cicada

Chapter 1488 Sacrifice and Price

The roar of the planes grew closer, and the American troops on the ground cheered. The mortar crews switched from conventional shells and fired several marking rounds.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the marker bomb landed on the mountaintop, emitting green smoke. Chen Mingjiang's face turned ashen. He ordered his men to use thermite bombs to destroy the bodies while leading them to evacuate to the surrounding mountains and forests.

Soon, three P-51s arrived at the scene of the firefight. The American pilots looked down and pushed the control sticks hard with both hands.

Chen Mingjiang looked back and saw three black dots in the sky rapidly growing larger and diving towards the spot where they had been standing, with a sharp whistling sound that was extremely piercing.

Boom boom boom boom~~ 18 .50-inch M2 machine guns suddenly opened fire, and the high-powered bullets instantly cleared everything on the mountaintop, turning trees and rocks into fragments.

One of the agents was running a little too slowly and was unfortunately shot in the shoulder. As a result, half of his body disappeared, and the spray of blood stained a large area of ​​the soil.

The other operatives had no time to grieve. One of them threw a thermite bomb at the other and then retreated away from the monastery without looking back, trying to buy more time for Gui Youguang and the others.

In just one volley of fire, three or four members of the special operations team were killed. The arrogant American aircraft pulled up again, preparing for a second volley.

Without the suppressive fire from the mountaintop, the US ground forces advanced smoothly, and many soldiers whistled towards the sky.

On the other side, the major, who had crawled out of the hatch, found the turret riddled with dents caused by rockets and the remaining flesh and blood of the machine gunners. He couldn't help but mutter "damn Germans" under his breath.

The 10th Mountain Division has no directly subordinate armored forces; all of these vehicles come from the 1st Armored Division. If the losses are too great, the "old iron shells" will definitely be dissatisfied.

He tossed half his palm to the side of the road, pointed at the cedar trees blocking the way, and ordered the accompanying infantry: "Men, clear the roadblock."

Upon hearing the order, several engineers jogged forward to install the explosives. After finishing, they pulled on long electrical wires, hid next to the tank, and pressed the detonation switch. The explosives successfully detonated.

After the explosion and smoke cleared, the cedar tree that had been lying across the middle of the road was broken into several pieces, but the gravel road surface remained intact, demonstrating the professionalism of the US Army engineers.

"Forward, cowboys!"

The major waved his hand; their mission was to rendezvous with the G2 forces as soon as possible. As for the attackers, he would leave them to the aircraft and the pursuit force; he didn't want to waste time here.

The convoy slowly started and headed toward the monastery, but the lead vehicle was changed to a Willys Jeep equipped with a machine gun, and the machine gunners would occasionally fire a burst of bullets to both sides of the road to test the waters.

As the approaching American convoy drew near, the few junior agents who had been in charge of blowing up the trees hid in the bushes and whispered among themselves, though they did not agree on anything.

"Damn it! Let's fight the Americans!" The youngest agent exclaimed excitedly.

"What can we fight with? The Americans have tanks and machine guns, all we have is this."

The other man weighed the submachine gun in his hand, his expression slightly helpless. With this kind of firepower against the Americans, he probably couldn't even scratch the paint off the tank.

"Okay, shut up."

The agent leading the team raised his hand to stop the two from arguing and quickly made arrangements: "You guys retreat first, leave all the explosives behind, I'll cover the rear."

Everyone knew perfectly well that the so-called rearguard action meant dying together with the Americans; otherwise, so much explosives wouldn't have been needed.

"Captain, let me do it. Please take care of my family in the future, brothers." An old man who had joined the Special Service in the 1920s said casually.

Everyone in this line of work will eventually face this day. If I can risk my life to bring wealth to my family, that's better than dying on the way to evacuation.

The captain shook his head, his attitude very firm: "Obey orders. In case of danger, the superior goes first. That's the rule."

When he said the word "order," he deliberately emphasized it. The agents were silent for a moment before they began to retreat, disappearing without a trace under the cover of the woods.

Watching his men leave, the special agent captain put the explosives into his backpack and jogged along the right side of the road, leaving the American convoy far behind. He stopped only when he reached a stone bridge.

The Alps are crisscrossed by valleys, and snowmelt has formed countless rivers. There is a rushing stream under this stone bridge.

Once they crossed the river, the American convoy could reach the monastery without hindrance, and even if someone tried to stop them, it wouldn't take long.

The special agent captain ran to the other side of the small bridge, placed explosives on the bridge pier and activated the timer, then carried his weapon into the pre-set ambush position and silently waited for the arrival of the American troops.

Not long after, the Sherman tank appeared near the stone bridge, and a group of engineers carrying various equipment walked toward the bridge, presumably to check its load-bearing capacity.

But as soon as they stepped onto the bridge, several kilograms of German high explosives detonated, completely destroying the small bridge and giving the American engineers a taste of being "flying men in the air."

The major finally realized that G2 was definitely in trouble. The attackers were not ordinary German soldiers; they were trying to slow down their reinforcements.

With that in mind, he no longer hesitated: "Everyone get off the bus and walk, advancing in staggered columns."

Staggered columns are a common marching tactic used by the U.S. military in mountainous terrain. This formation enhances observation and fire coverage, and prevents personnel from being hit simultaneously.

The American soldiers on the vehicle got off cursing and swam across the river with the accompanying infantry. But before the group could even stand still on the other side, gunshots rang out from the woods in the distance.

