Screwing Over Dad

If Hyde had simply shouted "The rebels are over there," it wouldn't have been so bad. But he deliberately shouted, "Behind us!" Generally speaking, on the battlefield, having enemies behind you is the most dangerous situation. As a result, everyone hurriedly turned around, but their feet were covered in mud. Although the swamp shoes reduced their pressure and prevented them from easily sinking into the mud, they were not slip-resistant! With such a quick turn, their feet naturally slipped, and a whole bunch of them fell down with a thud.

Under normal circumstances, if so many people fell down, everyone would just laugh it off. But this is a battlefield. When so many people suddenly fall, some of the survivors are bound to be confused, and some of the more clueless ones might think, "My God, so many have been killed at once! We're surrounded!"

Then someone shouted, "We're surrounded! Run!" Then someone took the lead, waddling back like a duck, splashing water and mud everywhere with their big feet. Naturally, a flock of ducks followed suit.

The swamp was incredibly slippery, and naturally, more people slipped and fell. These fallen people were then mistaken by the terrified ducks as having been killed by guerrillas, causing them to run even more desperately.

It's not difficult to figure out that these people just fell down and weren't killed. For one thing, there were no gunshots when they fell. And in this era, silenced firearms didn't exist yet.

However, once a trend takes hold, rationality becomes less effective. For example, in some countries and regions in later generations, due to believing rumors, a trend emerged where everyone rushed to supermarkets to hoard toilet paper. Then, a media host, while debunking the rumors on his program that "hoarding toilet paper is unnecessary," urged his family to quickly buy some. He genuinely didn't believe the rumors, but he also knew that if he didn't join in, his family would soon run out of toilet paper.

The current situation is somewhat similar. Once everyone started running, some of the more astute individuals, like Hyde and O'Kelly, understood what was happening. However, after shouting a few times and realizing that everyone was ignoring them and only desperately running away, they had no choice but to join in. Moreover, they had to run fast; otherwise, if everyone else ran far ahead and only the two of them remained, wouldn't the guerrillas be able to wipe out the two of them, even if they couldn't annihilate all the "security forces"?

So everyone turned and ran, like a herd of beasts that had heard "Gudong is coming." The herd of beasts in the story ran until they encountered lions before stopping, and the soldiers of the "security force" also ran until they encountered Britain troops before stopping.

"Halt!" the Britain officer shouted, drawing his sword. Behind him, several rows of Lobsterbacks had already raised their rifles.

Some ducks, sensing something was wrong, began to slow down, but because they slipped, they tumbled and fell with a series of thuds. Those behind them either didn't hear, or didn't hear clearly, the warning from the Britain officer in front, and continued running forward.

"Fire!" The British Army officer swung his sword down without hesitation.

"Bang..." A gunshot rang out, and this time, a group of black dogs running back were truly shot down.

"Go back, go back! Don't run away, sir! They really will kill people!" Captain O'Kelly shouted.

"Ready!" Edward's drawn-out voice rang out.

The "security force" soldiers who were still alive scrambled out of the mud and turned back towards the swamp. However, in the process, a very small number of them were killed by the guerrillas, many more were killed by the Britain, and some, despite wearing swamp shoes, were unlucky enough to sink into the mud—but they were still alive for the time being.

Watching the "security guards" scramble and stumble towards the swamp again, Edward wore a contemptuous smile.

"Now, all troops except the cavalry and artillery, put on your swamp shoes and follow me into the swamp to wipe out the rebels." Edward sheathed his sword and gave this order.

The Lobsterbacks then put on swamp shoes and began to enter the swamp, following the path taken by the "Security Army".

Captain O'Kelly led the remaining members of the "security force" for a while, then turned around and could no longer see the red-clad Britain soldiers, so they stopped to rest and catch their breath.

"Captain... Captain... We really can't go in here. We don't know anyone here, and if we go in, we'll definitely get shot."

"If we don't go forward, do you think Commander Stafford will let us off the hook? We just killed so many brothers, did you see him even frown? If you ask me, we still have to go forward, there shouldn't be many rebels ahead..." said another soldier from the "security force".

