Chapter 1235 Reconnaissance of the enemy
When performing a high-risk mission such as sneaking behind enemy lines for reconnaissance, the possibility of direct confrontation with the enemy is not small. Roger naturally does not hesitate to distribute the best equipment to his men. This can be a life-saving thing at critical moments. With these dozen or so repeating rifles in hand, even if they encounter a relatively passive situation, they can use multi-layer fire cover and retreat in batches to escape from the battlefield. The firepower output level of this team is probably more than five times that of the Haihan Army. As for opponents with more primitive weapons, the gap in firepower is even greater.
As for Roger's own main weapon, he still uses the HK416 automatic rifle he brought when he traveled through time, plus a MK23 pistol. However, in recent years, due to the dwindling inventory of ammunition and the relatively limited level of bullet reloading technology, the use of reloaded bullets has caused greater wear and tear on the bore and barrel of the gun. Roger has rarely used them for daily shooting training. Roger, like his officers, usually trains with the new Type 33 repeating rifle. Only when performing combat missions will he take his housekeeping treasure out of the warehouse and use it.
After Roger and the Star Island base were powered on, he asked Marcus to put away the radio, and he got up to help his men set up tents. Although there were a total of eleven people in this operation, in order to reduce the baggage as much as possible, only four two-person tents were brought over, and the remaining three were just responsible for night duty. Although the tent fabric itself is a camouflage canvas with military green as the background color, which has a certain visual concealment effect, Roger and others still carefully cut down some shrubs from nearby and arranged a second layer of cover outside the tent. In this way, as long as the distance is slightly further, it will be difficult to find that there are several tents on the mound.
Roger didn't know if there would be any Johor patrols nearby, so these concealment methods had to be completed before dawn. A safe logistics base was of great significance to the operations in the next few days, and Roger spared no effort to do so. Make this first step as seamless as possible so that you can have less to worry about in the next few days.
After completing these basic tasks, Roger looked at the time and saw that there were still about three hours until dawn. He immediately arranged the personnel on duty before dawn, and then asked the remaining people to seize the time to rest.
Roger got into the tent and lay down, closing his eyes and forcing himself to sleep. Although it was very difficult to fall asleep in this environment, it was not the first time that Roger was in a battlefield, and he quickly adjusted his mind and fell into a deep sleep. However, several of his men were performing such combat missions for the first time, so they were inevitably nervous and not as comfortable as he slept.
Only Marcus had a big heart, so no one would worry about him not being able to sleep. On the contrary, Roger was afraid that this guy's snoring would be too loud and would expose his target, so he sent him to keep vigil. Marcus didn't think there was anything wrong, so he just walked away holding the rifle.
Perhaps due to the fatigue from today's journey, when Roger woke up again, he was woken up from his sleep by Marcus. It turned out that it was getting dark outside and it was time to take action.
Roger stood up and got out of the tent. After making sure it wasn't raining, he signaled everyone to hurry up and eat some dry food, then checked their equipment and prepared to set off. The weather conditions in this area have been unstable recently. Sudden winds and rains may occur at any time. It is rare for the weather to be fine. Roger also hopes to seize this opportunity to take action.
Because he was worried that lighting an open fire in the wild would reveal his whereabouts, Roger also specially prepared field dry food during the past few days of operations. Although the taste was not that good, it was not a big problem if he persisted for just a few days. Besides, at night When you come back here, you can also eat self-heating military rations that are not so easy to carry, which can slightly make up for the lack of nutrition and taste. After everyone checked their equipment, Roger gave the order to set off. At the same time, the three people who were on duty last night were left to guard the place. Although I didn't sleep all night last night, the visibility during the day was good, and only two people were required to be on duty at the same time. The three of them could take turns to rest for a few hours, and then catch up on their naps and refresh themselves at night, which was not a big problem.
