319: Chapter Three Hundred and Seventeen: The Enemy’s Reinforcements 319: Chapter Three Hundred and Seventeen: The Enemy’s Reinforcements Gao Yang felt that as long as he could get the car started, that would suffice.
If he tried to get in from the left side of the vehicle, he would be exposed to enemy attack, but climbing in from the right door wouldn’t pose that problem.
Gao Yang opened the passenger-side door, first dragging the corpse on the passenger seat to the ground.
The passenger was a black man, and although the already dead driver’s face was covered in blood, one could tell he was an Arab with a big beard.
The inside of the car reeked of blood, but this was definitely not the time to care about such things.
Gao Yang saw that the gearbox was automatic; in order to start the car, he would need to keep the brake pressed, but pulling the deceased driver out from under the wheel was proving to be quite a struggle.
Without daring to stand up and exert himself, and after several tugs from the passenger seat, Gao Yang reluctantly gave up on the idea of moving the driver.
In the passenger’s hand was an AK47.
Gao Yang placed his shotgun on the seat, took the AK47, removed its magazine, turned off the safety, and used the butt of the gun to press the brake pedal.
Then, with his right hand, he pressed the ignition button.
After a slight tremble of the car body, the engine started.
Releasing the brake, the car immediately began to move, but only idling forward at a very slow pace.
Gao Yang lay across the passenger seat, resting his head on the corpse’s legs, and gripped the steering wheel with his right hand.
After ensuring the car wouldn’t expose him under the guns, he fumbled with his left hand for the accelerator and pressed it down hard.
The car roared and sped up at once.
Gao Yang’s legs were sticking out, and he couldn’t see outside; the car jolted and he awkwardly drove it out.
Once the car had turned a corner and gone a bit further, making him feel it was now back-first towards the enemies, Gao Yang quickly pulled his legs back inside, then opened the left door of the car and pushed the driver out.
After pushing the driver out, Gao Yang moved to the driver’s seat.
He glanced up briefly to check for obstacles ahead and then pressed the accelerator, speeding straight away.
Once he had the car speeding, Gao Yang’s excitement was undeniable.
He drove forward ferociously for a while; after feeling he had left the range of enemy fire, he straightened up, focused only on driving, and continued to charge forward.
Gao Yang was completely unfamiliar with the car he was driving, but just by its looks, he knew its off-road capabilities were unquestionably solid, and his initial impression only added to his surprise.
Although it seemed inappropriate to care so much about the model of the car while fleeing for his life, that’s exactly what Gao Yang was doing.
Since two of the car doors were still open, the interior lights remained on, allowing Gao Yang to clearly see inside the car.
He knew he was driving a Mercedes.
Which model, however, Gao was truly clueless about.
But when he saw a sticker with instructions in front of the passenger seat, he immediately understood; the car was actually a concept vehicle, an unreleased model currently in road testing, certain to go into production.
The Middle Eastern tycoons truly had money—enough to buy a car not yet on the market.
Shaking his head in wonder, his curiosity now satisfied, Gao Yang finally focused solely on driving.
Gao Yang occasionally glanced back and sure enough, the pursuers were relentless, still closing in behind him.
Now, however, the distance had grown, and all he could see were their lights far away.
Although his driving skills were not exceptional, as long as he avoided crashing into trees and termite mounds, all that was left was to speed on.
Gao Yang increased the throttle, reveling in the increasingly fast speed.
Pride comes before a fall, and just when Gao Yang began to feel self-satisfied, he was immediately met with retribution.
Believing himself out of danger, Gao Yang glanced at the fuel gauge only to be horrified to see it had dropped to empty.
No sooner had he noticed the empty fuel gauge than the car jolted, the engine died, and the vehicle began to decelerate immediately.
With his mouth slightly open and eyes wide in disbelief at the slowing scenery before him, Gao Yang violently punched the steering wheel.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!
God, you might as well kill me, damn it!”
After furiously pounding the leather steering wheel several times, a despondent Gao Yang slammed on the brakes.
Once the car came to a complete stop, he quickly grabbed the shotgun and double-barreled shotgun from the passenger seat, opened the door, and jumped out.
With the double-barreled shotgun and an AK47 slung over his back, and the hunting shotgun in his hands, Gao Yang didn’t bother taking the other AK47, finding it too cumbersome.
One shotgun was enough.
