Detective: From the Police Academy

Chapter 542 Crossing the Bridge!

At this time, it was already evening.

On NH85, a pickup truck was speeding ahead, with two cars following closely behind.

When Deng Sheng hoisted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder, a companion behind him immediately gave him a thumbs-up and gestured forward.

"Eight hundred meters."

"Too far, we can't hit it accurately," Jiang Feng said.

Luo Rui squinted and estimated the distance; it was indeed a bit far, and the off-road vehicle behind immediately slowed down upon seeing the rocket launcher.

“They don’t have many people. If we don’t fight them, they’ll keep chasing us from behind. Once they send reinforcements, they’ll surround us and kill us.”

After saying that, Luo Rui slammed his hand on the metal partition and shouted to Fang Yonghui inside the car, "Reverse!"

Fang Yonghui was covered in sweat and couldn't hear very clearly. Jiang Feng bent down and shouted into the car, "Back up, back up quickly!"

Fang Yonghui nodded, pulled the control lever, and the pickup truck's wheels rolled over the gravel on the road, then quickly reversed.

By the time the armed personnel behind realized what was happening, the two sides were already close to 600 meters apart.

Immediately, the people in the pickup truck behind them raised their guns and pulled the triggers.

"Da da da da..."

The bullets whistled through the air, but because their aim was so poor, they didn't hit the car at all.

Luo Rui and Jiang Feng immediately lowered their bodies.

But Deng Sheng remained crouched, completely unconcerned that the enemy's bullets might hit him.

When the distance closed to nearly 500 meters, the oncoming bullets struck the rear bumper of the pickup truck.

It made a 'bang bang' metallic sound. Fortunately, a hard stone slab was added to the shield, but even so, bullets still penetrated it.

Two bullets whizzed past Deng Sheng and struck the area above the cockpit, startling Fang Yonghui inside the vehicle.

Deng Sheng remained motionless, his eyes fixed on what lay ahead.

His two companions, one holding his waist and the other holding a cannonball.

As the bullets grew denser, Deng Sheng gritted his teeth and shouted in Burmese, "Die, you all, fuck your mothers!"

He pulled the switch on the rocket launcher.

His body immediately fell backward, and a bullet hit his left shoulder.

"call out!"

The rocket launcher shells roared away with a piercing trail of sound.

"boom!"

A loud explosion rang out from behind, and the ground trembled slightly.

"Stop, stop!"

Luo Rui lay down and pounded on the rear window, trying to get Fang Yonghui to stop the car immediately.

The gunfire stopped immediately after the pickup truck stopped.

Luo Rui and Jiang Feng looked up and saw that the front of the SUV had been smashed, but the windshield was still intact.

There was no one in the pickup truck behind; they must have been hiding inside, too afraid to show their faces.

Deng Sheng raised his head and shouted, "Quick, load the ammunition!"

His left shoulder was bleeding profusely, and a piece of flesh the size of half a fist was missing, along with his clothes.

"I'll do it! You guys stop the bleeding!"

Luo Rui snatched the rocket launcher and quickly loaded it with ammunition.

Fang Yonghui looked back from inside the car and saw Jiang Feng's hand gesture. He quickly stepped on the gas, and the pickup truck slowly reversed.

Luo Rui slung his left shoulder over his shoulder, gritted his teeth, and stood up.

Jiang Feng and another security guard lay prone in front of the rear bumper of the car, holding long guns and pointing them at the rear.

As soon as the people in the SUV got out, Jiang Feng immediately pulled the trigger.

"Da da……"

He only fired two shots, not to hit anyone, but to force them back into their car.

The people in the pickup truck also started to peek out, seeing Luo Rui and his group approaching.

These men immediately lowered their heads, sticking out only the muzzle of their guns, and fired blindly.

"Da da da da..."

Gunshots rang out everywhere, vibrating in our ears.

Because of the angle, the bullets couldn't hit Luo Rui and his group's car at all; they only splashed up clusters of gravel on the concrete road.

When they were almost 400 meters away, Luo Rui finally saw the situation in the pickup truck. There were more than 20 people hiding inside the vehicle, and the people at the back of the truck were all hunched over, with no angle to fire.

Immediately afterwards, Luo Rui pulled the trigger on the rocket launcher.

He shrugged, and the shell traced a beautiful arc in the air before landing in the back of the pickup truck.

The armed men in the vehicle jumped out quickly, but it was too late.

"boom!"

An explosion rang out, thick smoke filled the air, and the pickup truck overturned on its side by the roadside.

Suddenly, the gunfire stopped, and only painful screams could be heard all around.

Without hesitation, Luo Rui squatted down and began loading the last shell.

In an instant, he stood up again and fired a shot at the armed men who were fleeing in panic behind the pickup truck.

"boom!"

Before the thick smoke had completely dissipated, the armed personnel who had just escaped the smoke were once again engulfed in flames.

A flash of light, followed by billowing smoke that obscured them.

Visibly, only one person's arm flew into the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.

