Chapter 238: Guo Quan!
“There is an enemy attack impending. Their main force consists of jeeps, trucks, buses and an unknown number of people. There are no infantry fighting vehicles…”
One of the warriors was using a military walkie-talkie to rapidly report back to headquarters. Although he had been selected to join the reconnaissance squad, prior to this, he didn’t have a lot of experience in warfare. It was thus understandable that he was unable to report back to headquarters like a genuine recon warrior would, using the proper protocol and giving accurate information. He could only give a broad outline of the most important information.
Guo Quan looked towards the warrior and asked,
“How is it? What are headquarters’ orders?”
The warrior solemnly replied,
“Headquarters have given their orders! We are to slow down their advance with everything we’ve got! After destroying the first armored vehicle that passes by here, we are free to retreat as we see fit.”
This reconnaissance squad was full of elite soldiers trained by Yue Zhong, who had no plans of sacrificing them for naught. Trying to obstruct a few hundred enemies with just 10 warriors was really too difficult.
Guo Quan’s mouth curled upwards as he patted the two Type QLB06 .35mm Light Grenade Launchers. He called out to the rest of his team,
“Just one armored vehicle?! Headquarters seem to think too lightly of us! With these guys, we should at least take down five of them! Do you guys have the confidence?!”
“Yes!!” The rest of the team hollered back.
Each member of this reconnaissance team had a .05 Light Submachine Gun, four hand grenades, armor sewn from the Mutant Water Snake scales and also two Type QLB06 .35mm Light Grenade Launchers, making a total of 24 grenades.
They could be considered to be armed to the teeth. After the battle with the herd of Mutant Pigs, they gained courage, self-confidence and even became Enhancers. They were also equipped with modern weaponry, which filled their hearts with confidence and had them in high spirits.
Guo Quan glanced at his team of warriors in a pleased way then proceeded to give out a series of orders.
The huge vehicle fleet was getting closer to this small bungalow that they were stationed in.
Guo Quan was lying on the rooftop, using the Type QLB06 .35mm Light Grenade Launcher to aim closely at the foremost vehicle of the enemy troop, a Dongfeng Warrior Vehicle mounted with a machine gun.
Just as that Dongfeng vehicle was about 100m away from the building, Guo Quan immediately pulled the trigger; at the same time, another warrior – named Xu Yang – also fired his QLB06.
With two huge ‘booms’, the two grenades exploded on that leading vehicle, with one of them landing on the fuel box, immediately causing the Dongfeng vehicle to explode into a huge fireball.
Facing the sudden attack, the vehicle fleet was suddenly plunged into chaos. They simply did not have any experience in dealing with modern warfare weaponry.
Some of the vehicles wanted to retreat, whilst others wanted to continue in their advance: in the ensuing chaos, many vehicles crashed against one another. Two buses filled with soldiers crashed violently into each other, killing or injuring a few dozen of the soldiers inside.
Guo Quan hadn’t expected their attack to be so effective, and so he immediately lifted the QLB06 to continue his assault on the vehicles, firing wildly.
One by one, explosions rocked the vehicle fleet, causing a Jeep and another Dongfeng vehicle to directly explode. Most of the vehicles then came to a stop and countless passengers armed with all sorts of weapons scrambled out.
Up until now, Tao Zhengyi’s subordinates had only fought against zombies and normal humans, but never against humans that possessed heavy weaponry. They did not possess a sliver of experience in this sort of warfare. The other eight members of the recon team opened fire on the chaotic scene in front of them, bombarding the 1000+ enemy soldiers. Some of them cried as they tried to flee, trampling over each other, resulting in a disastrous number of casualties.
“Ambush! AMBUSH!!”
Immediately after the first attack, Zhang Bao had rushed out from his vehicle and was now hollering at the top of his voice.
The moment he rushed out, other than the soldiers from the two elite companies of Ning Guang County who had plenty of battle experience, the rest fled in all directions and went seeking for cover.
While the soldiers of Ning County were busy looking for cover, Guo Quan and Xu Yang nonchalantly took aim with their grenade launchers and shot at the vehicles, destroying them one by one.
“Charge!”
Zhang Bao looked at the constant barrage of grenades coming from the bungalow and a grim expression flashed past his face. Leaving behind the two elite companies, he commanded the other two normal companies to act as cannon fodder and charge forward.
Under the urging of Zhang Bao and the other elite soldiers, the two companies’ worth of cannon fodder, who were scared witless, began to launch an assault on the bungalow.
“Good!!”
As Gu Lian watched the few hundred people rushing towards the bungalow, he smacked his lips and from one of the bungalows windows, he immediately began to wildly open fire at the cannon fodder.
The concentrated barrage of bullets rained down on the unfortunate warriors and instantly decimated a few dozen of them, while the rest of them turned pale and immediately turned tail, fleeing ignominiously.
