Chapter 23: Sneak Attack

  On the other hand, Ahmad left the convoy with two classes of mobilized soldiers and entered a small alley between buildings.

  They didn't rush into action, but instead proceeded with caution along the way, trying to avoid pedestrians and taking detours on quiet roads.

  Taking advantage of the gradually darkening night, under the guidance of the intercom, Ahmed and his party quietly arrived at a two-story abandoned building not far from Rawa's residence.

  At this time, the mobilized soldiers who had come to gather intelligence earlier were already waiting here.

  This abandoned small building is only one kilometer away from Rava's residence, a distance that is neither far nor near. Perhaps because life is now too comfortable, the armed personnel under Rava did not put the warning circle here, and their warning range was only around 200-300 meters around the residence. On the other hand, Ahmed and others can see Rava's residence and the basic situation between the two points as long as they are on the top of the abandoned small building.

  "There are about ten to twenty guards patrolling the perimeter! The formation is very scattered, and can only be resolved one by one." The mobilized soldier who carried out the reconnaissance mission began to explain the situation he had investigated to Ahmed and others. "Around the target's residence, there are estimated to be over a hundred armed personnel, with some high points having machine gunners, which are quite tricky."

  "Has the target left?" Ahmed asked after a moment of thought.

  "No, it's always been inside and never came out."

  "Alright, have you managed to get any transportation?" Ahmed said.

  "There is only one old pickup truck."

  "That's enough." Ahmed nodded, "Now I'll arrange the tasks. The second squad will carry heavy weapons and be responsible for sniping at the enemy's armored vehicles and strong firepower points. The third squad and I will disguise ourselves as the enemy and approach from the front. Remember, we are facing a group of armed personnel who have shed blood, so we must not show any mercy to them. We must act decisively and not hesitate."

  "Yes."

  "Start preparing. Depart in half an hour."

  Half an hour later, a rickety pickup truck drove into the heavily guarded street district, right in front of Rava's stronghold, and the battle was about to erupt.

  Ahmed and everyone else understood that they had entered the target residence's security perimeter, and would soon face those heavily armed personnel. At this time, everyone was a bit tense, after all, it was their first real battle, which was different from training and drills.

  No matter how many simulated exercises are conducted, with numerous subjects and contents, they cannot be compared to real combat; even if the actual combat is simple, it can still evoke a different kind of fear in everyone's heart, unlike the bravado of discussing military tactics on paper.

  It was already past seven in the evening, and the sky had darkened. Although it was deep autumn, the weather was still very hot in this coastal city near the equator. Ahmed could clearly feel the sweat seeping from his forehead.

  The pickup truck was moving slowly, and when it was still 300 meters away from the target residence, the vehicle slowed down and stopped by the side of the road. The six mobilized soldiers sitting in the back of the truck jumped out together, divided into groups of three, and entered the alleys on both sides.

  Ahmed and four other mobilized soldiers also got off at a street corner, where several armed pickup trucks were parked in front of them, with more than a dozen armed personnel gathered around the vehicles chatting and smoking. These people also saw Ahmed's figure, but at this time the sky was dark, and it had been peaceful for too long, so they didn't pay attention to him, subconsciously taking Ahmed and others as their own people.

  "We'll slowly close in, and once we've confirmed their identities, we'll strike quickly and decisively. We absolutely cannot give them a chance to sound the alarm." Ahmed thought for a moment before saying this to the four mobilized soldiers beside him.

  Four mobilized soldiers nodded simultaneously, just like Ahmad, pulled out their pistols from their pockets, carefully installed silencers, released the safety catches, and then holstered their pistols in the most easily accessible positions.

  After seeing them all ready, Ahmed nodded slightly and swaggered over to those people.

  Those armed men didn't notice the five people approaching and were still chatting with interest. They hadn't realized that death was already closing in.

  However, as Ahmad and others approached, these people also gradually discovered that the figures in front of them were somewhat unfamiliar, and the armed personnel who had been living in a dangerous environment since childhood began to be vigilant.

  "Which part are you from?"

  "Go to hell!"

  Two shots were fired almost simultaneously, and at close range, Ahmed and others quickly drew their pistols, aiming at each other and continuously pulling the trigger. Blood flowers bloomed in the darkness, and these more than ten armed personnel didn't even have time to react before bullets had penetrated their brains.