"What if there are more than just one or two rebels ahead? If you ask me, Captain, why don't we just fire a few shots randomly first, at least to make the Britain pay us? Then we can find a place to hide for a while, and when we come out again, we can say we fought with the rebels for a bit, and they all ran away and we couldn't catch them... Wouldn't that solve everything?"

"That's right, Captain! We can't run any further. Look how many times we've fallen along the way, our guns are all flooded with water and mud, they won't fire..."

Captain O'Kelly thought for a moment, then said, "Go find a few usable guns, fire a couple of shots, then we'll hide in the reeds over there for a while, and then we'll talk. But there are footprints left here, and the officers will follow them, so we must first..."

Although the black dogs had already traversed this section of the road, the Lobsterbacks still proceeded cautiously through the swamp—they couldn't help but be careful, as they would occasionally encounter a black dog stuck in the mud who would shout, "Sir, for the sake of the United Kingdom, lend a hand to your brother!" as soon as he saw them.

As a result, the Lobsterbacks naturally moved very slowly. After walking for a while, suddenly the sound of gunfire came from ahead.

"The security forces are fighting the rebels!" Edward Stafford excitedly drew his sword. "All troops, accelerate! Chase them down and wipe out the rebels!"

The soldiers quickened their pace.

After traveling for a while, they seemed to have arrived at the place where the gunshots had been heard. However, there was no one there now; neither the rebels nor a single black dog could be seen.

"Damn it, where did everyone go?" Edward Stafford said angrily.

"The rebels must have retreated, Security Army went after them. Sir, look, there are traces of them walking over here." Another lieutenant pointed to a spot for Edward Stafford to see.

There were indeed some messy footprints in that spot, leading all the way to a shallow body of water. The water didn't look deep, but it was quite wide, and it was shrouded in mist, so it was impossible to tell where those guys had come ashore.

"They must have waded through the water to catch up," the lieutenant said.

"They still have the guts to chase after us like this?"

"Maybe they saw the rebels walk by like that, so they followed them."

Several junior officers began to discuss the matter. Finally, they all turned their attention to Battalion Commander Edward Stafford.

However, Battalion Commander Edward Stafford hesitated because the footprints were already submerged in the water. The water was not clear and was covered with various aquatic plants. Although the water was not deep, the bottom was not visible, and it would be quite dangerous to walk across it.

At the same time, in the reeds on the other side of the water, several pairs of eyes were staring at those bright red Britain.

Several guerrilla fighters had just witnessed a farce: a group of black dogs first ran here, then took off their swamp shoes, tied them back on in a different direction, fired a few shots randomly into the air, and then ran back along the same path they had come from, disappearing in a moment. Then, a while later, a large group of Lobsterbacks appeared.

The guerrillas all knew that the mud beneath the surface of the water was extremely dangerous; even wearing swamp shoes, they couldn't cross that section. Seeing the Britain's hesitant expressions, the guerrillas exchanged glances, and then Higgins lowered his voice and said, "Wade, let's back up a bit, then fire a few shots. I reckon those Britain will fall for it."

Several guerrilla members retreated a short distance and then fired a few shots into the air.

"Over there! Right there! It looks like the Security Army and the rebels are fighting again!"

Now that the whereabouts of the Security Army are clear, if the Security Army and rebels can get through, why can't the mighty Britain Army?

Battalion Commander Edward Stafford quickly made a judgment and issued the order, "All men, get into the water, cross the surface, and pursue the rebels."

Then the valiant Lobsterbacks slowly began to walk into the water.

The water wasn't deep, initially only knee-deep, and the mud below was a bit soft, but not enough to sink anyone. So everyone continued forward. To prevent the rebels from escaping, everyone even tried to walk as fast as possible.

The water gradually deepened, from just above the knees to above the thighs, from above the thighs to waist level, and from waist level to almost chest level. To prevent their guns from getting wet, the soldiers had to raise their rifles high above their heads, looking as if they were surrendering. The mud beneath their feet also became increasingly soft.

"Keep it up, it'll be over soon!" Battalion Commander Edward Stafford sensed something was wrong, but he still encouraged the soldiers beside him.