The militia at the back could not see what was in front of them, so they did not have any worries. They just had to follow the main force. As for where they were being led to, they did not know and did not want to know.
Huang Quan ordered the artillery team behind him, and two 57mm Recoilless Cannons ran to Huang Quan and set up a position.
"Mobile Cannons … Come to me …"
The militia at the front could feel the cruelty and desperation of the battlefield more clearly. In front of them, flames soared to the sky, and the sounds of explosions were unceasing. The HMG bullets formed a chain of light that blasted the ground into a sea of dust. Countless Mutated Shrimp corpses were stuck between the pillars of earth. Then, the chain of light extended forward, and over a hundred people shouted as they charged forward, smashing the Mutated Shrimp that dodged the HMG bullets to the ground. The members pulled the line of soldiers and jogged behind them. The crisp sounds of rifles could be heard from time to time, and the Mutated Shrimp twitched on the ground.
The massacre in front of them began once again, but this time, the militia were even more careful. They paid attention to their feet and did not dare to make any mistakes of underestimating the enemy. The dead militia laid on the ground with lifeless eyes. Fresh blood flowed out from his chest, and every foot that passed by him did not stop for even a moment.
The HMG exceeded Zhang Xiaoqiang's expectations. Previously, he did not think of the HMG as a cover. Those things were too heavy, and he had to set up a position in advance. When he turned his head, he saw that there were five people operating each HMG. Three of them were lying on the ground, and one of them was holding onto a leg of the HMG to prevent it from jumping. One person was in charge of shooting, and one person was in charge of reloading. The five of them could move the Type-89 HMG anywhere in the shortest amount of time.
Suddenly, a muffled sound came from the flashing red light in front of them, and a wave of water soared into the sky. Amidst the flames from the other explosions, the people could see the rugged rocky shore of the river in the distance. A roar came from the crowd, followed by everyone's roars. They were finally only one step away from the river.
While the people in front were charging, Huang Quan did not stay idle. He directed the HMG to constantly change positions, and from time to time, he would raise his binoculars to look at the situation in front of him. Through the binoculars, he saw that the place where the mortar first exploded had ignited many Mutated Shrimps. Without the support of the Mutated Shrimps, Zhang Xiaoqiang and the rest had to face the Mutated Shrimps in front of them.
When the militia at the back came forward and saw the corpse on the ground, they all cried out in alarm. This was the first corpse they saw, and it was the corpse of their comrade. Many of them knew the militia lying on the ground, but they didn't expect that he would die here. A few militia who were familiar with him couldn't help but come forward, wanting to collect his body.
Everyone moved forward in silence. From time to time, they would stop and wait for the heavy firepower to penetrate the passage in front of them. Then, the White Blade unit would go forward to fight. Only when there were no more Mutated Shrimps would they continue to move forward. At this time, Huang Quan had delegated the responsibility to a squad leader who was in charge of heavy firepower. He personally commanded a few militia leaders to make sure that no one would be left behind.
"Tat tat …" The roar of the HMG sounded behind Zhang Xiaoqiang. The concentrated bullets set off a storm in the Mutated Shrimps' shells. Countless Mutated Shrimps' limbs flew into the air and flew in all directions.
Right at this time, a blood-curdling scream sounded out. A militia who had been cheering with his rifle raised high fell to the ground. He hugged his left leg and screamed in pain. Beside him, one of his broken legs was caught by a Mutated Shrimp. The Mutated Shrimp was in the midst of feeding on the broken leg. The militia immediately rolled onto the shell of the Mutated Shrimp and struck out with its pincers. The pincers were extended to their limits and closed on the militia's chest. A huge gash appeared on the militia's chest and abdomen. As blood and organs flowed out, the militia immediately stopped breathing.
At that moment, everyone fell silent and stared quietly at the Mutated Shrimp that was drinking human blood and eating human flesh. In the next moment, a javelin flew over and pierced through the shell of the Mutated Shrimp, nailing it to the ground. It was Zhang Xiaoqiang's Beast Horn Spear. Zhang Xiaoqiang ran to the side of the Mutated Shrimp and pulled out the Beast Horn Spear. He pointed at the stunned people and shouted: "Continue forward …"
In this direction, all the Mutated Shrimps that were hiding in the dark were exposed. With Zhang Xiaoqiang, Yang Ke-er and Yuan Yi as the spearhead, the whole team advanced quickly. It was as though they were not trying to break out of the encirclement, but to counterattack. One by one, the dead Mutated Shrimps were scattered all over the place.
"What are you doing … … Ignore him … … Continue forward … …"
Countless pairs of huge feet walked past the dead Mutated Shrimps. Not far away, there was a raging fire, and the air was filled with the smell of smoke and fire. No one was willing to look at the dead Mutated Shrimps at their feet. They only focused on rushing forward. Beside them, there were only the crackling sounds of the fire and explosions, as well as the sounds of fighting coming from the front.
Not all the Mutated Shrimps would be killed in one hit. Many Mutated Shrimps were still in one piece, waving their pincers, warning those around them not to get close to them. While they were waving their pincers, they were also retreating to the side, trying to hide themselves in the darkness.
Every time this happened, there would be a few bayonets stabbing at it, and its abdomen would be pierced. After the bayonets were pulled out, the sound of footsteps could be heard again, leaving the heavily injured Mutated Shrimp lying on the ground, struggling helplessly.
Huang Quan pointed at the space in front of them that was engulfed by darkness. He wanted to ignite everything in front of him and clear the obstacles for Zhang Xiaoqiang.
They advanced together with the heavy firepower team. The number of people in the heavy firepower team was doubled, all for the sake of moving and firing faster. In fact, they were the most nervous people apart from the militia, and they were also the most fatigued group. They had to calculate the trajectory of the bullets at all times, deeply afraid that they would accidentally hit their own people in front of them. Sometimes, they had to be careful not to let go of a larger group of Mutated Shrimps. Every member of the team who operated the firing was mentally and physically exhausted.
When the hundreds of people were organized and carried out the combat mission step by step, the Mutated Shrimps that were chasing them everywhere seemed to be easier to deal with. Zhang Xiaoqiang led his team of a hundred people and charged forward. Every few tens of meters, he would throw more than ten Molotov cocktails behind him, expanding the illumination area as much as possible.
This time, Zhang Xiaoqiang's confidence soared. He shouted loudly and charged together with Yang Ke-er and the others. Behind him, hundreds of men also charged forward. They held their guns upside down like they were playing hockey, knocking over the Mutated Shrimps on the ground and sending them flying. Following behind them, the members of the militia would occasionally spit out flames, sending bullets into the stomachs of the Mutated Shrimps that were flipped over on the ground. An Mei and the militia cooperated with them. One was responsible for knocking over the Mutated Shrimps, and the other relied on accurate marksmanship to kill the Mutated Shrimps.
"Keep shooting forward … as far as you can, keep shooting until we reach the riverside …"
Mutated Shrimps were very fierce, but once they were alone, they became no threat at all. Any random person could kill them with a sharpened wooden stick. However, once they gathered in a group, they were like an army of ants in the desert, sweeping away everything in their path.