Chapter 1058: Testing Small Drones

More than five thousand Burmese Army soldiers were in a complete mess on the mountain road; shouts, footsteps, and the clashing of firearms were all jumbled together.

Colonel Dannai, who was leading this troop, was an old hand—a veteran officer in the Burmese Army who had spent years in the mountains of northern Burma suppressing local armed forces; what kind of dangerous situation hadn't he seen?

He immediately drew his sidearm, fired three shots into the air, and roared at the top of his lungs: "Everyone stay steady for me! What are you panicking about? The more you panic, the faster you die! Combat engineers, move up and clear the mines immediately, clear the road for me, we are retreating!"

This shout was actually effective, and the chaotic troop quieted down quite a bit.

The soldiers also understood that running around blindly on this pitch-black mountain road was purely looking for death.

The First Team of engineers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Tun Jue, took off running toward the front.

The night in the mountains was so dark you couldn't see your own fingers; the work of clearing mines was already tricky, but fortunately, this group of engineers had been doing this for years and was quite skilled, inching forward with the faint light from their headlamps.

However, the mines He Yuzhu had buried were full of variety—there were pressure-triggered ones, tripwire ones, and sub-munition mines, making them impossible to guard against.

Before long, "Boom—boom—" several muffled explosions went off in succession, flashes of fire erupted, and over a dozen engineers fell into pools of blood on the spot.

The remaining engineers were so scared their faces turned pale, their hands holding the mine detectors trembling, but Lieutenant Colonel Tun Jue's military orders were as firm as a mountain; no one dared to take a step back, so they could only grit their teeth and continue clearing the way with red eyes.

After struggling for a full three hours, the landmines were finally cleared.

Colonel Dannai brought the troop up and, seeing Tun Jue, asked aggressively: "Tun Jue, what is going on with you? Clearing mines has never been this difficult before!"

Lieutenant Colonel Tun Jue looked helpless and reported with a bitter smile: "Colonel, I really need to talk to you about this. The people who buried these mines are too ruthless; they didn't even disturb the surface soil, just shoved the mines deep underground. They buried them densely and viciously, and they were all sub-munition mines. Over a dozen of our brothers are just gone like that..."

Colonel Dannai widened his eyes, unable to believe it: "How is this possible? What kind of person has this ability?"

Lieutenant Colonel Tun Jue shook his head, his tone revealing a hint of dread: "It's not just here; the mines that blew up the tanks were buried in exactly the same way. Colonel, do you think this is something an ordinary person could do?"

Dannai was silent for a while, and only after a long time did he spit out: "It seems this war cannot be fought."

As soon as he finished speaking, a signalman came crawling over, panting as he shouted: "Colonel, it's bad! The ammunition on the supply trucks is all gone; not a single bullet is left!"

"What?" Dannai's expression changed abruptly.

The signalman looked miserable and continued: "Not just the ammunition, most of our heavy artillery is missing too..."

Dannai grabbed him by the collar: "Bullshit! The artillery was behind the tanks. Even if Milai's men were god-like, could they move the artillery right under our noses?"

The signalman was so scared he stuttered: "C-Colonel, that's the strange part... The brothers are all terrified, saying we provoked the vengeful spirits in the mountains, saying they came to claim our lives! Colonel, let's retreat quickly; if we don't, the troop will collapse!"

Dannai gritted his teeth and finally waved his hand: "Abandon all heavy weapons! Retreat with light gear, back to the main camp!"

At this very moment, He Yuzhu was standing behind a large rock on the mountain, watching the chaotic scene below with cold eyes. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth as he muttered to himself: "I'll let you off easy tonight, but you still need to learn a lesson."

He walked on the mountain top as if it were flat ground and soon found a pass out of the mountains, where he planted a full five tons of explosives on the cliff.

When these remnants fled in a panic to the foot of that mountain ridge, He Yuzhu pressed the remote control button.

"Boom!" With a heaven-shattering roar, half of the cliff collapsed directly, and rubble poured down like a rainstorm.

Of the troop of over five thousand, nearly half were buried in the pile of rubble; screams and wails mixed together, and the mountain road was a scene of utter devastation.

Colonel Dannai was lucky; his Jeep had just rushed past that ridge when the cliff exploded.

With red eyes, he urged the driver to floor the gas pedal, and the Jeep almost seemed to fly. The driver was also a ruthless character; when turning, the wheels almost grazed the edge of the cliff—it was extremely dangerous.

He Yuzhu took advantage of the chaos to blend into the routed army, covered in blood, and huddled in the corner of a truck; no one gave him a second look.

The night was deep, and after running for about four hours, the remnants finally made it back to a main camp of the Government Army.

