Under the cover of the pitch-black night, a Beechcraft UC-43 light transport plane flew into Austrian airspace.
The constant roar of artillery fire on the ground occasionally lit up the dense forest below.
Mountain ranges rose on both sides, shrouded in thick fog that reduced visibility to almost nothing.
Flying in such terrible weather placed high demands on a pilot's skill.
"Hydra's camp is in Klausburg. Its exact location lies between two mountain ranges. There are probably two military factories there, with roughly six hundred defenders..."
At the rear of the cabin, Carter took out a map and patiently explained with her head lowered.
Although military topography included map-reading courses, Luke and Rogers might not have studied them.
Back at Caspian Training Camp, they had mostly undergone intense physical training.
"Is the intelligence accurate?"
Rogers could not help asking, only to receive an eye roll from Carter.
The Strategic Scientific Reserve had gone to great lengths to intercept this intelligence from Hydra.
During World War II, Austria had been annexed by Nazi Germany and joined the war against the Allied Nations.
To support the front lines and halt the Allied Nations' continued advance.
Hydra had specifically established a secret base in Klausburg to manufacture energy weapons and enhanced warriors.
The results had indeed been remarkable.
A raiding force of more than two hundred men from the 107th Infantry Regiment had been utterly routed by a handful of enhanced warriors leading Hydra soldiers, returning in crushing defeat.
The Strategic Scientific Reserve's intelligence department believed that the captured Allied soldiers were highly likely to be taken to Klausburg as laborers and test subjects.
"I thought you would report this to Colonel Phillips and have Allied Command issue orders to stop my rescue operation."
Luke, seated in the rear cabin, smiled.
"I'm not a cold-blooded person, Commodore Cavill."
Carter brushed aside a lock of hair and looked up.
"I don't want to see soldiers die either. But if we want to win a war, we must consider the bigger picture and not be ruled by emotional impulses."
Luke raised an eyebrow and said softly, "Then why is Miss Carter willing to help us?"
The original plan had been for Rogers and him to drive into Klausburg and launch a surprise attack on the military factories.
They would create chaos and opportunities on one side while rescuing Bucky and the captured soldiers on the other.
But later, Carter had decided to join them and even brought along a genius scientist who could fly a plane.
Howard Stark!
"You said you were good at creating miracles. I want to know whether that's true."
Carter answered coldly.
Sitting nearby, Rogers's gaze shifted uneasily. He felt that Luke and Carter seemed to have a confrontational, gunpowder-like tension between them.
Had they had some unpleasant misunderstanding before?
Captain America, clueless about matters of the heart, looked utterly confused and leaned back, deciding not to get involved.
"We're almost there! I'll drop you near that base!"
Howard's voice came from the cockpit.
As an arms magnate, genius scientist, and famous billionaire, it was perfectly normal and reasonable that he knew how to fly a plane.
"Howard, I heard Miss Carter say that you're the best pilot she has ever seen! I hope this transport won't get shot down by Axis Powers artillery when we descend!"
Unlike Rogers, Luke did not nervously strap on his parachute and prepare in advance for a low-altitude jump.
He was completely relaxed, as though what awaited him was not an extremely dangerous rescue mission, but an exciting wilderness adventure.
"Stark men are the best at everything we do. That's a family tradition."
Howard piloted the light transport higher, flying above the clouds, then rapidly descended in a dive.
Pulling off such a flashy maneuver in dense fog with near-zero visibility showed that he truly had nerves of steel.
"Get ready to jump, Commodore! I sincerely hope I won't see your name on the Allied casualty list."
Howard steadied the plane. The faint rumble of artillery rose from below, like muffled thunder shaking the heavens.
"Relax, Rogers. Our mission is simple: confirm whether Bucky is alive and rescue the captured soldiers."
Opening the cabin door, Luke comforted Rogers, who was stepping onto the battlefield for the first time, as violent airflow rushed inside.
This was Captain America's first time. It was only natural for him to be nervous.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth seemed to tremble and groan as artillery flashes illuminated the night sky.
Seeing the scene before him, Rogers drew a deep breath and said, "I'm ready!"
He tightened his parachute straps and leaped out!
"Rogers really couldn't wait..."
Luke said jokingly as he prepared to jump as well.
"Take the transceiver! The Allied Nations will use the signal to find you!"
Carter stood by the cabin door and stuffed the transceiver into Luke's hand.
