033 Reactions from the Outside World

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The wall was breached.

It was nothing short of opening an escape route for Li Changjiang and the other two. This underground prison, remodeled from a cellar, was adjacent to a European-style building; the angle of the wall blocked the line of fire, so when Li Changjiang saw an opening had been made, he was overjoyed.

They widened the gap.

The three squeezed out through it.

But they immediately found themselves in another predicament.

Now they were on the right side of the building, while Tim and Bob were on the left. To reach them, they would have to cross nearly twenty meters of corridor at the front of the building—a virtual death sentence.

"Boss, you two cover me here, I'll try to get around from the back."

Williams glanced behind them and decisively shook his head.

"The back way is blocked. We have to go through the inside."

Li Changjiang was shocked.

Through the inside?

This building was probably the rebels' headquarters, certainly heavily guarded, as the constant gunfire suggested—not only guards, but also heavy machine guns.

If the three of them charged in—

"Their attention is on the left now. If we go in, we'll catch them off guard. There’s no other way. I suspect the rebels from the camp will arrive soon."

Williams was seasoned.

And he was right.

The whole camp was in chaos. Hearing the gunshots, large numbers of rebel soldiers rushed from the outskirts toward the interior, creating a noisy mass of bodies.

Barty was once again in a terrible situation.

These damned Libyans had nearly blocked every passage in the camp.

"Barty, what do we do?"

Staring at the dense crowd ahead and the completely impassable road, Barty's face was dark as thunder. If he weren’t relying on these donkey-brained Libyans to prevent the Eagle Lion mercenary squad from escaping, he would have unleashed a hail of bullets right then.

"We withdraw immediately. I have a bad feeling about this."

Barty’s voice had barely faded.

Boom!

A sudden flash of light streaked across the sky, and the roar of artillery began to blanket all of Benghazi. Looking toward the west, flames soared, and a barrage of shells arced exaggeratedly down from the heavens.

"Damn it! We’re leaving!"

Barty didn’t hesitate. He glanced painfully toward the rebel camp headquarters, seeming unwilling to let go.

He knew better than anyone that the Libyans couldn’t possibly trap the Eagle Lion squad. And now the government forces had actually launched an offensive against Benghazi.

Just days ago, he’d received intelligence from the Americans that the Libyan government troops might attack Benghazi soon.

He hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.

They were mercenaries, true, but no matter how fierce, mercenaries were only a handful. Even if the Libyans were stupid, the civil war involved thousands, even tens of thousands, and though they lacked large-scale weapons, sheer numbers were enough to overwhelm them.

He wasn’t foolish enough to get entangled in a battle of that scale.

Inside the camp.

Li Changjiang and Williams were about to storm the building when their attention was drawn by the distant sound of artillery.

The fire in the sky painted strange streams of light, the orange-yellow trajectories strangely beautiful at that moment. Damn, the government forces had chosen this moment to attack—what perfect timing.

"Boss, I think we don’t need to risk going inside."

He was excited.

Sure enough.

As soon as the shelling began.

The rebel camp erupted into chaos.

Before they could charge into the building, the rebel soldiers surged outward like a tidal wave. They weren’t fools, after all; compared to the government army’s assault, the skirmish inside the camp was trivial.

But for those inside, the trouble was immense. Two grenades were thrown into the left-side tent as gunfire erupted, the resulting explosions audible even in the tunnels—Tim doubted anyone could have survived.

Tim and Bob used the armored vehicles and tank hulls to seal the building’s entrance, while Jin used the heavy machine gun on the armored car to lock down the courtyard gate. The people inside were as trapped as fish in a barrel.

"General Abler, we must evacuate immediately!"

"Where is the Colonel?"

As the highest-ranking leader of the Benghazi rebel camp, Abler remained calm. The rebels may have been peasants, but in his eyes, the government troops were no better. He didn’t believe the government army could breach Benghazi’s defenses this time.

The most important thing now was to eliminate the mercenaries outside; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to establish direct contact with the army, and might even face the worst scenario.

"The Colonel is currently commanding operations on the perimeter. The government troops have started their assault."

"Tell him to send reinforcements at once. You lead your men out and deal with those troublemakers outside."

"Yes, sir!"

The security officer immediately set about carrying out the orders.

Meanwhile, on Benghazi’s outer defensive line, Barty quickly found the Colonel.

"Colonel, I think your chance has come."

"Is that so? If you Americans were more trustworthy, you’d get more."

The Colonel gave Barty a penetrating look.

For the first time, Barty realized this Benghazi defense commander was far more cunning than he’d imagined. But that was just as well; Abler was too shrewd—a man not swayed by wealth could never be a long-term partner.

By contrast, the Colonel before him was far more likely to bring lasting benefits.

"Rest assured, Colonel. The weapons will arrive soon."

As gunfire echoed over Libya, the civil war once again became the focus of international attention.

In the age of advanced information technology, such a conflict could never be concealed.

Within less than an hour of the government army launching its assault, major powers worldwide had caught wind of the situation.

Numerous military observation satellites and civilian monitoring satellites controlled by powerful states were immediately redirected over Libya, tracking the unfolding war in real time.

In the desolate borderlands of the northwest of China, deep underground in an air defense information warfare command center, electronic tones blinked ceaselessly. Vast streams of data were instantly aggregated onto a broad electronic display.

The atmosphere grew tense and grim with a single command, figures moving about in the gloom.

"What’s the situation now?"

The speaker was a middle-aged man nearing fifty, his forehead marked by deep, shifting wrinkles, his uniform crisp, and each shoulder adorned with a conspicuous golden star.

He was clearly an Army Major General.

"Reporting, both sides’ firepower is roughly equal. The government army can’t break through for now, but there’s localized fighting within Benghazi city."

"Oh? Any clear images? Let me see."

Soon.

The display showed real-time footage sent back by ultra-high-definition satellite cameras, captured using the country’s most advanced imaging technology, with a precision of one meter—not the two meters rumored abroad. This meant that even a person on the move could be clearly tracked.

Yet, even so, the middle-aged man frowned.

"Contact the Jiangzhou immediately and have them deploy drones for close reconnaissance."

"Yes, sir."