Chapter 270: Blood and Sand (4)

Three hours after lunch, Naman and his team occupied a hill 200 meters higher than the Durain Plain.
From here he can see everything from the barren land in the south to the horizon. There are no roads or villages on the barren land. The gravel is scattered on the plains like it was there. It is said that in the prehistoric period, this silence under their feet Ten thousand years of volcanoes once erupted and reshaped the entire Aksum.
Lifting the binoculars in front of his eyes, he glanced left and right, looking for signs of Oak.
He didn't see anything green, but he did find smoke rising a few kilometers south.
He adjusted the telescope and looked at the reading-2.5 kilometers, too far from his squad.
Naman sighed and returned the telescope to his waist, then he waved to the team members.
"Continue to patrol south."
He said this to them when he came down from the top of the mountain.
"Shall we not go to Jimma City, sir?"
Ranger Tedice asked. The people around him had the same thoughts as him. They had been walking in the wilderness for a week, and they all wanted to have a rest.
And according to some latest rumors, that place was attacked by Ok, but there is no definitive evidence, or that no living person can elaborate on this matter.
In Naman's view, this is a very dangerous signal.
"No, for the time being, let's investigate around the rim of Jima."
As they walked down the briskly, Naman felt that another opportunity for'teaching' was coming.
At sunset, Naman and his squad had moved somewhere south of the ten-kilometer patrol.
As the light gradually dimmed, Naman marked a point on the map, which was where they finally settled, and the scouts set up an observation post on a bare rock.
The two soldiers were guarding around. On the leeward side of the rock, Naman and the squad members began to enjoy dinner-cold and rough dry bread.
The gradual sound of horseshoes broke the silent darkness before midnight. Riders relied on the moonlight to walk through the night. When they approached from the south, Naman first discovered the smoke that the horseshoe kicked on the ground.
He greeted the others, and then blew the whistle used by the Rangers to communicate. The sound was in the ears of ignorant people. It was just the sound of a bird, but it sounded a lot to the Rangers.
The team ran directly into the meeting point behind the rock without any greetings, and started feeding their four-footed partners before Naman passed.
"Aquia, you drunk, shouldn't you go to Wenji?"
"The chief contacted me a few days ago and brought some terrible news."
Aquiat, the captain of another Ranger, said in his usual opening remarks.
"We have lost contact with three patrols, and one geological survey team has completely lost the news. Jimma City has confirmed that it was attacked by Ok, but the scale is unknown. The current situation of the city is also mysterious, but honestly I have A very bad feeling."
"No report does not mean that our brothers are dead."
Naman said and tried hard to digest this melancholic message.
"Jima City has walls, and those things are good for Oak, they are stupid, their hands are longer than their feet, and they can't climb."
"possible……"
Aquia said to turn his eyes to the south.
"The commander analyzed the patrol route and thought that the Oak forces were about thirty kilometers southeast of us. The order I received was to investigate this potential location and try to establish contact with the village of Zun in that area. To confirm the presence and military strength of the enemy."
"This is just an obvious possibility, but... we still need to be cautious. Usually, it is difficult to predict Ouke. Given that these green skins seem to have no reliable leaders, they can wander in the wilderness at will. North Mobile may only be a general trend, not an intentional mass invasion."
"So, our two teams work together to maintain a distance of less than one kilometer and are always ready to support."
"Agreed, then we simply head straight to Jimma City to see what happened."
When Acquiah returned to the middle of the team to announce the plan, Naman also assembled his squad members. When Naman re-mounted his horse a few minutes later, another team of Rangers had already started south.
"We have a new goal."
He said to the scouts who were checking weapons:
"There is no time to rest. We are going southeast and marching at night! From now on, the south is considered a hostile territory. If you see anything, I say anything, something unusual, immediately signal to the team, at You have to stop and hide before I carry out the threat assessment."
Naman walked from the end of the team to the front on a horse, using his decisive action to emphasize his commands.
"Keep quiet, pay attention to the area you are responsible for and believe that other team members will also take care of them. No one can fire without my order. We will travel without lighting, so pay attention to your feet!"
Then, he slowed down and asked his deputy a few words.
"If I fall, you will take them out of any contact with the enemy immediately while keeping yourself safe! You are going to return to Harar and report to our regiment there. At present we may have lost some Squad... There are no assets to protect or civilians to rescue. This is a reconnaissance mission. If we encounter tenacious resistance, we must retreat no matter what information we have! This is very important. I mean to say It’s important that the commander needs as much information about the activities of the Oak as possible in this area for the next strategic planning, and the only way for him to obtain this information is that you are still alive."
The long-time partner's deputy nodded to understand, while others looked anxious.
Naman put his hand on the shoulders of the two young members of the team.
"These orders are for caution."
He told them with a long heart.
"I have been a Ranger for 15 years and have experienced two Aswan offensive and defensive battles. I did not get the rank of Sergeant in order to kill myself."
The scouts were amused by the poor joke, but when Naman waved them to start moving forward, they became serious again.
When they started to march forward, Naman remained at the rear of the team, looking at the deep earth in the southern night, breathing the cold air, leaving anxiety and worry to himself.
"Cool!"
Grak bit off the bone in his mouth and cleared the last piece of shredded meat. The meat tasted no longer so resistant to him. The blood and slaughter were enough to fill his stomach.
The rich harvest in Jimma City made him feel happy. Among them, the material acquisition only accounted for a small part, more from the plasma splatter, the moment the head flew, the flame ignited in his body.
So, even though the two guys behind have been talking to him, talking about actions and strategies, but he never stopped to wait for each other. He is Grak, he only listens to Guk. , Guk asked him to chop shrimps, then he went, as to what other guys want to do, he is not interested at all.
It has been five days since the complete destruction of Jima. On the way, he leveled several small villages. Due to the drought and poor land in the south of Aksum, the population density is much lower than that in the north. Basically, it is some small villages of Zun and The herdsmen.
Grak didn't want to spend too much time in such a ghost place. He knew that only by following the railway on the ground could he find what he wanted.
"Boss!"
A noisy guy interrupted his cranky thoughts~EbookFREE.me~Grak glanced angrily and saw that the leader of the drag racing in the legion was "one rib" bald.
This guy in a red jacket, a motorcycle squad under his hand, and an unknown number of cavalrymen. He himself drove a heavy motorcycle named [Gong Nose]. As for his nickname, it was said that he had been racing before When I accidentally bumped into a garbage dump, a piece of steel was inserted into the body, and it has not been taken out yet, so everyone called him a rib.
"Zah!"
"The boys said, there is shrimp coming to us!"
"How many!"
"Ten... a dozen?"
"roll!"
Grak slaps the other side.
"Let's talk about this kind of broken thing again next time, and I will jump your head!"
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