cicada

Chapter 1429 Training
Switzerland, Upper Valais canton.

The group of military leaders, dressed in heavy clothing, entered the Alps. Looking at the snow-capped peaks and mountains above, Gucci, standing in the crowd, smiled.

"Sir, the environment here is indeed very similar to the Barrens Mountains in Norway."

Upon hearing Gu Qi's words, Zuo Zhong raised his hand, took off his goggles, and nodded slightly.

"Indeed, the same altitude, surrounded by the same towering peaks, it's perfect for simulation training. The British have finally been reliable for once."

When they met in Nice, Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang suggested finding a place for simulated climbing. Zuo Zhong relayed the information to the Allied forces, who quickly found a suitable training location – the canton of Haut Valais in Switzerland.

At that time, Switzerland was a neutral country. Zuo Zhong and his group used their identities as Japanese merchants to successfully reach their destination by train and found a mountaineering club there to guide them.

"Gentlemen, we're almost there, please hang in there."

About a hundred meters ahead, the young guide deliberately lowered his voice, afraid of triggering an avalanche.

The Kuomintang agents quickly pretended to be out of breath and caught up with the other side, even though they did not feel tired or uncomfortable due to the high altitude.

Five hours later, the team arrived at the camp, rested for a night, and the mountaineering training officially began the next morning.

The guide found an icefall as instructed, and Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang led a group to try climbing to the top of the mountain using ice axes, while Zuo Zhong and Gu Qi found a lawn to sunbathe.

The junior agent set up a table and chairs and brought breakfast to the two bureau chiefs. Gu Qi took a sip of hot coffee, looked up at the climbing team at the foot of the mountain, and asked Zuo Zhong a question in a low voice.

"Co-pilot, why are we sabotaging the heavy water plant? This has nothing to do with the Nationalist government. Wouldn't it be better to let the British or Americans do it?"

Zuo Zhong picked up a biscuit and took a bite. Seeing that the guide was far away, he answered the guide's question in a low voice.

"You know about the upcoming Moscow foreign ministers' meeting, right? Although the Red Russians and the British agreed to the Nationalist government's participation at the insistence of the Americans, this is just the beginning."

"According to the Allied high command, after the foreign ministers' meeting, the leaders of the countries will hold a second meeting in Cairo at the end of the year to divide the interests of the countries after the war."

He swallowed the cookie in his mouth, patted the crumbs off his hands, and his tone suddenly became sarcastic.

"Some countries believe that the Nationalist government is not qualified to participate in this grand event, but I will show them with facts that our performance on the secret front is just as good as our performance on the main battlefield."

Gu Qi suddenly realized that military affairs serve politics, and intelligence is largely the same. No wonder the vice-captain wanted to personally command this mission.

Zuo Zhong silently put down his coffee cup. After the matter of military rank, it was a good thing that he left the military intelligence agency for a while, so as not to make his teacher think too much.

Of course, he didn't need to say these things to Gu Qi, as it would be detrimental to unity.

Under the sunlight, Zuo Zhong and Gu Qi chatted and enjoyed breakfast as if they were on vacation, while Gui Youguang on the icefall was not so comfortable.

Icefalls are formed by the freezing of flowing water. Some ice layers contain air bubbles and brittle layers, making them prone to cracking and collapsing when struck.

Therefore, the danger increases with every meter you ascend while climbing an icefall, as falling ice blocks can not only pull out ice spikes but also injure climbers below.

Gui Youguang gasped for breath, gripping the leather safety rope tightly with his left hand, and slamming his ice axe down hard on the ice in front of him with his right. Unexpectedly, the ice shattered and fell down.

"Get out of the way!"

Even though the situation was urgent, Gui Youguang still gave a warning in Japanese. Wu Chunyang, who was below him, pushed off the ice with all his might, and his whole body spun in the air with the help of the rope and inertia.

Watching the sharp ice shards whiz past him, Wu Chunyang wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He would rather face the enemy in a firefight than swing on a cliff.

The ice breaking apart was only the first difficulty faced when climbing the icefall; extreme weather was the second problem the agents had to deal with.

As the altitude increased, the temperature dropped rapidly. When Dang Guiyou climbed to the halfway point of the snow-capped mountain, the temperature dropped to around -20 degrees Celsius, and the exposed skin felt like it was being pricked by needles.

Even more troublesome is that the moisture from exhaled breath frosts on the face and goggles, greatly affecting visibility, which is a deadly threat during climbing operations.

Gui Youguang wiped his goggles and found that the surface was frozen. He decisively gave the descent signal and stopped training.

The purpose of training is to identify problems. Now that the oversight has been found, there is no need to grit his teeth and continue climbing. He does not want to see non-combat casualties.

Moreover, if there are any casualties, the Swiss police will inevitably get involved, which will make things even more complicated.

The agents slid down the ropes to the ground and began to eat breakfast. The Swiss guide shrugged; in his eyes, they were just a bunch of wealthy Japanese men looking for thrills.

In the afternoon, the second round of training began. The difference was that the agents wore warmer clothes, and their hands, feet, and necks were covered with thermal padding.

