afterglow

Chapter 661: This trip is a one-way trip; loose on the outside, tight on the inside
In principle, the raids organized by the Intelligence Department of the Grand Marshal's Office should be launched simultaneously. This is the safest way. Otherwise, if one place is attacked, the other places will definitely be on high alert.

On the outskirts of Cooksville, there was a total of 43 people in the secret base under the guise of Tri-Union Mining Company, of which 8 were internal agents - that is, civilian staff, and the remaining 35 were commandos.

It was the first day of late November, a crisp autumn day in Tennessee.

In the early morning, several Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge trucks were parked quietly in front of the lumber warehouse, and everyone was passing the parcel, moving boxes of explosives and guns into the trucks.

Luo Jiecheng was like a well-mannered manager, telling everyone to pack up their tools and get ready to go. Suddenly, he lowered his voice and said, "There's something strange. We're being watched."

Gao Huai, who was standing next to him, remained calm and asked, "When did it happen?"

"I noticed it the day before yesterday. I suspected there was someone tracking me. I confirmed it was real last night."

"I'm afraid they became suspicious because of the aluminum and iron purchases."

"It's been a short time, and I guess it hasn't attracted much attention yet. What do you think we should do?"

"Get rid of it while we're at it." Gao Huai lit a cigarette.

A limited liability company registered two years ago, mainly engaged in mining and forestry, began formal operations last year and has hired more than 30 employees. It has paid all federal and state taxes.

On paper, there seems to be nothing wrong with Tri-Union Mining.

The people nearby didn't take it seriously and thought it was just an ordinary small business.

It came to the attention of officials due to the recent frequent purchases of aluminum products and iron oxide powder, which was unusual.

An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives discovered a clue. After reviewing local files, he felt that the company seemed to employ too many Asian employees, and most of them were new immigrants or refugees seeking asylum?

He and his superiors agreed to play it safe - they would pass the matter on to the FBI, which would handle this suspicious situation.

Two agents received an order to investigate the Sanlian Mining Company. Since the day before yesterday, they have been trying to track the logging convoys going to the forest area, or searching through the waste paper discarded in the trash cans.

The FBI is overwhelmed and has countless things to deal with.

Cracking down on black market transactions that violated the wartime economy, investigating the leaders of anti-war marches, monitoring pro-German people... Tasks like these kept Director John Hoover and more than 6,000 employees busy.

Sending two agents to investigate a company that was just a little suspicious seemed like a waste of precious human resources.

Six trucks were driving slowly on the country road, which was the only way to the economic forest area, and there was a constant flow of trucks coming and going.

Gao Huai stared at the rearview mirror with an expressionless face, only to see a muddy pickup truck following far behind him.

He thought that this spy who was following him was quite particular and had disguised himself very well.

The agent obviously underestimated the target's anti-detection capabilities and was completely unaware of the impending murder.

After turning the bend, the truck braked to a stop.

A minute later, the pickup truck slowed down rapidly after turning a corner. At that moment, muffled gunshots suddenly rang out. Several pistol bullets were fired from behind a tree beside the country road. The agent in the driver's seat was shot dead as soon as he came to his senses.

Later, another agent who was lurking and monitoring outside the company was also quickly and efficiently eliminated.

The few remaining people in the stronghold shredded piles of documents with a shredder, then threw them into a half-broken oil barrel and set it on fire.

More than 1,000 kilograms of extra ammonium nitrate explosives in the warehouse and basement were also equipped with detonators and wires. Everyone made it into a huge booby trap that blew up any traces.

If the enemy is careless in pursuit, let's take a homemade plane together.

"Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. God bless you." Luo Jiecheng muttered to himself.

He estimated that it would take the FBI at least one or two days from discovering the agent was missing to raising alert, and since this place was not a key surveillance target, it might be even slower.

As to whether the nuclear program will receive a warning later due to the high level of confidentiality, no one knows.

Six trucks loaded with logs were traveling from west to east along Interstate 40.

On the way, they actually passed the K-25 gas diffusion plant under construction. The plant was located five or six kilometers north of the highway, separated by a river.

But that was not the commando's goal.

When we were driving nearly a hundred kilometers, we came to a fork in the road - Interstate 75 heading southwest, which is the road to Cleveland or Atlanta.

If you continue along Highway 40, you will reach Knoxville.

Knoxville is a city close to the secret base of the nuclear program. A large number of personnel and materials have to transfer here. It is conceivable that the security is extremely strict.

