135: The Anti-Japanese Army with Invisibility

“Commander, the U.S. Military has sent ground troops to search the mountains.”

In the Anti-War Army's underground base command center, Yue Hanshan reported to Fang Le.

Fang Le: “How many people?”

Yue Hanshan: “Estimated to be around ten thousand.”

Ten thousand people is a considerable number.

However, for several mountain ranges hundreds of kilometers long, it's not many.

As seen in the satellite view, the ten thousand-strong U.S. Military force, primarily infantry, advanced deep into the mountains.

Those who could use valleys traveled by military vehicle; if the vehicles couldn't pass, they disembarked and continued on foot. Some soldiers were transported in groups to mountain peaks several hundred to a thousand meters high, while others had even more arduous tasks, needing to climb from the foot of the mountain to sheer cliffs or descend from the peak to occupy positions on the mountainside.

The U.S. Military's objective was, naturally, to search all mountain valleys, peaks, and mountainsides to find the Anti-War Army's main camp entrances and exits.

As long as the entrances and exits were found, the Anti-War Army would be like a turtle in a jar!

A day passed, and by evening, Commander-in-Chief Douglas of the U.S. Military, leisurely smoking a cigar with his legs crossed, asked a staff officer, “How far have we searched today?”

The staff officer replied, “General, about seventeen or eighteen kilometers.”

What?!

Douglas sat up straight abruptly, the ash from his cigar falling to the ground.

“How is it only seventeen or eighteen kilometers?!”

Not to mention the entire MacDonnell Ranges, the specific area they were searching alone stretched for three to four hundred kilometers.

If they only searched seventeen or eighteen kilometers a day, wouldn't it take 20 days to complete the search?

Douglas couldn't stand it and immediately stated, “Increase the troops deployed for the search. Have the forces stationed in the west also participate, searching from west to east.”

Staff officer: “This… I don’t know how many new troops you wish to add? Also, the western stationed forces don’t seem to have many people to spare.”

The MacDonnell Ranges generally run east-west. To the west of the mountain range is an endless desert and Gobi, with very low development and poor transportation conditions. Therefore, the U.S. Military forces stationed there are much fewer than in the east, and the purpose of their stationing is merely to maintain a military presence.

Douglas: “Use transport planes to transfer ten thousand soldiers, all fully armed infantry, from the east to the west. The transport planes will remain there to assist in transporting these soldiers in batches to the mountain areas where search missions need to be carried out. As for supplies, they will be air-dropped later.”

“And on the eastern side of the mountain range, an additional ten thousand infantry will be dispatched to join the mountain search team.”

Staff officer: “Yes.”

Aris, the nominal second-in-command of the Anti-War Army, couldn't help but say, “General, isn't this a bit rushed?”

Douglas began smoking his cigar again and retorted, “Rushed where?”

Aris: “Although we currently have a total of 150,000 troops, 50,000 are deployed in the southernmost and northernmost mountain ranges, serving as reserves. So, our total strength in the central main battlefield is 100,000.”

“Of these 100,000, 20,000 are stationed on the western side of the mountain range, and 80,000 are on the eastern side, which is also where our headquarters is located.”

“Now, you are planning to withdraw 30,000 troops from these 80,000 at once and throw them all into the mountains, where there's a lack of heavy equipment access and supply lines. Isn't this a bit risky?”

Douglas: “If it were you, General Aris, what would you do?”

Aris: “This—”

Douglas: “General Aris, you must realize that doing this is unavoidable.”

“The Anti-War Army's hidden location must be extremely secretive. It’s very difficult to find it through aerial reconnaissance alone; infantry must carry detection equipment, conduct close-range detection, and even visual observation.”

“And for hundreds of kilometers of continuous mountains, to complete the search efficiently and thoroughly, a large number of troops must be deployed at once, like casting a wide net for fish, don't you think?”

Aris: “...The General is right.”

The next day, the U.S. Military's newly reinforced 20,000 infantry troops were also transported by transport planes or military vehicles deeper into the mountains.

By the end of that day's search, they still found nothing, but the overall advance reached fifty kilometers deep.

On the third day, since nothing had been found or happened in the previous two days, Douglas became even bolder and again deployed 20,000 infantry troops, sending them deep into the mountains to search.

Still nothing was found that day.

On the fourth day, another 20,000 were deployed.

At this point, a total of 70,000 of the U.S. Military's 100,000 troops in the central theater had been committed to the search mission, with only 10,000 remaining in the western garrison and 20,000 in the eastern garrison.

By this time, the entire MacDonnell Ranges had been largely searched.

Douglas stood in front of the electronic map, looking at the mountain map gradually marked with red crosses, his brows tightly furrowed.

What the hell is going on?

Seven thousand troops were deployed for a full-scale mountain search, almost inch by inch.

Even if an ant were hiding somewhere, it should have been found by now.

The Anti-War Army, after all, consists of over ten thousand people. Could it be that they turned into wind and disappeared?

Aris looked at the troubled Douglas from the side, feeling somewhat empathetic.

Before Douglas was transferred here, he had been just as troubled.

He couldn't find the Anti-War Army's stronghold, and he had no opportunity to engage their main force in a decisive battle. Yet, the Anti-War Army could appear and disappear like ghosts. If he hadn't fought them before, he would truly believe he was facing a group of specters.

Douglas turned his head, uncharacteristically asking for Aris's opinion.

“General Aris, do you have any suggestions, or perhaps, a conjecture?”

Aris stared at the electronic map, and suddenly an idea sparked.

“General, is there a possibility that the Anti-War Army's secret entrance and exit were already sealed off by us previously?”

Sealed off by us?

Douglas was stunned for a moment, looked at the map, immediately understood what was meant, and slapped his forehead.

Damn, why didn't I think of that!