Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1276 A Pursuit Like a Mad Dog
Eight o'clock in the morning.

Inside the Baiji City Hall, the smoke of battle had not yet completely dissipated.

Song Heping stood in front of a military map spread on a dilapidated desk, his finger pointing heavily at several areas marked with red circles.

"First Company, clear out the remaining resistance points at the West City Refinery, watch out for IEDs and snipers. Second Company, cooperate with the Abuyu Brigade to clear out the streets surrounding the Municipal Square, leaving no blind spots."

"We need to act quickly. We don't have time to dawdle here. We must establish a solid defense as soon as possible..."

Before he could finish speaking, the encrypted radio at his waist suddenly emitted a rapid and sharp beeping sound, a distress signal of the highest priority.

Song Heping frowned sharply, and all the commanders around him immediately focused their attention on him.

He quickly grabbed the radio and pressed the call button.

"I am 01, speak!"

The radio broadcast came Jiang Feng's familiar voice, yet tinged with unprecedented anxiety, accompanied by the booming of gunfire in the background:
"...01, this is Jiang Feng! We've been caught in an ambush! The enemy is overwhelming! Tens of thousands! They're all lunatics! A suicidal attack! Some of our men are about to collapse! Requesting instructions! Repeat, requesting urgent instructions!"

In an instant, the air inside the command post froze.

The brief sense of relief after defeating Baiji vanished instantly.

Song Heping's gaze instantly shifted from Baiji's map to Titrick's direction, like a sharp sword.

Jiang Feng's voice on the radio was filled with barely suppressed anxiety.

"...Repeating, the enemy numbers far exceed expectations! Suicide attacks! They're not afraid to die! Some of our men...some can't hold on!"

Song Heping said in a deep voice:

"Jiang Feng, listen up! Hold your ground! Engage in segmented blocking attacks and retreat in stages! Absolutely no chaos, or the entire army will be wiped out! Repeat the tactics to me!"

"...Understood, divide and conquer, retreat in stages..."

Jiang Feng's voice was breathless, but Song Heping's calmness acted like an anchor, stabilizing his slightly flustered mind.

Song Heping's gaze swept quickly across the newly unfolded map, his finger moving rapidly across it before finally pointing heavily to a location called "Kiri Town".

It was a small town about 20 kilometers north of the ambush point, guarding a dry riverbed and several secondary roads. The buildings were relatively concentrated, making it suitable for defense.

"Jiang Feng! Abandon the original retreat route, turn around immediately, and retreat to Kiri Town! Establish a defensive line in Kiri Town at all costs! I need you to hold out there for at least eight hours! Eight hours! Do you understand?"

"Eight hours...Understood!"

Jiang Feng's voice was resolute.

"Hang in there! I'll figure something out!"

Almost at the same time that Song Heping and Jiang Feng were talking on the phone, the atmosphere was completely different at the U.S. military command headquarters in the Green Zone of Buckingham.

A huge electronic screen flashed a battlefield situation map of northern Iligo, with red arrows representing the 1515 armed forces rushing madly toward an area near the Titrick-Baijji highway, while blue symbols representing the "Liberation Forces" were constantly retreating.

An intelligence officer, holding a newly received report, approached Colonel Kurt, who was leisurely sipping his coffee.
"Colonel, confirmed. Song's troops did not advance south to attack Titrick as we expected; they captured Baiji instead."

Kurt's relaxed expression vanished instantly, replaced by annoyance and gloom from being fooled. He slammed his coffee cup down, the bottom hitting the tray with a jarring sound.

"Damn it! That cunning country bumpkin!"

He muttered a curse under his breath and threw the cup on the table.

Baiji!
That's a transportation hub and a major oil refining center!
Song Heping's feint not only perfectly avoided Titrick's tough nut to crack, but also secured a strategically valuable stronghold.

This means that in the future, Song Heping and the forces behind him in northern Iligo will have greater say, and may even be able to use Baiji and Mosul to block the passage to Siri in the northwest!

This completely ruined his plan to weaken Song Heping by using the Battle of Titrick!

The intelligence officer continued his report: "Also, Colonel, the 'Liberation Forces' militia is surrounded during their ambush of 1515 reinforcements. Satellite reconnaissance shows that 1515 forces in the Titrick direction are still frantically sending troops to the combat zone. If this continues, the 'Liberation Forces' could suffer heavy losses. Should we…"

Before he could finish speaking, a barely perceptible glint of joy flashed in Kurt's eyes.

The losses were significant?

Great! That's exactly what he wanted to see!
As long as the "Liberation Force," the arm that Song Heping relies on, is crippled, even if Song Heping takes over Baiji, he won't be able to cause much trouble in the short term.

Just then, Song Heping made an urgent call from the communications station.

