Northwest Illinois, 15 kiloters south of Bara Town, unnad highland beside the highway.
The temperature has dropped to three degrees Celsius.
Jiang Feng slowly lowered the AN/PVS-15 binocular night vision device mounted on the edge of the periscope pit, using his right hand, clad in tactical gloves, to vigorously rub the stiff and aching muscles around his eyes due to maintaining a fixed observation posture for several hours.
Beside him, lying close to the ground, are Samir, the leader of the Liberation Forces, and front-line liaison officer sent by Abu You Brigade, Abu You himself.
The three form the highest command group of this mixed unit.
Behind them, and within the shadows of the hills stretching nearly two kiloters in an inverted "L" shape, over eight thousand soldiers silently lurk.
This is virtually all the mobile forces the Liberation Forces militia organization and Abu You Brigade can muster, a full-scale mobilization.
They are equipped with light weapons including AK-74M assault rifles, PKM machine guns, RPG-7V2 rocket launchers, 82mm mortars, and a few precious "Kornet"-EM anti-tank missile systems.
Everyone's gaze is fixed towards the southwest, on the number 7 highway connecting Mosul to the border.
Tonight, everyone's mission is singular — to escort Song Heping, codenad "Ghost," and the nine-mber Russian SSO special operations squad, assisting them to safely withdraw to Northwest Illinois and then head north to the secret camp in the Persian Plateau.
They have been lying in wait for over sixteen hours.
The limits of the human physiological clock are being tested.
Except for the never-ceasing wind and occasional indistinct barking from far away, be it wild dogs or wolves, the entire ambush area is frighteningly silent.
"Jiang."
Samir's voice is pressed extrely low, with a hint of undisguised anxiety.
"We haven't heard from the Boss for over seven hours. His satellite phone remains silent, and the last scheduled contact window closed three hours ago. Can they still reach the rendezvous point on ti? Could it be..."
Jiang Feng turned his head and glanced at him, quietly sighing in his heart.
Samir has also been with Song Heping for over two years, having heard from his old squad leader that Samir is sowhat aspiring, hence he had given him so military command training.
Although later, Samir left the Musician Defense and indeed, with his abilities, pulled together a team amidst the chaos in Northwest Illinois and beca the leader.
But by now, his military command skills and psychological qualities still fall short.
But what else can be done?
That's the difference between people.
Song Heping was only a sergeant when he ca out of 203, but now he commands teams of tens of thousands with ease, while Samir, having been a leader for so long, has improved but not by much.
Easily gets anxious, lacks self-confidence, and still misses the big picture.
These are not learned rely by a few lessons or books; they require gradual accumulation of experience and lessons from actual combat, and importantly, talent.
Effort determines the lower limit, talent determines the upper limit.
"Stay calm, Samir. My old squad leader is no fool; his purpose for gathering all forces here is not just to et up with them or to guard against possible US air pursuit, so simply."
Jiang Feng raised his finger towards the southwest: "Look at the map. Less than thirty kiloters west from here is the invisible border line. Imagine if the SSO squad barely escapes their pursuers, crossing the border with most of their ammunition exhausted… At this mont, if those Mad Dogs from 1515 Ard get wind of it and lay a heavy ambush on the other side… what are the consequences?"
Samir was slightly taken aback: "You an… Boss thinks the 1515 Ard will ambush them at the border?"
"It's not a judgnt; it's a certainty."
Jiang Feng said: "The Aricans suffered a huge loss at Latamira, losing a vital chemical weapons warehouse and being forcibly driven out by the Russian Air Force. With their behavior, they won't just swallow this humiliation. Direct military intervention is too risky; the northwest is not their territory now and they don't have personnel there. So using the 1515 Ard, who have a blood feud with my old squad leader, becos the optimal choice. Buckdadi, that old dog, will certainly pounce like a shark slling blood if the Aricans toss him a at-laden bone and hand over the SSO squad's location."
Samir took a few seconds to digest Jiang Feng's judgnt, then imdiately raised a new question: "Logically, I agree. But the feedback from the dozen observation posts and intelligence sources we deployed near Mosul, Abij, Sinjar, and the border over the past 24 hours is consistent — troop movents within 1515's controlled area are normal, with no signs of massive gathering or forward deploynt. If they truly were to set an ambush, according to the ti estimate, there should already be advance units entering the preset positions."
Jiang Feng's brows slightly furrowed, this is also the only unresolved doubt in his heart.
"I also can't fully explain this. There could be several scenarios: first, there's a delay in the orders or information from the Aricans; second, Buckdadi is hesitating for reasons unknown to us; third, which I worry most about, they might be employing more covert maneuvers and deploynt thods that we have yet to grasp."