This place was garrisoned by over twenty thousand people, with barracks in rows and artillery and tanks lined up neatly; at first glance, it looked quite intimidating.

This base was currently serving as a transit point for the offensive into Shan State; wounded soldiers from the front were being brought back by the truckload, with the lightly wounded returning to their units after treatment and the severely wounded waiting for discharge notices to be sent home.

He Yuzhu followed the convoy into the camp gate before dawn had fully broken.

Taking advantage of the chaos, he directly tucked the groggy guys in the same truck bed into his space and nimbly jumped off the vehicle.

He didn't intend to stay idle and soon sneaked into the warehouse.

There wasn't much ammunition inside, likely because a batch had just been sent to the front, but grain was piled up like a small mountain, with bags of white Thai jasmine rice stacked high.

He Yuzhu didn't stand on ceremony at all; with a wave of his hand, not even a single grain of rice was left, and it was all collected into his space.

Soon, taking advantage of the pre-dawn silence, he quietly planted explosives in several vital areas of the camp.

"Boom—boom—" Several loud explosions followed one after another, fire soared into the sky, and the entire camp instantly boiled over; people shouted, horses neighed, whistles blew, and soldiers ran around like headless flies everywhere.

He Yuzhu didn't stay any longer, slipped out of the military camp during the chaos, and released his off-road vehicle from his space.

He wasn't in a hurry to head back; he took a nap in the car to recharge his energy before driving back to Qinghe Pass.

By the time he returned, Milai's six thousand militiamen had already switched to American equipment and gone to the front.

The Government Army's main camp had been bombed, their supplies were destroyed, and coupled with the rumors spreading like wildfire that they had "provoked the mountain spirits," the morale of the army had completely collapsed.

Those rumors weren't groundless—after all, an entire arsenal had been emptied overnight without a trace, and those heavy weapons had also vanished into thin air; who wouldn't panic?

The entire front line of the Government Army collapsed overnight, and Milai was a master at seizing opportunities; without a word, he pushed all his newly armed militiamen forward, pursuing the victory and chasing the Government Army until they threw away their armor and abandoned their weapons, reclaiming all the previously occupied territory in one go.

On the third day after He Yuzhu returned to Qinghe Pass, Milai arrived, dusty and tired.

Upon meeting, Milai's face was full of smiles, and that smile revealed a hint of shrewdness: "Big Brother, without you, I, Milai, would definitely not be where I am today. I've poured all my assets into the army; I really have nothing worthy to thank you with... However, I do have a piece of news: in the Government Army's bank in Yangon, there is a large stash of raw jadeite, all top-tier material, much better than anything in my mines. If you are interested, Big Brother, I can take you there. I also heard they have at least ten tons of gold in their vault, just sitting there gathering dust."

He Yuzhu nodded, his tone flat but sincere: "Brother, your territory hasn't fully stabilized yet; taking this opportunity to bring everyone who is unconvinced to heel is the real priority. You telling me this news is already very kind of you."

Milai was a smart man and understood immediately.

The smile on his face faded, and his tone carried a hint of reluctance: "Big Brother... are you leaving?"

He Yuzhu didn't beat around the bush and nodded: "The trouble on your end is resolved, so it's time for me to move on."

Milai's eyes suddenly turned a bit red, and whether it was acting or genuine emotion, his voice was slightly strained: "Big Brother, you must come visit me often. You know how it is here; warlords fight back and forth like a revolving door. The Government Army has run away now, but they'll surely come back next year or the year after. When my mine produces good material, I'll call you, and you must come over to take a look."

How could He Yuzhu not understand his intentions? To put it plainly, he wanted a long-term supply of arms.

He didn't expose him and said with a chuckle: "I've actually come up with some new gadgets recently; you can try them out in battle."

Milai's eyes lit up immediately, and he leaned in to ask: "What is it? Tell me, Big Brother!"

He Yuzhu slowly spat out three words: "Suicide Drone."

Milai was stunned, clearly not having thought in that direction, and asked hesitantly: "I've heard that M Country has Predator Drones, but those things are huge and very expensive! I'm afraid I can't afford them."

He Yuzhu waved his hand: "The ones we made are only the size of a schoolbag and very cheap. They only cost ten or twenty thousand US dollars each. You fly them over by remote control, and you can send a tank straight to heaven..."

The reason he mentioned this to Milai was that he had already tinkered with this simplified version of the suicide drone in the Laboratory and had already handed it over to Liu Suman's Electronics Factory for mass production.

After hearing He Yuzhu's introduction, Milai slammed her hand on the table, her voice changing pitch with excitement: "Big Brother! I want this thing!"