Kurt's lips curled into a cold smile. He composed himself, slowly picked up the microphone, and spoke with feigned concern: "Song, I heard you won over Baiji? Congratulations. What can I do for you?"

On the other end of the radio, Song Heping's voice was cold and direct, omitting all pleasantries, briefly explaining the critical situation of Jiang Feng's troops, and finally making a clear request:

"Colonel Kurt, air support is urgently needed in the direction of Kiri. Immediately, right now!"

Kurt was secretly overjoyed, but put on a troubled expression:

“Song, I understand your situation. But, as you know, the fighting in the Ozam direction is intense, and our air power is being prioritized there. It would be very difficult to redeploy it now…”

"How long will it take?" Song Heping's voice was unreadable.

Kurt paused deliberately, as if struggling to calculate, before giving a cold, hard number: "At least... twelve hours. After twelve hours, I'll try to send attack aircraft over."

"Twelve hours?"

Song Heping's voice finally carried a hint of barely suppressed sarcasm, "Twelve hours have passed, and my brothers' bodies have gone cold!"

Kurt said in a tone of helplessness, even a hint of dismissive dismissiveness:
"Song, I'm sorry too, but this is reality. Think of something yourself first, hang in there, I promise I'll be there in twelve hours..."

Click——

The radio crackled with a busy signal indicating that communications had been abruptly cut off.

Kurt held the microphone, paused for a moment, then instead of getting angry, he burst out laughing and casually tossed the microphone back onto the landline.

He picked up his coffee again, crossed his legs comfortably, and looked at the small dot on the big screen that was surrounded by red arrows and marked "Kiri Town".

"Go, go, Song, take your men and go save them."

He muttered to himself, taking a leisurely sip of coffee as if savoring the finest wine.

"That madman Az is waiting for you with his bag open. Two mercenary battalions, plus Abuyu's rabble, no more than three thousand men. But 1515... hehe, tens of thousands of mad dogs, and reinforcements keep coming... let's see how you swallow this 'feast'!"

He seemed to have already seen Song Heping's troops being overwhelmed by an overwhelming enemy on the outskirts of Kili Town, to see the "Liberation Forces" being completely decimated, and to see Song Heping's future of being severely weakened and unable to recover.

He couldn't help but whistle lightly, as if the cold electronic equipment and flickering screens in the command post were an accompaniment to his personal victory.

Outside the ambush zone.

Jiang Feng put down the radio he was on with Song Heping, took a deep breath of the scorching air thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood, and roared at Samir, who was standing pale beside him:
"The boss's orders are for us to retreat to Kiri town, establish a defensive line, and hold out for eight hours! Execute the tiered retreat plan! You lead the first echelon to go first, and I'll lead the rearguard to cover you!"

Samir opened his mouth, as if to say something, but seeing the unwavering determination in Jiang Feng's eyes, he nodded emphatically and said, "Take care!"

He then turned around, shouted loudly, and organized the militia to begin moving north along the dry riverbed.

The battlefield has become hell.

Looking around, the roadsides that were originally intended as ambush points were now blackened by smoke, littered with burning vehicle wreckage and mangled corpses. The 1515 militants surged forward like a black tide, wave after wave, fearlessly charging upwards.

What is most chilling are the fanatics who carry out "suicide attacks".

Covered in explosives, they howled "Allahu Akbar," their bloodshot eyes glaring, completely ignoring the bullets coming at them, and charged straight toward the "Liberation Forces'" makeshift position.

"Stop him! Stop that madman!"

A young militiaman screamed and fired wildly with his AK-47. The bullets hit the charging "human bomb," splattering blood, but could not stop him.

"boom--!!"

A violent explosion rang out at the front line, sending mud and sand mixed with severed limbs soaring into the sky. The screaming young militiaman and his two comrades were instantly engulfed, leaving only a charred crater and a mist of blood in their wake.

This scene struck like a heavy blow to the hearts of many militiamen.

Some people began to involuntarily back away, their eyes filled with fear and despair.

"No retreat! Anyone who dares to back down will be court-martialed!"

Jiang Feng's voice was like a thunderclap. The sniper rifle in his hand fired steadily, and a terrorist who had just jumped off the back of a pickup truck and was holding an RPG rocket launcher fell to the ground. The rocket shot into the sky at an angle.

However, individual bravery appears so insignificant in the face of such a massive and frenzied attack.

Az quickly realized that the "Liberation Forces" were trying to cover their retreat in an alternating manner.

"Want to run? It's not that easy!"

He grinned maliciously and issued a new order over the radio: "Armed pickup trucks, all forces attack! Flank them, divide them up! Crush them!"

Dozens of armed pickup trucks, equipped with heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, and even rudimentary rocket launchers, roared like beasts as they suddenly burst out from the flanks of the main attacking force.

