443: Fly back and see (2)
“Oh! Are you here already?”
“Somehow, it sounds like I didn’t really want to see you.”
It was early evening, when the sunset had just begun to fade. I don’t know the exact details, but when Cheol-woo, who left for Washington with a very serious problem, returned early, Da-in was surprised.
“Child! No way···. I just didn’t think her brother would come back early. Anyway, it was hard. our baby!”
With a fox-like smile, she gently kissed her lips. When she finally saw that all her fatigue was relieved by that one gesture, she must have been addicted to the drug of love.
“I went to the hospital where Butler Amanda was. Now that she’s fully recovered, she says she’ll stay at home and go to Korea together.”
She answered as she walked into the living room with her arms crossed. It seemed that Linda was busy trying to put an end to her tired New York life.
No matter how much security personnel were increased, safety could not be guaranteed from the security situation in New York City. If you are unlucky, you can meet pistol robbers at the local supermarket in New York City.
Since Cheol-woo and his party came down from the helipad on the roof of the building, they did not know the situation outside the building or downstairs. But from outside the hallway leading to the living room, the murmur of people kept coming.
“What kind of fuss is that?”
“People like the mayor of New York and the police chief are coming and making a fuss. She’s here to say her thanks to Linda and she’s here to appeal to New York to help me?”
Dain replied with a confused expression. She couldn’t comprehend that she, a Korean, was waiting outside for the top civil servants in the city to put things off.
“We have to deal with other issues in that time. After all, civil servants are… Ttttttttt!”
“Hmm! I think you’re trying to solve the gang problem.”
“Gangs? What gangs.”
Cheol-woo quickly realized their intentions. All the places affected by this incident were the places where the Sicilian mafia crawled into New York.
It is now occupied by New York native gangs, and has reacted savagely to public authorities approaching for restoration.
This incident has taught most New Yorkers that New York gangs are particularly compliant with Linda. It was not known exactly what caused it, but she seemed to believe that her philanthropy, which she had been engaged in, had had a huge impact on them.
That is why Linda’s words were important even for promptly rectifying the situation. The gangs will clear the barricades only when she calls for restoration of the city.
“Hey Paul!”
At Chul-woo’s call, Paul, who was following him, quickly approached him. Still with a thick bandage on his chest, he couldn’t rest comfortably because of his responsibilities.
Fortunately, Linda was stubborn and was able to stay in the house. Had it not been for him, he would have been running around following her outing Linda.
[There is no internal bleeding.]
To Cheol-woo, who was examining his wounds with worried eyes, the Warrior informed him of his condition. He escaped to the hospital at the beginning of the raid, no matter how you look at it, it was a godsend.
“Did you just move?”
“No problem.”
“Take back those who make a fuss outside. They told me that the gangs had already withdrawn from the scene.”
he replied sarcastically. Like Cheol-woo, he had a rough idea of what the people outside wanted.
“Are you hungry? wait a minute. I’ll make a simple meal for you.”
“Is that so? You don’t have to dress too much. When Linda comes, she will leave for Korea immediately.”
“really?”
“then!”
At Cheol-woo’s words, her expression brightened. She didn’t say anything, but after she went through this, her impression of America was very bad.
It seemed that she would not go abroad for a while. As long as there is no war in Korea, there will be no need to worry about bullets shot by someone.
‘Are the teams that left for Russia doing well?’
[It seems that we are still grasping the situation.]
Cheol-woo, thinking about his future schedule, suddenly became curious about Russia. It was difficult to find information there, but important things were reported by the Warrior immediately.
In the meantime, the Warrior didn’t deliver any news, so I kept it out of interest for a while. He even gave suits to the best players in Korea, so he didn’t seem to have much to worry about.
‘Operation in an unfamiliar place is better the more careful you are.’
[It seems that the difficulty of collecting information is bigger than that.]
‘It’s going to be hard to find out what’s going on quickly unless you’re stalking a local informant. You can’t expect that until it’s not like me or Jeff.’
Cheol-woo, who sat on the soft sofa and stretched out his feet on the low table, quietly closed his eyes and thought. He, too, was in a situation where he could barely breathe after dealing with the ensuing events.
It took a little more time to send both women back to Korea and to organize their future plans. Fortunately, there was still no signal that Min-seok was in danger, so he believed in the Korean special forces and was about to try and relax a little more.
“Chijit-! I checked the front passage.”
“Chijit-! Receipt!”
Captain Kang Jeong-yeop, the company commander of Team 707, received the report from the communicator. Because the structure of the operation area was not clearly known, I had to be careful with each step as if I was walking on thin ice.
I wasn’t too nervous until I got off the C-130 Hercules transport at the military airport in Khabarovsk (Хабаровск). It was because he believed in the performance of the suit presented by Cheolwoo.
However, the schedule after that seemed to be lost in a labyrinth. Everyone here came out so uncooperatively that even the Korean missionaries who applied from the Consulate General in Vladivostok raised their tongues.
Fortunately, after I came out of the information source, I was able to get some additional clues. However, the hard-to-find information also continued to plunge them into despair.
“It is the work of the Red Mafia who have taken over this place.”
“Red Mafia?”
