0129 A Brutal Double-Cross

This arms smuggling team from Ethiopia was clearly of the regional guerrilla type. Their convoy consisted of vehicles similar to those of the Alliance, primarily armed pickup trucks. However, at the very rear of their convoy, three vehicles stood out sharply: they were B-21 multiple rocket launchers.

The B-21 rocket launcher, nicknamed "Hail," has a caliber of 122mm and an effective range of approximately 14 to 20 kilometers. It is a highly effective weapon for neutralizing light armored targets and massed infantry. While it is considered severely outdated and obsolete by international standards, in a region like Somalia, it is a rare and formidable weapon. If the Liberation Alliance could secure this batch of weaponry, they would gain the ability to inflict massive casualties on government infantry from a distance—a defensive asset the Alliance desperately craved for the hilly and semi-mountainous terrain where mechanized maneuverability was impossible.

"No wonder Lieutenant Colonel Timo placed such importance on this trade. It turns out the Alliance has been carefully building up its strength. It seems his meeting with me in Captain Mulu’s territory was merely incidental; receiving these weapons was his true objective." Hou Rui muttered to himself. Meanwhile, the other Alliance soldiers in the Alacran had already prepared for combat, just in case. Even Little Lamb, Stone, Little Camel, and Judy gripped their weapons, ready to leap out of the armored vehicle and join the fray at any moment.

From afar, Hou Rui saw Lieutenant Colonel Timo finally emerge from his off-road vehicle. Accompanied by Captain Larr and several other officers, he walked to the center of the valley clearing and embraced a man wearing a floral headscarf. Lieutenant Colonel Timo then ordered his men to unload several heavy crates from a truck and carry them to the man in the floral headscarf.

Because of the distance and the darkness, Hou Rui, inside the cockpit of the Alacran, could not see what was in the crates. He asked Judy curiously, "Do you know what the Alliance usually uses for weapon trades?"

"What else? Gold and diamonds. If that’s not enough, then large quantities of opium bricks. Around here, those are the only things that hold their value." No sooner had Judy finished speaking than Hou Rui saw Lieutenant Colonel Timo shake hands with the opposing leader. Then, the three transport trucks from the Alliance side and the three "Hail" launchers and two ammunition trucks from the Ethiopian side began to start their engines, heading toward each other's camps.

Hou Rui knew that this stage of the trade was the most critical and also the most prone to problems. Ignoring the stinging in his palms, he gripped the steering wheel tightly, ready to charge out at any moment to handle an emergency. Similarly, the Alliance gunner operating the heavy machine gun on the armored vehicle's turret looked tense. His eyes were fixed on Lieutenant Colonel Timo and his men; illuminated by the flashlights at the transaction site, he needed to see Timo’s signal the moment it was given—whether to fire or not!

The trucks from both sides drew closer. When the front of the vehicles were nearly nose-to-nose, Lieutenant Colonel Timo and the opposing leader began to walk back. They soon returned to their respective main forces, while the drivers of the trucks stepped out without turning off their engines, walked to the opposing vehicles to perform a brief inspection, climbed into the cabs, and finally drove the exchanged vehicles forward until they pulled into their own ranks. Only then was the arms trade considered successfully completed.

Immediately, the Ethiopians, having secured the gold, diamonds, and opium bricks, prepared to leave. Their convoy began to slowly turn around in the valley, and some Ethiopians standing in the beds of their pickup trucks waved at the Alliance soldiers.

Just as Hou Rui let out a sigh of relief and prepared to drive the Alacran to continue guiding the Alliance convoy back, the .50 caliber heavy machine gun on the armored vehicle's turret suddenly opened fire.

"Da-da-da!" As soon as the .50 caliber gun began firing, the entire body of the Alacran shook violently. Hearing such a deafening roar inside the enclosed cabin for the first time, Little Camel was clearly stunned, staring blankly at the oversized shell casings falling like raindrops. Hou Rui, caught off guard, roared at the Alliance gunner, "What are you doing?"

"Da-da-da!" The gunner continued firing in response, but Hou Rui didn't need an answer anymore. The moment he shouted, he realized that Lieutenant Colonel Timo was absolutely planning a double-cross to seize the Ethiopians' arms shipment.

At this point, it was useless to say anything. When Hou Rui turned back to look at the Ethiopians 600-700 meters away, the entire Alliance convoy had already launched a full-scale assault.

