Chapter 1701 - 1344: When Two Brave Men Meet on a Narrow Road (Part 3)

"The target vehicle has been hit! The front is severely damaged and on fire! Repeat, the vehicle housing the 'elder' has been hit and is on fire!"

For the first time, Jiang Feng's voice showed a noticeable tremor, despite his best efforts to control it, the tension was still apparent.

At the command post on the hillside, Song Heping suddenly lifted his head from the observation device, his body tensed instantly.

Through the gradually brightening dawn and the pervasive smoke, he could clearly see the Mercedes engulfed in flames, with black smoke billowing into the sky.

Masood's status is unknown.

The plan has faced its most dangerous variable.

The rescue operation has instantly turned from a precision surgical strike into a race against Grim Reaper for a forced rescue.

Song Heping immediately made a tactical deployment, initially intending to prepare with firepower and inflict casualties before letting the assault team move in for cleanup.

There's no time to wait now.

Even if Masood wasn't killed in the explosion, he's already a human BBQ in an oven.

"The assault team needs to attack immediately! At all costs, rescue the 'elder' before the vehicle explodes or is completely incinerated! Fire team, Jiang Feng! Give me maximum suppression fire! Use all ammunition, I want Barzani's men unable to lift their heads!"

"Roger that! Assault team, all units! Attack moves up, we're moving in!"

Abu You's roar exploded over the encrypted channel.

In a depression on the southern slope concealed by natural rocks, Abu You leapt from under the camouflage net, the muzzle flash of his assault rifle briefly illuminating the darkness.

Behind him, twenty 'Mountain Eagle' assault team members, like ghosts of war awakening from the earth, emerged simultaneously from multiple concealed points on the north and south slopes in units of three or four, forming a pincer attack as they charged towards the convoy from different directions!

These are the elite from the 'Musician' Defense Mercenary Camp, each a survivor crawling out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Before joining the Defense Company, they served in special forces units of various countries and underwent a pre-leadership training course lasting six months at Hunter School in South America Venezuela under former Grey Wolf and PLA officers and instructors.

Their tactical maneuvers are crisp.

Three-man teams advance alternately in an inverted triangle or regular triangle formation, one moving while two provide cover and suppressive fire; utilizing all available cover, never exposing themselves long in open ground; firing primarily with precise short bursts with a focus on accuracy over fire density; using hand signals and concise commands for internal communication within the group, with radio communication kept to the bare minimum necessary.

However, Barzani's Guard is ultimately among the elite of the Kurd Special Forces, their combat capabilities are not algo comparable to regular Kurd Armed soldiers.

After the initial devastating blow, the surviving officers and non-commissioned officers, driven by the twin forces of survival instinct and military discipline, began to organize dispersed but tenacious resistance.

Relying on relatively intact vehicles and favorable terrain, they established several strongholds.

"South slope! The enemy is coming down the south slope! Machine gun team! Suppress the assault route on the south slope!"

"There's also movement on the north slope! Sniper! Find and take out their snipers!"

"Prepare demolition charges and Molotov cocktails! Do not let them approach Masood's vehicle! If necessary, blow it up along with the vehicle!"

The battle instantly turned into the bloodiest close-quarter slaughter.

The first four-man assault team personally led by Abu You, scarcely thirty meters down the south slope into a relatively open gravel slope area, encountered the fiercest head-on counterattack.

A PKM general-purpose machine gun set up behind the overturned pickup truck wreckage created a deadly fan-shaped blockade of firepower.

7.62×54mm R heavy warheads sprayed rock fragments around Abu You, with scorching ricochets whistling sharply.

Two team members were completely pinned down behind a waist-high limestone boulder, making it difficult even to lift their heads to observe.

"Take it out!"

Abu You shouted into his throat mic from behind the rock, simultaneously sticking his gun out to fire a suppressive long burst in the general direction of the machine gun to draw attention.

One team member immediately detached the RPG-26 disposable rocket launcher from his back.

Light and easy to use, this Russian-made single-soldier anti-tank weapon has armor-piercing capabilities sufficient to handle light armored vehicles and fortifications.

He took a deep breath and, under Abu You's cover fire, quickly leaned half his body out from behind the rock, aligning the simple mechanical sights instantly with the muzzle flashes of fire emanating from behind the pickup wreckage.

He pulled the trigger device.

Psshhh—

Boom!

The rocket, trailing a modest plume of fire, flew out, tracing a short arc in the air and smashing into the rear compartment of the pickup wreckage.

The high-explosive warhead detonated, blowing the already fragile rear of the vehicle into pieces, with the machine gunner and the PKM both blasted away.

Almost before the smoke cleared, another Barzani Guard soldier charged to the recoiling PKM, which seemed still usable, attempting to remount the machine gun.

"Damn it! They just won't quit!"

Abu You spat a bloody mix.

A flying rock fragment earlier had cut his right cheekbone, blood trickling down his face and stinging painfully.

"Jiang! Take out that next machine gunner! Now!"

"Received. Locking on target."

Jiang Feng's voice came through from the north slope.

His scope was tightly locked onto the area around the pickup wreckage.

The new machine gunner was incredibly cunning, his entire body almost completely curled behind the twisted steel of the vehicle, exposing only the right hand controlling the machine gun and occasionally the top of his helmet.

The shooting window was extremely narrow and the target kept adjusting its position.