Taking advantage of the relatively flat terrain of the Gobi Desert on both sides of the highway, they made incursions at extremely high speeds, avoiding unnecessary entanglement with the rearguard and targeting the main force that was retreating.

“Da da da da—!”

"Dong dong dong——!"

12.7mm and 14.5mm heavy machine gun bullets, like the scythe of death, drew dazzling chains of fire in the air, lashing fiercely at the retreating crowd.

Wherever the bullets passed, human bodies were torn to pieces like ripped rag dolls, with blood and internal organs splattered on the yellow sand.

Terrorists in a pickup truck were operating a rocket pod.

Boo hoo hoo-!
A series of rockets, trailing white smoke, landed among the retreating troops, followed by a series of explosions, with severed limbs flying in the flames.

"Ah—my leg!"

"mom!"

"Spread out! Quickly spread out!"

The retreat sequence was instantly disrupted.

The once orderly procession was forcibly cut into several segments by the high-speed pickup truck.

Panic spread like a plague.

Some militiamen threw down their weapons, covered their heads, and ran frantically backward, wanting only to get as far away as possible from those fire-breathing demons.

"Hold on! Establish a ring defense! RPG! Take down those P.E.K.K.A!"

Samir roared at the top of his lungs, trying to rally his troops, but his voice was so faint amidst the deafening gunfire and explosions.

Jiang Feng's rearguard team also found themselves in a fierce battle.

Several pickup trucks spotted them, and heavy machine gun bullets rained down on the sand dunes and rocks where they were hiding, pinning them down.

Gravel and sand fell in a flurry, almost burying them.

"Madman! You son of a bitch, a madman!"

One of the militiamen covering the rear gritted his teeth, leaned out, and fired an AT4 rocket launcher.

The rocket hit the front of a pickup truck precisely, turning it into a fireball.

But immediately more bullets rained down on them.

"Boss! We're trapped! We can't retreat!" the assistant gunner roared.

Jiang Feng's lips were chapped. He licked the dust from the corner of his mouth and glanced at the approaching enemy figures and the pickup trucks that were constantly weaving and overtaking him. He knew that if he didn't leave now, he really wouldn't be able to leave.

"Fire smoke grenades to block the view! All troops, head towards Kiri town, provide alternating cover, and retreat!" He issued the most difficult order.

The surviving rearguard soldiers desperately threw smoke grenades, and thick white smoke quickly spread.

Under the cover of smoke, they fired backwards as they ran desperately, each step landing on the corpses of their comrades and the enemy.

The shouts of battle, gunshots, and explosions were relentlessly pursuing us from behind.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Kiri town, Samir, leading the militia who had arrived earlier, was hastily constructing a defensive line using several relatively sturdy houses at the town entrance, dilapidated walls, and natural embankments formed by the dry riverbed.

Soldiers who had been scattered and wounded in twos and threes kept escaping back, bringing even more tragic and desperate news from the rear.

Jiang Feng rushed into the town and found Samir, who was directing the reinforcement of the fortifications. The two looked at each other and saw endless exhaustion and solemnity in each other's eyes.

"How is the situation?" Jiang Feng asked, panting heavily.

"More than a third of our weapons have been lost, most of our heavy weapons are gone, and morale... is very low." Samir's voice was hoarse. "Can we really hold out for eight hours?"

Jiang Feng looked into the distance, where dust was billowing, and a 1515 pickup truck and a large group of people were approaching.

He wiped the blood and sweat from his face, his eyes regaining their sharpness and determination:
"We have to hold on, even if we can't! The old sergeant said he'd come, and he will! Before I see him, even if I die, I'll bite off a few of the enemy's teeth!"

He grabbed a PKM general-purpose machine gun from a wounded soldier, checked the ammunition belt, and roared at the terrified militiamen around him:

"Listen up! We have nowhere to retreat! This is Kiri Town, our last stand! Think of your families, think of the homes these lunatics have destroyed! Either way, you're going to die. Will you be a coward and let them kill you from behind, or will you fight to the very end like men? The choice is in your own hands!"

"Check the weapons, distribute the ammunition, reinforce the fortifications! Hurry! They haven't given us much time!" Samir urged loudly as he took the opportunity.

The surviving soldiers of the "Liberation Forces," driven by their survival instincts and last shred of courage, began frantically using everything they could find to reinforce their defenses.

Just then, the vanguard of 1515, a commando team of dozens of armed pickup trucks, rushed to the outskirts of Kiri town like hyenas smelling blood.

Without the slightest pause or even proper reconnaissance, the heavy machine gun on the pickup truck spewed out long tongues of fire, bullets like a metal storm, instantly riddling the outermost mud houses of the town with holes, scattering mud everywhere.

The true hellish battle has begun.

　Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)