“yes! All the mafia around here are united. If it’s that big, it’s safe to say that all the people who use the power here are all connected.”
“So, did everyone come out uncooperatively?”
“It has to be said that the Russian government is virtually out of control here. Even the waiters at restaurants serving tourists can be regarded as idiots from the Red Mafia.”
In fact, it was like being in the middle of the enemy camp. It was questionable, starting with 10,000 rubles, or about 16,000 Korean won, for a glass of water at a restaurant I stopped by while waiting for information.
Most of all, I couldn’t forget the expressions of the waiters splitting them with such a rip-off. Thinking about it now, it was clear that they were also members of the Red Mafia.
“It’s actually a trap. Tempting us who came in without knowing…”
“However, we cannot give up on rescuing the hostages.”
“But it would be too reckless to go into the den of these openly prepared ones. I’m also a former special forces soldier, so it’s not that I don’t know anything about this.”
Capt. Kang of Team 707 and Captain Eun of UDT/SEAL team had a heated discussion with the volunteers and intelligence agents. However, based on the information currently available, the operation could not be carried out willingly.
“It’s a big deal! They plan to take the hostages and move them to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Южно-Сахалинск).”
At that time, a government official who was continuously collecting information hurriedly opened the door and delivered urgent news.
“I don’t know the exact time, but I’m probably leaving tonight.”
“This is what the only Knapweed planted in the Red Mafia told me.”
“shit! Things are getting worse.”
The official in the meeting frowned and lamented. Captain Kang, who did not know where they were talking, asked a question.
“How is Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk?”
“This is a city on the southern tip of Sakhalin Island. In fact, it should be seen as the home of the mafia in this area.”
The official said, pointing to the map laid out on the table. Just by looking at it, once they entered Sakhalin Island, the chances of being rescued seemed slim.
“It was better. Knowing the routes they travel and preemptive strikes will increase the chances of rescue.”
“That’s because you don’t know what’s going on here. The route between Khabarovsk and Sakhalin Island is lined with numerous mafia bases. In fact, you can think of the entire road as their base.”
Captain Eun Tae-yong of the UDT/SEAL team talked about the positive side, but it was ignored at once. Fortunately, there were no armed forces in Khabarovsk, where there is a military airport, and even outside the city, tanks and missiles were scattered everywhere.
“Are you saying that there is no public authority here?”
“The reality is that it is. The reason that the Russian government persuaded the Korean government to develop this site is because of such a troublesome situation. Without knowing it, a business man stepped in like an idiot.”
Even the Russian army could not occupy this place with any armed force. Corrupt Russian military officers sold their weapons to the mafia at random, so their armed forces far exceeded that of the general army.
In addition, the gas and oil extracted from Sakhalin gave the mafia an inexhaustible line of money. Due to the difficult-to-access location of the island, enormous military equipment, and oil fields that are sold out, even the Russian government could not tamper with the mafia here without risking life and death.
“What kind of dog is this…”
“Since the land mass is so large, it is impossible to control everything at the level of the Korean government. If you commit a crime with stupid words and hide along the Amur River, how will you find it?”
No matter how much I tried to understand the situation, it was all just disappointing news. However, he did not have the face to see Cheol-woo to withdraw from the operation here.
“I can’t go back like this anyway. So, you have to take even one chance and go in.”
“What do you mean?”
“Where on the route they travel has the most information about the surrounding terrain?”
“This is Byatskoe (Вятское). It used to be the headquarters of the 88th Independent Sniper Brigade, which is now empty and is being used by the mafia as an intermediate base.”
“What about the topographic map inside?”
“It can be saved. But I can’t guarantee that the topography is 100% accurate, as I don’t know how they’ve been working on it.”
“How is it possible to know even the smallest structure? Then we’ll hit it from the canyon ahead and drive it this way. It would be nice to be able to get the hostages out of the way, and if they do retreat here, at least we’ll have time to rescue the hostages.”
Captain Kang of Team 707 actively participated in planning the strategy. Captain Eun also fleshed out the operation and tried to increase his odds of success as much as possible.
“Are you okay? Whether it’s the military or the government, this place is unbelievable. In the worst case, if you are stranded here, you will have to wait at least a week for the rescue team to come.”
“I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen. We are rescuers, not rescuers.”
“Then I know how to do it. Let me know if you need anything for the operation. We will do our best to help.”
Perhaps impressed by the dignified appearance of Captains Kang and Eun, the intelligence service agents and consulate officials actively changed their expressions. In an unfamiliar country, the only thing they could trust was their own army and officials.
“We need a detailed map of this place and a topographical map of the headquarters of the 88th Independent Sniper Brigade. And if possible, try to find similar structures. The crew will be relieved if they match hands and feet at least once.”
“I will do my best to save you. The structure of the Russian military is all the same, and there is still time until night, so it will be possible to practice at least once.”
“We will do our best to help.”
In such a short time, the operation prepared with the best effort began. Twelve men each from the 707 and UDT and 12 personnel attached to the reserve went into operation at night.
Unfortunately, however, they were unable to rescue the escorted hostages, and were able to drive the mafia into a nearby facility.
Operation Plan B, which started like that, seemed to go smoothly at first. Until I saw these guys in Russian special forces uniforms in the headquarters building…