I work as a mercenary in northern Myanmar.

Chapter 564 Reason
Half an hour later.

The fierce battle in Raqqa has ended. The militia led by Suhail launched an attack on the Turkish vanguard outside the city with desperate determination.

Holding AK-47s with worn-out rifling and PKMs with crooked sights, the militiamen rushed towards the enemy whose equipment was far superior to theirs. With only 500 people, they even exerted the momentum of 5000 people.

Their first target was the self-propelled artillery position, whose position had basically not changed. After more than ten rockets were fired at close range, two self-propelled artillery pieces were destroyed, and those that managed to escape were forced to move.

After this attack, the vanguard troops had to withdraw other armored forces that were sweeping the city to provide support, an action that was exactly what Suhail wanted.

After the siege force was weakened, his militia took advantage of their flexibility and quickly merged into the buildings in the city. They began to rely on the complex terrain to block the enemy soldiers who were not familiar with security warfare.

Immediately afterwards, he began to reorganize the remaining forces of the Tiger Corps in the city of Raqqa.

The commander's return undoubtedly injected new vitality into the team that was almost wiped out. When his charging figure appeared in front of everyone, the encouragement he brought was even no less than a high-intensity air support.

Under his leadership, the number of defensive forces in the city miraculously returned to the critical point of "500 people", and the balance of power between the enemy and us immediately tilted towards the defenders.

Of course, these people are far inferior to their enemies in terms of combat proficiency and equipment level.

Therefore, their exchange ratio is still terrible.

Even if they have the advantage of terrain, the defenders often need to expend two to three times the force to destroy an enemy combat group. In most cases, they are even using their lives to consume the enemy's ammunition.

Only the Chaisli mercenaries who served as Suhail's "personal guards" were able to achieve some "equal" results in this chaotic battle.

The battle lasted half an hour, which in a sense was not a long time.

But after both sides had reached their limits, the casualties on the battlefield were quite shocking.

The militia brought by Suhail suffered losses of more than 60%. When the last shot was fired, the number of defenders in the city had fallen back to less than 200.

Suhail finally won the victory, but the price he paid was the lives of hundreds or even thousands of people.

At this time, peace returned to the city of Raqqa.

The enemy retreated outside the city and re-established its defense line in a village 4 kilometers away from Raqqa.

Suhail did not have any troops to continue the pursuit, so he could only retreat into the city, waiting for the coming, real "massive offensive."

In the temporary command center, looking at the Dongfeng Corps mercenaries, who were all injured and numbered no more than 10, and the crude weapons in the hands of his subordinates, Su Haier finally spoke:

"It's meaningless to defend it any longer."

"Our mission has been accomplished. The enemy's first round of attack has been crushed. It's time to retreat."

"The Turkish armored brigade will arrive in half an hour. Within this half hour, we need to make all preparations for evacuation and then evacuate from the south side of the Euphrates River."

"Mr. Yang Shu, I will arrange for people from Chaisli to cover you and let you go first."

"You need to return to Tabka and take over command from Mr. Wreck."

"Of course, if you choose to withdraw from the mission, we will not object, but..."

"Where is the wreck now?"

Yang Shu interrupted Su Haier and asked seriously.

Suhail was silent for a few seconds and replied:

"The last contact was with them, south of Tal Abyad, near the Baleh River."

"They haven't escaped from the enemy's encirclement yet, but they shouldn't be in too much danger."

"We can't find them for now, but they will contact us when it's safe."

After Suhail finished speaking, Yang Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that under the circumstances, it would be impossible for him to ask Suhail to send troops to rescue his captain.

Not having escaped from the encirclement meant that there were still enemy forces active in that area.

But now, the forces that Suhail can mobilize are no longer able to support even any high-intensity battle.

Perhaps, the Dongfeng Corps, which was cut into two parts, can only act independently and hope for the best.

However, Yang Shu was not reconciled to such an outcome.

