Chapter 5 (15) Right in the middle of a fight (1)

  When Cheng Te Li led the third team to arrive at Ningming County, the clock had just pointed to 3 am. At this time, most people in the county were still asleep, and a few entertainment venues were about to close. People who were drunk and staggering after drinking in the red-light district were either looking for their way home or heading to night stalls. As they walked on the road, they were surprised to find that many police officers had not rested yet and were checking at every intersection! What they didn't see was that the forensic police had returned from the mountain without even catching their breath and rushed to the hospital to collect evidence.

  Last night, people who were used to being served in entertainment venues and got drunk again, relying on the stimulation of alcohol, showed great non-cooperation with the police's inspection. Overnight, the Ningming police arrested dozens of drunken drivers and obstructors, which would have been a good result in normal times when cracking down on drunk driving. However, these drunks have now diverted part of the already overstretched police force, while the target that should be found still hasn't revealed any clues!

  After a night of turmoil, the police officers who were checking ID cards were also exhausted. When the first ray of sunlight fell in the morning, Ningming, this small county town located in the mountains, began to wake up. People prepared to start their day's work, and the narrow streets of the county town were crowded with people going to work. Entertainment venues also started cleaning up and closing down, and staff sent off the last batch of customers before hurrying to rest. By nightfall, it would be another busy night!

  The people's police who had been working hard all night now had to direct traffic, and at this time they had to lift their spirits even more, fearing that the criminals would slip away from the police cordon under cover of darkness.

  The third team was always on standby, Qin Minghui ordered that if a suspect appeared, the police only needed to control the scene and hold back the opponent, and the dangerous task of breaking through would be completed by the special police team. In just a few days, two policemen had already been lost, Qin Minghui couldn't let this situation happen again.

  The traffic situation in the city has not improved, and there is a problem at the national highway exit. A sedan with an out-of-town license plate refused to cooperate with the police inspection, claiming that it did not have a driver's license. This statement aroused the suspicion of the inspecting police officers, who asked the other party to get out of the car and open the trunk for inspection, but the other party responded with silence.

  The police who set up the checkpoint immediately reported the unusual situation to their superiors and called in two police cars to try to block the sedan from leaving, but since a policeman had already been killed last night, no one could guarantee that the person inside was not the suspect who shot the policeman. Everyone did not dare to take risks and only controlled the scene, trying not to clash with each other.

  The sedan saw the police car trying to stop it from behind, suddenly accelerated in reverse, and with a loud crash, knocked the police car open. Then, it quickly turned around and fled into the city, but the police had already set up an ambush, jumped onto the police car, pulled the siren and chased after it while reporting the situation at the same time.

  Qin Minghui received a report from the front and asked on the intercom: "How many people are they?"

  "Report, there are four people in total, but it's unclear who they are."

  Four people? In Xiao Bin's confession, it was clearly stated that there were 7 people in the drug trafficking gang. If they split up and walked separately, it is also highly possible that four of them formed a group. Moreover, Xiao Bin even saw Wang Licheng!

  Qin Minghui asked again: "Is Wang Licheng in the car?"

  The reply from the intercom was somewhat disappointing: "Report, the other party's car window is tinted and it's unclear what the person inside looks like."

  "Be careful, don't push too hard, I'll send reinforcements immediately!" Qin Minghui reminded, "Understood in the front..."

  No matter if it's Wang Licheng's accomplice or not, they actually dare to ram into a police car and escape, this definitely won't be a small case. But is it necessary to dispatch the special police team now? If it's an ordinary criminal, the criminal investigation team should be enough to handle it, Qin Minghui wants to save the trump card of the special police team to deal with Wang Licheng!

  But soon after, a report came from ahead: "The other side has entered the city and is now firing at us with a shotgun."

  "Is it a fire gun or a regular gun?" Qin Minghui felt that things had become serious, as cases involving firearms usually required the special police team to resolve.

  "It's a Five-seveN pistol, not a shotgun." The front replied: "There are no casualties for the time being. The other party is fleeing in the direction of the crowd, and I am unable to return fire."

