penetration
Volume Two, Chapter Three
The rain, which had lasted for several days, finally began to subside one afternoon. The dark clouds dispersed, and pale sunlight streamed through the cracks in the wooden windows, casting slanted beams of light into the room and illuminating the dust motes floating in the air. The oppressive feeling brought by the gloomy weather of the past few days seemed to dissipate somewhat with the improvement of the weather.
Xiao Chen brought back a detailed reconnaissance record of the dock, with neat small print noting the patrol team's shift change times, sentry positions, and even estimating the number of guards at several key warehouses. Shen Lanjun carefully read through it, her eyes showing approval. This child is meticulous, bold, and has potential.
Gu Tieshan combined Xiao Chen's records with the topographical map he and Geng Dashan had drawn, and using charred charcoal, sketched a more precise "Heihe Wharf and Surrounding Defense Deployment Map" on a tanned animal hide. His technique was precise, his lines concise, and his grasp of distance and direction was almost instinctive, as if the scene had already been imprinted in his mind. Geng Dashan watched from the side, feeling that this map was clearer and more understandable than the maps displayed by the officials in the government offices.
"With this, we'll have a 70% chance of success if we need to operate the docks in the future," Gu Tieshan said in a deep voice, putting down the charcoal. His words carried the certainty of a commander.
However, beneath this brief calm, a deadly crisis is quietly approaching.
Heihe Town, the site of the Japanese military intelligence agency.
This was a sinister building converted from a wealthy merchant's mansion, heavily guarded with high walls and electric fences. The newly appointed head of the agency, Colonel Onizuka Ichiro, sat upright behind a large desk. He was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, with a fair complexion and gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, making him appear more like a refined scholar than a fearsome intelligence chief. Only his eyes, hidden behind the lenses, occasionally flashed with a venomous, cold sharpness, revealing his true nature.
Standing before him were two trembling subordinates and a middle-aged man with a fearful expression, dressed in a Chinese-style long gown—Wang Degui, the Japanese army logistics clerk who had recently been turned by Shen Lanjun.
“Wang-san,” Onizuka Ichiro’s voice was gentle, yet carried an undeniable air of authority, “the information you provided about the existence of resistance fighters in ‘Jiangwan’ is extremely important. However, simply knowing a general location is far from enough. I need the exact location, how many of them there are, who their leader is, and where the radio station is.”
Wang Degui was sweating profusely. He had been caught embezzling public funds by the secret service after getting drunk, which forced him to confess. "Sir... I only know they might be in that old forest in Jiangwan, but... their exact location... they're very vigilant; they change locations every time they try to contact us..."
Onizuka Ichiro gently pushed up his glasses, a cold smile curving his lips: "It seems a little help is needed." He waved his hand, and a subordinate immediately brought up a bulky machine with huge headphones and complicated knobs—part of the receiver for the radio direction finding vehicle.
"Based on the scattered signals we intercepted, and the fragmented information you provided, Mr. Wang, the approximate area of the signal source has been pinpointed to the southeast of Jiangwan, within a radius of five kilometers." Onizuka Ichiro's finger traced across the map. "They're cunning; their transmissions are short and their frequency is unpredictable. However, as long as they turn their phones back on..."
His gaze fell on Wang Degui: "Wang Sang, you need to go back and find a way to gain their trust and obtain more accurate intelligence. Or, guide them to send out a signal long enough at a specific time."
Wang Degui's face was ashen; he knew he had no way out.
Meanwhile, inside the wooden house in Jiangwan.
Shen Lanjun was attempting to make contact with Jiangbei once again. She had just adjusted the frequency and her finger was on the send button when a strong, inexplicable unease rose within her. This feeling was an almost instinctive intuition about danger, honed through years of underground work.
She stopped what she was doing and listened intently. Outside, only the whistling of the wind through the treetops and the flowing of the river could be heard; everything seemed normal. But she always felt that an invisible pair of eyes was watching this place from some dark corner.
"Something's not right." She stood up abruptly, walked quickly to the window, and peered out through the crack.
Gu Tieshan, who was wiping his weapons, immediately looked up: "What's wrong?"
