Captain Don's blood-soaked order fell like a giant stone into stagnant waters, stirring a suffocating silence across the GNA troops' public channel.
There was no rousing response, no roar of engines, only the crackle of static and the sporadic gunfire from "Razorback" echoing mockingly in the air.
On the battlefield, the soldiers, who just monts before were barely maintaining an offensive under the officers' whips and curses, completely stalled.
They looked blankly towards the command vehicle, then fearfully towards the "Razorback," resembling giant beast's fangs in the wind erosion rock area.
The news of Commander Yarif being shot in the head by Captain Don himself, and the bloody massacre of the guards by the SBS unit, spread across the battlefield like the most terrifying plague, instantly shattering the last vestiges of cohesion and fighting spirit in this already heavily battered force.
"Run!"
Suddenly, soone let out a wailing scream, breaking the dead silence like a fuse to a powder keg.
Drop your weapons! Turn and run!
One, two, ten, a hundred...
Like a startled sand rat, GNA soldiers completely abandoned their positions, the assault, and any thoughts of resistance.
In their minds, only one primal, intense instinct remained—to escape this cursed death canyon that had swallowed countless comrades!
To flee from that mad British who had killed their commanding officer!
The crowd, like a bursting flood, fearfully scattered backward into the open desert.
Pickup trucks were abandoned, heavy machine guns toppled onto the sand, and the wails of the wounded were drowned in the chaos of footsteps.
Officers helplessly brandished their pistols, trying to stop the retreat, yet were swept along by the surging crowd, so even knocked to the ground, ignored.
On the lee of a sand dune, Don's fierce delight froze, replaced with a deeper, hellish fury, like volcanic magma.
He watched helplessly as his "army," his last gamble against Song Heping, began to disintegrate before his very eyes, turning into a fleeing rabble.
"Stand where you are, you cowards! Traitors! Get back! Attack!"
Don roared into the radio microphone, his voice hoarse and broken, like a wounded beast. He shouted at his team mbers, "Stop them! Shoot! Open fire on the deserters! Shoot to kill!"
The order was coldly ruthless, fueled by destructive madness.
A dozen or so SBS mbers hesitated not for a second.
They were professional killing machines, obeying only the most direct command chain.
Right or wrong?
Morality?
Before Don, such notions were aningless.
Several SA-80 assault rifles were instantly raised, muzzle-black barrels pointed at the backs of fleeing deserters.
Tatatatatata—!
Precise, deadly, rciless shots instantly tore through the rear of the retreating crowd!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The last few soldiers shuddered violently, blood bursting from their backs or heads, screaming as they fell onto the scorching sand, blood quickly spreading.
Then the second, third...
"Ah—! They're shooting their own!"
"Devils! These guys are devils!"
"Run! Run!"
Fear instantly escalated into sheer panic.
The fleeing crowd erupted into louder screams, shoving and trampling, desperate to get as far away as possible from those cold gun barrels behind.
Yet, SBS bullets, like the Grim Reaper's calls, continued to cut down those falling behind.
Bodies paved a harrowing trail of blood in the sand.
A soldier hit in the thigh by stray bullets fell to the ground, clutching his gushing wound, hopelessly watching his comrades run past without looking back, hearing the chilling clatter of SBS mbers changing magazines coming closer.
Tears and snot streaked his face, eyes filled with abandon and a madness driven to the brink.
"No! No!!"
He jerked his head up, bloodshot eyes fixed on the SBS figures calmly aiming atop the dune, letting out a beast-like roar, "They won't let us live! Dead either way! Fight them! Allahu Akbar!"
The desperate roar was like a spark on the dry plains.
"Fight!"
"Kill those SOB SBS!"
"Avenge Chief Yarif! Avenge our fallen brothers!"
The power unleashed by beasts pushed to the edge was terrifying.
The deserters, initially only focused on escape, suddenly halted!
A fiery unity, a primal savagery ignited by death, instantly outweighed the fear!
They no longer looked towards the open desert, instead turning, eyes red, raising weapons they had only monts ago intended to discard!
AK rifles, PKM machine guns, RPG launchers...
All the weapons they could find were seized by these soldiers overco with despair and rage.
No longer disorganized deserters, they were now a maddened, overwhelmingly numbered legion of avengers!
"Charge! Kill all the SBS!"
Soone led the thundering roar.
Like a black tidal wave, over a thousand blood-eyed GNA soldiers reversed direction, unleashing an ear-splitting roar, launching a last-ditch charge towards those few SBS mbers and Don's command vehicle at the dune's slope!
Countless feet kicked up sand and dust, forming an angry wall of smoke!
"Fire at will! Suppress them!"
Captain Don's expression changed dramatically, shouting furiously.
He hadn't considered this flock could instantly transform into a frenzy of wolves.
Tatatatata—!
Thump thump thump thump—!
The SBS mbers, worthy of elite status, faced with the tidal surge of thousands of enemies without a hint of panic.
Using the command vehicle and several pickup trucks as cover, they unleashed precise and efficient volleys with their assault rifles and general purpose machine guns.
A crossfire net instantly ford, dozens of GNA soldiers in the front falling as if hitting an invisible wall, screaming and dropping.
Bullets precisely drilled into foreheads, chests, throats.
