Chapter 301: Trip To Langde Village
After taking inventory of the supplies, Chang Ning followed the plan and used a flashlight to send three long signals toward the foot of the mountain. This was to notify Staff Officer Xia to bring the militia from Langde Village up to transport the supplies.
If three short signals were sent, it meant a situation had arisen and Staff Officer Xia must lead the militia to retreat.
Although problems were unlikely to occur, two plans were prepared just in case.
Seeing the signal from Chang Ning, Staff Officer Xia’s tense mood was instantly relieved.
Even though she knew the probability of something going wrong was low, she still felt inexplicably nervous.
Thinking of the dangerous situation they were about to face, nervousness was inevitable.
8:200, on average one person had to deal with more than twenty criminals. How could they not be nervous in actual combat?
After Chang Ning and the others, along with Staff Officer Xia and the militia, transported the new equipment and Ostrich’s airdropped chickens back to Langde Village and temporarily sealed them away, the airdropped chickens were distributed to Ostrich, who was put in charge of managing them.
Who made this mess happen? Of course, Ostrich himself had no complaints about this arrangement and happily accepted the new work.
If not for the fact that it was late at night, he would have immediately grabbed a chicken, gutted it, roasted it, and tasted it.
The next morning, Chang Ning distributed the weapon equipment to the villagers and led them to familiarize themselves with the weapons in their hands.
Lao Pao also selected a few militia familiar with the surrounding environment and, using the suggested map drawn by Geng Jihui, entered the forest. He was going to set up explosives and traps inside the forest.
Everyone had their own tasks, and the entire village was enveloped in an atmosphere named war.
Time soon arrived at the moment when the criminal gang’s intelligence indicated they would retaliate against Langde Village, but now Langde Village was no less than a dragon’s lair or tiger’s den to them.
To ensure they would not be snuck up on from behind, Chang Ning began frequent ambushes at several difficult-to-traverse locations according to the combat plan.
These places had swamps, sheer cliffs, and turbulent rivers.
Normally, people without targeted training would not choose to take such routes.
To the criminals, they would not take the villagers of Langde Village seriously at all.
In their eyes, the villagers of Langde Village were just a bunch of ants that they could crush at will.
Although no one thought these scum would sneak up from these places, to show importance, Geng Jihui still arranged for Chang Ning to bring people to guard these key positions.
Mainly the militia were guarding, with Chang Ning providing guidance.
He could not personally ambush everywhere, as there were several places and he could not be in multiple places at once.
Therefore, the best method was for Chang Ning to guide the Langde Village militia in ambushing, so he could patrol back and forth between positions.
“Forest Wolf, it’s quiet here. Those people haven’t appeared. Over.”
After Chang Ning inspected the several lookout points he was responsible for and gave a few suggestions to the militia, he contacted Geng Jihui.
Currently, his side was safe and sound, so there was a high probability something was happening on Geng Jihui’s side.
“Everything is calm here for now. Stay vigilant and observe carefully. Over.”
Through observation and reports from the assault team, Geng Jihui found no sign of the enemy on his side either.
“Received. Over.”
Chang Ning thought, they couldn’t have been spotted by the criminals, could they?
Whether the enemy came or not, the area he was responsible for absolutely could not have any issues. Chang Ning composed himself and began another round of patrols.
Any vulnerabilities he found were carefully explained to the militia. No need to worry they wouldn’t understand.
Because those selected as militia could more or less understand Mandarin; they just weren’t very fluent when speaking, but it was enough as long as communication worked.
Night, quiet and still.
The great battle between Langde Village and the criminals was about to erupt. The jungle, designated as the battlefield, was wrapped in a chilling atmosphere.
“Assault team report, prey sighted, prey sighted!”
Xiao Zhuang’s voice came through everyone’s earpieces. Their assault team position was the most forward, so once the criminals appeared, he and Qiang Zi would spot them.
“Everyone move to your positions and prepare for combat!”
After hearing the intelligence from the assault team, Geng Jihui quickly took command of the battlefield and began directing everyone to prepare for battle in an orderly manner according to the plan.
According to the plan, Chang Ning’s mission was to watch the rear for everyone and prevent sneak attacks by the criminals.
The mission was small but carried great responsibility.
Group B was at a numerical disadvantage. If snuck up on from behind by the enemy, they were doomed to annihilation.
So now Chang Ning could only watch. Even if his comrades were fiercely exchanging fire ahead, he could not move.
