Chapter Fifteen: Breaking Out of the Heavy Encirclement for the Fifth Time

  Cheng Xiaopeng stood up with his waist bent, using the shade of the trees to cover himself as he moved stealthily and quickly towards the left flank of the patrol team. Xu Mingliang crawled high in the weeds, swiftly moving to the right flank.

  The patrol squad did not open fire, one of them was still leisurely smoking, they seemed to have no feeling about the enemy who was just a stone's throw away.

  Cheng Xiaopeng and Xu Mingliang moved into position, giving Jin Huang an OK gesture. "Fire!" Jin Huang shouted loudly, pulling the trigger. The distance was too close, and the 7.2mm bullet pierced through the sniper's head, hitting the assault hand who was smoking behind him in the face. The patrol team was startled by the sudden loud shout and gunfire, and they reflexively fell to the ground, but it was too late. Cheng Xiaopeng and Xu Mingliang's assault rifles fired a burst of "tut-tut-tut", adding five new corpses to the forest floor.

  Jin Hao lowered his head and took a look at his watch, using only nineteen seconds! He hugged the gun with satisfaction and shouted: "Withdraw!"

  Cheng Xiaopeng took all the ammunition from the corpses and went ahead to scout, Xu Mingliang immediately turned around and ran towards the hiding point, helped Mr. Mark up and followed Cheng Xiaopeng at a distance with caution, Jin Huan helped Lin Ruolan up, Yang Xinxin said: "Captain, I'll cover our rear."

  "Call the code!" Jin Hao waved his hand at her, "You walk in the middle, pay attention to the vanguard's movement. I'll cover the back."

  "Yes!" Yang Xinxin linked arms with Lin Ruolan and followed the faintly visible figure of Cheng Xiaopeng from a distance.

  The team walked silently westward, crossing a low hill, and the terrain became increasingly steep. In front of them appeared large tracts of fir and cypress mixed forests, which seemed to have been untouched for years, with trees and vines growing in extreme disorder. Cheng Xiaopeng walked at the front of the team, swinging his machete to cut through the entwined plants, clearing a small path for the team.

  An hour of forced march, Jin Huan confirmed that there were no pursuers and signaled Cheng Xiaopeng to find a hidden campsite. By a clear stream, Cheng Xiaopeng cleared out a patch of grass for rest. Without Jin Huan's command, Cheng Xiaopeng and Xu Mingliang tacitly set up landmines around the perimeter, instantly setting up a circular defense circle.

  Lin Ruo Lan collapsed onto the soft grass mat, refusing to move again no matter what. Jin Huan smiled helplessly, taking out a sleeping bag from his backpack and covering her with it, giving orders in a low voice: "I'll take the first watch, Monkey will take the second, and Light Bulb will take the third. Two hours per shift. Nightingale, get some rest."

  "Leopard, I'll take watch, you rest for a while. You're the backbone of our squad!" Xu Mingliang shouted with wide eyes.

  Jin Huang made a silencing gesture, "I'm not tired, I'll wake you up in two hours. This area is currently safe, take the opportunity to rest, and we will depart at 14:00 sharp."

  Jin Hao's words relaxed the tense nerves of his teammates, who began to check their equipment and replenish their ammunition. Cheng Xiaopeng covered Mark, who had already fallen asleep, with a sleeping bag, placed the loaded AUG assault rifle across his thighs, and leaned against a fir tree, quickly falling into a deep sleep. Xu Mingliang also found a hiding spot, holding his rifle at a defensive angle towards himself, and soon fell fast asleep.

  Jin Huang took out the anti-inflammatory powder and iodine from the first-aid kit, dipped a cotton swab in iodine and gently disinfected Lin Ruolan's wound. The slight pain made her hum, restlessly twisting to pull her arm out, Jin Huang held her in his arms and patted her soothingly.

  Yang Xinxin, who had been anxiously waiting in the corner, quietly walked over and said, "I'll go."

  "Go take a rest." Jin Huan didn't even lift his head to look at her.

  Yang Xinxin hesitated for a moment, then suddenly said in a low voice: "Captain, I was wrong."

  Jin Huang calmly raised his head, glanced at Yang Xinxin with an air of innate majesty and authority that was invisible yet evident, "If you know what's wrong, change it!"

