Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 836 The Horrifying Incident at Tidi Lake: There Was a Reason Behind It: Remnants of the Stor

The raft stopped a few dozen meters from the dock, and Hansmeier hesitated.

The Enigma machine was something Moscow insisted on bringing back, as it concerned the gains and losses of the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, and he was really unwilling to give up on it.

A moment later, he spoke in a low voice in Russian to his men rowing the boat, instructing them to be armed and ready to act immediately should the situation change.

The raft moved toward the dock again, and as it got closer, four figures could be seen walking toward the white house on the shore.

Hansmeier took a deep breath and jumped aboard the ship as it approached the dock.

He had his right hand in his pocket, ready to draw his gun and fire at any moment.

His men on the raft behind him raised their Soviet-made PPSh-41 submachine guns and aimed them at the Germans on the dock.

This is a new type of weapon that was only ordered to be produced this year. Before it was even deployed to the army, it was issued to Soviet intelligence personnel as fire suppression equipment.

The man in the lead, dressed in a German officer's uniform, walked straight toward Hansmeier and introduced himself.

“I was assigned by Rudolf Rösler to come here specifically to complete the handover mission.”

Rösler was the core hub of Lucy's intelligence network and Hansmeier's most direct contact on this trip. Hearing this, Hansmeier's doubts lessened.

He moved his hand slightly away from his pocket and asked, "Where's the stuff?"

The officer said, "The equipment is in the back. Let's look at the data first."

As he spoke, the German officer raised his hand and picked up his elegant leather briefcase, gently opening it in front of Hansmeier. Inside, stacks of neatly arranged classified documents lay quietly.

He took out the top copy and handed it to Hansmeier, then turned on the flashlight in his hand, the beam of light falling on the paper so that Hansmeier could see the contents.

Just as Hansmeier was engrossed in reviewing the documents, the flashlight suddenly shone a blinding beam and moved swiftly, illuminating the raft behind him.

The three German soldiers, who had been standing quietly, suddenly launched an attack, raising their submachine guns and firing wildly at the raft behind them without warning.

A hail of bullets whistled out, instantly piercing the thin hull of the raft. The intelligence officer on guard duty on the raft was hit and reflexively pulled the trigger of his PPSh submachine gun.

The body can lean back after being shot, causing all the bullets to fly into the air.

Shot all over his body, he tumbled into the icy Didi Lake, and the leaky raft quickly deflated.

The sudden turn of events shocked Hansmeier. He instinctively reached for his pistol to fight back, but he was too slow.

The German officer threw a flashlight at him and raised his pistol to fire.

The bullet struck Hansmeier's right wrist, the excruciating pain causing his fingers to spasm, and the pistol slipped from his hand and fell onto the dock planks.

Immediately afterwards, three soldiers rushed forward, pinned down the wounded Hansmeier, and swiftly tied his arms behind his back.

The scene on the dock was clearly seen by Fang Wen, who was in a Boeing 314 seaplane in the distance, thanks to his superhuman perception.

Fang Wen's face turned cold as he rapidly weighed the pros and cons in his mind. If he were to immediately pilot the plane away, the Soviet Union would have no reason to blame him, and he could safely return with the accelerator data.

This was done when I was powerless to cope.

With his supernatural abilities, physical strength, and reaction speed superior to ordinary people, dealing with a few ordinary German soldiers was no problem at all, and sitting idly by was definitely not his style.

Having made up his mind, Fang Wen no longer hesitated. He quickly got up and left the cockpit, took out a standard Browning pistol from his carry-on luggage and put it in his pocket. He then walked quickly to the aircraft's storage compartment, took out a life-saving diving suit and put it on.

After putting on a black rubber diving suit, Fang Wen pushed open the plane door and jumped into the cool Didi Lake.

The lake was calm and deep. Fang Wen, with his superb swimming skills, quietly swam underwater and reached the waters below the dock.

The bloodstains left from the gunfight had stained the nearby lake water a dark red. The body of Hansmeier's man floated silently on the surface of the water, head down. The dock was deserted.

Fang Wen quietly approached the shore in the water below the dock.

Once ashore, he immediately unzipped his diving suit, pressed the switch on the belt buckle at his waist, activated his mechanical perception ability through his personal device, and also activated the vertical eye gem to enhance his X-ray vision.