The special operations captain tilted his head and saw a machine gunner fall to the ground with a bullet in his chest. Without any hesitation, he turned over, put away his weapon, and moved to another position.

Even if he had three heads and six arms, he couldn't defeat hundreds of professional soldiers. But having more people has its advantages, and having fewer people has its own fighting style.

After changing positions, the special agent captain hit another target who was constantly issuing orders and was suspected to be an officer.

After being shot twice, the American soldiers, though initially panicked, regained their composure. Machine gunners unleashed a hail of fire on all suspicious locations, devastating various plants with leaves and debris flying everywhere. A bullet struck the special operations team leader in the left leg. He groaned, leaned against a tree, and pulled out a bandage, tightly wrapping it around the wound.

The intense pain made him break out in a cold sweat. Although the bleeding had stopped, the special agent captain had lost his ability to move. He could only move slowly to a fallen tree and fire at the third target.

With a bang, the American mortar loader fell to the ground, and the shell that had already been loaded with a fuse fell to the ground and slowly rolled toward the rocks.

The fuse was prone to exploding if it hit a hard object. The American soldiers present all stared wide-eyed, their mouths slightly open as if they wanted to shout, but no sound came out.

In the nick of time, the major bent down, picked up the shell, put it into the barrel, adjusted the firing parameters, and shouted, "Fire in the hole!"

The shell landed precisely near the special agent captain, and the shockwave, mixed with shrapnel, slammed him hard into a nearby tree. Even so, he did not lower his weapon.

A gun is a soldier's second life; it must never be discarded under any circumstances, as losing a gun is tantamount to suicide.

The special operations captain coughed up blood, even fragments of internal organs, ripped off the fuse of the thermite bomb from his body, and grinned at the charging American troops.

Just as the bomb was about to explode, something unexpected happened: the American soldier at the front was shot in the forehead, and the rest of the American soldiers fled in panic.

"Long live the Emperor!"

The German slogans echoed through the woods. Hearing the familiar voices, the special agent captain laughed until tears streamed down his face, and then stopped breathing in the firelight.

Watching the attackers detonate the bomb without hesitation, the U.S. Army major knew he was in deep trouble. The enemy didn't even leave them a complete body; they were definitely the most elite professional soldiers.

Moreover, this style of operation is very similar to that of military intelligence agencies. Which German intelligence agency did the attackers come from?
Abwell, the Defense Intelligence Agency?

Imperial Security Bureau?

The major couldn't think of an answer, so he decided to deal with the snipers around him first. If he didn't eliminate these gunmen, he might be the next one to be shot.

Leaving aside the terrified American troops, Chen Mingjiang, who was also responsible for covering the rear and was seriously wounded, watched as the little spy walked into the forest and painstakingly emptied his magazine for the pursuers.

Despite the trees providing cover, the American warplanes clung to the snipers like a persistent leech. Even the most elite agents couldn't withstand the strafing fire, and Chen Mingjiang and his team could only trade their lives for time.

It was a miracle that the special operations team managed to hold off the U.S. military forces, which had tanks and aircraft, for five hours at the cost of more than 20 lives.

On his deathbed, Chen Mingjiang suddenly remembered a question he had asked his team leader many years ago.

"Team leader, do you think we can see victory?"

"Yes! Even if we can't see it, our descendants will definitely be able to!"

Muttering to himself, "What a pity," Chen Mingjiang calmly pulled the fuse as the American troops surrounded him.

The continuous explosions echoed through the valley. Gui Youguang stopped in his tracks and turned sharply to look into the distance, a faint sadness in his eyes.

Hopefully, the stuff in the second lab will be worthy of the brothers' sacrifice, otherwise he'll definitely skin Heinz alive!

Gui Youguang gritted his teeth and strode into an underground corridor, where their most important objective was located.

Half an hour ago, the bald man, who had searched the hill thoroughly, decided to change his approach and focus his search on the foot of the hill. There were two reasons for doing so.

Heinz's deliberate exposure of the first laboratory indicates that he was not afraid of being searched on-site by the US military and his own forces, so the second laboratory is most likely not on the mountain.

At the same time, the second laboratory should not be too far from the monastery, otherwise it would be detrimental to the experimental work.

Based on the above requirements, only the foot of the mountain meets both conditions, and this location is easily overlooked.

Sure enough, the little spy discovered a hidden door in the German barracks at the foot of the mountain. Behind the door was a corridor leading to some unknown area.

Having eliminated the risks of traps and booby traps, Gui Youguang walked step by step to the end of the corridor. With a gentle push of his right hand, he opened the last iron door.

A pale green light wafted out through the widening door crack, and the iron door spun to its limit, slamming against the wall with a dull thud. Germany's most mysterious laboratory came into view.

Inside the cave, which spans over a thousand square meters, dozens of researchers crouched on the ground, trembling. A Kuomintang agent, with a submachine gun at his waist, pulled the trigger expressionlessly.

"Da da da……"

The bullet casings clattered to the ground, gradually becoming submerged in blood. The red blood blended with the green light, creating an eerie color.

Gui Youguang's gaze swept past the corpse, and when he saw the items in the laboratory, he stood frozen in place, unconsciously putting down the submachine gun in his hand, muttering to himself.

"What the hell is this?"

Not only him, but the other spies who came in were also dumbfounded. It seemed that they had really discovered something extraordinary this time.

　①Nickname of the 1st Armored Division

　　(End of this chapter)