“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Shen Lanjun said, her brows furrowed. “It feels too ‘clean.’ Usually at this hour, there should be some birds chirping and insects humming in the woods, but today it’s unusually quiet.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Tieshan's expression instantly turned serious. He lowered his gun and listened intently, his veteran's keen sense of the battlefield environment awakened. He also sensed the unusual silence; it wasn't natural tranquility, but a deathly stillness shrouded in immense pressure.
"Is there an ambush? Or are we being watched?" he whispered.
Just then, Zhao Xiaoshuan, who was in charge of keeping watch from the highest point on the outskirts, tumbled down the hillside, his face pale, and shouted urgently in a low voice, "Uncle Gu! Aunt Chen! Something bad has happened! Down the mountain... there's something going on down the mountain! Several Japanese trucks, and those vehicles with big antennas, are coming this way! They're less than three miles away!"
Radio direction finding vehicle!
Shen Lanjun and Gu Tieshan instantly understood the source of their unease! The enemy had actually used this kind of equipment, and their target was clearly this place!
"Pack your things! Move immediately! Take the important things with you, destroy what you can't take!" Gu Tieshan's voice was firm and decisive, without the slightest panic. He grabbed the dock defense map and the pair of dragon scale bracelets from the table and stuffed them into his pocket.
Shen Lanjun quickly shut down the radio and began disassembling key components, while stuffing the codebook and important documents into a waterproof tarpaulin bag. Her movements were swift yet composed, and her eyes were frighteningly calm.
Xiu Niang and Shuanzi panicked and hurriedly began packing their bedding and dry rations.
"Don't panic! Follow orders!" Gu Tieshan shouted, calming the situation. His gaze swept over everyone, his mind racing, fragments of memory surging again. This time, they were no longer scattered images, but a clear tactical command.
"Dashan, take Xiu Niang, Shuanzi, and the children, and take the hunting trail to the west to our second backup hiding spot!"
"Xiao Shuan, you're quick on your feet, so you're in charge of erasing any traces of our departure and creating the illusion that we headed north!"
"Lan Jun, you stay with me to cover our retreat and ensure the safety of the radio and documents!"
His instructions were clear, decisive, and well-organized, as if he had rehearsed them countless times.
Inspired by the calmness and authority in his words, Geng Dashan and the others immediately took action.
Gu Tieshan rushed to the door and carefully observed the commotion outside. He noticed that a large flock of forest birds in the southeast had been startled and took flight, deducing that the enemy's main force was coming from that direction.
“They came from the southeast, and the direction finding vehicle needs time to pinpoint their location. Let’s head northwest and use the stream to cover our tracks!” he said to Shen Lanjun behind him.
Shen Lanjun had already packed up the most important things and carried them on her back. She glanced at the wooden house, which she had been running for several months and had just begun to resemble a "home," and a hint of reluctance flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a resolute determination.
"Walk!"
The two left the cabin. Gu Tieshan carefully restored some inconspicuous warning mechanisms at the entrance to their original state. Then, together with Shen Lanjun, they quickly disappeared into the dense forest behind the cabin and hurried northwest along a steep, barely-path-like trail.
Less than fifteen minutes after they left, Onizuka Ichiro's special forces team and a small squad of Japanese soldiers surrounded the wooden house. Looking at the empty house and the still warm ashes in the stove, Onizuka Ichiro's face was so gloomy it could drip water.
"Search! They can't have gone far!" he ordered coldly.
However, the false traces left by Gu Tieshan and Zhao Xiaoshuan's elaborate disguise successfully misled the pursuers' initial judgment. Only after the people from Guizuka followed the "fleeing north" trail for a while did they realize they had been tricked.
Meanwhile, Gu Tieshan and Shen Lanjun had already waded across the icy stream and stepped onto the primeval forest on the other side, temporarily shaking off their pursuers.
While catching their breath in a secluded crevice, Shen Lanjun looked at Gu Tieshan's calm profile, which remained composed even after giving his orders, and asked softly, "What...did you remember just now?"
Gu Tieshan gazed in the direction the enemy might be pursuing and slowly said, "I remember... how I led my brothers to jump out of the Japanese encirclement."
Stimulated by the life-or-death crisis, his memories are being reborn at an unprecedented speed. This successful transfer not only preserved personnel and core intelligence, but also allowed the soul and abilities represented by the name "Gu Tieshan" to be fully awakened amidst the flames of war in the north.
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