CHAPTER 248: REVISED: CHAPTER 248 "LADY IN WHITE" INTELLIGENCE

At 5:30 in the evening, Shire walked alone into the officer’s club.

Lucia had told Shire that this was her shift change time, and also 5:30 was when the club had fewer people. Officers usually took a bath after dinner, tidied themselves up, and gathered here for a drink around six.

Therefore, this time period was suitable for their contact.

Lucia, who had just started her shift, was wiping the bar. Her eyes lit up when she saw Shire enter; her previously tired eyes instantly filled with a smile. She told her companion something, skillfully made two cups of coffee, put them on a tray, and tried to look calm as she walked towards Shire.

Lucia did not want Shire to notice that she carried another hope besides work; this would make her appear unprofessional. After all, in the face of war and tasks, especially since the opposite party was Shire, such hope was almost a luxury.

"Miss me?" Lucia said softly.

She skillfully placed the tray on the table, and when she sat down, she had already brought the coffee to Shire.

Shire stared at the coffee in front of him, dazed: "I thought you would give me two glasses of wine."

"No!" Lucia shook her head with a smile: "You don’t like wine at all, including grape wine."

Shire looked at Lucia with confusion.

Lucia tilted her head slightly: "Others drink wine like this..."

As she spoke, she held the coffee cup as if it were a wine glass, drank a sip full of anticipation, raised her eyebrows, gently shook her head, seeming to enjoy it, yet as if savoring it.

"But when you drink wine, it’s like this..."

She held up the "wine glass" again, first frowned, cautiously brought the "glass" closer to her mouth, drank only a small sip, then lowered her eyes, her face wrinkled like a rag.

Her mimicry was so vivid that it brought back Shire’s painful memories of drinking; he indeed was like this and indeed disliked wine. He even didn’t understand why anyone would like such an unpleasant thing.

"What did you used to do?" Shire was somewhat curious.

Lucia laughed like silver bells and answered half-truthfully: "You guessed it, Colonel. I used to be an actress, and my best role was a clown."

As she spoke, she pinched her own nose.

Shire smiled slightly. He knew this wasn’t true, but Lucia was very good at disguising herself, including controlling her expressions.

Perhaps because of this, the "Lady in White" sent her here to liaise with Shire.

It was time to talk business, Shire leaned forward stiffly.

Lucia naturally gave Shire a gentle kiss like a dragonfly touching water, then whispered in Shire’s ear: "You should do it like this, Colonel, this is what a couple should do!"

The electrifying feeling stunned Shire, the faint perfume scent unexpectedly made him react, and his breathing became rapid.

Lucia’s gaze continued to roam in front of Shire, her beautiful eyes right before Shire, even her breath could be felt.

Lucia’s eyes flashed with some surprise, seeming to also have some joy. She teased with a slight smile, her tone carrying some pride: "This wouldn’t be your first kiss, Colonel? I’m honored!"

Shire was unwilling to admit this, hastily turning the topic back on track: "The intelligence you provided is very accurate, Lucia! I need to know about the Germans’ intelligence, artillery positions, airfields, warehouses, and so on. This might be a long-term task!"

"Of course!" Lucia said with a smile, gently stroking Shire’s cheek, whispering like a lover, with a seductive nasal sound: "We’ve always been doing this, just didn’t know who to give it to before. Now, I’ve finally found it, unwavering in loyalty!"

Shire almost believed Lucia was genuine, her affectionate eyes, charming expressions, and intoxicating, passionate lips... until he felt a piece of paper slide along his collar into his neck.

Shire believed Lucia’s words; she must be an actress, otherwise, she couldn’t act so realistically and vividly.

...

Shire got the intelligence he wanted, the exact locations of two German artillery positions.

What surprised Shire was that one of the artillery positions had been set up only 8 days ago, carefully disguised and had not fired a single shot, yet the "Lady in White" still found its location detailed down to 32 105MM caliber howitzers.

How did they do it?

Could it be, like Hari, wandering in ballrooms gleaning intelligence from German officers?

This seemed unlikely.

First, the German Army’s confidentiality measures for military intelligence were done well, ordinary officers had no access to this intelligence, of course, it was impossible to divulge.

Second, even if German officers "spill the truth after drinking," it couldn’t be detailed down to how many cannons.

If someone really asked, "How many cannons are there at this artillery position, and what caliber?" that would be tantamount to telling everyone she was a spy.

Later, Shire found out, the "Lady in White’s" method was simple, they just kept an eye on passing trains outside the window: how many cannons to where, how much material to which direction, how many troops to what region.

Then, they could follow the wheel tracks in the snow at the destination.

The German Army naturally assumed: so many vehicles going back and forth, the ground was full of wheel tracks, no one could differentiate which wheels belonged to artillery, which were supply convoys or troops passing through, so they didn’t deliberately clear them.

They didn’t expect that just from the wheel tracks nothing could be discerned, but combined with train transport information, knowing artillery units arrived in this area, analyzing its precise location was no difficult task.

Shire immediately sent the location information to Carter.

At this time, the bomber squadron had been placed under Carter’s command.

Previously, Eric commanded to maintain confidentiality and because the military hadn’t bought bomber planes yet.

After the bombers successfully destroyed the German airport proving their worth, the military purchased all 20 bombers at one go at a unit price of 55,000 francs.

Shire earned another 600,000 francs tearfully, whether there would be more orders depended on their future performance.

When Carter received the call, he couldn’t help but exclaim: "Colonel, your intelligence is detailed down to the number of cannons and calibers, has your unit reached this level of sophistication?"

"That’s not your concern, Major!" Shire replied: "You just need to think about how to destroy them!"

(Note: Carter has been promoted from Captain to Major)

"Yes, Colonel!" Carter answered, putting down the phone and immediately took action.

He first called the Army staff: "Across from your defense area, at north latitude 49.16 degrees, east longitude 5.386 degrees, a howitzer position is set up in the valley. Mark its direction and distance accurately by 8 a.m. tomorrow morning!"

"Yes!" The Army staff responded, immediately dispatching observers with binoculars and maps to rush to the front line overnight to find the spot.