The SBS mbers' marksmanship was chillingly ruthless, each shot inevitably erupting in a plu of blood mist.
The charge halted montarily.
Yet, nurical superiority at this mont was unrestrained.
Dozens fell, hundreds rushed forward behind them!
Bullets rained down like a storm onto the SBS position!
Ding ding dong hit armored plates and pickup trucks, sparks flying.
Vehicle windows shattered instantly.
An SBS mber attempting to shift machine gun positions just peeked out when dozens of bullets simultaneously hit, his body flung backward like a broken sack.
"RPG!"
A GNA soldier howled.
Whoosh—!
Bang!
The rocket, trailing white smoke, crashed hard into an ard pickup used as cover.
The violent explosion shattered the pickup into pieces, and flas shot up into the air! Two SBS team mbers hiding behind the car were thrown violently by the shockwave and landed on the ground, their fate uncertain.
"Mortar! Set up the mortar! Blast them to hell!"
A GNA soldier, looking like an artillery officer, scread desperately in the crowd.
Amidst the chaos, several 60mm mortars were indeed dragged out from the wreckage of discarded vehicles and quickly set up at the back of the crowd.
"Bearing XXX! Distance XXX! One round load!"
The officer roared.
Thump!
A dull launching sound.
Screech—
The shell pierced the air with a harsh whistle and slamd hard onto the reverse slope of the dune where the SBS team was entrenched!
Boom—
Sand mixed with smoke shot skyward! The explosion was only a few dozen ters away from the command vehicle cover where the SBS team was!
The shockwave swept through with debris and shrapnel!
"Ugh!"
An SBS team mber scread miserably as a hot shrapnel sheared off his calf, spraying blood wildly.
"Take cover! Mortar!" Captain Don's eyes were bloodshot.
But it was too late.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
More mortar shells rained down like hail.
The GNA soldiers went completely mad, not caring about accuracy, aiming only to cover that small area with the fiercest firepower!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Boom—!
Explosive flas continuously rose up the reverse slope of the dune.
Thick smoke billowed, sand and stones flew everywhere!
The sturdy command vehicle was directly hit on the roof by a shell, tearing apart the weak armor plate at the top, and the interior instantly turned into a sea of fire!
The pickup used as cover was warped and deford by the explosion, igniting fiercely.
The shelters the SBS team relied on for survival were quickly destroyed under the fierce bombardnt.
In the overwhelming firepower and rain of bullets, precision shooting seed so pale and powerless!
"Jim!"
"Hansen!"
"Captain!"
Piercing shouts echoed in the intervals between explosions, only to be drowned out by even louder explosions.
One after another, agile figures fell amidst the flas and smoke, either torn apart by shockwaves or struck by flying shrapnel.
Don was pressed firmly into a relatively safe shallow pit by two loyal SBS team mbers, with debris and sand constantly falling on him.
His face was splattered with blood from an unknown source, and the twisted expression on his face no longer held the glow of madness and arrogance, only sheer terror and unbelievable despair remained.
Through the pervasive smoke, he watched his elite subordinates fall like harvested wheat and saw the command vehicle symbolizing his authority burn and explode in flas.
"No... no... this can't be..."
He muttered to himself, eyes unfocused.
The last card on the table, torn to shreds by his own hand.
The shelling finally ceased.
It wasn't due to the rcy of the GNA soldiers, but because they ran out of shells.
But the assault did not stop.
"They're out of shells! Get up there! Tear them apart alive!" An enraged shout erupted from the crowd.
Like beasts unleashed from their final chains, thousands of bloodthirsty GNA soldiers, brandishing rifles, so even drawing machetes, roared thunderously, flooding the small area littered with craters and burning remnants on the reverse slope of the dune!
The final resistance collapsed like bubbles.
The sporadic gunshots from the SBS team lasted only a few seconds before being engulfed in the deafening roars of killing.
An SBS team mber beside Don attempted one last stand.
But in the next second, that team mber was riddled with bullets from over a dozen rifles simultaneously, cooling him inside out.
Don struggled to stand up, trying to draw a pistol.
However, countless bloodshot eyes burning with vengeful fury were already locked onto him.
Like a pack of hungry wolves surrounding a dying lion.
"It's him! This madman! Kill him!"
"For Chief Yarif!"
"For the fallen brothers!"
Bullets poured down on him like a torrential storm!
Thud, thud, thud—
Don's body twitched violently like he was electrocuted.
The pistol slipped from his hand and flew out.
Countless blossoms of blood instantly erupted on his expensive combat uniform!
Chest, abdon, arms, thighs... He spun and jerked erratically in place, like a broken puppet pulled by countless invisible strings, as blood gushed from every part of his body like a fountain, staining the yellow sand underfoot.
His last frozen expression was a twisted mix of pure agony, bewildernt, and enormous resentnt.
He wanted to shout sothing, but his throat could only gush out large amounts of bloody foam.
Finally, that riddled body lost all support, falling heavily, face down on the scorching sand.
Blood quickly pooled beneath him, forming a sticky, ever-expanding dark red lake.
He twitched a few tis, fingers clawing nervously at the sand, before ultimately succumbing to silence.
The battlefield fell abruptly silent.
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