Chapter 987: Everyone's Mission

Has anyone ever wondered why they were brought into this world? Every person is a unique existence. The wealthy tycoon and the factory mechanic—neither can replace the other. They are like individual gears turning within the great machine of the world.

Even the humblest beggar might, in his time, shine with a brilliant light. What’s more, this was the age of World War II, an era teeming with heroes. In such a time, for every small person to have their own story was no longer a fanciful dream.

In any case, the young Norwegian named Aksel felt he had found his battlefield, and with it, his story. He was now following a kind old man, clutching his American submachine gun, cautiously crossing a minefield. If they could just get through this, they might create a miracle.

Mark the targets for the American bombers, and those terrifying high-altitude planes could destroy the Germans’ wicked factories, drive out the despicable German devils, and let their children live a happy and beautiful life—what an alluring thought, what a grand objective!

Who would have thought that the kind old man in front of him was the leader of an underground resistance group? And who would have thought that they, these obscure little people, would in the end become the key to deciding the outcome of the war? Aksel felt his name was already being written in the history books. He was a hero of the entire world.

“My God! Why is someone lighting a fire in those woods?” a resistance soldier behind Aksel asked in astonishment, looking at the distant forest. He knew for a fact there were no military targets there; that was the village where his own family lived.

For a moment, he was at a loss. He desperately wanted to know which bastard was setting fires in the direction of his village. In the dead of night, lighting a fire was the method for showing the Allied planes where to drop their bombs, an act of irreplaceable significance. But that was a village! Not a German factory!

“What’s going on? Isn’t that our home?” Aksel, of course, also lived in the town, and his heart began to pound with anxiety. If the Americans were to drop their bombs there, the entire village might be completely wiped out. He had heard the old man boast about the American bombs, their power so immense they could destroy an entire building.

The old man leading the way was clearly also startled by the scene before him. His original plan had been nothing like this. “Damn it! It’s the Germans! The Germans are deliberately setting fires, hoping to lure away those American bombers!”

It was a simple plot, and a very easy diversion to execute. Unfortunately, when the entire operational plan had been drawn up, no one had been willing to believe that the Germans were really that clever. The resistance organization had been certain that their plan was secret, that it was impossible for the Germans to have detected it…

Unfortunately, from the Allies’ movements, the German army had predicted the plan to bomb Norway in advance. So some of the traps that they originally had no time to lay had been set up by the Germans beforehand. However, due to the one-way flow of intelligence, the Norwegian resistance had not had time to receive corresponding information. In order to carry out the bombing mission, the United States and Britain had also had no intention of revealing any unfavorable news.

And so these resistance groups had encountered various setbacks from the moment they had gone into hiding. During their attack, they had also been suppressed by the Germans’ preemptive strike. The Germans had deployed a large number of armored cars and tanks to carry out the clearing mission. The crushing superiority in equipment had plunged the entire operational plan into an unprecedented crisis.

Fortunately, some of the resistance leaders had mobilized the local prisoners of war and a small number of the populace, which had bought a sliver of hope for the American bombers to win and return. Now, the American bombers attacking the factory area had already destroyed several factory buildings. Their combat results could be described as glorious.

“What now?” Aksel asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. Now their mission seemed impossible to complete. Even if they burned all the gasoline they were carrying, there was no way they could attract any attention from the air. Compared to the Germans’ fires, theirs would be nothing but the glow of a firefly.

“If we leave now, there’s no way to explain everything,” a resistance member said mournfully. “The Germans must have searched our town. They know we disappeared tonight, and they’ve burned our homes. We really have no way back.”

The old man nodded, then waved his pistol. “We continue the operation! But the plan has changed. We’ll use this gasoline to burn the German facilities. Even if we have to sacrifice ourselves, we must stop them from continuing to invade the homes of others!”

“Yes!” People with noble ideals are the easiest to incite, because they themselves believe in the theories in their own hearts. Without needing to say much, you could make them go through fire and water, and they would firmly believe that even in death, they were dedicating themselves to everything they believed in.

