Chapter 1003: Battle Against Helicopters on the Sea

He Yuzhu lit a cigarette and looked at the corpses lying in disarray on the ground, his heart full of frustration.

The diamonds he had just recovered hadn't even been warmed up yet, and in just two short days, they had been completely depleted.

The short, stout middle-aged man and Vice President Sun Bing hurried toward him.

As soon as Sun Bing arrived, he swept his gaze over the scattered corpses on the ground, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

He never imagined that He Yuzhu would be this formidable; in just a few dozen seconds, more than thirty militants had all been killed.

The short, stout middle-aged man, however, had been mentally prepared; he squatted down to check the uniforms on the dead one by one, then looked up and said, "Mr. Zhou, the clothes on these people are different from the group we encountered earlier."

He Yuzhu smiled faintly: "They claim to be the Commander's personal guards. Tell the brothers to strip off all the uniforms and keep them; if we happen to run into a large enemy force on the road, we might be able to use them to bluff our way through."

The short, stout middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, so excited that his speech was a bit stuttered: "Okay, okay, no problem! I'll have people handle it right away; while the blood hasn't dried yet, we'll scrub them clean."

He Yuzhu turned to look at Sun Bing: "Vice President Sun, I'm going to scout near the pier to find a usable boat. You take the men to clear the battlefield and bury all the corpses on the spot."

Sun Bing hurriedly agreed and immediately called for men to deal with the aftermath.

He Yuzhu walked a few miles away alone, confirmed there was no one around, and took the Modified Patrol Boat directly out of his space and into the sea.

He waited quietly for half an hour, estimating the time was right, then started the engine and drove the boat toward the shore with a chugging sound.

The people on the shore saw the boat approaching from the sea in the distance, felt a shock in their hearts, and hurriedly crouched down to hide in the crevices of the reefs.

He Yuzhu shouted at the top of his lungs: "Hurry up and move all the usable supplies from the truck onto the boat!"

The short, stout middle-aged man took the lead, carrying a Stinger Missile as he ran to the beach, while the others followed, carrying guns and ammunition.

The short, stout middle-aged man was the first to swim to the boat, already wearing the captured Youth Party uniform.

He Yuzhu was amused and said: "In a moment, I'll teach you how to use this Stinger Missile!"

"Good, I've always wanted to learn, but I was too embarrassed to ask," the short, stout middle-aged man said, rubbing his hands.

He Yuzhu explained it to him briefly for a moment, and he roughly grasped the operating method.

"This thing is actually quite easy to use, and they are all single-use," the short, stout middle-aged man remarked.

Seeing that he was willing to study it, He Yuzhu immediately said: "This side is the throttle, and this is the rudder; you help me hold the rudder steady first."

The short, stout middle-aged man asked curiously: "I've always heard that it takes six or seven people to sail a boat of over three hundred tons; how can this boat be operated by just one person?"

He Yuzhu smiled: "Lao Ma, this boat can be considered a treasure I picked up; it was modified long ago. Two or three people can sail it normally, but it's hard for one person to control it for long, and it still requires someone to continuously observe the course..."

The salty, humid, and hot sea breeze blew in his face. Seeing everyone boarding the boat one after another, the short, stout middle-aged man asked: "Are we just going to sail away directly?"

He Yuzhu waved his hand: "I still have a backpack I didn't take; I'll be right back."

As soon as he finished speaking, he jumped onto the shore.

The short, stout middle-aged man followed his instructions and gripped the steering wheel, firmly stabilizing the patrol boat floating on the sea.

Several people from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce gathered in the cabin, chatting in low voices.

A young man wearing glasses remarked: "Mr. Zhou is too amazing; he can just get a boat whenever he wants one."

Sun Bing chimed in: "Isn't that right? Whenever Mr. Zhou wants to find a boat, he can find one immediately!"

The short, stout middle-aged man added: "Who's to say otherwise! And the boat he found doesn't even need a large crew to sail."

"Really? That's just too amazing!" the young man with glasses exclaimed.

He Yuzhu boarded the shore, drove the truck behind a small hill, and put it directly into his space. He couldn't bear to leave this Bulletproof Truck behind.

Once everything was settled, he put on his backpack and waded into the water to board the boat.

Seeing him return, the short, stout middle-aged man reminded him in a low voice: "This sea area likely has enemy patrol forces; are we going to sail along the coastline, or head directly into the open sea?"

