Chapter 17: The River That Can't Be Crossed
Fear spread in an instant again, especially the people around me, who were still alive at the moment were basically busy dodging and retreating instead of organizing counterattacks. In this way, the practice of directly throwing one's back to the enemy is actually increasing one's own casualties and increasing one's own mortality rate, but at this time, most people still hold the idea of "dead friends, not dead poor people" in the Chinese saying.
And the other side seized this opportunity, and some figures began to flicker in the woods, as if they were trying to attack again under cover.
I tried to keep myself from turning around. I raised my gun and pulled the trigger again, and John leaned over to me.
"We need people! Fight like this and quickly be all killed here! I shouted at him.
John leaned over as he shot and said, "Little Bill stops first." Counterattack! Counterattack! ”
I stopped firing and looked at the oil bottle behind me while changing magazines, "Oil bottles!" Take Walker with him. Carry him, we cover. Walk along the riverbed without stopping! ”
With that, I turned around and continued to shoot at the people who tried to attack me. Soon Bill Jr. joined the fight back.
"Córdoba! Let your people fight back, let them fight back! Damn it. John turned to Córdoba and shouted.
Cordoba didn't respond, and I didn't have time to look back. Soon I ran out of bullets in the magazine again, and I shouted "Change the magazine." "Withdrawing back, I saw the men on the other side of the bank start shooting as they retreat into the woods.
This chilled my heart, and I turned my head to look back, only to see Córdoba carrying Pablo, surrounded by several people, quickly retreating. I quickly changed my magazine and shouted at John, "Those guys are going to leave us and run on our own!" ”
John glanced back, "Hmph." Who is the target? He looked at me and continued to fire a few more shots before saying, "Let's retreat into the woods." Gypsy, you go first, and little Bill and I cover you! ”
"Understood!" As I was about to get up, several grenades flew again, and as I lay down again, I realized that they had not landed around us, but that Pablo was chasing them, and there were people on the other side of the river.
It seems that the other side still has clear priorities. I immediately got up and rushed back to the woods by the river. I glanced into the woods, and there was already a figure shaking about fifty meters in front of me, and I shot at it. The other party began to return fire after a burst of dodging and shouting, and at the same time, the opponent's bullets seemed to hit Pablo more and the people who came to meet him, and those who surrounded Pablo while fighting and retreating fell three in an instant.
When John saw that I was starting to cover the shooting, he got up and shot at me. And Pablo's people saw it and realized that if they didn't fight back, they would only be killed, and they would continue to resist under the command of Códobba. Although after stopping, a few more people fell in a hail of bullets from the opponent, but soon the opponent's firepower weakened again.
"Little Bill! Evacuate! Seeing this, John shouted at little Bill, who was still in the riverbed.
Just as little Bill got up and headed into the woods, Pablo's men began to retreat, and just then the other seized the opportunity again, and a wave of heavy fire covered it again. All I heard John curse and ran out of me, and when I turned to look at him, he was dragging little Bill, who had fallen halfway down.
"Damn it!" I took a deep breath, got up and ran out, standing in front of them and shooting as I retreated with them into the woods.
"How is he?" I watched the situation outside as I changed the magazine.
John was silent for a moment and then said, "It's not good. ”
I saw that the people on the opposite bank of the river began to organize a counterattack again, and although it seemed messy, it somewhat restrained some of the other side's strength.
"We took little Bill out of here. There are not many of them, and the target is clearly Pablo. Pablo wanted us to break him, and this time it was his turn. I said, glancing at little Bill. When I saw it, my heart chilled. He was shot in more than one place, one on his right thigh, and fatally in the chest.
John throws Bill Jr. away, takes off his backpack, and pushes him back. "Hold on man. We'll be able to get out of here soon. ”
We soon entered the forest. The other party apparently showed little interest in us who had been scattered, and after firing a few shots at us, they ignored us and focused more on Pablo. We quickly left the battlefield and returned to the depths of the jungle.
After walking for about half an hour, John stopped. Maybe he thought Bill Jr. was dying, and he put Bill Jr. down with my help.
Little Bill's face was pale at the moment, and John felt his pulse, and instead of speaking, he looked up at me. I could see helplessness in my eyes. I crouched down and felt Bill's pulse on my own, barely audible to the beat.