  Just as he was speaking, Qin Minghui heard a loud "boom" sound coming from the intercom, followed by only static electricity sounds. Qin Minghui became anxious and continuously called out: "Front, front, what's going on now? If received, please respond."

  After a while, the police who were chasing in front replied: "It's all right ahead. The other side just fired at us."

  Just now, the police car saw that the other party was blocked by a large truck for a moment and tried to accelerate to catch up with the other party and force them off the road. However, when they saw the police car approaching, the other party fired a shotgun, and the policeman who was communicating with Qin Minghui in the passenger seat instinctively ducked behind the dashboard. Several bullets shattered the glass of the police car, but fortunately no one was injured.

  "Pay attention to safety distance, don't get too close." Qin Minghui reminded again.

  "I understand..."

  The other party took out a standard shotgun to make Qin Minghui decide to use the special police team, while gathering other police officers to blockade the road, trying to compress the opponent's activity space and reduce the casualties of the police and the crowd.

  The police quickly sealed off the roads but left a few open, trying to lure them to the outskirts where there were fewer people and they could ensure public safety to the greatest extent.

  But the suspects, who were fleeing, seemed to have seen through the police's plan. When they tried to make a U-turn at an intersection and ram into the police car again, they accidentally crashed into a bus, causing the water tank to rupture and the vehicle to be unable to move forward. Several people hastily jumped out of the car, not forgetting to put on their hoods.

  The police chasing behind looked at the terrain and secretly cursed, but there was nothing they could do about it now. They had no choice but to report back: "The suspect has escaped into the Heping Shopping Mall."

  Qin Minghui's heart tightened, the thing he least wanted to happen had still happened. The mall was crowded with people, and any slight carelessness would result in casualties. But since things had come to this point, he could only quickly mobilize the nearby police to seal off the mall, and then leave the rest to be handled by the special police team.

  The special police team of the third brigade, who had been waiting for orders all night, received their command and the previously tired special police officers suddenly became excited, jumping onto the special police transport vehicle. Several police cars led the way with sirens blaring, followed closely by the special police transport vehicle, speeding along the narrow roads of Ningming County, drawing attention from many citizens.

  Citizens whispering to each other had no idea that a major incident occurred at the Peace Plaza, this small town on the edge of the mountain has been living a peaceful and calm life, in their eyes, Ningming is a peaceful and safe city, in their memory, the last time military police gathered in large numbers was during the self-defense counterattack war last century.

  Commander Gao looked out of the porthole of the special police transport vehicle, seeing the astonished and admiring eyes of the citizens outside. Suddenly, he felt that all his hard work over the years had not been in vain. He nudged Peng Siche, who was sitting beside him: "Am I not very handsome?"

  Peng Sizhe hugged his gun and glanced at him, saying: "What's the use of being handsome? Others can't see it."

  The little satisfaction of vanity was just extinguished by Peng Si Zhe's cold water. Indeed, the citizens on the street do not care about the appearance of the SWAT officers in the car, they have never seen such a majestic and domineering black SWAT transport vehicle before, and are guessing the reason for its arrival...

  The SWAT team's transport vehicle arrived at the Heping Business District, where police had already set up a cordon. However, more onlookers caused trouble for the SWAT team. About 100 meters away from the scene, many people who were unclear about what was happening gathered to speculate about what had occurred inside the business district, causing traffic congestion. The SWAT transport vehicle took over ten minutes to pass through this short distance of just 100 meters...

  The police who set up the cordon saw the SWAT team's transport vehicle arrive and felt slightly more at ease. Cheng didn't wait for the car to come to a complete stop, jumping down from the passenger seat and hurrying off to find the person in charge to get an update on the situation.

  "The mall just opened, there are very few customers, most of them are employees of the shops inside. The suspect has been in for over half an hour now, but it's unclear what exactly is happening. However, people are still running out from inside... The person in charge of the security is just a local police station chief, and he also seems to be handling this kind of situation for the first time, appearing not very professional."

  "I need a structural diagram of the shopping mall." Cheng Te Li simply and clearly stated his requirements.

