Chapter 14: Leading by Example

  Zhu Yongsheng and others, after jumping out of the window, spread out in a fan shape. The newly received American firearms were put to good use. Except for Hu Sanwai, almost everyone was a veteran who had experienced many life-and-death battles with the enemy, and their individual combat capabilities were excellent. Although each person had varying degrees of injury, when it came down to life or death, not one of them was a coward.

  A dozen or so black-clad men entered the official residence, with four of them rushing into the backyard under the leadership of their leader, and were all taken care of by Li Yuanyuan and Dong Limao. Therefore, there were only about a dozen people in the front yard. Dong Limao killed one person in the thatched cottage, two were shot dead by Wang Jiagui, and the remaining few occupied the bamboo building but were surrounded by Zhu Yongsheng and others.

  While Li Yuanyuan's men were mostly non-combat personnel, with only a few having any fighting power, those who died or were injured were trapped in the bamboo building and couldn't get out. As a result, Zhu Yongsheng and his team couldn't throw hand grenades and could only exchange fire with their guns. At this time, Wang Jiagui's sniper rifle showed its deterrent power. Although it was nighttime, he relied on the sparks emitted by the enemy's gunfire to accurately take them down.

  So Dong Li Mao and others in the backyard could only hear the sporadic gunfire from the front yard.

  Dong Li Mao and Zhang Da Li had just run out of the backyard when a string of bullets came flying towards them. The two could only retreat back, leaning against the door on both sides. Dong Li Mao loudly shouted outside:

  "Zhu Pai Chang, how are the brothers?"

  "Everything is here except for the heavy machine gun!" Zhu Yongsheng replied.

  "Zhang Dali and I are together, the enemy in the backyard has been cleared! Tell the brothers, not a single one can be let go!" After finishing speaking, Dong Li Mao raised the submachine gun in his hand, aiming at the position where the bullets were fired earlier. For some reason, he couldn't fire a shot no matter what. He made several gestures towards the opponent's position but still couldn't fire a shot. Dong Li Mao was anxious and kept pulling the bolt, thinking it was jammed.

  "Captain, is the safety on your gun off?" Zhang Dalie loudly reminded Dong Li Mao.

  Dong Li Mao doesn't know how to operate the gun, he's grown up like this, it's still his first time holding a gun, he fumbled for half a day and couldn't find the safety catch, so he asked: "Where is the safety catch?"

  Zhang Dali was stunned, how could Lian Chang forget to release the safety catch before shooting?

  "Hurry up! Where's the insurance?" Dong Li Mao urged Zhang Dali anxiously.

  Zhang Dali had to quickly run in front of Dong Li Mao, took the gun, opened the safety catch, and fired continuously at the position that was shooting towards him. All he heard was a scream, followed by a black-clad man rolling down from the left bamboo building.

  "Good job! You're a real machine gunner! Well done!" Dong Li Mao excitedly applauded and cheered, as if he was watching a war movie.

  Dong Li Mao's excitement was not only because Zhang Da Li shot the enemy to death with his gun, but also for another reason. That is, he had just killed one and injured another, and that kind of spiritual extreme excitement after killing made him forget that he was in an environment where he could die at any time. Those who have played bloody and exciting games know what it feels like to be immersed in that kind of virtual atmosphere of constant slaughter and being slaughtered.

  Everyone knows that war is cruel, but once a person is in the midst of life and death in the smoke of war, they will lose their humanity and return to the primitive mortal struggle of animals. Anyone who poses a threat to one's own life becomes an object to be eliminated, and the only way to ensure one's own survival is to let the other die. This is a cruel truth, an unavoidable brutal reality, where mercy cannot be shown to the enemy, and any war, whether just or not, cannot escape death.

  No one wants to die in a war, and the only way not to die is to eliminate the people who threaten your life. When you take the life of the enemy who is trying to take your precious life first, you have the capital to live on, and with this capital, isn't it worth getting excited about?

  So Dong Li Mao felt excited from the bottom of his heart when he saw Zhang Da Li shoot and kill his opponent, a kind of inexplicable pleasure occupied his whole body and mind, dispelling his instinctive fear.

  "Cover me, Captain!" Zhang Dali handed the gun in his hand to Dong Li Mao, picked up the samurai sword he had picked up from the dead black-clad man in the thatched hut, and before Dong Li Mao could respond, quickly ran towards the bamboo building on the left. There were two firepower points still shooting at Zhu Yongsheng and others, while Zhu Yongsheng and others were concentrated between the cars parked under the big banyan tree in the courtyard, using the cars as cover to shoot at the black-clad men in the bamboo buildings on both sides.

  Dong Li Mao was much calmer this time, he leaned out halfway and fired two shots, then hid back behind the door, drawing the enemy's firepower to his side, so that Zhang Da Li could safely rush up.

