cicada

Chapter 1428 Operation Edelweiss

Poncha Island, located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy, has been a prison for exiled political prisoners since the rise of that Italian leader.

The other side never imagined that the prison that once imprisoned their opponents would become their own cell, so when they saw Gu Qi and Gui Youguang, who represented the Allied forces, they immediately became agitated and cursed the guards.

"Damn it, you are all traitors to the Roman Empire! Get these two Easterners out of here! I don't want to see them!"

Gu Qi seemed not to hear the leader's shouts, and slowly sat down next to him. Only after the other party finished cursing did he calmly state his purpose.

"Sir, you should know your situation. I don't want to waste time on pointless arguments. I just want to know one thing."

As he spoke, he glanced at the leader out of the corner of his eye, and seeing a slight change in the other's expression, he continued.

"The Allies were very interested in the Germans' new weapons. They heard that the weapons could kill hundreds of thousands of people at once, which was a huge threat to us."

The leader narrowed his eyes. To rise from a journalist to the head of state of Italy, he was no ordinary person. Upon learning the purpose of the visit of this "Allied representative," he immediately realized that his opportunity had arrived.

He certainly didn't want to exchange intelligence on new German weapons for his freedom; that was unrealistic. What he wanted was to survive.

As if guessing what the leader was thinking, Gu Qi smiled and dispelled the other party's unrealistic fantasies with just one sentence.

"Your country will soon join the Allied camp, or at least remain neutral. At that time, do you think the Germans will use that weapon to attack Italy?"

The leader's expression changed, and he swallowed back the words he was about to say. The answer to this question was almost certainly yes.

The Germans wouldn't care how many Italians died, as long as they could stop the Allied advance in the Mediterranean. He sighed and spoke with difficulty.

"All right……"

To be honest, as the head of state, he has indeed done a lot for Italy and loves this land and its people, but his direction is wrong, so no matter how much he does, it will be in vain.

Having realized the threat posed by the new weapons to Italy, the leader gave up the opportunity to exchange intelligence for an Allied pardon; this may have been the last thing he could do for the Italian people.

While Gu Qi was talking to him, Gui Youguang, who had nothing to do, took a stroll around the prison. Looking at the rudimentary defense facilities, the bald man frowned.

The prison was located near the town, in a complex area, but apart from a wall a few meters high and a small squad of gendarmes, the Italians did not deploy any additional troops.

Gui Youguang couldn't understand why Giovanni and his people weren't afraid of something unexpected happening, since that leader had only lost support from the top leadership but still had a large following among the Italian people.

If it were a special operations team from the Military Intelligence Bureau attacking this place, they could probably rescue the target in less than ten minutes. Thinking of this, Gui Youguang reminded the Italian Carabinieri colonel in charge of guarding the area.

The colonel simply shrugged and said dismissively, "We Italians love life and would never break someone out of prison for some politician."

Gui Youguang was speechless. "How can you be so arrogant? Is it glorious to be afraid of death?" He had to remind the other party again.

“Sir, I think you’ve forgotten your allies. Given the chance, the Germans will definitely try to rescue the prisoners. They’re not people who cherish life.”

The colonel's expression finally changed. If the Germans really came to rescue that person, the most dangerous people would be the guards.

He grew increasingly worried and hurriedly reported the matter to Rome, requesting a change of detention location or the deployment of more guards, otherwise it would be difficult to guarantee the safety of the prisoners.

More than ten minutes later, Gu Qi ended his conversation with the leader. From the leader, Gu Qi only obtained two pieces of information.

First, the Germans formed an association in 39 to research that new weapon.

Second, a mysterious factory in Norway is related to this matter.

The leader did not provide much intelligence, which is understandable. New weapons are top German secrets, and the Germans would not casually reveal such strategic intelligence to a foreign head of state, even if the two sides are allies.

"How is it?" Gui Youguang asked as soon as he saw Gu Qi standing there silently.

Gu Qi explained the situation to the Italians, then shook his head: "Let's send this information back to Shancheng first and see how the vice-captain decides."

Just as Gui Youguang was about to agree, a buzzing sound came from the sky. The two looked up and saw that an airplane was circling around Pengcha Island.

Pengcha Island is neither a strategic location nor has an airport. Seaplanes are only used to transport important prisoners. What is this plane for?
Gu Qi and Gui Youguang exchanged a glance, their expressions turning serious, a sense of foreboding washing over them.

“Go find the Italians. If the prisoner gets rescued, all our previous work will have been for nothing,” Gu Qi said as he walked.

When Gu Qi found the military police colonel, the colonel was giving orders to his subordinates: "Prepare to move out, lads. I hope you enjoy the scenery of Gran Sasso."

After relaying the order, the colonel turned to the two men and told them some good news: Rome also believed that Ponza Island was not suitable for imprisoning prisoners and decided to transfer the leader to the Campo Hotel in Gran Sasso.

Built before the war, this hotel sits atop a cliff at an altitude of over 1800 meters, connected to the outside world only by a cable car, making its location extremely precarious.

In the colonel's words, as long as the cable car station is held, the Germans will not be able to rescue that person even if they send a whole division.

Faced with the other party's unequivocal assurances, Gu Qi and Gui Youguang became even more worried. However, since Italy had not yet surrendered to the Allies, they could not ask the Italians to do anything.

