After letting Young Lu take the two kids to a relatively safe area, Qu Sen and the other two carefully crept towards the tool room. At this time, the faint sound of gunfire could be heard from the Tea Mountain.
"Booby trap!" The three of them had just reached the edge of the forest when Mao Shuai suddenly stopped.
"Be careful, chain mines," Wutu warned before Qu Sen even saw the booby trap that Mao Shuai had mentioned.
Although Wutu looked big and dark, his EOD score was definitely one of the best in the special forces. As soon as he warned, Qu Sen didn't dare to move at all. He watched as Wutu crouched down and carefully ran his finger about ten centimeters above the ground.
Qu Sen then saw that there was an extremely thin fishing line on the ground.
He looked at Mao Shuai on the other side, who was also running his finger along the same fishing line until he reached a bush of broad-leaved plants on the left. He raised his hand and gently lifted a leaf, revealing a small grenade that was only twice the size of an essential balm bottle.
Qu Sen didn't dare to move at all. He simply crouched down carefully and watched Wutu and Mao Shuai's movements. He watched as the two of them found four small booby traps in a few square meters around them.
"Damn, no wonder those bastards didn't put up any sentries behind them," Qu Sen muttered after Wutu made a hand gesture to indicate that there was no danger.
"This is a common tactic used by mercenary teams. They can't spare too many people to be on guard, so they set up booby traps in blind spots and places where it's easy to be ambushed," Mao Shuai explained.
"Team Qu, two mercenaries have already retreated to the foot of the mountain and are using strong firepower to stop the enemy. Three people halfway up the mountain went down to support them. Looks like they're waiting for their other two companions, "Liu Zi's voice sounded in the earpiece.
"Roger, continue to observe!" Qu Sen replied. Mao Shuai lowered his voice and said, "I'll go over and see the situation in the room first."
"Be careful!" Qu Sen agreed and signaled for Wutu to set up a machine gun position and be ready to support at any time.
The sniper on the roof of the tool room was completely focused on the battlefield. Mao Shuai successfully found his way to the back window of the tool room. After carefully observing the situation in the room, he turned around and gestured to Qu Sen, indicating that there was no one in the room.
Qu Sen had Wu Tu continue to cover for him. Bending down, he quickly ran to Mao Shuai's side and peeked into the room.
The room was a little messy. The shelves had all been moved to the east side and were piled up against the wall. The little girl who had saved him said that the entrance to the basement in the tool room was on the east side.
Mao Shuai raised his hand and gently scratched the window sash. The window immediately opened a small gap. He carefully checked the gap and opened the window after confirming that it was safe.
Qu Sen stepped on the windowsill. His mind was tense, and he didn't dare to jump down directly. He first looked at the hard ground to make sure it was safe before he carefully entered the house.
The ground on the east side of the room was completely covered by shelves. Qu Sen stuck his head into the gap and shouted in a low voice, "Is there anyone down there?"
There were faint cries of surprise, and from the sound of it, there were quite a few people.
"Don't panic, we're from Zhong Guojun." Qu Sen was overjoyed.
"You're from China?" A woman's voice came through the gap in the floor.
"Yes, are you from the rescue team?" Qu Sen asked in a low voice.
"Yes, we are!"
"Yes!"
"Hurry and save us …"
Several voices responded at the same time. One of the female voices was already sobbing.
"The enemy is not far from here. Keep quiet. We're going to clear the passage now! " Qu Sen hurriedly comforted the people below while he and Mao Shuai quietly cleaned up the debris and shelves on the ground.
At this time, another group of mercenaries who were being chased by the drug armed forces had also retreated to the foot of the mountain. After a brief standoff with the five people who had set up a defensive line at the foot of the mountain, they began to cover each other as they retreated to the tea field halfway up the mountain.
Qu Sen and Mao Shuai knew that the mercenaries would retreat to the top of the mountain soon. They anxiously sped up their cleaning.
When the two of them worked together to lift the slanted shelf, a piece of wood on the shelf suddenly slipped and fell into the pile of debris. Although it wasn't loud, it was loud enough to alert the sniper on the roof.
Then, the sound of an M24 could be faintly heard.
"Captain, the sniper on the roof has been killed!" Xiao Zhuangzhuang's voice sounded in the earpiece.
"Roger that. Wutu, set up a machine gun position on the right side of the tool room. If the enemy retreats to us, work with the sniper team to stop them." Qu Sen pressed the button to give the order.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
— —
The mercenaries were still at the tea field halfway up the mountain. The sniper on the roof had already been eliminated. Qu Sen and Mao Shuai no longer had any scruples and sped up their cleaning.
After a few minutes, they worked together to pull away the corner iron shelf that was originally standing on the east side of the room. After a simple cleaning of the floor, the entrance to the basement that was locked up by wooden boards was revealed.
As the wooden boards were pulled away, there was a muffled and frightened noise coming from below.
"Don't panic!" Qu Sen was afraid that the people below had weapons and would accidentally fire in their nervousness, so he quickly calmed them down. After the frightened noise subsided, he poked his head inside to take a look. With one look, he instantly had a headache.