  The director of the police station was somewhat bewildered and did not know where to go to find the architectural drawings for Chengde Li.

  "The fire brigade must have a record, contact them." Cheng Te Li didn't have time to explain more to him, he now hoped Qin Minghui or higher-level leaders would arrive on the scene to take over command.

  Qin Minghui gave orders to the special police team and immediately drove to the scene, but unfortunately, a major case occurred in the small town, and many rumors had already spread throughout the streets of the small town. Qin Minghui's car was stuck hundreds of meters away from the scene, helplessly watching the crowds of onlookers in front of the police cars.

  "When will they know that watching the excitement like this can bring so much danger to themselves?" Qin Minghui was somewhat annoyed, he had seen such scenes too many times, and it was not uncommon for onlookers to cause trouble for the police in order to satisfy their curiosity.

  "Huh? Oh......" Little Li, who was driving the car, didn't know how to respond and simply stuck his head out of the window, coordinating with the police directing traffic to shout: "Please make way, please make way, let the police car go first..."

  The police cordon has been set up, and the Peace Shopping Mall is surrounded. Cheng Tei walked around the mall to make a preliminary survey - this is a 15-year-old comprehensive shopping mall located in the middle of three streets, adjacent to Peace Road, Construction Road, and New Sun Road. Each street has two entrances and exits, with a total of six floors. Most of the shops inside are rented out to private individuals for various businesses. At present, many onlookers outside the mall are owners or employees of these shops who have come to work, adopting an attitude of "since we're here, let's see it through" and refusing to leave despite attempts to persuade them otherwise.

  If the suspect's location cannot be found, relying solely on this SWAT team to search such a complex six-story mall is clearly extremely strenuous. After completing his reconnaissance, Cheng Te Li came to several employees who had just run out of the mall, hoping to get more information from their mouths.

  However, among the chatter of these people, Cheng Te-li did not filter out much useful information. They said they only saw a few people wearing headgear running into the mall, one of whom was holding a "pipe" thick gun and had fired several shots. The instinct to avoid danger made them run out quickly, as for more details, Cheng Te-li didn't expect them to provide much now either.

  The SWAT team is now in pairs, guarding the entrance and exit of the mall, waiting for further instructions. This kind of guard duty makes people feel a bit idle. Peng Sixhe took advantage of the early winter sunshine to look at the interior of the mall. Most of the shops were not open, and the lights inside the mall were also off. After entering the entrance, the long corridor was only covered by sunlight for a short distance, and further away, there was an eerie silence...

  "Peng Sizhe, what floor do you think they're on?" Commander Gao brought up a topic to liven up the dull atmosphere.

  Peng Sizhe stood against the wall, only exposing a small part of his head, observing the corridor at the entrance, and replied absent-mindedly: "It doesn't matter which floor, the key is how many guns they have."

  "Ugh... We're the third squad, why do we always get stuck with the troublesome tasks?" Commander Gao also poked his head out to take a look at the corridor. Since they arrived at this checkpoint, it had been quiet all along, without anyone entering or leaving from here.

  "Aren't you the one who loves trouble?" Peng Sizhe said.

  "Haha……I like trouble that's not too much trouble." Commander Gao chuckled, the early winter sun wasn't intense, but under the thick bulletproof vest, Commander Gao's face was already covered in sweat, his mouth curled up, and a few drops of sweat fell onto his tactical boots.

  "Don't get distracted." Peng Sizhe reminded.

  "Don't worry, they'll only come in if we go in to find them, they absolutely won't dare to come out and look for us." Commander Gao said with great confidence, but still raised his gun and placed it in a comfortable position, ready to shoot at any time.

  "Look out! Someone's coming!" Peng Sizhe suddenly saw a swaying shadow in the distance of the corridor.

  "Damn it...... You really dare to come out?" General Gao was somewhat resentful of his own jinx, he quickly made combat preparations while pressing down on the intercom: "Gate 1 reporting, we have a situation..."

  "What's going on at Gate No. 1?" Cheng Te Li hastily asked into the walkie-talkie after hearing the report.