With trepidation, the two returned to Rome by seaplane. After reporting the situation to the city, they entered a long period of waiting. During this time, Italy surrendered to the Allies, and German troops preemptively disarmed the Italian forces, including those in Rome, plunging the situation into chaos.

Seeing the situation was not good, Gu Qi and his companion, representing the Allied forces, hid in a safe house and continued to await orders from Yamashiro.

Upon receiving their report, Zuo Zhong immediately communicated with the Allied forces, thereby obtaining more information.

It turns out that the Germans' research into new weapons was no secret; the British and Americans had long been aware of it.

At the beginning of last year, an engineer who had previously worked at a secret factory in Norway fled to London and provided the British government with a large amount of top-secret information.

According to the engineer, the factory produces heavy water, an essential buffer for researching new weapons.

Based on other clues, the British, in conjunction with the Norwegian underground resistance, launched a surprise attack on the factory.

Although the sabotage destroyed the factory's production equipment and a small amount of heavy water, the Germans restored production in just three months and accelerated research into new weapons.

This time, the British and American leaders learned that the Nationalist government had obtained relevant clues from that leader and suggested that the three parties cooperate to launch another surprise attack. Even if they could not completely destroy the heavy water factory, they should at least temporarily slow down the development of Germany's new weapons.

A multinational joint operation is no child's play, and naturally, there was bound to be some wrangling. Time flew by as the high-level officials of the three countries engaged in a war of words.

1943 9 Month 12 Day.

After failing to find the leader on Poncha Island, Skorzeny, by listening to phone calls from high-ranking Italian officials, located the leader's hiding place—the Campo Hotel.

The opposing force, along with their men, descended from the sky in gliders and rescued the target under the tight guard of the Italian army.

By September 19, the German forces occupying Italy had captured over one million Italian soldiers and seized countless weapons and equipment.

Compared to the Italians, the French could be considered brave and skilled in battle. The British and Americans were greatly alarmed upon hearing the news, and the negotiations for a joint operation were accelerated dramatically.

As October arrived, Gu Qi and Gui Youguang, who had been hiding everywhere, received orders to meet up in Nice, a city in southern France, as soon as possible. They had a new mission, and the FIRC Europe would provide them with all the necessary assistance.

A week later, a cruise ship slowly docked at the Nice port. Gu Qi and Gui Youguang disembarked using their Japanese passports and then headed to a manor in the suburbs, which was the agreed meeting place.

As soon as the two entered, they saw two familiar figures standing on the lawn. Zuo Zhong, who was in front, nodded and smiled, while Wu Chunyang, who was next to him, also smiled and waved.

After exchanging pleasantries, the four sat down under the parasol, and Zuo Zhong informed Gu Qi and the other person about the mission arrangements.

"Old Gu, there's light. The code name for this operation is [Edelweiss]. The objective is to destroy the heavy water factory."

"The mission location is in the Baren Mountains, west of Oslo, the capital of Norway. It is surrounded by mountains and there is only one road leading into the factory area."

"The operation will be led by Youguang and Chunyang, with Guqi and I providing support in Oslo. This is the relevant intelligence provided by the Norwegian Resistance. Take a look."

After saying that, Zuo Zhong pushed a file bag to Gu Qi and Gui Youguang.

The bag contained the action plan, the sentry patrol routes of the heavy water plant, shift change times, and a list of weapons and tools involved.

Gui Youguang studied the information for a moment, then looked up in surprise and asked, "Are we going to climb a cliff or icefall to infiltrate the factory?"

Previously, the Military Intelligence Bureau mostly used disguises to infiltrate targets. Rock climbing was not only slow but also easy to expose. He didn't understand why his deputy made this decision.

"Yes, this is the only way."

Zuo Zhong pointed to the topographical map around the factory and explained the reason.

"The road leading to the factory had several checkpoints. According to intelligence from the Norwegian resistance, the Germans were very strict in their inspections, even checking under the cars."

"The local environment is somewhat similar to the Hotel Campo, but there isn't enough open space for gliders to take off and land, so we can't replicate the Germans' actions."

Zuo Zhong's expression was somewhat regretful. If the Military Intelligence Bureau could have destroyed the heavy water factory in the same way as the Germans, it would have been a legendary event in the future. Then his tone became serious.

"Most importantly, each checkpoint has a different password, which changes daily, making it very difficult for outsiders to sneak in with fake documents."

"A German infantry regiment was also stationed in a military camp near the factory. These soldiers had just been withdrawn from the Eastern Front and were extremely powerful in combat."

Gui Youguang and Gu Qi both gasped. Such tight security measures were probably no less than those at the Wolf's Lair of the German leader; it would indeed be difficult to infiltrate by ordinary methods.

Zuo Zhong glanced at the group and said, "According to the weather records of previous years, the local temperature usually drops to zero or it snows around October."

"The heavy snow will be our best cover. I'll give you about a month to train and get used to the environment. Is that enough?"

After careful consideration, Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang nodded in agreement, but they also made a request: it would be best to find a location with an environment similar to that of Balun Mountain before taking action to conduct a simulated climb.

Zuo Zhong did not object and readily agreed: "No problem, I'll arrange it right away."