In an instant, the scene within a hundred meters radius was vividly displayed in his mind, and the night was as bright as day in his eyes, a gray and white world.

The interior layout of the building and the positions of all the people are clearly visible:

Three armed German soldiers guarded the first floor; one stood guard behind the door, and two stood guard at the stairwell.

The second floor.

Hansmeier was bound with ropes and suspended in mid-air, with another trapped person tied to his side.

The officer took off his belt and lashed it hard at Hansmeier.

Two soldiers stood by the second-floor window, their eyes fixed on the direction of the dock.

After figuring out all the defenses, Fang Wen, dressed in a black, form-fitting diving suit, perfectly concealed himself under the cover of night, avoiding the observation of the soldiers on the second floor. He lowered his body and disappeared into the shadows of the night, silently approaching the white wooden house in an arc.

A few minutes later, Fang Wen quietly approached the white house, hugging the outer wall as he moved closer to the door.

He stopped outside the door, separated from the German soldiers on guard inside by only one door.

Then, use your supernatural abilities to observe the situation inside the white house and look for an opportunity to act.

Inside the cabin on the second floor, a German officer, his face grim, was lashing out at Hansmeier with his leather belt.

After finishing his drink, he picked up the Taishan walkie-talkie and spoke sternly in German.

"Use this to contact the plane in the lake and get it closer to the shore."

Hansmeier gritted his teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and remained silent, refusing to comply with the other party's demands.

When coercion failed, the German officer, enraged, threw his belt to a soldier standing guard by the window and ordered him to continue using torture to extract a confession.

One dull thud after another rang out, and the excruciating pain made it impossible for Hansmeier to endure any longer. He couldn't help but let out a suppressed cry of pain.

Hearing the commotion on the second floor, the three German soldiers on duty downstairs looked up and began to mock and ridicule each other in German.

This moment of complacency lowered their guard to its lowest point.

This was the perfect opportunity that Fang Wen had been waiting for!

Fang Wen's eyes sharpened. Without further hesitation, he gripped the Browning pistol in his hand, took a deep breath, took three steps back, and suddenly rushed out.

With a loud crash, the flimsy wooden door was smashed open by the force of the impact, the door panel striking the German soldier behind it and carrying him away with it.

The moment the door panel and the soldier flew out, Fang Wen rushed into the room.

He visualized the target location he was observing with his supernatural ability, and quickly raised his gun to fire.

The other two German soldiers inside were startled. Before they could raise their guns to fight back, they were shot. One was shot in the chest and the other in the forehead, both dying instantly.

After killing the two men, Fang Wen quickly turned his gun around and fired continuously at the direction the door panel had flown out.

The German soldier who was thrown into the air landed with several bullets in his body, curled up, and lay still.

After dealing with the three soldiers on the first floor, Fang Wen did not immediately rush up to the second floor.

No matter how fast you are, you can't rush up to the second floor and take down all the enemies in one go.

He retreated to the side of the stairwell, took out a magazine, and replaced it.

At that moment, the sudden gunshots downstairs also alerted the people on the second floor.

The German officer's expression changed drastically. He immediately issued a defensive order, instructing two guards to stand guard on the only wooden staircase leading to the second floor, one on each side, and to raise their submachine guns and aim them at the stairwell. Anyone who came upstairs would be met with a barrage of fire.

He himself quickly moved behind Hansmeier, using the wounded and captured Hansmeier as a human shield, and aimed his pistol intently at the stairwell entrance.

This arrangement, seemingly airtight, completely blocks the only way upstairs.

Ordinary people would have no way to break through such tight security, but all of this was exposed to Fang Wen, who possessed the ability to see through things. Through the wooden walls, he could clearly see the positions of everyone on the second floor and the orientation of their weapons. His gaze quickly swept across the entire structure of the house, and he soon discovered some gaps in the outer wall behind the wooden house, enough to climb over.

With an idea forming in his mind, Fang Wen casually picked up a solid wood chair from the hall and threw it forcefully toward the stairwell.

The two German soldiers guarding the stairwell thought it was an enemy attack and instinctively pulled the trigger at the same time. A hail of bullets poured out and hit the solid wood chairs.

