Chapter 21: Iron Blooded Military Soul Part One

  "Hawk, mountain hawk, retreat!" A loud shout came from 500 meters behind. Upon hearing this voice, Chen Jianfeng and Lin Jie almost instinctively rolled back immediately.

  Two dull gunshots came from behind, two bullets flew towards the helicopter at high speed, one in front and one in back. One bullet penetrated the thick bulletproof glass and hit the pilot's head, blood and brain matter immediately splattered on the windshield. The second bullet arrived soon after, accurately hitting the helicopter's fuel tank, a burst of flames erupted from the fuel tank, and the helicopter exploded in mid-air with a loud "Boom! Boom!" The explosion was heard far away, and the exploding ammunition flew into the sky with a loud "Rat-a-tat-tat".

  Almost simultaneously with the gunfire, a single-soldier portable air defense missile shot out flames and flew straight towards the helicopter. The panicked helicopter made a sharp turn, trying to escape the missile's guidance range, but it was too close, and with a loud "boom", the missile and helicopter exploded into a fireball in the sky!

  "Where did the poisonous thorn come from?" The helicopter's explosion wave flew over his head, Chen Jianfeng didn't have time to think much, and he jumped out of the burning sea of fire on one leg. Lin Jie rushed past him from the side and supported him to leave the cover of flames and rushed to the riverbank.

  "Hawk, where are you hit?" Jin Huan ran over to him with a G3SG1 sniper rifle in one hand.

  Seeing his intimate comrades who had been through life and death together, Chen Jianfeng felt a wave of relief in his heart. The intense pain that he hadn't noticed at all during the battle suddenly surged up, and he almost fainted. He had always relied on some kind of power to support himself, and this power came from his sense of responsibility towards his comrades. Panting heavily, he asked: "How did you come? You're here, what about our guests?"

  "Don't worry, I left them in a safe place. Monkey and I went to scout the crash site, and on the way, we hijacked a patrol car. From the enemy's vehicle-mounted radio, we knew you were in a precarious situation, so we came to rescue you." Jin Huan said it lightly, but Chen Jianfeng knew that this short sentence was easy to say, but difficult to do. The crash site was 50 kilometers away from the riverbank in a straight line, and within a few hours, they had to scout out the enemy situation, then travel back and forth on the mountain road for 50 kilometers to cross the river and rescue them. How much physical energy would that require?

  The team members who were hiding in the bushes with bated breath excitedly gathered around, Ma Ping wiped away tears from his face and grinned foolishly.

  "Brothers! It's great that you're all alive! Remember, we are the indestructible iron warriors, we are the invincible Chinese special forces!"

  "Kill! Kill! Kill!" The team members roared in unison, courage, persistence, perseverance, and the instinctual yearning for victory - this is the essence of the most excellent soldiers! A torrential killing aura that only a massive army could possess slowly rose from these nine individuals.

  Jin Huang turned his head to Xu Mingliang and said, "The helicopter explosion will stun them for a while. Let's take advantage of the time before the pursuers arrive and cross the river quickly!"

  "Yes!" Xu Mingliang responded loudly and ran to the riverbank, shooting the rope launcher at a large tree on the opposite bank of the river that two people could hug. The rope launcher hung with the main rope passing through the trunk, and the teeth were tightly stuck in the tree body. After confirming that it was already tied firmly, Xu Mingliang bound the main rope to a big tree beside him, and the secondary rope was hung on his waist. He turned back and gave Lin Jie a signal.

  Lin Jie raised the sniper rifle's scope to search for a moment on the opposite shore, and made an OK gesture. Xu Mingliang kicked the ground with both feet, jumped into the river, and quickly disappeared into the night.

  "Where did you get those anti-aircraft missiles?" Long Fei couldn't help but ask the question that had been on his mind during the wait to cross the river.

  "If we can hijack a patrol car, why can't we hijack an ammunition transport vehicle? The two of us almost turned the sky upside down over there, and it's really exhilarating to fight alongside the cheetah!" Cheng Xiaopeng chuckled as he took the 3-kilogram sniper rifle from Chen Jianfeng's hand and slung it over his back, looking at Jin Huan and asking, "Should the hawk go first?"

