Chapter 17 Those Who Retreat Die

On the other side, Duan Lei in the chariot saw the enemy had already begun to rout, so he raised his hand. He knew this war wouldn't end so easily, and it was best to save ammunition.

Besides, he only wanted to defend the stronghold, not to eliminate the enemy's forces. Furthermore, killing these demoralized people wouldn't accomplish much.

The speed of retreat is always faster than that of attack, especially for those survivors. They quickly reached the vicinity of the wall, but this time no one volunteered to be a human ladder.

After all, this was an escape, not an attack. During an attack, those who acted as human ladders could stay outside, using the excuse that they couldn't climb up.

But now, anyone who became a human ladder would likely be left behind, which was basically a death sentence. Therefore, everyone desperately jumped and scrambled toward the wall, but a wall more than two meters high wasn't easy to climb.

Just then, a soldier mixed in the crowd gritted his teeth, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. He took out a grenade, and regardless of the many people climbing near the wall, pulled the pin, shouted "Get down!" and threw the grenade.

"Boom!"

Amidst flying flesh and blood, a section of the wall collapsed. The survivors around them didn't care about those who were killed or injured, and charged outwards through their wails.

Seeing this situation, other soldiers followed suit, using grenades to blast open sections of the wall in front of them and fleeing. After running out of the stronghold, no one thought about returning to Lin Qiang's command vehicle; they scattered to escape for their lives, including the soldiers mixed among them.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang..."

Just then, a burst of dense gunfire rang out. At the yellow lines previously marked by motorcycles, hundreds of mysterious figures in black clothes and helmets had suddenly appeared.

They were all riding motorcycles, parked just outside the yellow lines, and holding automatic rifles, firing at the people escaping from the walls.

The survivors who had just rushed out of the wall, not even having time to rejoice at their escape, fell in the rain of bullets...

"Those who retreat die! Keep charging! Only by taking the stronghold and killing everyone inside can you survive!"

While firing, the motorcycles once again blasted out a loud voice, but this time it wasn't Lin Qiang's voice, but one that sounded very young.

"Who are they?"

Several soldiers hid in the breach in the wall, looking outwards. One of them asked.

"Aren't they the guys who drew the lines around us this morning?"

Someone replied.

"Nonsense! I know that! I'm asking... are they also Lin's men?"

The soldier frowned and asked.

"Who knows? But this morning they were broadcasting Lin's voice, and the bosses didn't attack them, so they should be Lin's men, right?"

Another soldier speculated.

"Then we're done for!"

The first soldier gritted his teeth and said, "We're all going to die here today! Lin Qiang, that bastard, is using us as cannon fodder, just like those guys!"

"That's impossible!"

Another soldier exclaimed in shock, "That might be true for us, but Third Master and the others are also inside the stronghold! They're Lin's brothers!"

The Third Master he was referring to was Lao San (Old Third). When the lower-ranking soldiers addressed Lin Qiang, they had to call him "Boss Lin," but Lin Qiang's brothers were addressed according to their ranking; Lao Qi (Old Seventh) was Seventh Master, Lao Wu (Old Fifth) was Fifth Master, and of course, Lao San was Third Master. These soldiers were subordinates of Lao San.

"Hmph! Don't you know how Lin Qiang got his start? Does he even have brothers in his heart? Especially in this world, even your own father is useless, let alone Third Master and them!"

The first soldier snorted coldly and said, "Lin Qiang has his eye on that vehicle. That vehicle can carry so much stuff, and its firepower is so strong. With that vehicle, he doesn't need to build a base, and we become useless.

So, now Lin Qiang wants us to fight the stronghold to the death, preferably with both sides annihilated. That way he saves himself the trouble of having to kill us later!"

"Are you saying... even if we win, Lin Qiang will kill us?"

The soldier gaped, no longer calling him "Boss Lin"!

"Hmph! Nonsense, just look at those guys!"

The first soldier pointed to the black-clad figures outside and said, "This morning, there were only a dozen of them, but now? There are hundreds just in front of us. Don't you think there are more in other directions?

They were already lying in ambush. Only now that we haven't taken it and are trying to escape do they appear to intercept us. If we hadn't run, they would have killed us after we finished off the people in the stronghold!"

"Then what do we do now? Fight them?"

A soldier asked.

"It's useless!"

The soldier shook his head. "No matter who wins between Lin Qiang and the stronghold, we're definitely going to die, just like those who surrendered earlier!!!"

"No! I don't want to die! Let's fight our way out!"

A soldier cried out in fear, "There are so many of us here. If we charge together, they can't kill us all!"

"What's the use of having a lot of people? Didn't you see how those who surrendered died?"

The soldier shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "Even if we wanted to charge, wanting everyone to fight those men in black together is wishful thinking! Let alone them!"

"Then let's defect to the stronghold. Those men in black won't let them go either!"

A soldier looked back at the stronghold's defensive positions!

"We were just trying to attack their defensive positions, and now we're going to run over there and say we want to join them? Do you think they'll take us in?"

The soldier sighed. "We're stuck in the middle of them. Lin Qiang's people want us dead, and the stronghold's people think the same way. That's why... I said we're doomed!"

Saying that, the soldier picked up his gun, pulled back the bolt, looked at his comrades, and said, "Anyway, we're going to die. I've decided that before I die, I'm going to collect some debts. So, I'm not going to listen to them and turn back to attack the stronghold. I'm going to kill these dogs of Lin Qiang. Killing one is enough, killing two, and I make a profit! What about you guys?"

"Damn! I'm going to kill them too!!!"

"Me too. If they won't let us live, then we can't let them have it easy. I'll take a bite if I can!!!"

The soldiers looked at the men in black outside, their faces twisted in fury.

Now, the people of the stronghold and the people of Lin Qiang were enemies to them. But after all, they had come to attack the stronghold, and the stronghold was only passively defending.

And Lin Qiang was treating them as cannon fodder, the kind that was sure to die. So, the people these soldiers hated the most were of course Lin Qiang. This was probably something Lin Qiang hadn't expected...