1000: Chapter 985: Fallen Flowers 1000: Chapter 985: Fallen Flowers Three helicopters eliminated all the visible heat sources nearby, creating the safest possible landing conditions for the assault team.
Jacklan piloted the aircraft to land more than forty meters to the right of the target building—a residential area in the Adra District, devoid of any suitable landing spots.
Their only options were to hover over rooftop and rappel down, or to land at a crossroads forty meters from the target building.
The so-called “crossroads” was actually just where two narrow roads met, offering extremely limited space.
It was just barely enough to accommodate the bulky Mi-17’s landing, which was a testament to Jacklan’s skill and daring.
Any other pilot might not have managed to land there.
The tailgate opened, and Li Jinfang and Andy He were the first ones out of the plane; they took a knee on either side of the hatch with their guns drawn to establish the first line of defense, followed by Frey and Rafael.
They, too, disembarked and kneeled to raise their weapons.
The personnel exited two by two.
Gao Yang and Ludwig ran out of the hatch and sprinted straight toward the target building without regard for who might be in front or beside them.
That was for Frey and Rafael to handle.
Once Gao had covered over twenty meters in front, everyone was off the aircraft.
Li Jinfang and the others quickly caught up, guns raised, ready for threats from behind, while Frey and Rafael watched for dangers from the left and right.
Gao and Ludwig led the arrowhead formation of the triangle offensive, charging directly at the target building.
As the helicopters ascended, Gao rushed past burning cars and barriers.
He spotted the recently bombarded area, which contained at least thirty bodies, with two anti-aircraft machine gun positions on either side of the road.
Gao was excited because the heavier the defense, the more likely they had found the right place.
They quickly reached the front of the target building.
The building, once a rich person’s home, was pockmarked all over its walls with bullet and shell holes.
Despite this, one could still discern the structure’s former solidity and grandeur.
A three-story building, its top had been blown off, leaving little to no roof.
Anyone would be on the second or first floor.
Gao, with his gun ready, moved quickly in short steps, while Ludwig watched the windows.
Each man had his own area of responsibility to cover, ready to return fire immediately if shot at from the house.
Gunfire erupted from the second floor, out of a big hole blown open by a shell.
Gale on the left wing let off a burst, silencing the gunfire from within the hole instantly.
The building had no courtyard—just a two-meter-wide gate facing the street.
The original gate was gone, now replaced by two crudely made, seemingly hastily welded sheet metal doors.
Seeing the metal doors, Gao’s excitement grew.
Only during a war would someone bother to fit such a dilapidated house with specific doors—an obvious sign of trouble.
Gao quickly approached the gate, pressing his body against the left side, with Ludwig on the right.
They were closely followed by Red Feather who kicked the door without hesitation.
The metal gate let out a thunderous bang but didn’t budge—the pair of adjoined doors were barred and reinforced from the inside.
Locked from within, the only option was to breach them forcefully.
When Red Feather’s kick didn’t open the gate, he quickly stepped aside.
At that moment, Frey shouldered an RPG-26 and fired it into a second-floor window.
He tossed aside the disposable launch tube and began lobbing grenades through any openings on the second floor.
Wild Man and Flyer each fired an RPG-26 into the reinforced first-floor windows.
All the windows were barricaded with sandbags, but the presence of firing ports was enough.
At the same time, Alcohol had set up C4 on the wall to the left of the gate, while Rafael had done the same on the right.
Who says a breach must always go through the door?
Everyone crouched down, and after two explosive blasts, large holes were opened to the left and right of the gate.
The holes were rectangular.
The one on the right, made by Rafael, was very regular—they could have framed a door with it.
The one on the left was less uniform, rounded in the middle.
Gao extended his left hand, gave a left and right wiggle signal, then his team lunged forward, tossing grenades through the freshly made holes.
At least twenty grenades went in—shock grenades, offensive grenades, defensive grenades, and smoke bombs—none were missing.
Grenades and smoke bombs were used because Gao had equipped his team with night vision devices and gas masks.
Every team member was equipped with dual-mode night vision optics, featuring both image intensification and thermal imaging.
If they couldn’t outmaneuver in numbers, they would overwhelm with superior equipment.
Fortunately, Satan had deep pockets, and they were willing to spend.
Hearing the explosions inside the building, Gao raised his left hand again, giving a left-right wiggle signal before they unleashed another volley of grenades.
The second round was thrown to ensure extensive damage, as Gao hoped to effectively neutralize anyone inside due to the size of the space.
Another grenade exploded, and Gao Yang finally waved his hand and then charged into the house.
The interior of the house was not empty, but filled with divided small rooms made of sandbags.
As Alcohol took the right side and Ludwig the left as the first ones to rush in, the distinctive gunfire of AKs echoed inside the building.
With continuous shooting, Gao Yang entered just in time to see Ludwig gun down a man who was coughing and firing his weapon randomly, while Alcohol swiftly took down two men who were screaming frantically.
Gao Yang still took quick, short steps forward when Shotgun raised his weapon.