  "It's unclear for now... I see some figures..." Commander Gao replied.

  "Gate number one, under close surveillance, report in a timely manner." Cheng Te Li was somewhat disappointed. The situation inside the mall would determine the success or failure of the special police raid. He now urgently needed any information about the mall, no matter how insignificant it might seem.

  "Gate One understands." Commander Gao put down the walkie-talkie and asked Peng Siche, who was on high alert in a low voice: "What's the situation?"

  Peng Sizhe vigilantly gazed into the distance of the corridor, where it was submerged in darkness. Just now, he saw a figure flash by.

  The high commander saw that Peng didn't respond and also poked his head out, but the shops on both sides of the corridor were closed, and the corridor was empty with nothing in sight.

  "Are you seeing things?" Commander Gao said with some doubt.

  "Shh... That's right, there must be someone." Peng Sizhe quietly opened the safety of his Type 95 rifle.

  Colonel Gao saw the situation, although somewhat surprised, but he believed in Peng Sixi's intuition and also opened the safety lock. Peng Sixi made a hand gesture indicating the combat formation, Colonel Gao retreated behind Peng Sixi, lightly patted Peng Sixi's shoulder to indicate that the formation was complete, then pressed down on the intercom: "Gate No. 1 reporting, situation unclear, may engage in battle."

  "There is someone 50 meters away, peeking out from behind the wall." Peng Sizhe said softly.

  "Target found, but uncertain if it's the suspect," Commander Gao reported.

  The person Peng Sizhe saw peeked out from the corner of the mall a few times, but Peng Sizhe's position couldn't see his face clearly, nor could he tell if he had any weapons. He didn't move, seeming to be hesitant.

  Peng Sizhe was observing carefully when a loud, muffled gunshot suddenly rang out in the mall. This was the unique sound of a shotgun, and it was so loud that even Cheng Teli on the outer perimeter heard it.

  "We heard the sound of gunfire……" Before Commander Gao finished his report, Peng Sizhe saw that the person at the corner seemed to have made up his mind and ran towards the exit without regard for anything, but his speed was not fast, one foot seemed to be injured, limping.

  Peng Sizhe flashed out from the corner of the wall and shouted: "Police! Show your ID!"

  The people on the road seemed to have not heard Peng Sizhe's shout, and he was still desperately rushing towards the exit. Peng Sizhe "clacked" open the gun's bolt again and shouted: "Police! Show your identity immediately!"

  Commander Gao saw Peng Sizhe flash out and followed suit in a kneeling position, his gun trained on the figure stumbling towards the exit.

  Peng Sizhe thought this should be a hostage who escaped, but the SWAT team would not make rash judgments in unclear situations!

  "Save me...... Save me......" The person let out a shrill cry for help, it was a woman!

  "Quick! Quick!" Peng Sizhe put down his heart and waved his hand at her, shouting, hoping she would leave quickly.

  But before Peng Sizhe's words had fallen, a furious voice was heard from inside the mall: "One got away! One got away...... Quick, go chase!"

  This is an escaped hostage. The high commander lowered his guard gun and pressed the intercom: "Gate 1 reporting, a hostage has escaped... damn it..."

  Just as Commander Gao's voice fell, Peng Sizhe saw someone running over from the distant corridor. It was obvious that this was a suspect in the search for escaped hostages. The hostage was still more than 20 meters away from the exit. If the suspect could shoot calmly, the shotgun bullets would almost cover the entire narrow corridor, and the outcome of the hostage was almost certain! He didn't wait for the report, and rushed over. Commander Gao also didn't bother to report, and followed Peng Sizhe in a combat formation, rushing forward.

  At this moment, the suspect who had just rushed past the corridor suddenly remembered that there was another door here. He turned his head to look back and saw the hostage stumbling towards the exit. In the sunlight shining through the doorway, two figures appeared.

  "Big brother! Big brother! She's here..." The suspect didn't care about anything else, shouting loudly and raising the gun in his hand.

