Chapter 52: Desert Eagle (Part 1)

After fighting for twenty days in the dense mountains and forests, Zhanxiage and Zhao Haiping finally emerged from this green battlefield, exposing their figures completely to the vast, boundless sky. At this time, they had already been given a nickname by the world media that did not represent military merit, but was undisputed and widely deserved...... Tiger of the Jungle!
They are two fierce tigers covered in wounds and carrying the pungent smell of gunpowder, returning to the mortal world!
Finding a pool, Zhanxiage crouched down and drew the tiger-tooth combat knife that had accompanied him through more than forty days of brutal battles, having pierced countless enemies' bodies.
Zhan Xiage's face was first wet with pool water, then the water washed away the blood from the saber. The blood had completely solidified on the blade. He had to take a small whetstone from its case and slowly grind away the blood clots on the saber. Amid the faint sound of sharpening and the sound of the tiger-tooth combat knife being washed in the water, a faint red gradually rose in the pool.
Holding the cool Tiger Fang combat knife of Tan Shui against his face, he felt the unique sharpness of this deadly war weapon. Even Zhan Xiaoge couldn't help but shiver. Amid the faint sound of the blade cutting through his beard, the Zhan Xia Ge had accumulated over forty days, causing Hu Shun, who was barely able to eat, to gradually fall away.
Staring at the man in the pool, whose face was as tough as marble carved and made one's heart tremble, Zhanxiage was momentarily lost in thought.
In those deep eye sockets, perhaps from lack of rest, or from seeing too much blood, were a pair of eyes that were eerily red and fiery red. On his right cheek, there was a three-inch-long scratch caused by shrapnel. Zhan Xiage's right fingers slowly brushed over the wound, sending a faint stabbing pain. During the relentless battle, the wound on his face kept healing and breaking apart. Now, fine blood streaks oozed from the wound on his face. Sometimes he couldn't help but wonder if this wound would never heal, always needing to release a bit of the blood from his body at any moment?!
But for some reason, this scar seemed like a master-level painter's brilliant finishing touch, suddenly giving Zhanxiage a rugged yet aggressive masculine charm. At the same time, what rose from Zhanxia Ge's face was a calmness and calm accumulated from the battlefield, but beneath the surface calm, his eyes, his skin, his hair, every cell in his body contained a terrifying battle flame hidden yet unspoken. Even after glancing at it a few more times, Zhanxiage felt as if his eyes were being pierced by steel needles—the pain was intense!
Zhan Xiagege rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a tube of camouflage paint he had found on the veteran. He slowly applied it to his face until the deep green paint covered his face so thoroughly that his original appearance was no longer visible. Only then did Zhan Xiagege nod in satisfaction.
"Take a good look at yourself." At this moment, Zhan Xiagege had no idea that he and Zhao Haiping, master and disciple, had become the focus of global media attention. He tossed the disguised paint paint to Zhao Haiping and said, "It's not easy to find water up ahead." ”
Beneath their feet, they could already see scattered yellow sands. Looking into the distance, after a stretch of green and yellow blending, less than ten kilometers ahead of them lay a vast, endless stretch of golden desert. The sun generously poured its light and heat onto this land covered in yellow sand. From Zhanxiage and the others' position, it was clear that the air in that golden world was constantly twisting and changing due to the heat of the surface, creating a beauty and eerie that words could hardly describe.
The great desert is warning everyone who tries to cross and conquer it in its own way: when you reach my territory, you'd better be careful! Although this desert is not as grand as China's so-called life-dead Gobi Desert, in the memories of the war heroes, the desert marked on the map is definitely a hellish space that would deter humanity from entering, the least suitable place for human survival.
Moreover, this desert not only features sand dune deserts but also some areas with salt marsh terrain and deep-fissure terrains known as "dry mountains." Before truly entering the desert core, they must conquer a stretch of mountain desert. Stepping into such a complex and ever-changing desert, one careless move could easily swallow you up and become a stark white bone floating in the yellow sand.
Now, September, the sun's hottest season, has just passed, but the sun in the desert remains fiercely fierce. If the Song of the Battle Hero remembers correctly, even in October, the average temperature in this desert still reaches 43 degrees Celsius. As for the temperature of sand grains and rock surfaces, theoretically, if they are 17 to 22 degrees Celsius higher than the atmospheric temperature, then the average surface temperature of this vast desert during the day can reach 60 degrees Celsius.
If you bury an egg in the sand at noon, after twenty minutes, you can dig out a cooked egg from the sand. Of course, there's an even more interesting method: you can place a steel plate under the sun, and when it matches the temperature of the desert surface, you can fry fried eggs directly on top.
Zhao Haiping nodded and, imitating Zhanxiage's manner, squatted by the pool and used his military knife to slowly cut off his beard, which was even thicker than Zhanxiage's. He carefully raised his head to avoid the sharp blade in his throat.
"Master, we need to draw the enemy's attention and continue guerrilla warfare in the jungle. Why do we have to cross this desert?" If we get caught by helicopters in the desert and then they fire down from above with heavy machine guns, we might not even be able to find hiding spots! ”
Instead of answering, Zhanxiage asked, "Tell me, what do you think about those enemies who have been chasing us all along?" ”
"They've gotten stronger!" Zhao Haiping pondered and replied, "They've been chasing us for twenty whole days. Now, these pursuit units, made up of members from three different factions, have gradually developed team chemistry through constant fighting." Moreover, they have adapted to our guerrilla tactical style, making it increasingly difficult to face them. ”
"Yes, we only have two guns, but they have two hundred. More importantly, those who have been pursuing us all the way are veterans with extensive combat experience. Now, as soon as we fired, the 7th or 8th Platoon would fire at us with light machine guns without regard to the minute. Plus, their veterans skilled in jungle assault and those four or five skilled snipers combined the two, facing this three-dimensional attack combining points, lines, and terrain, the two of us could only turn and run. If we continue fighting a force familiar with our combat style, whose numbers are more than a hundred times ours, and supported by helicopters, in the jungle, being able to hold out for another three days would already be a miracle. ”
Hearing the analysis of the war hero, Zhao Haiping was speechless.
