Page 437

The soldiers standing in the darkness, how could they have not experienced it?

The events of tonight were so perilous that one only had to see the chaos at the scene to understand.

Although the criminals are all dead, no one was seriously injured.

But if no one had discovered their actions, allowing them to infiltrate the military camp unnoticed, the injuries wouldn’t have been one or two but widespread.

Let’s not forget, they were carrying timed bombs.

Everyone remained silent, Cheng Guang hadn’t expected that they would launch a surprise attack in the middle of the night.

"Where was the patrol team?" Cheng Guang asked with a cold expression.

"Reporting, we were on patrol at the time."

"On patrol, and yet you didn’t notice someone breached the wire fence?" Cheng Guang said angrily, his face gloomy.

The few men on patrol lowered their heads, "It was too hot, and we wanted to wash our faces. That caused a bit of a delay."

Gu Xiaoxi looked at those members of the patrol, her ten subordinates from Division L.

If she hadn’t discovered them tonight, their dereliction of duty would have put everyone in grave danger.

"I’m furious. I repeatedly instructed you to patrol on schedule, but you dared to wash your faces, and all together at that!

From now on, there will be no water after ten o’clock at night.

As for tonight’s patrol squad, you are to patrol continuously for 72 hours.

I’ll personally teach you how to properly patrol. "

The punishment was harsh enough.

Gu Xiaoxi shrank her neck, wondering if she would be punished for sneaking out to swim at night as well.

She was desperately searching for an excuse.

Then she suddenly heard Cheng Guang’s voice.

"Gu Xiaoxi! How did you discover them?"

"Ah! I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and noticed them!" Gu Xiaoxi instinctively responded, feeling guilty about lying!

"You went that far to use the bathroom? Was there a bathroom nearby?" Cheng Guang directly exposed her lie.

Gu Xiaoxi hurriedly explained, "It was hot, and I strolled out for some air!"

Cheng Guang had nothing more to say but seriously commented, "Fortunately, Gu Xiaoxi reacted quickly, waking everyone up in time. And during the subsequent explosion, her vigilance saved us all, she deserves commendation."

Gu Xiaoxi stuck out her tongue, guilt was inevitable.

After this incident, everyone realized the danger.

All became serious.

On the third day, the military from Dongqi Country sent a confidential letter.

On the border of Dongqi Country, a group of drug traffickers were planning to smuggle a shipment of drugs out of there at nine o’clock the next night.

There were over a hundred people, and it was a large-scale operation, the quantity of smuggled drugs was enormous.

Cheng Guang was preparing to deploy all the newly arrived soldiers.

On the way to the mission, Gu Xiaoxi and Zhao Zilong were in the same vehicle.

"How is your injury?" Gu Xiaoxi asked.

She had previously helped him heal with Spiritual Energy. Plus, with the many days spent here, even if he couldn’t fully heal, he was not seriously hindered.

"It’s all good now. Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably still be recovering," Zhao Zilong said gratefully.

"Good to hear! Be careful on the mission," Gu Xiaoxi said, also looking at Shao Changfeng, "On the battlefield, let’s watch out for each other."

After all, Shao Changfeng had received her true teachings.

Even though the speed of his cultivation had slowed down in the later stages, at least he had some Spiritual Power and substantial Inner Strength.

For this operation, most of the people Gu Xiaoxi knew were spread out.

Her team leader was Xu Shaohua. An old soldier from the Special Forces, although she wasn’t a team leader, she still hoped everyone would be safe.

She had promised Quan Shaoqing to protect everyone’s safety.

A hundred people divided into six small teams.

The overall commander was a senior officer from Dongqi Country, who, along with several team leaders, had made meticulous plans.

The military commanders of Liuli Country and Dongqi Country communicated their intentions to each other.

Compared to the lush vegetation of the peacekeeping base, the border of Dongqi Country was a desert.

A vast desert area, where catching people is not easy.

Gu Xiaoxi felt that these criminals were truly desperate.

In such harsh conditions, they still didn’t forget to quietly transport the raw materials for drugs.

At five o’clock in the evening, the troops arrived at the edge of the desert.

After assembling, the teams divided into six squads and headed deep into the desert from six different directions.

The military of Dongqi Country surmised that they were very likely to take one of the six routes, so they dispatched people to help secure them.

Gu Xiaoxi was with Yun Xiao, both members of Xu Shaohua’s team.

The team leader was a dark-skinned, strong man, around 26 years old. He had a long tenure in Division Z.

"Everyone, pick up the pace. We must reach the rendezvous point with Dongqi Country’s troops by eight o’clock," Xu Shaohua instructed.

"Yes!" At this moment, all eighteen people in the team loudly agreed.

In the afternoon desert, the sand was scorching and the hot weather made everyone feel extremely fatigued after not walking for long.

