Chapter 1383 - 1159: Racing Against the Grim Reaper

On the ground of the Gobi Desert, inside the "Typhoon" vehicle, the radio channel was a chaotic mess.

"It's lowered its altitude! It's launching an attack on us!"

Aleksey, responsible for the team's reconnaissance, stared at the electronic screen, his voice hoarse with tension.

The signal strength representing the radar illumination on the screen was drastically increasing.

"Irregular maneuvers! Zigzag! Full throttle!"

Petrovsky's shout vibrated through everyone's eardrums via the vehicle's communication system.

The massive bodies of the three "Typhoon" vehicles immediately twisted wildly on the gravel-filled Gobi, like tops being whipped.

The tires scraped over the dry ground, kicking up a storm of yellow dust, attempting to use this natural man-made smoke to interfere with the high-altitude drone's vision and targeting.

Song Heping stared intently at the rapidly retreating terrain outside the vehicle window, his brain functioning like a high-speed computer.

His sharp gaze swept over a relatively dense hilly area ahead, where several continuous earthen slopes and dry ravines stood a few meters high.

"Ahead on the left, those hills! Use the slopes for cover! Also, deploy vehicle smoke! Laser guidance fears this!"

Song Heping shouted urgently, his speech fast and clear.

Petrovsky instantly understood, controlling the rooftop weapon station while ordering over the channel, "All vehicles, follow me! Charge into those hills! Deploy smoke at once! Quick!"

The moment the order was issued, the grenade launchers atop all three "Typhoon" vehicles emitted muffled sounds almost simultaneously, firing several smoke bombs toward the vehicles' flanks and designated positions behind.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

White, dense smoke quickly spread out, mixing with the swirling yellow dust whipped up by the vehicles, forming a considerable area of cover.

At the same time, the convoy sharply changed direction, engines roaring like wounded beasts, charging toward the undulating hills.

In the high altitude, the weapon control officer of the "Grim Reaper" drone had already completed the launch preparations.

The AGM-114 Hellfire missile mounted under the belly was standing by.

This thing weighs about 50 kilograms, with a warhead of 8 kilograms, a range of up to 8 kilometers, employing semi-active laser guidance, with excellent armor-piercing capability, a sharp tool designed specifically to hunt armored targets.

However, the weakness of laser guidance lies in that any shielding or interference with the laser beam can cause it to miss the target.

"The target is partially obscured by smoke, but thermal signals are still identifiable. Fire missile one!" The control officer issued the command.

Whoosh—!

A Hellfire missile detached from the rack, spewing hot flames from its tail, diving toward the first locked "Typhoon" vehicle at over Mach 1.3!

"Missile incoming! Left rear!"

Volkov, in the rooftop machine gun position, saw the Hellfire missile in the sky trailing a streak of fire rushing towards him.

His frantic shout was torn to pieces by the wind and engine roar.

The driver of the first "Typhoon" almost instinctively reacted at the moment of the warning, sharply turning and flooring the accelerator.

The heavy vehicle emitted a screeching tire friction sound, almost skidding down a steep sand dune slope.

In the last moment, the missile's laser guidance head seemed to be affected by the swirling dust and smoke, resulting in a slight trajectory deviation, skimming over the top of the sand dune, and exploding thunderously tens of meters behind!

Scorching blast waves and fragments, mixed with debris, fiercely battered the vehicle body, but the heavy armor held it firmly.

"Evasion successful!"

The commander of the first vehicle excitedly reported over the channel.

But the "Grim Reaper's" attack was relentless and unforgiving.

The second missile followed immediately, targeting the second vehicle with Song Heping and Petrovsky inside.

"Right turn! Into that ditch! Keep deploying smoke!"

Song Heping shouted, pointing to a dry, scar-like riverbed in front, patting the driver's seatback simultaneously.

The driver reacted as quickly as lightning, sharply turning the steering, causing the heavy "Typhoon" to roar, churning up a large amount of dirt and dust, precariously ducking into the riverbed's shadow.

