928: Chapter 918: Discard the Dross and Select the Essence 928: Chapter 918: Discard the Dross and Select the Essence Since we had to avoid the airplane, we decided to separate and hide to prevent one bomb from killing two of us.
Before parting ways with Gao Yang, Eileen looked at him with a helpless expression and said, “Boss, I’ve noticed you’ve become quite the jinx lately.
I really wonder if that plane came because it heard your call.”
Gao Yang had been bombed more than once, so being bombed by a plane was just another incident, and it was fortunately just a false alarm.
But having to crawl on the scorching hot sand and cover himself with a camouflage net, enduring the high temperatures, made Gao Yang regret the curse he had cast.
Gao Yang didn’t have an engineer shovel, and he didn’t have much time to disguise himself.
So while crawling on the sand and gritting his teeth from the heat, Gao Yang said into the radio, “Everyone, keep an ear out for what’s happening in the sky.
As soon as the fighter plane passes, we need to pull out quickly.
Hiding like this really could kill someone from heat exhaustion.
By the way, Rabbit, did you say something just now about those idiots getting bombed or something?”
Cui Bo didn’t say a word with a squeaky noise, but Frey, who was in the same vehicle with Cui Bo, hurriedly said, “Yes, Rabbit said that these clueless fools deserve to be bombed by the planes, and right after he said that, the planes came.”
Gao Yang breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Good, good, that puts my mind at ease.
The jinx is Rabbit, not me; I’m much more relieved now.”
Finally, Cui Bo said, “Blaming me again, huh?”
Gao Yang sighed and said, “Can’t help it, who told you to always be so spot on?
Remember, next time you want to say something, think twice and try to jinx others, not us.”
No one spoke after that; the heat was truly unbearable.
But it wasn’t something they couldn’t handle.
When they trained in Israel, they went through heat endurance training.
The climate in Israel was similar to Syria, with the usual training conducted under high temperatures.
After waiting for about ten or fifteen minutes, Cui Bo suddenly said, “Here it comes, the plane is coming.
I see it coming from the northwest, but it looks like just one aircraft; I think it’s a reconnaissance plane.”
Shortly after Cui Bo finished speaking, Glolov also said, “I see it too, just one plane, can’t make out the model.”
Gao Yang said in a deep voice, “Just wait, it probably won’t discover us.”
The desert’s colors were monotonous.
Depending on visual searches, one could spot vehicles on the ground, but spotting people lying on the ground covered with camouflage nets was nearly impossible.
If the vehicles were well camouflaged and the nets handled well without leaving clear shadows, it would be difficult for the reconnaissance plane to detect them.
All their vehicles were prepared with camouflage nets.
Although it wasn’t guaranteed to avoid detection, the chances of being spotted were greatly reduced.
But now Gao Yang started to worry about the trucks they were escorting.
It was morning, and the sun hadn’t reached its highest point yet.
In the unsheltered desert, the tall trucks would cast shadows under the sunlight, and the strong contrast of colors made them easy to spot in the desert.
Gao Yang felt that the trucks were probably lost, possibly destroyed in the first round of airstrikes.
Without the trucks, their mission was declared a failure.
But there was nothing that could be done about it; the airstrikes and the stupidity of some were all factors beyond their control.
However, Gao Yang was quite content.
If the mission failed, so be it.
As long as no one was hurt, that was what mattered.
Besides, in such unavoidable situations, while they wouldn’t receive the final payment, they wouldn’t have to refund the deposit.
The reconnaissance plane quickly flew away, dropping its altitude and circling above their heads twice before leaving.
Whether they were exposed or not remained unknown.
Gao Yang said weakly, “Just wait a bit longer.
If we were exposed, attack planes should come very soon.
If no attack planes come, well, we’ll just endure a bit longer and then find a cool spot to hide.”
Not long after, Krulney’s voice came through the radio that Gao Yang was holding.
He spoke weakly, “Hey, can we go now?
I can’t stand it anymore; I’m going to be roasted alive.”
Gao Yang sighed and said, “Krulney, how’s the situation on your end?
Did the truck get bombed?”
“The truck’s fine; the people I brought are also fine.
However, those pickup trucks took a hit—none of them survived.”
Gao Yang was quite surprised and said, “How is that possible?
The truck was the biggest target.
How did it escape bombing?”
“It was bombed, just not hit.
The truck took evasive maneuvers and was lucky not to be destroyed.
Also, they’ve been camouflaged, so there shouldn’t be any more problems.”
Those with Krulney were unharmed, which Gao Yang could understand.
After all, the Syrian Air Force’s equipment wasn’t exactly state-of-the-art.
Their attack methods involved targeting and then launching rockets or dropping bombs, maybe firing a couple of outdated second-generation surface-to-air missiles at most.
So, when faced with swiftly maneuvering small vehicles escaping in a serpentine pattern compared to those foolishly running in a straight line, it was clear which one the pilot would chase to drop bombs on.
