Chapter 1542 - 1252: Coldly Watching the Drama Unfold_2

He shuddered violently, the transmitter in his hand fell to the ground, and he clutched the bleeding bullet hole in his neck with both hands. A wheezing sound escaped his throat as his eyes widened with endless terror and unwillingness, slowly crumpling down to the cold sandy ground, blood quickly soaking the earth beneath him.

The fierce and brutal crossfire, from the first explosion to the gunfire gradually thinning out and finally ceasing completely, lasted less than six minutes in total.

But for the four remaining members of Mans Squad, those mere six minutes felt as torturous as centuries in hell.

When the 1515 assailants retreated as silently as they had appeared, they didn't linger after their successful ambush. Instead, they vanished into the dense night and complex terrain.

The old path, which had just undergone a bloody baptism, quickly fell into a death-like silence, leaving only the crackling sound of burning vehicle wreckage and the nauseating stench of blood.

The scene was like a painting depicting hell.

The first pickup truck was completely destroyed, turned into a pile of twisted scrap, still smoking.

The two team members inside were nowhere to be found, recognizable only from the tattered clothes and equipment fragments.

The second pickup truck burned fiercely, like a giant bonfire.

Of the six elite Squad members, two were instantly killed in the IED explosion, one died in the ensuing firefight, and one was seriously injured, barely clinging to life.

Only Mans and another team member miraculously suffered only minor scrapes and concussive injuries, thanks to their superior tactical moves and a bit of luck. But their ammunition was mostly depleted, and mentally, they were on the brink of collapse from extreme tension and witnessing their comrades' brutal deaths.

The two relied on a large rock near the riverbed, tightly gripping their rifles, breathing heavily, and watchfully observing any sign of movement in the dark, awaiting their unknown fate.

Hulmatu, Joint Command Headquarters

Song Heping had just taken off his coat, preparing to rest for a moment on the campaign bed to regain some energy.

Jiang Feng quickly walked in from the outside communication room.

"Old squad leader, we just received a report from the recon sentry. About twelve kilometers outside the city, near section four's abandoned road, there was an intense firefight. Based on the sentry's description of the gunfire density and explosion characteristics, we can basically confirm it's the usual ambush pattern of those 1515 guys. From the location and time, there's an eighty percent chance it's the Thunder Defense squad that went out to fetch water, caught right in the crossfire."

Song Heping slowly sat up straight, walked over to the large tactical map, and accurately pointed his finger at the marked "Old River Path-Abandoned Road" area, with a cold smile on his lips.

Everything was within his expectations.

"Looks like our 'guests' from afar will be very busy tonight."

His tone was as calm as if he were commenting on something ordinary and unrelated.

"Go tell Samir to keep his men silent and await orders on site. Just conduct long-distance surveillance on the periphery and maintain vigilance on our defensive line. This is a 'private vendetta' between Thunder Defense and 1515. As 'allies,' it's neither appropriate nor our obligation to intervene. Let the brothers... enjoy the 'show'."

"Understood!"

Jiang Feng acknowledged, immediately turned, and went out to deliver the orders.

On the road from Checkpoint 4 to the ambush point and at the ambush site.

Upon receiving the emergency call about the Mans Squad ambush, Sanders personally led nearly all available forces from the checkpoint, apart from essential stay-behind personnel, rushing out in three off-road vehicles, heading towards the general location where Mans Squad last reported.

Along the way, a foreboding feeling grew stronger in Sanders's heart.

When his convoy finally saw the fire illuminating the night sky in a faint red, and the terrible smell of smoke and scorched flesh drifting on the wind, his face turned pale.

Vehicles halted just outside the ambush perimeter, and Sanders was the first to jump out. Even for a veteran like him who had witnessed countless bloody encounters, the scene before him was suffocating.

Hell!

A real earthly hell!

The remains of two vehicles, still burning, emitted waves of scorching heat and a nauseating burnt odor.

The twisted and deformed metal frames appeared grotesque and terrifying in the firelight.

The ground was littered with an overwhelming number of shell casings, gleaming with brass under the firelight.

Broken weapons and equipment parts, blown off vehicle pieces, and some unidentifiable organic material fragments were strewn across the entire ambush area.

The medics and team members he brought rushed forward, immediately checking the status of any survivors.

Mans and another lightly injured member supported each other as they emerged from behind the rock, their faces mixed with the pain of surviving such an ordeal.

The critically injured member lay in a pool of blood, breathing weakly, as medics frantically administered emergency field care, trying to staunch the bleeding and maintain vital signs.

Sanders stumbled slightly as he walked to the remains of the lead vehicle, reduced to a charred frame.

Under the flickering firelight, he could see the half-charrred, nearly carbonized horrifying corpse inside the driver's seat...

That was his brother, with whom he'd drank, and traversed bullet-strewn terrain together!

"FUCK——!"

A suppressed roar erupted from deep within Sanders's throat.

He suddenly squatted down, pounding his fist hard on the rough and solid ground, oblivious to the breaking skin and bleeding knuckles.

The elites who followed him for years did not fall in the mountains of Afghan, nor in the urban warfare of Illiguo. Yet here, in this godforsaken place, on a damned water-fetching mission, they were ambushed and slaughtered by terrorists, whom they had once considered a "rabble," in such a suffocatingly tragic manner!

He lifted his head abruptly, bloodshot eyes staring fiercely at where Hulmatu Town lay in the darkness, as if trying to see through the walls and glare at Song Heping in the command post!

The empty Checkpoint 4...

Song Heping's seemingly yielding yet malicious "cooperation"...

His performance of artful blame-shifting and crafty words...

The elusive and impeccably timed 1515 ambushers...

The scattered, ominous premonitions in his mind at this moment were strung together by an invisible thread, forming a clear and malignant web!

He and his men, occupying this Checkpoint 4, seemed on the surface a strong strategic "nail" wedged into Hulmatu, a brilliant victory.

But now, he realized with utmost clarity, he and his subordinates more resembled players who willingly stepped into a death trap carefully prepared for them!

The hidden currents, dangers, and survival rules of this seemingly backward land were far more complex and brutal than he had imagined, based on past experiences!

And Song Heping, who seemed somewhat "soft," was far more shrewd and ruthless than he initially assessed!

The chilling night wind swept over the bloody battlefield, lifting ashes and dust, bringing with it a bone-chilling cold.

Squatting beside his comrade's remains, for the first time, Sanders truly felt that, in this land far removed from the norms of modern civilization, they, who prided themselves as the world's top "war professionals," had likely underestimated this Easterner right from the start.