The two vehicles of the Most Wanted Squad were at the rear of the escort convoy, the Suburban in front and the Yukon in the rear.
At the same moment as the explosion, a large flat-top truck, previously parked on the side of the road, suddenly started up, knocking over a police motorcycle before relentlessly running over it, gradually accelerating.
The police escorting the convoy were all in pairs. This team, having completed traffic control at the previous intersection, had fallen behind and had just caught up, only twenty or thirty meters away from Jack's Yukon.
Seeing the explosion ahead and the tragic death of his partner, the police officer on the other side of the road stopped, drew his pistol, pointed it at the cab, and repeatedly pulled the trigger. However, the truck driver didn't even look at him, instead lowering his head and slamming on the accelerator, intent on blocking the convoy's path.
Although he was concerned for Danny's safety up ahead, his priority wasn't to join the others in shouting over the radio channel, demanding to know what was happening.
He decisively stepped on the accelerator, and the Yukon's massive SUV displayed an agility that was incompatible with its size, executing a U-turn in an instant with the tires screeching in agony.
"Clay!"
Jack roared, charging headfirst into the truck hurtling toward the rear of the convoy.
A standard GMC Yukon weighed less than three tons, while the bulletproof version Jack was driving weighed nearly double that, barely over five tons.
While a head-on collision with a flat-top truck was still a stretch, he was fortunate to have Clay, who was also quick-witted, behind him.
Clay, driving the Suburban, glanced in the rearview mirror and instantly understood Jack's intention. Hearing his furious roar through his earpiece, he shifted into reverse and floored the accelerator.
A flat-top truck at full speed was unstoppable on the road, easily knocking over three or four normal-moving cars.
But a collision between a truck barely moving, traveling less than 30 mph, and an SUV the size of a small armored vehicle was a completely different matter.
The bulletproof modification not only required replacing the vehicle's hull with thick bulletproof steel plating, but also the addition of heavy armor plating to the chassis to protect against explosives.
This additional weight would clearly strain the stock powertrain, necessitating a higher-horsepower engine. The
Yukon, barely managing a U-turn, had barely taken off when it slammed head-on into an oncoming flat-top truck, pinning it to the ground. Its semi-solid, run-flat tires scraped furiously against the ground, sending plumes of smoke billowing into the air.
However, due to the significant size disparity, the truck continued to advance slowly. Fortunately, Clay's Saab was able to counterattack.
The two large SUVs and the flat-top truck, facing each other head-on, rear-to-rear, exerting their combined force, unexpectedly remained frozen in place.
"Bang, bang, bang!" The mounted officer, who had abandoned his motorcycle, stumbled over and emptied the magazine directly into the truck's cab.
The flat-top truck gave a puffing sound, and a puff of white smoke emerged from the large grille, as it and its owner breathed their last.
"Take cover!" The passenger window of the Yukon River opened, and Hannah, sitting next to Jack, pushed open the deflated airbag and shouted at the trooper standing in the middle of the road.
"What?" The trooper, who had just avenged his partner's tragic death and was preparing to fire another round, was startled by Hannah's cry and turned to look in her direction.
At the same time, the rear door of the truck was flung open, and two gunmen armed with AR-type assault rifles pulled the trigger directly at the still-dazed trooper.
"Damn it!" Seeing the officer killed instantly, Hannah unbuckled her seatbelt, drew her pistol, kicked open the car door, and repeatedly pulled the trigger at the gunmen who had jumped out of the truck.
"Hannah, take it." Jiejie, sitting in the back seat, reclined her seat, pulled an HK417 from the trunk
, and handed it to her. A second HK417 was handed to Jack, who had also opened the car door. By the time Jiejie got out, armed with the assault rifle sent by the Navy, Sabban had already opened his door behind her.
Clay, Jubal, Aubrey, and even Alice all charged in, their weapons drawn. The intense fire instantly knocked the five or six gunmen who had jumped from the truck to the ground.
"Clear!" Clay rushed forward, threw a stun grenade into the truck, and after confirming that there were no hidden enemies inside, he gestured to Jack.
Jack was checking on the wounded officer, but unfortunately, the officer, wearing only a soft bulletproof vest, was beyond rescue from the concentrated fire from several assault rifles.
After dragging the fallen officer's body behind a car on the side of the road, Jack patted Jubal on the shoulder and shouted,
"Have the NYPD pull back and escort the armored vehicles out first."
Their headsets were on a different channel than the NYPD radio. Jubal nodded, hunched over, and ran back to the Suburban, which only had a bit of paint chipped off its rear, to pick up the car's walkie-talkie.
By then, the streets were in complete chaos. One of the gunmen who appeared ahead of the convoy was even armed with a Mk46 light machine gun with a 200-round magazine. They were firing not only at the NYPD cars but also at pedestrians.
Some pedestrians screamed and took cover in the shops along the roadside. The incoming bullets shattered windowpanes, creating even more chaos.
The NYPD radio was a mess, with some officers shouting for help from the command center, others crying out that they had been shot.
While the situation wasn't leaderless, the ordinary officers were clearly far from calm in such a situation.
Fortunately, the armored vehicle was flanked by a black Dolan Tahoe, each manned by a team of six heavily armed ESU officers.
When the explosion erupted ahead of the convoy, the ESU officers immediately disembarked, using the bulletproof doors and even the vehicles along the street as cover to engage the gunmen.
However, as the smoke bombs launched by the gunmen gradually took effect, the ESU, whose vision was obscured, became increasingly restricted. Fearing the possibility of accidentally killing civilians, their numerical superiority was temporarily overwhelmed by the reckless firing of the attackers.
"This is FBI Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine. The rear road is clear. Back up the armored vehicle," Jubal's calm voice suddenly rang out over the police radio.
The most wanted criminals, including Jack, hadn't imagined someone would be so desperate as to pull off an armed prisoner robbery in downtown New York.
It was barely 10 a.m., and most intersections in Manhattan were jammed with traffic.
Their convoy was able to move unimpeded because the NYPD had preemptively controlled traffic at major intersections by manipulating traffic lights and other measures, and motorcycle police escorted them along the way.
The FBI wondered how, even if they could extract Zhang Mingjun from the sturdy armored vehicle, they would be able to get him out of the congested Manhattan.
(End of this chapter)