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"Have the helicopters circle outside the castle to suppress the enemy, while other helicopters land on the top of the castle and break into the castle from above to rescue people." Based on Occam's razor principle, and also to avoid variables and improve efficiency, Lu Wu chose the simplest plan among many options.
“The time the helicopters have been circling and suppressing the enemy outside is enough for the guards on the nearby towers to see the Elgian rose insignia on our aircraft. The helicopters should not be attacked by friendly forces when they approach,” Lu Wu continued. “After breaking into the castle, split into two groups. One group will stay on the top floor to search, while the other group will go to the next floor to establish a defensive line. After the first group completes the search of the top floor, they will take over the task from the second group, and the second group will search that floor. This cycle will continue until the VIP is found. After finding the VIP, the two groups will meet up, return to the castle rooftop, board the helicopter, and evacuate.”
"Throughout the entire operation, strict discipline must be maintained regarding trigger control; there can be absolutely no accidental firing. The use of explosives must be carefully assessed. I don't want us to storm in quickly only to have the VIP blown up. Understand?"
"Understood, sir!"
"Brigadier General Hilla, since you're working with us, you must follow our rules. Do exactly what we tell you to do, without any unnecessary actions or words. If you have any questions, please save them until after the mission is complete, unless it would affect the next mission, OK?"
……
Volume 1: Chapter 114 (Chapter 102) A Shocking Rescue (5)
Having received a positive reply from Shirag, Lu Wu felt somewhat relieved. After completing these pre-battle preparations, just as he was about to put on his equipment, he was intercepted by Yelena, having been betrayed by a traitor.
"Commander, I hope you can explain the rationale for personally leading the mission." Yelena pressed on with a friendly smile.
"As I said before, Anna and her team lack experience in this type of combat, and the political implications of this mission are far-reaching, so it must be led by an experienced commander..."
Before Lu Wu could finish speaking, Yelena interrupted him: "You just want to go back to the battlefield, don't you?"
Yelena's words left him speechless. He kept saying he wanted to establish a peace organization (although his methods were somewhat unorthodox), but when given the chance to go to the battlefield, he immediately found excuses for himself. It seemed contradictory and ironic, right? "Yelena, you know me. Compared to staying in the command post in the rear, I'm more used to being on the front lines. I've spent most of my life on the front lines. I can't stay in a safe place and send my people to the battlefield."
"So, Commander, you've chosen to send yourself to the battlefield?" Yelena sighed. This question had been the subject of many arguments between them, mostly ending in Yelena's defeat, which gave her a real headache. "Fine, I won't argue with you about this anymore. I'll go with you."
?
Lu Wu was somewhat surprised, as he had originally prepared for a heated verbal battle with Yelena. Although he had initially intended for Yelena to stay and oversee the situation, this wasn't a task that absolutely required her. Yelena's combat experience and skills were equally refined and abundant, and having her along would enhance the squad's combat capabilities. Therefore, he readily agreed. In exchange, one of his guards lost the opportunity to participate in the operation.
"Alright, guys, let's get moving!" Lu Wu, already donning a 6B45 body armor vest and 6SH117 gear, with a large Amelia eight-pointed North Star flag affixed to the right arm pouch of his EMR camouflage uniform, approached the group of green-clad men already lined up in the hangar, AKS-74U in hand. "As always, our mission is to sweep up any enemies the pilots failed to eliminate and safely escort the VIPs back here. When we encounter enemies, we'll twist their heads off their spines and throw them into outer space! Right, brothers?"
"Yes, sir!" The unanimous reply was deafening.
"Yes, of course. Everyone, let's go, run forward! Those who want to see the Belken people's ghost faces clearly, your luck has come."
"An impressive pre-battle mobilization." The 40-man squadron split into six groups and headed towards the six Hind fighter planes. Shiragi, also wearing a 6B45 body armor vest, followed Lu Wu into the cockpit. He, Lu Wu, and Yelena were seated in the same Hind, while the squadron's deputy commander was in another. Shiragi remarked, "If every soldier in our Kingdom's army had the same determination as the volunteers, perhaps things wouldn't be like this today..."
