"Somehow, it doesn't seem right..."

The first captain to land immediately issued a warning over the radio frequency.

"Be careful; I didn't see their bodies..."

It was only then that all the landed team members realized that although camp G1 was engulfed in flames, aside from some fragments of tents and wood, there seemed to be no bodies.

This was abnormal.

"Weren't there supposed to be a company of troops here?"

"Stop gathering in one spot—enough of us have landed. Spread out right away and sweep the battlefield!"

Inside the command center, Colonel Lawrence, seeing that many AGLAN assault team members had landed but hadn't moved and were instead organizing a defensive perimeter, yelled frantically, "Was all your training for nothing?! Spread out! Spread out!"

"I see a body!"

An AGLAN assault team member in the camp suddenly spotted a human-shaped object not far away.

It was referred to as a human-shaped object because it was ablaze.

He cautiously approached with his gun raised and walked up to that "body."

Flames enveloped the "body," which was burning.

After watching for a while, he kicked the "body" with his foot, and a look of astonishment immediately appeared in his eyes.

"A mannequin..."

He murmured to himself, his voice turning slightly eerie.

"Calling Viper, calling Viper, this is a trick! There are mannequins on the ground! No bodies! Repeat, no bodies! The camp is a trick!"

"Impossible!"

Colonel Freddie, the assault team commander still on the helicopter, was circling in the air with the chopper. They had to provide air cover for the assault team once they landed on the ground.

"We didn't see anyone escaping!"

At that moment, in the Colombian government army's command center, Colonel Lawrence had already heard the reports from the assault team members over the radio.

He stared intently at the images transmitted back by the helmet monitors of the assault team members, his mind racing.

"It's a trap!"

He suddenly realized the dire situation.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately! It's a trap! FUCK! They've got a tactical mastermind directing them!"

The hovering helicopter began to descend, preparing to retrieve the ground assault team members.

Everyone was tense.

Colonel Lawrence's orders had already foreboded a grim outcome.

Every assault team member clung to their respective control points, their guns aimed forward, ready to shoot any ELN armed personnel that might appear.

However, it was then, from the dense forests on the southern mountain peaks of the camp, that a sharp screech sounded.

Whizz—

An anti-air missile, like a released hunting dog, lunged at a helicopter that was lowering its altitude toward the ground.

"Missile! Evade!"

Someone in the cabin spotted the incoming missile and screamed.

The pilot quickly pulled the control stick, the nose of the chopper sharply pitched up as he violently turned right.

He tried to evade the missile by pulling up sharply and turning at a steep angle.

But the distance was too close.

From the mountain peak to the helicopter, it was only a few hundred meters.

Unfortunately, the UH-60L was after all just a utility helicopter; it desperately struggled in the air, trying to escape, clumsy like a drug mule flipping over.

The "Arrow-2M" man-portable air-defense missile's 9E46 warhead guidance wasn't anything advanced—it still had a way to go compared to Old America's Stinger missile—but it was more than enough for a low-flying helicopter.

Boom—

The first helicopter attempting to land exploded into a fireball in the air.

Debris fell like raindrops.

On the ground, the blast impacted the assault team members, directly crushing one to death under the debris, and the rain of fire ignited three more.

Screams of agony resounded at the site immediately.

"There's an ambush! There's an ambush!"

Colonel Freddie, who had not yet landed from the helicopter, was terrified.

"Pull up! Pull up! Search the surrounding mountaintops, they're hiding in the forest!"

Cursing, he rushed to the edge of the cabin, grabbed the tactical strap on the back of the machine gunner, shook him violently a few times, and pointed toward the distant mountain peaks.

"Fire over there! Lay down covering fire! Hurry!"

Dadadadadada—

The machine gunner, who had just been dazed, revitalized as if a toy soldier plugged into a power source, turned the American-made M60 universal machine gun toward the dense forests on the mountain peaks and let loose a barrage.

But with the trees in the way, how could one see a single figure?

Shooting was just a matter of luck, creating a bit of suppressive fire.

Moreover, with the helicopter at least four to five hundred meters away from those mountain peaks, hitting the enemy accurately with the M60 machine gun was hardly straightforward, almost like winning a lottery jackpot.

As soon as the machine gun sounded, muffled explosions erupted from the surrounding mountain peaks, one after another. Arrow-2M man-portable anti-air missiles joyously launched toward their targets.

Song Heping had arranged for Anthony to ambush twenty missile launchers equipped with Arrow-2Ms on the nearby mountain peaks.

These Arrow-2Ms had been acquired from Illiguo.

During the Iran-Iraq war, Sadam's weapons list had included many of these types of man-portable air defense missiles.