He turned to look at the jackal waiting on the side, and then asked:
"Are you leaving?"

Hearing Yang Shu's question, the jackal answered without hesitation:

"I'll go with you."

"Let's go. We're not going back to Tabqa, we're going to Tell Abyad."

As soon as he finished speaking, Suhail's brows frowned instantly.

Looking at the determined expressions of the two people opposite him, he asked:
"Do you know what the situation is there?"

"The Turkish troops remaining on the border are at least a thousand strong, and more troops are gathering towards the border."

"They must be going to swallow up the team that sank the ship. The shipwreck caused them too much trouble."

"If it were me, I wouldn't miss this opportunity."

"Believe me, I understand how you feel."

"But instead of rushing over like this recklessly, you'd better return to Tabka and restore our air power as soon as possible."

"If the crisis in Raqqa can be resolved - or at least, if we can use air power to contain the enemy's attack, I can free up some troops to rescue them at the border."

“This is the best option, the safest and the most sensible option.”

"You are mistaken."

Yang Shu interrupted Su Haier again and said:

"The Dongfeng Corps exists because of the shipwreck. If he dies, everything we have will vanish into thin air."

“Your so-called rationality is based on Syria’s interests.”

"But for us, it is only sensible to keep him alive."

"But you may not be able to save them, and you may even get yourself into trouble!"

Su Haier's voice had obviously become a little anxious, but Yang Shu still shook his head.

"If we don't go, the chances of them surviving are 50%."

"If we go over there, the probability could become 70%, or 51%."

"But even if the probability is only increased by 1%, it is enough for us."

"We have to go." "Jackal, get the car ready and leave in 10 minutes."

"As for Tabka, leave it to Ivan."

"Now that the war has reached this point, the Russians should also take on greater responsibility."

On the other side, the Bailih River.

The 12 members of the reconnaissance team were scattered and lurking in the river. Under the dim starlight, even thermal imaging equipment could not detect their whereabouts.

The pursuing Turkish reconnaissance team had left with the main force, but the crisis was not over yet.

In order to address the risk of the Dongfeng Corps' location, the Turkish military left an entire motorized infantry company in the Bailih River area to set up a dragnet and launched a dragnet search.

The vehicles abandoned by the Dongfeng Corps had already been discovered, and the booby traps laid by Chen Chen were not triggered.

It is obvious that there must be professionals in the search team.

They were familiar with the Dongfeng Corps' fighting style and understood the risks involved in the mission. Even in such a pressing situation, their actions always maintained the most basic rules without any trace of confusion.

Such an action obviously compressed the space of the Dongfeng Corps to the extreme. Even if the search team failed to find the specific location of the Dongfeng Corps in a short time, Chen Chen knew that if he did not respond quickly, it would only be a matter of time before he was discovered.

Chen Chen lowered his head and buried his face in the water to wet it. Then, he carefully treaded water and swam towards the shore. It took him a full ten minutes to finally step on the soft river bank.

Following closely behind him, the other team members also went ashore. The outermost team members immediately occupied a relatively high position and set up an observation post. After confirming the movement of the search team, they whispered a "safe" signal on the radio.

After receiving the feedback, Chen Chen raised his hand and made a gathering gesture. A few minutes later, the people who were soaked all over finally gathered together and found a bush with relatively lush vegetation to hide temporarily.

At this time, the search on both sides of the Bailih River was still ongoing. A large number of flashlights were flashing continuously, and from time to time there were voices conveying messages or shouts intended to intimidate. The sounds that came and went blurred Chen Chen's judgment, making it impossible for him to determine the specific location of the search personnel.

The situation is quite complicated, but fortunately, we are safe for the time being.

Chen Chen flipped down the lens of the thermal fusion night vision goggles, carefully observed the circle, and finally spoke:
"The other party doesn't intend to let us go. They should have already completed our identification."

"There must be NATO special forces in this pursuit team. They have no less experience in this area than we do."