I don't know what to say, and while everyone knows that they will lose their lives, but it's very uncomfortable to watch your teammates die every time.
John and I were silent for a moment, and I looked around. From the direction of the river, there were still gunshots from time to time, and I whispered, "Take him with you." We can't stay here. ”
John was silent for a moment and said, "The people who came with me to do this are almost dead. After speaking, he laughed bitterly and continued: "You know what? He was brought into this business by me. Maybe he could have lived a long time without doing this, and finally died peacefully on a recliner in the yard. ”
I knew that the mission had been extremely unsmooth, and that I had lost the beggar and John in one day, and that Walker was also wounded, and at the moment I don't know where the oil bottle was dragged and his life and death were uncertain. And the man named Sveis who came to pick us up, all this made John, who had experienced too much life and death, look extremely depressed at the moment, as if he no longer wanted to continue fighting, but wanted to find a place to stay quietly. But now there is no possibility that I should stay here.
Just as I was about to speak out again to persuade John to hurry up and leave, the sound of firefighting by the river suddenly became intense. I listened carefully and turned to John, "It seems to be. It came from the direction of Pablo's retreat. ”
John was apparently uninterested in the changes in the movement outside, and he said as he straightened the little Bill's clothes, "Maybe they're going to be finished." ”
I listened again and denied, "No." There was also gunfire from the side of the guerrillas. Pablo should have arrived with new reinforcements. ”
"Are you sure?" John asked, looking up.
I nodded, "Movingly, it sounds like that." Either you stay here, I'll go check it out. ”
With John's permission, I picked up my gun and headed quickly towards the river. As I approached the river, I slowed down until I could see a figure on the riverbed.
There were a lot more people in the riverbed than before, and they were shooting and retreating. The direction of their shot should have been where we had been ambushed when we tried to cross the river. This should indicate that I was right, and that there were more people coming to Pablo.
But why are they still retreating? No matter how powerful the wizard's team is, there are not many of them in total, and they dare not say that they will be annihilated or repulsed, but it should always be possible to stalemate.
Wrong! I turned my head to look upstream. It seems that someone has already stormed the riverbed. If I'm not mistaken, then it is likely that it was not only Pablo's men who arrived, but also the follow-up pursuers of the partisans. I judge this way because when we had exchanged fire before, I was sure that there were not many people on the other side, and they knew their numerical inferiority, but after several attempts to attack the woods, they gave up after being met with great resistance, and kept hiding in the woods and firing grenades and shots at the people on the opposite riverbed. And at this moment, after Pablo received new reinforcements, they attacked and pursued, which only means that they have also received reinforcements, and there may be more in numbers.
I watched for a while, and after making sure that Pablo's men would not be in a moment's breakdown, I reflexively returned to the jungle and soon returned to John's hideout.
"Quick. We're going to get out of here. I spoke as soon as I saw John.
When John saw that it was me, he put down his gun and said, "What's the matter?" ”
I'm going to briefly explain what I've just seen and what I've just judged. After listening to this, John said, "What do you think we should do?" ”
"Take this opportunity to cross the river." I said and looked into John's eyes and emphasized, "This may be our last chance." I don't think Pablo's men are their opponents, and they don't have the luxury of repelling the guerrillas, they just want to hold the retreat. ”
"Help me." John listened to me and was about to carry Bill on his back again, which showed that he agreed with me.
I helped him carry little Bill on his back, and carried his gun to myself, and then led the way, leading the way in the direction of the river.
By the time they approached the river again, Pablo's men had retreated quite a bit downstream. I immediately changed direction and headed towards their rear. I don't think they're going to back blindly, because there's a shallow water that can cross the river quickly or a bend where the water is slow. So I walked downstream, keeping an eye on the river.
After walking for about a kilometer, I noticed movement on the surface of the river. It was as if someone was standing in the middle of the river, or walking slowly in the middle of the river. I immediately stopped and motioned for John behind me to look in that direction.
John gently lowered Bill's body and took the gun I handed over. "Let's go over and have a look."
John and I cautiously touched the river's edge and stopped at a place with dense vegetation. John brushed aside the leaves and looked out, while I watched for movement.