Movie: Get Alpha Dog at the start

Chapter 1265 Different ways do not work together

Heiwa's roar was like a spark thrown into an oil drum, instantly igniting the entire narrow mountain valley!

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!" Before Heiwa could finish speaking, the members of the security regiment, who were lying in ambush on the earthen cliff and the high ground of the pass, could no longer contain their anger. They suddenly stood up and, with all their might, hurled the uncapped, lit grenades in their hands at the grain requisition team that was crowded together in the middle of the road below!

It wasn't just a few scattered grenades; it was a deadly rain of steel and fire! The entire security force hated these beasts who were ravaging the countryside to the core, especially since Qin Hao had given a strict order beforehand: don't conserve ammunition, go all out, and finish this quickly! In an instant, dozens, even hundreds, of dark grenades, tracing deadly arcs, densely covered the dumbfounded grain requisition team.

The road below instantly became a living hell!

"My God—!" For the first time, extreme fear appeared in Platoon Leader Wu's triangular eyes. He screamed and tried to find cover, but the crowded ranks and narrow terrain offered nowhere to hide. "Boom—!" The first wave of grenades exploded almost simultaneously! The scorching flames instantly engulfed the central area of ​​the road, and the huge shockwave tore people apart like rag dolls.

Countless severed limbs and debris, along with dirt and rubble, were violently ejected in all directions. Screams, cries, and desperate curses were mercilessly drowned out by the even more violent explosions.

This is not over yet!

"Click! Boom!" "Whoosh—Clang!"

The grenades kept coming! The group members on the cliff were blinded by rage. Before the first round of explosions had even finished, the second and third rounds of grenades poured down with a whooshing sound!

Explosions erupted one after another, the smoke was so thick it was impossible to breathe, and the pungent smell of gunpowder mingled with the nauseating stench of burnt blood.

The soldiers of the grain requisition team were completely stunned and lost all organization and command.

Some people tried to blindly fire their guns at the fire, but the bullets flew wildly, hitting the earthen cliff in vain, splashing mud and dust, and were instantly drowned out by the more violent explosions.

Many more were knocked down by the shockwave in terror, their throats slit by flying shrapnel, their arms broken, their chests blown open... Blood, like cheap paint, splattered on the gray-yellow road, quickly gathering into viscous streams.

Those who were lucky enough to survive the first wave of attacks were mostly left bleeding from their ears and noses, collapsed on the ground, and were then killed by subsequent shrapnel.

The frenzied saturation grenade bombardment gradually subsided in less than five minutes.

As the smoke slowly dissipated, it revealed a scene of carnage below, resembling a slaughterhouse: thick smoke billowed everywhere, charred craters, twisted and smoking fragments of corpses, broken gun parts, and blood-stained strips of military uniforms.

The heavy stench of blood and gunpowder was almost suffocating. The remaining thirty-odd Zhen Song soldiers were utterly terrified. Almost all of them were wounded. They lay paralyzed in pools of blood, huddled beside piles of corpses, their eyes vacant. Some even lost control of their bladder and bowels, emitting nervous whimpers. Their guns had long since been lost.

"Charge! Capture them alive! Don't let a single one escape!"

At Heiwa's command, he was the first to jump off the cliff. The militiamen of the security regiment roared and rushed down from all directions, their gleaming bayonets flashing coldly, and their dark gun barrels pointed at the still breathing Zhen Song soldiers.

"Surrender! Surrender!"

"Hero, spare my life!"

"Don't kill me! I still have an elderly mother at home..."

The remaining soldiers of the Zhen Song Army had no will to resist. Seeing the security regiment rushing towards them like wolves and tigers, they dropped their weapons, covered their heads, knelt down, and begged for mercy with tears streaming down their faces.

However, victory is always accompanied by the price of blood.

When the smoke cleared, the security team members who were tallying up their spoils showed little joy.

"Report...Report to the commander!" A young regimental commander's voice choked with emotion: "We killed or wounded forty-one Zhen Song soldiers, captured forty...We...we lost twelve brothers, and nine...nine died in battle..."

Qin Hao looked at the nine bodies covered with white sheets on the ground, then at the wounded soldiers who were simply bandaged and groaning in pain. He pursed his lips tightly, his fists clenched until his knuckles turned white. This is the battlefield, this is war! Even with overwhelming firepower, even with a brilliant ambush, the shadow of death still looms over both sides equally.

The simple, honest farmers of Bailuyuan defended their homeland and their crops with their own blood and flesh, at a terrible cost.