Hou Rui’s first sight was an Ethiopian pickup truck in the middle of a turn, its side exposed to the Alliance. An Ethiopian standing in the back was preparing to swivel his machine gun to return fire when the lethal .50 caliber bullets struck his waist, cutting him clean in two.

Following this, the .50 caliber machine gun began strafing the pickup’s cab. After about twenty rounds tore through, the unlucky truck exploded.

"Boom!" In an instant, a raging fire illuminated the surrounding area. As the ambushed Ethiopians jumped from their vehicles to resist, the RPG gunners Captain Larr had pre-positioned went to work.

With a series of "Pop, pop, pop, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sounds, the night sky was immediately lit by 6 or 7 streaks of rocket exhaust. Following that, 3 or 4 pickup trucks in the Ethiopian convoy were struck in succession, exploding one after another. In a single stroke, the Alliance had wiped out nearly half of their heavy machine gun firepower.

"Charge! Everyone, charge!" Once the Alliance gained the upper hand, Captain Larr jumped up and shouted. About 50 or 60 Alliance soldiers rushed forward with their rifles, and at the forefront of this charge, most resolute and fearless, were the Alliance's child soldiers.

Led by a veteran wearing a red cloth armband, about 20 child soldiers advanced at a steady pace. Neither the machine gun fire nor the rockets from the Ethiopians could stop them. In this moment, even as their comrades fell or were blown into the sky by rockets, the remaining child soldiers continued to charge forward without fear, firing their AK-47s without hesitation.

"Bang-bang-boom, boom-da-da-da!"

In the valley filled with gunfire and explosions, the fearless child soldiers crossed half the distance in the blink of an eye. However, they immediately suffered heavy casualties from the strafing of a fast-moving enemy pickup, and the group of 20 dwindled to just 6 or 7.

"Bang! Boom!" Lieutenant Colonel Timo’s hidden 60mm mortar finally opened fire. The first shell flipped the Ethiopian pickup, and then Hou Rui saw two of the fastest child soldiers sprint right up to the windows of the enemy truck, thrusting their rifles inside and firing without even aiming.

"Lieutenant, we need to move forward! I need a better field of fire!" Suddenly, the Alliance gunner's shout pulled Hou Rui back to reality.

Slamming on the accelerator, Hou Rui drove the Alacran from behind the large rocks, charging straight toward the chaotic Ethiopian convoy not far away.

Within seconds, the Alacran overtook the charging Alliance soldiers. Hou Rui swerved the vehicle, inserting it at an angle into the crossfire. This not only gave the .50 caliber gun a wider field of view but also provided a measure of armored cover for the Alliance infantry behind them.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The immediate consequence of this move was that the Alacran, suddenly plunging into the center of the battlefield, became the primary target for the Ethiopians. Every machine gun, whether held by infantry or mounted on trucks, turned toward the armored vehicle, causing it to ring out with sparks flying.

"Whoosh, boom!" An enemy rocket landed near the Alacran’s rear tire. The explosion kicked up a cloud of mud and sand nearly 2 or 3 meters high. Before the debris could fall, the Alacran had already surged forward several meters. Hou Rui violently twisted the steering wheel, causing the armored vehicle to drift in front of everyone, narrowly dodging a rocket fired directly at the nose of the vehicle.

"Da-da-da—ah!" Unfortunately, the gunner who had been suppressing the enemy didn't share that luck. While firing wildly at the Ethiopians, he suddenly let out a miserable shriek and slid back into the cabin from the gun turret. Little Camel and the others in the cabin saw that a bullet had pierced the gunner's neck.

Listening to the intense gunfire and explosions outside, Stone gritted his teeth and prepared to climb out to take over the gunner's position, but Hou Rui, busy driving, shouted without looking back, "Don't expose yourselves! Get down, everyone get down!"

Before Hou Rui could finish, another burst of gunfire raked the Alacran's body. This time, the armor failed to withstand the rounds, and the bullets punched right through the cabin.

"Clang, clang, clang!" A row of five fingertip-sized holes appeared on the right side of the armored vehicle. It turned out that they were being targeted by a 14.5mm heavy anti-aircraft machine gun, which was why it could pierce the hull of this old antique.

The Ethiopians continued to fire, deadly heavy-caliber rounds chasing the armored vehicle Hou Rui was driving. To evade these 14.5mm bullets, Hou Rui pushed his driving skills to the limit. He practically floored the accelerator, keeping the Alacran at high speed, weaving in an irregular "S" pattern through the center of the crossfire.