After a brief mobilization, the members of this small squad continued to feel their way forward. But just as they were about to approach the factory area, they were blocked by an unexpected obstacle. At the end of the road ahead of them, a temporarily set up German anti-aircraft position was firing fiercely at the sky. The massive blast wave made the camouflage netting shudder up and down, a very powerful sight.

The momentary flash of the firing illuminated the enemy for the resistance members. Not far away, a German artillery commander was pointing at the sky with his head raised, while several gunners were busy moving shells from the ammunition boxes. The faint sound of urgent German commands, simple replies, and the metallic scraping of adjusting the gun’s elevation could be heard.

To bypass this anti-aircraft position without being noticed was impossible. So these resistance members all raised their submachine guns. With a forceful wave of the old man’s hand, these young Swedes charged at their enemies with their weapons.

“Who goes there?” The first to spot these resistance members was a shell handler who was turning his head. By the light of the firing, he saw these men in civilian clothes and asked loudly in German.

His answer was a dense burst of gunfire. A row of holes appeared on this German soldier’s chest, and then he fell backward neatly, leaving this dangerous world. The sound of gunfire alerted the Germans. A German officer quickly reached for the pistol at his waist, but before he could even draw his weapon, he was hit in the stomach by a bullet and was also killed on the spot.

This was a life-or-death, close-quarters fight. The Germans were cut down by half before they could even react. The remaining gunners either had no weapons or only had a small pistol, and they were pinned down by the firepower of the submachine guns, unable to raise their heads.

The German artillerymen were actually also equipped with some submachine guns and rifles, but unfortunately, these weapons were now all piled on the towing trucks, at least a dozen meters away from their high-angle gun. What was even more pitiful was that their high-angle gun, to save costs, didn’t even have a gun shield, which left the gunners almost completely exposed.

A German soldier raised his pistol and emptied its magazine at the unseen opponent. He then threw his weapon away and ran in the opposite direction. But before he had taken a few steps, he was shot in the back and fell to the ground. The German resistance collapsed in a dozen seconds. The last German soldier fell near a truck, just a few steps from his submachine gun.

The Norwegians were not unscathed either. Two of their members were shot and killed. The old man at the head of the group was also seriously wounded and had to be supported by two men to sit down against the high-angle gun. He gasped for breath, pulled Aksel over, and said in a trembling voice, “Use… use this cannon… to hit… the German factory!”

At this time, the surrounding area was still in chaos. Gunshots could be heard from some places from time to time. But the firefight at this anti-aircraft position had still alerted a German on patrol in the factory. He frowned, walked to the phone in the reception room, and picked it up to ask what had happened at that anti-aircraft position.

And while he was asking, the members of the Norwegian resistance had already fumbled and lowered the muzzle of the cannon. The entire 88mm gun was thus aimed at the building it was supposed to protect. Unfortunately, these resistance members had not been trained to fire a cannon, so they struggled for a long time before they managed to load the first shell into the breech.

They couldn’t read the German on the rangefinder, so they had to aim by eye. Fortunately, the target was very close and very large, so there was no need for precise aiming. After a great deal of effort to get ready, these men finally fired a powerful shell.

After a momentary flash, a shell rushed towards the factory’s courtyard wall. The shell shattered the wall and then exploded, shattering the glass windows on several of the factory buildings not far away. With a loud boom and the shattering of glass, these amateur gunners were disoriented for a long time by the explosion, which had occurred too close.

The German soldier on duty watched as the factory’s outer wall was blown in half with a loud bang. The phone in his hand almost fell to the ground. At this moment, a connected voice came through the receiver. “Hello? Hello? This is the command post of No. 4 anti-aircraft gun position. Is there a situation on the factory side?”

“I don’t know what happened! But there was gunfire from an anti-aircraft position about 40 meters to the left of the side gate, and then the courtyard wall there was blown in!” the German soldier on duty said, holding the receiver and answering the question from the other side with trepidation.

“What? What? Say that again, clearer!” the person on the other end of the line asked, sounding very anxious.

“You’d better send someone to support me, quick! I saw an anti-aircraft gun destroy the factory’s outer wall! Near the side gate of the factory’s outer wall!” the German soldier shouted into the receiver.

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