No one knew who would arrive first—friendly forces, enemy troops, or drones.
Gao Fei would rather face a fierce assault by dozens or hundreds of men than attract drones.
Shooting down one drone came down to luck; shooting down two was miraculous. But if several drones came plunging down at once, even the gods couldn't stop them.
So if a swarm of drones really came their way, there was nothing more to say: run as fast as possible and gamble with life once more.
It seemed their luck was taking a turn for the better. The first to arrive was neither the enemy nor drones, but the platoon leader leading the Assault Platoon and 2nd Squad, accompanied by an imposing contingent from the penal battalion.
"We're here! Approaching the position now."
The platoon leader's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. Sokholov answered immediately, "Copy."
Even with the walkie-talkie warning, just as they were about to enter the position, the platoon leader still barked out, "White!"
"Ocean."
After confirming the countersign, the platoon leader led four men and charged into the trench first.
Were there only four men left in the direct assault group? And looking at 2nd Squad, only half the squad remained.
Sokholov glanced over and whispered, "The attack went badly?"
Fury was written all over the platoon leader's face. He muttered in a low voice, "The promised reinforcements never showed up. We took heavy casualties and couldn't push through. What's your situation here—"
The platoon leader took a look around, then turned toward Parker. "Who's this guy?"
Wearing the suicide trio and sporting a dazed expression, Parker drew far too much attention.
Without hesitation, Sokholov said, "A prisoner. But he's performing well—perfect for drawing drones."
"Good, good. Later we'll grab a few prisoners and use them the same way. For now, you guys hold this spot. If you spot enemy reinforcements coming through here, let us know immediately."
"Yes, sir."
The platoon leader fully approved of Sokholov's approach. He clapped Sokholov on the shoulder, then turned to the men behind him. "All right, now we thrust in from the flank and wipe them out before the enemy can react. Follow me."
They couldn't make headway from the front, but Sokholov and his men had captured a salient. Slashing across from this salient to hit the enemy in the flank might yield miraculous results.
Yet Sokholov would rather join the platoon leader in flanking the enemy on the position than stay here.
A flanking raid was dangerous, but sitting here motionless meant a drone could blow them up at any moment. By comparison, Sokholov preferred going on the assault.
Seeing the platoon leader about to leave, Sokholov blurted out, "Platoon Leader, got a shotgun?"
The platoon leader turned back with a glance. "No. What's the point of carrying that crap? Do you really expect to shoot down a drone with it?"
Sokholov had no reply. He hesitated, then nodded. "Well... holding this ground leaves us under much greater threat from drones. Never mind, Platoon Leader. Good luck."
The platoon leader gave a wave of his hand and continued down the trench, cutting in toward the enemy's flank.
A shotgun was merely an extra option; it wouldn't necessarily bring down a drone, but one more option was always better than none. Hopefully things would work out.
Sokholov glanced at Parker, needing to make sure at all times that the captive was fulfilling his duty.
Parker kept his head tilted toward the sky—walkie-talkie in his left hand, pistol in his right, binoculars hanging around his neck.
Seeing Parker standing like that put Sokholov's restless mind at ease.
With Parker planted there, the rest of them would be considerably safer. As long as the enemy didn't send a massive swarm of drones, they would at least have a chance to dive into the dugouts.
Glaski suddenly called out, "Enemy! Dead ahead!"
Gao Fei looked immediately.
Figures appeared in the communication trench leading from the reserve position. They were already very close; anything farther away was impossible to spot.
The barrier troops' fortification faced the main position, which meant the opening of this fortification pointed right at the communication trench from the reserve position. While this was great for dealing with remnants falling back from the main position, it was useless against enemy troops advancing to reinforce from the reserve position.
It seemed the battle was favoring the enemy. If things were going badly for them, they wouldn't be sending reinforcements forward in the first place.
"Fire!"
At Sokholov's command, Glaski opened up with his machine gun without hesitation.
The spray of machine gun rounds swept across, hitting two point men in the lead.
That was all, though. As long as the enemies coming up weren't green recruits who knew nothing, they wouldn't line up shoulder to shoulder to catch bullets.
A bitter struggle was bound to follow.
"Grenade!"
The enemy lobbed grenades, and Sokholov hurled grenades right back toward the trench they held.
They were now at the ideal engagement distance for grenades. Rifles were of little use because neither side would willingly expose themselves in the line of fire.
Three grenades were thrown in succession, but after three, they had no more, while the enemy's grenades flew over in a steady stream.
Gao Fei raised his upper body. He waited for an enemy to pop up, and the moment half a head appeared, he blew it apart with a single shot.
To throw a grenade accurately, one had to peek out for a look. This suicidal enemy intended to aim before throwing, and Gao Fei caught him in his sights.
The distance between the two sides was extremely short—barely twenty meters. But the enemy's communication trench was curved and perpendicular to Gao Fei's position, while Gao Fei and his squad were spread out horizontally, forming a T-junction.
When fighting back and forth in trenches, neither side truly held an absolute terrain advantage, but a fire trench facing a communication trench definitely held the upper hand.
The two sides were so close that every shout carried clearly.
"They have a sharpshooter!"
"Grenades!"
Not daring to show their heads, they resorted to blind throwing.
Without aiming, however, most of the blindly tossed grenades landed outside the trench; only a few dropped into the trench Gao Fei and his men occupied.
On the whole, it was difficult for the enemy to push forward quickly, but equally difficult for Gao Fei and his men to drive them back.
However, with communications restored, Sokholov could now call for fire support.
Mortars were far more useful in this situation.
Holding his walkie-talkie, Sokholov said in a low voice, "This is Assault Platoon, 1st Squad. We are blocking enemy reinforcements. Requesting fire support. Coordinates unknown—fire a spotting round first."
Right as Sokholov was calling in artillery, Parker let out a desperate, tearful yell: "Drone!"
That single shout shattered everything; everyone who had been utterly focused on the fight reflexively looked up at the sky.
Gao Fei couldn't resist either. Not only did he look up, he also raised his rifle toward the sky.
Parker shrieked in panic, "It's coming for me! It has to be... fuck!"
Parker spun around and ran, but remembering Sokholov's warning, he sprinted away from Gao Fei.
If Parker dared run toward Gao Fei, Sokholov would be the first to shoot him dead.
As Parker ran, Gao Fei finally spotted the drone—an FPV drone shrieking down toward Parker.
Gao Fei fired, but he missed this time. The angle was wrong; it was too difficult a shot.
Still, it had to be admitted that Parker worked wonderfully as live bait.
Parker covered less than three meters before diving flat, rolling across the dirt, and scrambling straight into a dugout. The drone, descending at a forty-five-degree angle, plunged into the dirt right in front of him and detonated with a booming blast.
The explosion wasn't massive. Because Parker had taken cover in time, he appeared completely unharmed.
It had to be said: to evade a drone while carrying the suicide trio took genuine skill in staying alive.
You had to respect that.
"Another one!" Sokholov yelled again.
Sure enough, there was more than one drone. And just as expected, it was fixated on blowing up Parker with his suicide trio. After the first drone failed, a second one immediately followed, adjusting its angle before screaming down—aiming right for the dugout where Parker was hiding.
Parker screamed in sheer despair, howling at the top of his lungs, "Fuck you! Fuck you bastards—"
With the target's position fixed and the angle fixed, shooting down the drone became much easier for Gao Fei.
It really wasn't hard. A burst of gunfire erupted, and before the diving drone could even reach the trench, it tumbled out of the air.
Parker reacted instantly. Changing his tune in a flash, he shouted in wild delight, "Fuck! Ah! Thank you!"
Chapter 44