Chapter 487 The Military Police

"Damn it! So close! Just one more!"

After climbing out of the cockpit and opening his parachute, Daniel spat in frustration.

Just one more kill and he would have been an ace, with the coveted blood-red eagle painted on his aircraft. But at that moment, his plane was hit, forcing him to bail out.

Even though the British Air Force only took off at dawn to head towards Plymouth, they were the first to arrive.

After driving the British out of Guernsey, the Germans established a massive airbase. Fighters taking off from there could reach Plymouth in just 15 minutes, leading to an unprecedented air battle over the city.

Even worse, while still floating in the air, Daniel saw four or five armed British soldiers waiting for him on the ground.

It seemed he was destined to be a prisoner.

Feeling the holster of his self-defense pistol strapped to his thigh, Daniel ultimately sighed, giving up the idea of resistance.

Calmly, he pulled out a piece of white silk from his pocket and waved it as the British soldiers, looking menacing, approached. Pilots are valuable to any nation, and Wilhelm had personally issued an order that in situations where resistance was futile, surrender to the enemy was allowed without any repercussions upon returning to Germany.

After stripping Daniel of anything valuable and tying him up securely, the British soldiers were discussing taking him back to headquarters for a reward when the sound of a vehicle engine roared behind them.

Two trucks full of military police followed by a military car drove towards them.

The British soldiers exchanged puzzled looks, wondering what was happening, as the military car stopped beside them. A military police captain wearing sunglasses stepped out from the passenger seat.

The captain frowned at the dejected German paratrooper and the five curious British soldiers, then addressed the sergeant. "Sergeant, what's going on here?"

The sergeant quickly saluted and replied, "Sir, we've just captured a German pilot."

"..." After a moment of silence, the captain suddenly erupted in anger, loudly reprimanding, "A German pilot?! Don't you know that a large number of German paratroopers have already landed behind us?! You have the time to capture a pilot?! Why aren't you clearing out those paratroopers instead of capturing some pilot? Are you afraid of death?!"

After being scolded, the sergeant looked innocent and stammered an explanation. "Sir, we were just following orders from the commander."

The captain snorted in dissatisfaction. "We're here to convey the Prime Minister's orders. Hand the paratrooper over to us, and you take me to your commander. Leave one squad here to continue searching for German pilots."

"Yes, sir!" A squad of military police jumped out from the back of the trucks.

Silently cursing at having their hard-earned credit snatched away by these officers, the British soldiers reluctantly handed Daniel over to the military police. The captain pointed at the sergeant, ordering, "You come with me to show the way. Everyone else, get in the back."

"Yes, sir!"

Whoosh!

After the vehicles drove off, one of the military police drew a gleaming dagger, startling Daniel. "Hey, hey, you're not going to kill prisoners, are you?"

Seeing Daniel's face go white with fear, the military police burst into laughter. The one with the dagger cut Daniel's ropes and patted his shoulder. "Lucky you, we're from the special forces."

The other soldiers around him teased, "Haha, look how scared you were, almost wet your pants, didn't you?"

Daniel wiped the sweat off his forehead; for a moment, he really thought he was going to be secretly executed by these "military police." "What do we do now?"

"Keep searching for parachuting pilots. You don't need to come along, find somewhere to hide; our main force will be here soon."

Daniel shook his head. "I'll come with you to look."

"Then get him some clothes."

One of the military police handed Daniel a military police uniform from his backpack. As Daniel changed out of his pilot's clothes, he asked, "Where did those guys go?"

"They're heading straight for the British command center."

While Daniel and the now-uniformed soldiers searched for other downed pilots, the military police captain was already in Lord Austin's office, the garrison commander of Plymouth, accusing him haughtily. "Lord Austin, don't you know that German paratroopers have landed behind us?!"

Lord Austin, though annoyed by the captain's arrogant demeanor, knew that the captain held a letter personally signed by Prime Minister Churchill, essentially making him Churchill's envoy. "I know."

The phones were dead, likely due to cut lines somewhere, and German interference disrupted radio communications. They could only send liaison soldiers, but several waves had been sent out with no news.

Seeing the commander's frustration but silence, the captain's attitude grew even more domineering, almost to the point of slamming the table and pointing at Lord Austin's nose. "Then why haven't you sent anyone to eliminate them? Instead, you've got the leisure to capture German pilots? Because of those German paratroopers, we had to take a huge detour to get here. The order that should have been delivered last night was delayed until now. Can't you, as the garrison commander, distinguish between priorities? Huh?!"

Lord Austin frowned, straightened up, dodging the captain's spittle, and retorted brusquely, "Captain, there's no point discussing this now. The Germans could attack any moment; just tell me why you're here."

Perhaps having vented enough, the captain finally pulled out some documents from his briefcase. "The first matter is that the Prime Minister has received a secret report that some high-ranking officers in Plymouth's defense have been secretly selling military supplies for personal gain. There's now a severe shortage of weapons and ammunition in the Plymouth armory, and the defense force can't hold out until reinforcements arrive."

Lord Austin was shocked. "Impossible, that's not true!!" This accusation could lead to a charge of gross negligence, court-martial even.

The captain threw the documents onto the desk, his tone unyielding. "Whether it's true or not isn't up to you. We'll thoroughly inventory every armory. Now!! Immediately!!"

Seeing Churchill's bright red seal on the documents, Lord Austin had no choice but to have his aide lead the captain's men to check each armory.

The captain continued to relay orders. "The second order. Gather all officers above the rank of captain for a meeting and distribute the orders personally signed by Prime Minister Churchill."

Lord Austin was puzzled by such an odd command. "Why?" The German landing could start at any moment; calling all frontline officers back now could be disastrous if the Germans attacked.

The captain's face was deadly serious. "Why? Because the Prime Minister has also received reports that someone here is colluding with the Germans for an inside job. We need to root out these traitors to the Empire!"

Lord Austin wiped the sweat from his brow; each of these issues was more severe than the last. "Give me the list of these traitors, and I'll have them shot."

"We don't have a definitive list yet, but the Prime Minister has given us a good method to identify the traitors. Just follow the orders, sir, and gather everyone as quickly as possible. We need to secure morale before the Germans do."

Lord Austin was now completely out of options and nodded quickly. "Alright, alright, I'll give the order immediately."