Volume 1: The Fierce Tiger Leaves Its Leash Chapter 18: Mountain Bandits and Cave Thieves (Part 1)

  The smoke and dust gradually dispersed, and Ling Tianxiang saw that the entrance to the tunnel in the camp had been blown up. When he turned his head around, he found that the armed personnel around him were all smiling at him, but he didn't know if they were laughing at his cowardice or showing kindness to him. At this time, a middle-aged man carrying an AK-74U short-barreled assault rifle walked over, and Ling Tianxiang saw at a glance that this person was the leader of the armed personnel.

  Maddy immediately went up to greet him, whispering with the middle-aged man with a big beard. In fact, all of these armed men had big beards. To Ling Tianxiang, except for the length and color of their beards, they were all the same. Maybe having a beard was the simplest disguise. The two of them spoke in hushed tones, occasionally glancing over at Ling Tianxiang. Their conversation ended quickly, and as Maddy walked towards Ling Tianxiang, the middle-aged man began to wave his hand to signal to his subordinates.

  "The American bombers will arrive in about two minutes, we must withdraw as soon as possible."

  "Who is he?" At this time, an armed man walked over and glanced at the intelligence officer who was still lying on the ground, then shouted twice at Maidede. Ling Tianxiang slightly furrowed his brow, only to discover that the rope binding Swire was still tied around his waist.

  "Let our people help you take him away, you can rest assured." Maddy said as he nodded to the armed personnel. Ling Tianxiang also untied his belt and followed the team's retreat. Maddy added, "He is our captain, everyone calls him Abad, but no one knows his real name."

  "He's a soldier!?" Ling Tianxiang's tone carried a few parts of respect, and when he saw Abad for the first time, he almost confirmed his identity.

  "Yes, old warrior, a true old warrior. I heard that he was only thirteen years old when he first took up his gun and fought against the enemy."

  Ling Tianxiang slightly furrowed his brow, Abade looked to be around 40 years old as well, which means he was a soldier who had participated in the resistance against the Soviet invasion back then. Now, he would have to fight another enemy, an enemy that had once helped them but now launched an aggressive war against them.

  The team quickly entered the mountainous area and immediately stopped, with all armed personnel swiftly taking cover. Ling Tianxiang also followed Mai De to hide behind a large boulder. He glanced at Swire, who was being carried by two armed men - that bastard was definitely not dead yet, which was good!

  Maddy elbowed Ling Tianxiang and pointed to the southwest sky. "Look, bombers are coming, damn it, they're here too soon!"

  In the sky, two small black dots were rapidly approaching. Ling Tianxiang quickly took down his monocular telescope. They were two A-10 "Thunderbolt" attack aircraft, specializing in ground attacks, capable of carrying various guided and unguided bombs, air-to-ground missiles, fuel-air explosives, rockets, with a maximum payload exceeding 7 tons. The most feared weapon on the plane was the GAU-8/A 7-barrel "Gatling" machine gun mounted under the nose, with a firing rate of 3,000 to 4,500 rounds per minute, possessing enough power to destroy tanks, making it the "nemesis" of ground forces.

  Two bombers dropped bombs first, the bombing altitude was quite low, should be ordinary unguided bombs, and there were many US troops nearby, definitely not fuel-air bombs. Suddenly, Ling Tianxiang saw a group of armed personnel hastily retreating outside the US military camp. Those people must have been left behind to cut off the retreat, that is to say, they could not escape the killing range of the bomb at all. Ling Tianxiang glanced quietly at Madeleine beside him, the rural teacher's expression was very excited and angry. When facing bombers, armed personnel with only light weapons had no chance of winning at all, it's no wonder that the US military planes dared to drop bombs at ultra-low altitude, without having to withstand ground anti-aircraft fire.

  The A-10 that dropped the bomb quickly turned back, starting to strafe with its Gatling gun, the steel rain tearing through the ground and also tearing through the bodies of those armed men who did not escape. This was no longer a battle, but a massacre; any regular army would be defeated in such an attack, let alone these armed men.

  After two passes of strafing, the A-10 left the US military camp airspace but did not immediately withdraw and instead circled nearby. The fighter still had ammunition and fuel, and according to US military tactical standards, as long as ground troops needed it and the attacking aircraft's ammunition was not exhausted, they would not immediately withdraw.

  "The helicopter is here." Ling Tianxiang nudged Mai Di beside him.

  Still in the southwest direction, a large group of helicopters is flying towards the camp. This time, in addition to UH-60s, there are also many UH-47 heavy transport helicopters. They don't seem to be from the 10th Mountain Division, but rather from the 101st Airborne Division. Ling Tianxiang quickly adjusted the magnification of his binoculars and saw that several "Black Hawks" were carrying light howitzers underneath. What are the US military bringing howitzers over for? To strengthen the camp's defenses or to attack fleeing armed personnel?

  Hearing the footsteps behind him, Ling Tianxiang quickly turned his head. The middle-aged man named Abad had already walked over, he glanced at Ling Tianxiang and then spoke to Maidede in the local dialect.

  "We should leave now, the US military will dispatch helicopters to search for us and then use artillery to attack us. Before that, we must enter a safe passage."

  Ling Tianxiang didn't hesitate and immediately followed Maitide's pace. The team continued to head west, soon entering the mountainous area, where most of the armed personnel remained silent, with only a few people chatting in low voices.

  "Don't you have a batch of 'poison needles'?" Ling Tianxiang said somewhat awkwardly.

  "You're talking about missiles?" Madeed smiled wryly, "We've almost used them up, and those missiles are made in the US. We've used them before, but the US military has specialized jamming devices, so they can't even threaten their planes."

  "How are you going to deal with the US military's bombers and helicopters?" As a soldier, Ling Tianxiang once again realized that lacking effective combat weapons was the biggest problem for these armed personnel.

  Maitide stopped in his tracks and pointed ahead. "That's how we'll counter the US military's air superiority."

  Ling Tianxiang looked in the direction that Mai Di De was pointing, and he first froze, then burst out laughing. The brave and warlike Afghans were almost all warriors, and the difficulties before them seemed not to have defeated them.