  Jin Hao nodded, "I'll take care of it." He gave Chen Jianfeng a gentle push on the back, urging him to hurry up and stop bothering him.

  Three minutes later, the squad safely crossed the river.

  Jin Huan was the last to cross the river. As soon as his feet touched land, Xu Mingliang pulled in the rope and retrieved it. Jin Huan gave a low command: "Monkey vanguard, lead the team to the car hiding point. After the lights go out, pay attention to erasing any traces."

  Sitting in the military jeep, Chen Jianfeng let out a sigh of relief. The high-intensity continuous battle had just ended, and as he sat down, the pain from his wound and the fatigue of his body rushed up together. His eyelids fluttered rapidly as he shook his head vigorously to drive away the drowsiness. He asked Jin Huang with concern: "Won't you bring 'Dog' to the hideout?"

  "Don't worry, they're all confused now. By the time they wake up and start searching, it'll be daylight. We should make our move too." Jin Huan patted Chen Jianfeng lightly: "There's about two hours before we get off, you rest for a bit." He suddenly reached out to touch Chen Jianfeng's forehead: "You have a fever?"

  "It's nothing!" Chen Jianfeng brushed off his hand, grabbed a few pills from his backpack, popped them into his mouth, and took a big swig of water from the canteen at his waist.

  "Monkey, step on it, their wounds need to be re-dressed." Jin Huan gritted his teeth and gave a low command to Cheng Xiaopeng who was driving.

  "Yes!" The military jeep sped forward into the dark distance.

  ……

  Lin Ruo Lan and Mr. Ma were arranged in a cave that was accidentally discovered, outside the cave is a deep canyon over 100 meters deep and only 15 meters wide, with steep cliffs on both sides, the sound of water hitting the rocks is like thunder. The entrance to the cave has strange rocks and ancient trees with green vines, making it a serene and enchanting place. Inside the cave, the stalactites have different shapes and forms, some resembling floating clouds, others like lotus flowers, making people marvel at the wonder and greatness of creation.

  This cave consists of several chambers of varying sizes, with complex terrain and many dark and deep areas that make people dare not to approach. They are located in a smaller chamber, which has naturally formed stone tables and stools.

  Connected to the small cave is a huge cave that can be called a square, in this large cave there is also a vertical well that falls thousands of feet like hell, I don't know where it leads. A winding underground river flows quietly along one side of the square, Jin Huang had just brought her into this cave, she couldn't wait to comb and wash by the river.

  Lin Ruo Lan stood up for the twentieth time, leaning against the wall at the entrance of the small cave, looking out into the dark outer cave.

  Mr. Mark comforted her in a low voice: "Don't worry, I believe they will appear before you soon."

  Lin Ruo Lan let out a sigh, turning her head to look at the large equipment bag placed deep within the cave, feeling uneasy in her heart. When Jin Huang and Cheng Xiao Peng had put this equipment bag here, it was still daytime, but now it was already midnight.

  She thought of going to the entrance countless times, but every time she stepped out, she remembered Jin Huan's last words: "Don't leave the entrance, I've set up a trap there, if you step on it, it'll be bad. Listen and wait for me to come back."

  After a lot of trouble, Mr. Mark has come to realize that his reckless behavior has led to irreparable consequences. Although he also hopes to go outside the cave to breathe some fresh air, he immediately warned himself: "Don't cause any more trouble for these young soldiers!"

  Suddenly, a faint rattling sound came from outside the cave, and Lin Ruo-lan and Mr. Mark immediately tensed up their bodies. But soon, a melodious bird call came from outside the cave, and Lin Ruo-lan jumped up excitedly - this was the secret signal she had agreed upon with Jin Huan. She picked up a stone and knocked three times on the wall of the cave. Immediately, faint and rustling footsteps came from outside the cave, and the team members, guided by Jin Huan, walked towards the cave, bypassing the treacherous terrain.

