Chapter 787: The Plan

The cursing outside grew closer and closer, soon stopping outside the door of the soft-sleeper compartment.

"Open up! Everyone get out! Hand over your valuables, or don't blame me if I let the red blade in and the white blade out!"

Four thugs holding sickles blocked the doorway, cursing and swearing. A big guy raised his foot and kicked the door.

Inside the compartment, Dajinya desperately shoved the suitcase full of money under the bed. The train swayed, and the light overhead flickered on and off along with it.

Although Xu Damao had been a coward all these years, he had taken plenty of beatings for running scams, and he had managed to train himself in some Kung Fu. He put two brass knuckles on his hands—this gadget was standard equipment for those in the underworld during the nineties; one strike to the jaw, and a person was finished.

Hu Bayi rolled over to the upper bunk, gripped an iron rod, and stared fixedly at the doorway.

Bang! The door was kicked open. The big guy rushed in, clutching a Dagger in his hand.

Hu Bayi didn't show any mercy, striking him on the head with the rod. The man swayed twice and then collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The second one was just about to follow him in, but seeing the ferocity in the room, he was so scared he retreated two steps and didn't dare to enter.

Wang Pangzi flew out with a kick, landing squarely on the man's waist. "Aiyah—" The man fell face-first onto the ground.

Wang Pangzi grabbed two beer bottles from the table and rushed out of the compartment, smashing them onto the head of the third thug who was charging up. Glass shards flew everywhere.

The fourth thug brandished a Dagger and stabbed toward Wang Pangzi's back.

At the critical moment, Hu Bayi swung his rod onto the man's wrist. With a crack, the wrist broke. Hu Bayi rushed up and kicked him flying.

The four thugs were knocked down one after another.

But immediately after, two more men rushed over carrying shotguns.

"Pangzi, get back!" Hu Bayi shouted.

Before the words had faded, the fingers over there had already pulled the triggers. Hu Bayi had no time to think, throwing the iron rod out with a flick of his hand. The iron rod tumbled and struck the first thug's face; the man let out a miserable shriek, and the shotgun slipped from his hands and hit the floor.

The other thug, however, opened fire.

Bang! Pellets flew everywhere, clanging against the carriage walls.

Awoo—miserable screams rang out in unison. It wasn't Hu Bayi or Wang Pangzi who were hit, but the three thugs who had just fallen to the ground. Several steel pellets ricocheted and struck them straight in their buttocks, shoulders, and backs, and the men wailed as they rolled on the floor.

Hu Bayi hid in his own compartment, and Wang Pangzi slipped into an empty compartment next door with the door open, narrowly escaping disaster.

Just then, two train police officers arrived, following the sound of the gunfire. They raised their guns at the thug still holding a shotgun: "Drop your weapons immediately! Or we will open fire!"

The thug didn't listen, wanting to rush into Hu Bayi's compartment to take a hostage. He raised the shotgun and aimed it at Hu Bayi.

But Hu Bayi's movements were much faster than his. He raised a hand to push the muzzle up and delivered a Straight Punch, smashing it hard into the man's ribs. The thug felt the pain and crouched down on the spot.

He happened to be crouching right in front of Xu Damao.

Xu Damao hadn't had the guts to rush out and fight, but seeing this guy right under his nose, he raised his hand and delivered a punch with his brass knuckles, hitting him hard on the jaw. The man's vision went black, and he went limp on the spot.

Just then, the big guy who had been knocked unconscious by Hu Bayi earlier actually woke up and tried to sit up. Xu Damao backhanded him with the brass knuckles, knocking him out again.

Hu Bayi unbuckled his belt and tied up the thug with the shotgun securely. Dajinya also hurriedly unbuckled his belt to help tie up another one.

The two train police officers approached with guns drawn, and Xu Damao hurriedly raised his hands: "Comrade police, we are passengers, they are the thugs! Don't get it wrong, this bunch is too evil; they started shooting as soon as they pulled out their shotguns. If we hadn't run fast, our bodies would be full of holes. They are vicious criminals, hurry up and arrest them, take them out and shoot them!"