"We must determine the follow-up plan as soon as possible. Which direction to go and how to go are all problems."

"The only thing that is certain is that there is no way we can abandon our weapons and disguise ourselves to break out."

"Here, East Asian faces are too conspicuous. No matter where we go, as long as we are discovered, we will definitely be controlled."

"So, we can only make a tactical breakout."

“But whether to go back south towards Raqqa or west towards Aleppo is a real question.”

"How about it? Voting?"

As soon as Chen Chen finished speaking, Li Bang immediately shook his head and said:
"We can't go to Raqqa - the battle there is over. The Tiger Regiment devoured the enemy's vanguard, but was then beaten back to the west bank of the Euphrates by the armored battalion."

"It is now completely Turkish territory, and we went there purely to deliver it."

"As for Aleppo, let alone the possibility of being exposed if we cross the main road, Highway 712, we can't even reach the 180-kilometer distance without using vehicles."

"There are too few supply points in that area, and the government forces' control is too weak. We can't get any support at all, and we are likely to die on the road."

"I think we should go directly east and go to Hasakah first."

"That is ISIS's territory. At least we have the ability to fight flexibly against them."

Hearing Li Bang's words, Chen Chen frowned.

Yes, the two directions I proposed are actually not so perfect.

Withdrawing to Raqqa seems to be a relatively safe strategy, but the problem is that the fighting there is basically over, and it is not the right time and the risk is too high to go there now.

As for reaching Aleppo, it might be possible to bypass the core battle area, but because they no longer had any vehicles, the originally simple task became extremely complicated. There were too many uncontrollable factors, and the success rate was pitifully low.

In comparison, it is more appropriate to head east towards Hasakah.

But the question is, once we reach Hasakah, how will we survive?
This is not Aleppo, nor is it Tabqa.

That is a piece of land where the Syrian government forces cannot project their power. Once they get there, the Dongfeng Corps will be completely cut off from its greatest reliance.

At that time, their only choice would be to continue to lie in wait and wait until Suhail had dealt with the battle in Raqqa Province and then freed up his hands to send troops to rescue.

How long will that take?
One day, two days, or a week or two?
As a pessimist, Chen Chen never dared to overestimate the execution ability of the Syrian government forces, even for Suhail.

In the most extreme cases, they might even be delayed in Raqqa for more than a month.

And after this month, his team would probably have been wiped out.

If you want to survive, you have to fight on that land and use force to survive.
In a trance, Chen Chen even felt that his current situation was somewhat similar to when he just crossed over.

With few soldiers and little food, they were desperate and the only viable route was at the cost of risking their lives.

However, he absolutely had no other choice.

Thinking of this, Chen Chen let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, he spoke:
"We can only go east. There is no other choice."

"We can no longer intervene in the battle in Raqqa. The good news is that Yang Shu should be withdrawn."

“As long as he is here, our presence in Raqqa is not lost.”

"Hold on for a while, he will definitely find a way to support us."

"Organize your equipment and prepare to cross the river in batches."

"Li Bang, you take Group 1 and Group 3 and go first. I will stay behind to provide cover."

"clear."

Without any hesitation, Li Bang quickly organized the team and then led two groups of players back into the water.

This is the flood season for the water systems in Syria, and the water levels of all rivers have reached their highest level, and the Bailih River is no exception.

The river, which was less than 15 meters wide in the dry season, suddenly rose to 50 meters. Fortunately, the Dongfeng Corps was located in the slow-flowing area after the river bend, so it was not difficult to swim across with loads.

Five minutes later, Li Bang had reached the other side of the river.

The two teams quickly dispersed and set up observation posts relying on the dense vegetation on the river bank. After making sure the surrounding environment was safe, Chen Chen also began to cross the river.

Without any surprises, the three teams met on the west side of the Bailih River.

At this time, the enemy's search and capture forces were also gathering on the west coast.

The Dongfeng Corps's escape journey had actually just begun.
(End of this chapter)