  Lin Ruo Lan arrived at the entrance of the cave, and with the help of night vision goggles, she saw Chen Jian Feng's pants legs stained red with blood. She covered her mouth and let out a low cry of surprise.

  Chen Jianfeng's pale face, devoid of even a hint of blood color, broke into a smile. "It's nothing, just a minor injury."

  Jin Hao glanced at his watch and ordered the team members: "Hurry up and rest! It's now 12:30, we'll depart at 5:00 sharp!" He turned to Lin Ruolan and whispered: "Tell Mr. Mark to hurry up and rest, we'll take him to see what he wants to see tomorrow morning at 5:00. Then you go to sleep too, it's late."

  The team members politely nodded to Mr. Mark, then hastily ate a compressed biscuit, and didn't even have time to wring out their wet combat uniforms before falling asleep on the cold stone.

  Chen Jianfeng leaned against the wall of the cave and sat down, rolling up his pant legs to examine the wound. Jin Huan turned on a high-intensity flashlight and took out bandages and anti-inflammatory powder from the first-aid kit. Due to the continuous high-intensity combat and running, the sutured area had burst open, and blood was gushing out of the wound, which had been soaked white by rainwater. Jin Huan prepared to re-suture it, but Chen Jianfeng stopped him, "Don't suture it, it might split open again tomorrow. Just bandage it tightly and make do for a day."

  Lin Ruolan conveyed Jin Huang's meaning to Mr. Ma, silently walked over and took the flashlight, Jin Huang sprinkled anti-inflammatory powder on the wound, bandaged it neatly while saying in a low voice: "Didn't I tell you to go to sleep?"

  "Uh-huh, I'll go right away." Lin Ruolan softly responded with a single word.

  Chen Jianfeng saw that she didn't intend to leave, and a strange wave rippled in his dark eyes. He hesitated for a moment before saying softly, "Hurry up and go, or he'll be worried." As he spoke, he nodded towards Jin Huang and smiled.

  Lin Ruo Lan's face turned red when he said that, and she glanced at Jin Huang secretly. The latter was smiling at her and mouthed to her: "Go quickly." She had no choice but to hand the flashlight over to Cheng Xiao Peng who had been guarding beside her, then returned to the corner of the cave where a bed made of straw was placed, lay down with her back against the wall and closed her eyes.

  Jin Huang bandaged Chen Jianfeng's wound and went to see Long Fei, who was already fast asleep. Cheng Xiaopeng helped take off his combat uniform, revealing the injured left shoulder. Long Fei's wound had been soaked in rainwater and had become inflamed, with the entire left shoulder swelling up irreparably. Under the flashlight, the sutured area shone with a greasy white light.

  Jin Huang helped Long Fei clean the wound, re-applied medicine and bandages. The piercing pain only made Long Fei hum lightly in his sleep, showing no intention of waking up. Chen Jianfeng took the flashlight from Cheng Xiaopeng's hand and said softly, "Go take a look at the jackal's injury, then you should rest too."

  Cheng Xiaopeng hastily walked a few steps to help Ma Ping, who was sleeping like he was in a coma, treat his wound.

  Chen Jianfeng said in a low voice, "Our ammunition is running out, and what's worse, we have four wounded comrades. The raid on the crash site will be a tough battle, and we also need to guard against M country special forces sneaking up from behind. The situation isn't looking good!"

  "Amidst the wreckage, Jin Hao pointed to a large equipment bag in the corner and said, 'Ammunition isn't a problem, but the wounded are my top concern. I've been scouting with Cheng Xiaopeng outside the crash site for a long time, and we drew a rough map.' He glanced at Chen Jianfeng's pale face and swallowed his words, 'You rest first, let's discuss our plan of action together at 4:30 tomorrow morning.'"

  Chen Jianfeng was indeed a bit unable to hold on, drowsiness struck, and he leaned against the cave wall and fell asleep quickly. Coming and going, Jin Huan, who was extremely tired, also leaned against the cave wall and fell asleep.