Landmines, the infantry’s nightmare, this is not an exaggeration. If you knew you had to pass through a minefield, any infantryman would have nightmares. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

When Gao Yang and his group received training in Israel, they were briefly introduced to knowledge about landmines, but they did not study in depth. It was impossible for them to think about demining, and when Gao Yang heard Sirte stepped on a mine, he immediately knew that it was an anti-infantry bounding mine.

Since the Germans invented the modern bounding mine in the 1930s, the very name has become every infantryman’s nightmare. For infantry, especially for those at the vanguard, tanks, planes, cannons, rifles, and grenades put together posed less of a threat than one single, small bounding mine.

Step on it and it goes off—that’s a pressure mine. Whoever steps on it is out of luck. But for a release mine, which doesn’t go off when you step on it but does when you lift your foot off, that’s a bounding mine.

Of course, bounding mines aren’t triggered only by release mechanism. Pressure, tripwire, release—various kinds of triggering mechanisms. So, not only did Sirte step on a mine underfoot, but he also saw two tripwires ahead of him.

A bounding mine is one that jumps into the air before exploding. If the point man steps on a bounding mine without realizing it, once he lifts his foot, a mine would jump up from the ground and explode, with a blast covering a radius of a dozen to several dozen meters. It’s not uncommon for an entire squad, which hasn’t spread out, to be taken down by a single mine.

It was fortunate that Sirte was alert. Gao Yang didn’t know how Sirte noticed the anomaly under his foot, but he stopped himself from lifting his foot up. If Sirte had lifted his foot, not only would he have been killed, but Gao Yang and Li Jinfang, who were within ten meters, would not have been able to escape.

One mine was deadly enough, but if you ran into a minefield, that was, that was just the height of bad luck. There wasn’t much else to say about it.

Gao Yang just felt relieved, very relieved. Fortunately, Sirte stopped his foot in time, and fortunately, it had just rained. The tripwires hidden in the air caught droplets, making them easier to spot.

Gao Yang quickly said over the radio, "Nobody move, Can Opener, hold steady, wait for us to come over. Worker Bee, any ideas?"

Tommy said gravely, "I need to see it before I know. Everyone, observe your surroundings. If you haven’t spotted any tripwires, backtrack following your own footsteps. Ram, Toad, you two are in the most danger. Don’t lie down. Carefully retreat, try to follow your footsteps back. Once you’ve returned, I’ll head over to Can Opener’s position. Now, begin your actions."

Gao Yang carefully observed for a long while, then he noticed a row of water droplets hanging about five meters ahead of him. He looked closely and could vaguely see a thin tripwire.

The tripwire was cunningly placed between two plants. You could see about three meters of it. If someone were to advance from there, they would naturally choose to pass between the two clumps of vegetation, and then they’d hit the tripwire.

"This is Ram, tripwire spotted ahead."

"This is Toad. Limited visibility up front, no discovery."

After reporting, Gao Yang cautiously snapped off a leaf from a nearby tree, tore it into a triangle, and hung it on the tree beside him. Then, following the path he had taken before, he slowly retreated back.

All lay flat on the ground, and Tommy had already reached the front of the column. Seeing Gao Yang, Tommy’s face was serious as he said, "I didn’t bring any demining equipment."

Gao Yang took a deep breath and asked, "Can you deal with the bounding mine?"

Tommy nodded, but then shook his head, "I’ve cleared mines before, and not just a few times. But I’ve never dealt with bounding mines. Bounding mines are the hardest to deal with. I’ve seen others clear them, once successfully, once not. The time it failed... the engineer who taught me to demine was blown up. So, actually, I have no confidence at all."

Gao Yang felt angry in his heart, but he didn’t know whether to blame himself or others. He glanced at Lucica, lying on the stretcher, and said sternly, "You said you never use mines."

Lucica looked confused and replied, "We never use mines. In the rainforest, laying mines is more likely to harm our own people. So, unless we are fighting the government forces and find ourselves in a difficult position, no one uses mines."

Gao Yang glanced at Tommy and asked, "Are you going to clear the mines?"

Tommy smiled and said, "Of course, it’s my responsibility and my value. Boss, if I die, you have to give me a death benefit. Deposit the money into the account I gave you, you decide how much."

Gao Yang nodded and said, "Go ahead. If you die, I’ll give you the death benefit. Trust me, your death benefit will be a substantial amount."

Tommy nodded, placed everything he had on the ground, and only took a bayonet with him, starting to move forward lightly and slowly. After waiting for a moment, Gao Yang suddenly said, "Worker Bee, wait, I’ll go with you."

Glolov immediately said, "No! Ram, what are you thinking? You don’t know how to demine. Even if you go over there, it’s pointless. If a landmine explodes, you’ll just throw your life away for nothing."