  Just as Zhang Dali was sneaking up to the bamboo building with a knife, a man in black clothes, probably out of bullets, let out a loud cry and rushed out of one of the rooms, grasping the hilt of his knife tightly, ready to fight to the death. He happened to bump into Zhang Dali and charged towards him with a loud yell.

  Zhang Dali was not afraid of him, he held the knife horizontally, facing the man in black, and waited for him to approach, this is called using stillness to control movement, waiting for the opponent to make a move, then looking for an opening to counterattack.

  The man in black, Tai Shan, slashed down with one knife, Zhang Dali was already prepared, his body shifted to the right, dodging the fatal blow. In the moment before the man in black turned around, Zhang Dali made his move, both hands tightly gripping the hilt, using all his strength, the blade flashed, cutting off half of the man in black's head.

  Dong Li Mao saw Zhang Da Li succeed, and rushed out from behind the door. Coincidentally, another black-clad man jumped out of the room, intending to shoot Zhang Da Li. Dong Li Mao aimed at the black-clad man and fired a burst, instantly adding several blood holes to his body. He convulsed like an epileptic fit, fell backwards, and collapsed.

  Zhang Dali rushed up to pick up the gun on the ground, turned around and ran downstairs with Dong Li Mao, shooting at the bamboo building on the right while running towards the car under the big banyan tree. Because the enemy in the left bamboo building had been cleared, Zhu Yongsheng and others no longer worried about being attacked from behind, everyone was heading in one direction, that is, the right bamboo building in the yard, where the radio transmitter was located.

  Dong Li Mao ran to the base of the big tree, leaned against the trunk and asked Zhu Yong Sheng who was hiding beside the car: "Zhu Pai Zhang, are there still our people in the building?"

  "Probably almost dead!" Zhu Yongsheng replied loudly.

  "We need to think of a way to drive the enemy out of the bamboo building." Dong Limao ran to Zhu Yongsheng's side, took a look at the American military jeep in front of the truck, and had an idea. He asked Zhu Yongsheng, "Do you have matches on you?"

  Zhu Yongsheng usually smoked and had matches on him. He took them out and handed them to Dong Limao, not understanding what the company commander wanted to do.

  "Two covers! Big power, follow me!" Dong Li Mao said to Wang Jia Gui who was crawling on the ground near the fig tree. Then he shot an arrow at the bamboo building, and in the gap before the opponent could counterattack, he crawled under the truck and then crept to the position of the jeep's oil tank, opened the oil tank cover, took off his clothes, twisted them into a rope shape, stuffed them into the oil tank, handed the match to Zhang Da Li beside him and said: "After I get on the car, you ignite this cloth strip and push the car." After finishing speaking, Dong Li Mao came to the driver's room edge with his waist bent, quickly jumped into the car, half-lying under the steering wheel, confirmed that the gear was in neutral, then loudly told Zhang Da Li: "Ignite! Push the car!" He turned the steering wheel towards the right side of the bamboo building.

  When Dong Li Mao made these movements, the black-clad men in the bamboo building saw them and probably guessed his intentions, so they all shot at Dong Li Mao. Bullets whizzed through the air towards the Jeep, some hitting the vehicle, others flying over Dong Li Mao's head.

  Zhu Yongsheng and others covered Dong Limao and Zhang Dali, and they all opened fire to counter the enemy on the building. Wang Jiagui also shot and killed one of them.

  Zhang Dalì lit the rag stuffed in the gas tank and then moved to the back of the car, pushing it forward with both arms.

  Zhu Yongsheng and other brothers saw the jeep start moving forward, holding their breath one by one, worried about Lian Zhang and Zhang Dali.

  The jeep accelerated, and just as it was about to crash into the bamboo building, Dong Li Mao leaped out of the car, did a forward flip, and dodged into the gap between the bamboo building and the ground, which was about one meter high. Zhang Da Li also followed him in with a roll.

  A spark on the jeep ignited the bamboo building, spreading rapidly in the night wind and illuminating the entire courtyard.

  There were two men in black who might have been afraid of being burned to death, so they jumped down from the corridor of the bamboo building. Dong Li Mao and Zhang Da Li happened to be guarding below, and the two opened fire at the same time, shooting and killing the two men in black who had jumped down.

  In no time, the entire bamboo building was on fire. Just as the jeep was about to explode, Dong Li Mao said to Zhang Da Li: "Hurry up and go! The fuel tank is going to blow!" After saying that, he led the way by crawling out from inside, standing up and running towards the direction of Zhu Yong Sheng's car. Zhang Da Li followed closely behind him. Fortunately, no one in the bamboo building was shooting at them anymore. None of the remaining black-clad men ran out again, only a few mournful cries could be heard amidst the raging fire, followed by the explosion of the jeep's fuel tank which had been heated up by the flames.