Chapter 584

Chapter 584: Setting the Net

If it had been the J-18 "Red Eagle," it probably wouldn’t have been able to land safely on this grassy field. One must admit that the "Mustang" has excellent adaptability to different environments.

Facing the evening breeze, the "Mustang" did not attempt the breathtaking vertical landing typical of landing on the Shilang aircraft carrier training ship, but it did manage to shorten the landing distance by 50 meters compared to previous attempts.

On an unfamiliar landing strip, every meter reduced in landing distance translates to less risk; countless planes have crashed due to accidentally hitting screws or stones when landing.

Lin Mo certainly didn’t want his "Mustang" to be the unfortunate aircraft that meets its doom before even beginning its mission.

As the plane landed, the flashlights indicating the runway all switched off at once.

“‘Mustang’?”

As Lin Mo pushed open the cockpit cover, he heard someone outside tap the fuselage. He signaled outside and shouted, “That’s right!”

The codename had changed; since this was a temporary assignment and he was flying solo, Lin Mo didn’t care if the codename was fixed or not.

With this aircraft model, impersonating it would be quite a challenge.

“Let’s have dinner first; there will be a pre-mission meeting after. The fuel is ready—100 octane gasoline. Is that alright?”

A shadowy figure beneath the plane set up a ladder next to the cockpit, as if everything was already arranged without Lin Mo’s concern; though he phrased it as a question, his tone was commanding.

“No problem!”

Lin Mo unbuckled his seatbelt but didn’t accept the outstretched hand offered by the person. Instead, he pressed on the fuselage, performing a gymnastic dismount from the cockpit, executing a 360-degree front flip and landing smoothly on his feet.

The new engine of the "Mustang" was equally undemanding; while 100 octane special gasoline was the standard, 98 and 97 octane could also be used with special cleaning agents. Lower octane fuel could be used as well, but it would increase engine wear and shorten its lifespan.

The other person shone the flashlight on Lin Mo for a moment, then turned and said, “Follow me!”

The grassland had turned dark, and with only faint starlight and the flashlight’s illumination, Lin Mo could barely make out a figure leading the way, someone a head taller than him.

Lin Mo removed his Dragon General tactical helmet and followed behind.

The other person’s succinct demeanor didn’t make Lin Mo feel uncomfortable; on the contrary, it felt perfectly natural. This was the military—strict discipline, a clear hierarchy, no meaningless actions, concentrating all energy and resources to complete the mission.

As Lin Mo turned to leave, a few figures were dragging a large camouflage net from behind the aircraft toward the nose. This net was specifically used to prevent synthetic aperture radar satellites from scanning from space and had the effect of blocking infrared signals to avoid detection of the hot engine of the aircraft by passing reconnaissance planes or spacecraft.

Though they were only dealing with an armed group of two hundred people, they treated them as equals, being careful to avoid any mistakes; details determine success or failure.

Lin Mo was led into a tent, which was quite spacious. Only two or three people sat on lightweight folding chairs, happily eating their boxed meals. From the grass and dirt still clinging to their clothes, they must have just returned from a reconnaissance mission.

The boxed meal handed to Lin Mo was pre-heated and stored in an insulated bag, convenient for outdoor activities as it could be grabbed and eaten on the go.

Inside the enclosed tent, Lin Mo got a good look at the soldier who led him in.

With a face painted in yellow and green stripes, he had a bronzed neck, a slender build, and exuded a sense of competence. Like the others, he had no military insignia.

Wearing insignia during an operation is almost a death sentence; perhaps a sniper in the corner was waiting to rack up experience points.

“There are sixteen minutes left until the meeting starts right here.”

The soldier found a folding chair and sat down in a military posture with his chest out, legs slightly apart, and hands resting on his knees.

Then he paused for a moment, nodded at Lin Mo, and said, “My operation codename is ‘Civet Cat.’ I am responsible for communication restoration and electronic warfare.”

It was surprising that this tall and lean man was actually a technical soldier; usually, those in this field were sweet soldier girls, right?

Lin Mo thought to himself, feeling a bit unaccustomed to a man specialized in electronic warfare; after all, men should be out there charging into battle.

The other person had a Colt M1911A1 pistol strapped to his waist, which seemed to indicate he was a jack-of-all-trades, a common trait among the Special Forces. Even Lin Mo occasionally took on the role of an executioner on the ground.

Lin Mo didn’t have much time left to eat dinner, but for a soldier, it was enough.

Perhaps due to special treatment for pilots, Lin Mo’s meal box contained two extra large steaks, perfectly seasoned, making it delicious for him.