“Then I’m afraid Ergia needs to really focus on the ideological development of its army.” Lu Wu shrugged, and after confirming that his plane was fully manned, he pressed the microphone button: “Pilot, let’s take off. Marines aren’t paid by the hour.”
"Understood, Commander. But when are we transferred to the naval command?"
"..." Damn, should I go all out with humor when customizing soldiers in the future? No, should I just have each of them fully appreciate the legendary difficulty of the Master Chief Collection (Taiwanese dubbed version) three times? But for now, he still stubbornly insisted: "We fight on land, so it's reasonable to call us Marines, ah, very reasonable."
The rescue cabin was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
A distance of 200 kilometers is only a 40-minute journey for a female deer with a maximum speed of 330 kilometers per hour.
"We have entered Fapantian airspace and may be intercepted by Belken aircraft. All personnel, please be prepared."
Two could feel the Hind helicopter lowering its altitude during flight, and through the side windows, they could see plumes of smoke rising from the outskirts of Fabandi.
"Command, have we received any communications from the Elgins?" Lu Wu instructed the pilot to open the side hatch so he could observe the situation below. The thick smoke rising from the outskirts of the city and the corpses on the ground dressed in different clothes all pointed to one fact: the Belken had invaded Fabanti.
"No, Commander, but we detected a large number of communication signals on a frequency band. We have reason to suspect that this is the Belken people's communication frequency band, and relevant personnel are trying to crack the encryption." Two pieces of news came from the command center, one good and one bad.
"Very good, notify me immediately if there is any news."
No sooner had he said that than the pilot's voice rang out: "Five minutes to reach the designated airspace!"
"Everyone, prepare to fight!"
Kalashnikov made a crisp sound as he loaded the chamber, lowering the goggles on his helmet to prevent his eyes from being blinded by the airflow during descent.
"I see the castle. The fighting is still going on there." Lu Wu pressed Shiragi back into his chair and gestured for another little green man to keep an eye on the brigadier general. "Pilot, fly around the castle so we can find a suitable landing spot, and let the Elgeans inside know that reinforcements have arrived!"
"Understood, sir!"
"Number 1, 2, 3, begin suppressing the Belken around the castle. Be careful not to hit friendly forces!" Following this order, the dual-column helicopter formation split in two, with Hatchlings 4, 5, and 6 circling the castle. The castle within the Elgia Royal Palace didn't appear large, consisting of a main building and two towers. As the distance closed, Lu Wu saw observation teams of several people stationed on each of the two towers. Flames occasionally spewed from the windows below these towers, killing any Belken outside the castle who had inadvertently left their cover.
Through the telescope, he could see that these pairs were equipped with radios, but strangely, both pairs had one of them leave the top floor of the tower.
"Command, the Belkens have used radio jamming. We need to ensure the security of our communication lines!" Although he didn't know how the Belkens did it, and there were no signs of jamming on his side, Lu Wu still made this judgment.
“Radio jamming? How did they do that?” Although it was hard to believe, the command and task force immediately activated anti-jamming measures to ensure their communications remained uninterrupted.
Volume 1: Chapter 115, Section 103: The Castle (1)
"Then go ask that bastard Belken." Even though the person on the other end of the radio couldn't see him, Lu Wu still subconsciously shrugged.
While it may sound incredible that electromagnetic suppression could occur at this time, it is not entirely impossible. The first instance of electromagnetic suppression in actual combat on Earth occurred during the Russo-Japanese War: First, the Japanese armored cruisers Kasuga and Nisshin, while bombarding Port Arthur, had their radio signals intercepted by the Russians, who then jammed them with spark transmitters. This prevented the cruisers from receiving precise firing information, forcing them to fire haphazardly and withdraw from the battle prematurely. Later, in the Battle of Tsushima, a Japanese cruiser discovered the Baltic Fleet, which had sailed across the ocean to intercept the Russians. The fleet commander refused his subordinates' suggestion to suppress the Japanese cruiser's radio communications, allowing the Japanese to learn the Russians' location and size in advance, ultimately leading to the Baltic Fleet's annihilation.
