Second Lieutenant Zia, fully prepared, gathered intelligence on the layout of the mansion before assembling a heavy force. Accompanied by over two hundred soldiers, they approached aggressively, under the cover of more than ten tanks and dozens of armored vehicles.
Inside the mansion, after arranging for Mengyao and Tie Zhongshi’s family to hide in the basement, Ye Fan’s expression became ice-cold. He was unaware that the intruder was Second Lieutenant Zia, and even more unaware that the Military Advisor had put a bounty on him and Mengyao. In his mind, having thwarted the rebels’ terrorist attack, those who harbored animosity toward him should have been the rebels. Little did he expect the Ba Country Government forces to attack.
"Anyone approaching the mansion shall be killed without mercy," Ye Fan ordered, his murderous intent stirred.
Whether regarding Kade or the Beehive Mercenary Group, he was relatively calm, never having such intense killing intent.
But now, his murderous intent was overwhelming. He thought it laughable that they considered him weak and wanted to prove their error by mercilessly striking at the intruders.
"Each of you should fend for yourselves around the mansion. I don’t care how you do it, just kill as many enemies as possible. If not absolutely necessary, do not let the fight reach the mansion; strive to intercept the enemy outside," Ye Fan instructed Du Xueqi and the other four women.
The mansion was still to be lived in and, after this battle, would inevitably be bombarded. What he had to do now was protect it as much as possible.
"Understood," Du Xueqi and the four women, their murderous intent rampant, dispersed and set up their defenses outside the mansion.
Ye Fan ascended to the top of the mansion, where an anti-tank gun and sniper rifle were placed beside him.
The heavy machine gun and recoilless rifle were handed to the five women. Facing the incoming enemies, it was impossible to engage them hand-to-hand; they could only retaliate with artillery fire.
"Attack," commanded Second Lieutenant Zia, hidden at a distance, to the officer beside him.
"Yes," replied the officer sternly, then issued the orders.
Second Lieutenant Zia used a simple pretext to attack Ye Fan and the others, categorizing them as terrorists, which justified assembling the heavy force against them. This pretext was, of course, authorized by the Ba Country Government; otherwise, how could he have mobilized the army freely?
The tanks crushed the obstacles before them and encircled the mansion.
Machine guns mounted on the armored vehicles began the assault.
Soldiers hid behind the vehicles and tanks, holding rifles, aiming at everything within their line of sight.
The assault commenced, and the vast number of soldiers, under heavy cover, launched their attack.
Second Lieutenant Zia sipped his drink, smoked a cigar, and awaited the outcome.
Du Xueqi, on a vehicle, controlled the recoilless rifle and was the first to counterattack.
A shell whistled forth, striking an armored vehicle in a fury. The resulting explosion sent nearby soldiers into devastation.
Du Xueqi, hiding behind cover, operated the recoilless rifle while seeking her next target.
"Rat-tat-tat!!!" Du Xueqi’s counterattack drew a hail of bullets, with tanks aiming at her position as they began firing, angrily launching shells.
Du Xueqi fired a second shell, destroying another target vehicle while also eliminating numerous soldiers.
At that moment, the other four women began their assault, and the roar of heavy machine guns echoed, with shell casings splattering.
This round of assault inflicted some damage on the intruders, but there were too many enemies. Once the five women’s hiding spots were exposed, they were inundated by countless bullets and even artillery shells.
While moving to ensure their safety, the five women continued their counterattack.
From the mansion’s top, Ye Fan fired, with the anti-tank gun beneath him. His firing rate was swift; with each shot, a tank was rendered unusable amidst the barrel’s tremors.
With technological advances, anti-tank guns couldn’t eliminate top-tier tanks, but destroying these present tanks was easy, given that Ba Country’s technological level couldn’t produce tanks resistant to anti-tank guns.
Ye Fan locked all his targets on the tanks, each shot sending a devastating bullet screeching through space to obliterate its intended target.
His singular objective was to destroy the tanks. Only then could the harm to the five women from the tanks be reduced. The remaining armored vehicles and soldiers posed little threat to them; only the tanks they couldn’t approach or destroy. Hence, he would not shift his aim until all tanks were incapacitated.
Armored vehicles exploded, tanks were paralyzed, and soldiers screamed in agony.
Watching this through binoculars, Second Lieutenant Zia grew frantic, shattering his glass in anger, "What’s going on? How do they have such fierce firepower? Wasn’t it said that Tie Zhongshi only had a few broken guns? The plan dictated a single casual assault could kill the targets. How could this happen?"
"Lieutenant, I’m not sure what’s happening either. Logically, this shouldn’t be the case," a trembling officer replied, "Recoilless rifles, heavy machine guns, anti-tank guns—they have them all. How is this possible? Even in the gun market, these are prohibited from being sold to strangers. Besides, no arms dealer would dare sell such weapons."
"You incompetent fool, this is the intelligence you gathered?" Second Lieutenant Zia berated.
"Lieutenant, what now?" the officer hesitated and asked tentatively.
"The bow’s been drawn, no turning back. Even if there are sacrifices, it’s worth it. As long as they’re killed, it will suffice. Though they possess formidable weapons, they are few in number and can’t hold out long," Second Lieutenant Zia replied grimly, "Tell them to take down the gunmen atop the mansion. Based on the shooting frequency, I estimate three gunmen there. Eliminate the three gunmen, and ground assault will become easier, reducing suppression."
"Lieutenant, something’s off. Judging by the ground firing, there are five people. I’m quite certain they have six fighters, which contradicts the known situation," the officer said, puzzled.
"If your intelligence had been accurate, we wouldn’t have such losses," Second Lieutenant Zia rebuked, "There must be a secret expert lurking in the shadows that you’ve failed to detect."
In reality, only Ye Fan was atop the mansion.
Ye Fan fired swiftly, nearly without needing to aim. Just pulling the trigger sufficed.
And the bullets seemed guided, blasting towards the targets.
Following Second Lieutenant Zia’s orders, the remaining tanks aimed their barrels entirely at Ye Fan’s position.