Ambush Begins

The sun sank below the horizon. After the brilliant red sunset withdrew its light from the sky, night arrived as expected.

After nightfall, the German forces withdrew peacefully from the frontline combat zone as they had in the previous days. Meanwhile, the temporary American combat camp quietly came alive.

More than a hundred young American soldiers had put on their Combat Suits, held American Rifles, and carried military-green backpacks filled with ammunition and supplies as they stood in standard military formation.

Because the five German camps to be attacked were all in different locations, the assembly times for the five units had been staggered. Otherwise, the gathering of several thousand soldiers would surely have filled the temporary camp's open ground.

Fury had gathered the hundred-man unit under his command early and was carefully explaining the precautions for tonight's raid.

"I know some of you are recruits freshly transferred from the Training Base, so prick up your ears and remember everything I just said! Don't drag me down tonight!"

"On the battlefield, anyone who retreats or disobeys orders won't get a warning from a military court. I'll simply and directly put a hole in his forehead!"

As he lectured the soldiers, Fury stood alone before the unit. Gone was the mild manner he had shown at headquarters. His dark face was now stern, and his remaining right eye was as cruel and domineering as a vicious wolf's.

The hundred-odd soldiers fell silent. Among them, a young man standing at the rear of the formation maintained his posture while glancing around slightly, as though searching for someone.

A recruit beside him noticed and quietly reminded him, "George. This isn't the Training Base. Don't get distracted."

"I know," George replied in a lowered voice. "Have you seen Kyle? He was sent to the front lines a few days ago. There's a good chance he's in this temporary combat camp too."

The recruit muttered, "Kyle? Maybe he's already dead. No matter how outstanding his physical abilities and talents were, the Training Base and the battlefield are completely different."

"I hope he's got what it takes to stay alive and see this—the battlefield is where my true talents will shine." George clenched his fists. His physical abilities and talent ranked among the best recruits, yet Kyle had always kept him firmly beneath him at the Training Base.

"Who's there?!"

Fury's voice suddenly rang out, startling George. He quickly snapped back to attention and looked over, only to realize the sergeant had not been speaking to him.

"It's me."

Outside the area illuminated by the lights of the assembly ground, a fit figure emerged from the darkness of the night and approached the formation.

When the newcomer's young, handsome face appeared beneath the lights, many recruits in the hundred-man unit cried out in surprise. Some nearly failed to maintain their military posture.

K-Kyle?

George's eyes widened in disbelief. With his strong pride, how could he possibly forget the young man now standing before everyone?

In just one week, he had left specialized training instructors in awe, broken records for every individual combat event at the Training Base, and set new target scores for pistols, rifles, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers...

Even though Kyle had left for the front lines early, stories about him still circulated throughout the Training Base, with an exaggerated tendency to turn into legend.

Even the normally hot-tempered training instructors often used Kyle as an example when berating recruits.

"Quiet!" Fury raised his voice. His sharp one-eyed gaze swept across the unit, and the scattered noise among the hundred soldiers subsided again.

Kyle had not chosen to carry a military backpack. Instead, a rifle hung from his shoulder, a Nepalese Kukri in a leather sheath rested at his waist, and two compact pistols were holstered at either side of his thighs. He was the most lightly equipped soldier in the unit.

He walked directly to Fury's side and coldly faced the soldiers' gazes.

As the recruits in the unit were still baffled, Fury solemnly introduced him. "This is Corporal Kyle, and he is one of tonight's commanding officers. During tonight's raid, you will obey both of our orders completely. Understood?"

"Understood!" the soldiers answered in unison. Even if they had a hundred times the courage, they would not dare say no.

"Corporal... Kyle?" George had already been stunned upon seeing Kyle. Now that he heard his rank, he could not help lowering his head in shame, afraid Kyle would recognize him.

The recruit who had spoken with George earlier also felt as though he had been slapped across the face. He muttered to himself, "I was wrong. A monster is a monster wherever he goes."

"It's about time to leave, isn't it?" Kyle asked Fury. To master the newly drawn card, he had spent quite some time preparing before arriving at precisely the right moment.

"Yes, it's time to move." Fury lowered his head to check the time displayed on the device in his hand, then waved at the hundred-man unit. "All soldiers, listen up! Follow the military vehicle and jog to the mission site!"

As soon as Fury finished speaking, he and Kyle boarded an idle military vehicle in the clearing. With its excellent off-road capability, the vehicle accelerated rapidly and took the lead out of the combat camp and into the wilderness.

The raid mission did not involve openly crossing the defensive lines. Instead, they avoided enemy detection by making a wide detour through the wilderness before heading toward the mountains and forest beside it.

After reaching the designated location, Fury and Kyle abandoned the military vehicle and led the hundred-man unit up the mountain, making their way through the dense forest under cover of darkness.

Without knowing the precise location of the German camp, such a flanking maneuver would have been pointless. But with intelligence in hand, they could penetrate so deeply into enemy territory.

"Once we cross this hill, we'll be very close to the small transit station camp mentioned in the intelligence. Pass the order back—everyone, stay on alert. If you spot the enemy, don't alert them. Remain quiet and wait for orders."

At the very front of the unit, Kyle spoke coldly. Although it was his first time commanding troops, he carried himself with confidence and authority.

Fury suddenly frowned beside him. "Kyle. Something doesn't feel right."

"Hm?" Kyle looked at him in surprise.

Fury shone the weak light of a small flashlight onto the mission map and said gravely, "Look at the map. After crossing this mountain, we won't be far from the combat zone, but we'll be far too far from the German rear headquarters. This isn't a suitable location for a resource transport station."

"You think the intelligence we received was false?" Kyle frowned as well.

"Hard to say. Let's go farther and take a look. Even if it is false, we can still retreat safely from here." After Fury finished his analysis, the two continued leading the soldiers over the mountaintop.

They crossed mountains and ridges.

When Kyle and Fury, at the front of the formation, pushed aside the bushes blocking their view, the scene below made them both freeze.

Below the slope, a circular wire fence enclosed a hundred-meter stretch of wilderness. Gun emplacements stood every ten meters as wall fortifications, lights burned throughout the fenced area, and large numbers of German soldiers could vaguely be seen patrolling back and forth.

"My God, this is the small transit station camp mentioned in the intelligence?" Fury gaped in shock, unable to say anything more.

"It looks like the intelligence location was correct. It's just that the target camp is... a little different from what we imagined." Kyle remained calm, though he felt an urge to curse.

This could no longer be called a camp. It was the scale and formation of an enemy base!