As for whether the Belken used continuous signals at the same frequency as the Elgeyans to interfere with communications or employed other measures, only the Belken themselves truly know, since the 7th Brigade did not have a dedicated electronic warfare unit.
"Pilot, circle around one more time, then we'll land at the tower to the north!" After estimating that the Elgins below had clearly seen the royal rose emblem on his plane, Lu Wu deliberately gave the communications officer some time to notify the people inside the castle.
"Understood!" The three females once again lowered their altitude, flying only a few meters above the tower. This action provoked the attack from Belken. "We're under attack!"
"No matter how powerful the attack, it's meaningless if it misses. Besides, their attacks are only this weak." After glancing down, Lu Wu didn't take the machine gun "barrage" that was going off-target seriously.
"Hmm?" Soon, he saw what appeared to be flashes of gunfire coming from under one of the covered bridges, but after a while, he didn't see any shells exploding in the air—were they using infantry cannons for anti-aircraft defense? That's some superhuman skill from my planet António. Such a brave warrior deserves some recognition: "Eagle 1, there's a firing point under the covered bridge on the northeast side of the castle. Send it into the air."
"Young Eagle 1 understands."
Chuying-1 broke away from the three-plane formation and flew directly to the back of the jet bridge. It descended and only then did Chuying-1 realize that the artillery under the jet bridge was not a two-wheeled field cannon on a gun mount that they had imagined, but rather the BA-11 armored vehicles that they had sold.
"Commander, I feel like we've become the transport team leaders."
?
"What just attacked us was a BA-11 armored vehicle." As the weapons officer of the Hind 1 pressed the trigger to fire the machine gun, the armored vehicle, which the Ergia had acquired at great expense, was reduced to a pile of fragments—the kind that even the support company's ScarpKing couldn't salvage.
Damn it! Although these weapons sold posed no real threat to him, Lu Wu was extremely annoyed by this phenomenon. Now, he had to consider the possibility of the Belken people making technological progress and upgrading their equipment, and re-evaluate his aid to the Elgians.
"Attention all units, if any of the equipment we sold appears here, destroy it completely immediately. We cannot leave the Belken people with anything useful." With no other choice, Lu Wu could only issue the order to cut losses in time. "About 15 armored vehicles have been sent to Fabanti, which means you still have 15, no, 14 targets. Destroy as many as you can."
After all, their primary mission was to rescue King Rosetta; destroying the equipment that had fallen into enemy hands could only be done incidentally in their spare time. Whether in military operations or anything else, reversing priorities has always been a major taboo.
General Shiragi, who was standing to the side, listened to the entire conversation between Lu Wu and the pilot, his face alternating between pale and red.
How shameful! It was already shameful enough that a traitor had infiltrated the palace from within the capital's defense perimeter, but now even the advanced equipment he had painstakingly acquired from the capital had fallen into the hands of a traitor. Even if the troops guarding the equipment had just ruthlessly blown it up, it wouldn't have been so bad. In short, shameful. As for how the Amelia people viewed Elgia now, he didn't even dare to think about it. Still thinking about continuing to trade with the Amelia people? Bah, shameful! Nine
Fortunately, the Amelia people haven't commented on the matter yet, which somewhat saved Shiragi's face. And the pilot's announcement that the circling had ended and descent was beginning extricated him from a speechless embarrassment akin to a bursting hemorrhoid.
"Commander, good luck!"
Because of Shiraji's presence in the crew cabin, their Hind helicopter didn't opt for a rappelling, but rather a more direct helicopter landing. Lu Wu was the first to jump out of the helicopter. Facing the wary gazes of the Ergia, he pointed to the Amelia insignia on his right arm and shouted, "Belonging to the 7th Brigade of the Amelia Volunteer Army, here to evacuate your king!"