Unless the battle situation was clear and the possibility of a sneak attack by the criminals was ruled out.
How could they confirm the criminals would not sneak attack?
This small issue did not stump Chang Ning.
“You all pay attention to the surroundings. Send the code if you spot anything.”
Chang Ning repeatedly emphasized the same words at the several positions he was responsible for. Their code was a pre-arranged special bird call.
As long as the Langde Village militia sent the code, Chang Ning could discern different information from the different calls.
After confirming the militia understood, Chang Ning’s figure was enveloped by the pitch-black night. He disappeared into the jungle.
No one knew where he went.
Group B did not know, nor did the militia following him.
In the darkness of night, the criminals were swaggering toward Langde Village.
What they did not know was that they were now the lambs to be slaughtered. As long as any criminal fell behind, a Group B member would gently pull the trigger and take one criminal’s life.
At this moment, Group B had become the god of death, harvesting the sinful souls of the criminals. Unfortunately, the number of criminals was too many for their seven-man team. After one round of harvesting, the criminals’ numbers seemed hardly reduced.
This kind of attrition could not solve the problem. If it dragged on, they would definitely be discovered.
Fortunately, they had prepared in advance and would not let this gang of criminals have it easy.
“Assault team, have all the criminals entered the battlefield?”
Geng Jihui inquired about the plan’s progress. As commander, he had to have a firm grasp of the entire battle.
After Xiao Zhuang and Qiang Zi, following behind the criminals, watched the last one step into the battlefield they had set up, they reported to Geng Jihui: “Report Forest Wolf, prey has entered the trap.”
Upon receiving the assault team’s intelligence, Geng Jihui immediately ordered the assault team: “Herd this group toward Mountain Wolf.”
The position where Lao Pao was located was his carefully prepared explosive feast. He hoped the “guests” would eat their fill and enjoy it, to live up to his kind intentions.
Hearing Geng Jihui’s order, Qiang Zi turned to the militia beside him and said: “When you see the signal flare light up in the sky, throw the firecrackers into the barrel.”
This homemade method could catch the criminals off guard and turn them into startled birds.
This way, they could be driven toward Lao Pao.
Of course, Qiang Zi and Xiao Zhuang were not idle either. In the original plot, their weapon equipment was poor with no firepower output.
Things were different now. Thanks to Chang Ning’s reminder, their weapon equipment had been supplemented by Wolf Den and was now very robust.
Seeing Qiang Zi’s gesture, Xiao Zhuang adjusted the machine gun from his back to the front and grinned maliciously at the criminals scurrying like headless flies in the forest.
With Geng Jihui’s command, a signal flare emitting red light first rose into the sky.
This signal flare awakened the entire battlefield.
Seeing the signal flare, the militia lit the thousand-cracker firecrackers in their hands and quickly threw them into the pre-prepared iron barrels.
In the quiet forest, a sudden “crackling” sound rang out, panicking the already guilty criminals, who all thought machine gunners were pouring fire on them.
Sure enough, just as in the tactical arrangement, the criminals were caught off guard by the sudden change.
The criminals, unable to organize a counterattack, scurried in the forest with heads held low. They were herded by Qiang Zi and Xiao Zhuang wielding machine guns toward Lao Pao’s position.
Several key positions in the forest had surveillance cameras installed by Geng Jihui. Through a tablet, Geng Jihui could see the tactical progress.
“Bad news, we’ve been tricked.
The armed police knew our intelligence in advance. Everyone, rush into the village and grab villagers as hostages!”
A smart criminal reacted at this point. He immediately organized and directed everyone to find a way to survive.
Compared to “armed police” regular troops, they were just scattered soldiers and rogues. Bullying unarmed civilians was fine, but fighting regular troops was suicide!
No sooner had he spoken than this smart criminal among the criminals met his end.
Did they really think the sniper team was for show?
However, the smart one still reminded the criminals, and they began breaking out toward Langde Village.
“Everyone take note, don’t let a single one escape the net!”
If they ran in other directions, the criminals might have a chance of survival, but the direction of Langde Village was full of explosives, precisely to prevent them from taking villagers hostage.
While the Group B members were eliminating criminals separated from the main group, Chang Ning’s voice came through the earpieces: “Forest Wolf, I’ve checked the nearby positions and saw no criminals. Can I join the operation? Please don’t finish them all, leave some soup for me. Over.”