  "I understand!" Yang Xinxin bit her lower lip, "I will definitely change, even if it means sacrificing my life."

  Jin Huang sprinkled the anti-inflammatory powder evenly over Lin Ruolan's wound and wrapped it with a hemostatic bandage. "Do you know what mistake you made during this entire night's operation?"

  "I... I was rash and impulsive, and careless too, even forgot to leave a mark..."

  "Hmm, that's one thing," Jin Huan interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "But most importantly, in the absence of ammunition, special forces should be aware to adjust their rifles to single-shot mode, rather than like regular troops, who in a state of panic, grab the trigger and don't let go, wasting precious bullets on low-accuracy sweeps. Got it?"

  "I understand." A hint of joy appeared on Yang Xinxin's face, she knew that her captain was imparting his precious experience to her, an experience that couldn't be found in books or taught by instructors, only a veteran who had been through countless battles could summarize.

  "Go to sleep now, after we return I will request the military region to commute your punishment into merit on behalf of our squad."

  "Thank you, Captain!" Yang Xinxin's face lit up with joy, and her voice involuntarily rose, but Jin Huang immediately signaled her to keep quiet.

  Lin Ruo Lan stirred uncomfortably in her sleep, muttering to herself. Jin Huan looked at her, a gentle smile playing on his lips as he leaned in close to listen. "Water... drink water..." Jin Huan picked her up and brought the straw of his backpack's water bottle to her mouth. Lin Ruo Lan began sucking greedily. After she had drunk enough water, she fell back asleep with the straw still in her mouth. Jin Huan laid her back down on the grass mat, adjusting her into a comfortable sleeping position.

  Yang Xinxin quietly returned to her hiding spot, and suddenly understood that the man she had secretly loved for four years was not only cold and hard, but also a person who could fight fiercely, cleverly outmaneuver his enemies, and gently love. Only the person he loved was not her, and would never be her.

  The wind blew, chilling the fingertips. Yang Xinxin hid herself in a thick clump of weeds, hoping that all memories could be hidden away, sealed in the dark corners, never to be touched again, never to be thought of again. Suddenly, she remembered that many years ago, there was a fig tree on campus, and at that time, she always refused to believe that it was a tree that would not bloom but only bear fruit, always searching alone under the tree, looking for the shadow of flowers behind every leaf. Today, she suddenly thought of that tree again. It turned out that some trees were destined to have no flowering season, and could only produce unripe fruit.

  Forever, and will never bloom flowers.

  Jin Huan didn't have the heart to care about Yang Xinxin's troubles, he took off Lin Ruolan's shoes and socks, as expected, her feet had several blood blisters. He sighed, used a sterilized needle to prick the blisters, releasing the fluid inside, then lit a cigarette, using the ember to dry the blistered skin to prevent it from blistering again. Lin Ruolan slept soundly, never waking up. Jin Huan helped her put her shoes and socks back on, extinguishing the cigarette butt and burying it well.

  Crouching by the small stream, slowly washing his hands, Jin Huan always felt that there was a shadow in his heart that he couldn't shake off. But what exactly it was, he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Is it because of Geng Guohui's sacrifice?" Jin Huan asked himself, looking down at the flowing stream: "There's some of that reason, but not all of it, so what is it?"

  He glanced around, didn't find any enemy situation, the team members were well hidden and sleeping soundly. With long-term jungle combat experience, Xu Mingliang was extremely sensitive to changes in his surroundings. Jin Huan's gaze pressure actually startled him awake, his body motionless, slightly lifting his eyelids to observe his surroundings. Jin Huan gestured with his hand indicating there was no situation, he immediately closed his eyes and continued to sleep.

  Jin Huang used the binoculars to observe the surrounding woods again, and after confirming it was safe, he quietly walked back to Lin Ruolan's side. He took out his GPS and looked at it, but there was still no signal. It seemed that this electronic shielding area was extremely large.

  "Electromagnetic shielding zone? Thunderstorm area? Patrol squad?" He suddenly sat up straight. "Right! That's the problem!" He finally understood where the problem lay. After a long time of contemplation, a cold smile appeared on his lips, "Okay, let's have some fun with you guys!" He took out a map and carefully measured and calculated it, only letting out a long sigh after a while.

