Chapter 1063 - The Sun Yuanhua Project
Inside the safe house, the group rapidly completed final preparations for withdrawal. Unlike the infiltration phase, the extraction required bringing Sun Yuanhua and others along. Their movements could not be as swift and fluid as when they had entered, so specific arrangements were necessary for the retreating personnel.
Sun Yuanhua was placed on a simple stretcher—prepared by Huang Ande several days prior on Chen Sigen's orders. It was a wooden pole and rope net stretcher built to Lingao standards. The assault team had brought adjustable buckle straps to effectively secure the body to the stretcher frame.
Sun Yuan and the two young servants carried Sun Yuanhua's stretcher, with a team guarding the front and rear.
"Salamander calling Crocodile. Salamander calling Crocodile. First rendezvous point reached. Preparing to withdraw to exfiltration point. All personnel safe. Please instruct." The captain's voice was low and controlled.
"Withdrawal approved."
"What about you?" the captain asked Huang Ande. "Are you withdrawing with us, or continuing in the city?"
"They will go with you. He and I will stay," Huang Ande replied, gesturing toward Zhu Si. He reasoned that if he left, the team in the city would immediately fall apart without his leadership, and his months of careful work would be wasted.
Sun Yuan had to go, but the others did not.
As long as he remained in the city, he could still play a significant role—adding a glorious stroke to his future resume.
"Alright. Watch yourselves."
Sun Yuan and the two servants also underwent necessary disguises, their faces blackened with soot. To prevent them from shouting inadvertently, all three were gagged.
"Sorry—you'll have to endure some discomfort for now," the sergeant said.
The assault team quickly completed their sweep of the safe house and began to withdraw, covering each other in sequence.
Zhu Si watched the group carrying Lord Sun away, his face full of confusion. This night had been too bizarre, too eerie. He could not help but bite his tongue to confirm he was awake. Then he looked at Huang Ande, feeling a surge of fear—if Huang Ande had not been coming and going from the Water City for months, and if he were not his sworn brother's childhood friend, Zhu Si might truly have believed he was consorting with demons.
Yet being sworn brothers with someone of such high skill and powerful connections also made Zhu Si secretly pleased.
"Brother..."
"Don't be afraid," Huang Ande said with a smug look, observing Zhu Si's mixture of fear and excitement. "Let's go—we need to head back quickly."
Just as Huang Ande was about to take Zhu Si away from the safe house, a call tone suddenly sounded from the radio. He quickly switched it on.
"This is Crocodile calling Jones."
"Jones hears you."
"Since you are not leaving Dengzhou, I now order you and your team to enter hibernation immediately," Chen Sigen issued new instructions. "Fighting will break out here in Dengzhou very soon. Unless absolutely necessary, do not join the rebel army. Hide as best you can. If you can no longer lurk safely in the city, send a message and we will arrange your evacuation immediately."
"Understood."
"Good luck."
At 0410 hours, Chen Sigen was the last to board the receiving Fubo-class gunboat. Zhu Mingxia, who had been waiting for some time, greeted him with a beaming smile. "Victory in the first battle! Spirits are high."
"Yes—it's just the beginning!" Chen Sigen replied.
Recovering the rowboats, the Fubo transported the assault team and Sun Yuanhua toward Dazhushan Island. Chen Sigen was too energized to rest, pacing alone on the deck. The treasure-snatching operation had proceeded far more smoothly than they had imagined. Prior to this, the Special Reconnaissance Team had carried out strictly nocturnal kidnapping and assassination missions in various cities throughout the Pearl River Delta—but those were peacetime conditions, utterly unlike a dangerous city occupied by a large enemy force in a state of war like Dengzhou.
It seemed the Special Reconnaissance Team had a promising future indeed.
Chen Sigen held two positions: one in the Ministry of Health, serving as Director of the Nutrition and Fitness Division, and the other in the military. Usually, his work left him juggling far too many responsibilities. To accommodate his duties at the Ministry of Health, the General Staff mostly scheduled his detachment for duty in Bairen City. Even so, daily training, duty rotations, and exercises still consumed too much of his time and energy. Chen Sigen had been considering giving up his military post to focus entirely on his health career.
Now it seems that grinding for merit points is faster in the army, Chen Sigen thought with a private grin.
The Fubo soon arrived at Dazhushan Island. Chen Sigen was surprised to find a Senator waiting to welcome him at the pier.
It was none other than the "Manor Lord" of Qimu Island—Lu Wenyuan.
"Why are you here?" Chen Sigen asked as he walked down the gangway. "There's no Senator holding down the fort on Qimu Island. What if things go chaotic?"
"It doesn't matter. I came out quietly. There are naturalized citizen cadres and the Army on the island; it won't spiral into chaos," Lu Wenyuan replied. "When Sun Yuanhua wakes up, there needs to be someone familiar, doesn't there?"
Sun Yuanhua did not know any of the Senators on Dazhushan Island. Explaining matters to him would require first establishing trust. Lu Wenyuan had no such obstacle.
"True." Chen Sigen nodded. "Since everyone is here, let's decide: where do we send Sun Yuanhua?"