Just as the firepower upstairs was in full swing and their attention was drawn to the direction of the stairs, Fang Wen suddenly rushed out of the white house, quickly arrived at the back of the house, grabbed the gaps in the wooden planks of the outer wall with both hands, and used his feet to push off the wall, climbing up to the second floor as fast as a gecko.

In the blink of an eye, he climbed to the second-floor window, and before the people inside could react, he pushed open the loose wooden window and vaulted into the second-floor room.

The two soldiers guarding the ladder noticed the commotion behind them and hurriedly turned around to try to turn their guns around, but it was too late.

Fang Wen used his supernatural ability to locate the room in advance, and his first reaction upon getting up was to raise his gun and fire.

The bullets fired from the Browning pistol struck two soldiers, exploding into bursts of blood at the point of impact.

Two soldiers retreated, shot, and fell to the ground, lifeless.

The German officer hiding behind Hansmeier was terrified when he saw this and immediately raised his hand to fire.

Fang Wen had already anticipated his movements, quickly moved to dodge the bullets, and at the same time raised his hand to fire, accurately hitting the opponent's wrist holding the gun.

The pistol fell to the ground with a thud. The officer covered his wounded hand and stepped back. He saw the submachine gun that the soldier had thrown out before he died and tried to pick it up to fight back.

Fang Wen, who moved with incredible speed, would never give him a chance. He strode forward and delivered a powerful punch to the opponent's face, knocking him unconscious and rendering him completely incapable of resistance.

In just a few breaths, Fang Wen swiftly dispatched all three German soldiers on the second floor, leaving the entire wooden house free of any further threats.

Then, Fang Wen took out a dagger, cut the ropes binding Hansmeier, and helped him up despite his injuries.

Hansmeier opened his eyes, saw Fang Wen, and weakly asked, "Why are you here? Were you captured too?"

“No, I killed them,” Fang Wen replied.

Hansmeier looked surprised: "So, I'm saved."

He forced himself to stand up straight and looked around.

The bodies of German soldiers on the ground serve as evidence for Fang Wen.

He then said, "The person who is tied up is my contact. Please untie the ropes binding him."

Fang Wen nodded, helped Hansmeier stand against the wall, and walked over to the man tied to the chair.

Fang Wen cut the rope with a dagger, then pinched the man's philtrum and pressed down hard.

After a while, the man slowly woke up, opened his eyes, and looked at Fang Wen and Hans Meyer. He instantly tensed up, his eyes filled with panic.

Clearly, his brief unconsciousness left him completely unaware of the situation inside the room and unable to distinguish whether the two people in front of him were friends or foes.

Despite his injuries, Hans Meyer slowly made his way over. He bent down and said in German, "Don't be nervous, we're not enemies. Do you remember the telegram from Moscow? It was encrypted with 'Snow of the Alps' and signed 'Lucy'."

Upon hearing the keywords "Alpine snow" and "Lucy," the panic in the man's eyes subsided, but he was still not completely relaxed. He pursed his chapped lips and replied in hoarse German, "The telegram says the handover point is at Lake Titisee, and the contact person is 'Red Iris'."

Hans Meier breathed a sigh of relief: "Yes, it's me. You are Rösler."

Only at this moment did the two sides confirm each other's identities.

A flicker of relief at surviving the ordeal flashed in the man's eyes. He struggled to stand up from the chair, but his legs gave way from being bound and beaten for so long that he fell back down.

Fang Wen reached out and helped him sit up, which allowed him to sit up steadily.

“I am Rudolf Rösler,” he said softly, his voice filled with weariness and bitterness. “I never imagined that you would be the ones to save me in the end.”

Hans Meyer's gaze swept over the German corpses on the ground, his brow furrowing deeply. "My orders were that you would wait for us here with your belongings. How did you end up being held captive by these people? How many Germans still know your identity?"

Rudolf Rösler sighed and slowly recounted his ordeal: "Two weeks ago, I received a secret order from the 'Black Band' to take the Enigma machine and related technical data to the German-Swiss border, where I would wait for Lucy's intelligence network to pick me up and hand it over to Moscow. I had a proper transfer order, and everything was going smoothly until I arrived at the border troops. I found an excuse to leave the troops and quietly came here to complete the nighttime handover."

