```
Freedom Army Commander Ebu lay behind a sand dune feeling somewhat restless.
Ten minutes were almost up.
There wasn't a peep from Omaha.
Was the ammunition ready?
He glanced at the oil field area 600 meters away and grew anxious.
So, he took out his walkie-talkie, planning to contact the launcher again to see what the situation was; at this rate, he would definitely lash Omaha with a whip when he got back.
Pop—
A sudden soft sound broke the silence.
Ebu almost dropped his walkie-talkie in alarm.
He quickly retracted his head.
"Who?! Who fired a shot?"
"Captain, it seems like someone shot from the direction of the oil field."
"Bailk is dead!"
Someone reported.
Bailk?
Vanguard?
Damn!
Ebu's head started buzzing all of a sudden.
They had planned a surprise attack tonight, but now it was all ruined since the vanguard sent out for reconnaissance had been taken out, which meant their position had been exposed.
People from the direction of the oil field would quickly be alerted and gather here for defense.
Once the other side was ready, launching an attack would lose the element of surprise.
"All units, commence the attack immediately!"
Ebu decided to launch the attack right away.
After all, he had brought more than two hundred people, and the oil region was vast; the mercenaries in charge of security would probably be overrun before they could react to the breach on the west side of the defense line.
After that, another round of Katyushas would rain down on the oil field's facilities and the mercenaries, scattering them, and the purpose of the raid would be achieved.
So, when issuing the attack order, he didn't forget to continue urging Omaha.
"Omaha, are the Katyusha rockets ready? Hit them hard!"
The other end of the walkie-talkie remained silent.
There wasn't any response.
But the arrow was on the string, and it had to be launched.
Ebu led his men in a charge towards the oil field from different directions.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of Katyusha rockets flying in the sky.
These things were slow, but they made a loud noise.
Ebu looked up at the sky and saw a trail of fire.
It was the tail flame of a Katyusha rocket.
"Well done!"
Ebu thought that Omaha had finally not disappointed him, and rocket support had arrived.
"Wait a second..."
Ebu suddenly felt something was off.
The trajectory of the Katyusha rocket flying through the sky seemed wrong.
It didn't seem to be heading for the oil field but toward him.
"Watch out!"
He shouted out a warning to his troops.
The rocket landed at that moment.
Boom—
A fireball rose from the ground.
The explosion was less than fifty meters from the left wing of his attack force.
"Damn it!"
He quickly grabbed his walkie-talkie and started cursing out loud.
"What are you doing, Omaha!? Your rocket almost hit our own people! Hit the oil field! Not us!"
The Katyusha launcher remained quiet on the other side.
Then, gunfire came from the direction of the oil field.
The armed militants at the forefront were shot to the ground.
The mercenaries defending the oil field began their assault.
In the sky, the whoosh of Katyusha rockets was heard again.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
Ebu, lying on the ground, lifted his head to watch the rockets.
This time, there were even more of them.
More than a dozen tail flames appeared in the sky.
Boom—
Boom—
Boom—
One rocket after another landed.
This time the aim was corrected.
But not toward the direction of the oil field.
It was adjusted into the attacking formation of the militants.
Hey!
Can't say it wasn't accurate.
Under the relentless Katyusha rocket attacks, the Freedom Army's attack force suffered heavy casualties.
The Katyushas always made a big bang.
Not only was the sound of their flight loud, but the blast from their landing was also formidable.
Nearly twenty Freedom Army soldiers were blown into mid-air, their bodies heavily hitting the ground.
"Madness!"
Ebu realized something was seriously wrong.
He began scolding Omaha over the walkie-talkie.
"I will shoot you! Omaha! Look what you've done! Look at the mess you've made!"
Bang—
No sooner had he finished, when another shell landed among the attacking troops.
This time it wasn't a Katyusha rocket warhead.
It was clear it was a mortar warhead.
Ebu's hairs stood on end.
The mercenaries had mortars too?!
"Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
The fight had barely started, but Ebu had already lost the courage to continue.
Under such circumstances, what was the point in fighting?
His own Katyushas weren't helping, firing at his own instead, and the mercenaries in the oil field had mortars.
Both were bombarding his troops.
No one fought like that...
If they continued, he estimated that his group of over two hundred would be meeting God soon.
The dazed Freedom Army soldiers who heard Ebu's order turned tail and ran for their lives, faster than rabbits.
In a distant tower, Hunter couldn't be bothered to use his sniper rifle anymore.
He was now merely an artillery observer.
The mortar positions in the oil sector had already performed a baseline test fire; he had already confirmed the blast points.
```
So he immediately provided the corrected parameters to the mortar position commander over the channel.
"The benchmark mortar's first shot was about 40 meters to the right."
"Understood!"
Upon hearing the Hunter's report, the mortar platoon leader immediately issued the command to fire in volleys.
"Direction left 001, three guns, five rounds, fire!"
Boom boom boom—
Boom boom boom—
Boom boom boom—
The three 120mm mortars continuously fired high-explosive shells.