"I don't think there's much difference; let's go along the coastline!" He Yuzhu said.

"The coastline might be quite troublesome; this sea area isn't just the territory of the Youth Party Army, there are also the armed forces of the Temporary Government and the Muslim Party!" Sun Bing said with deep concern.

He Yuzhu shook his head: "This boat was originally an M Country standard patrol boat; ordinary armed factions generally wouldn't dare to rashly intercept it."

After saying this, he steered the boat at full speed toward Mogadishu.

The ink-blue sea surface surged with fine waves under the moonlight; the tropical late night remained sultry, and the salty, humid wind and waves constantly lashed at everyone.

The Modified Patrol Boat's engine roared continuously, cutting through the heavy night as it sped forward.

The first four hours of the voyage were quite peaceful, and the only things encountered along the way were sporadic small fishing boats out at sea.

As dawn approached, the eastern horizon turned a faint fish-belly white, and suddenly, a dull roar of rotors came from the sky above the coastline; two Soviet-made Mi-8 Helicopters rushed out, flying low over the wave crests.

He Yuzhu immediately extinguished all the lights on the boat, but it was a step too late; the two helicopters had already locked onto the patrol boat and were heading straight toward them, closing in rapidly.

The onboard loudspeaker blared in a hoarse and harsh Somali language, ordering the boat to stop and accept an inspection over and over again.

Sun Bing's face tightened, and he hurriedly explained: "Mr. Zhou, they are demanding that we stop the boat!"

He Yuzhu picked up the boat's loudspeaker and, in authentic and fluent English, stated a fake identity, claiming that the boat belonged to the Black Stone Group and hoping the other party would let them pass.

But the two helicopters ignored him completely and continued to close in; the militants at the cabin doors were already prepared to fast-rope and board the boat.

Sun Bing was so scared his face turned pale, and he asked urgently: "They aren't letting us stop immediately, Mr. Zhou, what should we do now?"

He Yuzhu took the Sniper Rifle from his backpack, quickly loaded it with bullets, stared coldly at the two approaching helicopters, and said in a deep voice: "The other side has murderous intent; we can't hide from this, we can only act to shoot them down. It's just that they have two aircraft, and we only have one Stinger Missile left. You are responsible for dealing with one, and I will use the sniper rifle to kill the pilot of the other."

The short, stout middle-aged man hurriedly interjected: "But I've never fired this thing before; I'm not confident!"

"This is an infrared-guided missile; it doesn't require much operational experience."

"But I'm still very nervous!"

"There's no time to adjust your mindset!" He Yuzhu handed the rudder handle to Sun Bing and passed the Stinger Missile to Lao Ma.

At this moment, the two Mi-8s had closed in to effective range.

Gunners leaned out from the cabin doors on both sides of the helicopters, and a hail of bullets poured down, landing in the sea around the patrol boat.

Several bullets even struck the steel plating of the boat, sparking strings of blinding fire.

He Yuzhu hid in the boat's gun turret, raised his sniper rifle, and aimed at the cockpit of the helicopter closest to them.

"Bang!"

With the sound of a gunshot, the bullet struck the pilot square in the head.

The helicopter instantly lost control, careening crookedly toward the sea.

On the other side, the short, stout middle-aged man shouldered the Stinger Missile, his body unable to stop trembling slightly. He repeatedly used the sight to search for the target, failing to complete the lock-on for a long time.

Seeing the militants inside the cabin of the other Mi-8 Helicopter continuing to operate the Machine Gun, firing wildly at the patrol boat.

He Yuzhu raised his gun again, and with a bang, he blew the head off that machine gunner. He shouted loudly: "Lao Ma, what are you standing there for? Fire immediately!"

The short, stout middle-aged man finally steadied his mind and searched for the helicopter in the sky through the sight.

Before long, a continuous humming sound came from the infrared seeker, indicating the target had been successfully locked.

He immediately pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh!"

A dazzling trail streaked across the gray dawn sky, flying straight toward the helicopter!

"Boom!"

Rolling black smoke poured from the tail of the Mi-8 Helicopter, and the pilot was still attempting to control the aircraft to escape.

He Yuzhu quickly raised his gun again; with a gunshot, the helicopter pilot was struck and killed, the aircraft instantly lost its direction and smashed heavily into the sea.