Chapter 598

Chapter 598: Encirclement

The “Tiger Jiao” Special Forces, led by Squadron Leader Qi Song, invested a lot of time and effort to infiltrate the competition area.

He successfully gathered five subordinates, including two from the First Squad and Second Squad.

Upon entering the forest, he set up secret signals in hidden corners, indistinguishable from the naturally growing surroundings, known only to the “Tiger Jiao” team.

This was a unique skill designed by the “Tiger Jiao” team.

Knock! Knock knock!! Knock! Knock knock…

The sound of a woodpecker tapping on a tree echoed in the woods; it was a special code. The Special Forces operatives skillfully used sounds from frogs, birds, and insects to convey unique encrypted signals.

“Helicopter! They passed by!”

Squad Leader Qi Song, dressed in jungle camouflage, pressed against a tree as he listened to the distinct whirring sound of helicopter blades in the sky.

As soon as he heard the noise from a distance, he and the other five soldiers quickly concealed themselves.

The kings of soldiers in the Special Forces were all equipped with exceptional camouflage skills; even ordinary people or other special forces soldiers walking nearby would struggle to notice a living person hiding beside them.

“It should be heading to the assembly point. Seems like our luck is not great; there’s a neighbor nearby—is it the ‘Teng She’ team or the ‘Hong San Dao’ team? We must hurry to the assembly point to get our gear, or things might turn bad.”

Squad Leader Qi Song murmured to himself, tapping a few times on the tree trunk.

Figures emerged from the surrounding shadows. Qi Song gestured in a specific direction, signaling to move forward.

However, just a few steps later, they heard the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air growing louder again.

The typical Doppler effect indicated that the group of helicopters was coming back; judging by the sound intensity, there should only be four of them, with two others unaccounted for.

Uh-oh, they were exposed!

Qi Song’s expression changed. He stopped using code words and shouted directly,

“Run!”

Since the day they left the base, the competition had already begun. Each person wore a unique positioning wristband, and the higher-ups in the command center were likely very pleased to witness this moment. But for the six members of the “Tiger Jiao” team, it spelled trouble.

The Special Forces were not a main combat unit, and the number of combat personnel rarely surpassed a thousand. This was based on China’s enormous population base; if it were in Europe, they might not even gather enough kings of soldiers for a single team.

Though it was unclear how many would successfully enter the competition area, losing even one person would directly affect the combat effectiveness of the “Tiger Jiao” team.

They absolutely could not let those helicopters wipe them out; otherwise, the “Tiger Jiao” team would suffer a significant blow in the competition.

The six figures dashed through the forest like deer, racing ahead without clustering together. Instead, they chose to scatter and dart into dark corners, evading the sights of the armed helicopters above.

It was a game of cat and mouse; the six unarmed soldiers stood no chance against fully equipped helicopters, completely suppressed and forced to take hits.

The Special Forces operatives of the “Tiger Jiao” team never imagined that regardless of how they tried to hide or move, their figures could never escape the surveillance of the Light Mirror Technique.

Could they outrun helicopters?

Even with the thick trees for cover, these six “Tiger Jiao” soldiers shone like lights in Lin Mo’s eyes in the darkness; hiding was an impossible task.

As an acclaimed aerial sniper, Lin Mo would never let them go. He piloted the WZ-12, descending recklessly, unconcerned about anything.

Several rocket bombs filled with fluorescent dye rained down, shrouding the dense forest in smoke.

Soon after, Old Pan, flying “Number One” WZ-12 alongside two other WZ-12s, spotted six figures coated in white making their way to a sparse area, flipping them the bird in frustration.

Each WZ-12 was equipped with cameras, which immediately recorded the scene and sent the footage to the Special Forces’ military competition headquarters.

“‘Number Two,’ that was brilliant!”

This was Old Pan’s first time witnessing Lin Mo’s attack capabilities; it was as if he had some kind of cheat mode. He fired wildly into the dense forest and soon received confirmation of a kill from headquarters.

“‘Number Two’ is something special!”

A major general in the headquarters’ inner hall stubbed out his cigarette and sat up. He hadn’t expected that the competition, which had just entered its first phase—a stage meant for all parties to assemble and prepare—would immediately turn into an unexpected battle.

Such things had happened before, usually involving ground personnel unfortunate enough to be exposed in the open desert or winter prairie terrains. However, to successfully root someone out of a dense forest was no easy feat; it required incredibly sharp eyes—at least, the high-definition images from optical satellites couldn’t reveal a trace.