The convoy stopped at a fork in the road. Everyone had just completed their preparations along the way, changed their clothes, and picked up their weapons. Now, as soon as they got off the car, they immediately left the highway and hid on the side of the road.

"Captain Gao, we'll be waiting for you there." An agent driving a car pointed to the front.

Gao Huai smiled, looked up at the sun, and said calmly: "If I leave before sunrise without waiting for you, I will probably never come back."

The agent nodded slowly and said solemnly, "Take care."

Several trucks turned onto Highway 75, then drove off the highway into the nearby woods. Several agents and commandos who stayed behind in the convoy immediately began to clean up the tire tracks.

Gao Huai led the remaining thirty or so people and continued northward. They first swam across the narrow and winding Melton Lake, and then trekked through the dense forest.

The calls of yellow warblers and cardinals can be heard one after another, and a moose can be seen occasionally. The lush branches of redwoods and white pines almost completely block out the midday sun.

This route had been used for reconnaissance in the past month or two, and was familiar to one-third of the commandos.

Each person was carrying heavy weapons and equipment, including guns and more than a dozen bags of explosives.

That afternoon, the commandos arrived at the designated location and then ambushed in the forest near a stream called Bearden Creek.

Everyone lay quietly on the grass to rest, eating Oreo cookies and chewing Hershey's chocolate, while recovering their strength and observing the enemy situation.

Everything was the same as before. The patrol routes, frequency and number of sentries were exactly the same as past reconnaissance results.

Gao Huai had gauze tied in front of the binoculars he was holding to prevent the reflection from exposing himself.

The commandos had relatively limited sources of weapons, mainly purchased from civilian gun stores, with a small amount coming from the black market. These weapons included drum-magnet versions of Thompson submachine guns, Winchester automatic rifles, Remington shotguns, Springfield rifles, Smith & Wesson revolvers, Browning pistols, and so on.

They even made two simple infrared night vision devices by purchasing cathode ray tubes, fluorescent screens, infrared lamps, batteries and other civilian items.

All the weapons and equipment were purchased from the enemy, and now it's time to put them to use.

Early night vision goggles were not very complicated, and the technical difficulty was much lower than that of centimeter-wave radar. As early as 1936, the American Broadcasting Corporation applied for a patent. Germany, Britain and the United States also launched military night vision goggles. Russia, which had a relatively backward electronics industry, also trial-produced night vision goggles for drivers in 1940.

The principle of early active infrared night vision devices is to use infrared light to illuminate objects, and then convert the reflected infrared light into visible light through an image converter and display it on a fluorescent screen.

This thing consumes a lot of power, has a high failure rate, and a short effective distance. The effective range of a single-soldier night vision goggles is only one or two hundred meters, and the vehicle-mounted night vision goggles are only five or six hundred meters.

The Ming army also equipped some of them, all of which were medium and large versions installed on carts or off-road vehicles, used for defense or night surveillance. Even so, the frontline officers and soldiers felt that this thing was rather useless.

The sun sets and the evening in Tennessee is coming to an end. As night falls, the chirping of birds and insects becomes particularly clear, and you can vaguely hear the roars of bears and wolves.

The total area of ​​the Oak Ridge base is not small. The K-25 gaseous diffusion plant in the west and the Y-12 electromagnetic separation plant in the east are nearly ten kilometers apart in a straight line. Perhaps this is to prevent them from being wiped out in one fell swoop.

A large number of army engineers and military police are concentrated in K-25 in the west, where construction is currently in full swing. There is a complete engineering regiment and the main force of the 107th Military Police Regiment, with a total strength of more than people.

The number of American troops defending Y-12 was smaller, consisting of approximately one engineering battalion and two military police companies, totaling nearly a thousand men.

One should always pick on the weak, and the Y-12 electromagnetic separation plant has been completed and started trial operation. The Ming army commandos will undoubtedly choose it as the primary target of destruction.

A seven-man support team remained on the perimeter, monitoring enemy activity using night vision goggles and providing sniper support if a firefight occurred.

They communicated with the assault team using SCR-536 walkie-talkies—stolen from a Tennessee National Guard warehouse long ago, one of which had broken, leaving only two in working order.

Under the soft moonlight, the ghostly figures moved silently.

The first obstacle was the steel mesh fence that was powered by high voltage electricity. Unlucky mosquitoes kept touching it, making crackling sounds.

"The scout has gone far away, we can move now." The support team's report came from the receiver of the walkie-talkie.

Several commandos used insulated wire cutters to break into the fence, cutting a hole large enough to drill through.

Everyone quickly filed in and successfully broke through this first obstacle.

