"Did Samir make contact with the insider within 1515?" Song Heping suddenly asked.
"No new updates. I just reached out to him to try to get the latest intelligence, but there's no news."
Jiang Feng shook his head: "The last communication was six hours ago. The insider said he would try to infiltrate the school area, but there's been no news afterwards."
Song Heping continued to stare at the screen.
The artillery bombardment continued, flashes of light appearing one after another, like a grand fireworks display. Only this fireworks display would cost countless lives.
"Have our people raise their alert levels too. There won't be peace today..."
At 6:05 AM, the shelling stopped.
The world suddenly became quiet.
But not truly quiet.
The ringing in the ears persisted, and the scent of gunpowder and dust lingered in the air, with sounds of collapsing building debris in the distance.
But the continuous sound of explosions indeed ceased.
"Alpha Company, get in the vehicles!"
"Old Man's" voice crackled over the radio.
The engines roared to life, twelve M-ATV Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles lined up in two columns, driving over the rubble towards the auto repair shop 800 meters away.
The speed was maintained at 40 kilometers per hour, not fast, but stable enough in case of an ambush.
The M2HB heavy machine guns and MK19 automatic grenade launchers on the roofs were in position, muzzles aimed at the building ruins on either side.
In night vision, the world appeared in varying shades of green.
The city, after being bathed in artillery fire, was in even more ruin; collapsing walls everywhere, burning wreckage, twisted metal.
Some areas still smoked, showing as bright white spots in the night vision.
"Watch the windows on both sides," "Old Man" said over the internal comms, "especially the second floor and above. Snipers love this kind of moment."
Just as he finished, a muzzle flash suddenly appeared in the third-floor window of a half-collapsed building on the left.
"Three o'clock direction! Third floor!"
The rooftop machine gunner immediately returned fire.
The roar of the 12.7mm heavy machine gun drowned out the chatter of the enemy's AK rifles, bullets tearing through the wall, shredding the window and the sniper behind it.
But more gunfire erupted from all directions.
It wasn't organized resistance but more like scattered shooting.
The surviving 1515 armed members fired at the convoy from the rubble.
"Don't get bogged down!"
"Old Man" ordered, "Suppressive fire, keep moving forward!"
The convoy did not slow down.
The grenade launchers fired 40mm high-explosive grenades at suspicious positions on both sides, the explosions briefly illuminating the street.
The heavy machine guns sprayed bullets, silencing any exposed firing points.
This was standard armored assault tactics—using firepower and speed to forcibly break through light weapons intercept zones.
As long as they didn't encounter anti-tank missiles or large IEDs, the M-ATV's armor could withstand rifle and machine gun fire.
Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred meters...
The auto repair shop appeared in view.
Or rather, what was once the auto repair shop.
The artillery's effects were devastating.
The three-story main building had already collapsed halfway, with the remaining parts riddled with bullet holes and cracks.
Of the six maintenance workshops, four were completely leveled, with only ruins left of the remaining two.
The ground was riddled with craters, some as deep as two meters, filled with murky water.
The convoy stopped at the perimeter of the factory area.
The wheels crushed broken concrete blocks, making a harsh grinding noise.
"Group A, Group B, disembark! Group C, establish a perimeter! Group D, check safety and prepare for demolition!"
"Old Man" was the first to jump out of the vehicle.
His boots landed on still-warm rubble, and the soles of his tactical boots felt the heat.
The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, mixed with gasoline, burning rubber, and...
The stench of charred bodies.
He made a hand gesture.
A team of twelve, led by the team leader "Dagger," quickly moved toward the east-side entrance.