Chapter 1 The Battle Begins

Inside the Casallo border, the battle had already begun. The special operations squadron, in conjunction with the special police squadron, dispatched over a hundred men, plunging into the dense forest on both sides of the road to intercept the fleeing Chi Army.

At the same time, helicopters and garrison soldiers dispatched from Dragon City were also encircling the Chi Army's escape route.

This level of confrontation had escalated into a small-scale military conflict, with nearly all participants on both sides being professional soldiers.

In the dense forest.

While running, Zhao Weihu held his headset and commanded, "Attention, support personnel, if the helicopters don't get close, don't fire. Don't expose your firepower prematurely. They may suppress us from diagonally above, outside our artillery range. Entangle them!"

"Roger!"

"Dispersed units, move outward independently in platoon-sized formations. First commanders must ensure the integrity of their units!"

"Roger!"

As the Chi Army retreated according to plan, helicopters not far away were already flying at low altitude. The commanding officer on the lead helicopter ordered all armed helicopters to activate their thermal detection equipment, aiming their machine guns at the red spots on the screens, ready to fire!

Rescuing the hostages was no longer the top priority. The garrison's orders were to capture as many Chi Army personnel involved in the kidnapping as possible. Therefore, the helicopters overhead would not distinguish between hostages and bandits; they would simply fire at any red spot they saw!

If Zhao Weihu had only issued the kidnapping order, acted with restraint, and not harmed those corrupt officials and public servants who only knew how to extort, he certainly wouldn't have been able to rescue Lao Huang at the scene, or the soldiers captured along the Sinarro coast.

Without killing, the Dragon City command would not be intimidated and would not negotiate with the bandits!

But having killed so many, the greater district would not compromise either. If the troops didn't even have the ability to handle emergencies in the main city, how could they answer to the public!

So, conflict was inevitable. Zhao Weihu was aware of this. He knew before he came that there would be a fight, and that he might not be able to get out, but what was done was done, and there was no turning back!

After the helicopter squadron approached the forest, the Chi Army support personnel immediately shouted on the communication channel, "Report, enemy helicopters have entered our strike range!"

"Wait! Wait for them to get closer!" Zhao Weihu roared.

"Da da da..."

In the midst of speaking, the Gatling guns and heavy machine guns of seven or eight helicopters simultaneously targeted the mountain forest, beginning indiscriminate strafing!

The deafening sound of gunfire and cannons resounded through the air. From an overhead perspective, the mountain forest was blasted with flying debris. Tree trunks as thick as an adult's thigh were repeatedly struck, crashing down with loud cracks, stirring up clouds of dust. Branches and leaves pierced the damp soil, leaving a scene of utter devastation.

The Chi Army's casualties soared, but most of the soldiers' formations remained intact, scattering in orderly lines and continuing to flee towards the rendezvous point.

…

In the dense forest in the opposite direction of the Chi Army's escape, Su Tianyu looked at the helicopters in the sky, and for a moment, it felt like a dream back to the independent battlefield. The feeling was so familiar—the roar of guns, the cries of agony. The only difference was that this time he had no comrades, only burdens.

Su Tianyu reached out and pulled at Li Mingsheng, saying in a low voice, "Mayor, they should have infrared thermal detection equipment. We can't run around, or the helicopters will spot us, think we're fleeing bandits, and just open fire. That would be a truly pointless death."

Gasping for breath, Li Mingsheng looked at him, "Was the rescue plan leaked by you?!"

"No, they were prepared in advance. I even took a bullet in the leg," Su Tianyu replied, pointing to the bandage on his thigh.

With disheveled hair and heavy breathing, Li Mingsheng looked at Su Tianyu and asked in a low voice, "Then why would they let you go?"

Su Tianyu had already prepared his lines: "The Dragon City government troops are going to attack hard. The hostages are already gone. We have had some contact with the Chi Army, so they did my boss a favor and released me."

This answer was somewhat far-fetched, but with Li Mingsheng's intelligence, he wouldn't question Su Tianyu in detail under these circumstances!

Regardless of Gou Liuzi's previous motives, at this moment, he was clearly on Li Mingsheng's side and wanted to save him.

"Mayor, let's wait for the helicopters to pass, then move to the outer perimeter and find our own soldiers who are encircling the Chi Army," Su Tianyu said again in a low voice. "I was a soldier. I can lead you back."

Li Mingsheng glanced at Su Tianyu with a complicated expression, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

Looking at his expression, Su Tianyu thought that this important figure was scared witless, because he had personally witnessed on the independent battlefield how those white-collar officials and government officials who were influential in the city behaved after actually entering the battlefield. So he comforted him in a soft voice: "It's okay, there are only three of us. Under the helicopters' thermal detection equipment, we're just a very small red spot. As long as we keep our distance, the danger isn't high!"

Li Mingsheng nodded to him and didn't reply.

Next to him, Secretary-General Lu squatted behind Li Mingsheng and also whispered, "Division Commander, these Supervision Committee people are inhuman. We do so much for them, to create achievements, but they don't even think about it and just want to attack hard... They don't consider our safety at all."

Li Mingsheng glanced at him, "Follow Little Su."

"Brother Little Su, what I said to you over there just now was unintentional in the heat of the moment. Don't take it to heart," Secretary-General Lu reached out and patted Su Tianyu's shoulder. "Your family is fine. We were afraid you would be threatened by the bandits, so we sent people to protect them! The people who went were all called by me. They are safe."

Su Tianyu glanced at the other party coldly, and said with a smile, "You have to stay close to me later, otherwise these bullets don't have eyes, and maybe someone will fire a shot and hurt you!"

"Okay, thank you!" Secretary-General Lu adjusted his dirty glasses and nodded with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, the three of them stopped talking. Li Mingsheng hid behind a tree trunk, staring at the helicopters in the sky, his face pale, seemingly very nervous.

After a while, the helicopters finally swept over their heads, and the surrounding gunfire was also sparse. At this time, Li Mingsheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go!" Su Tianyu got up and called out to the Mayor.

The three of them ran together. Su Tianyu pointed in the direction of Dragon City and said, "That way, I heard the gunfire started over there. We can definitely run into our own soldiers if we cross the forest!"

At this moment, Secretary-General Lu was following slightly behind. Li Mingsheng glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and replied in a low voice, "Don't run towards the capture troops!! Let's go back ourselves!"

"Huh?!" Su Tianyu looked at the other party in astonishment.

…

In the sky above the mountain forest, seeing that the enemy's counterattack ability was poor, the helicopter squadron immediately lowered its altitude again, flying almost along the treetops to provide the most powerful firepower suppression!

Running at the front of the column, Zhao Weihu looked at the position of the helicopters behind him and immediately roared, "Damn it, these people don't know why we're called the Chi Army!! Show them what we've got, stick close and attack them in the air!! Shoot down these flies for me!"

As soon as the order was issued, the support personnel hidden in the mountain forest immediately lifted the gray cloth that protected them from thermal detection, revealing several anti-aircraft gun mounts and more than a dozen RPGs!

"Fire!!" The Chi Army staff officer in remote command roared hysterically.

Inside a dimly lit warehouse in Dragon City, more than a dozen men stood together, staring at a temporarily assembled large screen, whispering to each other.

Only the people in the room knew the function of this "small command center," and it was not officially established.