Special Forces: At the beginning, An Ran pulled him to get his certificate.

Chapter 1470: Dark Moon Murder Night

After finalizing the preliminary operational details with the former company commander, You Junda, Chen Jun did not linger in the temporary command room and turned to go downstairs.

On the open ground floor of the bamboo building, Wang Chao, Chen Zhi, Lin Chao, and other members of the "Sharp Knife" team had already assembled, each one like a cheetah about to pounce on its prey. Although they tried their best to remain quiet, the eagerness and excitement in their eyes were almost overflowing. When they saw Chen Jun come downstairs, everyone immediately surrounded him, their eyes all focused on him.

"Director Chen!" Wang Chao, the most impatient of them all, couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Is the plan finalized? When do we make our move? The brothers have been itching to get started, just waiting for your order to prove the mettle of our 'sharp knife'!"

His words carried the sharpness and eagerness to show off that are unique to young people.

"Snapped!"

A crisp, silly voice rang out.

Wang Chao was startled by Chen Jun's sudden slap, his head tilting to the side. He was stunned for a moment, covered his face, and stared at Chen Jun in astonishment.

"Getting cocky, huh?" Chen Jun's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a heavy, authoritative weight. His gaze swept over Wang Chao and the others around him like lightning. "This is abroad! Not a training ground! The enemy is a local tyrant who has been entrenched for years, armed to the teeth. A single misstep could mean your own deaths, or even jeopardize the entire mission and trigger a diplomatic incident! Put away your excitement and replace it with 120% caution and composure! I want you to complete the mission and return alive, not to play the hero!"

Wang Chao, instead of being angry after being slapped, instantly sobered up. The frivolity on his face quickly faded, replaced by seriousness and sternness. He immediately straightened up and said in a low voice, "Yes, Chief! I was wrong!"

"However, I still want to ask, when will we begin?"

Wang Chao took a deep breath, his eyes becoming firm and steady.

Chen Jun stared at him for two seconds, then glanced at the team members around him whose expressions had also become serious, and suddenly spoke, his voice firm and resolute:

"Attention all!"

Everyone immediately straightened their backs.

"Check your gear, we're leaving in five minutes!"

"Yes!"

The unified, low-voiced responses were a far cry from the previous restlessness, replaced only by the steely resolve and determination of soldiers accepting a mission.

Wang Chao touched his still slightly numb cheek, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes. That slap was worth it!

Was the operation launched ahead of schedule?

……

The night was as dark as ink, so thick it seemed impossible to see through.

It was just past 10 p.m., which was still quite early for this edge of the tropical rainforest, as the night was just beginning.

But Chen Jun and his team had to set off.

Even with a guide familiar with the terrain, it would take at least two hours of covert marching from this hidden safe spot to the valley camp where "General" Jiang Tianxiong was entrenched. Taking into account potential accidents along the way and the final time for observation and ambush, setting off now would allow them to reach the designated attack position just after midnight, when the enemy's vigilance would be relatively lax.

Several camouflaged off-road vehicles, their lights switched off, moved slowly and steadily along the forest path, almost entirely hidden by vegetation, like ghosts in the night. Inside the vehicles, silence reigned. The team members, who had been chatting and laughing excitedly in front of the bamboo house just moments before, were now all silent, their faces painted with thick jungle camouflage, their eyes gleaming with a calm and focused light in the dim light. Each person silently conducted a final equipment check: weapon safety, ammunition quantity, night vision goggle batteries, communication equipment, first aid kits, climbing tools… their movements practiced and meticulous.

Tactically, we must take the enemy seriously. This is an ironclad rule that Chen Jun repeatedly emphasizes. No matter how excellent the training or how high the confidence, on the real battlefield, especially when carrying out such a high-risk decapitation mission in a foreign land, any negligence could be fatal.

Chen Jun sat in the passenger seat of the lead vehicle, not participating in the inspection; his equipment had already been adjusted to its optimal state. He slightly turned his head, looking out the window at the deep night. The sky was covered with dark clouds, completely obscuring the already faint starlight and moonlight. The jungle was so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face; only when the headlights occasionally swept across the area could one see the menacing shadows of nearby trees and the tangled vines.

"A dark and windy night for murder..." Chen Jun murmured to himself, a barely perceptible upward curve to his lips. Such nights, while posing difficulties for marching, also provided excellent natural cover for concealed engagements and surprise attacks. It seemed even the heavens were on their side.