  As Peng Sizhe advanced, he saw the suspect raise his gun. His fingers moved swiftly, and two shots rang out from the barrel. The hostages retreated under cover, with Gao Commander following close behind. He helped one of the hostages to their feet, but they had been injured in the foot and couldn't run. Gao Commander grew anxious, scooped up the hostage in his arms, and shouted to Peng Sizhe: "Peng Sizhe, fall back!" They hastened towards the exit at a rapid pace.

  Peng Sizhe moved one step forward, blocking the suspect's gun and the hostage, alerting the corridor, the two shots just now had suppressed the opponent back to the corner.

  "Gate number one! Gate number one! Why are you shooting?" Cheng Te Li didn't know what was happening at gate number one, and anxiously shouted into the intercom.

  The high commander had no time to answer, he hugged the hostage and couldn't wait to leave this place of right and wrong, Peng Si Zhe retreated and walked cautiously, vigilantly guarding every corner of the path.

  The two bullets just grazed the suspect's head, scaring him out of his wits and making him sweat profusely as he repeatedly congratulated himself on dodging quickly. However, he didn't give up and peeked again to see a SWAT officer withdrawing from the exit, blocking the line of fire between him and the hostage.

  Peng Sizhe saw the wall corner poking out his head, "pa pa" two more shots suppressed firepower, bullets hit the wall corner, splashing mud and dust sprayed the suspect's face.

  The suspect was extremely angry after being suppressed twice. The special police's shooting was really fast and accurate, and he might be hit if he came out. But he didn't want the special police to take away the hostage so easily. He gritted his teeth, stretched out his gun from behind the wall corner, estimated the direction, and fired a shot with a "boom".

  The bullet whizzed past Peng Sizhe's ear, less than a meter away, blasting open the rolling shutter door of the adjacent shop. The bullet penetrated the rolling shutter door and smashed the items behind it to smithereens. Peng Sizhe heard the sound of shattering glass and falling objects from inside the shop, as if someone had swept through the shop with a baseball bat. The hostages screamed! The shotgun couldn't be reloaded automatically, Peng Sizhe saw the opponent put away his gun, guessing the direction he would stretch out again, while retreating backwards, the muzzle still pointing at that corner of the wall.

  The suspect raised the muzzle again and stretched out the gun, but this time his hand was exposed a bit more. When Peng Sizhe saw the gun come out, his fingers moved quickly, and two bullets shot out of the barrel again. Only a miserable cry was heard from around the corner, the gun fell to the ground, and then was dragged out of sight.

  Within a few dozen seconds, Peng Sizhe fired 6 shots and now it seems that the suspect was hit. At this time, Commander Gao had already evacuated the hostages to a safe place, he turned back with his gun on high alert, covering Peng Sizhe's retreat.

  "Gate number one, gate number one, report the situation!" Peng Sizhe had just dodged into a corner when Cheng Teli's shout followed.

  "Gate One reports, one hostage evacuated, exchanged fire with suspect, one suspect injured!" Peng Sizhe reported.

  Cheng Te Li didn't expect the exchange of fire to happen so soon. If this exchange of fire provokes the suspect, it's very likely that all subsequent actions will be troublesome. But now that things have come to this point, he can't say anything else and can only say into the intercom: "Continue to closely monitor Gate 1, someone will come to take away the hostages."

  Commander Gao heard the silence on the intercom and whispered a complaint: "Peng Sizhe, why is it always us who run into trouble first?"

  "Aren't you fond of trouble?" Peng Siche thought back to the scene earlier, if the shotgun had been off by a bit more, he should be lying in a pool of blood right now. He looked at the metal shutter of the store that was blasted by the shotgun, a big black hole with jagged edges, the torn metal gleaming like the teeth of a beast, and couldn't help but feel some fear.

  "I just don't like too much trouble..." Commander Gao emphasized again, glancing at the rolling shutter door, this was the first time a bullet had come so close to himself...

  Two police officers rushed to Gate No. 1, taking the hostage away. Qin Minghui also broke through the onlookers and arrived at the front line command center. This hostage should be able to provide more information...