Chapter 24: Exposed
After speaking, Chen Guotao carefully set down the telephoto camera in his hand; this thing was very precious and easily damaged if bumped.
He took out the notebook from his pocket and began writing something on it with his head lowered. Chang Ning guessed that the paper probably contained the intelligence they currently had. The Blue Team’s electronic interference prevented them from using the radio to transmit intelligence, so Chen Guotao could only choose this primitive method of delivering messages.
“Xiao Zhuang.”
Hearing Chen Pai calling him, Xiao Zhuang quickly stepped forward: “Chen Pai.”
Chen Pai tore the written note from the notebook and handed it to him: “Deliver this back to our regiment’s frontline command post. Be smart about it; change into civilian clothes, and if you encounter a search, say you’re a college student out on an excursion.”
Xiao Zhuang took the note and turned to look at Chang Ning beside him, mumbling hesitantly. He was unsure. Chang Ning’s strength was greater than his own; this mission should logically be assigned to Chang Ning.
“I told you to carry out the mission, so why are you looking at Chang Ning! I have other arrangements for him.”
Seeing Xiao Zhuang’s behavior, Chen Guotao understood.
Knowing that Chang Ning had other arrangements, Xiao Zhuang finally agreed readily: “Alright! Then how do I find you all when I return? You definitely won’t be here by then.”
“No need to return; stay with Miao Lian.”
How could a new recruit possibly pass through the Blue Team’s layers of blockades to rendezvous with them? For safety, Chen Guotao had no intention of letting Xiao Zhuang return.
“Ah?” Xiao Zhuang immediately looked troubled; he didn’t want to stay at the command post—it would be boring.
“Xiao Zhuang, execute the order!”
Chang Ning pulled Xiao Zhuang; hadn’t he noticed that Chen Pai’s expression had turned from clear to cloudy? This wasn’t the time to throw a tantrum.
“Yes.”
Taking the note, Xiao Zhuang solemnly put it in his pocket and turned to disappear into the forest.
After Xiao Zhuang left, Chen Guotao took a few more photographs of the distant position before leading everyone away.
“Wild Wolf, the prey just left not long ago.”
The first platoon had just left when Wolf Fang’s people caught up right behind.
Gao Zhong Dui placed great importance on the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company. The commander of this company was Old Miao, an opponent who understood their Wolf Fang style very well.
“With the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company around, many of our deployments have already been exposed; now only this last platoon remains,” Gray Wolf Mada said.
The reason Chen Guotao’s team couldn’t contact the command post via radio was because Wolf Fang had notified the Electronic Warfare Regiment to do it, all to quietly take out the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company.
This company’s strength might not be the strongest, but it was absolutely the most troublesome. Eliminating the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company would greatly reduce the Blue Team’s losses in arrangements in this area.
“Earth Wolf, how long have they been gone?”
Gao Zhong Dui had a blade of grass in his mouth, chewing it slowly. The bitter taste of the grass juice spread throughout his mouth, invigorating his spirits; he hadn’t slept for two days in order to eliminate the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company.
“About ten minutes.”
Earth Wolf squatted on the ground, pinched a small handful of soil from the ground, observed it carefully, then checked the surrounding broken weeds. The breaks were still fresh, and the grass juice hadn’t dried, indicating the people hadn’t been gone long.
“Lead the way; taking out the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company will make things easier for us.”
After hearing Earth Wolf’s report, Gao Zhong Dui forced himself to perk up, spat out the grass in his mouth, and quickly gave the order.
At this moment, the first platoon, force-marching toward the next target, was completely unaware that they had been targeted by Gao Zhong Dui, and the distance between the two sides was continuously closing.
Walking in the center of the team, Chang Ning sensed something was off; the scene of Chen Guotao and Xiao Zhuang’s conversation earlier felt familiar.
Usually, this feeling meant it was a plot he had seen in his previous life.
‘So, a plot has been triggered, but what exactly is it?’
Chang Ning’s intuition told him the upcoming plot was important, but he just couldn’t remember what would happen, so he could only secretly heighten his vigilance.
The first platoon had more people, so their marching speed was slower than Gao Zhong Dui’s six-man special forces team.
The special forces team took a big detour and blocked ahead of the first platoon.
“Chang Ning, I feel like something’s not right.”
Xi Wa quietly said to Chang Ning as he walked up beside him.
“What’s not right?”
Actually, Chang Ning also felt something off; this was just a warning people get when danger is approaching, commonly known as the sixth sense. Its accuracy varied by person, and Chang Ning wasn’t sure.
From what Xi Wa said, he had a similar feeling too, indicating a high probability that something unexpected would happen next.
Thinking of this, just as Chang Ning was about to tell Chen Guotao, he saw Chen Guotao, walking at the front, raise his right fist high; the team immediately squatted in place and found cover.
“Looks like the platoon leader has noticed it too.”
Gradually, Chang Ning noticed the team had changed direction; it was an order from Chen Guotao. Although he hadn’t detected anything wrong, his intuition told him they couldn’t continue forward.
Better safe than sorry; he was responsible for the entire first platoon, so he ordered a change in direction.
On the mountain highway, the Blue Team Search Team had stopped on the road, with special forces soldiers holding guns on alert. Gao Zhong Dui hadn’t expected Chen Guotao to order a direction change midway, making them wait in vain, and in the end, they lost the trail again.
Now they could only use the clumsy method of setting up checkpoints and defenses.
Gao Zhong Dui was wearing headphones listening to the radio: “Strange? Why is the Red Team’s frequency so quiet? Are their scouts really on radio silence?”
Gray Wolf Mada sat in front and smiled wryly: “Wild Wolf, this must be the Electronic Warfare Regiment’s doing; we even asked them for help earlier! They just made the military news and are waiting for a chance to shine!”
Gao Zhong Dui took off his headphones, anxious: “This is ridiculous! How did they even jam our radio? How are we supposed to catch the Red Team scouts like this?”
“Communicator, connect me to Blue Team Headquarters!”
Gao Zhong Dui felt a bit unhappy.
It was the early 21st century, and unit informatization was just beginning. Everyone was still figuring out the specifics, and coordination between units wasn’t perfect yet.
“If you hear this, respond! Lone Wolf calling, if you hear this, respond…”
Headquarters knew the danger of letting a group of scouts roam in their rear; soon after, the Blue Team’s electronic warfare vehicle hidden in the mountains stopped its antenna rotation, and they lifted the electronic shielding.
In the mountains, at some unknown place, the first platoon’s communicator shouted joyfully: “Platoon leader, we’ve got contact! They’re responding!
“Headquarters, this is Dagger…”
“Sigh, Xiao Zhuang has already left.”
Chen Guotao looked at the mountain path, smiling bitterly. Now that the radio was connected to headquarters, Xiao Zhuang’s role was unnecessary; with the battle situation unclear, more people meant more strength.
Like the mantis stalking the cicada unaware of the oriole behind, Chen Guotao didn’t know that contacting headquarters this time had directly exposed them to Gao Zhong Dui’s field of vision.
“Captain, we’ve tracked the Night Tiger people!”
Flying Wolf put down the radio and reported to Gao Zhong Dui.
“Let’s go, time to hunt!”
The tactical squad quickly boarded the mountain off-road vehicle and sped toward the direction of Chen Guotao’s first platoon. This time, they didn’t plan to ambush; they’d just overwhelm them in one wave to avoid any accidents making them run for nothing again.
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