  He glanced at his watch, 10:00, and after Jin Hao made another safety confirmation of the surroundings, he lightly tapped Cheng Xiaopeng's leg and gave him a hand signal. Cheng Xiaopeng sprang up, cautiously observed his surroundings, and quietly walked towards the sentry post.

  "Twelve o'clock sharp, wake me and Deng Pao," Jin Hao said in a low voice. He had resolved the unease in his mind and felt much more at ease, lying on the soft grass with the loaded gun by his leg, soon falling fast asleep.

  At 12:00, Cheng Xiaopeng woke up Jin Huan and Xu Mingliang on time. The two moved their hands and feet silently for a while. Jin Huan walked to the stream and splashed cold water on his face, and his mind suddenly cleared. He beckoned to Cheng Xiaopeng and Xu Mingliang, and asked in a low voice: "Do you feel that something is strange?"

  Xu Mingliang hesitated for a moment, saying uncertainly: "When we encountered two ambushes in a row on the other side, I always had a feeling of being led by the nose, as if every step of our actions was accurately grasped by the opponent. On the contrary, after entering the electronic shielding zone, this feeling disappeared."

  Jin Hao nodded his head in approval with a smile of praise, "There's been progress, you're starting to think like a commander."

  Xu Mingliang scratched his head in embarrassment and smiled: "I was just thinking nonsense."

  Cheng Xiaopeng said discontentedly, "What's so hard to guess? The other side didn't set up an electronic shield on the road leading to the crash site. It was just to use radio waves to detect our position and determine whether we were in the encirclement circle, playing a game of cat and mouse with us."

  Yang Xinxin, who had been sleeping lightly all along, discovered that three people were having a meeting and quietly crept over to listen.

  Jin Hao looked at Cheng Xiaopeng with interest, "The monkey is right, they are indeed detecting our position. But have you ever thought about why they don't use detection methods here? Are they not afraid that we will infiltrate their flank from here?"

  The team members looked at each other in confusion, and Xu Mingliang suddenly slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "That's a well-laid trap, waiting for us to jump, there's no plane wreckage there at all!"

  "Not bad! The real crash site is not where we're going, the plane wreckage is in the center of the electronic shielding zone!" Jin Huan tapped his finger on the map, scanning his team members.

  Cheng Xiaopeng suddenly jumped up, "Oh no, isn't the Falcon Team heading straight into a trap?"

  "A camel jumps out of a flock of sheep - that's you!" Xuming Liang disdainfully rolled his eyes at him, "Don't you know what kind of person the Falcon is? Didn't you see how calm and collected the Cheetah was? It's probably moving towards us right now!"

  Jin Huang waved his hand to stop the two from continuing their argument: "We should still make preparations, we must send someone across the river to inform the Hawk Team."

  "I'm going!" Cheng Xiaopeng immediately asked for orders.

  "I'll go! Either way, I'm the one who's most rested, Leopard. I've already prepared!"

  Jin Hao shook his head and said to Xu Mingliang, who was eager to try: "You can't go alone. When crossing the river, someone must observe the other side for you. If there is a sniper on the other side, they will shoot at you when you are halfway across, and you won't even be able to find cover."

  "I'll go with the light bulb." Yang Xinxin, who had been silent all along, finally spoke up, "Isn't it just running on the road?"

  Jin Huang thought for a moment, then instructed: "Lamp and Nightingale go together, lightly equipped. If you encounter the enemy, don't fight back under any circumstances. I've calculated the route, if we set out at 18:00 now, we can reach the riverbank. Remember to wait until it's completely dark before crossing the river!"

  Xu Mingliang's face lit up, and he repeatedly responded, took off his heavy equipment, packed up his backpack neatly, looked at the map, planned out the route, and pointed it out to Yang Xinxin.

  "When you see the hawk, tell him not to use tactical radio, so as not to be detected. " Jin Huan pointed at the map and said: "I calculated the center of the electronic shielding area, roughly here. After you leave, I will move northeast towards it, tell the hawk to meet me at this coordinate point."

  "Understood!" Xu Mingliang slung his rifle over his shoulder and nodded at Jin Huang: "Leopard, let's go."