Cui Bo also urgently said, "Brother Yang, don’t be foolish at a time like this, really, you going there isn’t going to help at all, so why bother going?"

Gao Yang said in a deep voice, "I need to let Can Opener leave some last words, maybe he still wants to speak with Nate. And Worker Bee, you too, I won’t get in your way, let’s go to where Can Opener is so that he may have some peace of mind. Then, you guys can leave any last words with me there."

After saying that, Gao Yang gestured to Tommy, "You go in front, I’ll follow behind, I’ll go with you."

After hesitating for a moment, Tommy nodded and said, "Okay, if you leave before I start, there shouldn’t be any problem."

Following behind Tommy, Gao Yang stopped about four or five meters away from Sirte. At that distance, if a bounding mine exploded, he would definitely die. Therefore, Gao Yang didn’t stand four or five meters away from Sirte out of fear of being blown up, but rather out of fear of stepping on or tripping over other mines.

After hearing footsteps, Sirte turned his head, and seeing Gao Yang, he pointed at his right foot, which was stepping out, and said with a wry smile, "Under this foot, buddy, I’m really out of luck, aren’t I?"

Gao Yang sighed and said, "You’re really out of luck indeed."

"The mines must have been planted by Phantom’s people, but I’m not clear on when they laid the mines. I assure you, before we left, there were no mines laid around Teodulo’s campsite. And I also assure you, these mines were definitely not planted because the Lieutenant Colonel tipped Teodulo off after betraying us. Honestly, I never thought I’d run into a mine."

Gao Yang nodded and said, "I believe what you say. I came to give you a phone. Do you want to talk to Nate?"

Sirte fell silent for a moment and then shook his head, "Forget it, there’s nothing to say. If I survive, there’s no need to talk. If I die, just inform the Lieutenant Colonel, that’s enough. Tell him how I died. Telling the Lieutenant Colonel now would only make him worry for no reason."

Gao Yang could only nod. Then he said in a solemn voice, "Then, do you have any last words? I can pass them on to Nate or anyone else you designate."

Sirte looked up, reflecting for a moment, then shook his head again, "I was thinking of leaving a word for my ex-wife. She’d sure be happy to hear I’m dead. I’ve only left her with painful memories, so it wouldn’t be so bad to let her have a moment of happiness with my death, but the idea of that bitch and her lover rejoicing over my death makes me sick. So forget it. I’d prefer to just die quietly in this corner, and not let anyone know except for my teammates."

Gao Yang beckoned with his hand and said, "Do you want us to retrieve your body?"

Sirte disdainfully waved his head, "Don’t joke, buddy. The thought of cleaning up a pile of gore is repulsive, and even though that mess will be me, I find it revolting too. So let it go. I’m just a mercenary; if I die, I die. There’s no point in collecting what’s left of me, especially when it’s going to be in pieces."

Gao Yang shrugged and said, "Okay, if you die, I’ll inform Nate about your death, and then, I’ll avenge you."

Sirte smiled, "You don’t need to worry about avenging me. The Lieutenant Colonel and my brothers will take care of that."

Gao Yang pointed to Tommy and said, "He knows how to demine. Just wait a bit, he’ll try to save you. Whether you can survive or not will depend on his skills and your luck."

Sirte nodded to Tommy, "It’s up to you now, buddy. Thanks for being willing to save me, and I hope I won’t drag you down."

Tommy didn’t speak, merely nodding, while Gao Yang then said to Tommy, "Worker Bee, since Can Opener is our guest, I had to ask about his last words first. Now it’s your turn. Do you have anything you’d like to leave for someone?"

After hesitating for a moment, Tommy looked at Gao Yang and said, "I don’t really have any last words to leave. It’s not that I don’t want to say anything, it’s that I don’t have anyone to leave messages to. The Mu Clan killed my entire family, and most of my comrades are dead too. My only concern is for the orphans of my fallen comrades that I’ve been taking care of, a total of thirty-one people, including sixteen kids of various ages, seven women, and eight elderly. They are my concern. I have the responsibility to look after them. If I die here, I don’t ask you to take care of them, but could you give them some money? The more the better, of course, but I’m not demanding. Finishing the job now is my responsibility. I can’t ask for too much. Also, don’t bother retrieving my body, it’s meaningless."

Gao Yang nodded and said, "So I should just transfer the money to the account you’ve given me, right? If that’s the case, if you die, I’ll wire three hundred and ten thousand US dollars to that account. Not just once, every year. With each death of an elder, I’ll reduce the amount by ten thousand dollars, and for each child that comes of age, I’ll reduce it by another ten thousand. Of course, if I can do more, I will take care of them. That’s my promise. Furthermore, if you die, we will avenge you." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome you to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)