The rooftop smoke bombs continued firing, forming a thick smoke wall at the riverbed entrance.

The second Hellfire missile plunged into the smoke wall, its laser guiding signal rapidly attenuating and distorting among the dense smoke particles.

The missile lost stable tracking, eventually exploding in mid-air above the riverbed's edge, the massive fireball and shockwave tearing a hole in the smoke wall, but most of the deadly fragments were effectively absorbed by the sturdy riverbank.

"Well done!!"

Petrovsky heavily patted Song Heping on the shoulder, his excitement evident.

For a moment, his heart was almost in his throat.

However, the danger was not yet over.

The "Grim Reaper's" third Hellfire was already launched.

This time, the target was the rearmost "Typhoon" in the convoy.

During the evasion of the first two missiles, this vehicle was slightly delayed in position, and its smoke bombs seemed less effective, maybe due to a stronger wind at its location, causing the smoke to dissipate quicker; at this moment, despite conducting high-speed irregular maneuvers, kicking up dust, it was more exposed compared to the first two vehicles.

Even though the driver executed extreme S-turn evasions, creating chaotic trails on the Gobi, the deadly shadow from the sky hesitated only slightly before accurately capturing it.

"Boom!!"

The missile didn't hit the vehicle's center directly but precisely struck the position of the vehicle's right rear wheel!

The massive explosion was deafening!

A scorching fireball instantly rose, engulfing the position where the wheel was located.

Parts scattered and flew apart...

Fortunately, the "Typhoon"-K belonged to a top-level mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle, utilizing a V-shaped design for the chassis, very sturdy, with excellent impact resistance.

With outstanding bomb-resistant design, the main structure of the vehicle body was not directly destroyed by the missile, which deviated from the pre-set impact point, the V-shaped undercarriage and sturdy armor effectively deflecting and absorbing most of the impact.

But the "Hellfire" missile's warhead is far from being an illusion!

The violent explosion instantly shredded the heavy anti-riot vehicle wheels along with parts of the suspension system and drive shaft!

With the support of the right rear wheel lost, the massive vehicle body tilted abruptly to the right, then uncontrollably rolled over under the immense inertia!

The heavy vehicle body rolled twice continuously on the Gobi Desert, metal and rock grinding fiercely, emitting a teeth-clenching screech, and finally lay belly-up there, raising a cloud of dust and sporadic flames that had not yet dissipated.

"Vehicle number three has been hit!!"

Petrovsky pointed to the rear of the convoy.

"Stop! Quick! Rescue the people!"

The remaining two "Typhoons" slammed their brakes, leaving long tire marks on the Gobi.

The car door was kicked open violently, and the team members leapt out like cheetahs, in a skillful tactical formation, covering each other, quickly rushing towards the wreckage still emitting thick smoke and flames.

Everyone's hearts were in their throats, not knowing if the comrades inside were alive or dead.

In the sky, the "Grim Reaper" UAV completed a strike cycle and began circling, preparing to perform an accurate damage assessment and decide whether to launch the next attack based on orders.

Time, every second, seemed to flow along the edge of a knife.

Song Heping was the first to rush to the overturned vehicle body, a burst of thick smoke and scorched smell hitting him in the face.

He found that the cabin door had severely deformed from the violent rolling and impacts, unable to open normally.

He immediately signaled tactically to the demolition expert Maxim behind him.

The latter understood, quickly taking out a pre-prepared small linear cutting charge and detonator from his tactical backpack.

"Prepare to breach! Volkov, cover us!"

Petrovsky growled.

Volkov, operating the turret machine gun, and another team member immediately set up the machine gun, vigilantly pointing at potential threats in the sky and around.

"Breaching! Three, two, one!"

Maxim, indeed worthy of being the demolition expert in the SSO squad, acted extremely swiftly, detonating the explosives in less than thirty seconds.

