Volume 1: Fierce Tiger Leaves Its Leash Chapter 17: Blazing Flames Shooting Upwards (Part 1)
This turn of events was definitely not anticipated by the US military, and several officers were at a loss for what to do, even getting into an argument with two mercenary leaders. Ling Tianxiang wasn't in a hurry, dragging things out wouldn't harm him. Now, the most important bargaining chip in his hands wasn't Intelligence Officer Swire, but rather Colonel John who he had already taken care of. It was clear that as the commander of this unit, his subordinates would not dare to launch an attack without confirming that he was finished.
To let the US military know he was still alive, Ling Tianxiang fired a few shots into the air every ten minutes. This also served as a warning to the US military not to try to rescue him by force, as he had enough ammunition in his hands and if the US military tried to rush over, he would have enough time to kill the hostages in his hands.
Time passed minute by minute, and within two and a half hours, the US military had not taken any action, not even sending a helicopter over. This made Ling Tianxiang feel somewhat puzzled. Within two and a half hours, helicopters could fly at least 700 kilometers, and within that range, there were hundreds of US military bases that could deploy hundreds of helicopters. So why hadn't the US military sent any helicopters? Was this an operation hidden from their superiors?
Thinking of this, Ling Tianxiang also had a bottom line in his heart. This must be an unauthorized action without reporting to the superiors. It's very likely that John was at a disadvantage and wanted to regain face, while Sweeney wanted to use the weight in his hand to grasp Ling Tianxiang, so he arranged this action privately. Now both John and Sweeney are under Ling Tianxiang's control, and the US military officers outside naturally lost their mainstay, not knowing whether to solve the problem in front of them or report to their superiors.
When Ling Tianxiang had finished firing the two magazines, the sky also slightly brightened. In high-altitude areas, daybreak comes a bit earlier. At this moment, Ling Tianxiang suddenly realized a problem - the US military couldn't see clearly in the dark whether the other four people were dead or not, but after daybreak, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn't discover that their commander had been finished off, and at that time they would come killing over without regard for anything. Ling Tianxiang, even as a super warrior, couldn't withstand the attack of several hundred people, let alone those armored vehicles equipped with 25mm machine guns.
What to do? Ling Tianxiang was a bit hesitant, he regretted not bringing communication equipment, if he could call for support from the main force, then he still had hope of escaping, but now his hopes were dwindling with the rising sun. Soon, Ling Tianxiang also figured it out, this incident had already caused enough trouble, he had killed so many American soldiers, plus Swire who hadn't been killed by him yet, even if he went to hell, he wouldn't feel like he was at a loss.
Just before the first light of dawn, Ling Tianxiang heard a "hissing" sound, followed by several more of the same sounds. He immediately reacted and knew that this was the sound of an RPG rocket launcher firing. When he looked out at the southwest tower, a rocket with a gray tail flame hit it right on target, sending all three American soldiers flying into the air. Almost simultaneously, five other rockets hit five other towers. Because the Americans were focused on Ling Tianxiang's position, they didn't notice the incoming rockets from outside. Even two snipers were taken out along with them!
The explosion of the rocket projectile had not yet completely disappeared, and the sound of breaking through the air came from the sky. Ling Tianxiang immediately kicked Swillie to the ground with one foot, then hugged his head with both hands and curled up into a ball. Rows of mortar shells fell continuously in the armored vehicle group south of the command center, and the US military who failed to evade were blown up, with two "Stryker" armored vehicles and three "Hummer" military vehicles being directly hit by mortar shells, all of which were destroyed, and none of the US military personnel inside survived.
The shelling was still going on when intermittent explosions were heard from outside the camp. Ling Tianxiang judged that the explosion point was still far away from him, and only then did he relax his hands, looking towards the west of the camp where the explosion came from. When he saw what happened outside, he was immediately stunned. A group of goats were rushing towards the camp, and when they passed through the unmanned area outside the camp, the goat herd triggered the landmines set by the US military. The goats that were not killed by the explosion were frightened and ran around in all directions, triggering more landmines.
The smoke and dust from the landmine explosion had not yet dissipated when a group of armed men, dressed in local robes and headscarves, carrying AKs, M-16s, and even World War II-era submachine guns, charged towards the camp. It was only then that Ling Tianxiang realized who the attackers were - Taliban militants. He couldn't help but admire the ingenuity of these Afghans, who had used a flock of sheep to breach the minefield set up by the US military outside the camp, and thought to himself that he might have to promote this tactic when he got back.
The US military's attention was focused on the hundreds to thousands of armed personnel outside, and no one took care of the special forces soldier who was surrounded by them. However, these American soldiers forgot one thing: compared with hundreds of armed elements, the threat of a special forces soldier is not much smaller.
Ling Tianxiang quickly picked up the M4 carbine, now he regretted not bringing a sniper rifle. In this situation, a sniper rifle would be more useful. Looking at the M4 carbine in his hand, within a distance of less than 200 meters, for Ling Tianxiang, the difference between the M4 and a sniper rifle was not very big.
The sound of gunfire became a piece, and the training quality of the US military was reflected at this time. Although many people were injured by shell blasts, more US soldiers actively entered the battle, with some blocking the attacking armed elements and others rescuing the wounded. The division of labor was quite clear, and the chaos was quickly brought under control.
Machine guns posed the greatest threat to attacking troops, especially those mounted on transport versions of the Stryker and Humvee. Ling Tianxiang first targeted the machine gunners whose upper bodies were exposed. The Strykers and Humvees did not have turrets, except for some combat versions of the Stryker with remote-controlled weapon stations. To use their machine guns, US troops had to expose themselves outside the vehicle. Perhaps the armed men's rifles were not enough to threaten the machine gunners, but for Ling Tianxiang, an M4 was sufficient to make them pay the price for design flaws in their equipment. Later, the US military installed remote-controlled weapon stations on all Stryker armored vehicles, probably as a result of these bloody lessons!
