Simulation Game: Crisis Management

Chapter 439 206: Sudden Shootout (Part 2)

"Captain Miliburn, Captain? Did you bring a drone?" Gu Ji approached from behind.

Upon hearing the commotion, Miliburn hurriedly turned around, covered in splattered blood, his tactical gloves smeared with slippery blood plasma: "Why did you come down here? Damn, I should have listened to your warning earlier. Who knows if there are explosives left in the car."

"It's okay, you kept a safe enough distance. The officer's injury isn't serious."

Gu Ji glanced at the officer being dragged away and then pointed at the mountainous area ahead: "Captain Miliburn, I suspect the drug traffickers' decoys run as soon as they see us, likely to lead us elsewhere. Once the traffickers capture the passengers, they wouldn't keep sticking to dirt roads; they'd definitely switch to a state highway. I suspect they're not far from here, and if we had a drone, we could sweep the forest area!"

"Seth! Seth!"

Miliburn raised an eyebrow, not replying verbally but instead calling to his teammates, "Use the drone to scout the forest ahead immediately!"

"Yes!"

At the back of the convoy, an arm extended to place a drone on the car roof. With a bee-like whirring sound, a small black police drone swiftly ascended into the sky, heading toward the mountains and forest in the southwest.

"Command Center! Command Center! Found drug traffickers during the search, intense firefight on site, four traffickers dead, confirmed as Sinaloa Drug Cartel members. We have one injured, requesting nearby medical team assistance and criminal intelligence support from the national intelligence center, hurry!"

After giving orders, Miliburn quickly contacted the Ministry of Defense and the public security department's operation command center to report the situation.

The Marine Corps truly is Mexico's last elite.

At least Miliburn understood the importance of intelligence. His words suggested he had applied to the Mexican national intelligence center early on.

To know in advance the enemy's identity, number of personnel, and weaponry can allow for timely tactical adjustments, creating a perfect interception and rescue plan to minimize casualties.

Take this sudden gunfight as an example.

Gu Ji had recently dealt with these traffickers in his second playthrough, knowing their decoy team's basic equipment: an automatic rifle, bulletproof vests, three pistols, and a grenade.

Unfortunately, Miliburn had been too focused on dealing with the traffickers to notice his warning.

"Captain! Captain!"

A voice shouted from behind.

Gu Ji and Miliburn both turned around; it was coming from the armed pickup truck that had released the drone.

It seemed the "grenade" warning proved his capability, as Miliburn didn't drive him away, instead rushed with Gu Ji to the vehicle's front.

In the car's back seat, a police officer was holding a controller with a screen, operating the drone.

On the video feed, an expansive forest, with a long trail of dust like a dirt dragon snaking through the thick forest slopes.

"Captain! Spotted a target, looks like a convoy!"

"Can you get closer to confirm if there are passengers?"

"Getting closer will likely get noticed, but I'll try..."

The tech officer pursed his lips.

Police drones, limited by cost and weight, can't have civilian-grade telephoto lenses. To see vehicle details, we must lower altitude, which increases the noise made by the wings, making it detectable.

Fortunately, this officer was skilled, maneuvering the joystick, moving the drone diagonally downward, using treetops for cover, and adjusting the lens to zoom in.

Finally, a familiar scene appeared on the screen.

Over a dozen colorful armed pickups led by a rusty yellow-green F550 armored car, the same convoy Gu Ji saw in his second playthrough.

At the rear, there was a purple bus.

But the side windows were tinted, concealing the interior details.

Miliburn pointed to the screen's car front.

"Can you find a way to see inside the car from the front?"

"That would definitely be spotted."

"No problem, as long as we identify the rescue targets, that's the most important!"

"Okay!"

The tech officer turned the joystick, shifting the lens from the side to the front, through the bus's large windshield. Gu Ji first saw a trafficker in the passenger seat holding an AR rifle, then the crowd in the back, fearful heads lowered, among them a man in a white shirt with a wounded face, it was Bolton!

"It's a passenger from flight AM649; I see the plane's co-pilot Bolton!"

"That's good..."

Miliburn exhaled, relieved his efforts weren't in vain, simultaneously instructing the tech officer to keep watch, while he continued reporting to the command center.

But halfway through, the tech officer interjected:

"Captain, we've been spotted!"

"Raise the drone altitude, lock their location, everyone get in the car!"

Miliburn continued requesting backup from Durango state's police to intercept them from behind.

But from his expression, Gu Ji could see the request wasn't going smoothly.

It's understandable.

Being the home turf of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, this group probably has the entire state government threatened and bribed.

"Captain, they're shooting at the drone with machine guns!"

As they were about to return to the car, the controller screen showed several gunners on the armed pickups firing madly into the sky, trying to shoot down the drone.

The tech officer dodged while ascending the altitude.

But the next second, the drone screen suddenly froze, then showed a red message: "No Signal Source!"

"What's happening?" Miliburn urgently asked.

The tech officer quickly checked the signal module, "The video signal's lost; not sure if the control signal is still..."

"No need to search, it's a microwave attack, capable of interfering with or even destroying the drone's signal receiver. The AM649's radio system was taken down by such a device."

Gu Ji immediately recognized it was the traffickers pulling tricks.

"Damn those bastard traffickers, their gear updates fast. Everyone, listen up, target Northwest 2.4 kilometers, pursue at full speed!"

Miliburn cursed, grabbing Gu Ji, "You come with me!"

"Alright!" Gu Ji wouldn't miss such a chance to participate in command.

It's not just to complete the mission.

He could use his tactical knowledge to cover Miliburn's tactical gaps, while absorbing some Mexican policing tactics experience.

After all, the National Guard is considered Mexico's most elite violent force next to the Marine Corps.

Vroom vroom...

Vehicle engines roared, seven armored vehicles churning dust, heading into the southwest forest.

Gu Ji was seated in the rear of a Hummer M1152.

The vehicle was unbearably hot, with a pungent mixture of engine oil, gunpowder, and sweat stinging his nose.

The car had four cockpit seats, with flip-up benches resembling special police vehicles in the rear, holding up to two tons of cargo and four soldiers, for a total of eight people.

An opening in the roof could be used to operate the vehicle-mounted machine gun directly.

Theoretically, this armored car was initially equipped with a 12.7mm caliber M2 heavy machine gun similar to the traffickers', but for cost or humanitarian reasons, it was replaced with a US Army M249 squad automatic weapon.

Though the convoy configurations were similar,

as Gu Ji previously analyzed, moving a hundred passengers was tough for the traffickers, and the bus wasn't suited for rugged roads, risking flipping if driven fast.

Thus the distance between them was closing.

"Ahead! Tire tracks!"

"Accelerate! Quickly! Catch up!"

Seeing signs of the trafficker convoy, Miliburn urged the driver.

But the next moment, Gu Ji saw two black dots approaching in the distant sky through the front windshield.