They were being deliberately pushed into a desperate situation bit by bit by the enemy. Now, they had only two choices: either trek into the desert without any supplies, or simply return to the jungle and outmaneuver the enemy for as long as possible.
At that moment, Zhanxiage suddenly smiled. Meeting Zhao Haiping's strange gaze, he said, "It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered some interesting things that happened on the desert terrain training ground." If friends who have been following us closely for twenty days will also follow us into the desert, I don't mind letting those friends share our desert humor. ”
And so, Zhanxiage and Zhao Haiping carried all the containers they carried that could hold water, along with enough food and heavy weapons and ammunition for five days, and walked into the desert before them.
When they climbed over a small sand dune and looked into the distance, there was no trace of green left—only the pure golden hue of the desert and the lonely gray-black rocks standing atop the dune. A fierce wind sweeps across the desert, carrying clouds of yellow sand, and what blows in is the desert's unique scorching and dry air.
Facing this vast, boundless desert, so vast it makes one's heart uneasy, Zhao Haiping paused slightly. Zhanxiage glanced at Zhao Haiping and said, "Are you afraid?" ”
"Scared!"
Zhao Haiping replied honestly, "This is my first time truly stepping into the desert. Just thinking that the clear water we carry can only last three days gives me chills." I'd rather be turned into a hornet's nest by a heavy machine gun on the battlefield than be dried and roasted bit by bit under the blazing sun in the desert. But I am willing to trust Master! ”
Zhao Haiping imitated the style of the war hero, pulled out a piece of cloth from his backpack, and wrapped it tightly around his head. Zhan Xiage's eyes shifted. He quickly ran to a corner and dug out a long, flat, dark brown glass bottle from the gravel. Maybe someone had once had a desert dinner here. Zhan Xiage's hands crawled quickly across the beach, and he actually dug out two plastic bottles for mineral water and a plastic bag with holes in it. The Warrior Singer clutched a half-gnawed barley bread that had been casually tossed aside, buried in the sand for an unknown length of time. It had become as hard as a stone, even dirtier than the stone, and had been chewed by ants with twenty or thirty small holes. He frowned and stared at it for a while, then tossed it at his feet. But within ten seconds, Zhanxiage bent down again, picked it up again, and carefully put it back into his backpack.
Zhanxiage used the sharp edge of his tiger-tooth combat army saber to repeatedly scrape the smooth surface of the glass bottle, until several deep oval marks were carved into it. Only then did he use the handle to carefully break the glass bottle, working for a full half hour. In his hand, four oval-shaped dark brown glass shards appeared.
Zhanxiage then used the tiger-tooth combat saber to cut a plastic bottle into a thin strip. Seeing this, Zhao Haiping almost cried out in shock. If they turned back now and filled the two plastic bottles with clean water, at least it would help them improve their chances of survival. Zhan Xiagege used a lighter to repeatedly grill the hard plastic cut into long strips. When they softened, he carefully wrapped the plastic around the edges of four oval glass shards. Then he took out his sewing kit and a piece of canvas. In just a few minutes, two rough but absolutely practical "sunglasses" were formed in his hands.
Zhanxiage tossed one of the "black mirrors" to Zhao Haiping, saying, "In the desert, you can also develop symptoms similar to 'snow blindness.' If we encounter the desert, we need to use these things to protect our eyes." ”
Zhao Haiping tightly tied the canvas "sunglasses" around his head. Right in front of him, Zhan Xiaoge wrapped a piece of cloth around his neck, then wrapped two smaller cotton cloths around his wrists until he was wrapped up like a zongzi. After carefully checking Zhao Haiping as well, Zhan Xiaoge said softly, "It's best to move at night in the desert to avoid the heat, but now we have to keep moving inward." The reason that helicopter dares to swagger over our heads every day is because they rely on the mountains and dense forests as cover, unafraid of Russian air force attacks. As long as we can reach the core of the desert within 100 kilometers, it won't dare to pursue further or provide the necessary supplies for ground forces to survive in the desert. Remember, from this point on, it's best to keep your mouth tightly shut and try to conserve every drop of water in your body. Even if we have to fall, we must wear down all those bastards behind us in the desert. Only then will we have the right to face death! ”
Looking at Zhanxiage's lonely yet proud back, which seemed to never bend, Zhao Haiping suddenly understood that Zhanxiage did not choose to run away; he chose an unconventional, even more brutal battle!
This kind of battle requires no firearms, no shooting, or sniping. Whoever survives in the harshest environment without supplies will be the true victor!
Zhanxiage and Zhao Haiping had to move forward, because over two hundred soldiers with rich combat experience were closely following behind them; The allied forces formed by Chechen rebels, Afghan guerrillas, and the "Assassin Organization" must move forward because they cannot afford to lose face. They must display the war hero song and Zhao Haiping's corpse before the world media, or else they will never even think about making a name for themselves in the future!