The Ultimate War Of The Apocalypse
Chapter 235 - 231 Getting Shot for the First Time

Chapter 235: Chapter 231 Getting Shot for the First Time

Either nothing happens, or when it does, it’s a big deal.

Rudimentary bombs were set up by the roadside, yet these bombs were built with precision. Directional demolition isn’t something just anyone can achieve, and certainly, not every Tom, Dick, and Harry could make a directional explosive device.

If a bomb disguised as a tumbleweed was intended for vehicles, its detonation would only disable the car’s ability to drive, rather than blowing the entire vehicle to smithereens.

People like Raik had fought wars for years, and places like Biliya and Afghan were rife with roadside bombs. However, few could achieve precise control of the explosive force and shaped charges—there might have been some, but they were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Additionally, from the fact that only two rocket launchers were fired, it was clear that the ambushers were no ordinary foes. There weren’t many in several war-torn nations who could fire a rocket with such accuracy.

And that machine gun—the quick burst of fire alone was enough to tell that the machine gunner was no rookie who would blindly send bullets flying into the air. That volley of bullets whizzed right past Panxin’s head; any slower, and Panxin would have been turned into a sieve.

Gao Yuan might not notice these details, but Zhao Qiang, Panxin, and Li Jingang certainly could.

Thus, just as Gao Yuan was getting anxious for Panxin and Li Jingang, Panxin urgently called over the intercom, "Retreat quickly!"

Xinghe sat up, but Gao Yuan pressed her head down again, causing Xinghe to mumble unclearly, "What’s happening, let me see... you’re hurting me!"

Gao Yuan urgently asked, "What’s the matter?"

Zhao Qiang muttered, "Regular army! They shoot on sight, not caring who it is. This is a tough situation to get through."

Having finished speaking, Zhao Qiang spoke into the intercom: "Li Yang, stay put. Everyone else cover Mr. Jian and Mr. Hao as they retreat. Remember not to engage continuously. Our goal is to retreat quickly. Continue evacuating the truck to safety, and make sure it doesn’t get hit by a rocket!"

Zhao Qiang’s vehicle had already reached the front, and now they were about a kilometer away from Li Jingang and the others. Considering RPG7’s maximum range of 900 meters, they were at a safe distance.

Gao Yuan turned and looked back; Yu Shunzhou was jumping off the truck, followed by Nie Erlong, Song Qian, and Cao Zhenjiang.

As the truck kept reversing, Gao Yuan saw what was happening on it. Lizhizi was trying to jump off too, but he was immediately grabbed by the back of his clothes by Cao Zhenjiang, who pulled him back and toppled him inside the truck. From Lizhizi’s mouth shape and body language, it looked like he was cursing.

Wang Ning and Li Yang would not join the battle, nor were they allowed to.

The SUV continued to drive while the truck quickly receded into the distance. Gao Yuan shouted, "Let me get off!"

Zhao Qiang said quietly, "Don’t make things worse. They can handle it. Your task..."

While Zhao Qiang was still talking, Gao Yuan suddenly opened the door and then immediately jumped out of the vehicle, which was going at about eighty kilometers per hour.

With a sharp brake, Zhao Qiang stopped the car, fearing that Gao Yuan might have killed himself with that jump. However, what he saw was Gao Yuan running quickly towards the scene.

Zhao Qiang, feeling helpless, started the vehicle up again, and then when he saw the truck starting to move, he urgently said over the intercom, "This place isn’t safe. Advance another five hundred meters and be ready to turn around and assist at any moment. Li Yang! Keep watch over the stuff for me. You go and support them!"

It was only after Gao Yuan had jumped off the vehicle that he realized he had brought nothing with him except the knife and axe he had on him.

Well, if he hadn’t brought anything, then so be it. Gao Yuan quickly caught up with the four people running ahead of him.

"Hand me the grenades."

Yu Shunzhou turned around in surprise and exclaimed, "Why did you get down here?"

Despite his surprise, Yu Shunzhou handed over the hand grenades hanging from his combat vest to Gao Yuan.

Gao Yuan was full of complaints as he urgently said, "What’s this all about, leaving two people behind and running this far!"

Cao Zhenjiang said, "Don’t you understand? If our vehicle is blown up, we’re dead meat. The first order of business is to get the vehicle to a safe distance and then turn back to provide support."

Gao Yuan’s heart was racing; he feared Li Jingang and Panxin had been hit in the recent exchange of fire.

"Give me all the grenades, now, hurry!"

After stuffing the grenades into his pockets and grabbing eight in total, Gao Yuan said urgently, "You’re too slow, I’ll go ahead and wait for you guys."

Gao Yuan then broke into a run. No one could keep up with his pace.

Just a minute later, Gao Yuan had reached the spot where they had stopped earlier. He was about five hundred meters away from the enemy firing, and just over two hundred meters from where Li Jingang and Panxin were trapped.

Gao Yuan stood on the road because he couldn’t see clearly the enemies firing, so he felt it was still far enough and thought he could get even closer. However, at that moment, he felt a jolt in his chest.

Feeling utterly confused and bewildered, Gao Yuan touched his chest subconsciously with the hand holding two grenades, only to find it was a bullet.

A bullet was lodged in his bulletproof vest. Looking down at the torn exterior of the vest, Gao Yuan woozily pulled the deformed bullet out.

Staring at the severely distorted bullet head, like a lightning bolt clearing the fog, it finally dawned on Gao Yuan that he had been shot.

Shot!

Gao Yuan immediately lay flat on the ground, and then his heart began to race.

Thank goodness for the bulletproof vest, truly. And it was even a specially modified one; otherwise, he would have died from that shot.