In addition, each agent carried a small bottle of highly concentrated salt water on their waist. Salt water can lower the freezing point of liquid water, and Gui Youguang wanted to use salt water to wipe the lenses of his goggles to prevent them from freezing. However, after climbing to the same height as before, the lenses of his goggles still frosted over, and the situation worsened, forcing the training to stop again.

After descending the mountain, Gui Youguang found an excuse to send the guide away, and the group gathered in a circle to discuss a solution.

A junior agent who graduated from the Physics Department of National Central University proposed that what the human body exhales is not liquid water mist, but saturated water vapor, which will directly sublimate into frost when it encounters a lens.

Furthermore, the saline film on the lens is extremely thin and cannot block frost at minus twenty degrees Celsius. Saline alone cannot prevent the lens from freezing.

In addition to these, the little spy also discovered a problem: after the salt water dried, it left behind salt crystals, which made the lens rougher and made it easier for moisture to adhere.

Zuo Chong frowned deeply. The wind on the icefall was very strong, and if he didn't wear protective goggles, his eyes would get frostbite in no time.

However, even with glasses, visibility is still affected by external factors, and the personnel cannot remove the ice every time they climb a certain distance; that would be too troublesome and a waste of time.

After thinking for a while, Zuo Zhong suddenly thought of something. Submarines of this era would also encounter the same trouble when using periscopes in high-latitude regions. How did the other side solve it?

That evening, a junior agent went down the mountain to the post office to send a secret telegram to the Allied forces, inquiring about relevant matters.

After waiting for a few days, the Allies finally replied to the telegram. Taking into account the local technical level in Switzerland, the British Navy offered a very simple solution.

Five days after the training was interrupted, a box of ultra-thin mica sheets was delivered to the camp. The agents attached them to the inside of their goggles, keeping a certain distance from the original lenses.

After testing, the new type of goggles showed excellent anti-freeze effect. As long as you pay attention to your breathing rhythm and exhalation direction, the lenses will basically not frost over.

Over the next month, Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang led a team to climb the icefall multiple times, during which they discovered and resolved several problems.

In November 1943, the climbing training ended, and the Military Intelligence Bureau's operations team left Switzerland and headed to Oslo, the capital of Norway, in batches to assemble.

Upon arriving in Oslo, Zuo Zhong did not take immediate action but instead visited several paper equipment factories.

As soon as they disembarked, they were targeted by German intelligence in Oslo. This is a common tactic of German counterintelligence agencies, where all new faces are subject to surveillance for a period of time.

Zuo Zhong pretended not to notice the tail behind him and led his men to shuttle between different factories every day. In the end, they purchased several paper-making machines and delivered them to the Japanese-occupied areas in Southeast Asia.

The day after the contract was signed, the Germans withdrew most of their surveillance personnel, leaving only one or two to carry out routine monitoring. The time for action had come.

The following day, Oslo welcomed its first heavy snowfall of 1943. The hotel booked by the Military Intelligence Bureau was brightly lit, and German agents stood on the snow, shivering from the cold, listening to Japanese folk songs coming from inside.

At the back door of the hotel, Zuo Zhong looked at Gui Youguang, Wu Chunyang, and the numerous junior agents who were all ready to depart, and solemnly reminded them to be careful.

Gui Youguang and the others did not speak, but raised their hands in salute and then quietly walked into the woods behind the house.

Stepping through the thin layer of snow, the operatives walked out of Oslo and stopped beside a frozen river. Gui Youguang crouched down behind a tree and flashed his flashlight a few times.

The whistling wind blew across the river, and soon a faint light appeared on the opposite bank. The Kuomintang agents formed a combat formation and moved closer.

Upon reaching the other side, Gui Youguang and Wu Chunyang encountered a young white man who hunched over and greeted them.

"Gentlemen, welcome to Norway. Just call me Jack. I'm from OSS's S Division (Office of Special Operations).

Since it was a joint operation, the British and Americans naturally had to send people to accompany them, and the man who called himself Jack was an American agent.

Gui Youguang shook hands with the other party and asked in a cold voice, "Where is the equipment we need?"

Because they entered the country through legitimate channels, the military police were unable to carry sensitive items, and the weapons and special tools needed for the operation had to be provided by the UK and the US.

“Here, please follow me.” Jack beckoned and led Gui Youguang into the barn not far away.

As soon as he entered, Gui Youguang was stunned by what he saw: several Russian NKL-26 snowmobiles and a large quantity of weapons and ammunition were placed inside the barn.

Gui Youguang picked up a Thompson submachine gun, cocked it, and turned to ask curiously, "Won't the Germans come to search us?"

Jack smiled but didn't answer, seemingly because it wasn't convenient to explain. Perhaps the OSS had an informant in the German intelligence agency, which is why the Americans were so emboldened.

Since the Americans didn't want to talk about it, Gui Youguang didn't press them further. He glanced at his luminous watch and gave orders to his men.

"Collect weapons for inspection. Two people per snowmobile. We must reach the designated location within four hours. Let's go!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the young spies pushed the snowmobiles onto the ice. In this environment, the flat river became a highway leading directly to their target.

With a roar of engines, the NKL-26 sped toward Barun Mountain at 50 kilometers per hour. Snowflakes kicked up by the tracks were swept into the air by the howling wind, and the blizzard intensified, instantly engulfing the outline of the vehicle.