Chapter 38: The First Special Task (4)

  Li Yuyuan tightly grasped the hand that Dong Limao had handed to her, feeling the warmth emanating from his body, as if this warmth carried some kind of magic that made her feel less tense.

  "It's not about this mission's intelligence." Li Yuanyuan shook her head and said: "That was to eliminate a Japanese spy hidden in the military department." She glanced at others, paused for a moment, before continuing:

  "Long before the sneak attack on our troops at Rui Li Dao's house, we discovered that a code-named "Winter Bear" had been constantly contacting both our military radio and the Japanese military radio. At first, I thought this Winter Bear was hiding in Rui Li, but after checking all the military radio records in Rui Li, we couldn't find anything... Just on the evening before the sneak attack, the Winter Bear spy sent a secret telegram to the Japanese army, mentioning that the highest commander of the Chinese war zone would be inspecting the front line at Dong Gua soon, but didn't know exactly when... So I thought of the Fifth Army stationed at Dong Gua, because Winter Bear was using military radio to send messages, and the place where the highest commander of the war zone was going to inspect happened to be where the Fifth Army was stationed... I judged that it was very likely that this Winter Bear spy was hiding within the Fifth Army, and could use military radio at any time without being detected, and his position wasn't low either, otherwise he wouldn't have known the top-secret information about the highest commander of the war zone inspecting the Dong Gua front line... In order not to let the other side know that we had intercepted the telegram, I decided not to send a message to Commander Du. Originally, I was planning to send someone to assist in eliminating internal spies within the Fifth Army, but unexpectedly, our troops were sneak-attacked by Japanese spies, and many of my men were injured or killed, while only I knew the inside story... So when you led your brothers to report for duty at Dong Gua Special Operations Unit, I made a sudden decision to set out with you..."

  "So after you met Commander Kong, you immediately asked to see Commander Du alone?" Dong Li Mao finally knew the reason behind it, and he also knew who the Supreme Commander of the Chinese War Zone that Li Yuanyuan was referring to.

  "Yes, at that time, because it was a secret, I couldn't explain too much to you. On the way here, I didn't tell you my true intention for coming to the Fifth Army either. It's not that I don't trust you, but rather I'm worried about others...” Li Yuanyuan glanced around at the people beside her again, seeing them perk up their ears to listen in, seemingly no longer wanting to jump off the plane. She smiled slightly at them and continued: “Now, the spy hiding within the Fifth Army has been caught. He was actually a high-ranking radio operator for the Fifth Army, having infiltrated for over three years."

  "How did you know that the Japanese army was going to transport a mysterious weapon today?" Dong Limao almost said "bacterial bomb", he didn't want his subordinates to know too much inside information, which would put more psychological pressure on them.

  Li Yuyuan didn't answer, but instead swept a glance at the others. In that gaze, Dong Limao could see that she wasn't unwilling to answer, but rather couldn't say anything.

  "Commander Lian, what is our mission this time?" Gu Hao asked out loud what everyone was thinking.

  Dong Li Mao felt it was time to tell them, so he cleared his throat and replied: "The intelligence department has received reliable information that the Japanese army will be transporting a batch of secret weapons from other places to a train station in the suburbs of Yangon at around 2-4 am this morning. These weapons have extremely high lethality and are specifically designed to target us, so the military department requires us to go and destroy those secret weapons. Brothers, the Japanese devils have committed heinous crimes against our compatriots, occupying our land, plundering our resources, and humiliating our sisters. Now, they want to use highly lethal secret weapons to annihilate us. Can we agree to this?" Dong Li Mao took this opportunity to mobilize them for war.

  "We won't agree!" everyone replied in unison.

  "Brothers, we must be clear that the success or failure of this mission directly affects the life and death of all soldiers in the Fifth Army. Even if only one of us is left, we cannot let the little devils transport their weapons to Donggua!" Dong Li Mao said solemnly.

  "We'll fight it out with the little devils!" a soldier shouted loudly.

  "The little devil is nothing! This time I'll kill him with pleasure!" another soldier said.

  "Commander, can I have a few more clips and grenades?" a soldier asked, seemingly dissatisfied with the amount of ammunition, as if it wouldn't be enough.

  "Parachuting can't carry too many things, that increases one's weight, and the parachuting descent speed will be very fast. Don't worry, on the ground there are still our people, they have prepared enough ammunition for us." Dong Li Mao explained.

  Gao raised his gun, looking left and right, seemingly unsure of how to use it. He asked a soldier beside him, "How do you work this thing?"

  Everyone burst out laughing, a soldier began to explain to Gou Hao how to use submachine guns, pistols and hand grenades. The tense atmosphere dissipated, everyone started chatting and laughing, as if they had forgotten the purpose of this deep penetration behind enemy lines, and no longer thought about the horror of parachuting.

  Dong Li Mao looked at each of them, but thought a lot in his heart: Is this the real experience of Tai Ye's year? Can he complete the task smoothly? What other problems will he encounter? Will all these brothers around him come back alive...

  "Arrival at parachute zone in three minutes! Brothers, get ready to jump!" The pilot's prompt voice brought Dong Li Mao back to reality.

  "Check the umbrella bag!" Dong Li Mao ordered immediately.

  After everyone reported that the inspection was normal, Dong Li Mao continued to order: "Hang up the hook!" Only a series of clicks sounded, and Dong Li Mao checked each person's hook to see if it was hung securely and whether they were carrying all their weapons.

  "Arrived at designated target location! Green light on, start descending!"

  The hatch slowly opened, a strong gust of air poured into the cabin, and the red light on top of the cabin flashed brightly. Everyone put on windproof transparent goggles. Dong Li Mao stood at the entrance of the hatch, ready to push the first parachuting soldier down as soon as the green light came on. Li Yuanyuan stood beside him, her hands tightly grasping his hand without letting go.

  "Don't be afraid, I'll be right behind you." Dong Li comforted Li Yuanyuan.

  The green light flashed on suddenly after the red light stopped flashing, and Dong Li Mao shouted loudly: "Jump down!" After that, he pushed out the first parachuter who had been predetermined to jump first, followed by the second one, the third one...

  When it was Li Yuanyuan's turn, she stood at the cabin door, her hands tightly grasping both sides of the door frame, her legs trembling: "Jiacheng, I don't dare! I'm scared..."

  "Don't be afraid, let go of your hand, nothing will happen to you, I'm right behind you..." Dong Li Mao pried open Li Yuanyuan's tightly grasping hands on the cabin door, then gave her a strong push from behind. He looked out and saw that the parachute had opened, and Li Yuanyuan's falling speed slowed down. Only then did he take a deep breath, close his eyes, and jump out of the cabin.

  Just as Dong Li Mao felt like he was losing his center of gravity and was about to suffocate, he suddenly felt a strong tug from behind, as if someone had pulled him up by the back of his body. The feeling of suffocation instantly disappeared, and he opened his eyes to look up and see that the open parachute was hanging above his head. He grabbed the parachute cord with both hands and looked down to see that below him was a vast expanse of darkness, with several white parachutes floating in and out of sight in the night sky. He couldn't tell which one belonged to Li Yuanyuan. He also saw a fire burning on the ground below him to his right, which he guessed was a signal fire lit by the local resistance organization. The fire seemed to be in a valley, and as Dong Li Mao continued to descend slowly, his eyes became clearer and clearer. The place where the fire was burning was indeed a flat area in a valley, surrounded by no trees.