The dia storm stirred up by Angel actually has a power that far exceeds any shell that exploded in Sawinu.
The images of ammunition remnants with clear US Army markings, ticulously edited; the testimony of port workers who described the explosion mont as "feeling like the whole earth was jumping, and the sea was boiling"; expert analysis pointing out that "such a scale of explosion requires at least hundreds of tons of military-grade explosives"; and the military background behind the Marlin Fish uncovered by "Horizon," all subtly pointed towards Washington D.C...
This information spread like a virus across the internet.
"White House Armant Gate" instantly beca the hottest term globally.
The Donkey Party governnt was caught off guard.
Each weak and ineffective defense by the White House press secretary was rebuffed by "Horizon" and other international dia with more concrete evidence and sharper questions.
The Donkey Party bigwigs on Congress Hill were on pins and needles, with the mid-term elections imminent, and the protest calls from constituencies demanding a thorough investigation almost blew up their offices.
Republicans were more like a pack of hyenas slling blood, launching fierce attacks in Congress, demanding the establishnt of a special investigative committee, with their sights set squarely on the White House Oval Office and the CIA.
Washington D.C, White House West Wing, inside the office of the President's National Security Advisor.
Thom Reid, the Chief of Staff known for his toughness, had a grim expression on his face as he fiercely threw a thick public opinion report onto the table, scattering the papers everywhere.
"Look! Look at these damn headlines! 'Horizon'! That damned 'Horizon' again! And CNN, BBC those followers! What do they want? To ruin this mid-term election?!"
Reid's voice was hoarse with anger, "The CIA fools! They pounded their chests back then promising foolproof! And now? The ship sank! Evidence flying everywhere! And damn it, they got fild crystal clear! Now the whole world is watching us as a joke! Watching how we cover up this massive lie!"
Opposite him, John Blake, the senior official in charge of African affairs at the CIA.
The expression on this guy's face was as ugly as if sared with shit, with fine cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He tried to argue: "Sir, this operation… the level of secrecy was the highest! Who could have thought…"
"Who could have thought?!"
Reid interrupted him sharply, his finger almost poking Blake's nose, his spit flying.
"Didn't expect the ship to explode?! Didn't expect an internal mole in the CIA?! Or the dia clinging like Mad Dogs?! Is the CIA full of dog shit?! Are our Marine Corps idiots?! Sayif, that fool, can barely hold on in Sawinu! Haftar and that damn Song Heping, they are about to grasp the whole of Libya in their hands! And we, we're damn stuck, blown up by our own arms ship, facing Congress inquiry and voters' wrath! All because of your incompetence!"
Blake's Adam's apple bobbed, swallowing hard: "Then… over in Libya… Sayif… can we still…"
"Still what?!"
Reid looked at him like an idiot, his voice suddenly rising with a desperate roar.
"Support? With what support? Send another 'Marlin Fish II' to be a target for Song Heping?! Now the whole world's eyes are on us! Send another bullet to Libya, and tomorrow's 'Horizon' headline would be 'White House continues to send arms to Hell'! The Donkey Party would just wait to be torn to pieces by voters in the mid-term elections!"
He slumped back into his chair, rubbing his throbbing temple forcefully, his voice filled with exhaustion and a sense of powerlessness as the situation spirals out of control.
"Let Sayif fend for himself. Our only task now is to put out the fire! To save our own asses! As of now, our montum is not good in the swing states, the mid-term election is our top priority! To hell with everything else! Have the CIA use all resources to muddy the waters! Pin the bla on… those damned extremists! Or… pirates! Anything! Just, imdiately! Make this damn 'Armant Gate' disappear from the headlines! At least… until the voting day!"
Blake opened his mouth, finally saying nothing, nodding silently, and turned to leave the office.
He knew, the Aricans had already exited the Libya ga prematurely.
At least in the short term, they wouldn't be going back into the ss in Libya.
It was clear, Reid's aning was very clear—Sayif, this puppet, was ruthlessly abandoned.
In Sawinu's grinder, on the third day after Haftar's forces turned to a war of attrition, the effects predicted by Song Heping finally began to show.
The GNA forces' ammunition reserves gradually ran low.
The soldiers were getting fewer and fewer bullets, and the heavy firepower points were gradually falling silent due to a lack of artillery support.
Despair spread across the frontline like a plague.
Just when the nerves of GNA soldiers were stretched to the limit, the awaited ammunition supplies for Haftar's forces arrived from Northern Darfur to the frontline on ti.
With it ca the mont for Song Heping to fulfill his cold promise.
On the fourth morning, as the first pale sunlight pierced through the smoke and dust over Sawinu, the shrill artillery alarm ripped through the brief silence.
The ground began to tremble violently, as if an ancient giant beast was awakening.
Dozens of large-caliber howitzers and multiple rocket launchers deployed by Haftar's forces on the outskirts of Sawinu roared deafeningly!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom——!
