What Kind of Grudge Was That?

Eyes bloodshot, Chen Ge roared at the top of his lungs, his voice booming over the fierce rattle of gunfire and explosions. Big Bear and the others jumped in surprise, staring at Chen Ge in bewilderment, wondering what had suddenly gotten into him. Yet nobody wasted words. Lightbulb and Night Cat rushed over to the corner beneath the window, grabbed two RPGs left leaning against the wall by Ukrainian troops, quickly checked that they were in working order, and hauled them over to Chen Ge. Seeing Chen Ge's bizarre state—more frenzied than a bull pumped full of stimulants—Lightbulb asked hesitantly, "Sledgehammer, what's..." Chen Ge snatched the RPG loaded with a TBG-7V thermobaric warhead, hoisted it onto his shoulder, flipped off the safety, and leaned halfway out of cover to aim at the doorway across the hall. Standing behind him, Big Bear and Manhole Cover scrambled out of the way to avoid the backblast. Chen Ge squeezed the trigger hard. An orange-red plume of flame shot from the rear of the launch tube, accompanied by a blinding flash and a deafening roar that filled the space with smoke and dust. The rocket whistled out through the doorway and slammed into the lintel across the corridor. The warhead detonated instantly into a dazzling fireball of orange and yellow, channeling a blast wave of superheated gas through the doorframe into the room. The violent shockwave blew the door panel away, sending wood splinters, bricks, and concrete shards flying in all directions. Immediately behind it, high-temperature, high-pressure gas filled the room, instantaneously sucking out all the oxygen. The four Japanese volunteers inside had no time to react. The two positioned by the door preparing to fire an RPG bore the brunt of the blast; slammed violently to the floor, their camouflage uniforms caught fire as the scorching gas seared their skin and airways, giving them a fleeting taste of the barbecue feast their ancestors had enjoyed decades ago. The second rocket—an OG-7V "pencil"—followed right behind, striking the doorway and exploding. Immediately afterward, Chen Ge hurled in four thermobaric grenades and six F-1 "lemon" fragmentation grenades in rapid succession. Boom, boom, boom! Battered by so many rockets and grenades, a room under twenty square meters had a gaping hole blown right through its floor, choked in an impenetrable cloud of smoke and pulverized concrete. The four Japanese volunteers proved tough to the end, never making a sound as their remains were scattered across the room in pieces—plastered to the walls and stuck to the ceiling. In the adjoining room, the dozen or so Ukrainian soldiers locked in combat with Wild Boar's squad were utterly stunned. What kind of deep grudge was that?! The Ukrainian squad leader swallowed hard and shouted harshly, "Blyat, the Japs are fucking useless! Hound, take four men and hold that breach in the wall!" In the room across the corridor, Chen Ge tossed aside the grenade pull rings. Staring at a severed head that had been blown out onto the floor, he felt an overwhelming wave of satisfaction. He could hear his own heartbeat—*thump, thump, thump*—hammering as though someone were knocking inside his chest. Then an unprecedented sense of pleasure erupted within him. It wasn't simple excitement or euphoria, but an ache seeping straight from the marrow of his bones, crawling up his spine until it burst at the back of his head, like a string of firecrackers detonating in his temples. His eyes warmed slightly; he didn't cry, but his vision blurred for two full seconds. He drew a deep breath. The acrid, biting smoke stabbed into his lungs like a knife, yet it felt exhilarating—so damn exhilarating that he couldn't help taking another breath, as if there were something sweet hidden in the smog. Lightbulb asked timidly, "Uh... well... Sledgehammer, what's wrong with you?" Chen Ge grinned and said softly, "They're Japanese!" *So that was it!