Who would live and who would perish was also clear.
Facing unskilled pilots, encountering qualified soldiers who knew how to escape led to no hits, which was normal.
As for the truck, being in the hands of a select group of well-trained soldiers, it was a difficult target to hit, and it was lucky that it wasn’t destroyed.
Praise be to luck.
Killing a group of idiots who didn’t know how to hide from an air raid was quite normal.
It wasn’t a blind cat finding a dead rat, it was both the bomber and the bombed performing at a normal level, just like how old folks with bad teeth always pick the soft persimmons to eat.
Apart from airplanes, Gao Yang didn’t need to worry about attacks from the ground.
The Rebel Army was currently preoccupied with Damascus, planes could come out, but ground troops couldn’t make it to the desert far from Damascus.
Gao Yang hadn’t even had the chance to express any emotions, nor had he hypocritically offered any condolences for the dead, when Krulney weakly said, “It shows when there’s a bombing.
The experts are experts, and the cannon fodder are cannon fodder, buddy.
Now, it’s only you all and, and, and those who came with me left.
As for what to do next, you guys can figure it out.”
Gao Yang wiped his sweat and said, “I thought you would decide what to do next.”
Krulney laughed dryly, “Forget about it, I’m out of it.
For my life’s sake, I have to listen to the experts.
It’s up to you two professionals to make the decisions.
I’ll follow all arrangements.
Here, I’m giving the walkie-talkie to your side’s professionals.
You guys discuss, you guys discuss.”
At that moment, a low and slightly hoarse voice said, “I suggest we continue hiding for now.
If there’s more bombing, the planes will at least come within half an hour.
Let’s wait and see the situation before evacuating to find a cooler place to continue hiding.
Do you agree?”
Finally encountering a sensible person, Gao Yang didn’t hesitate and said, “Agreed.
Let’s do that.
Also, I suggest we split up, reconvene after finding places to hide.
If we can’t find any hidden places, we can use the cars and camouflage nets to give shade.
At least that won’t heat us to death.”
“Agreed.”
After a few quick exchanges, silence fell once more.
It was too hot, lying on the sand was like being inside an oven, with sweat pouring off him like water.
Gao Yang took out a thin tube, opened the water barrel, and sipped water through the tube.
Half an hour later, he had finished drinking ten liters of water from the barrel.
Finally, when the time was up, Gao Yang gasped for air and said, “Move, quickly, damn it, move.”
Gao Yang and the others got moving, quickly packing up the camouflage net, then driving their vehicles, keeping a distance of at least two to three kilometers between them.
After driving for more than ten kilometers in one direction, they stopped the cars, then stretched out and pinned down the camouflage net again, forming a dome shape that wouldn’t cast shadows in the sunlight.
Resting by the vehicles under the camouflage net, though it was still very hot, at least they no longer had to lie on the ground.
It was still very uncomfortable but compared to the feeling of being fried in a pan, it was much more bearable.
Bored and sitting under the camouflage net, still worried about the planes returning, Gao Yang and his group endured a difficult day.
In his life, Gao Yang had never found the sunset so beautiful.
After enduring an entire day, as the last ray of sunlight finally disappeared, Gao Yang immediately crawled out from under the camouflage net, looked up to the sky, and shouted, “Finally, it’s damn over!”
The Syrian Air Force lacked night combat capability.
At night, they could manage aerial combat but were almost incapable of attacking ground targets.
Therefore, as soon as it was dark, it was Gao Yang’s world.
Gao Yang and his group reconvened, then joined up with Krulney and his group.
When they met again, only eleven of the nineteen vehicles remained.
This was the Syrian Air Force for you.
If it had been one of the five gangsters’ air forces, not to mention nineteen vehicles in the open desert, even one hundred and ninety tanks would have been obliterated, a testament seen from the Highway of Death caused by the U.S.
Army during the first Gulf War with Iraq.
After reuniting, Gao Yang noticed that Krulney, dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, had blisters from burns all over his arms and legs.
Gao Yang couldn’t help but laugh inappropriately as he looked at Krulney’s helpless face, grinning with pain almost to the point of tears, and said, “Congratulations, I’m happy for you.”
Krulney grumbled, “I’m all blistered up, and you find this miserable situation congratulatory?”
Gao Yang seriously said, “Congratulations on not being blown up.”
Krulney sheepishly said, “Well, I suppose it’s worth celebrating.
Having blisters all over in this damn desert is certainly better than being blasted to bits or burned to a crisp.”
Gao Yang shrugged, and Krulney waved his hand, “Okay, all those who died were just cannon fodder, not worth mourning.
You guys are the core, the main priority, and you’ve taken no losses at all.
So our mission is still on.
Let’s go, we have to get to Damascus tonight.
I really don’t want to go through this again.” (To be continued.
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