With tears in his eyes, he took one last glance at the fuelless Mercedes pickup, drew his handgun, fired a shot at the large thermal imager on the roof, and turned to run towards a patch of taller grass.
Unable to escape by car and with legs no match for vehicle wheels, Gao Yang had no choice but to set up another ambush, somewhat relieved at least that he had a shotgun that could make a difference in distance.
Gao Yang did not turn off the car’s headlights; he relied on them to find a spot with cover to get in a few shots.
After spotting a termite mound about half a person tall, Gao Yang quickly hid behind it, knelt on one knee, and then rested the shotgun on the mound.
The chasing car stopped a good distance away, over a kilometer, after spotting Gao Yang’s own vehicle had halted.
From such a distance, Gao Yang found it impossible to take a shot at the unseen enemy, but he was at an advantage as long as his adversaries didn’t charge in with guns blazing from their vehicle.
Those super-wealthy oil tycoons were interested in a human hunting game, seemingly more fun than hunting wild animals.
But once Gao Yang demonstrated his formidable combat abilities, those wealthy hunters were less keen to risk their lives.
However, since Gao Yang had already killed two of their members, the rich hunters were naturally not willing to let him go.
A standoff ensued.
The cars stopped and turned off their headlights, and more than a dozen people sluggishly advanced towards Gao Yang.
Once they got just over five hundred meters away, Gao Yang saw them through his night vision device and fired a single shot, after which the closers immediately pulled back.
After he’d made the on-foot pursuers retreat, Gao Yang saw one of the cars turn on its headlights again, did a U-turn, and drove away in the opposite direction.
Judging from the distance between its headlights and taillights, that must have been the only truck in the chasing convoy.
A car leaving likely meant reinforcements were being called in again.
Gao Yang decided to try and leave once more, but every time he advanced a few hundred meters, the cars would close in again, maintaining over a kilometer’s distance from him.
Unable to shoot or flee, Gao Yang simply found a good hiding place, ate some jerky, drank some water, and confronted the pursuers.
If the standoff lasted until daylight, Gao Yang wasn’t worried.
Once the sun came up, the ground temperature would swiftly become much warmer, making it difficult for heat imaging to detect a person, although identifying a vehicle might still be feasible.
Moreover, by sunrise, Li Jinfang and his group could have arrived.
Both sides were waiting for their reinforcements, resulting in a true standoff.
Now, it was a matter of whose reinforcements would arrive faster.
Seeing the enemy had not approached, Gao Yang drew the satellite phone from his backpack.
Once Li Jinfang answered, Gao Yang said in a low voice, “Hello, where are you guys now?
The situation here isn’t great.”
Li Jinfang replied anxiously, “We are still in flight, about an hour away from landing in Malakal.
Brother Yang, by all means, hang in there.
Report your location again now.”
Gao Yang took out his GPS, glanced at it, informed Li Jinfang of his position, and said quietly, “The toughest moment has passed.
I should be safe for now and can hold on a bit longer.
The enemy has quite a number, likely over twenty, but I expect their numbers to increase.
Also, some of those hunters are wealthy Middle-Easterners with many vehicles and heat imaging equipment.
Be alert, and keep in mind I might move again, but not too far.
If I don’t report back, search for me in my current location.
I’m hanging up now.”
After the call, Gao Yang stayed alert through a seemingly endless night.
By dawn, two hours had passed since his conversation with Li Jinfang.
If they were quick enough, they could arrive in the airspace as early as two hours from then.
As he awaited the sun’s rise and the day to brighten, Gao Yang did not immediately remove the heat imaging device.
He needed it to determine when the heat emitted by a human body became indiscernible.
Only then would he move.
As the sun rose higher and the ground temperature rose, the heat didn’t yet affect the imaging.
But just then, Gao Yang noticed that the enemy’s reinforcements had, after all, arrived first: the two trucks from the previous night had returned, accompanied by two more.
Gao Yang looked through the binoculars to see that all three trucks were filled with people.
The trucks paused briefly beside the convoy before accelerating and forming a “品” shaped charge towards Gao Yang.
From the direction of the vehicles, Gao Yang knew the enemy had pinpointed his exact location, and they were finally poised to execute a vehicular barrage tactic to eliminate him.
Gao Yang could no longer just stand his ground.
Immediately, Gao Yang opened fire.
His only chance now was to shoot the truck drivers first to buy some time, as he could think of no other option.(To be continued.
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