According to the confessions given by previous prisoners, it is speculated that the Johor Army's assembly point here should be located on the plains a few miles east, which has become the key inspection target of Roger's trip. However, at this time, more than two days and almost three days had passed since Haihan caught the Johor spy. It was unclear whether there were any changes in the deployment of the Johor army, so Roger still followed the standard operation plan of military reconnaissance very carefully. Arrangements were made.
Roger divided the eight people, including himself, into two teams, about thirty meters apart, and headed east together. This is a safe distance from which the two teams can clearly observe each other's situation in the forest, and the field of view is also wider. If an enemy is encountered, a larger firepower output area can be immediately deployed. When it is necessary to retreat, the two teams can also output firepower in batches to cover their companions. It can be regarded as a tactical routine for small teams in field operations.
In addition, Roger asked everyone to hide their whereabouts as much as possible and not to take the initiative to contact the outside world. Even if they find a lone Johor citizen or soldier, they should not take action easily with the mentality of capturing prisoners - even if they want to capture them alive, then it is not possible. We have to wait until we return to Star Island. Roger did not want the Johor Army or the British to notice his reconnaissance operations. From a certain point of view, he hoped that after the enemy's situation was clearly detected, the opponents could continue to implement their established plans and treat the star port as nothing. The target of the attack is on guard, and the Haihan Army can wait and wait for them to come to their door.
Of course, Roger doesn't really think that his opponent is so vulnerable. Haihan may be able to achieve this effect by temporarily blocking the combat intelligence information, but the opponent must not be aware of Haihan's vigilance at all. , that may be more difficult to accomplish than sneaking behind enemy lines for reconnaissance. As long as the team of Johor spies captured by Hai Han did not return to the north of the strait after the agreed time, the Johor Army would definitely notice that something was wrong in this link. And who can guarantee that the only spies who sneaked into Star Island will be the group that was caught? Roger knew that he would cross the sea at night to reach him. If his opponent wanted to cross the strait for reconnaissance, he would not think of such a simple method.
Roger and his group walked cautiously through the forest. Everyone's faces were painted with green and black paint, and they were clad in camouflage clothing from head to toe, completely hiding their bodies. The body of the sniper's rifle was covered with strips of cloth of various colors, completely obliterating its original outline. You couldn't tell it was a long rifle unless you looked carefully. This group of people was walking in the forest. Even if they were seen once or twice by chance, they would probably be considered an illusion caused by dazzling eyes.
As Roger marched, he did not forget to ask his men to make marks along the way that only he would notice, so as not to spend time identifying the direction when he went back. It took the reconnaissance team about an hour and a half to finally reach the edge of this dense forest. Looking through the gaps in the trees, they could already see traces of farmland farming on the plains in the distance. There should be a population nearby. Inhabited villages or towns exist.
Although there were no signs of human activity within his field of vision, Roger still cautiously ordered his men not to leave the border of the forest for the time being. They were camouflaged out of the forest, and the concealment effect was not that ideal. It is safer to stay in the woods until the location of the target is determined.
Roger took out his telescope and began to confirm the situation in the distance on the plain. What he was holding in his hand was not a copper telescope produced in Sanya, but a high-end telescope brought from another time and space when he traveled through it. It could clearly observe the situation three thousand meters away.
"Keep going east!" Roger spent a few minutes checking the surrounding environment, but in the end he didn't get any useful information. Finally, he decided to continue walking east along the edge of the forest for a while. About half an hour later, the scene before Roger's eyes proved the correctness of his last decision. A village appeared on the plain outside the forest, and outside the village were a series of tents, large and small. Hundreds of them. As for the owners of these tents, they have already appeared in the field of vision of the telescope in Roger's hand.
"It's the Johor Army." Roger announced his observation softly: "We have found the right target!"
Through the telescope, Roger saw the Johor soldiers marching in groups with weapons in hand, as well as the military flags planted throughout the camp. The current discoveries have proven that the prisoners' confessions are basically true. The Johor Army did indeed gather thousands of troops near the strait. Although the British whom the prisoners mentioned have not been found yet, Roger believes that they should be in the Johor Army. Near the station, maybe there are British people living in a secluded camp opposite the camp who are worried about the world being in chaos.
