Patty Town.

The town was engulfed in artillery fire, many buildings completely destroyed.

Wang Zhengjun lay in the trench, watching shells streak through the air, and a dozen armed pickup trucks in the distance crush the defenses and enter the position.

"First Battalion, find out what's happening with the First Battalion! Why is there such a big gap, letting the enemy's armed pickup trucks in?" Wang Zhengjun crouched low, dodging stray bullets whizzing overhead, while shouting at the officer beside him.

Soon, the adjutant ran back, covered in dirt, and lay beside Wang Zhengjun, urgently shouting, "Regiment Commander! The First Battalion can't hold on, many brothers have already run..."

"Boom!"

A shell landed near the trench, interrupting their conversation. The adjutant pressed Wang Zhengjun to the ground, dirt splashing over them.

"First Battalion Commander..." Wang Zhengjun raised his head, shaking his ringing ears, and shouted to the adjutant, "Bring me the First Battalion Commander!"

"The First Battalion Commander is dead," the adjutant shouted, his shoulder pierced by shrapnel, blood gushing out, "Now the company commander is in charge."

"Damn it!" Wang Zhengjun cursed inwardly, feeling extremely frustrated.

As a large-scale private armed force, the five thousand members of the Huagong Association could handle training just fine, listening to commands and executing them effectively. But when it came to the battlefield, seeing armed pickup trucks charging with machine guns, the psychological defenses of most soldiers collapsed. They were genuinely afraid, constantly retreating, which caused the warriors who initially wanted to fight back to also collapse.

No one had the courage to die in the defense zone, and the atmosphere of fear became contagious, leading to a rout.

This wasn't to say that the Huagong Association's armed force was a mere rabble, but rather that they simply lacked real combat experience. Training was completely different from the current situation.

"Transfer people, have Li Lei lead a team to block the gap, it must be held, otherwise it will collapse." Wang Zhengjun's throat was hoarse, constantly issuing orders to the officers beside him.

"Yes!" The adjutant didn't even have time to treat his wound, and hurriedly went to relay the order.

After another three or four minutes, in the chaotic crowd, a young officer lowered his body, leading two black men with their wrists tied, and ran over. He pushed aside the soldiers in the trench and shouted anxiously, "Make way, make way, I have something to report to the Regiment Commander!"

Hearing the commotion next to him, Wang Zhengjun turned around and glanced at the officer who had just run up to him, and the two black men behind him.

Wang Zhengjun frowned, "What's the situation, prisoners?"

"Regiment Commander, they are not prisoners." The officer quickly saluted and shouted, "They took the initiative to surrender, saying they can lead us out."

...

Saint Paul, the slums.

Under a sparsely populated bridge opening, Qiu Ge and his team abandoned their vehicle and were hiding. It was a remote place, surrounded by weeds.

The team hadn't fully assembled yet, and everyone was waiting anxiously. Qiu Ge frowned, sitting on the iron railing beside him, lifting his shirt, and using a medical stapler brought by another squad during their rendezvous to crudely close his wound.

Behind him, a team member with a large hole shot through the base of his neck was lying on the ground, his consciousness fading, occasionally letting out painful moans.

His injury was too severe, and the medical stapler was useless. Two team members squatted beside him, one pressing his neck, the other trying to stitch his wound with a crochet hook.

The remaining team members were also mostly injured. They didn't say a word, some smoking, some staring blankly.

Imre was bound hand and foot and thrown on the ground, two team members holding guns, watching him closely.

"Pfft!" The young man who had been shot through the base of his neck suddenly spat out two mouthfuls of blood, and the wound that hadn't been stitched properly burst open again, blood gushing out like a tap. The team member quickly tried to block it with his hand, but couldn't stop it at all.

The young man convulsed for a while, his legs stiffened, and he stopped breathing.

With the young man's death, the crowd's anxious emotions were ignited.

"Fucking hell!" The team member who had just been stitching the young man's wound threw the medical equipment on the ground and cursed violently, "Fucking hell, Outpost One was wiped out, the other outposts must have been compromised too! We have nowhere to go, so many brothers are injured, what do we do? In less than ten minutes, the streets will be full of patrol cops!"

The brothers next to him heard his words, and their emotions became agitated, and complaints began to rise.

"I just don't understand, we were supposed to be responsible for Wu Boxin, why the fuck did they make us deal with this idiot?"

"It's always like this, the mission is never what they say it is! What the hell is the top brass doing? If you can't command, then don't fucking command, just doing whatever comes to mind! So many brothers lost, who's responsible?!"

"……!"

The complaints grew louder and louder. Imre lay on the ground and said in somewhat broken English, "Brothers, as long as you send me back, I guarantee you will leave this city safely."

Qiu Ge threw the stapler aside, walked directly to Imre, and kicked him in the head.

"Bang, bang!"

Three consecutive kicks sent Imre's eyes rolling back. Qiu Ge didn't say a word, and the surrounding team members stopped complaining, just watching him quietly.

Qiu Ge withdrew his leg, ignoring his still bleeding wound, pointed at the ground and roared in a low voice, "Afraid of death?! Why the hell are you doing intelligence work if you're afraid of death? If you're eating this rice, you have to be mentally prepared. Is now the time to complain and whine?! Besides messing with our own morale, what's the point? Huh?!"

Hearing Qiu Ge's scolding, everyone lowered their heads.

Qiu Ge glanced at the crowd, bent down and sat back on the railing, picked up the stapler again, and stitched up the wound that had just burst open, while saying in a hoarse voice, "Treat your wounds, treat the wounded, don't waste time complaining. You're all old team members, you need to stay calm in times like these."

His voice was very soft, but no one retorted. Everyone silently got up, either treating their own wounds or helping other team members.

After treating his wound, Qiu Ge changed to a new phone and dialed An Qiqi's number: "Director An, you must do two things for me now. First, help me find a reliable place, we are in very bad shape and need to rest. Second, we need some doctors, they have to be very reliable."

"Okay, I'll arrange it." This request wasn't simple, but An Qiqi immediately agreed.

...

Outside Patty Town.

Under the cover of night, Wang Zhengjun, followed by two black men leading the way, led five hundred warriors out of the battle and advanced about two kilometers in the four o'clock direction. Near the encirclement, they found that the black people in the vicinity were retreating, and really didn't launch an attack on their side.

Wang Zhengjun's heart, which had been hanging in the air, relaxed a little, and he began to believe some of what the two black men had said.

"Regiment Commander, there's a signal." The adjutant took out his phone and showed it to Wang Zhengjun.

The black man next to him hurriedly said, "Friend, see, we didn't lie to you, right? We really want to let you go because our boss is in your hands!"

"Shut up!" Wang Zhengjun cursed at him, then immediately picked up his phone and called Wang Xiao.

"Xiao Jun, you're out?!" Wang Xiao's voice was a little surprised.

"Only a few hundred people came out to check the situation." Wang Zhengjun's voice was short and powerful, "Two black men want to lead me out, can I trust them?"

"Yes, it was arranged by the An faction." Wang Xiao replied directly, "Their boss was caught by us, you immediately lead the troops and rush out through the opening they created."

"Yes!" Wang Zhengjun hung up the phone and turned back to order the adjutant: "Send a squad back to relay the order. Notify all troops, stop defending, just seize this point and fight your way out, quickly!"