Upon witnessing Group B's helicopter explode midair, Lieutenant Louis on board another Black Hawk Helicopter clenched his teeth in rage and immediately waved his hand while yelling like a mad dog, "Pull up! Pull up! Pull up!"
After all, he was an experienced reconnaissance officer. With Group B's helicopter gone, it was only a matter of time before his own helicopter would be next.
Indeed, as the pilot quickly pulled up the helicopter, the tarp finally detached completely from the truck, revealing several dark gun muzzles in their field of vision.
The "Musicians" atop the truck didn't spare their bullets, pressing down on their triggers and spraying a barrage at the Black Hawk Helicopter.
Bang Bang Bang—
Ratatat—
The sounds of M4A1 rifles and M240 machine guns intermingled, and bullets rained down on the helicopter like droplets.
Fortunately, Louis's shout had saved everyone.
By the time the helicopter started to ascend and tilt its underbelly toward the truck, most of the bullets struck the helicopter's belly, creating a cacophony of clatters and a heart-stopping shower of sparks.
The Black Hawk Helicopter ascended to a height of 400 meters before it finally stabilized itself. Louis looked down at the ground and was so angry he nearly exploded on the spot.
The Qiwa truck had stopped at the roadside, but the people were gone!
Not a single one was left!
"Are these guys monkeys?!"
He ground his molars in fury.
They had lost one helicopter, a reconnaissance squad, plus a crew, all from his two-helicopter, 18-man reconnaissance team.
If he didn't kill these guys, he feared he would be cleaned out upon returning, even possibly immediately stripped of his military uniform and kicked out.
He immediately reported the helicopter crash and personnel losses to brigade headquarters and requested immediate reinforcements to the Latagua Border Region.
Brigade headquarters promptly replied, stating that they would dispatch two platoons from the nearest barracks to support the operations in Latagua region. Since there were no available helicopters nearby, reinforcements could only arrive by vehicle, taking roughly an hour, and instructed Louis to attempt an interception with the helicopter immediately.
"Keep watch over the Puduma River, circle the river section in flight, they must be looking to cross it!"
The duty officer at brigade headquarters wasn't foolish.
From Louis's report, it looked like the enemy was attempting to cross into Ecuador, and since it was the rainy season, even the narrowest point of the river was nearly forty meters wide.
The moment they tried to cross the river would be the prime opportunity to attack them.
If they chose to hide in the jungle, once the reinforcements arrived, they could be trapped and captured without exception, with overwhelming force.
"Head immediately to the vicinity of the Puduma River and monitor the river surface," Louis commanded the pilot, then turned to his team and said, "From now on, if you spot the enemy, kill them without hesitation. These guys aren't ordinary drug traffickers, so don't hesitate or show mercy!"
As he said this, Louis turned his binoculars towards the area where Group B's helicopter had crashed.
The entire helicopter had already burned down to its frame.
There was no sign of anyone escaping from around it.
It was clear that everyone on board had died.
Actually, Louis had already anticipated such an outcome.
A rocket-propelled grenade had hit the helicopter directly, causing it to explode in midair; the blast alone had taken numerous lives on board, not to mention the fall from the sky—surviving that would have been a miracle.
"Damn it! They all deserve to die!"
Louis was raging with powerless fury, feeling helpless.
The enemy didn't seem numerous.
There appeared to be just eight or nine people, yet they had easily taken down one of his helicopters and nine of his men, then slipped into the jungle effortlessly.
The squadmate named Lonnie asked, "Captain, should we go down and pursue them?"
Chase my ass!" Louis cursed. "Didn't you hear what I just said about flying to the Puduma River nearby to intercept them? Go down and chase them? Do you think the nine of us can handle them?"
Lonnie was scolded so fiercely that he didn't dare to even breathe heavily.
Clearly, the captain was hesitating.
Of course, Lonnie wholeheartedly agreed with Louis's decision in his mind.
Seeing the way those "drug traffickers" fought, they were like a pack of wolves—fierce and vicious! Going down to fight them head-on, they really couldn't be sure they'd come out on top.
Louis, for his part, was clear in his mind.
He had already gauged the capabilities of Song Heping and his team from the brief firefight.
These people definitely weren't drug traffickers.
Drug traffickers didn't have this kind of ability.
But it was also evident they weren't from ELN or AUC; he had never seen such formidable people among the armed organizations.
His mind was a mess; he had no idea who they had encountered that had brought such bad luck upon him.
However, staying on the helicopter, he was confident he could handle these people.
This Black Hawk Helicopter, although only a general-purpose helicopter lacking ground attack weapons, was equipped with an M240 machine gun mounted beside the cabin.
If he was to lower the altitude to about 200 meters and take a high-ground position to block the river, there was no escaping for the enemy.
His only thought now was to stall until ground reinforcements arrived.