobi walked up to him. Mo quietly whispered a few words in the man's ear in Japanese, and Shinobu immediately went down.
The people in the room waited silently for five minutes, and they didn't even change their movements. Until the shinobi came back and stood next to Mo.
Mo said casually: "I used a very superficial method to let him hide some information, you can find it!"
Walsingham nodded, and winked at Thomas Phillips again.
The intelligence expert immediately became untenable, and was impatient to carry out the inspection. It suddenly occurred to me that this was an ally, or even a teacher, not an enemy that I had dealt with before.
So he politely said first: "I'm sorry." After getting Shinobi's approval, he and the other two searched for it.
An hour later, Shinobu put on the same clothes that had been turned back and forth by Thomas Phillips and the others seven or eight times, and still stood so calmly.
Thomas Phillips' eyes were bloodshot red, and he tried all the tests but still didn't get anything. Walsingham also sighed and was silent.
The biggest blow to a professional technician is to completely crush his professional self-confidence!
Walsingham didn't have time to take care of Thomas Phillips's mood, and saluted me: "Please publish the answer!" Your Excellency, Marquis! I have a hunch that we're going to be an eye-opener! β
I nodded, and Mo immediately began to explain, "Take the bottom button."
Shinobu did so, it was a twisted button made of cloth, and he flipped his fingers a few times, and immediately spread the button into a palm-sized piece of cloth, on which the words "No. 1" were written.
Taking the button, Thomas Phillips' hand was trembling, and he stared at the piece of cloth that the button had turned into, his face full of incredulity.
Mo said again: "Lining."
Thomas Phillips Looks Up! And also!?
But I saw Shimoto take out a knife and gently slash it under the hem of his clothes! Thomas Phillips frowned, where they checked and even disassembled the clothes and sewed them up, but found nothing!
Shinobi tore off a piece of cloth, rubbed it with two fingers in saliva, and gently tore it to both sides! The pieces of cloth immediately slowly parted from the middle and became two sheets of the same size!
In the middle is written "number two", and Thomas Phillips and Walsingham can only be relatively sluggish.
As if he was preparing to fully establish his prestige, Mo said lightly: "Teeth."
Two British intelligence officers were completely numb. They watched blankly as Shinobi opened his mouth, buckled it from his mouth, and took off a denture in a moment!
I buttoned it from the middle and got a note that said "No. 3......
While they were sluggish, Mo continued to say lightly: "This is just some superficial entrainment methods. There are many other loopholes. In bread, in hair, in ear holes, and ......"
"The barrel cork!" I said lightly.
Walsingham and Thomas Phillips' eyes lit up! At this time, they were already like two elementary school students who had received the true transmission, and they were happily organizing people to go to check!
Of course, some places come openly, and some come secretly.
All that's left is to wait. I took two sips of black tea and turned back to my room.
The audience stood solemnly and sent off, let them learn to do these superficial things first.