* Lightbulb, Big Bear, Manhole Cover, and Night Cat understood in an instant, fully grasping why Chen Ge had suddenly turned so savage and relentless. If it were them, they would have been even more ruthless! "Sledgehammer! Sledgehammer! Reinforce the stairwell! Suka! The Ukrainians are charging up!" Hacksaw's anxious distress call crackled through the headset. Chen Ge's expression instantly sobered. He poked his head out to check the stairwell: four mercenaries crouched behind a corner holding off Ukrainian troops pressing in from both above and below, with three mercenaries already lying dead on the floor. Pricking up his ears, he could hear at least fifteen Ukrainian soldiers still tangled in a firefight with Wild Boar's squad in the room to the right. Pulling his head back, he pointed toward the room across the corridor and said in a low voice, "Lightbulb, Manhole Cover, Night Cat—push through this room and hit them in a pincer with Wild Boar's squad. Big Bear, come with me to the stairwell." With that, Chen Ge turned and led Big Bear through the breach toward the first room beside the stairwell. Lightbulb, Manhole Cover, and Night Cat formed a tactical stack and assaulted the room across the hall. At the stairwell, a squad of Ukrainian soldiers had appeared out of nowhere and was attempting to push up from the first floor, while Ukrainian troops on the third floor were trying to fight their way down to reinforce them. Corn from Assault Team Two, along with three mercenaries—two on the left and two on the right—were holding their ground for dear life. "Grenade!" Boom! An RGN grenade tossed down by the Ukrainians on the upper floor detonated on impact. A mercenary at the left corner was hurled through the air, shrapnel slicing open his carotid artery; blood sprayed as he clutched his throat, convulsed a few times, and went still. Veins bulging on his temples, Corn roared in fury, "Sons of bitches! Blow the stairs! Blow the damn stairs!" A mercenary quickly pulled a modified TM-62M anti-tank mine from a bag along the wall, yanked the safety pin of its UZRG-42 grenade fuze, and hurled it with all his might onto the landing leading up to the third floor. "Take cover!!" Corn and the remaining two turned and bolted. When the Ukrainian troops above and below heard Corn shouting to blow the stairs, they were scared out of their wits and scrambled backward. Boom! The TM-62M anti-tank mine, packed with eight kilograms of TNT, detonated. It not only collapsed the stairs, but blew apart the walls of the stairwell as well. The building shuddered violently, and billows of dust and smoke choked the corridor. The gunfire paused for a few seconds before erupting with even greater ferocity. Leading Big Bear to the doorway of the first laboratory on the right side of the stairwell, Chen Ge gave a thumbs-up to Corn, who was taking cover in the room opposite. "Nicely done. Should've blown those stairs long ago!" Corn smiled wryly. "Now that the stairs are gone, we can't go up either. What the hell is Rock's group doing? How did enemies make it up from the first floor?" Frowning slightly, Chen Ge pressed the PTT button on his shoulder to contact Rock. "Rock, this is Sledgehammer. What's your situation?" After waiting several seconds with no response, Chen Ge felt a bad premonition. He called twice more before Rock's breathless voice finally came through the earpiece. "Sledgehammer, the underground tunnel is swarming with Ukrainians. We've already lost six men... Suka! On the right, on the right—suppressive fire! Gather all the explosives and rig them in this room! Move it!" Having barked his orders, Rock spoke at rapid speed: "Sledgehammer, you have to hold! A company from the Ukrainian foreign volunteer Norman Battalion is already rushing in to reinforce them." *The Norman Battalion?* Chen Ge recalled that the intelligence summary Lin Xiyue had provided mentioned roughly four hundred foreign volunteers among the Ukrainian troops in the eastern industrial district, comprising the Norman Battalion—made up of French, Belgian, and Dutch fighters—and a Georgian battalion. Yet having just wiped out four Japanese volunteers, it was clear there were more than just those two battalions; foreign volunteers from other countries were present as well. Could there be more Japanese volunteers in this industrial district? If there were, that would be... truly fantastic! "Copy that. You hold on too—make sure you come back alive!" "Thanks, brother. I'll do my damnedest to survive." Signing off, Chen Ge surveyed the corridor strewn with bodies, raised his rifle, and said to Corn, "Big Bear and I are heading down. Keep your eyes on the upper floor!" Corn slapped in a fresh magazine and opened his mouth, hesitating. "Well... all right. Watch your backs!"