"Boss Zhao, I thank you..."

This was Gao Yuan’s first time being shot. For many people, being shot was a one-time occurrence, because often that one time would be fatal.

But ever since Zhao Qiang started feeling uneasy that day, he had insisted Gao Yuan wear a bulletproof vest and forbade him from taking it off, despite how heavy it was and how much it dug into him when sitting in the vehicle. Zhao Qiang simply wouldn’t allow Gao Yuan to remove the bulletproof vest.

Now, Zhao Qiang’s insistence had paid off, saving Gao Yuan’s life.

It was foolish to run forward blindly, and even more foolish to stand still.

Gao Yuan quickly crawled along the ground for some distance before he surveyed the area ahead.

How come a real battlefield was nothing like he had imagined? How come not a single enemy was popping their head out?

Wasn’t it said that enemy commanders foolishly charged forward, arranged densely for one to shoot with guns and blast with artillery? Where were they? Instead, the enemies were all well-hidden, revealing only the dust stirred up by the muzzles of their guns firing, without a person in sight.

People and zombies ultimately weren’t the same.

Thinking it through, Gao Yuan recalled how Xiang Weiguo had taught him to fight. But the more he thought, it seemed he only knew how to deal with zombies. Facing such smart human opponents who had intellect was a different story and not an easy task.

But it didn’t matter. Gao Yuan grabbed a hand grenade, pulled the pin, and then he suddenly stood up, quickly throwing the grenade in his hand.

Gao Yuan could throw a grenade to a distance of about one kilometer, which was superhuman strength that ordinary people couldn’t achieve. He could also hit a wild chicken’s head accurately with a grenade from fifty meters away, the result of natural talent and training.

But how much strength was needed to throw a grenade five hundred meters?

Gao Yuan didn’t know, since he had neither the opportunity nor the place to practice and figure that out.

Being able to throw a kilometer and accurately throwing to a distance of five hundred meters were two different concepts. If one needed to hit a precise point at that five hundred-meter distance, that was yet another concept.

After throwing the grenade, Gao Yuan watched as it exploded far away, causing smoke and dust. He knew this throw had been too far.

No matter, he’d throw another one.

The grenade once again soared high into the sky, landed, and exploded.

It seemed still a bit too far, so he threw another.

Gao Yuan knew it wasn’t the time for trial and error, but he had no other choice. Besides feeling his way through throwing grenades, he couldn’t do anything else. It wasn’t like he could really charge at the enemy and use an ax.

This time, the grenade was thrown too close.

Getting the strength right was tricky with the distance fluctuating. Frustrated and anxious, Gao Yuan used too much force again on the fourth grenade.

Gao Yuan was still annoyed, but Panxin and Li Jingang, who were pinned down and couldn’t lift their heads due to the suppressing fire, nearly popped their eyeballs out in astonishment.

The sound and power of the grenade explosion were too familiar to them, so they knew immediately what it was, and then realized it must have been Gao Yuan throwing it.

This distance, being able to throw a grenade that far, wasn’t the work of a normal person.

Panxin and Li Jingang were amazed, but the enemies who were exchanging fire with them nearly got scared to death.

They were experts, who didn’t recognize a grenade? But how did the grenade get there?

They didn’t know, couldn’t figure it out, it just didn’t make sense.

Li Jingang lay on the ground, not firing anymore, and urgently spoke into the radio, "Nemesis! Hit the machine gunner with the grenade. You’re throwing it too far ahead, no, too far back... I mean, closer to you. To your left a bit, that’s where the enemy machine gunner is. We’re pinned down and can’t get up. Blow him up for me!"

Gao Yuan took a breath, retrieved the seventh grenade, thought for a moment, felt the weight, then stood up, and without a run-up, threw the grenade with all his might.

The grenade swiftly flew, tipping downward, and upon contact, the fuse was triggered, and it exploded.

With a boom, it was right at the spot Li Jingang had directed, where someone had been using a PKM machine gun to suppress Li Jingang so he couldn’t lift his head.

The grenade appeared to have landed near the machine gunner, but Li Jingang was too far from the machine gun to know for certain if the enemy machine gunner had been killed by the blast.

While everyone was in doubt, Li Jingang cautiously lifted his head and aimed his gun at the machine gunner’s position, but this time, unlike before, he was not immediately met with a barrage of bullets in return.

"Damn, did I actually blow him up?"

It was hard to believe, but it seemed he had no choice but to accept it.

Panxin spoke urgently, "Quick, take out the guy in front of me... Damn, how can I guide this?"

An enemy burst out from the ground, carrying a rocket launcher, but before it could be fired, Panxin, who was quick and nimble, shot a burst that killed the shooter where he stood before he could launch.

Both Li Jingang and Panxin were skilled marksmen; a distance of two hundred meters was very close for them, so ensuring a one-shot kill was no problem at all. The issue was they were being suppressed by enemy fire leaving them no chance to shoot.

Now Gao Yuan had resolved the situation with one grenade, eliminating a machine gunner. It might seem like just one less machine gun on the battlefield, which shouldn’t make much of a difference.

But in reality, for Panxin and Li Jingang, who had been pinned down by enemy fire, the disappearance of one machine gun, even though the enemy still had over a dozen riflemen suppressing them, felt entirely different.

It was like diving into icy water during winter swimming and accidentally ending up under the ice cover, on the verge of suffocation, someone breaks an air hole above your head. Although you’re still in the water, you can stick your head out for air.

At this moment, Li Jingang and Panxin were like winter swimmers, and of course, Gao Yuan was the one who had broken open that hold in the ice.