A middle-aged train police officer asked: "You guys are quite good at fighting; you actually took down four or five of them."

Dajinya hurriedly explained: "This one of ours used to be in the People's Liberation Army, and he was even a Company Commander."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged police officer's expression toward Hu Bayi changed, and he said: "I thought as much!"

The two police officers asked a few more questions before taking all six thugs away with the help of several helpful passengers.

The compartment finally quieted down.

Xu Damao panted for a long time before catching his breath: "Getting old really doesn't work. Thanks to Hu and Pangzi today, otherwise our money would definitely have been snatched away."

Dajinya also let out a long sigh of relief and said: "Thinking about it makes me scared; if it had been snatched away, what would we have done?"

After receiving the mission assigned by Secretary Liu, Liu Xiaohua hadn't slept soundly for three days.

He knew well that He Yuzhu possessed a Special Ability and methods that were unfathomable, but when he thought of the terrifying battle described by Secretary Liu—that he had to fight against a modernized, top-tier army armed to the teeth—wasn't this a typical Don Quixote? It was truly hard to feel at ease.

For this reason, he spent much effort to invite He Yuzhu and Liu Rusi together to his office at the Military Factory.

Although Liu Xiaohua was now the Factory Director, he had long since delegated daily administrative chores to the Deputy Factory Director. He now focused solely on planning confidential matters of great importance.

The three walked into a sealed room. The room was not spacious, and an old map of the Bay region hung on the wall; on the board, various marks and routes were densely annotated with red and blue pencils.

Liu Xiaohua locked the door behind him and said with a grave expression: "Since the higher-ups have arranged for the three of us to be the core members of this plan, Xiao He, you must clearly explain the first and second steps of the action plan today, otherwise, none of us are leaving this place."

Seeing his determined attitude, He Yuzhu understood that this matter could not be avoided or bypassed. He walked slowly to the map and raised his hand to point at the target area.

"Before January 17, 1991, I will secretly infiltrate the Dharan Air Base of the Saudi family. This base deploys about two hundred fighter jets; I will secretly create a series of explosions, detonating the aviation fuel depot and ammunition warehouses. Taking advantage of the chaos at the base, I will destroy all the fighter jets. After this battle, the M Military's morale will inevitably plummet. At the same time, I need the relevant departments to cooperate in creating public momentum, claiming to the outside world that it was the Soviet Shadow Forces that acted in secret. Once such rumors spread, it will deal a heavy blow to the M Military's morale, and at the same time, it will boost the Soviet Union's own confidence so they won't collapse so quickly, which is beneficial to us."

"But destroying just one air base is not enough to cause a fatal blow to the M Military." Liu Xiaohua frowned and spoke in a deep voice.

"I have a backup plan." He Yuzhu's tone was firm, "Next, I will head straight to the M Military's core command hub in the Middle East theater. Over a hundred strategic bombers are deployed there, along with various escort fighters, airborne early warning aircraft, and electronic warfare aircraft. My primary target is to completely destroy the forward command building, the global communication base stations, the Radar, and the missile defense systems, severing their command chain and intelligence links."

He Yuzhu was clear and logical, recounting the entire destruction plan.

Liu Rusi's expression tightened, and she asked at the right moment: "If both core bases are completely destroyed, the M Military still has one last trump card: the Carrier Strike Group. How do you plan to deal with this maritime force?"

"For this layout in the Bay, the M Military may deploy six main aircraft carriers, with a total of about four hundred and sixty carrier-based aircraft, and dozens of Destroyers, cruisers, and Supply Ships guarding them in layers on the periphery. I will not waste energy destroying them all; I only need to sink one core aircraft carrier in each of the two major sea areas, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Let many ships under ten thousand tons mysteriously disappear. Once the news spreads, the M Country navy will surely be in a panic, and although the Iraqi Army's combat power is weak, they will not easily surrender. At the same time, I will continuously attack the M Military's rear base and supply stations along the way, cutting off oil, ammunition, and supplies, trapping hundreds of thousands of troops in the desert, with no way forward or back, completely stuck in a dead end."

After listening, Liu Xiaohua's tense face finally relaxed.