With the battle over, the immediate priority was cleaning up the battlefield. The pungent smell of blood had already attracted swarms of flies.

"Heiwa, take some men and...pile all the corpses over at the valley entrance. Find some firewood, pour kerosene on them, and burn them! The weather's getting warmer, and if the plague breaks out, the entire Bailu Plain will be in trouble! We need to be quick!"

The militiamen, enduring the pungent odor and the urge to vomit, silently carried the mutilated corpse to the designated location and doused it with kerosene. Thick smoke and flames shot into the sky, mixed with the strange smell of charred flesh, lingering in the valley for a long time.

Forty new prisoners, including Platoon Leader Wu, whose arm was injured and whose crotch was soaked, were blindfolded and gagged, just like Platoon Leader Yang, and forcibly taken back to the secret cave where the first batch of prisoners were held.

Inside the cave dwelling, Platoon Leader Yang and his dozen or so men were idly counting the patterns on the wall.

When they heard the noisy footsteps, suppressed curses and cries outside, and smelled a strong stench of fresh blood and gunpowder, they all stood up in terror and crowded around the small window by the door to see clearly.

The door was suddenly pulled open, and squads of Zhen Song Army soldiers, covered in dust, disheveled, and mostly wounded, were roughly pushed in, instantly making the already narrow cave dwelling even more crowded and the air extremely murky.

"Old Yang?! It's you, you son of a bitch, you're still alive?" Platoon Leader Wu's black cloth was ripped off, and he immediately recognized his old acquaintance, Platoon Leader Yang, in the corner.

Platoon Leader Yang said irritably, "Get lost. You're disappointed I didn't die, aren't you? Don't even think about getting away with the ten silver dollars you owe me."

Platoon Leader Wu smiled bitterly: "What time is it now, and you're still thinking about gambling debts? It's uncertain whether we'll even make it back alive."

"How did you all get into this mess?" Platoon Leader Yang asked in confusion. In his opinion, he had been tricked and captured. If he hadn't drunk so much, he wouldn't have been captured so easily.

Platoon Leader Wu's eyes were filled with terror: "I led two platoons to Xiagou Village to requisition grain... those damned security regiments suddenly appeared on both sides of the ravine! Those grenades... they were raining down like hail, without restraint! I saw Platoon Leader Liu blown into several pieces right before my eyes, his intestines..."

Looking at Platoon Leader Wu, who used to be arrogant in front of him but now trembled like a stray dog, and then at the group of new prisoners who were equally terrified and crying for their parents, Platoon Leader Yang felt no schadenfreude. Instead, he felt a chill run down his spine and an indescribable sense of relief. His back was cold, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his back.

'Thank goodness! Thank goodness I didn't harbor any illusions about resisting or running away!'

Platoon Leader Yang was filled with lingering fear. According to Platoon Leader Wu's description, this security regiment entrenched in Bailu Plain was no ordinary militia; it was a well-equipped, ruthless, and tightly organized elite force!

Just as a silent drama of fear and relief was unfolding inside the cave dwelling, Qin Hao had already rushed to Xiagou Village.

As he expected, a tense and bewildered atmosphere permeated the village. Although the security regiment had once again brilliantly wiped out the grain requisition team, the villagers could not laugh as they looked at the billowing black smoke rising from the burning corpses on the distant hilltop, listened to the cries of the wounded, and thought of the heavy casualties suffered by the security regiment.

More than anything, there was fear—a deep fear of the brutal retaliation that the Zhen Song Army would retaliate against.

Chief Zhang approached Qin Hao, his voice trembling violently: "Commander Bai... Commander Bai, you've killed so many Zhen Song soldiers, what should we do next?"

Without any hesitation, Qin Hao said decisively, "Withdraw! The entire Xiagou Village, men, women, and children, now! Immediately! Take your essentials and evacuate to Bailu Village! I will have someone clear a space for you and build some temporary shelters!"

He knew all too well that the Zhen Song Army, which came from bandit backgrounds, especially that blind Liu, were absolutely capable of committing the heinous act of massacring a village to vent their anger after suffering such a great loss.

"Withdraw? Commander Bai, this... this is the foundation built up over generations!"

Several clan elders approached, their eyes filled with reluctance and resistance.

"So many houses, so many crops in the fields..."

"Yeah, are we supposed to hide in the mountains and starve? What about our belongings at home?"

"Those soldiers wouldn't be that ruthless, would they? Burning down the village?"

The villagers were all talking at once, their reluctance to leave their homeland and their unrealistic wishful thinking spreading.