The large factory building was just a few hundred meters away, and its outline could be vaguely seen in the dark night, like a giant beast lying in the wilderness.

The American secret security style is loose on the outside and tight on the inside. People around may think this place is sparse and ordinary at first glance, but once they approach the core area, they will immediately be closely monitored and arrested.

The same is true for the Oak Ridge plant.

The advantage of this style is that it is quite low-key and not easy to attract outside attention. The disadvantage is that it does not leave enough room for reaction.

At a distance of less than one kilometer, there was no time to react when faced with a powerful and swift attack.

"There are sentries on both sides, we can't get around them, and there's a roving sentry coming from the right." The support team announced.

"It's almost time, let's use force and get ready for action." Gao Huai gestured to prepare for battle.

In an instant, everyone's heart was in their throat.

A Willys GP jeep drove over, with four gendarmes in the car, talking and laughing. The white letters "MP" were painted on their helmets.

They would never walk if they can take a car. They are real American soldiers!
"Puff puff--"

The gunshots were muffled, as a Thompson submachine gun equipped with a silencer fired a series of subsonic bullets. The quiet night was broken by the sudden sound of broken glass and screams.

Regardless of whether we have been discovered or not, we must attack now!
Gao Huai led the commandos to rush towards the factory. Three commandos pulled the body of the American military police from the jeep and then checked the Browning heavy machine gun in the back seat.

There was no obvious gunfire in the brief encounter just now, but the inexplicable screams still attracted the attention of nearby US troops.

Some gendarmes spontaneously trotted over to check and immediately discovered something unusual.

"Intruder?!"

"Alert! Alert! Armed men are intruding!"

The two sides immediately exchanged fire, and the sharp sound of gunfire instantly resounded across the wilderness.

Several 7.62mm carbine bullets hit the jeep with a clanging sound, and the commando operating the heavy machine gun immediately responded to the figures with a series of 7.62×63mm machine gun bullets.

"call out--"

The flares were launched into the sky, and the dazzling white light illuminated the area for several miles.

The entire base seemed to be boiling in this short minute, with people running around everywhere.

"Bang! Bang!"

The support team also opened fire decisively. They shot at the US troops from a long distance with Springfield rifles equipped with civilian shotgun scopes. Enemies wearing military caps instead of helmets were the first priority targets.

There was a burst of gunfire outside, but it became much quieter after we rushed into the factory.

The interior of the Y-12 Electromagnetic Separation Plant is brightly lit. The plant is mainly divided into the α workshop and β workshop, as well as the main control room.

Gao Huai had full confidence in his subordinates. He ordered his troops to split into three groups to search for the target, as if he was not worried at all about being defeated one by one.

"Snapped!"

The guards, armed only with pistols, had no power to fight back against the fully armed commandos, and all the armed guards who ran into them were shot dead.

One of them successfully made it to the β workshop, which is the place responsible for the secondary purification and enrichment of uranium raw materials. Looking around, there were tall instruments and equipment everywhere, with a total of 455 electromagnetic separators.

Everyone was shocked by this scene for a moment.

Eleven people and more than four hundred giant pieces of equipment, it's like a few ants falling into a sugar jar!

"What are you doing standing still? Take action!"

The commandos placed a kilogram of ammonium nitrate oil explosive for mining on the separator, pulled the fuse and quickly hid behind several separators apart.

There were loud rumbling noises one after another, the thick smoke was particularly pungent, and there were metal fragments everywhere.

Not fast enough! In a few minutes, less than ten were blown up.

The situation was urgent and there was no time to worry about anything else. Everyone stopped hiding far away and simply placed explosives behind a nearby separator. The continuous explosions at close range made everyone dizzy and their ears and noses were bleeding.

The blown-up separator exposed its internal structure, and some people were surprised to find that the coils of wire wound around the electromagnet inside were actually shining silver.

Everyone then realized that the electromagnets inside these electromagnetic separators were not brass coils, but were made of silver!

In fact, the 12 electromagnetic separators throughout Y-1120 used more than 1.5 tons of silver.

【Picture】

Gao Huai and his team broke into the main control room, which was empty.

The long room was filled with control boxes on both sides, like huge wardrobes, densely packed with switches, circuit breakers, fluorescent screens, and pointers.

Under the blazing high temperature of over 2,000 degrees generated by the thermite reaction, there is no difference between steel plates and glass, all of them melt into red-hot liquid.

"Captain Gao, there are too many enemies, they are all rushing towards us, let's go!" The shouts of the support team and the sound of gunfire as dense as popping beans came from the walkie-talkie.

(End of this chapter)