The distinctive, muffled sounds of an AA-12 firing in succession rang out as two people running down from the second floor dropped from the staircase, which lacked handrails, before they could figure out what was happening.
The house was large, a fact that the pre-attack intelligence had indicated.
Gao quickly signaled with his left hand, then three teams immediately made their way upstairs following the staircase.
Just then, Li Jinfang waved his arms and pointed down, signaling towards the basement.
Discovering the basement, Gao Yang decided to personally lead a search downstairs.
Syria was an unstable place, with almost every Middle East conflict involving the country to some degree.
Damascus had been hit by Israeli airstrikes more than once, so when people here built houses, if they could afford to, they would definitely include a basement.
Regardless of the size, basements were certainly a great help for protection against shelling and air strikes, offering a storage space or living quarters in peacetime and saving lives in a time of war—so why wouldn’t they build one?
Almost every Syrian house had a basement, and the wealthy definitely had one.
If the above-ground structure was large, the basement wouldn’t be small either.
Ordinary people would make their basements robust and habitable if necessary, so a rich man would, of course, make his basement even bigger, better, more comfortable, and safer.
Gao Yang swiftly signaled with his hands.
The second team was to search and clear the first floor, while he would lead the first team into the basement.
The second team was built around Firestorm Mercenary Corps, and the third team centered on Glolov’s four friends.
The first team included Gao Yang, Li Jinfang, Frey, Tiger, Li Yunzhe, Ludwig, Red Feather, Military Dog, and they were also followed by another tail, as Farouk decided to accompany the first team to record their action.
Satan’s troops operated separately because there were three combat teams and Rafael and Andy He had to go to the other two teams in case they ran into Badadi and didn’t recognize him.
The fight continued in silence—unless necessary, nobody spoke.
Aside from gunshots and explosions, there were no other sounds.
With the battlefield’s one-way transparency achieved, why speak and reveal one’s position?
Hand signals were used as much as possible.
Only when absolutely necessary did anyone speak up.
Gao Yang waved several times, and Frey, Red Feather, Ludwig, and Li Yunzhe each threw eight grenades down.
Short exchanges of gunfire, no need to preserve ammunition—this was no hostage rescue.
Greet the enemy with the fiercest firepower, minimizing their chance to return fire—that was the best strategy.
After the grenades exploded, Li Jinfang was the first to go down, followed by Gao Yang.
The basement was deep; since it belonged to a rich man, it would naturally be reinforced and made as deep as possible to enhance safety.
The basement went six meters underground, with a passage leading straight down.
It was clear at a glance if there were any enemies, yet still, before stepping onto the flat ground of the underground, another eight grenades were tossed down while they still had cover.
The blast wave from the underground grenade explosion could only surge out through the entry passage, bringing a harsh blow of dust and debris to everyone’s faces, but no one turned their heads away.
As soon as the grenades detonated, Li Jinfang was the first to jump down into the subterranean passageway.
There was a corridor underground, similar to those found in hotels or apartment complexes, with at least ten rooms opening on either side.
It seemed the house’s owner had a large family and had not only prepared bedrooms for his own big family while constructing the basement, but the conditions were also quite decent.
These decent conditions could be discerned by the doors; they were of good quality, clearly meant for habitation, no different from those above ground.
With three shots, Li Jinfang finished off three people lying on the underground corridor, and then immediately threw a grenade into a room with an open door.
Gao Yang moved forward, raising his shotgun and fired at the nearest door on the right.
He wasn’t firing shotgun rounds but a specially prepared door-breacher, the FRAG-12 high-explosive shell used by the AA12.
The high-explosive shell blasted through the door, reached the distance that triggered the fuse, hit the wall, and exploded.
Without checking on the room he’d just hit with the high-explosive shell, Gao Yang turned and fired at a door on the left.
Ludwig shot at the wooden door Gao Yang had hit with the high-explosive shell, Red Feather kicked the door open with a boot, and Frey threw in a grenade as the three of them turned to the left, repeating the same process at the wooden door Gao Yang had just hit with another high-explosive round.
For rooms where doors had been opened and grenades thrown in, Li Yunzhe entered to sweep with gunfire, and Military Dog came in last to finish off any survivors and check if there was anyone else inside.
Six doors had been breached in this way, with efficiency and speed and without a word needed to be said.
There were ten doors in total in the basement.
Seven had already been breached when Gao Yang approached the eighth.
Before he could fire, the door suddenly sprouted many small holes as someone inside opened fire, and then the door was flung open from within as a man charged out.
Gao Yang, who was standing flush against the wall, didn’t open fire but instead kicked out a Groin Kick, holding the gun in his hand.
Li Jinfang shot the head off the man who had fallen at the door entrance, and then Gao Yang let go and threw a high-explosive shell inside.
As the person inside was screaming and firing wildly outside, Ludwig and Red Feather threw in their grenades.
Through his night vision device, Gao Yang saw blood and shredded flesh glowing faintly with heat, scattering in all directions, floating down like falling petals, creating a hauntingly beautiful scene.
(To be continued.
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