I asked you to escape, but you became a soldier in World War II

Chapter 170 Project Compass

With the end of the Battle of Iwo Jima, the straight-line distance between the airport built by the US military on the island and the Japanese mainland was only more than 1000 kilometers, which meant that in the future, B-29 heavy bomber fleets could be escorted throughout by "Mustang" fighters.

General LM's tactic of dropping incendiary bombs at low altitude can be fully executed.

From then on, a new term began to emerge in Japan, "LM fire attack".

However, Lin Chen was immediately assigned the task of bombing Japan after the battle. With escort fighters, this B-29 heavy bomber group could go to Japanese airspace at will.
The poor Japanese air defense force was beaten to a pulp by the well-trained American ace pilots and first-class fighter planes.

So Lin Chen and his men were able to bombard cities one by one.

By early April, thanks to the U.S. military's powerful military industrial production capacity, it was able to easily mobilize more than 4 heavy bombers to launch a "LM fire attack" on the Japanese mainland.

This terrible bombing operation is no less lethal than nuclear weapons.

Facing the city burned to the ground beneath his feet, Lin Chen felt quite happy. The only regret was that he missed the attack on the Yamato battleship.

However, when he was enjoying his work, he was poached by the director of the Strategic Intelligence Agency DNW.

It is said that this poaching was quite dramatic.

Because the director of DNW is also a major general, and General LM is also a major general, it would be very difficult to poach him directly.

But DNW came from the intelligence field after all, and with a little help from their connections, they were able to get top US military brass to put direct pressure on LM, and only then did they poach Lin Chen.

He needs a military king like Lin Chen to help him carry out a special mission: the Compass Project.

In short, the European battlefield was about to end, and the Third Reich, which had collected all the wealth in Europe, had countless gold and silver treasures, which were either seized by the attacking party or secretly hidden by the other side.

The US military needs to hurry and penetrate deep into Germany's hinterland and bring back as much of this wealth as possible.

Considering that Lin Chen had served in the Soviet Army and had been to Germany, he could speak English, Russian and German, and had rich combat experience, he was simply the best executor of this plan.

In fact, during the final stage of the European battlefield, the United States sent many teams to Europe to "make a fortune", some to recruit scientists, and some to get equipment.
These involve the country's top secrets, and Lin Chen is not qualified.

Therefore, the mission of Lin Chen and his team is to find national treasures and gold.

In order to prevent them from embezzling money, the US military not only equipped him with other team members and asked them to supervise each other, but also specially contacted a US military unit on the European battlefield, nominally to assist but actually to supervise.

This ensures that the searched materials can be delivered to the country in a timely manner.

Soon, the transport plane carrying Lin Chen and several other experts took off. They needed to transfer and fly to the Apennine Peninsula.

Among them was an old acquaintance of Lin Chen, Kirilenko. His military exploits in the Battle of Iwo Jima finally earned him a promotion to second lieutenant.

It is extremely difficult to be promoted from a non-commissioned officer to a second lieutenant. Lin Chen considered that the war was about to end, but the Japanese resistance was still very crazy.

Rather than dying in the fight with Japan, it is better to follow him to Europe to hunt for treasure. After the war, money is still the main thing to solve problems.

So when Lin Chen was finally promoted to lieutenant colonel and served as the commander of the action team, he immediately proposed to transfer Kirilenko over.

Now that he is the only old brother left, he has to think more about his subordinates.

Kirilenko was naturally very happy. Life in the Marine Corps was too bloody. Although he was lucky, it was impossible for his luck to be good forever, right?

The most important point is that he never felt a sense of belonging there, after all, he was a Russian.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the honeymoon period between the two countries will soon be over, and by then he will be very embarrassed.

The situation on the Apennine Peninsula was very delicate at this moment. When the entire Third Reich was about to fall apart, Army Group C stationed in northern Italy still had more than 20 troops, including two main armored divisions.

But everyone could see that the newly appointed commander of the army group no longer had any desire to fight.

In particular, the SS National Deputy Commander (second in command) Wolfs frequently sent people to show goodwill to the Allies, so there was almost no decent resistance in Italy.

When Lin Chen and his team's special plane arrived at the airport, the place was filled with a peaceful scene.

