Gugula Canyon, northern section, local ti 06:17.
Major Jensen's Humr convoy moved like a steel centipede, twisting forward through the narrowest choke point of the canyon.
The barrel of the M2HB heavy machine gun mounted on the leading M1114 armored Humr continuously swayed from side to side, with Corporal Kael's index finger lightly resting on the trigger guard.
"Maintain spacing!"
Jensen pressed the PTT key on the vehicle's radio.
"Vehicle B, watch the right side wall."
Static noises ca through the headphones, and the voice of B vehicle's machine gunner, Ramirez, sounded sowhat distorted: "Roger, no anomalies detected."
Suddenly, Captain Mc Carthy, who was in the middle of the convoy, frowned, noticing that the green blip representing the drone on the tactical tablet was flickering.
"Major, the 'Raven' drone has lost signal."
Jensen abruptly sat upright, his right hand instinctively reaching for the assault rifle hanging on his chest.
He looked out the car window and noticed the canyon walls on both sides rising steeply here, forming nearly vertical sheer cliffs a hundred ters high.
The sunlight was blocked, making the convoy seem to be entering a dark tunnel.
The terrain here was very peculiar, long, deep, with towering walls on both sides.
It caused strong signal interference and jamming.
"We need to speed up and get out of here."
A sense of foreboding welled up in his mind.
Suddenly, sothing seed to flash on the cliff wall ahead.
"Stop! Stop!"
Jensen suddenly shouted.
But it was already too late.
Three red laser dots suddenly appeared high on the cliff, precisely targeting the leading, middle, and trailing vehicles of the convoy.
This was the signal Song Heping had been waiting for.
"Detonate!"
With the command through the headphones, the demolitionists hidden in the rock crevices simultaneously pressed the detonators.
The 24 sets of C4 explosives pre-installed at the weak points of the rock face were detonated in a carefully calculated sequence.
Each block of explosive was specially shaped, directing all the blast waves inward into the rock mass.
Rumble—
The entire canyon was trembling. First, small debris fell like raindrops, followed by rock slabs the size of tabletops, and finally, entire sections of the cliff began to collapse.
Jensen watched helplessly as the cliff face thirty ters ahead crumbled like lting chocolate, tens of thousands of tons of rock crashing onto the road.
"Reverse! Quick, reverse!" Jensen shouted into the radio.
The driver of the tail vehicle frantically shifted into reverse, only to see another wall of dust rising behind them.
The second wave of directed explosions had completely sealed their retreat.
In less than ten seconds, the entire convoy was trapped in a death corridor about 150 ters long.
"Everyone disembark! Establish a defensive periter!"
As Jensen kicked open the car door, a fist-sized rock struck his helt with a sharp "clang."
The well-trained Special Soldiers quickly used the vehicles as cover to set up a circular defense, imdiately deploying the M240B machine guns.
The snipers on the canyon walls gave them no ti to breathe.
Bang—
The Barrett large-caliber sniper rifle in the Hunter's hands let out a muffled blast, sending dust swirling.
B vehicle's machine gunner, Ramirez's head suddenly exploded like a waterlon, spraying a mix of red and white onto the bulletproof window.
The 12.7mm armor-piercing bullet continued on after penetrating his skull, shattering the dical pack in the rear compartnt.
"Sniper! Three o'clock!"
Mc Carthy rolled under a vehicle, quickly aiming his M320 grenade launcher at the high rock face, "Distance 200, elevation angle 60 degrees!"
Three 40mm high-explosive grenades whistled toward the rock face, exploding into a cloud of dust.
But this was only a futile counterattack—the Hunter had already moved.
Jensen, back against the tire, quickly checked the tactical tablet.
The canyon's terrain displayed as a deep V-shape on the screen, and they were positioned right at the lowest point.
"We need air support," he yelled into the satellite phone, "Imdiately call for the 'Attack Hawk'!"
The answer he received was a strange static noise.
Only then did Jensen realize that all the communication devices displayed "No Signal."
"FUCK!"
He realized he had fallen into a carefully orchestrated trap.
The Hunters on the cliffs started to showcase their true power.
Ratatat—
Ratatat—
Ratatat—
Amid the fierce bursts of the PK general-purpose machine gun, a rain of bullets fell upon the convoy. The 7.62mm warheads precisely pierced through the observation slits of the Humr, instantly killing two radio operators seated inside.
The bullets were specifically armor-piercing incendiaries, and the hit bodies quickly ignited, filling the vehicle with the acrid stench of burning flesh and plastic.
"Locate their positions! Turn on the thermal imaging mode!"
"Thermal imaging is useless!"
The roof machine gunner shouted as he tore off his head-mounted night vision device.
"They packed heat pads into the crevices! The place is full of heat sources!"
Jensen suddenly understood the enemy's tactics.
Song Heping's team had not only calculated the amount and placent of the explosives but had also anticipated every possible counterasure the US Army might employ.
Those seemingly random rock crevices were actually carefully designed firing ports; each protruding rock ridge could hide a deadly gunman.
"Smoke bombs! Everyone charge west to the mouth of the canyon! Give it all you've got or we're dead here!"
Jensen made his decision.
Six M18 smoke bombs erupted simultaneously, filling the canyon with milky smoke.
Eighteen Special Soldiers ford a wedge formation and moved along what appeared to be the lower rock face under the cover of smoke.
What they didn't know was that they were falling into Song Heping's second trap.
Ping—
The soldier at the front heard a faint tallic click underfoot, and his pupils imdiately shrank.
"Mines!"
Boom—
The claymore mines laid ahead exploded, sending hundreds of steel pellets flying toward the Green Berets like a storm of needles.
On the eastern wall, Song Heping calmly observed everything through binoculars.
Beside him, demolition expert Lao Zhou was adjusting the frequency of the remote detonator.
"Eight left," Collins licked his chapped lips, "Should we go down and close it up?"
Song Heping checked his watch, "Wait a little longer, eight people are still quite capable in combat. Have the rocket launchers move up, fire a few into those rubble piles to flush them out."
anwhile, at the canyon floor, Jensen looked around, cold sweat soaking his combat uniform.
He counted the remaining personnel: including himself, only five were left, with two wounded. They had plenty of ammunition, but in this terrain, they couldn't leverage their firepower advantage.
"Rose!" Jensen ordered through gritted teeth, "When we throw the smoke bombs, you rush to that large rock ahead and send out a distress signal as fast as possible!"
Radio operator Rose moved furiously to Jensen's side and looked at the large rock just a few ters away.
This was a suicide charge.
Rose knew, of course.
Once he climbed the rock, he'd be like a naked target on a spike.
But it was also the only chance to maybe get a little signal.
If he didn't do it, everyone would die.
"Alright!"
He nodded vigorously.
"Cover !"
"One! Two! Three—"
When Jensen counted to three, several smoke bombs flew from behind the rubble, landing at different angles, quickly obscuring the dozen ters between the rubble and the large rock.
"Run!"
At Jensen's order, Rose, without even a gun, rushed toward the giant rock with just the radio pack on his back.
"They're trying to send a signal!"
Song Heping vaguely saw a moving figure through the gaps in the smoke.
He also saw the big rock ahead.
He guessed Jensen's intention.
"Machine guns! Block the passage! Don't let him get on the rock!"
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