Zhang Bao was furious as he and the elite warriors continuously shot down those who had escaped the fastest. Only then, was the frenzied retreat of the cannon fodder survivors stopped.
Following that, Zhang Bao organized two more groups of cannon fodder to rush towards the bungalow, resulting in the deaths of a few people each time. There was a pathetic outcome reach time, with none of them possessing the courage to even fire at the bungalow.
Lie Tianyang saw how useless the assaults were as his eyebrows furrowed and said,
“This won’t do!! Brother Bao, let the two elite companies charge!”
The elite companies were the lifelines of Tao Zhengyi and were also of extreme value to Ning County. It was precisely because of this that Zhang Bao wanted to first use the cannon fodder to engage in a war of attrition with those in the bungalow; he just didn’t expect the cannon fodder to be such cowards.
Zhang Bao’s face turned ashen as he coldly stared at Lie Tianyang and said,
“Lie Tianyang! Didn’t you say that they don’t have any ammunition left? What’s the deal with those grenade launchers?”
If Lie Tianyang hadn’t claimed that Yue Zhong had already expended all his ammunition, Tao Zhengyi would have considered striking a deal with Yue Zhong. Otherwise, even if he conquered the enemy, he would have faced huge losses as well. When fighting against a formidable powerhouse, it was not as easy or simple as swallowing up a small stronghold. Conquering small strongholds would only require Tao Zhengyi to launch a single assault, which would easily result in the small stronghold’s armed forces being destroyed and assimilated.
Lie Tianyang was equally depressed as he replied,
“Maybe he got lucky and came across a military camp recently.”
Lie Tianyang hated Yue Zhong from the depths of his heart. Now that Yue Zhong’s power had further increased, this only served to fuel his jealousy and rage.
Zhang Bao glanced at Lie Tianyang, before ordering in a low voice,
“There doesn’t seem to be many people in the bungalow. Go and take care of them!!”
Lie Tianyang’s eyes flashed with a hint of anger. After all, he wasn’t one of Tao Zhengyi’s lackeys, yet this Zhang Bao was obviously treating him like cannon fodder.
Lie Tianyang’s eyes were surging with anger and his expression turned cold. He silently walked towards the tall and sturdy middle aged man named Niu Sheng, as well as the ferocious-looking young man named Dong Zi with dyed blonde hair who watched everything with a gaze sharper than daggers.
Zhang Bao, Niu Sheng and Dong Zi were all Evolvers under Tao Zhengyi, who had in turn spent a huge amount of resources to nurture and enhance their growth. This enabled him to have quite a few exceptionally powerful experts by his side.
Lie Tianyang also knew that Niu Sheng and Dong Zi were Evolvers with great strength. So with great difficulty he suppressed his anger, before saying to Zhang Bao:
“Then I shall go and kill them now!!”
After which, he jumped out from behind the vehicular cover and activated his hurricane armor, rushing towards the direction of the bungalow.
“Lie Tianyang!!”
Upon seeing the approaching Lie Tianyang with his hurricane armor, Guo Quan and the rest of the warriors turned pale. After all, they were recently still at his mercy, and upon seeing the cruel and fearsome ex-tyrant of Clear Wind Camp, they naturally could not help but feel a bit fearful.
In a flash, a concentrated barrage of 5.8mm bullets and grenades was fired at Lie Tianyang.
However, it turned out that Lie Tianyang was actually just feinting. He did not attack the bungalow, but rather changed direction and fled instead, which accordingly led to most of the ammunition hitting thin air. Although some of the bullets actually entered the vicinity of his hurricane armor, they were then promptly swept away one by one.
In just a few moments, Lie Tianyang had already escaped without even his shadow to be seen, leaving only the forces of Ning Guang County to contend with the recon team under Yue Zhong. Seeing that Lie Tianyang had actually chosen to escape during this moment of crisis, Zhang Bao cursed,
“Damn bastard!!”
Niu Sheng frowned and asked Zhang Bao,
“What do we do? Brother Bao, should we send out the elite soldiers?”
Those cannon fodder troops could not be relied on, and so the only forces that could actually seize control over the bungalow were the elite soldiers, who were the core of Ning Guang County’s military power.
Zhang Bao pondered for a moment. Now that Yue Zhong’s forces possessed enough weapons and ammunition, he was rather worried. However, after some hesitation, he still gave the order,
“Let the Elite 3rd Company’s 1st Platoon go forth!”
A whole platoon of soldiers immediately crouched down and made their way carefully to surround the bungalow on all four sides.
These elite soldiers of Ning Guang County had also seen and fought their fair share of zombies. Even though their achievements were far-off compared to those of a proper army, they were still much better than those cannon fodder troops.