The other little green men inside the cabin also leaped out of the hatch one after another, seemingly scattered, but occupying several key positions on the platform. After the doe had completely landed on the tower platform, Shiragi followed the last little green man out of the cabin. Shiragi immediately went to Lu Wu and the Elgians, pulled out his officer's badge, and loudly proclaimed, "I am Brigadier General Shiragi of the 44th Infantry Division, ordered to rescue His Majesty the King. These men are our allies, the main force of this rescue operation. Where is His Majesty?"
It appeared that the leader of the observation group, an Elgin, took the officer's ID, examined it carefully, and returned it before speaking: "We have already sent someone to inform His Majesty, but you must remain here until we receive further instructions. After all, such an incident has just occurred, so please understand."
Hiraghi then noticed that the Elgins had silently adjusted their positions after they landed, firmly guarding the passage leading into the castle. This filled Hiraghi with both frustration and relief; after all, it was precisely this caution that had saved the king from the humiliation of capture, and their wariness of their allies after being betrayed was understandable. Therefore, despite the possibility of provoking the Elgins' discontent, Hiraghi chose not to further attempt to persuade the observation team officers to allow passage.
After all, the castle wasn't very big, and they had deliberately allowed some time; the messenger wouldn't need much time to come and go.
Volume 1: Chapter 116, Section 104: The Castle (2)
It was impossible for the Elgeans' little tricks to go unnoticed. Although the reason for their actions could be understood, a sense of displeasure still arose. After all, the Elgeans had asked them for help, which was why they were there. But now the Elgeans were wary of them. While this behavior could not be considered repaying kindness with enmity, it was still enough to make people uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry, they’re being a bit overly sensitive.” The shrewd old man, Shiraji, had also considered this. To avoid affecting future cooperation—if there was any—he tried to ease the tension. “Please rest assured, they won’t take too long, and we won’t let our friends from Elgia make a wasted trip.”
“I can understand, but I hope you can act faster. You heard it too, the rebels are using our equipment to attack us, and we lack heavy firepower. The Belken have also torn a hole in the defensive line and are pouring into Fabandi. If we delay any longer, it won’t be so easy to leave.”
“I understand. It won’t take too long.” Shiragi’s face showed some lingering fear: “If we had arrived any later, who knows how long the castle gates could have held out against those armored vehicles? Once they broke through the gates and got inside the castle, it would have been troublesome…”
Lu Wu's expression changed upon hearing this, and then a commotion came from the passage guarded by the royal guards.
"Damn it, General Hiraghi, don't you know there are some things you can't say on the battlefield?!" Something must have happened inside the castle. Hiraghi's mouth must have been blessed by a high-ranking monk! Lu Wu glared at the extremely innocent-looking Hiraghi, raised his gun, and aimed it at the passage.
A blood-soaked guard from the Kingdom of Elgia appeared, staggering and clutching his stomach.
"Locke! Don't fire, they're on our side!" The guard officer shouted loudly and rushed forward, fearing that these friendly forces would open fire first.
"The Belkens, the Belkens have infiltrated!" Upon seeing his familiar comrades, the guard seemed to lose all his strength and collapsed. A quick-thinking guard officer caught him before he fell to the ground, which is why he heard the guard's whisper.
"Impossible! We clearly didn't let a single enemy soldier through our lines!" The Imperial Guard officer was incredulous, but years of working together had taught him to take preemptive action based on his comrade's description. The Imperial Guards on both sides of the passage immediately turned their guns and pointed them to the other side of the passage.
“I encountered the enemies of SO:跁√≮七［｀六＠☆陆≯司◎私※＞ on the third floor. They were wearing Belken military uniforms and carrying automatic weapons. I was completely overwhelmed by them and couldn’t fight back at all…” Upon hearing this, the Imperial Guard officer’s face turned even more grim.
“We can’t waste any more time. Where is the king? Let’s go in and bring him out, and get him out of this dangerous area,” Lu Wu said, stepping forward.
“He’s right. If we don’t waste a single second here, the King’s situation will get worse.” At this moment, Hiraghi also sided with Lu Wu.
“The third floor, the king is on the third floor, and we have two squads of royal guards protecting him.” The royal guard officer made a quick decision, gently placing the lifeless body on the ground. “I will take you there.”