“But who would have thought that I would be discovered by this patrol group by the lake during the day?” He pointed to the German corpses on the ground, his eyes full of disgust. “They were not regular Wehrmacht soldiers at all; they were all bastards from the former SA.”

“They saw that I was acting suspiciously and was carrying two boxes. Even though I showed them my officer’s certificate and transfer order, they wouldn’t let me go. They disarmed me and tied me up here for a private interrogation.” Rudolf Rösler’s voice was tinged with humiliation and helplessness. “I couldn’t bear their torture and was worried that they would destroy the Enigma machine, so I was forced to reveal the time and place of the handover, but I didn’t dare to disclose any information about Lucy’s intelligence network or Moscow.”

It turned out to be the case.

Fang Wen thought to himself: Back then, Little Mustache rose to power through the stormtroopers. Later, he felt that they were too domineering and difficult to control, so he discarded them after they had served their purpose and purged most of them. These people were scattered in various places. Some were incorporated into the border patrol team, but they still could not change their brave and reckless nature.

But this person did leak the operation, resulting in the death of an intelligence officer. How will Hans Meier handle this?

Thinking of this, Fang Wen looked at Hans Meier.

Hans Meier deliberately walked away, and Fang Wen also walked over.

The two whispered:

"What do you plan to do with this person?" Fang Wen asked.

“He is important. If we can confirm that what he said is true, I will send him back to continue supplying intelligence to Moscow.”

"If you want to be sure, I have a way."

Fang Wen turned his head and glanced at the unconscious German officer on the ground: "He's still alive. Let's ask him and confirm the situation."

As he spoke, Fang Wen turned around, walked over, bent down, and pinched the officer's philtrum.

A moment later, the lieutenant groaned, opened his eyes, and saw the scene before him. His face turned deathly pale instantly. He struggled to back away, but Fang Wen held his shoulders firmly, preventing him from moving.

"Speak, who are you? Why are you detaining him?" Fang Wen's tone was icy. He pressed down on the officer's injured wrist with his fingertips, causing the officer to convulse in pain. No longer daring to hide anything, the officer confessed everything in detail.

He was absolutely right about what Rudolf Rösler said. They were indeed former SA members, and it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. They detained Rösler only to steal his "property," but they found there were greater benefits, so they planned the incident that night. However, they did not have a telegraph machine with them, so they could not report the matter.

After confirming that everything was just an accident and that Rösler's identity had not been revealed, Fang Wen informed Hans Meier of the situation.

Immediately, Hans Meyer raised his pistol, aimed it at the German officer who had been torturing him, and pulled the trigger.

With a gunshot, the last disruptor of the operation died.

After dealing with the lieutenant, Hans Meyer turned to Rudolf Rösler: "Make sure everything is there."

Rudolf Rösler opened the two boxes to inspect them. The briefcase contained the technical data for the Enigma machine; the other was a slightly larger black metal box, which contained the crucial Enigma machine itself.

“They’re all there, perfectly intact,” he replied.

“Then let’s proceed with the handover.” Hans Meier shook hands with Rudolf Rösler, completing the handover without mentioning the betrayal again.

Hans Meyer helped Rösler, while Fang Wen carried two heavy trunks. The three of them went downstairs together and headed towards the dock.

The night was still deep, and the surface of Didi Lake was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of insects coming from the distant mountains and forests.

Fang Wen placed the box on the dock and said to Hans Meyer, "Wait for me here. I'll go diving back first and bring the plane over to pick you up."

After saying that, Fang Wen jumped into the icy lake water and, with his superb swimming skills and supernatural abilities as cover, silently swam towards the Boeing 314 seaplane in the distance.

In just a few minutes, he arrived at the plane, climbed onto it, entered the cockpit, and started the engine.

The plane glided slowly across the lake, heading towards the dock.

Upon arriving near the dock, Fang Wen jumped into the lake again and first smuggled the body of Hans Meyer's henchman onto the plane.

He then returned to the dock, helped the injured Hans Meyer onto the plane, and carried the two boxes containing the Enigma machine and documents into the cabin.

Once everything was done, the cabin door was closed and the aircraft engines were started.

Under Rudolf Rösler's watchful eye on the dock, the plane taxied across the water, accelerated, and took off, heading towards Switzerland. (End of Chapter)