However, just as his satellite communication with Kote was not fully finished and they were discussing the details of the specific material list—

"Boss! Boss! Emergency call! It's Mans Squad! Something has happened to them!"

The communications soldier responsible for manning the tactical radio suddenly jumped out of his chair like he was burned, his voice sharp and piercing from extreme tension, instantly interrupting the satellite conversation.

Sanders' heart sank suddenly, a cold chill shot from his tailbone to the top of his head, making all his hair stand on end.

He didn't even have time to say "hold on" to Kote; he grabbed the transmitter from the communications soldier's hand and almost yelled:

"This is Sanders! Mans! Report your situation! Report immediately!"

A few minutes ago, about twelve kilometers outside Hulmatu City, along a stretch of deserted ancient road covered with rubble and sand.

Mans Squad's two pickup trucks were moving forward with their high beams on full power, struggling through the thick night.

The beams of the headlights shook violently in the endless darkness and swirling dust, barely illuminating the uneven road surface a few dozen meters ahead.

Surrounding them were continuous sand dunes and jagged, bizarre weathered rock formations, casting shadows that resembled lurking monstrous beasts under the vehicle lights, then quickly swallowed by darkness.

Mans sat in the passenger seat of the rear vehicle, watching everything outside the window vigilantly.

He had participated in countless secret operations in the Afghanistan Mountain Area, possessing a beast-like keen intuition and rich combat experience.

But at this moment, traveling in this completely unfamiliar land, riddled by enemy infiltration like a sieve, a strong sense of unease kept pounding his nerves.

The surroundings were too quiet, with only the monotonous roar of the engine and the noise of tires crushing gravel.

This dead silence often signaled fatal danger.

About two hundred and fifty meters away from the road, atop a leeward dune, five armed personnel were lying quietly in the sand, covered in rough desert camouflage cloth blending with the sand, their faces smeared with dark grease and mud, leaving only their white eyes visible.

They were part of the elite reconnaissance and guerrilla squad under the command of Levant Country's 1515 armed forces, active in the area between Mosul and Hulmatu.

They were familiar with every dried-up ravine, every dune's direction, every rock where one could hide, as if knowing their palm's lines.

The leader was a scar-faced chief who fiercely stared at the two pickups gradually entering their optimal ambush range through the simple mechanical sight of a PKM machine gun seized from the government army.

Their original mission tonight was to monitor the patrol route of the Liberation Forces militia, looking for weaknesses to harass or capture isolated personnel.

But at dusk, through a channel reportedly connected to certain "concerned persons" inside Hulmatu, they received a vague yet alluring mysterious tip, suggesting that tonight there might be a "well-equipped, highly valuable" target heading to Hulmatu along this deserted ancient road.

Scarface's gaze followed the vehicle closely, noticing that the two cars were driving cautiously, maintaining a distance of about twenty meters—

This was clearly not like the local militia's habit of bunching together, but the practice of strictly trained professional soldiers, effectively avoiding being wiped out by a single IED or a fierce fire attack.

This discovery further corroborated the value of the tip, amplifying the greed and killing intent in his eyes.

"Target confirmed... not local forces... maintaining distance, very experienced..."

Scarface conveyed information to the companion responsible for detonation in a very low voice,

"Prepare... follow my orders... keep an eye on the lead vehicle..."

His gaze was locked on the patch of sand that appeared indistinguishable from other places, which the right front wheel of the lead vehicle was about to crush—

Beneath it was a simple explosive device (IED), transformed from a large-caliber mortar shell, using an old Nokia phone as a remote trigger, powerful enough to flip a light-armored troop carrier.

The attacker responsible for detonation was a young man with a naïve face but frenzied eyes, appearing somewhat excited.

His fingers trembled as he took a deep breath, raising the cracked-screen Nokia phone to his eyes, his dirty thumb hovering over the green dial button, awaiting the final command.

"Maintain speed! Watch the dunes and rocks on both sides! Rear vehicle, follow the distance, don't lose track but don't get too close either!"

Through the vehicle radio, Mans once again reminded the following vehicle.

As a veteran, his keen battlefield intuition was frantically alerting him, this terrain was just too classic—

The weathered rocks and dunes on both sides provided natural concealment routes for approach, and were tailor-made ambush massacres!

Just as the right front wheel of the leading vehicle heavily crunched over that patch of lethal sand—

"Boom!!!!!!!!"

A deafening explosion, like tearing the heavens and earth asunder, erupted violently!

A massive, fiery orange-red fireball exploded savagely upwards from beneath the first pickup truck!

The immense shockwave lifted the pickup truck like a toy into the air, performing a slow-motion side flip, then crashing heavily onto the hard ground!

The violent explosion nearly tore the lead vehicle apart!

The cab was instantly crushed, disassembled, the window glass shattered into powder, tires and twisted metal parts, along with human limbs, were violently hurled in all directions.

Dense black smoke mingled with dust rose skywards, and the heavy scent of gunpowder quickly permeated the air.

IED!

"IED! IED! Everyone, get off! Find cover! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

In the moment the second pickup truck was shaken violently by the shockwave, Mans screamed hoarsely into the radio, simultaneously slamming the car door open with his shoulder, clutching his rifle, and executed a swift tactical roll into a roadside ditch offering limited concealment, a mass of sand nearly burying him halfway.

Almost as the blast wave had not completely dissipated—

"Da-da-da-da-da—!!!!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The distinctive rattle of the PKM machine gun mixed with the rhythmic single and burst fire sounds of AK-47 rifles rang out from the darkness on both sides of the road!

Barrage of bullets rained down on the second pickup truck that had just come to a halt.

Clang clang!"

Thud thud thud!

Bullets slammed into the pickup's armored steel plating, producing piercing explosive sounds and sparking leaping embers; windows were instantly riddled with countless holes, bullet-proof glass showed spider-web fissures, the vehicle's skin battered into a ruin of holes.

A mercenary jumping off the truck barely crouched down when a bullet whisked past the rim of his helmet, emitting a teeth-grinding whistle, frightening him into a cold sweat.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com