Chapter 303: The Elite Troops

Huang Ande was just one of the men sent in, though his work had been the most effective. Besides him, Chen Sigen also had several other intelligence personnel on single-line contact, both in Dengzhou city and the water fortress. Each intelligence officer had a walkie-talkie. Through the relay of a secret radio post set up outside the city, messages could be quickly transmitted to Chen Sigen.

Although he was on the sea, a dozen nautical miles from Dengzhou, he was well aware of every move within the city.

According to historical information provided by the Grand Library, Sun Yuanhua was captured in Dengzhou. Therefore, the intelligence efforts were primarily focused on Dengzhou city. To prevent any errors in the historical records, a number of personnel were also dispatched to infiltrate the Penglai water fortress.

The dispatch of intelligence personnel to infiltrate Dengzhou and the Penglai water fortress had been opposed by some, as no one knew if the agents could ensure their own safety in the chaos. If an intelligence officer were to die, the walkie-talkie would inevitably be lost forever. It would be almost impossible to retrieve it after a war.

But Chen Sigen believed that this line of thinking—avoiding risky operations because of potential losses—was problematic. A few walkie-talkies were important, but they were insignificant in the context of the entire Dengzhou operation.

“If we’re afraid of everything, we shouldn’t even dispatch the Special Reconnaissance Team. What if they run away with our weapons? What if they’re killed and we can’t recover the weapons? We’d be worried sick,” Chen Sigen said nonchalantly.

Zhu Mingxia nodded. “You have a point. But we should still be as cautious as possible. If we lose any controlled equipment, the hearing back home will be tough enough.”

“Don’t worry,” Chen Sigen said. “I’ve arranged a hiding place for everyone. They each have a secret location in the area. In a few months, they could have even dug a basement.”

Zhu Mingxia said, “Let’s hope everyone is safe.” The sky outside was gradually turning white. He looked at his watch. “It’s now the early morning of the third day of the first month of the fifth year of the Chongzhen era. The fall of Dengzhou is today.”

Chen Sigen said nothing, just silently looked at the simple sand table of Dengzhou and the Penglai water fortress that had just been assembled. On Qimu Island, he had a larger, more detailed sand table—intelligence personnel had spent months secretly surveying inside Dengzhou and Penglai. He had organized his team to conduct numerous sand table exercises. This simple sand table was just for the final mission briefing.

For Chen Sigen, the mission was quite daunting. He was a fitness instructor by trade and originally knew nothing about special operations. It was all taught to him bit by bit by Xue Ziliang. But this was his first time truly leading a combat mission on his own—and a rescue mission at that.

Chen Sigen had once thought of recalling Xue Ziliang from Jeju Island to Shandong to actually command the operation, but Zhu Mingxia had objected. Since the Engine Command had transferred Xue Ziliang to Jeju Island, they, as the forward command, should not interfere with the headquarters’ decision.

“The higher-ups have their reasons for making such a decision. We just need to carry it out resolutely,” Zhu Mingxia encouraged him. “Do we have to eat pork with the hair on just because we don’t have Butcher Zhang? Don’t worry, his methods are too advanced. Even if you only learn a fraction of a fraction of his skills, it will be enough.”

Despite this, when formulating the operational plan, they had had full communication with Xue Ziliang, who was far away on Jeju Island, via ship and radio.

At 6 a.m., the radio operator on duty came to report a new message from Dengzhou.

During the night, the rebel army had attempted to attack the city but was repulsed by the Hongyi cannons on the walls. This morning, several hundred of Zhang Tao’s remnants had fled to the city walls, demanding entry. The officials in charge were currently deliberating. The gentry and some officials in the city were firmly opposed to letting the routed soldiers in. The Liaodong soldiers inside the city and the routed soldiers outside were all in an uproar. The situation was on the verge of losing control.

Chen Sigen knew that historically, Sun Yuanhua and the other “decision-makers” had eventually agreed to let the routed soldiers in—this was said to be the main reason why Dengzhou fell so quickly. From the perspective of that time, it was definitely a blunder.

But Chen Sigen believed that, on the other hand, Sun Yuanhua’s choice was not incomprehensible.

“Sun Yuanhua may not have been unaware of the serious problems the routed soldiers could bring, but his current situation left him with no other choice,” Chen Sigen said, looking at the telegram. “If he had firmly refused, the Liaodong people inside the city might have rioted first.”

Sun Yuanhua’s control over the military and civilians of Dengzhou relied on Zhang Keda’s southern troops and his own prestige among the Liaodong people. Now, the former no longer existed as a force. He had no choice but to try his best to win over and appease the Liaodong people.