If he was not familiar with this history, he would probably have thought the war was over.

Admiral Rack, commander of the Allied 15th Army Group, was relatively polite, but as there was no exchange of information between the two sides, it was actually not convenient to say more about what they needed to do next, so everyone just kept it to themselves.

At the temporary residence, Colonel Mitchell, Admiral Lark's plenipotentiary representative, met with Lin Chen alone. To Lin Chen's surprise, Mitchell seemed not very interested in the purpose of Lin Chen and others' visit.

"Lieutenant Colonel Lin Chen, you Chinese have a saying, 'Speak frankly and honestly'. I don't like that kind of hypocritical diplomatic rhetoric. Frankly speaking, if the general and I can help you, what benefits can we get?"

Lin Chen was speechless when he heard this. Is this so blatant?
Don't you want to cover it up?
"Well, what benefits do you want?" Lin Chen understood. This is the legendary business as business.

"We want 40% of what we get!"

"This is impossible, why don't you just go and rob it?" Lin Chen was furious.

But this is just for the other party to see. The ultimate secret of bargaining is that you have to make the other party feel that he is getting a good deal.

Sure enough, Colonel Mitchell continued with great pride, "We know that you will eventually submit it to Congress, but they will probably keep a portion of it. As long as we help you process the list, you can also keep a portion. This is called a win-win situation!"

Fuck, so this is the ugly face of a capitalist country?
"No, I have to live up to my recently promoted rank of lieutenant colonel."

"That's both shit!" Mitchell said with disdain. "I'm still a colonel, and General Lark is still a general, so what? We will all retire eventually. By then, what will we have left except a body full of pain? Young man, when I was your age, I also had ambitions, but in the end, my ideals were defeated by reality."

"The war will eventually end. When the war ends, we soldiers will no longer be useful. At that time, you will find that gold bars and US dollars are still reliable."

Mitchell's words are not without reason, because in a series of foreign wars such as the Vietnam War that followed, most of the officers and soldiers who returned home after retiring had no good resettlement and their fate was extremely miserable.

"What kind of help can you give me?" Lin Chen decided to listen to their conditions first. Mitchell saw that Lin Chen was relatively ready, and immediately put forward his own advantages. After all, sincerity is necessary to do business, right?

"We can provide you with all the transportation conveniences and armed protection in Italy and the Bavaria region in southern Germany. If you want to transport these treasures, we have special warships to transport them. If you want to deposit them in the Swiss National Bank, we also have sufficient guarantees."

Mitchell's words are quite attractive. If it is heavy goods such as gold bars, it may be really risky to transport them by plane. It is more reliable to transport them by ship.

"Are you being too arrogant, Mr. Colonel? Can you have unimpeded access in Germany?" Lin Chen was also stunned.

"What's so strange about this?" Mitchell said with a normal look on his face. "Berlin has been surrounded by the Soviet army and will fall this month. Germany is completely finished. Why don't they find a way out?"

After saying that, he quietly leaned over and added mysteriously, "The defense of the Bavaria region in southern Germany is now under the control of SS Deputy National Commander Wolfs, and this guy has sent someone to make preliminary contact with us.

Believe it or not, if he could be guaranteed to escape post-war punishment now, he would immediately open Germany's southern gate."

Lin Chen was completely speechless after hearing this. What kind of people are these?
"Then why don't you attack northward?" Lin Chen felt stupid as soon as he finished speaking. If the US military really wanted to attack, how could they possibly stop it with Germany's defenses in Italy?
Mitchell just smiled and didn't continue talking, because some things are not good to say out loud, and those who understand will understand.

"Okay, then I have a question. Why don't you search for these riches yourself? Then you don't even need to share the profits."

Mitchell took Lin Chen's question very seriously. He explained to Lin Chen very seriously, "Lieutenant Colonel Lin Chen, you have to understand that we have not completely resolved our hostility with Germany. We are still in a war period. So if our troops openly enter Germany to search for treasures, it will lead to strong protests from the Eastern powers, and even war."

"You are entering as a non-governmental organization, so you can come up with some other excuse, such as a 'sightseeing group', 'investigation group', 'consultation meeting', etc. It will be much easier to fool them then."

