Luo Zheng did not imdiately answer Ghost Hand's question, but glanced at the SVD sniper rifle in his hand. With a maximum lethal range of 3800 ters, it could compensate for the shortcomings of his own M99 semi-automatic sniper rifle. After seeing that Sam Country had deployed the Barrett M82A1 with a maximum range of 6800 ters and an effective range of 2000 ters, Luo Zheng had been worried about the troubles brought by the disparity in range, but now he could breathe a sigh of relief.
After claiming the bald man's weapons as his own, stripping him of his pistol, military knife, and all ammunition, he glanced into the distance, his expression darkening, and said, "It's noon now. Let's find a place to hide first. There's a hillside over there, a few ters higher than the surroundings with a good field of vision. Get the grenades out and bring them along."
Seeing that Luo Zheng was preoccupied, everyone glanced at the distant hillside and followed without asking more questions. Ghost Hand took the bald man's food and water, buried the rest of the equipnt in a foxhole, and everyone did the sa with the grenades they had just buried, and then they headed toward the hillside.
The hillside was upwind, where the fire couldn't reach. Everyone moved quickly through the areas where the fire wasn't severe, heading forward briskly. The fire wasn't big but had spread, extinguishing it would take ti, and they weren't in the mood, knowing that as long as there wasn't much wind, the fire would smother itself soon.
Throughout the journey, everyone was silent and focused on making their way. Hidden under the cover of dry grass, they climbed up the hillside, which was also covered with dry grass, half an hour later. They found a dense spot to hide, set down their backpacks, each found a spot to sit, and looked to Luo Zheng who had unknowingly beco their leader.
The captain himself hadn't realized this, simply doing his best at what Lan Xue had asked him to do. He looked around at everyone and then up at the sky. The scorching sun was desperately radiating heat as if it wanted to roast the prairie. If it weren't for their specially-made combat uniforms with excellent insulation, they would have been baked alive.
"Do you have a new plan?" Lan Xue asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.
"Yeah, I've got an idea, let's discuss it," Luo Zheng said politely. "Based on our previous analysis, Wolf King definitely won't be easy to kill. He might be hiding in so corner right now, waiting for prey to co to him. I suggest we rest here awhile and let others attack first. When other teams are badly hurt, we'll follow."
"Won't we miss the opportunity?" Lan Xue worriedly asked. As a soldier, she could die, but failing to complete the mission was absolutely not allowed. If other teams succeeded in killing the Wolf King and they obtained nothing, wouldn't they be rated the lowest? Going back with such results would be unacceptable.
"Trust ," Luo Zheng confidently said. "This is a hunter's instinct. The prey is too cunning. When there are too many hunters, the best choice is to move at the right opportunity. Don't forget, hunters will also fight each other to capture their prey. We are best hanging back."
"The clam and crane quarrel, the fisherman benefits?" Ghost Hand countered.
"Exactly, but to benefit, the fisherman must pay a price. This isn't a simple hunting operation, it's a slaughter field, a brutal battle among hunters, and between hunter and prey. The prey is very powerful, and hunters are not united; you can imagine how cruel this hunt will be. If we rush in now, we would be walking into our deaths," Luo Zheng analyzed confidently.
"That's right, to attack now is to court death, failure is not just about not completing the mission, but also risking our own lives. Laying low for a day is also good, even if we fail to complete the mission, at least we will be safe, and there might still be an opportunity. I agree with this conservative tactic," Mountain Eagle suddenly stated.
"I agree too," Snow Leopard added, everyone was astute and caught on imdiately.
Lan Xue actually agreed internally but couldn't voice it first; she had to gauge everyone else's thoughts. Seeing Mountain Eagle and Snow Leopard agree relieved her, she looked toward Ghost Hand. After pondering, he said, "I think it's feasible, but if we don't move, would the headquarters know?"
"They'll definitely know, don't forget we're under satellite surveillance. But, it's actually good. Once headquarters knows we've stopped moving, this information will surely be secretly passed to so strong teams through other channels, which could actually confuse them," Mountain Eagle explained.
"It's not certain, but with our strategy," Luo Zheng scanned the surroundings, his eyes sparkling with wisdom. Seeing everyone curious, he explained, "Let's put the backpacks on the ground as support, use so dry grass to set up a sunshade, and we can just lie underneath and sleep heavily, letting others fight."
"Hey, that's a great idea, we're not lacking dry grass here," Snow Leopard agreed.
"We sleep during the day and move at night. Also, I expect this battle to take longer than anticipated, we need to conserve food and water. Luckily, we seized the bald man's supplies, enough for us for a couple more days," Luo Zheng reminded.
"Speaking of food and water, there are plenty of wild animals here, so food is not scarce, but there's one concern," Lan Xue suddenly said, focusing everyone's attention, and pensively added, "Don't forget one thing, not only can Wolf King control wolves, he's also proficient with poisons. What if he contaminates the nearby water sources?"
"No way, contaminating the water sources would cause an ecological disaster across the prairie," Ghost Hand exclaid in surprise, his eyes flickering; yet he was sowhat convinced and his expression turned grave.
"Nothing is impossible, Captain's reminder is very tily," Mountain Eagle said. "Think about it, a person pushed to a desperate situation, what would he hesitate to do?"
Luo Zheng's expression darkened and he said, "It's entirely possible. Wolf King has always been ruthless. Desperation leads a cornered dog to jump over the wall; anything is possible, it seems we must prepare early, stock up more food and water. But for now, let's set up the sunshade and sleep deeply. We'll deal with everything else when it cools off at night."
"Yes, hiding and sleeping both conserves our strength and saves food and water. In this scorching heat, a jug of water isn't even enough for one person," Lan Xue agreed. Everyone imdiately got to work. With their military knives, they cut down large swathes of dry grass, collecting it into heaps.
About ten minutes later, they had gathered a large amount of dry grass and set it over the backpacks. With the backpacks standing half as tall as a person, they ford a sturdy support. Everyone crawled underneath and began to rest leisurely, becoming an anomaly on the battlefield; they all thought it felt oddly funny.
"Ghost, buddy, playing it this way, if the satellite surveillance picks this up, surely the officials back ho would know. Won't those governnt bigwigs be furious?" Ghost Hand laughed, a blade of grass in his mouth.
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