Captain Amar Snyder looked at his watch and nodded to Fang Lang.
"According to the plan, we will arrive at the sea off the southern tip of India, Cochin Port, in five hours. Are you sure we don't have to take you directly ashore?"
Fang Lang looked up at the sky and estimated that it would be dark in more than three hours. In other words, the sky would be completely dark in five hours. At this time, he could sneak in on a small rubber boat and do it without anyone noticing.
“No need, just drop us off near the coast and continue on our original route.
You guys should not get too involved in what happens next."
"No problem, boss, I will control my subordinates and ensure that everyone maintains absolute confidentiality.
But I suggest you hurry up and go ashore. Based on my experience, tomorrow's weather may not be very good."
Fang Lang looked up at the sky in surprise and found that there were no clouds in the sky, only two small clouds floating slowly occasionally.
But the humidity in the air seemed to be quite high. Fang Lang had mostly sailed in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, so he wasn't very familiar with the situation in the Indian Ocean.
...
...
In later generations, when sailing on the oceans, there were modern weather forecasts, and it was impossible to sail based on experience, so Captain Amar Snyder was somewhat surprised when he was told that the weather might change.
However, he would not be so arrogant as to think that the other party was bragging. After all, there were no satellites in this era to monitor changes in clouds and air pressure, and most voyages were very dependent on the captain's experience.
Moreover, as a naval general, mastering weather conditions is one of his essential skills. Therefore, after Captain Amar Snyder's words, he also noticed that the humidity in the air seemed a little abnormal.
"Very good. The worsening weather is not bad news for us. You don't have to worry. Instead, you should pay attention to safety on your next voyage."
Hearing that Fang Lang did not seem to be afraid of bad weather, Captain Amar Snyder felt relieved.
The two of them walked into the ship's cockpit, chatting and laughing, and crew members on the ship kept greeting them.
After the seaplane on the sea dropped all the soldiers of Fang Lang's Guard Company, it began to refuel the plane with the help of the crew. Next, they will fly directly to the British Changi Naval Base.
Following orders from the Chief of Staff of the British Royal Navy, the Brazilian Navy's aviation detachment will rest for a period of time at the British's largest naval base in Southeast Asia until new orders are conveyed to them.
As for Fang Lang's guard company soldiers, they will be the absolute main force of this operation. Of course, up to now, the soldiers of the guard company are actually still unclear about what their mission is.
After boarding the ship, they were arranged to rest in the crew's rest area in preparation for the upcoming operation in the evening.
Time slipped away quietly and unnoticed, and the transport ship of the Global Shipping Company slowly and unhurriedly followed its route and approached the waters off the southernmost port of Cochin in India.
In the pitch-black night, a transport boat with no markings on it and more than a dozen black rubber boats were lowered over the side of the ship. The rubber boats were towed slowly away from the transport ship. A group of fully armed but plain-clothed soldiers sat quietly on the rubber boats and left the transport ship silently.
About an hour later, this strange fleet slowly approached a beach where a bonfire was burning. Qi Qingshan, who was on the transport boat, pointed a flashlight in the direction of the bonfire and sent out several light signals. He soon received a signal from the bonfire. After the two sides communicated through light signals for a while, the fleet slowly approached the dock.
"Boss, you finally arrived safely."
Zhuang Xintian, wearing an Indian-style lantern-pattern outfit, stood on the shore and reached out to take the equipment bag from Fang Lang with a smile on his face.
Seeing Zhuang Xintian's attire, the guards and soldiers who came ashore with Fang Lang all laughed strangely. Qi Qingshan couldn't help but speak directly:
"What are you wearing?"
Zhuang Xintian looked down at his clothes and said with a grin:
"These Indians all dress like this, with a big turban on their heads. You will know when you see them tomorrow.
If we want to avoid attracting attention, we have no choice but to follow the local customs.
But if you don't want to, you can consider changing into the sari that Indian women wear. That thing can cover the whole body, and when you walk on the street, others can't tell whether you are a man or a woman!"
Upon hearing this, Qi Qingshan glared at the other person and said:
"What are you talking about! I would rather die than wear women's clothes."