In fact, Mitchell did not mention the most important reason, which is that Lin Chen and his men were commissioned by the country, and if something happened, the country would support them. However, they were just a strategic group and could not bear such consequences.

"Okay, I admit, Colonel, you have convinced me a little bit. Let's discuss the profit sharing. I suggest you take 20%."

"No! This is not negotiable." Mitchell refused outright. He was well versed in negotiation, otherwise it would not be his turn to be the plenipotentiary representative.

"Don't be impatient," Lin Chen then began to perform.

"We want to bring it back to the U.S., and there's no doubt that they'll take a cut of it. You know the faces of those bureaucrats. If I want to keep a portion for myself, how can I preserve it? How can I cash it out? All of these require money."

"If I don't get much benefit in the end, then I won't try my best to search for treasure, and you will get less. Do you understand what I mean, Colonel?"

Mitchell certainly understood, he just didn't expect that Lin Chen, a rough guy in the army, actually knew how to tie his own interests together with theirs?
I have to say, this is indeed a very powerful persuasive reason.

"How about this, we take 30%, which is already the limit. General Lark also needs to make arrangements with people, otherwise there will be a lot of survey forms for us to fill out after the war."

Lin Chen pretended to be at a disadvantage and shrugged helplessly.

Mitchell poured a glass of champagne himself and handed one to Lin Chen, and then the two of them clinked their glasses lightly.
"Cheers to our beautiful tomorrow," Mitchell toasted.

"Cheers to our great and free country!" Lin Chen was full of sarcasm. This country claims to be the freest and most democratic, but aren't the people below still like this?
"Okay, okay, well said, cheers!"

"cheers!"
-
Now that we have reached an agreement with the US military in Italy, the next things will be much easier.

It was called the Allied Army Group, but in reality the American side had the final say. Therefore, with the permission of General Lark, Lin Chen and his team quickly interrogated a German SS officer, Lieutenant Colonel Hess.

Lieutenant Colonel Hess was captured during the early Allied landing in Sicily, but he was different from other prisoners of war. Not only did he not look miserable after being captured, but he lived a very comfortable life.

When he met Lin Chen and others, he actually had a cigar in his pocket, which completely refreshed the cognition of Lin Chen and others.

Is this a POW or an international tourist?

"It's strange why I am different from my compatriots, right?" Lieutenant Colonel Hess seemed to see Lin Chen's confusion.

Lin Chen smiled without comment.

"Except for not being able to wear the SS officer uniform, I can enjoy almost everything else. Oh, but I lose my freedom." Hess said to himself with self-mockery.

Seeing that Lin Chen and others had no reaction, he was a little disappointed, but maybe it was because he had stayed here for too long and no one had talked to him for a long time, so he was still happy to open up the conversation.

"Well, let me tell you, the reason why I can live such a comfortable life is mainly because I participated in the collection and classification of treasures during the heyday of the empire."

Lin Chen became excited when he heard this. During its heyday, Germany swept across the entire Western Europe and occupied many countries. These countries all had more or less treasures and gold reserves.

Some were offered by their rulers in order to curry favor with the Germans, but of course, more were directly stolen.

As the victorious party, Germany would certainly be eager for these things.

Because launching subsequent wars and improving the living standards of the German people will require a lot of money.

It is remarkable that Hess in front of him could have participated in this work.

No wonder his "treatment" as a prisoner of war was so extraordinary.

Moreover, the Allies gave him such generous treatment, which fully demonstrated that what he said was reliable to a certain extent. Otherwise, are the Allies all idiots?

"Mr. Hess, can you give us some information about the treasure you plundered?"

“Hehe, I knew you would be interested, but please don’t use the word plunder. As the victors, we have the right to control these things, just like you will be the new victors next, and you will also have the right to control these things.

You can't possibly say you're here to rob us, right? Haha.

Please pour me a glass of brandy. I don't like your American champagne. "

Lin Chen looked at Kirilenko helplessly. Kirilenko understood and immediately took out a bottle of brandy from the wine cabinet next to him, carefully poured half a glass, and handed it to Hess.

Hess took two slow sips and then prepared to start recalling.

(End of this chapter)