Qin Hao's voice suddenly rose: "Look at that! Those are dozens of lives! And this is just the beginning! What do you think we're facing? Reasonable soldiers? No! They're a bunch of desperate bandits! Murder, arson, massacres of villages, and annihilation of entire families are commonplace for them!"

"Auntie! As long as we're alive, we can always find another way! They've prepared a place for us in Bailu Village, with food and lodging provided. The security team is risking their lives to protect us, so we can't just throw our lives away!"

"Dad! Come on! Pack your things quickly!"

While the villagers were still hesitant, Tuan Yong from Xiagou Village stepped forward and persuaded them one by one.

With the assistance of the security force, the entire population of Xiagou Village, numbering several hundred, including the elderly and children, carrying their meager belongings on their backs and shoulders, silently and hastily surged towards the deeper mountains in the direction of Bailu Village. The village quickly became deserted, deathly silent, leaving only the devastation of the looting and a heavy atmosphere of sorrow.

It wasn't until dawn that Qin Hao and his group returned to Bailu Village; with the elderly and children with them, they couldn't walk very fast.

After settling all the villagers in Xiagou Village, Qin Hao finally had time to go home and rest. When he opened his eyes again, it was already night.

As dusk settled, Qin Hao was eating the oil-splashed noodles made by Leng Qiuyue when a knock came from outside the courtyard.

Leng Qiuyue quickly went to open the door, and soon Lu Zhaopeng came in carrying a wine pot and two small wine cups, with a deliberate smile on his face: "I heard you fought a tough battle last night. You must be tired. Have a couple of drinks to relax?"

Qin Hao rubbed his temples wearily, already guessing Lu Zhaopeng's purpose for coming, but still nodded: "Sit down."

"You guys enjoy your drinks, I'll go get you some snacks to go with them."

After a while, Leng Qiuyue brought over two dishes to accompany the drinks.

Qin Hao said to Leng Qiuyue, "It's getting late, you should take the child to bed first."

"Okay, then drink less."

"Go."

After Leng Qiuyue left, Lu Zhaopeng stopped being polite and got straight to the point, his voice filled with enthusiasm: "Zihan, you fought a brilliant battle today! The firepower and combat effectiveness of the security regiment are now enough to annihilate even regular troops, which shows that your team is already very capable! Xi'an has been besieged for months, and the soldiers and civilians inside the city are fighting bitterly, running out of ammunition and food..."

"Zihan, you have the ability, and you're right under Xi'an's nose! Can you think of a way to organize a force, even just a small elite unit, with some food and medicine, to try and break through the Zhen Song Army's blockade and bring some supplies into the city? Even a little bit would be a lifeline for the comrades in the city! This is related to the lifeline of the entire Northwest GM!"

Qin Hao sighed inwardly. He put down his wine glass, his eyes suddenly becoming incredibly calm.

"cannot!"

Lu Zhaopeng's expression froze instantly, his smile shattered, and his tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction and astonishment: "Why? Zihan! This concerns the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Xi'an! It concerns the overall situation of the GM!"

Qin Hao's voice was unusually calm, yet every word was as firm as iron: "The Zhen Song Army still has at least tens of thousands of troops! Even if we include all the village militia, our security regiment only has a little over four hundred men with guns at most! We won today because we took advantage of an opening, and we fought an ambush in our familiar Bailu Plain, where we were well-rested and ready to fight! This is completely different from going to Xi'an in the open or forcibly breaking through a heavily guarded blockade! You want me to take this small number of men, carrying supplies, to charge Liu the Blind's elite troops? That's not transporting ammunition and supplies, that's sending them to their deaths!"

Disappointment welled up in Lu Zhaopeng's eyes: "Zihan! I really didn't expect you to be such a cold and selfish person! How can the GM only care about the snow in front of his own door? Without the country, where is the home? Xi'an is the banner of the Northwest GM! If the banner falls, the entire Northwest will fall into the quagmire of warlordism! Your temporary peace is nothing but a rootless duckweed! It can be crushed at any time! You...you are short-sighted! You are cowardly!"

“Zhaopeng, I only have one question for you: if Bailuyuan were besieged today, could you persuade them to risk their lives to deliver supplies to us? In that case, you would just brush it off with a flimsy excuse about putting the bigger picture first, but it would be my parents and brothers who would die. Don’t forget, they are your family too!”

Lu Zhaopeng staggered, his face ashen, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal. His eyes were filled with pain, struggle, and a utterly exposed, pathetic look. (End of Chapter)