The standard meal for Special Forces operatives is basically four times that of an ordinary person’s, which still isn’t quite enough for a Dragon Knight, but Lin Mo had no intention of getting more rice. On the plane, he still had special snacks for pilots and a few concentrated energy bars, so he was well-prepared and felt calm.

Although he was checked down by the space center, Lin Mo didn’t leave empty-handed; as long as there was food, both he and his dragon were quite relaxed.

By the time Lin Mo finished his dinner, more people began to fill the tent, occasionally someone pushed through the double curtain to prevent light leakage and walked in.

Just as the soldier codenamed “Civet Cat” had said, within fifteen minutes, all the group leaders of the action teams had arrived, punctual to the second, with not a single person late.

This brief meeting mainly focused on air support and ground coordination, clearly involving more than just the annihilation of this armed group of two hundred.

According to the latest intelligence from the reconnaissance personnel, this armed organization not only carried a large amount of weapons and drugs but also held several hostages, including five Chinese women and three Russian women observed so far.

These carefully selected, young and beautiful girls would be secretly sent somewhere in Western Europe for terrible brainwashing training to be raised as sex slaves and then sold at high prices to wealthy individuals with twisted desires.

At this moment, these poor women were merely seen as objects of life and death, no longer regarded as human beings, their fates often tragic.

Perhaps not long into their torment, they would be discarded or passed around as gifts, ultimately disappearing without a trace.

Although Interpol intended to dismantle this ugly organization, the interests behind it were numerous and deeply hidden, causing many operations to be obstructed or misled, failing to effectively eradicate it.

The target of this operation was merely a limb of the evil force that had inadvertently exposed itself. Under Interpol’s leadership, governments from multiple countries secretly communicated and decided that the Chinese military would take charge to completely annihilate this armed organization engaged in wrongdoing.

The target was located on the border between Mongolia and Russia, with Mongolia having little military strength of its own and the Russian special forces evidently not adept at the intricate task of rescuing hostages while eliminating enemies.

With Chinese citizens involved, the Chinese military naturally took up the execution responsibility. Despite crossing two countries to conduct operations, both Mongolia and Russia turned a blind eye according to the unspoken rules and would provide certain assistance when necessary.

If actions were too blatant, it could easily alert the enemies or lead Interpol’s efforts to ruin.

Similar operations had occurred before; the underground black market boxing organization in Siberia, the Zhukov training camp, was dismantled in 1998, which also had traces of joint operations.

A flat map was placed before Lin Mo as the group leaders responsible for various action teams explained the operational steps and personnel positions based on the order of the operations. This was not only to avoid friendly fire during the battle but also to effectively and precisely eliminate the enemy.

The Mustang that Lin Mo brought was perfect for this operation. The two sets of rocket pods originally designed for helicopters mounted under the wings could provide superior firepower, and it also carried two close-range air-to-air missiles, which were gifts specifically prepared for the two French SA342 "Gazelles."

However, Lin Mo had not prepared any devastating cluster munitions or high-energy cloud explosive bombs for ground personnel. Considering the combat area’s terrain, which wasn’t suitable for such wide-area destructive weapons, he opted for conventional arms to resolve the battle.

Compared to the limited cannon ammunition aboard jet fighters, the two 12.7 millimeter caliber machine guns mounted on the Mustang had a relatively generous supply of rounds, and if used sparingly, they could potentially sustain fire throughout the entire engagement.

The task assigned to Lin Mo’s ground troops was to use the fighter’s firepower to divide the enemy’s armed personnel, facilitating the creation of a local encirclement and buying time and opportunities for the subsequent actions.

The upper half of the entire operational plan focused on rescuing hostages. The Special Forces unit responsible for this mission brought along many snipers to provide crucial cover for the rescue personnel’s actions.

Once the hostages were successfully rescued, Lin Mo’s fighter had to intercept the enemy’s pursuit with all its might, while also depleting the enemy’s living forces to lay the groundwork for the ensuing annihilation battle.

The entire combat plan was clear and concise, and Lin Mo quickly grasped the operational intentions of these ground action teams, marking the locations and codenames of each unit on the map.

The operation was scheduled for just before dawn the day after tomorrow.

The next day, when Lin Mo woke from sleep and stepped out of the tent, he found that only his tent remained, along with five warriors who stayed behind.

The others and their tents had already departed before dawn, heading for the designated operational area to begin their pre-mission preparations.

Lin Mo was left with a full twenty-four hours to rest and prepare.