After growing in power, they directly occupied territories, started to extort local tycoons, and charged oil companies a "right-of-way fee" for pipelines passing through the area, which was essentially protection money.

Each year, foreign oil companies operating in Colombia had to pay a sum of money to the ELN militants, otherwise, their oil pipelines would soon run into trouble. Sending security personnel was futile; send them today, and their ashes would be scattered tomorrow.

It was also difficult for the government army to engage; the pipelines were numerous, passing through sparsely populated jungles or swamp areas. Deploying too few troops had no effect, and deploying more was too costly, it was more economical for the oil companies to just pay the ELN for peace.

So, over the years, the ELN had cultivated the skill of bomb making among their ranks. Song Heping discovered during their training that, among the 50 core members, each one had the expertise of a bomb specialist. When he asked them how they became so proficient with explosives, the ELN trainees said, "Principal, this is our bread and butter, without it, we couldn't even extort."

That got a laugh out of Song Heping, thinking that these guys indeed had a bit of the flavor of the Irish Republican Army.

At that moment, an entire mechanized reinforced platoon of the government army was driving with lights off and spreading out along Route 86.

All drivers were equipped with AN/PVS-7 night vision devices provided by the US Military, ensuring that the convoy could travel safely without lights.

Over the radio, the commander in charge of this infiltration mission kept reminding everyone to be cautious.

Once inside the ELN-controlled area, all the machine gunners in the vehicles stuck out the top half of their bodies, ready to operate the machine guns mounted on the roofs, prepared for any sudden threats.

Boom—

Just as the government soldiers were praying for a safe journey and to reach their destination unharmed, a ball of fire erupted from the ground in front, tossing a light, highly mobile Humvee into the air.

"Contact! Ambush!"

Shouts rang out over the radio.

Tatatatatatata—

The rooftop machine gunners immediately responded.

Although they did not know where the enemy was, it was almost certain they would be on both sides of the road.

More than twenty high-caliber machine guns mounted on top of Humvees began firing wildly into the forests and slopes on both sides of the road.

"Drive through! Drive through! Don't stop!"

The commander realized things were taking a dangerous turn.

The urgent priority was to break out of the ambush circle.

ELN forces weren't strong in numbers; even if they had an entire battalion lying in ambush, they could control at most a few hundred meters of highway.

Break through, and the entire team could be saved.

The driver in the Humvee in the second position saw the overturned lead vehicle, wheels up on the road ahead, gritted his teeth, grabbed the steering wheel, and veered right toward the side of the road.

Although the lead vehicle was blocking the way, it was positioned more to the left, leaving just enough space on the right side of the road. With enough force, they could push aside the now useless Humvee.

"Brace yourselves!"

He clenched his jaw and floored the gas pedal.

Suddenly, from outside the windows and doors, there was a crackling sound, like stones forcefully striking the vehicle on a highway.

Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the windows; clearly, someone was shooting at them. Although the light Humvee's armor wasn't as thick as some specific models, it was still enough to stop rifle bullets.

As the driver of the second Humvee accelerated towards the flipped vehicle ahead, a flash of light emerged from the woods on the right side, heading straight for the Humvee.

"RPG!"

The machine gunner operating the rooftop machine gun cried out.

While roaring, the machine gunner swiveled the barrel, directing a fierce barrage of bullets toward the source of the incoming RPG rocket.

Tatatatatatata—

Under the heavy gunfire, the bullets showered down on the RPG gunner, making the thick tree trunk tremble chaotically.

The rocket launcher, unable to duck in time, was pierced through by the 12.7mm warhead, his organs and bone fragments scattering into the night.

However, the machine gunner soon realized that his retribution had come.

The rocket-propelled grenade hit the right side window without bias and then detonated violently.

Boom—

Flames scattered in all directions.

Under the effect of a shaped charge, a stream of molten metal pierced the interior of the vehicle.

Even the Humvee's bullet-proof glass couldn't stop that RPG warhead.

The machine gunner felt a sudden, sharp pain in his stomach.

"Ah—"

His entire body went limp, sliding into the vehicle like a snake with its bones removed, and he plopped down onto the floor.

Through the slightly blurry view of his night vision goggles, he saw something flowing out of his abdomen.

Maybe because of the intense pain, he was somewhat dazed, so he reached out to touch the flowing substance, wanting to see clearly what it was.

Soft, sticky, warm, and oddly textured...

When he closely inspected the "thing" he held in his hand, he raised his head and let out a scream of despair.

"My intestines... intestines... save me..."

The driver was even more unfortunate than the machine gunner; the jet of explosion in the confined Humvee actually intensified the lethal effect.

Half of his face was messed up, and his right eyeball was directly blasted out, hanging outside the eye socket. The vehicle was out of control, crashing into the overturned Humvee in front, with a clang, the whole vehicle flipped over, tipping onto its side on the road.

The highway had been blocked.

Two Humvees had toppled together, obstructing the entire roadway.

"Turn around! Turn around! Retreat!"

The commander yelled out the emergency order.

The convoy began to hastily turn around on the road, but then, an explosion echoed from the rear, and through the rearview mirror, the commander saw a rising fireball and realized the enemy had also cut off their retreat...

This ambush had been carefully calculated by the adversary; the explosives planted at the front and those at the rear were precisely two hundred meters apart.

"Disembark! Counterattack!"

The commander issued another order.

Staying in the vehicle and being targeted by RPGs was tantamount to waiting for death.

Better to get out, rely on the bullet-proof body of the vehicle for protection, counterattack, and wait for rescue—there was still a glimmer of survival.

The soldiers who received the order had already become restless inside the vehicle.

It was cramped inside, making it difficult to return fire, and they were afraid to lower the windows and lose the protection of the bullet-proof glass and vehicle body, so aside from the rooftop machine gun, the rest were effectively immobilized inside the vehicle.

Finally, the vehicle doors opened one by one, and the government army soldiers got out to return fire.

The commander, holding a radio in the vehicle, frantically called out: "Scalpel calling Viper, Scalpel calling Viper, we are under attack on Route 86 near Peicado! Requesting urgent reinforcements! Repeat, requesting urgent reinforcements!"

As he was calling out, heavy explosions came from both sides of the highway.

A series of blasts.

The roadside weeds were flattened, flashes of light streaked across the night like thunder, and then he heard a strange sound, like sand being poured over glass.

Pattering—

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com