Chapter 43: Eliminating Gao Zhong Dui
Escaping the search team’s pursuit, Chang Ning and Xiao Zhuang didn’t dare to stop easily, covering their heads and sprinting wildly through the forest.
“Xiao Zhuang, can you hold on? How about resting for a bit?”
Chang Ning saw that Xiao Zhuang beside him seemed to be struggling to keep going, so he asked with concern.
His stamina was now much stronger than Xiao Zhuang’s, and even he was feeling fatigued now. Xiao Zhuang was probably just forcing himself to hold on.
“I… I can still… still hold on.”
Looking at the out-of-breath Xiao Zhuang who was gasping for air, Chang Ning mercilessly exposed his lie without giving him any face.
“Come on, give me a break. Look at how exhausted you are. We’re such good buddies, is there any need to push yourself so hard?”
After speaking, Chang Ning casually sat down on the ground to catch his breath. He hadn’t rested much along the way, and last night there was intense combat followed by long-distance cross-country running. Anyway, he couldn’t hold on anymore.
Seeing Chang Ning sitting on the ground himself, Xiao Zhuang stopped insisting. He plopped down next to Chang Ning, unscrewed his water canteen for a drink to moisten his throat.
“Chen Pai, eliminated, the entire Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company is left with just us two.”
Xiao Zhuang’s eyes showed thick frustration and bewilderment. He didn’t know what to do next. Even if they wanted to cause a big stir, they had to find the Blue Team first.
Right now, he and Chang Ning were just wandering aimlessly in the forest. What could they possibly run into?
“Who told you it’s just us two left?”
Chang Ning’s words greatly lifted Xiao Zhuang’s spirits.
“Could there be others? Where are they?”
“How would I know where the others are?”
Chang Ning said irritably. If he knew where Lao Pao and the others were being held, he would have gone to rescue them already. Would he still be here?
“Then how are you so sure they haven’t been eliminated?”
Xiao Zhuang didn’t believe the others hadn’t been eliminated. Last night they had exchanged fire with Gao Zhong Dui, deeply feeling the gap in strength between the two sides, so he held a pessimistic attitude toward whether his comrades had been eliminated.
“Are you dumb? Not every search team has that kind of strength from last night. With our Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company’s strength, if they deliberately hide, it’s hard to find them.”
“But this is Blue Team’s territory. They can mobilize many resources to assist in the search, like deploying military dogs.”
Xiao Zhuang still didn’t believe Chang Ning’s words.
“Ugh, I’m not arguing with you.”
Seeing Xiao Zhuang starting to be stubborn, Chang Ning looked pained and didn’t want to argue with him anymore.
What’s most important when trapped in a difficult situation? Naturally, hope. The reason Chang Ning said that was because he saw Xiao Zhuang starting to get down, so he tried to make him more confident.
Who knew it would instead make this guy fixate on it. Totally speechless.
Xiao Zhuang wasn’t stupid. Seeing Chang Ning stop talking, he belatedly realized why Chang Ning said that.
He was kindly trying to help, but he ended up asking until the guy didn’t want to speak anymore.
“Um, Chang Ning, I can be nitpicky sometimes. Don’t be mad.”
Xiao Zhuang said with an embarrassed smile.
“Alright, am I that petty? If I got mad about this, I’d die of anger ten or eight times a day.
Don’t talk anymore. Hurry and seize the time to recover stamina. We still have to keep moving soon.”
After speaking, Chang Ning closed his eyes and quietly recovered his stamina.
“Oh.”
Seeing that Chang Ning really wasn’t mad, Xiao Zhuang finally relaxed.
He knew deep down that because of his temper, he hadn’t had many friends from childhood to now. Coming to the army, he finally made a friend like Chang Ning. He didn’t want to ruin the relationship over this.
Gao Zhong Dui, eight or nine hundred meters away from Chang Ning and Xiao Zhuang, was muttering to himself at this moment.
He had clearly calculated it. Chang Ning and Xiao Zhuang would definitely pass by here, but he had waited a full ten-plus minutes here.
“No reason for this. With Chang Ning’s speed, it’s impossible he hasn’t shown up yet. Could they have changed direction midway?”
Gao Zhong Dui decided to wait another three minutes. If they still didn’t come, he wouldn’t play with those two anymore.
Wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to directly lead the team in a decapitation operation? Even if the Blue Team hadn’t found the Red Army’s command post yet, it didn’t stop Wolf Fang from decapitating the Red Army’s regiment-level commanders.
With a large number of frontline troops in trouble, the Blue Team’s commanders would surely seize the opportunity to win the exercise in one fell swoop!
“We gotta go. I keep feeling like Gao Zhong Dui won’t let us off.”
Chang Ning said worriedly. He wasn’t a match for them right now, even if his marksmanship might now surpass Gao Zhong Dui’s.
But combat power was a comprehensive assessment of personal abilities.
Even if Gao Zhong Dui was inferior to him in one or two areas, in the forest, with his rich experience, he could easily toy him to death here. He might not even know how he got eliminated until the end.
It was that terrifying. Don’t underestimate an experienced special forces soldier’s lethality in their professional domain!
“Chang Ning, where should we head next?”
Xiao Zhuang pretended to be relaxed, wanting to liven up the mood. After all, now it was just the two of them as new recruits, and there might be an elite special forces soldier tailing them. Who wouldn’t be on edge?
“Where to?”
It really stumped Chang Ning. If Chen Guotao hadn’t been eliminated, he could ask him. With his professional eye, he’d give good advice.
Right now, Chang Ning only knew the situation in areas 321, 322, and 323. Once outside these areas, he was clueless.
Chang Ning was cautious. He wouldn’t do anything without knowing the situation. So, he and Xiao Zhuang could only operate in these three areas, and they had to make big news.
Otherwise, just stealthily lurking wouldn’t be as good as heading back to the Red Army Position early.
Maybe Miao Lian could help them report to superiors and get them on the frontal battlefield.
First, there were no valuable big targets left in area 321. The only missile unit had been taken out by them.
Second, area 322, where he and Xiao Zhuang were now, had a radar base that they had just decapitated.
But that wasn’t a big loss for them. They could still continue working for the Blue Team Command. That was the difference between the logistics department and frontline troops.
‘If we kill back now, we could definitely catch them off guard, but it wouldn’t be useful. With just him and Xiao Zhuang, they could only cause a disturbance. The radar base people would react and annihilate them in minutes. That’d be throwing away their lives.’
Two of the three options were ruled out. They could only try their luck in area 323 now.
But Chang Ning wasn’t optimistic about the next operation.
They had made such a big commotion in areas 321 and 322. Who would believe the adjacent artillery position in area 323 hadn’t raised its alert?
They might get surrounded the moment they went there.
Chang Ning shared his analysis with Xiao Zhuang, wanting to discuss it with him.
“You’ve analyzed it so thoroughly. What’s there to discuss? Anyway, we’re here to cause trouble. Even if we get eliminated, no big deal.”
Unlike Chang Ning’s caution, Xiao Zhuang had a strong “no fear, just do it” aura.
‘Yeah, what’s there to fear? We’re here to cause trouble.’
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