This was the first real combat experience for the Cook Oil Field Area's mortar platoon.
The platoon leader, Ahmed, was more dedicated than anyone and personally went to the mortar position to command the operation.
After all, he was now earning a monthly salary of 1000 US dollars, which was considered a very high salary locally in Illiguo.
If he didn't prove his worth now, then when?
"Fire the Katyusha rockets too! Give me a full volley!"
Ahmed felt as if he were back in the military once again, when he was still a Captain and a company leader.
"Don't let any of them escape!"
The soldiers of the Katyusha rocket platoon, seeing others firing, were already itching to join in.
Hearing what Company Leader Ahmed said, the platoon leader of the Katyusha rocket platoon got as excited as if he had taken an expired aphrodisiac, running to his position and shouting, "Quick! Give me a hard and heavy full volley!"
The Katyusha rockets were already set up.
The parameters had in fact already been set.
Just waiting for the command.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
The huge tail flames produced by the rocket launchers lit up the entire position.
The fiery glow illuminated each excited face.
The barrage of artillery was truly like a torrential downpour this time.
After two volleys from the two artillery platoons, the Hunter watching the artillery's effect from the tower above urgently called for a stop over the channel, "That's enough, that's enough, it's almost done; what, do shells come for free? It's too wasteful to fire like that! Infantry platoon, get on the vehicles and chase, and the artillery platoons can stop!"
The wasteland to the west of the oil field was enveloped in thick smoke.
The ground was littered with the bodies of Free Army soldiers.
Some bodies were smoking, some burning, roasting on the flames.
The air was tinged with the scent of burning flesh…
Ebu, with the last few soldiers, made it to their parking spot.
Just moments ago, he was nearly sent flying two meters by the blast wave of mortar shells, and was almost knocked unconscious.
Fortunately, a few loyal subordinates supported him and fled with him, saving his life in the process.
"Quick, get in the car! Run!"
As he settled into the back seat of the pickup truck, Ebu's pounding heart finally seemed to settle as well.
Tonight was just too unlucky.
Those mercenaries were too formidable.
How did they find him?
It was as if they already knew he was coming, from which direction, even had the guns ready in advance.
Ebu even suspected that there might be a traitor in his own ranks.
The pickup truck's engine started, and the driver made a sharp turn, preparing to flee.
Crack—
Suddenly, a bullet hole appeared in the windowpane.
The driver, holding the steering wheel, slumped to the side, blood sprayed onto the windshield, a sheet of crimson.
"Ambush!"
Ebu pushed open the door and rolled out, scrambling to the ground.
The other three subordinates also clambered out of the vehicle, taking cover beside the pickup truck.
"Did anyone see where the enemy is?"
Ebu asked his subordinates.
"No, didn't see!"
The subordinate shook his head in terror.
But before he finished speaking, his head suddenly slammed hard against the vehicle, a dull thud sounded, a bullet hole appeared on his forehead, and he slumped immediately.
"Damn it!"
Ebu and the other two subordinates raised their assault rifles and blindly sprayed bullets into the darkness before them.
Rat-tat-tat—
Rat-tat-tat—
Until their magazines were emptied, the three men clumsily began to reload.
As they were changing magazines, there was another sound of a bullet ripping through the air.
One subordinate collapsed against the vehicle, struck in the head, and fell limp to ground, silence following instantly.
"Devil... it's the devil!"
The last remaining subordinate couldn't bear the psychological torment and tossed his gun aside, standing up to flee.
After running more than a dozen steps, a bullet struck his back, passing straight through.
He staggered, plummeting headfirst to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming still.
Now, only Ebu was left beside the vehicle.
Ebu stood frozen beside the vehicle like a clay sculpture.
He didn't know what to do.
To counterattack? He hadn't even seen a shadow.
To run away…
There was already a model of what happens to those who flee in front of him.
It was still a dead end.
He didn't know who the opponent was.
He guessed it might be the mercenaries from the oil field.
But if they were from the oil field, how could they have lain in ambush here beforehand?
How did they do it?
In the end, Ebu couldn't figure it out.
Finally, he threw down his gun and fell to his knees with a thump.
"I surrender! Don't kill me! I surrender! Don't kill me!"
He screamed hoarsely into the boundless darkness, afraid the Grim Reaper in the dark wouldn't hear him.
Soon, a dark figure emerged slowly from the night.
Ebu finally saw the opponent.
He looked like a person from China.
He had heard that the owner of the defense company in charge of these two oil fields was a person from China.
"Don't kill me! I surrender!"
He kept repeating these words.
Lights appeared in the distance.
An array of lights.
Song Heping glanced over.
Those were vehicle lights.
It looked like Hunter and his team had arrived.
He walked over, kicked the gun away from the ground, and stood in front of Ebu.
"Boss!"
Hunter got out of the off-road vehicle and walked up to Song Heping, glancing around and then at Ebu, who was kneeling on the ground.
"Just kill him."
"No need for that, keep him, he's useful," Song Heping said.