bestfiction Chapter 1148 Searching for the Enemy's Trail in the Storm
Chapter 1148 Searching for the Enemy's Trail in the Storm
The coastal defense gun at Minzhou Port is large; it must be propelled by rail. If it were simply pulled by manpower or horses, it would require at least thirty or forty people to move it.
Da Bao believed that the coastal defense cannons prepared by Liang Guoming and his men would not be this large, but a coastal defense cannon is still a coastal defense cannon. Even if it is small, it is still easy to hit a ship. A few shots would sink an unarmed cargo ship immediately.
Now, everyone in the new nation is tightening their belts, even the great man's dinner consists of a bowl of porridge, a steamed bun, two burnt peppers, and two pieces of fermented tofu.
Even so, the country still spent a huge sum of money to order this 10,000-ton cargo ship from Poland. You can imagine how important the mission it was. If it were to be sunk like this, how much loss would the country suffer?
Da Bao has obtained the route map of the Red Star's return. After crossing the high seas, there are a total of eight lighthouses. Among them, Niushan Island Lighthouse is the largest and took the longest to build. It is the territorial sea baseline island.
The first lighthouse encountered on the eastern coast is Beijishan. This lighthouse is garrisoned by seven soldiers, rotating monthly, making infiltration extremely difficult for the enemy.
After removing these two, there are only six left, which makes them easier to find.
The White Egret Leopard was still the one in charge. Da Bao was truly grateful that he had captured and subdued the White Egret Leopard in the Western Regions. Now, he could enter his spatial dimension and have the White Egret Leopard carry him around, just like riding in a reconnaissance plane, without being controlled by radar. It was absolutely awesome!
At Qingyu Lighthouse, only a couple was stationed there. Now, the couple was tied inside the lighthouse and couldn't move. Liang Guoming, along with two agents from his team, was adjusting and installing coastal defense artillery.
Early this morning, Japanese spies risked their lives to deliver two coastal defense guns, both Meiji Type 41 100mm coastal guns. Although these guns can only fire at a range of a dozen kilometers, their small size makes them easy to carry out. They can be set up by two people simply by finding a flat spot with good visibility.
Although the distance of a dozen kilometers is short, it's enough. The original plan was to set up four coastal defense guns on the two lighthouse islands for a pincer attack.
Unfortunately, there are very few islands that can be positioned like a horn, and it's not easy for people stationed on them to infiltrate. If they were to alert the enemy and the Red Star changed course, it would be a case of more harm than good.
Furthermore, the agents' small boats could only carry two coastal defense guns and shells, so they had no choice but to select an island.
Finally, Liang Guoming chose Qingyu Lighthouse. This lighthouse is located at the entrance of the strait, in a narrow channel. Even if the Red Star noticed something was wrong, it would not be able to turn around and run away. It could only move forward or backward, but this was still within the firing range of the two coastal defense guns.
The couple guarding the lighthouse were two lonely old people with no children. They had been stationed at the lighthouse for over a decade. You couldn't bribe them. Liang Guoming could only send men to arrest them, but he didn't dare to kill them casually. In case someone came to inspect the lighthouse in the next day or two, he would need them to show their faces.
Coastal artillery is different from other field artillery; it requires complex parameter adjustments. Although it will take more than a day for the Red Star to arrive, things at sea are unpredictable. What if the cargo ship arrives ahead of schedule?
Liang Guoming was cautious. He left two agents to watch over the elderly couple at the lighthouse, while the other two, along with himself, used flashlights to secure and adjust the coastal defense gun on a flat cliff under cover of darkness.
Rain at sea is normal. Unlike the drizzling rain of the south, it's usually a sudden downpour, quick to arrive and quick to leave.
Liang Guoming and his two colleagues, wearing raincoats, set up two rain shelters and installed the coastal defense guns. Liang Guoming had studied artillery, so adjusting the parameters of the coastal defense guns was no problem for him.
After adjusting himself, Liang Guoming sat down, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, unzipped his raincoat, lit one with his back to the wind, and tossed the rest to his men. Little did he know that it was because the three of them were smoking that Da Bao spotted them on this stormy night—the red glow of their cigarette butts. If Liang Guoming knew this, he would never smoke again in his next life.
The egret leopard was flying at a low altitude, so the storm had little effect on it, but it greatly hampered Da Bao's search. The egret leopard could only fly lower and lower...
When passing by Qingyu Lighthouse, Da Bao didn't really pay much attention. This lighthouse was too close to the inland, and generally the enemy wouldn't choose this place. In the pitch-black night, the lighthouse light shone on the sea, and the sea was whipped up by the gale. The power of nature was simply terrifying.
The egret had already glided past when Da Bao suddenly spotted three small red dots flashing. It was clearly three people smoking, but the information said that only an elderly couple kept watch over the lighthouse. What was the deal with those three cigarette butts?
Da Bao lay in the space, chuckling to himself. This was truly a case of finding something he'd been searching high and low for, only to have it come to him effortlessly!
The white egret leopard vanished instantly, and Da Bao jumped out of the space. He wasn't wearing a raincoat, but only a black outfit, and slowly made his way to the bottom of the cliff where Liang Guoming and the others were.
Liang Guoming and his team never expected that their covert operation would be exposed. It was truly a cruel twist of fate; why was it so difficult for them to earn a reward and recognition?
Da Bao, standing at the foot of the cliff, scanned the two awnings with his mind and saw the coastal defense cannons. His heart immediately calmed down.
Liang Guoming and his two companions were smoking and chatting together when they realized that someone was eavesdropping below.
"Team leader, although we only have two cannons this time, it shouldn't be a problem to blockade this sea area. I just don't know how effective these shells will be?"
Liang Guomin took a puff of his cigarette and replied.
"Don't worry, these were all produced in Meiji 41 (1899). The quality of the shells is absolutely fine. When the time comes, we'll have two cannons. The cargo ship is so big, we can fire at close range. Maybe just two shots will be enough to sink this cargo ship."
"No problem, team leader. Under the coastal defense artillery, no matter how thick the cargo ship's iron plate is, it's just like waste paper and will be easily torn apart."
After Liang Guoming finished his cigarette, he threw the butt downstairs, almost hitting Da Bao on the head, which made Da Bao so angry that he almost punched him.
"Ah Huang, Ah Quan and I are going to the lighthouse to sleep for a while. Ah Ming and Ah Zhong will come to relieve you in an hour."
The spy, Ah Huang, reluctantly agreed. In this awful weather, was it really necessary to stand guard next to the shore cannon?
Liang Guoming and his companion went to the lighthouse fifty meters away. Ah Huang touched the cold cannon barrel and thought about what the team leader had said. After this mission was over, he and Ah Quan would go to Southeast Asia to accept a new mission. It seemed that they would have to impersonate a rich young master and marry the daughter of a Datuk. Just thinking about it made his blood boil.
Suddenly his hand went empty. Ah Huang looked closely and realized that the coastal defense cannon had vanished from his grasp. He was so frightened that he was about to scream...