“Very good. ‘Endless’ Firepower Team, you stay here and hold this withdrawal point until we return or receive further orders.” Unlike other units in the 7th Brigade, thanks to the increased combat effectiveness brought about by the deployment of more Golden Eagles, the Direct Guard is organized into smaller but more flexible units called “Firepower Teams.” “‘Fire Spirit’ Firepower Team, you have an additional task: provide necessary fire support to the ‘Endless’ Team.”
“'Fire Spirit' received.” A calm female voice came through the radio.
The "Endless" firepower team is a four-man squad equipped with a 6P41 machine gun, SAGA-12 rifle, 9X19VSN submachine gun, and AK-12 assault rifle. This configuration provides strong firepower suppression in close to medium-range engagements, but it becomes somewhat weak in long-range combat. Therefore, Lu Wu has assigned the "Fire Spirit" firepower team, which has been stationed on the "Hind," to provide cover and compensate for this deficiency. The "Fire Spirit" firepower team is a two-man sniper team equipped with OTs-03 and SV-98 sniper rifles, giving them a unique advantage in long-range engagements.
"'Amber' team leads the way, 'Kingfisher' team brings up the rear!"
Because two heavy combat engineers were temporarily assigned to the "Amber" fire team, the "Amber" fire team, with these two big guys, naturally became the best candidates to lead the charge. The two heavy engineers lined up on the left and right and entered the passage first, while the other soldiers of the 7th Brigade, whose protection was slightly weaker, followed behind the two green giants like chicks.
With someone leading the way, the first five people moved at a relatively fast pace, but unfortunately, the Belk people were even faster this time. Before they even reached the room where the royal family members were taking refuge, they saw the bodies of the guards who had died on the outer perimeter. Sure enough, only the bodies of a few guards, a large number of bullet casings, and bloodstains remained inside the refuge room; the royal family members had disappeared.
"Damn it! We're too late!" Hiraghi was in a state of anxiety. He looked at Lu Wu, his eyes full of hope: "Can we catch up with them?"
"Is there some kind of secret escape route inside the castle?" Lu Wu asked. "Otherwise, how could they have sneaked in so quietly?"
“There used to be one, but it collapsed and was buried two years ago due to an accident.” The guard officer was quite honest. “That place was thoroughly bombed. We had professionals assess it, and it would take at least five years to dig out those ruins. There is absolutely no way the Belken people could have opened those ruins without us noticing.”
“In that case, we have no choice but to follow the trail they left behind and chase them to the death.” Lu Wu frowned slightly. This kind of relentless pursuit is the stupidest, least efficient, and easiest way to allow the enemy to escape. This is because the enemy may leave small groups of troops to eliminate traces or to delay the main force, creating opportunities for the main force to escape. The correct approach should be to predict the enemy’s route of advance and set up interception points along these routes in advance. Only by taking a two-pronged approach can we ensure that the enemy cannot escape smoothly to the greatest extent possible.
……
288948672
What is this? I don't know either.
Volume 1: Chapter 117 (3)
Where is the exit of that collapsed tunnel?
“That place has been completely destroyed; there’s absolutely no way the Belken could have infiltrated from there…” Upon hearing the question from a woman, a flicker of disbelief crossed the guard officer’s eyes, followed by impatient words: “It seems they’ve gone to a lower level; we should…”
"Where does it lead?" Lu Wu interrupted the Imperial Guard officer's self-talk.
"No, you mean you want to send people there to intercept them? That's impossible..." The Imperial Guard officer was incredulous. Their squad was already small, so why should they split up? No, no, no, the two squads of Imperial Guards hadn't even managed to leave a single infiltrator behind. They should concentrate their forces; only a tightly clenched fist can deliver a powerful blow.
“Since they were able to infiltrate right under your noses, saying it’s impossible is pointless.” Lu Wu’s words silenced the Ergia.
"Comrade Brigade Commander, the rebels have begun their attack." At that moment, the voice of the "Fire Spirit" fire team came through the radio, along with the sound of a single shot from an SV-98.