Chang Ning’s words made everyone chuckle. This wasn’t a dinner party; how could they leave some for him?
Against criminals threatening national security, they must go all out without mercy!
“Forest Wolf received. If you’re certain no enemies on your side, you can come over. Remember, you must confirm no criminal traces sighted. Over.”
Although Geng Jihui knew Chang Ning was always reliable and would not act rashly, he still could not help reminding him.
“Received. Over.”
While the other Group B members were engaging the militia in firefight, Chang Ning used his speed and endurance to check the situation in his jurisdiction. After finding no criminal traces, he still went deeper to double-check out of caution.
In the end, aside from unknown birds and animals, he found nothing, which led to his earlier request to join Geng Jihui.
On his way to the combat area, he also planned to stop by the mountain where the villagers were sheltering. He had not forgotten the culprit that nearly wiped out Group B.
“Chang Ning? Why are you here?”
After seeing the visitor clearly, Staff Officer Xia was very puzzled. According to the plan, Chang Ning should be in combat at this time. Why had he come up the mountain?
“Nothing, I just came to check.”
Facing Staff Officer Xia’s question, Chang Ning could not say he was here to see Da Bao’s dog, as it was too far-fetched.
With fighting going on ahead, for a combatant to skip the battle and come see a puppy instead—no one would believe it.
Chang Ning’s answer immediately changed Staff Officer Xia’s expression. At this moment, her face was blacker than the bottom of a pot.
But because it was nighttime, Chang Ning could not see Staff Officer Xia’s face clearly and did not know she was burning with rage.
“What do you mean by that? Doubting my ability to protect the villagers’ safety and questioning my capability?
So special forces are great? Special forces can look down on people?
The more Staff Officer Xia thought, the angrier she got, until she finally broke down.
Looking at the woman in front of him who suddenly had teary eyes, Chang Ning was completely baffled, like a monk scratching his head.
He thought to himself, he had just arrived and hadn’t provoked Staff Officer Xia. Why was she suddenly like this? If others saw, they would think he had done something to her.
Could it be because of what he said earlier?
Chang Ning spotted the blind spot. Considering how harshly he had rebuked Staff Officer Xia recently, it was not surprising she misunderstood him.
His earlier words were indeed prone to misunderstanding, but for an officer to lack this mental fortitude was unexpected to Chang Ning.
Fine, things had come to this; time to explain.
“Staff Officer Xia, I think you’ve misunderstood me.”
Chang Ning’s explanatory demeanor truly caught Staff Officer Xia off guard.
She thought he would argue with her. Since they first made contact, Chang Ning had always been nose-up, eyes-up toward her. This was the first time he was explaining.
Chang Ning did not want to rack his brains guessing the reason for Staff Officer Xia’s abnormality. He just wanted to appease this hot-tempered woman, then instruct Da Bao to watch his dog and not cause trouble for Group B.
“We did have some minor misunderstandings before, but now my comrades are leading the militia in battle ahead. How could coming up the mountain be to question your ability? I’d rather spend that time fighting with my comrades.”
Chang Ning admitted his words were a bit blunt, but he had no time now to wrack his brains to phrase them tactfully.
Staff Officer Xia’s rationality was about to reclaim the high ground, but Chang Ning’s words nearly set her off again.
If not for knowing it was wartime and the timing wrong, she would have pounced on Chang Ning’s detestable face and beaten it into a bloody mess.
Taking a deep breath, Staff Officer Xia mentally told herself not to get angry. After barely suppressing her rage, she asked Chang Ning: “What exactly are you here for?”
“I really just came to check. What if criminals sneak up and take villagers hostage?”
Seeing Staff Officer Xia about to flare up again, Chang Ning quickly added: “I know your military quality is excellent, but even a fierce tiger cannot withstand a pack of wolves, so that’s why I came up for a look.”
Hearing Chang Ning’s explanation and his admission of her excellent military quality, Staff Officer Xia’s expression improved slightly.
Now that Chang Ning was already on the mountain, since he wanted to see, she would let him.
Though unwilling to admit it, what Chang Ning said made sense—what if criminals did sneak up?
So Staff Officer Xia cleared the way and brought Chang Ning to the shelter the villagers had built. It was more like a crude shack, the leaky kind.
Fortunately, the battle would end soon, so the villagers would not have to wait long.
After carefully checking the surroundings of the shelter, Chang Ning approached Da Bao, who was holding the puppy.