Fang Lang saw the two of them fighting, smiled and patted Zhuang Xintian on the shoulder and said:
"Okay, the costumes are just a small matter. How are the things you guys prepared going?"
Zhuang Xintian didn't dare to act presumptuously in front of Fang Lang. When he heard his question, he immediately said with a serious expression:
"Boss, don't worry. Everything is going according to plan. Now more than a thousand young Muslims have quietly gathered nearby. We will execute the plan as soon as you give the order."
"Very good. Have you figured out the situation in the temple?"
Fang Lang glanced at the soldiers of the guard company who were going ashore in an orderly manner behind him, then looked at the pitch-black environment on the shore and asked in a low voice.
"I've figured it out. Boss, please follow me."
After saying that, Zhuang Xintian turned around and walked towards a forest on the side. As he walked, he turned back and said to Fang Lang:
“The target is at the seashore 400 meters away. You see, that’s where the temple is.
According to our reconnaissance, this temple does not seem to be taken seriously by them. There are only three people responsible for maintaining the temple. There are quite a few people who come to the temple to worship, but there is no guard force at all."
Fang Lang and Qi Qingshan followed Zhuang Xintian through a very sparse forest. Following the direction of Zhuang Xintian's finger, they saw a building about twenty meters high.
Unlike the completely dark surroundings, this building is the only place nearby that is lit by oil lamps.
The building is very close to the seaside. In the dark night, Fang Lang can vaguely see the outline of the coastline less than a hundred meters away.
"Is this place far from their palace? If no one is blocking us, how soon can the palace guards get to the temple?"
“The palace is about three kilometers away from the temple. There are about three hundred guards at the palace, but according to our observations, these so-called guards have no combat effectiveness at all, and many of them are simply their servants.
However, there is a former British military camp 10 kilometers away from the palace. Now there is a regiment stationed there, but the commander of this regiment is still a British man. "
"British, hasn't the British Empire already announced that it would give India independence? Why is he still serving as the commander of the Indian army? It seems that he is not going to give up power until the last minute!
This is a good thing. If there are British commanders, they will not be very active in serving the royal families of these states. In other words, the only people this little king can really command are about 300 guards.
This is a good thing for us!”
"Yes, as far as I know, the British are not going to hand over these troops directly to these states. In order to prevent the kings of the states from holding too much military power and causing unnecessary wars, the British will definitely hand over all military power to the Indian government at the last minute."
"This is even more convenient. The current Indian government has not yet fully seized power, and the states below are still somewhat independent. It is very important to stabilize military power. This can be considered as the British doing a good thing.
However, after the operation officially begins, we still need to focus on the movements of this army and not let them cause trouble for our operation."
"Yes, Boss! Please tell us that we have made a detailed plan."
Zhuang Xintian seemed very confident about this. Obviously, he had already made a corresponding plan. Seeing this, Fang Lang nodded with satisfaction and did not continue to ask about the content of the other party's plan.
Then, he looked at Fang Lang with some doubt and said:
“Boss, according to our reconnaissance during this period, this temple is seriously lacking in maintenance. The buildings have fallen into disrepair and are in ruins in many places. However, even the Travancore royal family does not seem to care much about the existence of this temple.
They only sent three old men to guard it. Can such a place really contain the treasure you mentioned?"
Looking at Zhuang Xintian who was full of doubt, Fang Lang looked towards the temple in the darkness in the distance, constantly comparing the pictures of the temple he saw on the Internet in later generations with the real thing in front of him.
He clearly remembered that the reason for discovering this treasure was that someone complained to the Indian government that the princely state government responsible for managing the temple was inactive and lacked effective management of the temple.
As a result, the temple became dilapidated and was at risk of becoming a dangerous building, so the Indian government was requested to take it over. Later, the Supreme Court of India ordered the local government to take over the temple.
When the local government took over the temple, they took inventory of the temple's assets. As a result, as soon as the secret room of the temple was opened, a large amount of treasure gold was discovered.
The news reports at the time also included detailed pictures. Fang Lang could still vaguely remember what the temple looked like from his first glance after arriving here, although it was not very clear because of the darkness.
But he was 80% sure that the building in front of him was consistent with his later impression of the building.
