120: Missed

"No, I still need to add another condition!"

Li Xiao still felt it was a bit of a raw deal. This wasn't something the Tianyu Republic and Chang Zhan could just declare 'no problem' and be done with it.

The main issue was that he hadn't gained any substantial benefit. Right now, he was more eager to get his hands on some real hardware.

"What condition?" Chang Zhan asked without hesitation.

"Didn't you say the Black Hawk Empire is about to start sending armed helicopters on patrol? So, is it too much to ask for the blueprints for an anti-air weapon?"

"Anti-air weapon? Blueprints?"

Chang Zhan said urgently, "You might as well just kill me then. We can forget about the decapitation plan too."

Seeing this, Li Xiao chuckled apologetically, "Don't be so hasty. If there are no blueprints, the actual goods will do.

You must have those portable man-portable air-defense missiles, right? Giving me eighty or a hundred sets would work too."

"Damn it! Be reasonable! Do you know how much a single set of a man-portable air-defense missile costs? And you're asking for eighty or a hundred sets!"

Chang Zhan said with exasperation, "We do have those things, but our military-industrial facilities have been almost completely destroyed by the Black Hawk Empire, and we don't have much stock left. I can apply to the higher-ups, but at most, ten launchers with twenty missiles."

"Fifty missiles! What can twenty missiles even do? I have three cities to defend!"

"Thirty missiles!"

"Forty-five missiles!"

"Thirty-five missiles!"

"Forty missiles!"

"Deal!" Chang Zhan sighed, "That really wasted a lot of saliva."

In Li Xiao's mind, forty anti-air missiles should be enough to cope for a while. He could find another opportunity to put pressure on Nangong Yan's side later. He believed getting anti-air weapons shouldn't be too difficult.

"Alright then, let's discuss the details next."

...

Two days later, at midnight south of Weixing City, the newly built Army Aviation Regiment airfield of the Black Hawk Empire forces was brightly lit. Engineering units were rushing to complete the final facilities.

In the wilderness several hundred meters away from the airfield, ten special forces soldiers from Chang Zhan's side and five Shadow Special Forces members from Li Xiao's side lay motionless in half-meter-deep grass.

"Company Commander Chang, is your intel accurate? We've been lying in ambush for a full day and night, and there's still no movement?" Li Xiao scratched a large mosquito bite on his head and asked impatiently.

"Captain Li, special operations are like this. Multiple pieces of intelligence eventually converge to form a complete action plan, and we are the final executors of that plan. Have a little more patience. Otherwise, did you think earning those forty missiles would be so easy?"

Li Xiao rolled his eyes and began to doze off with his eyes half-closed.

But before his eyes could fully close, a familiar buzzing sound came from the air in the distance. Li Xiao peered closely and saw two aircraft with flashing red and green lights rapidly approaching from the air east of the airfield.

Following closely behind was another faintly discernible flashing light.

"They're here! Everyone, prepare for action!"

Almost instantly, Chang Zhan shifted from a prone position to a half-crouch, raising his binoculars to look at the aerial targets.

"Two 'Griffin' attack helicopters, one 'Hind' transport helicopter. Observation team, confirm targets immediately!"

"Understood!"

This time, the four special forces soldiers Chang Zhan brought included sniper, assault, and observation teams. They were also equipped with two M3E recoilless rocket launchers and two high-precision sniper rifles.

Li Xiao's side was cooperating in the operation. They were equipped with an M21 anti-materiel sniper rifle and two M20S quad-tube rocket launchers. Their main role was to advance and eliminate the target if Chang Zhan's sniper team missed.

"Company Commander, should we fire the rockets when the targets are hovering?"

"No! The rockets have a low hit rate, and we still can't confirm if our target is on the helicopters!"

Chang Zhan refused his subordinate's attack request. Naturally, Li Xiao's side didn't say anything more, as he wasn't too keen on participating in this operation in the first place.

That Hind transport helicopter soon landed on the brand-new helipad. A few minutes later, the rotor blades gradually came to a stop, and a line of officers of various ranks stood in a row waiting.

Shortly after, the cabin door opened. A Major officer first poked his head out to observe the surroundings and the welcoming party before jumping down the folding ladder in two or three steps.

Immediately following, a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair, wearing a black military trench coat, descended the gangway.

Judging from the single gold star embroidered on the collar insignia of his uniform, this was unmistakably a Major General!

"Wow! It really is a Major General!"

Li Xiao was excited. They were about to snipe a Major General of the Black Hawk Empire. Just thinking about it made him feel his own audacity.

"Target confirmed! Permission to fire?"

Chang Zhan's side had two high-precision sniper rifles locked on the enemy. At five hundred meters with low wind speed, the hit rate was very high once the order was given.

Chang Zhan glanced at Li Xiao and asked, "Are you ready to provide covering fire?"

Li Xiao was originally quite confident. A headshot from a high-precision sniper rifle was 500 damage. If both hit simultaneously, that was 1000 points.

But he really couldn't gauge how much health a Major General should have. If they didn't achieve a one-shot kill, his anti-materiel sniper rifle made such a loud report that there wouldn't be a chance for a second shot.

However, he figured the maximum should be around 3000 health. His anti-materiel sniper rifle could do 2000 damage. Combined with the damage from those two high-precision sniper rifles, it should be enough to finish the target.

"No problem! Give the order!"

Li Xiao confirmed. If it really came down to it, he'd just have to fire the quad-tube rocket launcher for the finishing blow.

Just as that Major General was about to take the final step off the ladder, *thwip thwip* — two 7.62mm rounds flew from silenced barrels.

The next second, two consecutive bullets pierced the Major General's forehead. The powerful momentum caused the Major General's body to tilt backward. Everything happened so suddenly that the surrounding officers hadn't even reacted yet.

Following that was another loud gunshot. An orange muzzle flash appeared in the distance, and then a burst of blood mist erupted from the Major General's chest.

Yue Ge, looking through his scope and seeing the Major General's body fall onto the gangway, calmly reported, "Target hit. Confirmed kill."

"YES! Let's get out of here, fast!"

Li Xiao shouted excitedly and immediately turned to run. But at that moment, Yue Ge suddenly shouted again, "Boss! The target isn't dead yet!"

"What?!"

Li Xiao hurriedly raised his binoculars to look. Sure enough, he saw that Major General tremblingly stand up. The surrounding officers rushed forward, encircling the Major General, while large numbers of Black Hawk Unit soldiers from all directions of the airfield were already charging toward them.

"Quick! Fire the rockets immediately!"

Seeing the situation, Li Xiao immediately gave the order. A prepared special forces member repeatedly pulled the trigger. Four rockets flew toward the helipad one after another.

The fiery red exhaust trails of the rockets were very bright in the night sky, but their relatively slow flight speed gave the targets time to react.

Those officers directly threw themselves on top of the Major General, using their own bodies to shield him from the rocket explosions.

Of the four rockets, two hit the ground and two hit the helicopter. That helicopter immediately caught fire and began to burn, likely with very little health remaining.