The few surviving armed men scrambled backward, even throwing away their cumbersome guns.

Jiang Feng had been an Interpol officer for many years and had seen too many horrific scenes, but today was the first time he had ever witnessed such a bloody scene.

He couldn't help but swallow hard, glancing at Luo Rui, who stood there like a god of death.

Luo Rui tossed the scorching hot rocket launcher into the car, sat down, and weakly patted the rear window.

Fang Yonghui nodded, shifted gears, and the pickup truck sped forward.

Jiang Feng leaned closer and asked, "Are you alright?"

Luo Rui let out a breath and shook his head: "Is the satellite phone here?"

"In that SUV." Jiang Feng gestured with his chin toward the road behind him.

By this time, the smoke on the road had dissipated, leaving behind a mess. The people who had been killed in the explosion lay sprawled on the roadside.

Luo Rui leaned against the partition, his body bouncing with the vehicle.

Deng Sheng's head rested on his companion's lap. He was pale, and although the wound on his shoulder was bound with strips of cloth, blood was gushing out. If he didn't go to the hospital in time, he certainly wouldn't make it.

Deng Sheng blinked with difficulty, looked at Luo Rui, and smiled.

Luo Rui leaned closer, knelt beside him, and held his hand: "Hang in there."

Deng Sheng shook his head and said in broken Chinese, "I'm going to die. I'm sorry I didn't bring you to Myawaddy."

"It was our fault; we shouldn't have rushed over there."

Luo Rui looked at the wound on his shoulder; the bone had been shaved off by the bullet.

However, this was not the fatal wound; the fatal wound was located in his abdomen.

Deng Sheng's companion was pressing his abdomen with his hands, but blood kept gushing out and he couldn't hold it down at all.

Deng Sheng's voice grew weaker and weaker. He licked his lips and asked, "Is your country peaceful?"

Luo Rui nodded: "Peace, everyone is living well."

"I...I'm so envious of you..."

Before he could finish speaking, Deng Sheng lowered his head to one side, but his eyes remained wide open.

Deng Sheng's two companions stared silently at his body, their eyes filled with hatred rather than sadness.

That hatred was like a raging flood.

Luo Rui didn't know what to say to them, he just looked at them, hoping they would say something. After a long while, the two men put Deng Sheng's body down and then collected their guns and ammunition.

Afterwards, one of the dark-skinned men noticed that Luo Rui was watching him, and he smiled, revealing his very white teeth.

He was quite old, in his forties. A younger Burmese man, who looked to be in his twenties, spoke to him in broken Chinese: "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

Luo Rui asked, "What are your names?"

“My name is Ang, and his name is Zhashan. Sir, please rest assured, we will escort you back.”

"I know." Luo Rui nodded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, we've already been paid." Ang smiled, revealing equally white teeth.

At this moment, Jiang Feng took out a cigarette and handed it to them.

The two people accepted it and said thank you.

Luo Rui also got one, and the four of them sat in the truck bed, smoking and looking at both sides of NH85 highway as the pickup truck swayed.

This 197-kilometer-long "death road" connects Pa-an and Myawaddy, with unidentified corpses buried every 0.8 kilometers on average, and landmines buried every kilometer.

This place has the deadliest highway in the world!

Luo Rui watched the road recede into the distance, took the last drag of his cigarette, and flicked the cigarette butt onto the receding road.

------------

Bago River Bridge, coordinates: 17.286°N, 96.436°E.

This place is a strategic choke point connecting Yangon and northern Myanmar, but it is also a "death tollbooth" where the military and government set up checkpoints to extort money.

This is the third bridge in Myanmar, spanning 1.2 kilometers. It is controlled by the Myanmar military and government and is used to block the northward passage of the Karen opposition forces.

Meanwhile, at the bridgehead, roadblocks were set up, behind which were fully armed soldiers who had set up various heavy machine guns to check passing vehicles.

The Bago River below is wide and turbid, its riverbed littered with the skeletons of cars and human corpses.

Residents in northern Myanmar have no way to evacuate to safe areas and usually have to cross the river by swimming. However, the river water contains excessive levels of heavy metals, especially due to the dumping of waste by upstream pesticide processing plants, which has caused severe pollution of the river.

If this river water comes into contact with the skin, even a small wound can cause it to ulcerate.

By this time, it was completely dark, and the other side of the bridge was lined with cars, their headlights on, forming a long dragon in the night.

The two cars that Qian Baishan and his group had brought were in the middle, slowly queuing up, waiting to cross the river.

in the car.

Lin Chen looked nervously at the noisy crowd in front of him, his heart filled with unease.

Qiao Xue's eyes were red, and she remained silent.

Cai Xiaojing, on the other hand, remained the calmest. Along the way, she used a satellite phone to contact people and find help.

Mo Wanqiu is already in Yangon and is gathering manpower, but it will take some time. It's not like having money means you can immediately enter northern Myanmar.

Right now, everyone is worried about Luo Rui and the others' safety.

Five hours had passed. There had been sporadic fighting on their way here, but it was all between KNU and DKBA. On the road, there were civilians fleeing and corpses lying on the ground, unattended.

