It seemed that it was not Song Heping's time to die.
Just as he was struggling to think of a way to escape, the cavalry arrived.
Boom boom boom—
Boom boom boom—
With a burst of intense, thunderous heavy machine gun fire.
Song Heping was startled at first, but upon listening closely, it was not the sound of the Soviet-made weapons used by the enemy, but the distinctive sound of an M2HB heavy machine gun.
He cautiously peered in the direction of the enemy from beneath the vehicle, and saw they were thrown into complete disarray.
A Humvee appeared behind the enemy's attack line, throwing their formation into great chaos.
"Samir!"
Song Heping faintly recognized the man.
Samir's big beard and that bald head shone like a giant light bulb under the moonlight.
His appearance caught the militants off guard, and being outflanked meant an indulgent slaughter.
Samir, controlling the machine gun mounted on the vehicle's roof, first unleashed a torrent of fire on two armed pickups, directly tearing the people on the pickups into pieces.
All of the enemy's attention was focused on Song Heping and his group upfront, not expecting an attack from behind, which left their backs exposed to Samir.
This made Samir ecstatic, like a hunter who had suddenly stumbled upon a nest of rabbits, and the militants immediately became a panicked mess.
Once morale collapsed, the unity of the men dissipated.
No one bothered to attack the men from the "Musician" Mercenary Group; everyone turned tail and ran.
Some, in their panic, even jumped into a swamp beside the highway, getting stuck in the mud, only able to scream for help.
What had been a one-sided battlefield situation instantly reversed into a unilateral massacre.
Song Heping thought that all the ISF people had run off.
To his surprise, they reappeared suddenly.
This was indeed a timely rescue!
Capitalizing on the enemy's chaos, Song Heping immediately began to fire back rapidly.
The MK18 assault rifle in his hands was truly handy, with its smaller recoil compared to the AKM—it was pinpoint accurate.
In less than five minutes, the entire highway had quieted down.
Song Heping and the others, guns ready, began to move cautiously along the highway toward Samir.
Along the road, there were corpses of militants everywhere.
Song Heping shot any that were still breathing.
"Don't... don't kill... don't kill me..."
A middle-aged man lay on the ground, his gun thrown to the side.
He had been hit in the lower left abdomen by a 12.7 caliber bullet, which had gone straight through, leaving a large hole, and his insides were a mess, blood pooled on the ground.
Whether from pain or fear, he kept shaking his head and waving his hands, trying to plead with Song Heping to spare him.
Grey Wolf walked up beside him, glanced at the half-dead guy on the ground, and said in a low voice, "Want to cure your PTSD? Stare at him, look him in the eye, and then kill him."
After speaking, he turned his gun toward another enemy a few meters away who was still wailing and fired another shot.
The bullet accurately penetrated the man's forehead, shredding his brain and nerves, and the poor guy died instantly, without even a twitch.
Grey Wolf said nothing more and continued to move forward to clear the battlefield.
Song Heping looked at the man in front of him.
He saw the fear in his eyes.
As a human, Song Heping had compassion.
However, as combatants on opposing sides, Song Heping knew he should shoot and kill the man.
This was what his training had taught him.
He always kept the principles of combat in his heart.
Do not show mercy on the battlefield, do not pity the enemy, those who should be sent off must be sent off, because you never know if the enemy will use their last breath to suddenly draw a pistol and send you off...
Pff—
The sound emitted by the MK18 carbine with a silencer installed was surprisingly pleasant to the ear, a delight, yet it was the Grim Reaper's scythe.
"Damn it! Pack up and let's go! Don't linger here!"
It was the Cook's shout that interrupted Song Heping's train of thought.
When Song Heping got back into the vehicle, he felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
The Lincoln was a wreck.
Riddled with bullet holes after a bout with a heavy machine gun.
The B7 level armored car was no different from a regular vehicle at this point, and Song Heping doubted whether it could even start.
But it started.
It seemed the quality was good after all, expensive for a reason.
The Cook was calling everyone on the channel to hurry up and withdraw, to leave via the western highway.
But Samir quickly stopped them.
"The west exit isn't safe; there are many loyal to Saddam's former government army there. Don't go that way."
"What about the east side then?"
"The east exit won't work either; just now Faisal and his men tried to leave via the eastern highway and encountered an attack."
Faisal was the commander of the ISF escort platoon.
As soon as he mentioned him, Song Heping couldn't help but ask, "What about Faisal? Why isn't he with you?"
"They…"
Samir hesitated for a moment before revealing the truth.
"They tried to escape. After being ambushed on the east side, they turned west, and I heard over the radio that they were ambushed there as well. Now there is no contact, and it's likely more bad news than good... We came straight here to join you after we were ambushed, so we didn't go with them."
"Why didn't I hear about them being attacked on the channel?"
The Cook was quite puzzled.
Samir's tone dropped a few notches, "We have a backup channel... different from yours…"
Song Heping was stunned.
The Cook cursed again.
They'd deliberately set a backup channel; it was clear from the start that Faisal had his own scheming.
Apparently, they had been planning to run away in a secret agreement if things went south, not planning to fight to the death with him.
Yet, this plan was as unexpected as it was not.
All the forces under the Illigo Interim Government were fostered and established with the help of the US Army, with a complicated mix of personnel, all with their own agendas, much like the puppet armies of the past. These forces might be well-equipped, but their will to fight was definitively negative, and even weaker than the capabilities of civilian organizations like the PMU.
For an army, weapons can be bought or begged for, but combat will and cohesion cannot be enhanced with just equipment and arms.
"Can't leave from the east, can't leave from the west." The Cook was getting agitated, "Staying in the town will probably get us caught soon. Are we going to be trapped here?"
Song Heping said, "Don't rush, Cook. I think the US Army's reinforcement troops will be here soon. Let's find a place to hide first. Probably in an hour or two, Victory Camp stationed near Haditha will arrive. Mr. J's men will have to withdraw, or they'll get killed too."
The Cook thought it over and realized it was indeed the case.
He had already reported the situation here to Black Water Headquarters, and besides dispatching other mercenary corps from the company to come to the rescue, they would likely coordinate with the coalition command to ask for military support.
Even if Black Water didn't contact the coalition forces, the people shooting from the shadows would reach out to the US Army for help, or they would be in trouble too.
"Damn, you're right; let's find a place nearby to hide out and wait for rescue," agreed the Cook.
"I know a good spot that can be used as a temporary hideout."
At the crucial moment, Samir once again proved his advantage as a local.
"There is an abandoned refinery about seven kilometers from here; we can go there. The factory area is deserted, and the buildings are very solid. Even if we are found, we can hold out for a while."
"Alright! Let's head there!"
The Cook made the decision swiftly.
The group immediately changed course and rushed to the refinery as fast as they could.