Strongest Soldier King

In the early morning, the rising sun shone on the vast forest, with mist dispersing above the lush treetops. The high mountains' midsections were shrouded in fog, creating another sunny day. Birds chirped merrily, and some leaf monkeys chased and frolicked on the branches, only to suddenly stop and look ahead warily.

Not far away, a squad clad in camouflage suits suddenly appeared in the woods, cold, deep, with steps firm and powerful. Their faces were smeared with thick oil paint, making them unrecognizable. With the jungle digital camouflage suits, each one looked like a god of death emerging from hell. An ethereal killing aura seemed to hover above the woods, startling the leaf monkeys into a headlong flight, even causing the chirping birds to shriek and flee.

The squad seemed eager to move on, paying no attention to the panicked birds and animals. They took out dry rations, eating while advancing, and unknowingly arrived at a hillside. The squad quickly spread out, each hiding behind large trees on the slope, watching the valley ahead cautiously, exchanging their opinions through earpieces and occasionally glancing at the peak opposite.

The opposite peak was covered with trees, not very tall, but enough to obscure everything at the midway point, revealing no details. After some communication, one person held a gun and cautiously headed down towards the midsection below, which led to the valley, opposite the peak. To reach the other peak, they had to cross the valley.

After a while, when the person had gone about two hundred meters, two more followed on the left and right. Five minutes later, the others formed two ranks and tailed behind. As this squad neared the valley, another squad appeared on the previous hillside. This group included fully-armed soldiers and local-dressed natives—Luo Zheng and others—watching the stealthy squad infiltrate the valley, Luo Zheng sneered.

"A bit arrogant," Ghost Hand whispered.

"Ignorance is fearless," Lan Xue also whispered.

"No, they are confident," Luo Zheng replied with a smile. "Let's enjoy the show. If they retreat after a failure, we'll ambush them here. Snow Bear has clashed with our National Blade many times, an old adversary. The Russians have not been kind to our country, a treacherous neighbor, with whom we need not be polite."

"Makes sense," Mountain Eagle chuckled, his fighting spirit rising. During the great struggle era, the Russians looted the northeast and claimed it was to support the war effort, even dismantling railways. During the civil war, they caused more trouble. In the grand construction period, they further meddled. This malicious neighbor has not returned large tracts of our land. As soldiers, we hate the Japanese and detest deceitful neighbors even more.

The Japanese are mad dogs, openly destructive, while the Russians are hungry wolves, looting in secret.

Luo Zheng had heard stories from his ancestors since childhood and held a poor impression of the Russians. Coldly watching the squad now in the valley, he whispered, "Brothers, prepare for battle."

Everyone whispered in agreement, concealing themselves, checking their weapons and equipment, ready for combat.

"Bang bang bang!" Suddenly, gunfire erupted from the opposite mountainside, and dense bullets were fired at the people in the valley, the bursts shocking.

"Whoosh whoosh!" Two RPG rockets whooshed out, fiercely landing among the valley squad, causing a loud explosion.

The opposite mountainside's ambush was naturally Bloodsucker. Having been repeatedly attacked, they were simmering with anger. Seeing more intruders, they were not courteous, unleashing intensive firepower. Some charged down the valley like tigers descending mountains.

Bloodsucker, ranked fourth in the mercenary world, possesses formidable combat strength, having even defeated two world-class squads. Luo Zheng, leading over ten elite soldiers with a positional advantage, had to retreat following a trap explosion. Furthermore, when attacking in anger, the style became fiercer, and combat effectiveness improved.

The ambushed squad didn't expect such sharp attacks but remained unflustered, decisively retreating while fighting, not on the original path. The original route led up the midsection, causing sluggishness and exposure risk. Luo Zheng saw them retreating along the valley to another side, earning some respect for the Commander, who made a correct decision in such a crisis—his commanding ability was extraordinary.

Everyone raised sniper scopes to observe and found that this squad, instead of panicking, counterattacked during retreat. They moved in pairs, alternately covering, retreating while fighting, with some detouring to attack Bloodsucker's flanks, methodically utilizing their speed advantage.

Bloodsucker calmed down after losing three comrades, no longer attacking blindly, forming an arrowhead assault formation to continue pursuit, immediately reversing the situation. Luo Zheng observed that the squad, without entangling, decisively retreated at high speed.

Luo Zheng counted roughly, noting that the squad also lost two members, leaving eight to retreat quickly, disregarding the fallen comrades' bodies. Bloodsucker howled, continuing the chase relentlessly. Lan Xue whispered, "About fifty pursued them, with the rest retracting to continue defense. Bloodsucker hasn't been toppled and remains calm. What should we do?"

"It's tricky. Let's observe first. Catch up with them, and if possible, eliminate both the chased Bloodsucker and that squad—removing a competitor and an enemy, killing two birds with one stone," Luo Zheng suggested quietly.

"In my opinion, those fifty might not win or may achieve a costly victory with few returning, not worth our concern. I propose we circle behind Bloodsucker's stronghold to familiarize with the terrain," Lan Xue proposed softly.

"Bloodsucker's front faces the valley, sides are also valleys, while the back leans against the mountain range, definitely with defensive forces. Cheng He, what do you think?" Luo Zheng asked, calling Cheng He over.

Cheng He quickly replied, "I escaped from the rear mountain range. Back then, a squad went on patrol with me. A squad permanently stationed at the mountaintop, hidden with three heavy machine gun positions and five Dark Fortresses, but I couldn't check inside the fortresses. There was another patrolling squad."

"One overt, one covert, indeed strict defenses. Two squads equal sixty men," Lan Xue pondered.

"Yes, and they don't seem simple," Cheng He agreed.

"Bloodsucker has about three hundred people, with seventy injured or killed by two Marine squads. We eliminated twenty to thirty. If that squad could eliminate the fifty pursuing, that means nearly half of Bloodsucker's strength is gone, but over a hundred remain. With two squads of sixty defending the crucial mountaintop, it's reasonable to try sneaking around to identify their heavy machine gun positions and Dark Fortress deployments—an opportunity to strike them," Luo Zheng said coldly, full of fighting spirit.