In the small space below, there were people crouching densely. After a rough scan, it was clear that there were no less than 30 people, maybe even 40 people.
However, now was not the time to delve into this. Qu Sen gestured for the people inside to come out and pressed the button to talk. "Young Deer, Six, go to the back of the tool room immediately and help the people evacuate!"
By the time Young Deer and Six responded, gunshots had already sounded from the direction of the hillside.
Xiao Zhuangzhuang reported, "Team Qu, the mercenaries are using strong firepower to suppress the pursuers. They should be planning to retreat."
"Quick, quick, quick!" Qu Sen saw that the people in the basement were hesitating, so he anxiously urged them. He bent down and took two steps to the front window to observe the situation outside.
In the tea field halfway up the mountain, more than a dozen mercenaries were madly shooting at the foot of the mountain. The armed drug dealers who had already rushed out of the forest left 20 to 30 corpses and wounded people behind. They were forced back by the fierce firepower.
The mercenaries took the opportunity to retreat along the tea field path to the top of the mountain.
"Wutu, Zhuangzhuang, fire 150 meters away and suppress them!" After Qu Sen gave the order, he no longer looked in the direction of the tea field. He turned his head and helped the people in the basement escape through the window with Mao Shuai.
"Boom, boom, boom …" The sound of three rockets exploded one after another. Qu Sen turned his head to look out the window.
The armed drug dealers at the foot of the mountain had discovered that the mercenaries were trying to escape and had launched an attack with RPGs. One to two hundred random soldiers in disheveled clothing and armed with AKs rushed out of the forest and charged toward the tea field.
The mercenaries knew that the bandits, who looked like refugees, were not to be underestimated. Once they were bitten, it would be very difficult to escape. They could only give up on retreating and use strong firepower to suppress them.
"Team Leader, the commander of the mercenaries is calling for snipers to take out the leader of the 'bandits' at the foot of the mountain," Young Deer reported.
"Zhuangzhuang, can you confirm the commander of the mercenaries?" Qu Sen asked.
"Locked on, he's using the radio to call."
"Kill him!"
"Bang!" The sound of an M24 rang out again.
The temporary commander was shot in the head, and the mercenaries who were scattered to block the enemy instantly panicked. Just as they were in a state of shock, Utu's M249 suddenly fired half a round at them.
"It's the armed forces of the government, they've taken over the warehouse!" Someone among the mercenaries who realized that they were under attack shouted.
"Don't panic, they're just warning us, retreat!" Some of the smarter ones who were calmer called out to their companions and began to retreat to the west side of the hill.
With someone taking the lead, the rest of the mercenaries quickly followed while suppressing the bandits at the foot of the mountain. Soon, they ran out of the tea field and into the forest on the west side.
The armed drug dealers quickly rushed into the tea field. Some of them chased toward the west side, while the rest carefully approached the top of the hill.
They did not notice the sound of the sniper's gunfire earlier, but they did notice the sound of the M249 firing. At the same time, they felt very strange and could not figure out who had taken over the top of the hill.
When a small group of armed bandits was about two hundred meters away from the tool shed, two M16s and one M249 opened fire. The concentrated bullets landed in front of the small group of bandits, scaring them so much that they quickly hid behind the tea tree.
Then, a rough voice shouted, "Get out of the way, or we'll bombard you!"
The voice was in the local dialect. The leader of the small group of bandits could not figure out where the other party came from, but he did not dare to answer and expose his position. After instructing his subordinates not to act rashly, he turned around and ran to report to his boss.
The armed drug dealers who were chasing after the mercenaries belonged to two different leaders. They had received news that the mercenaries had ambushed their brothers and robbed them of their loot.
Therefore, the general had ordered them to get rid of these "traitors" who had been hired with money. His subordinates were very willing to do this kind of work.
A mercenary's equipment was very good, and they could increase their strength by getting their hands on it. Another point was that when mercenaries were out on missions, they would always bring a considerable amount of money with them.
Although the majority of the money would have to be handed over to the higher-ups, they would still be able to get a piece of the pie.
After receiving the report from their subordinates, the two leaders, like the previous mercenaries, thought that the group that had taken over the top of the hill was armed forces of the government.
They could not figure out how many people the other party had. Moreover, the other party had only fired shots to intimidate them and had not really hurt their subordinates.
The two leaders looked at each other and ordered their subordinates, "Ignore the people on the top of the hill, continue to chase after the 'traitors'!"
Seeing that the two hundred bandits had given up on the top of the hill and were chasing after the mercenaries, Qu Sen and the rest of the team finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Let them fight each other, let's retreat!" Qu Sen called out to Mao Shuai and Wutu, then jumped out of the back window and ran toward the gathering point in the forest behind the hill.
After the team had gathered again, Qu Sen looked at the forty-odd people in front of him and scratched his head. Xiaolu and Liu Zi had already asked around and found out that only nine of these people were on their side. Other than the two members of the Japanese medical aid team, the rest were all local tea farmers.
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