Qian Baishan sat in the passenger seat, sighed, and said, "Good people are always protected by heaven. President Luo will be fine."

Lin Chen gritted his teeth: "He better be alright."

Cai Xiaojing patted her hand: "Don't worry."

“Captain Cai.” Lin Chen turned around and shook her hand.

Cai Xiaojing could feel that her palms were sweaty.

Qiao Xue gripped the handrail on the roof of the car and looked out the window. Two vans were parked side by side at the bridgehead.

The two dark-skinned men in the driver's seat smiled at Qiao Xue when they saw her looking over.

Qiao Xue turned her head and smelled the pungent odor of gasoline. She quickly closed the back window.

The convoy moved forward slowly. The van was supposed to be the first to be inspected, but it pulled over to the side and waited for Qian Baishan and his group's car to reach the bridgehead.

It was already 10 p.m., and the bridge was full of cars and people, as well as dazzling headlights.

A row of soldiers stood guard at the bridgehead, while an officer led a dozen men, carrying guns and a burlap sack, to inspect vehicles crossing the bridge.

The burlap sack was used to hold money.

That's right, you have to pay to cross the bridge.

A large sign was erected at the bridgehead, displaying the price for crossing the bridge in Burmese, Chinese, and English.

Moreover, the price for crossing the bridge is different; in Burmese, it is written as 50,000 kyats per person.

The Chinese text says "one person / 500 RMB".

The English text says "one person / two hundred dollars".

Clearly, these government armed forces are charging according to international rates, which is quite clever.

What are the consequences of refusing to pay and forcing your way in?
These people had demonstrated this a few hours earlier: a civilian was pinned against the bridge railing, head down, with a pistol pressed against his temple, the trigger pulled.

"boom!"

His head was pierced by a bullet, and his blood flowed into the Bago River below. His body remained slumped over the bridge railing, serving as a warning to vehicles and people trying to cross the bridge.

The corpse was right behind the sign, and the intimidating presence made everyone crossing the bridge tremble with fear.

Lin Chen stared at the corpse, his emotions unable to calm down for a long time.

"Is this something a regular army would do? How the hell is this any different from KNU and DKBA?"

"Shh!" Chachai, who was driving, quickly told her to be quiet and not to talk nonsense in case the soldiers outside heard.

It should be noted that these people can understand some Chinese and English.

The pickup truck in front also belongs to them and is being inspected by government troops.

Two soldiers were inspecting the vehicle with instruments. Before they even crossed the bridge, Qian Baishan and his men had already thrown their weapons and ammunition into the Bago River.

Finding no problems, an officer came over with four soldiers and began inspecting the off-road vehicle that Qian Baishan and his men were traveling in.

Of all the passing vehicles, theirs was the best, and it was even armored, so the leading officer's face broke into a smile as bright as a chrysanthemum.

"Good evening, sir."

Chachai, sitting behind the steering wheel, rolled down the car window and greeted them.

The officer glanced at the people in the car and, seeing that they were all Chinese, narrowed his eyes slightly.

Chatchai quickly took out a cigarette case he had prepared beforehand and handed it over, giving US dollars.

There were two cars, one in front and one behind, with a total of ten people, which cost five thousand yuan.

The officer took the cigarette box, opened it, and immediately knew the price by flicking it with his thumb.

He pointed to the sign next to him and said in Chinese, “You’re paying in US dollars, two hundred dollars per person, two thousand dollars. Your money isn’t enough.”

That would add more than a lifetime to the equation. Qian Baishan, sitting in the passenger seat, had been holding his breath, wanting to retort.

Cai Xiaojing immediately said, "Here, give me the money, don't waste any time."

Chachai nodded and finished the rest, but he couldn't hand it directly to the officer. He took out a cigarette case, emptied the cigarettes, and then stuffed the US dollars into it haphazardly.

He then smiled and handed it to the officer outside the car.

The officer nodded with a broad smile as he looked at the amount of money the officer had slipped him.

He patted the roof of the car and waved forward, and the railing was lifted up.

The pickup truck ahead sped onto the bridge, and Chatchai quickly stepped on the gas.

After passing through the gate, Qian Baishan cursed, "What the hell... what a piece of crap is this place!"

Chachai sighed and shook his head. As a Burmese, he was filled with anger, but he couldn't utter a single word.

They had only driven halfway when a commotion suddenly broke out behind them.

Qian Baishan and Cai Xiaojing quickly stuck their heads out of the car window and looked back.

Just then, the two vans that Qiao Xue had noticed earlier suddenly rushed towards the gate during the inspection.

The armed personnel conducting the inspection hadn't even had time to react.

The car door suddenly opened, and the people in the driver's seat quickly ran backward.

"boom!"

In the blink of an eye, flames erupted everywhere, and the earth shook violently.

Immediately afterwards, KNU militants emerged one after another from the dense forest on the other side of the bridge, swarming onto the bridge like locusts...

(End of this chapter)