142: raid

Africa.

The border where King Kong Country, Bugang Country, and Xinan Country meet.

On this day, a team of Xinan Country Border Guards was conducting their routine daily patrol of the area they supervised, just as they did every other day.

This squad was composed of a Death Warrior Platoon Leader along with six Clone Soldier squad leaders and deputy leaders, leading ordinary soldiers from the former Xinan Country Government Army who had surrendered.

After reorganization, Xinan Country's regular army basically followed this model. The squad and platoon officers were all die-hard loyalists of Qin Yang. Even if the ordinary soldiers below wanted to cause trouble, they wouldn't be able to stir up any waves.

The reason for still using these Black Brothers was that the country was newly established, and Xinan Country's land area was not small. A large army was needed to maintain border security. Although the one hundred thousand Clone Soldiers produced by the Weapons Factory were many, they were still somewhat stretched thin when it came to maintaining the security of such a vast territory.

Secondly, these Black Brothers were from the former Government Army; they had been soldiers, carried guns, and been to the battlefield, so they were braver than ordinary Black Brothers. Letting these soldiers return to society would easily cause trouble, so it was better to keep them in the army to be used as cannon fodder.

As for resisting superiors in the army—hehe, they were overthinking it. Even the physical fitness of an ordinary Clone Soldier was 1.5 times that of a normal person. Additionally, Clone Soldiers possessed combat experience and fighting skills instilled by the Weapons Factory. In a hand-to-hand fight, the two squad leaders alone were enough to take on an entire platoon of ordinary Black Brothers soldiers, let alone a Death Warrior acting as a platoon leader. After several months of 'loving care,' these Black Brothers had long since been disciplined by the Death Warriors and Clone Soldiers to be as well-behaved as kittens.

In a situation without weapons, a single Death Warrior officer would be enough to slaughter this entire platoon of soldiers, including the Clone Soldiers. It was only because this was the modern era, where thermal weapons could threaten a Death Warrior's life; otherwise, in ancient times, even just fifty Death Warriors would be enough to change the outcome of a campaign. For example, if Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Li Er had faced off at Xuanwu Gate and Li Jiancheng had fifty of Qin Yang's Death Warriors, the one who died would definitely have been Li Er.

Back to the main topic: just as the squad of soldiers was patrolling along the border line, a King Kong Country unit of roughly a company was staring fixedly at this platoon of Xinan Country soldiers from a spot several hundred meters away, just across the border.

After watching for a while, a dark-skinned King Kong Country commander said, "Order the mortar team: three rounds rapid-fire. Blow up that patrol unit. Notify the infantry behind them to charge immediately while the shells are falling. We must annihilate this patrol before they can call for reinforcements."

"Yes!" The messenger heard the order and quickly went to relay it.

Dozens of seconds later, two 60mm mortars were set up. Then, at the gunnery sergeant's command, the soldiers loaded the shells.

Thump, thump—two crisp, muffled sounds.

Then, two mortar shells traced a graceful arc and directly hit the area around the Xinan Country platoon-level unit as it was advancing.

Boom, boom—two explosions rang out. Instantly, four unlucky Black Brothers in the squad were blown away.

The leading Death Warrior Platoon Leader's expression changed abruptly. Reacting extremely quickly, he shouted, "Incoming shells! Scatter and take cover!"

After shouting, the Death Warrior Platoon Leader was the first to run into the distance, diving to the ground in a patch of grass. Several Clone Soldiers were also quick to react, taking cover on the spot just like the Death Warrior Platoon Leader. At this moment, the gap in military discipline between the different types of soldiers was evident. After the shelling, some of the remaining Black Brothers soldiers in the squad just got up and ran, heedless of everything, while others were simply frozen in place by fear. Even though the Death Warrior Platoon Leader had shouted, they couldn't snap out of it.

As the Death Warrior Platoon Leader expected, the very next second after he took cover, several more shells landed on the previous position, and those dazed Black Brothers were taken out in one wave.

Immediately following that, the sounds of footsteps and the roar of vehicles came from the distance.

The Death Warrior Platoon Leader quickly pulled out a communication device and spoke calmly into it: "Calling Regiment HQ, calling Regiment HQ. This is the Platoon Leader of the 3rd Platoon, 1st Company, 3rd Battalion. During our daily border patrol this morning, my unit was hit by foreign enemy artillery fire. A large number of unidentified enemy forces are crossing the border. Our location is 118 degrees East, 37 degrees North. Requesting immediate reinforcements!"

"Copy that, copy that. I will report to the Regiment Commander immediately. Please stay safe!" As soon as the Death Warrior Platoon Leader finished speaking, the communicator replied instantly.

Stowing the communicator, the Death Warrior Platoon Leader raised his American-made M4A1 carbine. Like a hunter, he watched the enemies rushing toward their position with cold eyes.

He pulled back the charging handle and flipped off the safety. The next second, a burst of rapid gunfire rang out. Facing an enemy invasion, the Death Warrior Platoon Leader and the Clone Soldiers had no intention of retreating, because the meaning of their existence was to expand territory for Qin Yang and protect all of Qin Yang's assets.

With the Death Warrior Platoon Leader and the six Clone Soldier squad leaders and deputy leaders opening fire with full force, a large swath of the charging King Kong Country soldiers immediately fell. When it came to marksmanship, the Clone Soldiers, as professional soldiers, were definitely sharpshooters, surpassing even the Death Warriors.

When the Xinan Country Defense Force was formed, because they had their own Weapons Factory, their individual equipment was based on that of a powerful nation. A squad leader was designated as a grenadier, equipped with an M4A1 carbine with an M320 underslung grenade launcher and a self-defense pistol. The deputy squad leader was usually a machine gunner equipped with an M249 squad automatic weapon and a self-defense pistol. The other soldiers were riflemen equipped with M4A1 carbines, with some carrying M72 LAW rocket launchers.

Overall, this equipment was definitely top-tier among the ground forces in the African region.

Therefore, even though this squad was only one platoon, their firepower configuration was by no means weak. Combined with the sharpshooter-level marksmanship of every Clone Soldier, a single platoon's strength could definitely withstand an attack from a company or more from other African nations.

The reality was exactly that. Although the squad suffered some casualties during the surprise attack, once the shelling ended and the enemy infantry charged, they displayed astonishing combat power. Three general-purpose machine guns roared, spitting out tongues of fire, while the grenade launchers and rocket launchers occasionally delivered precision strikes against the enemy's heavy equipment.

In less than three minutes, the King Kong Country soldiers were already unable to withstand such fierce firepower and began to flee toward the rear. No matter how much the commanders in the back roared, it was useless; the defeat was like a mountain collapsing!

Furthermore, even the King Kong Country commander was in a state of disbelief at the combat power displayed by the Xinan Country soldiers. To be honest, regarding the conflicts between various armed groups and countries in Africa, who didn't know how everyone else operated? Once soldiers were on the battlefield, they basically fired at random without even aiming. Then there was the equipment—everyone basically had an AK, and those in better conditions might have a few machine guns and small mortars. But what was with a squad being equipped with grenade launchers and rocket launchers? Who would believe this was equipment an African national army could afford? If someone said they were the US Military, people would believe it!

However, what shocked the King Kong Country commander even more was still to come.