Just after midnight, the convoy came to a complete stop at the edge of a denser jungle. Further on, the vehicles could not proceed.

Chen Jun pushed open the car door, landed silently, and stepped onto the soft, damp fallen leaves. The unique dampness and humus of the jungle wafted over him, occasionally mixed with the cries of unknown wild animals in the distance.

"Boss! This way!"

A deliberately lowered, excited voice rang out from behind the dark bushes on the right.

Immediately afterwards, two figures, as if emerging from the shadows, appeared silently by the roadside. They were Lu Da and Zhang Tie, who had arrived earlier to conduct reconnaissance and provide support. Both were fully armed, their faces painted with camouflage, and their eyes shone with an astonishing light in the darkness.

"What's the situation inside?" Chen Jun didn't waste any words.

"The outer sentry posts are basically consistent with the map markings, and the shift change pattern also matches. Inside... it's very lively, it seems like there's some kind of party going on, and the vigilance is actually a bit looser than during the day," Lu Da quickly reported.

With the arrival of Lu Da and Zhang Tie, it was as if a switch had been flipped. One after another, ghostly figures emerged from the shadows of the surrounding jungle and silently gathered around Chen Jun. They were other "sharp knife" members and strategic bureau support personnel who had infiltrated the area from different routes and in different ways.

At this point, all combat personnel involved in this "Scavenger" operation have safely arrived at the assembly point.

Chen Jun raised his hand and looked at the tactical watch with luminous hands on his wrist; the time indicated 12:15 AM.

His gaze swept over the faces around him, blurred yet incredibly resolute in the dim moonlight. There was no pre-battle pep talk, no grand pronouncements, just two simple words that carried the weight of a thousand pounds:

"lead the way."

"action."

"Yes!"

Darkness is the best disguise, and the jungle is a natural barrier. Led by Lu Da and Zhang Tie, two "local experts" (who had been scouting the area for several days), this elite squad moved silently and swiftly through the dense forest, like water seeping into the sand. They avoided any possible animal trails or open areas, using every terrain feature for cover, their movements as nimble as true jungle ghosts.

More than an hour later, the blurry outline of the target camp gradually appeared in the eerie green light of the night vision goggles. It was a manor built against the mountainside, clearly with military defensive features, surrounded by a brick and stone wall more than three meters high, which appeared to be strung with barbed wire. Several watchtowers crouched like silent behemoths at the corners of the wall, but at this moment only a few scattered flashlight beams flickered on the towers, indicating that the sentries were not paying attention.

The group hid behind a dense forest slope about 200 meters from the wall, carefully observing with the help of night vision goggles and binoculars.

As you can see, there is a rammed earth road outside the wall. A sentry carrying a gun is smoking a cigarette and strolling slowly along the base of the wall with a sluggish gait, showing no vigilance whatsoever.

Chen Jun made a gesture to Lu Da beside him.

Lu Da understood, and like a cat, he crouched low and darted out, using the bushes and shadows as cover. With incredible speed and silence, he quickly approached the patrolling sentry. Just as the sentry turned his back to the jungle, preparing to take out a lighter to light his cigarette again, Lu Da's figure sprang from the shadows like a ghost!

One hand, like an iron clamp, covered the sentry's mouth and nose from behind, while in the other hand, a cold glint flashed, and a sharp military knife precisely sliced ​​across the sentry's throat. The sentry's body convulsed violently, then went limp, unable to utter a single groan. Lu Da swiftly dragged him into the nearby tall grass; the entire process took less than ten seconds, clean and efficient.

With this outer "eye" eliminated, the situation inside the walls became much clearer to everyone. In stark contrast to the deathly silence outside and the sentry's earlier laxity, the inside was brightly lit, with the faint sounds of loud music, boisterous laughter, women's screams, and the clinking of glasses... It seemed that a large-scale carnival was taking place.

Chen Jun frowned. This commotion actually saved them a lot of trouble; the enemy's attention was clearly completely drawn to the internal revelry.

Without further hesitation, he gestured to the others to "go their separate ways as planned and eliminate the external threats," and then chose a location close to the main building with tall trees right next to the wall.

He climbed the tree like a nimble monkey, and using the elasticity of the branches, he silently leaped to the top of the wall, crouched down, and scanned the inside of the wall with sharp eyes.

Even with Chen Jun's extensive experience, the scene before him made his lips twitch slightly.