Northern Myanmar: Bloodshed in the Golden Triangle, Have I Become a General? - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Fire Engulfs the Supplies, the Frenzied Leader of the Shan Armed Group

Due to Zhao Hu’s sudden entrance,

The Shan Armed Group, which had been advancing smoothly,

Was cut off from the rear by an unknown group.

As individuals armed with AK rifles jumped out of vehicles,

The formation of the Shan Armed Group was completely broken.

Both sides once again became a chaotic mess.

They all began to take cover behind the terrain and buildings,

And opened fire at each other.

Zhao Hu stood in the bed of the armored pickup truck,

Gripping two light machine guns tightly.

He directed the vehicle to make several consecutive turns,

Mowing down the Shan Armed Group members

Who had rushed to the front with machine gun fire,

Before heading toward the village.

As soon as Zhao Hu appeared,

His relieved subordinates

Quickly emerged from their cover:

“Hu Ge!” (Note: “Hu Ge” is a term of respect and familiarity)

A group of people ran toward the armored pickup truck.

Zhao Hu signaled the driver to stop the vehicle,

Pressed against the edge of the cargo bed,

And then jumped directly down from the armored pickup truck,

Watching as the crowd gathered around him.

Zhao Hu’s brow furrowed tightly:

“Is this all that’s left?”

A quick glance around revealed that,

Aside from the militia, his group had lost at least half of its members.

Only a dozen or so remained.

The leading subordinate wore a wry smile:

“Sorry, Hu Ge.”

“They went crazy over there.”

“They don’t care about their lives; they just charge.”

“We pushed too fast.”

“If you hadn’t come over,”

“We wouldn’t have held out much longer with this few people.”

Zhao Hu’s expression darkened:

“TMD…”

“These damn sons of bitches.”

“It’s not just you guys.”

“Several other villages got attacked by these bastards too.”

“They’re resisting right now.”

“You all pack up quickly.”

“Get on the vehicles.”

His subordinates exchanged uncertain glances.

Are we really retreating like this?

Shouldn’t we continue the fight?

The local militia captain nearby grew anxious:

“What about our village?!”

“You’re leaving?!”

“The Shan people won’t let us go so easily!”

Zhao Hu looked at the militia captain and said:

“Take your people and retreat into the mountains now.”

“When you leave, burn all the supplies.”

“These bastards are after those things.”

“Once you burn them, it’s done.”

“You can fight a guerrilla war in the mountains as well as they can.”

“They have no reason to trouble you.”

“My big brother said,”

“When this is all over,”

“No matter how much is burned,”

“When the time for harvest comes, you’ll get your fair share.”

“Just go now.”

In essence, it meant, “I don’t need the supplies. You can keep whatever you would have received at harvest time.

Just go with your people.”

Upon hearing this, the militia captain realized that if they burned the supplies, they would still be compensated according to their expected share. It was like finding money on the ground.

How could he refuse such an offer?

Of course, he agreed.

He also knew that this was entirely because of Zhao Hu and his group, not the Shan Armed Group. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even get a single meal, let alone compensation.

The militia captain didn’t hesitate:

“All right, I’ll get it done.”

He signaled to his militia members and they began retreating into the mountains. At the same time, they found some gasoline and started pouring it in the area where the supplies were grown.

As the militia left, Zhao Hu’s group got back into their vehicles. From the passenger seat, Zhao Hu took out a signal flare gun and fired it into the sky.

The red signal representing their retreat shot up and burst in the sky. They didn’t bother to clean up the bodies.

His subordinates fired as they retreated, with the armored pickup truck’s machine gun leading the way.

Zhao Hu, leading the convoy of vehicles, headed toward the next village. On the opposite mountain, Furuo, who was watching through binoculars, jumped and cursed:

“You useless trash!”

“Let them get away like this?!”

“What the hell are we eating?!”

“Damn it!”

Furuo, one of the leaders, seemed like an enraged beast at this moment.

He watched helplessly as his provocateurs, his prey, taunted him and then departed with disdainful glances.

After shaking off a look of contempt, he turned and left.

Furuo grabbed a guard’s weapon from beside him and fired it in the direction of Zhao Hu’s convoy until the magazine was empty. Panting heavily and with bloodshot eyes, he tossed the rifle to the ground:

“MD….”

Furuo, infuriated, covered his head with his hands and motioned to someone nearby:

“Go and capture the people from the village below.”

“Hide some supplies.”

Having already lost so many men, they had to salvage something. Otherwise, it would all be in vain.

Upon hearing Furuo’s words, his subordinates broke out in a cold sweat on their foreheads. They swallowed hard and, trembling slightly, said:

“I-I’m afraid it’s not possible, General!”

“They… they…!”

“They burned all the supplies!”

His subordinates stared in the direction of the fire, feeling an icy chill run through their bodies. It was too ruthless. They entered this life for the sake of making money.

Today, they had captured it, but in a while, it might be taken back again. Territory disputes were common in northern Myanmar, but nobody ever dared to touch the supplies.

After all, when I lose them, I can always snatch them back. The supplies are still there, and the money is still mine. If I set them on fire, what’s the point of recapturing them? Who would want a pile of broken houses and debris?? But who would have thought that these people would be so ruthless? They burned it all…?

On Furuo’s side, upon hearing his subordinates’ words, his brain went “buzz” for a moment, and he felt a wave of dizziness:

“What did you say?!”

He quickly grabbed the binoculars and looked at the extensive area of the supplies, which was now engulfed in flames. Indeed…

Fires were breaking out everywhere…

Furuo was driven to madness, his voice turning desperate and hysterical:

“Damn it! Damn it!”

“Why the hell are you all just standing there?!”

“Send people to put out the fire!”

“Put out the fire!”

“Zhao Renzhou!”

“Zhao Renzhou!”

“You damn bastard!”

“You’re going to dieeeee!”