Mercenaries, I Will Be King Chapter 985 - 919: Facing a Great Enemy3

After speaking, he bent down, picked up another captured SVD from the ground, and hung it on his shoulder along with his own rifle.

The heavy gun body brought a sense of descent, yet it gave him a strange sense of stability. He quickly gathered several SVD magazines scattered on the ground and stuffed them into the magazine pouches on his tactical vest.

After completing all this, he turned to Utekin, who had been silently standing by, looking on with a complex expression:

"Let's go, let's check out over there." His tone was calm, as if rely inviting a companion to view a scenery.

Utekin witnessed the entire process.

From Song Heping picking up the SVD, to the three rapid, Grim Reaper-like gunshots, to Song Heping's current terrifyingly calm deanor.

This forr GRU Special Forces mber, an old soldier who had endured the hell of Chechnya, inadvertently showed a trace of barely detectable awe in his eyes.

He nodded, didn't say much, just tightened the grip on his AK, indicating he was ready.

The two followed one another, walking down the staircase filled with rubble.

Just halfway down, a deafening, drum-like roar sounded not far away—

Bang Bang Bang!

Bang Bang Bang Bang!

It was the characteristic roar of a 12.7mm large-caliber heavy machine gun, dull, continuous, with a montum of destroying everything.

The screech of bullets tearing through the air intertwined with the cracking sounds of buildings being bombarded, announcing that Jiang Feng's "Death God Squad" was clearing the battlefield in the most violent manner.

Song Heping's steps didn't pause for a mont.

He understood Jiang Feng and trusted the "Death God Squad," these veterans tempered in blood and fire.

They would handle everything.

Yet, the dense shadow in his heart didn't lift with this brief tactical victory.

Today was truly unlucky.

He thought silently.

Leaving the temporary base in Latakia, they'd barely covered a hundred kiloters before crashing into an advance unit of the 1515 terrorist group on the outskirts of the so-called "gate town" Isriye.

An unexpected encounter battle, though they'd annihilated the enemy with their responsive speed and firepower advantage, the cost was the death of two "Death God Squad" soldiers.

Isam's elite governnt army Special Forces team now only had 10 people left.

With over three hundred kiloters to the destination of Deir Ezzor, how many scattered rebels or terrorists would they encounter along the way?

No one could predict.

How many of the "Death God Squad" would remain upon reaching Deir Ezzor?

Song Heping dared not think deeply, nor was he willing to ponder.

Thinking about these now would only increase the pressure.

"It doesn't matter."

He forced himself to dispel the distracting thoughts, his gaze becoming sharp once more.

As long as they reached Deir Ezzor, they could rendezvous with the main force of the Vakner rcenaries coming from Damascus.

A battalion-sized Vakner rcenary, no matter the circumstances, their combat strength and organizational capacity were far superior to these demoralized governnt army units.

But the sight of Isriye in front of him made Song Heping feel very oppressed.

This should have been an important gate defending Latakia, a strategic key point.

Yet, all the way, besides the screen of devastation and terrified fleeing civilians, Song Heping hadn't seen a single living governnt soldier, nor even the corpse of one!

Only the tragic condition of civilians lying in pools of blood. Though the buildings in town were battered, the bullet markings weren't particularly dense, most main structures were relatively intact, far from the look of intense urban warfare.

This was completely different from the experience of engaging the "Freedom Army" on the outskirts of Latakia—those opposition groups loved to use suicide bombs and heavy artillery to flatten the defenders along with the buildings.

From this, it can be inferred…

The defense forces here, the so-called 12th Armored Division, probably hadn't put up a proper resistance at all. They symbolically fired a few shots and fled once they saw things weren't going well.

A military force, losing the will to defend even their nation's border gates to such an extent, becoming lazy in even constructing decent fortifications…

The possibility of this country losing the entire civil war might be much larger than imagined.

Song Heping's heart sank bit by bit.

Was it really wise for Cook and his Vakner rcenaries to ddle in such a quagmire?

This thought flashed by, imdiately suppressed by him.

When Song Heping and Utekin cautiously arrived at the firefight point of the three-story building, stepping on gravel and bloodstains, Jiang Feng and his n had basically completed the battlefield clearance.

The soldiers of the "Death God Squad" were searching floor by floor in pairs, covering each other, ensuring no survivors escaped.

The air was thick with the sll of blood and smoke, mixed with the scent of dust, suffocating.

"How many 1515 terrorists are inside?"

Song Heping asked Jiang Feng, who was directing his n to move a heavy machine gun ammo belt, straight to the point.

Jiang Feng wiped his sweat and imdiately replied, "Not many, we temporarily discovered thirteen corpses. Plus the two snipers outside that you took out."

He pointed to the direction where Song Heping had sniped the first target: "Altogether, only fifteen people. A small unit."

Fifteen people.

An advance reconnaissance unit.

Song Heping silently noted this number, then turned to the pale-faced, complex-expressioned Lieutenant Isam: "Isam, Isriye is the gateway into Latakia, it holds significant strategic value. Capturing here allows a direct push westward towards Latakia Port, moving south can threaten Tartus Port, and potentially Damascus. Aren't there any stationed defenses here? What about the 12th Division? I recall you ntioned this was their station, an armored division…"