Chapter 54: Operation Angry Dragon (Part 19)

"Water level!"

Lei Dong yanked off his mask, gripped the steering wheel with one hand, and asked in a deep voice.

Bei Shiliang clacked away furiously on his laptop, not even raising his head as he replied, "According to the latest observations from the Kyoto Hydrological Station, the average water level in the urban area is 1.1 meters, reaching 1.8 meters at its deepest, and it is still rising continuously!"

"Magnificent!" A cheer erupted inside the vehicle.

They were not cheering for a glorious battle result, but for their next course of action. This water level had already exceeded the maximum wading depth of the Type 03 infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers equipped by the Zipang Defense Force. Although the maximum wading depth could reach two meters under prepared conditions, in their rushed state, the Type 03 tanks possessed a wading capability of a mere one meter without the slightest preparation.

This also meant that the enemy armored force, which had been the squad's greatest headache, was basically reduced to a useless decoration, completely incapable of providing timely support!

Relinquishing the driver's seat to Wu Yun, Lei Dong picked up the military notebook and maximized the feed from the search-and-strike integrated drone in the upper right corner of the screen.

Although it had long since been deployed to circle the target area, the drone's footage appeared somewhat hazy through the torrential rain, yet the red dots marking thermal sources were densely packed.

Beckoning his brothers to gather around, he pointed to the three-dimensional image of the gray eight-story building and said, "Intelligence transmitted by Li Yongzheng shows that this building is heavily guarded, housing an infantry squadron, an anti-aircraft artillery position, and three 'Heaven Halberd' surface-to-air missile launchers..."

"Alpha-2, follow me for a frontal assault. Bravo-1," Lei Dong paused in thought, pointing to the mini-map in the upper right corner and tapping a 20-story building located 1,000 meters west of the main structure, "establish a sniper position here to cover our flank! Teams 1 and 2, use powered paragliders to launch an airborne assault downward from the roof! Bravo-2!" Lei Dong emphasized his tone.

"Present!"

"Set up the wireless jammer, block communications to prevent the enemy from calling for reinforcements, and interfere with the target's anti-aircraft warning radar!"

"Understood." Bei Shiliang looked somewhat listless. Although he knew electronic warfare was extremely crucial and part of his core duties, this guy, who possessed a crazy obsession with all sorts of explosions, still felt somewhat unfulfilled.

"At the same time..." Lei Dong glanced with mild amusement at Bei Shiliang's expression, which carried a hint of depression, "operate the attack drone to strike the building and its surrounding air defense firepower!"

"Yes!" Bei Shiliang instantly perked up, replying with joyful enthusiasm.

The torrential rain, which had already lasted for over half an hour, showed a tendency to intensify further. Under such meteorological conditions, the enemy's air defense radar was already subjected to a certain degree of interference; if electronic jamming were added, the powered paragliders moving through the darkness would appear merely as two pinhead-sized dots on the radar screen, never arousing the enemy's suspicion. This presented an extremely favorable condition for Song Jinggang and Luo Haoran's aerial assault.

The squad's operation had been underway for over twelve hours. However, whether it was the explosions at the Fujiyama Ken estate, the massive chaos within the urban area, the bombing of the Moquan Reservoir, or the Defense Force's widespread network disruptions, one of the primary targets of this operation—Deputy Minister of Defense Osamu Ono—had yet to show his face, and had not even appeared in the Military Intelligence Headquarters under his direct jurisdiction.

This left Lei Dong deeply dissatisfied. Why couldn't you honestly just show your face and let me cleanly blow your brains out with a single shot? You're going to die anyway, what's the point of cowering like this?

Very well, since you refuse to come out, we will stoke the fire with everything we've got and fight until you do!

"Brothers, since the old turtle refuses to crawl out of its hole, we're going to raid its den and smash its turtle shell!"

"The wrath of the Divine Dragon shakes the world—"

"Charge!"