Luke said quietly, "Miss Carter, the overall course of a war is built from accumulated local advantages. Perhaps those soldiers seem insignificant and cannot change anything, but the people who push the wheels of history forward are precisely small people like them."
Luke slipped the transceiver into his pocket, strapped on his parachute, and leaned backward.
Before falling, he raised a hand and flashed Carter a victory sign.
The howling wind cut like knives, whipping Luke's Kryptonian Battle Suit over his body.
The dark red cape snapped loudly like a flag flying in the wind!
Luke plunged rapidly downward through the fierce artillery fire below!
With the astonishing defensive power of the Kryptonian Battle Suit, he was confident that even a direct hit from an artillery shell would leave him unharmed!
Below lay a scarred and devastated land, where a patch of dark forest stood.
Artillery fire filled the sky, shaking everything without pause!
Soldiers on both sides shouted, fought, and unleashed humanity's most primitive violent urges.
"Rogers! Open your chute!"
Luke's voice was scattered by the wind, reaching Captain America's ears in broken fragments.
Rogers obediently pulled his parachute cord, and a small black flower blossomed overhead.
His descent slowed. Taking the opportunity, Rogers turned his head to look at Luke.
To his horror, Luke showed no sign of opening his parachute at all!
They were already approaching seven hundred meters!
Under normal circumstances, the minimum safe altitude for a parachute jump was five hundred meters!
Carter had specifically emphasized that they had to pay attention to the timing of opening their parachutes!
"Luke..."
Rogers shouted with all his strength.
The anxious cry left his mouth, only to be immediately torn apart by the raging wind.
At a height of one hundred meters, at the most dangerous moment of his rapid descent, Luke opened his parachute under Rogers's shocked gaze.
Using the brief slowdown, he drew the paratrooper knife from between his legs and cut the cords.
The impact that should have at least left him crippled had no effect on Luke whatsoever.
Rogers, who had landed safely on the ground, could not help feeling genuine admiration.
No wonder Colonel Phillips regarded Luke as the finest Super Soldier, while the two leaders of the Allied Nations, President Roosevelt and Britain's Churchill, called him "Superman."
At that altitude, Rogers might not have dared to try it—he might have been able to do it, but without any parachute training, he definitely could not have made it look as effortless as Luke did.
"Advance two thousand meters in this direction. Cross the trees, and you'll reach Hydra's base."
Luke had no idea what Captain America was thinking. He pulled out the map, glanced at it, and began moving quickly.
As Superman, he ought to be able to fly. What was so impressive about a low-altitude parachute jump?
If he had known what Rogers was thinking, Luke would definitely have answered that in his heart.
Using the deep night fog as cover, the two marched onward.
Before long, they reached the edge of the dense forest and saw a massive, heavily defended base.
Electrified barbed wire formed a towering wall, with guard posts standing behind it.
Beams from searchlights swept across the ground, where squads of guards patrolled below.
These elite guards wearing Hydra armbands had equipment a century ahead of the Allied Nations!
The infinite energy developed from the Tesseract had been applied by Hydra's Red Skull to all kinds of weapons, including guns and artillery.
There were even giant multi-turret tanks, steel monsters that were like meat grinders!
It could be said responsibly that if Captain America had not appeared out of nowhere, becoming a patriotic hero and putting on a one-man anti-German legend, this world's timeline would have taken a sharp turn.
Because the Axis Powers completely outclassed the Allied Nations' armies technologically. Combined with the enhanced warriors Red Skull was developing, once they were deployed to the European Theater, the Allied Nations, who were currently advancing on all fronts, would probably collapse at once!
"You rescue the captured soldiers. I'll see whether I can find Hydra's leader, Red Skull!"
Luke gave the order. Red Skull and Dr. Zola should both be inside this base.
If he could get his hands on the Tesseract ahead of time, that would be a pretty good outcome as well.
Although, in Luke's eyes, the six Infinity Stones might not have as much potential as the Superman Template.
The Tesseract contained infinite energy, which genuinely interested him.
P.S. Thanks to Guan Tui Guan Huan for the 500-point donation, Hui Bu Gai Dang Chu A for the 500-point donation, Di Tian Wushuang for the 100-point donation, I Just Want a Name Why Is It So Hard for the 100-point donation, and 159888888 for the 100-point donation. Heart~
P.S. 2: I won't ask for the quality triple anymore. Dear readers, give your monthly votes to the authors you like; just leave your recommendation votes and bookmarks for me~ (hands on hips.jpg)
P.S. 3: See how thoughtful I am (ω)
Before you continue