The Johor Army's station is only about one mile away from the nearest dense forest where Roger and others are hiding. This distance is relatively safe, and it is indeed very suitable for carrying out surveillance missions. If it weren't for the fact that their team had too few troops, they would definitely have gained a lot if they rushed out from this angle to carry out a frontal attack on the Johor Army.
"It would be great if there were artillery support and air strikes!" The current situation made Roger couldn't help but recall the war in the world before he traveled. As long as he used the radio to call for reinforcements and report the location, the camp would soon be occupied. Covered by heavy firepower, they can be cleared in an instant without even a chance to escape.
Of course, there was no fire support from the rear at the moment, so Roger could only think about it for a moment, and then seize the time to check the location on the map he prepared and mark the location of the Johor Army.
In order to obtain a better observation perspective, Roger also ordered one of his men to climb a tree with light clothing and use a telescope to count the approximate number of Johor Army tents at a high place, and use this to deduce the strength of the garrison here.
This is undoubtedly a very time-consuming and labor-intensive task, but at present this is the only way to measure the strength of the opponent without contacting it at all, and by the way, it can also find the British who have not yet been discovered.
Although Roger believed that the British's actions in Johor were likely to be low-key and secretive due to concerns about neighboring countries including Hai Han, he still told his men to pay attention to check whether there were red, white and blue in the opponent's camp. The tricolor flag was probably the most eye-catching British symbol he could think of right now.
Speaking of the origin of the British flag, we have to mention King James I of England who ascended the throne in 1603. He also had another identity, King James VI of Scotland. Although he is the king of two countries, this man did not make any political achievements that will go down in history during his tenure. If you insist on finding a few historical achievements for him to brag about for future generations, then maybe there are two things worth remembering. .
First, James ordered the compilation of the English version of the Bible, and English later became one of the most common languages in the world. This is also an important reason. The second is the national flag used by Britain in later generations, the Union Jack or the Union Flag, which also originated from him.
Prior to this, England had been using the flag of St. George with a red cross on a white background as its national flag since 1200, while Scotland adopted the flag of St. Andrew with a white X-shaped cross on a blue background as its national flag a little later. After James I ascended the throne of England and unified the two countries, he overlapped the patterns of the two flags to serve as the national flag of Great Britain. After Ireland and Great Britain formed the United Kingdom in 1801, the St. Patrick's flag, a red X-shaped cross flag with a white background, was added to this flag to represent Ireland. Finally, the tricolor Union Jack flag that later symbolized the United Kingdom was formed.
Although the St. Patrick's flag symbolizing Ireland has not been added yet, the British flag already has the basic appearance of the tricolor Union Jack, which can be said to be very easy to recognize. From the day it was born, this flag has been a nautical flag, used by both military and civilians. Even unofficial civilian armed trade organizations like the East India Company will also use the Union Jack flag as a symbol of their camp. If there are British people here, then there should be a flag representing the British Royal Family.
Counting the tents obviously took much more time than looking for conspicuous flags. The scout who climbed up the tree to observe did not slowly slip down until more than an hour later and reported his harvest to Roger.
According to his calculations, there are about more than 400 tents within sight. However, perhaps due to the strength of the Johor Army, the tent format is not uniform. It is difficult to generalize how many people live in large and small tents. We can only estimate a rough number, no less than two thousand people. It is possible to say that three thousand people were squeezed out. But he didn't see any trace of the tricolor flag that should have been very eye-catching.
Roger thought for a while, and he already had a calculation in his mind. Either this British man was so low-key that he didn't even hang out his flag, or he was not stationed here. Roger believes that the former is not very likely. Although the British are secretly making small moves in Johor, their purpose is to occupy a foothold in the Strait of Malacca to demonstrate the existence of their national interests. It would be too cowardly to not even raise the flag.
(End of chapter)