101: Chapter 101 Lightning Strike! 24 Hours in Mong La: When the Gambling Table is Overturned

East Shan State, Mong La (Capital of the Fourth Special Region).

At four in the morning, the neon lights of this border gambling city, known as "Little Macau," finally began to look weary.

The clamor in the casinos gradually subsided. Gamblers with bloodshot eyes from their losses dispersed with heavy steps. Only the buildings on both sides of the street, bearing signs like "XX Entertainment City" or "XX VIP Hall," still flickered with greedy light in the night, like monsters gorged on flesh and blood.

On the outskirts of the city, at an outpost of the 318th Brigade, Company Commander Mao Ang was wrapped in a moisture-proof mat, a half-smoked cigar dangling from his mouth as he boredly toyed with the AK rifle in his hand.

"Damn, this hellish weather; it's so humid you could wring water out of the air," Mao Ang cursed as he blew a smoke ring, glancing at his snoring subordinates. "Everyone, wake the hell up! I heard that Zhang Cheng in the west is clashing with the Americans. Don't let his people sneak up on us without us knowing!"

"Commander, stop scaring us," a green recruit said, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Zhang Cheng is being besieged from three sides and is busy saving his own skin. How would he have time for us? Besides, Mong La is the coalition's deep rear, as solid as a fortress..."

Before he could finish, a strange sound suddenly came from the distant horizon.

"Buzz— buzz— buzz—"

At first it was faint, like the humming of a mosquito in one's ear, but after just a few seconds, the sound rapidly swelled into a low, dense, and highly oppressive thunder!

Mao Ang stood up abruptly, not even noticing the cigar falling onto his lap and burning him. He widened his eyes, staring in terror at the western sky.

"What... what is that noise? Is it an earthquake?!"

The first light of dawn had just pierced the clouds when, in that instant, countless black dots leaped over the ridgeline like killer bees swarming from a hellish hive!

It was a fleet of helicopters!

Leading the way were fifty hideous-looking "Black Hawks"—medium-sized attack helicopters painted in matte black. They flew close to the treetops, their massive rotors kicking up fierce winds that flattened the grass and trees below. Behind them were the more agile and lightweight "Falcon" reconnaissance helicopters.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!!"

Mao Ang's shrill howl had barely left his mouth before it was drowned out by a rain of fire falling from the sky.

"Swoosh— swoosh— swoosh—!"

The rocket pods mounted under the short wings of the "Black Hawk" helicopters spat out dazzling tongues of fire. Dozens of rockets covered Mao Ang's outpost like a torrential storm of pear blossoms.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The violent explosion instantly blew the entire outpost into the sky! Wood splinters, sandbags, and human limbs flew in all directions amidst the flames. Before Mao Ang could even pull the trigger, he was turned into a pile of charcoal.

This was only the beginning.

The helicopter fleet didn't stop for a moment. Like a black storm, they swept past the outer defense lines and pounced on the core targets in Mong La—the coalition headquarters, communication centers, and the largest armed strongholds.

"Thump— thump— thump—!"

The machine gun pods under the noses began to roar, their large-caliber bullets plowing deep furrows into the streets, turning the coalition soldiers who had just rushed out of their barracks and hadn't yet grasped the situation into mincemeat.

At the same time, the ground began to tremble.

On the main road to Mong La, over two hundred "Iron Fist" wheeled armored vehicles charged forward at eighty kilometers per hour, their engines letting out beast-like roars!

They completely ignored the roadblocks and tank traps, either smashing through them with their heavy chassis or blasting them to pieces with their top-mounted 30mm autocannons. The torrent of steel was like a bursting dam, instantly overwhelming the hastily established coalition defenses.

"Quick! Stop them! RPGs! Fire!"

A coalition regimental commander, shirtless, stood on a pickup truck waving a pistol and shouting.

But he discovered in despair that his men had long been terrified by the strike from the heavens. Faced with an army armed to the teeth and coordinating with terrifying precision, the "fire sticks" in their hands were as laughable as toys.

"Bang!"

From a speeding armored vehicle in the distance, a sniper calmly pulled the trigger. The commander's head burst like a watermelon, and his headless corpse tumbled from the pickup.

"Dismount! Clear out the area!"

At the commander's order, the rear doors of the armored vehicles swung open.

Countless Death Soldier infantrymen, clad in full black combat gear, tactical helmets, and carrying short assault rifles, poured out. Moving in teams of three with swift and precise movements, they were like black mercury spreading across the ground, rapidly infiltrating streets, alleys, and buildings.

"Area One, clear!" "Area Two, secured!" "Resistance encountered, neutralizing!"

This wasn't a battle; it was a surgical precision excision!

The Death Soldiers gave the enemy no chance to breathe. They used drones for reconnaissance; wherever there was resistance, it would be met with a precision strike from a rocket launcher or a helicopter.

Mong La was in total chaos.

Those casino bosses and telecom fraud ringleaders, who usually acted like tyrants, were now terrified. They clutched their money boxes and tried to flee toward Thailand, only to find that the roads out of the city had been tightly sealed by "Iron Fist" armored vehicles.

"Don't kill me! I have money! I'll give you money!" a portly warlord cried, kneeling on the ground and holding up a box of US dollars.

The response he received was the cold butt of a Death Soldier's rifle.

"Thud!"

The man was knocked unconscious with a single blow and dragged to the side of the road like a dead dog.

At ten in the morning, the battle had only been going on for six hours.

The sporadic gunfire within Mong La ceased completely. Of the coalition's two-thousand-man reinforced regiment, besides the five hundred killed, the remaining fifteen hundred had all become prisoners, crouching in the square with their hands behind their heads, trembling.

Under the noon sun, a massive flag of the "North Myanmar Joint Autonomous Region"—black with a gold star—was slowly raised atop the tallest building in Mong La, the Golden Triangle Hotel.

The raising of this flag announced that this city, full of vice and desire, had officially changed hands!

When the news broke, it was like a massive earthquake across all of East Shan State! Everyone was stunned by the terrifying speed of the advance. Six hours! Heavily guarded Mong La hadn't even lasted half a day?!

This wasn't war; this was clearly divine soldiers descending from the heavens!