The gray eight-story building stood firmly at 8-chome, Goshuto-cho, Arakawa Ward, Kyoto City. Its roof was densely packed with massive antennas and radar arrays.

Within a radius of one thousand meters, the buildings were sparse, and none surpassed this structure, which stood a mere thirty meters tall. Yet no one dared to raise the slightest question about this detail, for this was none other than the headquarters of the Defense Intelligence Headquarters.

The Intelligence Headquarters was originally located within the Ministry of Defense building in the Old Shuku Ward, but with the continuous expansion of its organization and the upgrading of its functions, it had officially relocated ten years ago to this building in the suburbs of Kyoto to begin independent operations.

Regardless, this was merely an independent building situated within the urban sprawl, rather than a sprawling estate like the CIA headquarters of the Lanli-Minia Federation; it lacked the dense network of overt and covert sentries stretching for miles around that typical military installations possessed. The engineering maintenance truck driven by Lei Dong drove straight up until it was a mere ten meters from the building's main entrance before being flagged down.

"What is the purpose of your visit? Stop the vehicle immediately!" A voice blared from the loudspeaker of the guard station in front of the building.

"Screech—" Following a teeth-gritting screech of brakes, the engineering truck slowly decelerated. Lei Dong pulled down the brim of his raincoat over his head, poked his head out of the car window, and shouted in a loud voice, "Kyoto Sewerage Bureau, ordered to carry out emergency repairs on the drainage facilities here!"

The duty guard inside looked at Lei Dong suspiciously, noting that he was indeed dressed as a water pipe repair worker. However, this fellow appeared thoroughly "dedicated to his duty," asking vigilantly, "Kyoto Sewerage Bureau? Who sent you here?"

Lei Dong broke out in "furious rage," shouting, "Damn it, wasn't it you guys? Wasn't it a guy named Kuda Ate? Nobody in their right mind would want to come out here in the middle of the night without orders!"

"Kuda?" The guard hesitated for a moment and said, "Let me confirm this!"

Lei Dong reached out to press the Type 98 pistol at his waist, shouting, "Hurry up, hurry up! With this kind of efficiency, can anyone expect you people to protect the empire's interests?"

The sound of the guard hammering away at a keyboard echoed out, and a moment later, his voice came through: "Alright, order record confirmed. Proceed through the gate and undergo identity verification!"

The cast-iron security gate slowly swung open. Two guards in raincoats emerged from the duty station and walked toward the front of the vehicle, gesturing for Lei Dong to stop for inspection while muttering under their breath, "That guy Kuda actually did something useful, calling for maintenance right before changing shifts."

"Ain't that the truth? This cursed rain..."

However, the expressions of the two guards changed abruptly. Once the engineering truck rolled through the gates, far from showing the slightest intention of stopping, it slammed hard on the accelerator and charged violently forward!

"Stop! Stop!" Realizing something was amiss, the two figures scrambled rapidly out of the way, waving their arms frantically while scrambling to draw their weapons.

Two faint "thwip, thwip" sounds rang out. Before the guards' hands could even touch the grips of their sidearms, their heads took direct hits. Firing special 9mm rounds equipped with suppressors, the Type 98 pistol punched two small holes right between their brows. Two spurts of fresh blood erupted, and the guards collapsed backward, dead.

Having fired the two shots without even glancing at the result, Lei Dong flicked his wrist. Two grenades traced a straight trajectory through the air, landing with pinpoint accuracy right inside the guard station.

"Charge in!" Lei Dong roared at the top of his lungs. Wu Yun slammed his foot down hard on the accelerator, and the engineering truck emitted an angry roar, rocketing its speed up to 80 kilometers per hour within mere seconds as it barreled furiously toward the building's front lobby.

Behind them, the grenades detonated with two violent "boom-boom" blasts, unleashing a chorus of ghostly howls from within the guard station!

"Enemy attack—"