As the platoon began to surround the bungalow, the recon warriors inside could feel the pressure. They continuously opened fire with their .05 Light Submachine Guns at the soldiers from Ning Guang County below them.
The dense barrage of bullets caused three casualties amongst the elite warriors of Ning Guang before the rest immediately dove for cover. Afterwards, they began to open fire, spraying unceasingly at the bungalow. Soon enough, both parties were engaging in an all-out gunfight.
As a hail of bullets rained down on this area, one bullet found its way through the brains of one of the recon warriors, ending his life instantly. There was finally a casualty within the bungalow.
“Old Wu!!”
As Guo Quan saw his comrade falling beside him he howled, his eyes scarlet like those of an injured beast. He fired the grenade launcher repeatedly at the enemies outside and two grenades exploded on a small dirt mound, instantly killing the two Ning Guang County soldiers taking cover behind it.
“What tenacious enemies!!”
Zhang Bao glanced at the small bungalow and furrowed his brows slightly. In most of their previous conquests, the battle ended as soon as they fired and killed some people, upon which the rest would completely lose their morale and directly surrender.
Although Guo Quan was only in command of one squad, they were all fully equipped and had plenty of ammunition. They could maintain their firing accordingly and actually suppress all the enemy soldiers, giving them no space to even lift their heads, thus causing a lot of damage to the opposing side as well.
Zhang Bao looked at the bungalow, which they still hadn’t captured even after 20 minutes, and his face turned ashen. Angrily, he ordered,
“3rd Company 2nd and 3rd Platoons, begin your assault on the bungalow! I want those enemies inside dead!”
Zhang Bao had originally wanted to conserve the fighting strength of the elite soldiers until they reached Mahogany Town, so that they could commence their onslaught on Yue Zhong’s stronghold in prime condition. However it seemed that if he did not send them out now, he would have to spend even longer taking down this bungalow.
Once the soldiers of Ning Guang County’s Elite 3rd Company had joined the fray, the recon soldiers in the bungalow felt the pressure on them rise severalfold. In the gunfight that ensued, they began to receive bullet wounds one by one.
Fortunately, they were dressed in the Mutant Water Snake armor, which meant that as long as they did not suffer any wounds to the head, they could still survive. After such a long battle, only one other warrior had died to a head wound; the rest were still alive and fighting.
Nevertheless, facing the huge increased barrage of firepower from the Ning Guang County troops, Guo Quan and the rest could barely even lift their heads under the complete suppression.
Zhang Bao saw that the situation was swinging in their favour, yet he still frowned deeply. While the Elite 3rd Company of Ning County was still firing at the bungalow from the outside, not a single one of them dared to rush in. If this continued, who knew how much longer it would take to completely wipe out the warriors inside the bungalow.
Unfortunately, Zhang Bao’s side were severely lacking in heavy weaponry. If they had heavy artillery, then the bungalow would already have been blasted to smithereens, and this battle wouldn’t have been dragged on for so long.
“3rd Company charge!! Not a single enemy is to be left alive!”
Zhang Bao shouted out his command fiercely. He had already fought this war of attrition for too long, and he didn’t want to waste a single second more.
At Zhang Bao’s order, the soldiers of the Elite 3rd Company moved in from three different directions, crouching and making their way closer towards the bungalow that Guo Quan and his team were stationed in.
“They’re here!!”
Seeing the elite soldiers of Ning County launching their assault, Guo Quan spat out some saliva before starting to open fire with his grenade launcher at the soldiers.
There wasn’t anywhere good to seek cover near the bungalow, and so the 3rd Company soldiers sustained huge losses halfway through their assault.
One by one, the grenades exploded on the poor elite soldiers of Ning Guang County, killing them piecemeal. The constant barrage of fire from the .05 Light Machine Guns was also effective at picking off the soldiers as many of them fell lifelessly to the ground.
Seeing that their comrades were constantly falling to the ground, the elite soldiers’ morale crumbled apart, whereupon they immediately retreated like a receding tide. After all, they were not actual soldiers who had undergone rigorous military training and had firm resolutions. The outcome of this assault would be the deaths of another 2 recon warriors at best.
There were currently only five people remaining amongst Yue Zhong’s recon warriors.
“Damn it!”
Zhang Bao frowned as he could feel the determination of Yue Zhong’s forces. Breaking past the defenses of the bungalow was not difficult in itself, but the morale and fighting spirit displayed by the warriors inside the bungalow gave Zhang Bao a huge sense of unease!
“We can’t drag this out any longer! Dong Zi, go and take care of them!”
Zhang Bao gave the order to Dong Zi in a low voice.
Dong Zi’s eyes flashed with a cold gleam as he activated the Shadow Steps Skill, which he had enhanced twice.
He was an Agility-based Evolver in the first place, but with Shadow Steps active, his speed was over 11 times greater than that of normal humans.