Captain Don's blood-soaked order fell like a giant stone into stagnant waters, stirring a suffocating silence across the GNA troops' public channel.
There was no rousing response, no roar of engines, only the crackle of static and the sporadic gunfire from "Razorback" echoing mockingly in the air.
On the battlefield, the soldiers, who just moments before were barely maintaining an offensive under the officers' whips and curses, completely stalled.
They looked blankly towards the command vehicle, then fearfully towards the "Razorback," resembling giant beast's fangs in the wind erosion rock area.
The news of Commander Yarif being shot in the head by Captain Don himself, and the bloody massacre of the guards by the SBS unit, spread across the battlefield like the most terrifying plague, instantly shattering the last vestiges of cohesion and fighting spirit in this already heavily battered force.
"Run!"
Suddenly, someone let out a wailing scream, breaking the dead silence like a fuse to a powder keg.
Drop your weapons! Turn and run!
One, two, ten, a hundred...
Like a startled sand rat, GNA soldiers completely abandoned their positions, the assault, and any thoughts of resistance.
In their minds, only one primal, intense instinct remained—to escape this cursed death canyon that had swallowed countless comrades!
To flee from that mad British who had killed their commanding officer!
The crowd, like a bursting flood, fearfully scattered backward into the open desert.
Pickup trucks were abandoned, heavy machine guns toppled onto the sand, and the wails of the wounded were drowned in the chaos of footsteps.
Officers helplessly brandished their pistols, trying to stop the retreat, yet were swept along by the surging crowd, some even knocked to the ground, ignored.
On the lee of a sand dune, Don's fierce delight froze, replaced with a deeper, hellish fury, like volcanic magma.
He watched helplessly as his "army," his last gamble against Song Heping, began to disintegrate before his very eyes, turning into a fleeing rabble.
"Stand where you are, you cowards! Traitors! Get back! Attack!"
Don roared into the radio microphone, his voice hoarse and broken, like a wounded beast. He shouted at his team members, "Stop them! Shoot! Open fire on the deserters! Shoot to kill!"
The order was coldly ruthless, fueled by destructive madness.
A dozen or so SBS members hesitated not for a second.
They were professional killing machines, obeying only the most direct command chain.
Right or wrong?
Morality?
Before Don, such notions were meaningless.
Several SA-80 assault rifles were instantly raised, muzzle-black barrels pointed at the backs of fleeing deserters.
Tatatatatata—!
Precise, deadly, merciless shots instantly tore through the rear of the retreating crowd!
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The last few soldiers shuddered violently, blood bursting from their backs or heads, screaming as they fell onto the scorching sand, blood quickly spreading.
Then the second, third...
"Ah—! They're shooting their own!"
"Devils! These guys are devils!"
"Run! Run!"
Fear instantly escalated into sheer panic.
The fleeing crowd erupted into louder screams, shoving and trampling, desperate to get as far away as possible from those cold gun barrels behind.
Yet, SBS bullets, like the Grim Reaper's calls, continued to cut down those falling behind.
Bodies paved a harrowing trail of blood in the sand.
A soldier hit in the thigh by stray bullets fell to the ground, clutching his gushing wound, hopelessly watching his comrades run past without looking back, hearing the chilling clatter of SBS members changing magazines coming closer.
Tears and snot streaked his face, eyes filled with abandon and a madness driven to the brink.
"No! No!!"
He jerked his head up, bloodshot eyes fixed on the SBS figures calmly aiming atop the dune, letting out a beast-like roar, "They won't let us live! Dead either way! Fight them! Allahu Akbar!"
The desperate roar was like a spark on the dry plains.
"Fight!"
"Kill those SOB SBS!"
"Avenge Chief Yarif! Avenge our fallen brothers!"
The power unleashed by beasts pushed to the edge was terrifying.
The deserters, initially only focused on escape, suddenly halted!