HCB Chapter 225: A Chance to Take Down the 15th Army
Chapter 225: A Chance to Take Down the 15th Army
For several consecutive days, the synthetic archaeological team pretended to visit the superstructure of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
On the surface, they were amazed by the ancient carvings and religious symbols, and even discussed the local beliefs and the meaning of various architectural carvings with the accompanying locals from time to time.
But every night, the solemn tranquility of the temple is completely broken.
While the local people accompanying them were fast asleep, they quietly launched a covert operation - to search for the legendary secret room, a place full of treasures that would only be reported in the 21st century.
"There's something wrong with the floor tiles here. It seems like they were repaired later." A synth who had been instilled with architectural skills by the system whispered, his eyes flickering as if scanning every inch of detail on the ground.
"Yes, this may be the entrance to the underground." Another member who was indoctrinated with archaeological knowledge echoed.
Their whispered conversations were calm and firm, without any of the panic of ordinary tomb robbers. After all, they had people behind them.
Soon, they discovered secret passages leading underground.
Thirteen secret rooms came into view, each filled with staggering wealth.
Golden elephants, golden sculptures, and various gold and silver jewelry sparkle with dazzling brilliance, while gems, crowns, and various gold coins from the 4th to the 11th century exude the weight and coldness of history.
"These things are really heavy, at least 40 tons of gold." A synth in charge of counting sighed in a low voice.
"Stop sighing and start counting. It's almost dawn," another person urged, his eyes fixed on the notebook in his hand.
As they arrived at an estimated value for the treasure—hundreds of millions of dollars, taking into account its archaeological and artistic value—a question loomed on everyone's mind:
How to take these things away?
"We can try to move them out in batches at night and then use trucks to transport them to the ship docked at the port, but this will take at least ten days." The team leader pondered for a moment and said with a frown.
"Ten days is too long," one member interrupted. "This is a temple. If we keep lingering, the locals might get suspicious at any moment."
"Then we can only discard part of it and take away the most valuable and easiest to transport ones." The team leader gave the order decisively.
Thus, 23 tons of gold products and other treasures worth nearly 100 million yuan were selected.
During the loading process, they were careful and quick, trying not to leave any traces.
As for the remaining treasures, they can only be sealed again in the underground secret room and wait for the next opportunity to take them.
A few days later, they hurriedly ended their pretentious visit and said goodbye to the local prince.
Before leaving, the team leader complimented: "The artistic value and religious significance of your temple are truly unparalleled. We have benefited a lot from it."
The prince, unsuspecting, responded with a broad smile, "Gentlemen, please come and visit us again."
After leaving Kerala, the synthetic archaeological team boarded a cruise ship that had been prepared in advance.
This cruise ship may look ordinary, but it actually holds a secret – the entire ship is controlled by sailors from the People's Army Navy, while the "cargo" is closely guarded by the "blue hats" of the Synthetic Security Department.
Soon, the cruise ship docked again on the east coast of Sindhu.
At this time, the "archaeologists" on the ship have been changed into White Eagle officers, and the boxes originally marked as "valuable items" have also been transformed into "confidential military supplies."
"Next is the Ramga section. Is our train on time?" the team leader asked in a cabin with a normal expression, as if all this was just a routine matter.
"It's on time. John approved the transport request without even looking at it." An assistant handed over the document, a hint of sarcasm on his face. "With the Allied Command's name behind it, who dares to say anything?"
The benefits of Zhang Chi's "big spending" in the White Eagle Far East Army and the intelligence community soon became apparent. He had all kinds of procedures and documents, and the Johns along the way didn't suspect anything at all.
The entire batch of "supplies" was successfully transported to Ramgarh and then sent to Myitkyina by air.
During the entire process, no one from White Eagle or John even proposed to inspect these "confidential military supplies."
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As the Synths secretly transported gold, the Battle of Imphal entered its third week.
General Stevenson was overwhelmed by the Johns' requests for help.
In fact, after the land transportation line to Qianguo was opened, he was preparing to directly liberate the entire Pegu with Zhang Chi's Mandalay Battle plan, and then quickly start long-range bombing from Yangon on the oil fields in Borneo and Sumatra occupied by the devils.
Without oil, the Japanese warships are just scrap metal, which will quickly suffocate the Japanese war potential.
However, all this was disrupted by the Battle of Imphal.
Considering the convenience of the Hump Route coming to an end, Stevenson decided to take decisive action and lend a large number of C-53 Dakota transport aircraft (the military version of the DC-3 passenger aircraft) to John.
The wealthy White Eagles were too lazy to ship the huge number of C-47 transport planes back to their homeland, so Stevenson simply signed his name on the documents for the tearful sale.
These flying machines that once performed great feats on the battlefield have now become trading items in the marketplace.
Zhang Chi, who had already made a fortune from the penicillin business, naturally did not hesitate to buy up most of the transport aircraft and formed a huge fleet of more than 600 C-47s.
However, due to the lack of sufficient qualified pilots and ground staff, this huge transport fleet can currently only operate about 180 C-47s and DC-3s. The remaining excess aircraft are stored in the system space to prevent aging.
Not to mention that Zhang Chi was expanding his military transport fleet while preparing to set up a civil airline company. John's people were overjoyed after obtaining the C-53 "Dakota" transport aircraft, and quickly airlifted a fully equipped infantry division of the 15th Army to Imphal.
The arrival of fresh troops stabilized the precarious defense line, but the rampant Japanese invaders still caused serious damage to the eastern part of Sindhu.
Tens of thousands of cattle and sheep had already been eaten by the 100,000-strong Japanese army. The Japanese army, armed with guns and cannons, did not want to eat "Taijun sashimi" nor did they want to eat grass, so naturally they could only make the local Sindhu people suffer.
All the food was looted, and naturally no good things like gold, silver and treasures were left behind. Soon, a large amount of wealth was gathered in Mutaguchi Ren'ya's army.
However, at this time, Mutaguchi Ren'ya felt embarrassed when faced with these yellow and white things that could not be eaten or worn.
The Johns' defenses were indeed retreating, and it seemed that the front-line troops might attack Imphal at any time.
但经过连日激战，鬼子步兵每人每日口粮已经从出发时的6两降到4两、3两、1.5两，甚至0.3两。
Even though they could obtain food from the enemy, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese soldiers still declined rapidly.
The 15th Army's offensive momentum was weakening, and Mutaguchi Renya had to continue to draw fresh troops from the rear, completely ignoring the fact that this would leave the rear empty.
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The complexity and tension of the war situation have caused the situation in South Asia to continue to escalate, while Zhang Chi is busy with his plan for the Battle of Mandalay behind the scenes.
"Besides directly liberating Mandalay and Lashio, it seems this time they can directly devour Mutaguchi Renya's 15th Army?"
Looking at the situations of all parties marked on the map, Zhang Chi keenly realized that an opportunity had emerged.