While Leitao and Hu Hansi were still hurrying through the mountain jungle to rendezvous with their team members, all sides were thrown into turmoil by the massive commotion of the thermobaric bomb's nighttime explosion. That deafening blast rolled across the quiet night sky like a heavy thunderclap, sending shockwaves outward and scattering the birds and beasts of the mountain forest in a panicked frenzy.
At a Japanese Army camp stationed a little over thirty kilometers from the blast site, utter chaos erupted instantly. The sharp, explosive crack pierced the silent night like an invisible giant hand violently shaking the sleeping camp awake. Startled from their dreams with bleary eyes and sheer terror, soldiers fumbled blindly in the dark for their uniforms—buttoning tunics awry and putting shoes on the wrong feet. Scrambling to grab their rifles, they stumbled into formation amid the shouting of their officers. The flickering yellow light of lanterns swayed in the wind, stretching the soldiers' panicked silhouettes into long, wavering shapes.
Seething with anxiety and cursing frantically, the officers were at their wits' end. A Japanese lieutenant, his eyes bulging as if they might spit fire and veins throbbing on his forehead, rushed up to the communications soldier and roared with all his might, "Quick, contact the search squad and find out what's going on!" Startled into a shudder, the soldier's fingers trembled uncontrollably. Large beads of sweat broke out across his…
Chapter 265