"Received." Lu Wu ended the communication and said to the Imperial Guard officer, "We don't have time to waste. The rebels outside have launched an attack. You should know why they chose this time."
“Damn it, nothing good has happened all day. Well, the secret passage ends at a hotel five kilometers away, the Nikov Hotel.” The guard officer compromised, sending some men out while the rest continued the pursuit. This was much better than arguing about its necessity here and letting the infiltrated Belken escape.
“‘Steadfast’ firepower team, you ride over there in the doe. If you find that there are indeed Belken people there, pin them down.”
"Understood, Second Commander." The four members of the Fire Zero Force Team immediately broke away from the ranks and headed towards the evacuation platform on the rooftop, where they would board a helicopter.
This reduced the squad, which originally consisted of only 26 men, to just 16 men in three fire support teams. Even with the addition of the three members of the Elgia Guard, it was only 19 men in total, which made the Guard officers uneasy.
“Commander, look at the bloodstains on the ground, they’re spreading towards the stairs.” The scout from the Amber Firepower Team reached the same conclusion as the Imperial Guard officer. “I can’t be sure if the wounded are Belken or… but this level of bleeding won’t last long without treatment.”
Although he didn't finish his sentence, everyone present knew what he was talking about.
"Follow them." Just as Lu Wu finished speaking and was about to take a step, he stopped and looked at the guard officer, asking, "Is your castle like those lousy buildings designed by George Trevor, riddled with traps?"
“Uh, I’ve never heard of… George Trevor? Is he famous?” The Imperial Guard officer was puzzled, but Lu Wu’s question was obviously not going to be answered by him, because he was just an ordinary mid-level officer in the Imperial Guard. As for the person in the Imperial Guard who could answer this question, his life or whereabouts were now unknown.
"Alright, everyone, be alert and watch your step." Having no other choice, Lu Wu could only use this method to warn everyone to proceed with caution.
They followed the trail of blood that had dripped onto the ground. The scouts noticed that the blood decreased in amount as they moved further away, indicating that the bleeding had stopped rather than stopped based on the previous amount of blood loss. Sure enough, they tracked the trail to a corner of the stairs and found a body sitting against the wall, head slumped. The front of the uniform was almost entirely stained red with blood; they could only identify it as an Elgin guard by the sleeves. The bloodstains on the ground earlier most likely belonged to this guard who had been shot in the chest and abdomen.
The guard officer instinctively wanted to move closer to identify the body, but Anna stopped him, saying, "Watch out for bombs."
"How do you know?" the Imperial Guard officer retorted, but he obediently stopped in his tracks.
“Because we would do the same.” Anna watched as the officer followed the group around the body.
"Damn it, this is blasphemy..."
“We’ll not only do this to enemy corpses, but we’ll even do it to ourselves if necessary.” Anna glanced at the officer. “You must have never been on the battlefield before. On the battlefield, any method that can kill the enemy and preserve our own forces is acceptable.”
The officer fell silent. His gaze returned to the corpse sitting in the corner, and this time, he saw the insignia on the corpse's collar. He gasped: "Gods above, that's our commander! Those damned Belken men..."
“Then it seems you’ll have to choose someone else as your commander,” Anna replied casually, earning her an angry glare from the Elgians.
Without the bloodstains to guide them, the team descending to the second level found themselves at a three-way intersection. This time, they had no other clues to aid their decision. "Commander?"
Which path leads to the secret passage?
"The one on the far right that goes down, you want to pursue them that way?" The Imperial Guard officer's voice was weak; he seemed to foresee the scenario where the only reinforcements who could possibly rescue the king would fail because they took the wrong path.
“No, if they really take that route, they’ll find a fire support team already waiting for them when they reach the end.” Lu Wu’s answer surprised the Imperial Guards. “‘Kingfisher’ fire support team, you, Desmond, and Ethan will go through the left passage, and we’ll go through the middle passage. If we encounter the enemy, try to hold them off as long as possible, and we’ll come to support you immediately.” Desmond and Ethan were the names of a professional medic and a combat engineer, respectively. Lu Wu believed that with these two specialized members, they could handle most situations.