Following the designated markings on the map, they hurried along their way.

Before eight o’clock, they finally met with the military forces of Dongqi Country.

The opposing small squad also had only twenty people.

Along with the squad from Liuli Country, one team had thirty-eight people.

The two captains were communicating in an international language, while Gu Xiaoxi and the others were all lying in ambush behind the sand dunes.

Luckily, with the arrival of night, the sand was no longer scorching hot.

At nine o’clock in the evening, the moon rose.

A streak of light in the darkness lit up the sand like dazzling gemstones.

All around was silent, without a sound to be heard.

Gu Xiaoxi held her breath, listening attentively to the surroundings as the time neared nine o’clock.

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves rose in the desert.

Gu Xiaoxi’s instincts kicked in with alarm.

Being sensitive to sounds, she heard them from a distance and immediately signaled to Captain Xu Shaohua, "Be careful, someone’s coming."

"Get the binoculars and check the situation!"

Xu Shaohua immediately ordered.

Moments later, a soldier stepped forward and spotted 50 enemy troops.

The squad leader from Dongqi Country, Ah Ke, furrowed his brow and speculated, "Could they have split into two groups?"

"They have parcels on their horses, and each person is armed with weapons. Awaiting instructions from the higher-ups!" the scout immediately reported back to the team.

Ah Ke thought for a moment, "Good, if they split into two groups, we can easily capture them all in one fell swoop. Captain Shaohua, we can’t hesitate any longer. As soon as they enter our ambush range, we start shooting."

Xu Shaohua nodded and signaled to his men behind him, "Wait for the enemy to enter the ambush perimeter."

In less than three minutes, the fifty-man troop, mounted on horses and with a formidable presence, charged forward.

Just as they were about to enter the ambush zone, the group halted.

The leader scanned the surroundings and finally set his gaze on the sand dunes where everyone was hidden, saying somberly, "For safety’s sake, first send ten people to scout it out."

At this, the complexions of those lying in ambush shifted slightly.

These people were indeed alert.

Gu Xiaoxi looked toward Yun Xiao beside her and whispered, "Be careful. Guard against any trickery on their part!"

For some reason, she felt somewhat distrustful of the military intelligence from Dongqi Country.

Especially since the deployment this time seemed strange to her.

Dividing nearly two hundred people to encircle a group of a hundred.

At such a time, they didn’t even have precise information on the whereabouts of the criminals.

Instead, they were relying on this unconventional analysis, hoping to take a calculated risk.

Moreover, the fifty physically strong men, riding horses and carrying a load of big and small bags, were moving surprisingly fast.

It couldn’t help but raise suspicions that what they carried on their horses might be a decoy.

Gu Xiaoxi thought, if she were the bad guy,

How would she smuggle the goods under the nose of the military?

A head-on confrontation was always the most foolish method.

"Captain, I think we should first capture one person and check if the goods in their bags are drugs. If not, we might very well fall into a trap," Gu Xiaoxi conveyed her thoughts to Xu Shaohua.

Xu Shaohua passed the message to Ah Ke.

But Ah Ke affirmed without hesitation, "This time, our intelligence is one hundred percent accurate. They are all drug traffickers; everyone just needs to charge in and take them down."

Since Dongqi Country was so certain, Gu Xiaoxi had no further objections.

It was then that the ten men sent to scout were approaching their position.

The squad leader from Dongqi Country, Ah Ke, ordered the kill without hesitation.

It was almost effortless; the enemies seemed not to know how to use guns and were directly shot by the military.

When the sound of gunfire erupted, the remaining criminals appeared startled and began retreating on horseback.

The team’s morale soared instantly, and they rose to pursue the victory. Now their numbers were roughly equal, and, after all, the military personnel were well-trained.

As long as they caught up with them and rounded them up, the victory would be theirs.

Watching the persistently pursuing troops, Gu Xiaoxi felt a headache coming on, and the bad premonition in her heart intensified.

Darkness had fallen, and the enemies, riding horses, were fleeing too fast.

Although they had killed a few criminals along the way,

Most of them, mounted and speedy, weren’t ambushed in time.

"Captain! Retreat! Be cautious of a trap," Gu Xiaoxi had read military strategy books in Young Master Quan’s study.

Do not pursue a desperate enemy!

Ever since the criminals sent out ten people to scout, she had felt something was amiss; now, this feeling was even stronger as they continued the chase.

Ah Ke from Dongqi Country vehemently opposed, "This information was obtained at the cost of lives. If we retreat now and let the enemy escape, how can we face the martyrs who have passed away?"

Especially, he looked at Gu Xiaoxi with great disdain.

"We have the upper hand now, we must chase down the enemy, we absolutely cannot let them escape," Ah Ke commanded everyone.

Since the Qiwei Troops had come to assist Dongqi Country, they followed their lead in every aspect of the operation.