Boom—

A not-too-loud but powerful muffled sound, the deformed cabin lock structure was precisely blown open.

Thicker black smoke billowed out from the breach, immediately followed by violent coughing and painful moans from inside.

"Still alive!"

Song Heping was the first to lean in and enter the relatively intact front part of the cabin.

The inside was a wreck, with fragments of equipment and personal belongings scattered everywhere, the air filled with smoke, engine oil, and the smell of blood.

But fortunately, the sturdy roll cage and reinforced crew seats played a crucial role.

Three team members and the driver were all tightly buckled in with seatbelts. Although dazed and bruised, suffering various bumps and scratches, miraculously none had fatal injuries, and they remained conscious, struggling to unbuckle their seatbelts.

"Quick! Get them out!"

Petrovsky assisted Song Heping in rescuing people, rapidly issuing orders.

The team members moved swiftly and orderly, two by two, carefully dragging their injured companions out of the deformed vehicle filled with potential hazards.

"Can you walk?"

Song Heping supported the driver, who appeared to be the most severely injured, asking in a deep voice.

The driver grimaced, moving his limbs and nodding despite the pain: "No problem... no broken bones! It's just flesh wounds, I can walk!"

"Good!" Petrovsky, seeing this, made a decisive call, "Maxim! Set the explosives and destroy the vehicle completely! No valuable equipment or intelligence can be left behind! Everyone else, carry all necessary gear and the wounded, and transfer to our vehicles! Quickly! Quickly! Quickly! The UAV is still hovering overhead, and enemy ground forces could arrive any moment!"

The team members immediately sprang into action like clockwork.

The injured were quickly supported and moved towards the other two already running "Typhoons", with critical communication equipment, encrypted radios, weapons, ammunition, and intelligence materials prioritized for transfer. Meanwhile, Sergei, like a nimble weasel, installed plastic explosives and set timed fuses on critical parts of the wreckage and sensitive equipment that couldn't be carried away.

"Explosives set! Sixty seconds to detonation!"

"Evacuate! Everyone evacuate!"

Everyone quickly boarded the remaining two "Typhoons".

The interior space suddenly became cramped, the wounded placed in relatively safe positions, while the other team members huddled closely together. But no one complained, only heavy panting and the faint clink of metal weapons could be heard.

"Drive! Full speed, head to the mountains!"

The two battered but still roaring with power "Typhoon" counter-ambush vehicles once again let out an angry roar, racing towards the nearby Gunei Mountain area without hesitation.

Just as they entered the rugged mountain path at the edge of the area, a more subdued and thorough explosion rumbled behind them than the "Hellfire" missile.

Boom——!!!

The violent explosion once again shook the Gobi; a larger fireball and smoke towered into the sky, as the wrecked "Typhoon" was completely dismantled by internal explosives, reduced to burning scrap metal, obliterating all possible leaks of secrets.

The "Grim Reaper" UAV operator watched the massive fireball rising on the high-definition thermal imaging screen, calmly reporting: "Command, one target has been confirmed destroyed, the remaining two vehicles have entered the mountain edge, terrain is complex, direct attack view lost. Request further instructions."

At the Iligo Air Force Base faraway, the CAOC commander, watching the faint thermal signals of the two vehicles disappearing under the mountain terrain's contour on the main screen, frowned and ordered: "Grim Reaper 1-1, continue monitoring the area, maintain deterrence. Await 'Razor' team's arrival."

"Grim Reaper 1-1 understands."

Northeast Syria.

The two "Typhoons" plunged into the rugged trails and shadows of the Gunei Mountain area, temporarily disappearing from the "Grim Reaper's" sight.

However, everyone in the vehicles was acutely aware that the crisis was far from over.

The US Army's Seal Team and the Kurd people's coalition were rushing over at full speed.

And from another direction, hundreds of 1515 Armed zealots are also swarming like hyenas smelling blood.

The real danger is just beginning.