The suffocating dense waves of explosions instantly engulfed the entire city.
155mm howitzer shells rained down like a downpour.
Each shell hit accompanied by an earth-shattering blast, with the massive shockwaves instantly shredding and blowing away precarious buildings, solid reinforced concrete bunkers, even command post entrances hidden deep underground!
The salvo from multiple rocket launchers brought scenes akin to an apocalypse.
The rockets, trailing long fiery tails, shrieked like a swarm of bees as they dived toward the heart of the city, seeking only widespread destruction rather than precision targeting.
One block after another was utterly flattened amid the incessant explosions, flas leaped skyward, thick smoke rolled and gathered, forming enormous black mushroom clouds that lood over the city.
The air was thick with the pungent sll of gunpowder, the burnt stench of scorched earth, and the nauseating odor of charred protein.
The artillery bombardnt lasted for a full hour.
When the cannon fire finally ceased, the entire core area of Sawinu had been completely reduced to ruins.
The carefully constructed defensive lines, fire points, and sniper positions of the GNA forces were as fragile as paper in the face of this destructive iron storm.
As the artillery fire extended, Song Heping, from behind a concealed window in a distant building, put down the binoculars and smiled with satisfaction. He raised his hand, turned his head, and lightly tapped his finger toward the GNA-controlled area—
"Attack! Kill them!"
At his command, the armored assault group of Haftar's forces, already awaiting orders at the launch line, roared in thunderous response.
Dozens of T-72 and T-55 tanks, clad in makeshift grille armor, roared their engines, belching thick black smoke from the exhaust pipes, crashing through rubble and smashing down walls as they charged into the core urban district with a crushing force.
Following closely behind were ard pickups equipped with heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers, advancing under the cover of the tanks' steel torrent.
Haftar's infantry, trained at the North Darfur "Musician" training base, leapt out from behind tanks and from the beds of pickups, moving in groups of three or five, their tactical maneuvers extraordinarily adept.
They stayed close to the tanks for cover, using the debris of ruins as launching pads to quickly infiltrate and divide territories.
Once any remaining strong points of fire were detected, the tanks would pivot their turrets and blast them into bits.
Resistance?
After experiencing an hour of hellish artillery bombardnt, the surviving GNA soldiers were already paralyzed with fear.
Many were left bleeding from their orifices by the violent explosions, their eyes vacant, collapsing in the bunkers, unable even to hold their weapons.
A few officers attempted to rally a counter-attack, but their voices were hoarse with despair, their commands landing on soldiers' deaf ears like whispers from another world.
Against the coordinated advance of Haftar's forceful infantry and tanks, any resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, only to be quickly drowned in more ferocious gunfire and more rciless slaughter.
The deadliest blow was the horrifying news spreading among the GNA troops like a plague over the past few days.
Reportedly, the Arican aid wasn't coming.
The ship loaded with weapons was blown sky-high at Jebel Port by a KB faction.
With morale already in tatters, the GNA forces crumbled in the face of Haftar's aggressive offensive force.
In every corner of the city, soldiers were fleeing en masse.
This flight was as contagious and terrifying as a disease.
Once the morale collapsed, it was unstoppable—like a cascade of falling dominoes.
Sawinu, once regarded by the GNA as an impregnable fortress, completely fell within less than forty-eight hours under Song Heping's cold, unyielding will of steel and devastating artillery fire.
The gunfire in the city, from a fierce initial resistance, quickly turned sparse and scattered, eventually dwindling into only a few symbolic shots before falling silent.
A slightly tattered GNA green flag on a rooftop was pulled down by a Haftar soldier and casually thrown into the still-burning ruins below.
The news spread like wings across every corner of Libya.
Panic spread crazily like a plague within GNA-controlled areas.
The routed and battered soldiers retreating from Sawinu portrayed Haftar's terrifying force and Song Heping's resolve to destroy everything like demons from hell.
Panic triggered an avalanche of collapse.
The GNA regional commanders and tribal elders, who had been watching from the sidelines or attempting to organize defenses, completely lost their will to resist.
Benghazi, a major town in eastern Libya, almost opened its doors without any resistance.
Haftar's chanized forces charged in, taking control of this critical port city and transportation hub without a fight.
The triumphant surge did not halt.
With the overwhelming victory at Sawinu and the ease of capturing Benghazi, Haftar's forces swiftly swept across the extensive deserts and oasis towns of southern Libya like a blazing wildfire.
In the Cyrenaica region (eastern Libya), major oil towns like Jalu and Ajdabiya, and in the Fezzan region (south), Sebha, and Obari...
Local forces originally vassal to the GNA either surrendered at first sight or were decisively crushed in brief skirmishes.
In just half a month, the territory controlled by Haftar's forces on the map of Libya ballooned rapidly like a snowball, occupying over eighty percent of the country and its most vital oil-producing areas.
anwhile, the GNA's power was compressed into a narrow coastal strip around Tripoli, teetering on the brink of collapse.
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