  "Clear the corpse quickly." Seeing that he had achieved a good effect with his first move, Ahmed nodded in satisfaction, looked ahead and whispered after making sure no one else had noticed.

  "Two men per team, move out! Don't force it unless absolutely necessary." After the bodies were dragged to the corner of the wall, Ahmed gave another order. He then took out a walkie-talkie, put on an earpiece and said: "Third squad, prepare for firepower cover, take out their vehicles and firepower points at the first opportunity. Two sniper teams, provide cover from both sides of the path."

  An armored pickup truck turned a corner and drove slowly down a devastated street.

  "It's just ahead." The driver, a mobilized soldier, pressed the clutch and shifted gears, saying to Ahmad sitting beside him.

  "Open up." Huddled into a ball, pretending to doze off with his eyes closed, Ahmed said in a low voice, casting a sideways glance at the barricades and fortifications in front of him.

  "Number one in position, number two in position..." The sniper and heavy gunner's reports came continuously through the earpiece. Ahmed narrowed his eyes, tapped the throat mic with his left hand, and sent out a signal to prepare for action. His right hand had already drawn the pistol from the leg holster. The car continued to move forward slowly until the gendarme in front raised his hand to stop it.

  With a screech, the armored pickup truck came to a stop with a press of the brake pedal. Ahmed slightly opened his eyes and glanced forward, where a large iron gate blocked the way, behind which was the courtyard he had visited before with Li Ran. On either side of the iron gate, seven or eight armed personnel were lounging in two machine gun nests, smoking and chatting. No one paid attention to the arrival of the two armored pickup trucks. Instead, two armed personnel sauntered over, swaying from side to side.

  The snow-white light column emitted by the car lights made the two armed personnel who were approaching unable to open their eyes, so they had to raise their hands to block the light. "Damn it, don't you know how to park? Why are you blocking the entrance?" Then he scolded again, "Turn off that damn car light." Because they couldn't see the situation in the driver's cab clearly, the two could only bypass the light and walk over from the side of the car.

  "Report 1, target visibility is good; Report 2, the entire street is within firing range, with a clear view." The voice in his earpiece made Ahmed aware that the attack could begin.

  "Idiot, turn off your headlights. Didn't you hear?" The two armed men walked up to Ahmed's car window, turned their heads and shouted at the mobilized soldier in the driver's seat: "Turn off these damn headlights!"

  "Huh?" Seemingly aware of something, he turned his head to look into the driver's cabin at the two armed men. He saw a very familiar big face smiling coldly at him, with a hint of endless mockery in the slightly raised corners of his mouth.

  "Ah! It's the guy who just came with that Chinese person." Before he could even shout, the handgun pressed against his forehead directly fed a bullet into his brain. A crimson splash accompanied the back of his skull as it was blown off and splattered out.

  Despite being equipped with a silencer, the faint "plop" sound was still heard by two armed personnel nearby. Seeing his companion collapse at the car door, another armed personnel was shocked to the point of being almost stunned. At some point, the mobilized soldier driving the pickup truck had an additional silenced pistol in his hand. Another "plop" and another one fell.

  In the nearby machine gun nest, the armed personnel chatting and smoking did not notice the abnormality here, because their conversation covered up the slight gunshot sound here.

  "Start the action!" Seeing that other armed personnel had no reaction at all, Ahmad simply picked up his gun and walked forward.

  The car lights that had suddenly gone out plunged the surroundings into darkness once again. An armed personnel turned around and asked, "Let them go, they're probably just sneaking back in." The armed personnel's words had barely fallen when several 9mm bullets flew over, hitting him and causing blood to splatter everywhere. Meanwhile, two mobilized soldiers who had crept up from both sides were quick on the draw, firing their silenced submachine guns and sweeping two long bursts of 9mm bullets into the bodies of several armed personnel in the machine gun nests.

  "Clear!" Looking at the machine gun nest with blood flowing all over, Ahmed put away his pistol and said in a low voice "Prepare to charge." As he spoke, he dodged to one side and flashed to the gate of this courtyard.

  "Damn, stealth is pretty good." Sidled up beside Ahmed, the mobilized soldier swapped out a new magazine, raised his suppressed submachine gun, and crouched down, ready to burst in.