"In my view, keeping him on Dazhushan Island is fine. There's Navy cover here, the rebels can't attack, and it's close to Dengzhou..." Chen Sigen began.
"No—I think we should transport him to Qimu Island as soon as possible," Lu Wenyuan countered. "News of Sun Yuanhua's capture hasn't officially spread yet. At most, the Imperial Court has received vague reports about Dengzhou falling and Sun Yuanhua's fate being unknown. The Court won't have decided to appoint a new Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou yet. We must get Sun Yuanhua back to the mainland quickly and have him submit a memorial immediately to regain the initiative."
Though the fall of Dengzhou was a major crime for Sun Yuanhua, the fact that he himself had not been captured publicly—and the fatal rumor of "Kong Youde intending to make him King" had not yet spread—meant there was still room to maneuver. Moreover, since Sun Yuanhua had not been dismissed by the Court, the entire three prefectures of Dengzhou and Laizhou still had to obey his orders—which was extremely beneficial to the Engine Operation.
"Sun Yuanhua must remain under our control. We can't leave him on Dazhushan Island—this is just a small, desolate island after all; news travels slowly. Qimu Island has a radio and a pier. Communication and transport are both convenient."
Chen Sigen found his reasoning sound, so he decided to take the entire force and Sun Yuanhua off Dazhushan Island. As long as they held Sun Yuanhua, any Ming troops around the Shandong Peninsula under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou would have to obey orders. A place like Dazhushan Island was difficult to garrison on a large scale, and they lacked sufficient naval vessels to control the surrounding waters. It was also dangerously close to Dengzhou; if attacked by Ming forces or rebels, the soldiers left behind would simply be sacrificed for nothing.
At dawn, the Fubo and the Special Service Boat Squadron transported all personnel and equipment from the Treasure Hunt operation to Qimu Island.
At the pier on Qimu Island, there was an additional Type 901 gunboat along with several special service boats.
Chen Sigen was somewhat surprised—thousands of refugees had just been transported from the island to Jeju Island. Ideally, a gunboat not on escort duty arriving suddenly at Qimu Island was quite unexpected.
When they drew close enough to visually read the hull number, Chen Sigen recognized it: this was the Daishuang of the Second Fleet.
"When did this ship arrive?"
"Lu Yang? He brought the ship in yesterday," Lu Wenyuan explained. "Headquarters wants to strengthen the maritime power around Qimu Island. They've deployed both the Daishuang and the Fubo here, along with two Special Service Boat Squadrons. This also allows for a shuttle escort system, giving the crews and ships a chance to rest."
"Is this kid up to the task? I recall he was only 20 on D-Day, right?" Chen Sigen knew of him—a "passerby" Senator with virtually zero presence, belonging to the "soy sauce crowd" of bystanders who possessed no muscles for physical labor and no skills for technical work. Later, during the massive expansion of the Navy and Army, "soy sauce" Senators had been dragged everywhere to serve as officers. This kid had thought joining the Navy was cooler, so he entered the naval training class. The reason Chen Sigen knew him was because Lu Yang had brought his mother along.
Lu Yang's mother was not old—only in her fifties. Since D-Day, she had lived a secluded life; people only remembered her surname was Qian. She had been a vice-principal of a primary school and had crossed over only because she had one son. For the first two years after D-Day, due to low spirits and the sweltering southern heat, she had stayed at Gaoshanling to escape the warmth, writing textbooks and lesson plans for the education department. It was not until the education of underage minor Senators was put on the agenda that she formally received a position: because everyone was unanimously uneasy about certain "questionable" teachers at Fangcaodi, she—with over thirty years of teaching experience—was invited to serve as head teacher and instructor for the underage Senator class, partnering with Fang Yijing to handle the education of the next generation. Everyone respectfully called her Principal Qian.
Since there were only a few minor Senators of school age—even adding some carefully selected naturalized orphan students and their children—Principal Qian's class numbered only twelve people. Their presence was barely felt at Fangcaodi. Chen Sigen was a nutrition expert and often had to visit this special class for physical examinations and nutritional meal planning, so he was quite familiar with Principal Qian and her son.
Lu Yang was already waiting respectfully at the pier. Seeing Chen Sigen come ashore, he welcomed him with an enthusiastic face, saluting and shaking hands. "Comrade Chen Sigen, congratulations on completing the dangerous mission of infiltration and rescue behind enemy lines. From now on, the safety of field Senators has another layer of guarantee."
"You flatter me," Chen Sigen replied. "I think you are the one who is young and promising—becoming the commander of a naval detachment at such a young age."
"You flatter me, you flatter me. This is just a temporary assignment; I still have a lot to learn." Lu Yang was properly humble. The group returned to Lu Wenyuan's stockade.
Lu Wenyuan ordered Sun Yuanhua, who remained asleep, to be settled in a meticulously prepared guest room with double guards stationed at the door. Additionally, a maid trained by the General Bureau of Security was assigned to serve in the bedroom. Chen Sigen, still worried, made certain to summon Xie Yao immediately to examine Sun Yuanhua and ensure all his major physiological indicators were normal. Sun Yuan and the two young servants were sent to bathe and decontaminate immediately—though, following his orders, their hair could be left unshaven for the time being.
(End of Chapter)