If he had firmly refused entry to the routed soldiers, the fall of Dengzhou might have been advanced from evening to morning. From his performance, Sun Yuanhua was not a particularly resourceful civil official capable of controlling the army.

Zhu Mingxia said, “You have a point. Sun Yuanhua always tried his best to win over the old hands of the Eastern River, hoping to use them—he never expected to die at their hands. Even the Great Ming was indirectly destroyed by this group! What a tragedy!”

The two were silent for a moment. Chen Sigen stood up and said, “Let’s begin.”

“Alright.”

A few minutes later, the members of Chen Sigen’s detachment, who had been on standby, entered the command tent. They were all lean, tough young men, their heads shaved clean, wearing cotton combat uniforms made by the Lin’gao Garment Factory—not the first-year stand-up collar style, nor the second-year open-collar style, and certainly not the woolen winter uniforms issued to the Northbound Detachment. The style was an imitation of the US military’s BDU. Of course, it was just a likeness, not even reaching the level of a civilian version. Each man wore the armband of the Special Reconnaissance Team Command and the service year insignia of the Special Reconnaissance Team on his sleeve.

The special uniform instilled a special sense of superiority in these young men. As members of an elite unit, this sense of superiority was an important force that sustained them through arduous training and tedious combat readiness duties. Xue Ziliang had specifically recommended this. Everything from their weapons, uniforms, insignia, to their food and pay was different and superior to that of the army and navy by several or even tens of times. Therefore, they were also well aware that their performance had to be tens of times better than that of ordinary soldiers.

All the team members were unaware of the upcoming operation. They were acting purely on reflex. Rumors about where they were going and what target they were attacking had been circulating privately—for months, they had been constantly familiarizing themselves with the terrain of Dengzhou, the Penglai water fortress, Laizhou, and Qingzhou, conducting countless exercises on maps and sand tables. The subjects covered everything from assassination, kidnapping, rescue, reconnaissance, to sabotage. They had also carried out more than ten reconnaissance missions in preparation for the task, but no one knew the real target.

But everyone knew that the only way to find out was in the upcoming mission briefing. The air seemed to be filled with the smell of gunpowder and male hormones, and the occasional exchanged glance was so sharp that you could almost hear the crackle of electricity. Because so far, one thing was confirmed: the operation had a code name—”Treasure Hunt.”

In the large tent, the brain and nerve center of the entire operation—the command center—had been established. There was a simple sand table, a map table with a large-scale map covered with a glass plate, and a display board pinned with floor plans, three-dimensional structural diagrams, photos, and so on of the target area.

Some of these pictures were provided by the intelligence agents of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau, and some were obtained by the special recon team members during their operations. They were then processed by the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and turned into systematic, highly readable materials.

The members of the Special Reconnaissance Team, although they were all illiterate by birth, had undergone several years of high-intensity, high-density training and study. In particular, the almost constant, on-the-spot guidance from the Senator officers had given them a level of literacy and combat awareness that was generally higher than that of ordinary naturalized citizen officers—each of them was an elite among elites.

As the pioneers and supreme practitioners of special operations in this era, the Special Reconnaissance Team adopted a four-man basic unit system under the detachment system, also known as the ‘four-man assault team’ system. This was the standard structure of special forces units in the 21st century.

The leader of each team was a sergeant—all the team members were corporals—and the prefix “Special Reconnaissance Forces” had to be added to distinguish them from the NCOs of the Fubo Army and Navy.

The twenty members of Chen Sigen’s detachment who had been brought to Dazhushan Island were all present. Chen Sigen stood at the front of the formation.

As the commander, the situation briefing was his responsibility, but this was Chen Sigen’s first time truly commanding an important assault battle, so he seemed a little nervous. “Listen up. Many of you smart alecks may have already guessed the location of our mission—to break into Dengzhou city. Now I want to emphasize one point: breaking in is not just to take a look—like you’ve done many times before. This mission is not reconnaissance, but—rescue—I repeat, this is not an exercise.” Chen Sigen paused here, deliberately raising his voice, and also giving himself a few seconds to calm his nerves.

“According to intelligence and the information we have, it is highly likely that Dengzhou and the Penglai water fortress will fall today,” Chen Sigen scanned the team members. “Therefore, we will infiltrate Dengzhou city and rescue Sun Yuanhua from the hands of the rebel army. You know who Sun Yuanhua is. The location of this attack will be inside Dengzhou city, estimated to be at the Dengzhou governor’s yamen or the Wanghai Tower in the Penglai water fortress. We are still waiting for further detailed intelligence. The operation will begin at dawn tomorrow, in the darkest hour before the first light of dawn.”

“Your mission is simple: with the help of local intelligence personnel, infiltrate the location where Sun Yuanhua is being held, rescue him by force, and bring him out safely.”