This time, US$3 million worth of arms were sold to Morins, including 30 pieces of this equipment, initially intended to defend against air strikes by the Colombian Government Army—yet they were indeed put to use.

One after another, Arrow-2M struck helicopters in the air, creating balls of fire that appeared in the sky like fireworks.

Wreckage and limbs rained down from above.

Ground assault troops scrambled for cover to avoid being hit by falling helicopter debris.

They were completely defenseless by now.

Especially upon seeing their own helicopters get hit one by one in the sky—some blew up on the spot, others trailing smoke and fire, like dragonflies with their tails plucked off, or drunken men staggering, struggling towards the surrounding mountains.

As the helicopters crashed and exploded violently on impact with the ground, each loud bang seemed to shake loose bits of their souls.

The captain in charge of the ground assault felt as if he had fallen into an icy pit, watching the sky in despair as though it were the end for him and his comrades.

"Set up defenses! Hold position for reinforcements!"

He was, after all, a professionally trained Special Forces soldier.

Although the camp had been bombed, many damaged fortifications remained exploitable for organizing a defense.

The ELN had set up such a trap, waiting for the assault teams to land and then strike at the helicopter fleet, severing the AGLAN Special Forces' escape route before launching an attack to annihilate them.

But here, about eighty soldiers had landed, a squad of Special Operations, and as long as they held out for one hour, their side's A-37 Dragonfly attack planes had been returning for about fifteen minutes. Considering the time to land, rearm, take off again, and reach this location, aerial support would arrive in at most an hour, or perhaps as soon as forty minutes!

He had confidence in his troops.

These were elite soldiers personally trained by American Green Berets and screened according to the U.S. Special Forces jungle combat standards.

Just one hour!

They could hold on!

Moreover, the southern front at Tame was already engaged, so the ELN forces here couldn't possibly redirect too much manpower to eradicate them.

The soldiers quickly dispersed and took cover in the remnants of various fortifications around Camp G1, destroyed by A-37 Dragonfly attacks, and organized a defensive line.

In less than five minutes, each soldier was in place.

The captain felt immensely reassured.

Through the communication channel, he rallied everyone, "Brothers, don't be afraid! We just need to hold out for 40 minutes, and aerial support will arrive. Then it will be those bastards' turn to die!"

Morale received a slight boost.

The fear on each AGLAN soldier's face lessened considerably.

40 minutes.

Each man seemed to see the dawn breaking.

After a while.

All was quiet around.

The fierce attack they had anticipated did not materialize…

The captain looked at the tranquil ridge surrounding them, his heart fluttering nervously.

Ratatatat—

A strange noise came from the sky, quickly penetrating the captain's ears.

His complexion changed dramatically.

It was the sound of a mortar shell, about to hit the ground, caused by the disturbance of airflow from the tail fins spinning.

"Mortar attack!"

He screamed in agony as the flames in his pupils extinguished, and a tide of despair once again overwhelmed him…

Several kilometers away, at different locations.

Twenty Soviet 2b14-1 mortars were deployed in various positions, their gunners crouching about seven or eight meters behind, holding radios and receiving one command after another—

"Fire ten rounds rapid at the preset data, fire!"

Each gunner mechanically repeated the command.

"Fire ten rounds rapid at the preset data, fire!"

These 'preset data' had been determined and recorded beforehand.

These targeting parameters were locked onto Camp G1, adjusted and prepared the night before. Upon receiving the command, all they needed to do was stuff the shells into the barrel and let them fly out.

Firing ten rounds rapid meant shooting ten shell rounds in quick succession, unless an explosion halted the process…

Like raindrops, mortar shells fell from the sky, landing in various parts of Camp G1.

These predefined data, because they were calculated in advance, covered every corner of the camp…

Even, Song Heping had Anthony lock in targeting particularly on those areas in Camp G1 where there were simple wooden shacks,ố

Since the AGLAN Special Forces assault troops would undoubtedly use the remnants of these shacks as cover.

These areas became the primary target…

Song Heping was sitting at the ELN command center in the Tbilisi Mountain Range holding a coffee, while Morins excitedly bounded over like a child loudly proclaiming, "My brother! You're a genius! They really landed at G1, eight helicopters shot down, two escaped, and the bombardment has started according to your plan. I bet in half an hour, our guys will be able to go down the mountain to collect corpses!"

His face was contorted with glee.

He had never fought such a rich and satisfying battle!

In the past, it was always the government army hot on their tails, each government encirclement relying on terrain and casualties to snatch victory at the last.

This time was completely different!

They had already trapped an AGLAN assault squad, certain of total annihilation.

This kind of achievement alone, Morins felt, could keep him boasting in the circles of Colombian armed rebels for a decade.

Suddenly, he felt that with Song Heping's support, he could even dare to attack the capital!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com