“Whether there is treasure or not, I will find out tomorrow when I sneak in and take a look. Don’t worry. The Travancore royal family may have their own reasons for not paying attention to this temple. We don’t need to pay special attention to it.
If they really take it seriously, we won’t have a chance to take action.”
After saying that, he pointed to the coast closest to the temple.
"Qingshan, arrange for someone to disguise themselves as local fishermen tomorrow and conduct diving operations along the coastline to confirm whether there is a passage in the sea that leads directly to the secret room of the temple."
Qi Qingshan and Zhuang Xintian looked at each other, neither of them quite understood what Fang Lang meant, but they still chose to obey orders out of habit.
"Yes, boss!"
As for whether the soldiers of the Navy Guard Company were able to carry out diving operations, the two had no hesitation at all. After all, this was part of their routine training.
"Xintian, there seem to be a few households near this temple. Have you conducted a thorough investigation to find out exactly how many people there are? Can we control them directly?"
"Boss, don't worry. We have already investigated thoroughly. There are less than ten households living nearby, and they are all fishermen who make a living from fishing nearby. We are absolutely sure that we can shut them up completely."
Fang Lang heard a hint of ruthlessness in the other party's words, but he didn't even frown. He had expected this. The current Fang Lang is no longer the young man he used to be. People who achieve great things do not care about trivial matters. In his opinion, the loss of the Indians is not a big deal at all.
Therefore, he did not show any discomfort towards Zhuang Xintian's attitude.
"Very good. We will go to the hiding place tonight. You will accompany me to visit the temple tomorrow. Once I confirm the situation on the scene and make sure there are no problems, we will start working directly."
"Yes, boss!"
Then, Fang Lang quietly left the woods accompanied by Qi Qingshan and Zhuang Xintian. The guards on the beach had already completed the landing work under the leadership of other soldiers from the Navy Special Tactics Research Group who were responsible for exploring the way.
The soldiers had deflated the rubber boats and put them away, leaving only a transport boat that made no sign of anything and was towed into the grove and hidden by trees.
In order to ensure absolute secrecy, the soldiers of the special tactics research team who came ashore earlier did not enter the Indian gathering area, but lived in an abandoned house near the beach.
This was an area of shanty-like shacks with a very poor living environment. The original residents had disappeared, and Fang Lang and the others did not show any disgust. They quietly hid with the soldiers.
The next morning, Fang Lang painted his face black, put on a big beard, changed into a slightly worn Indian-style lantern suit, and wrapped a large turban on his head.
These basic disguises were minor problems for Fang Lang. The only thing that made Fang Lang very uncomfortable was that these ordinary Indian civilians had no shoes to wear. So, in order to disguise himself more realistically, he had to go barefoot, deliberately paint his feet black, and step a few times in the dirty mud.
However, even if these are not done, ordinary priests in Indian temples and Hindus who go to the temples to worship may not be able to notice anything unusual.
But in order to avoid any hidden dangers, Fang Lang chose to try his best to be perfect.
After completing his disguise, Fang Lang, under the leadership of Zhuang Xintian, mixed in with the believers who went to the temple to worship and quietly sneaked into the temple.
Although Fang Lang had already confirmed last night that this was the temple they were looking for, when Fang Lang approached the outskirts of the temple during the day today, he became even more certain of the identity of the temple. This was indeed the Padmanabhaswamy Temple that he had seen in the news in later generations.
The two followed the worshipping crowd and slowly walked into the temple. The interior of the temple was indeed very old, just as Zhuang Xintian said yesterday.
The stone floor had been trampled on to form a thick patina, and the sculptures carved from yellow sandstone had been eroded by the sea breeze beyond recognition.
What is even more exaggerated is that the ancillary buildings of two temples have obviously collapsed. Now that it has become like this, it is no wonder that Hindus in later generations complained to the Indian government that the Travancore royal family neglected the management of this temple.
From what Fang Lang saw now, the temple had already begun to fall into disrepair, not to mention what it would look like in a few decades.
Of course, none of this was Fang Lang's business. The most important thing for him now was to find the location of the secret room in the temple to facilitate the excavation of treasures later. The two of them were dressed like devout believers, blending in with the crowd of believers, quietly looking at the rooms where the statues of gods were placed.
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