“I didn’t even notice there were people hiding in the woods! How did ‘Number Two’ find them? Major General Yang, did you see?”

“Just luck, I didn’t spot any flaws. Maybe ‘Number Two’ coincidentally saw something.”

“Major General Yang, this is the Special Forces, not regular soldiers. The leader inside is the ‘Tiger Jiao’ squad leader. Camouflage skills are basic for the Special Forces. They wouldn’t easily expose themselves; discovering them isn’t something that can be done just by chance. They can’t be found even a meter away in this environment.”

The military high-ups in the inner hall began to discuss.

“General Niu, does your Henghai Defense’s ‘Dragon General’ have such capabilities?”

“No, our detection system has power constraints; infrared, life detection, and electromagnetic detection can only scout a radius of 20 meters; beyond that, it doesn’t work.”

General Niu, head of the tactical armor producer, also appeared in the inner hall. As a military equipment supplier closely collaborating with the special forces and the General Equipment Department, it was essential for him to hear the military’s feedback for improvements.

Lin Mo’s “Dragon General” was currently the only advanced tactical armor tested publicly by Henghai Defense, and it was a custom version; without exceptional physical attributes, one wouldn’t qualify to wear it, as it would make them prone to injury.

“‘Number Two’ is incredibly powerful; no wonder he’s an ace. He truly has the keen eyes of an eagle.”

“That young man holds the title of Fighter Jet Sniper, excelling in cannon and close combat. But I didn’t expect him to be so skilled at flying helicopters; the ‘Tiger Jiao’ team is in trouble now."

“We should call Major General Ma from Team 7759; I bet he and Colonel Jiang are regretting this fiercely right now. They never expected an external pilot to grow to such a level; Team 7759 must be losing out big time.”

“If only I had a pilot like that! Commander Huang, isn’t ‘Night’ from your area? Why not lend us ‘Number Two’ for a few years? I’ll double the pay.”

“Dream on! The last time the South China Sea Fleet asked me for personnel, I didn’t give them anyone. I only have two Special Forces teams, and with wolves everywhere, I can’t spare them. There are tasks to complete by year-end; there’s no way I could lend you someone—even if it was tenfold the pay!”

“This is going to be entertaining.”

Temporarily dubbed “Number Two,” Lin Mo had become somewhat well-known in the inner hall, as the military bigwigs had seen his profile and outstanding achievements. He could strike aircraft from the sky and submarines from the sea.

Anyone who emerged from the “Chicken Coop” Team 7759 was already considered a top-notch pilot.

General Niu recalled what had happened, then spoke to the officer who had questioned him, “But it’s hard to say; modifications could have been made. The gear we provided ‘Number Two’ is a DEBUG version with open modification rights. I need to check the latest upgrade documents later.”

“General Niu, please send us a few sets of ‘Dragon General’ for testing someday; we also want to see how this tactical armor compares to the previous generation ‘Kua Fu.’”

“Sure, no problem!” General Niu beamed with joy; aside from domestic rapid response units, the business volume from special forces and other special departments alone was enough for their Henghai Defense manufacturing plant to thrive.

Next, voices filled the hall again as everyone’s attention turned to a 100-inch display screen.

“Look, the ‘Tiger Jiao’ assembly point was wiped out!”

“What? How is that possible? This is a design personally crafted by our concealment expert; it should only be detectable from the ground, not from the air.”

“Yet the Aircrew Group from ‘Night’ still saw it. Four WZ-12s! Let me see how many people ‘Tiger Jiao’ brought in. One hundred thirty-one in total, with seven intercepted by the outer defenses. They’re in deep trouble now—no weapons or supplies. They’ll have to seize others’ material now.”

“Now we must see if ‘Night’ has enough smarts. If they can seize this opportunity and set a trap at the assembly point, they might wipe out ‘Tiger Jiao’ entirely.”

“But what about the exercise? The standard events haven’t even started, and we’re already in chaos—that’s a mess!”

“This is war; even if it’s just an exercise, the enemy won’t follow the script. We only preset an initial environment; after that, there are no more interventions. The rest is up to them to adapt. Even the main combat units have a casualty quota; should our special forces act like they’re tied up?”

“Hey, you two old codgers, stop arguing! Look! The ‘Night’ team is meeting up with their helicopters. A new plan is coming; they really are going to set traps. ‘Tiger Jiao’ is doomed this time!”