He shook his head, as if trying to temporarily cast aside these uncertainties.
"But regardless, I trust my old squad leader's strategic judgnt. If he asks us to wait here, then we must wait here and prepare for the worst scenarios. His past battle records prove that he never fights a battle he isn't confident in."
Just then, a barely audible sound of footsteps accompanied by the faint noise of gravel grinding ca from the direction of the communication trench behind their command position.
A scout, camouflaged with face paint, silently moved next to Jiang Feng.
He is the reconnaissance squad leader of the "Liberation Forces," codenad "Mountain Cat."
"Report."
"Mountain Cat's" voice carried a hint of urgency, "Five minutes ago, our insider in Mosul City used the ergency channel to relay the news—around 11:50 PM, multiple important strongholds in the city showed signs of abnormal personnel gatherings and vehicle ignition. The scale... far exceeds routine patrols or small-scale deploynts."
A sharp light flashed in Jiang Feng's eyes: "Confirm the reliability of the intelligence? Can you assess the specific scale and equipnt?"
"The intelligence channel's reliability is extrely high. The insider believes this is definitely not a routine operation. More crucially, around the sa ti, our observation posts at the southern checkpoint of Abij City, the western exit of Sinjar City, and the main highway nodes of Tal Afar all reported witnessing several convoys leaving the towns, direction... preliminarily determined to be the border with Siria…"
Samir, lying next to him, swallowed: "They... really moved?!"
Jiang Feng did not imdiately respond to Samir, and his right hand quickly pressed the send button on the portable tactical radio, his voice calm and swift: "To all reconnaissance squad groups, ascertain the specific scale of 1515's troop mobilization, main equipnt types, exact marching routes, echelon composition, and final tactical objectives at all costs. Repeat, highest priority, I need real-ti intelligence!"
"Reconnaissance Group 1, understood."
"Reconnaissance Group 2, received."
"Technical listening station activated..."
A series of brief confirmations echoed in the encrypted channel.
An invisible and efficient intelligence network fully awakened in the Northwest Illinois night.
The next thirty minutes felt like torture for the command group on the highland.
Constantly, new intelligence fragnts gathered from various channels ca into "Mountain Cat's" hands, going through preliminary screening and cross-verification, and being reported in real-ti to Jiang Feng.
"Intelligence update. Mosul direction, at least over forty ard pickups identified, main weapons being DShK heavy machine guns or ZPU-1/2 anti-aircraft machine guns, over twenty Urals-4320 military trucks, suspected to carry a large troop or supplies, at least four strengthened fire platforms with ZPU-4 quad anti-aircraft guns, and… confirmation of three accompanying BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles! In addition, unverified eyewitness reports suggest a possible presence of 122mm D-30 howitzer towing vehicles."
"Abij direction confird, approximately a reinforced battalion strength, equipped with heavy machine guns and mortars, has moved south along the Route 7 branch."
"Sinjar direction, observation post report, approximately a battalion strength, carrying AGS-17 and 82mm mortars, maneuvering southeast."
"Tal Afar direction, approximately two company strengths, riding pickups, have set out."
Each piece of chilling intelligence converged like countless streams into a terrifying torrent.
"Commander, comprehensive analysis of all channel information confirms: the scale of 1515 Ard's mobilization this ti is unprecedented in recent years. Preliminary estimates suggest their total forces, including Mosul's main force, and troops gathered from Abij, Sinjar, Tal Afar, possibly exceed eleven thousand! This is nearly seventy percent of their mobile combat forces in Nineveh Province. Their leading armored vehicle units are expected to reach our Bara Town forward ambush area within one hour and forty minutes to two hours. The main infantry convoy follows closely behind."
"Eleven thousand people..."
Samir's face muscles stiffened, "Just to intercept the Boss and a nine-person Russian Army squad? This... this completely defies tactical logic! Impossible?! Buckdadi has lost his mind?!"
Indeed.
To intercept a dozen-man small squad, even if the other party were Lambo, deploying over a thousand is already overkill.
Yet they dispatched eleven thousand!?
Terrorists are indeed terrorists.
It's simply impossible to predict their behavior with ordinary logic.
Jiang Feng's brows furrowed tightly, his brain working at unprecedented speed.
Eleven thousand people, equipped with infantry fighting vehicles and possible heavy artillery, this is no simple ambush or intercept force—it is a full-scale strike force capable of launching a decisive battle!
The price offered by the Aricans, or Buckdadi's hatred for Song Heping, has reached the point of requiring such a massive mobilization?
Or is there a deeper purpose hidden within all this?
He tried to activate the encrypted satellite phone again, its screen still showed a "no signal" ssage.
He understood that Song Heping in Siria must maintain absolute radio silence, as any signal transmission could result in deadly precision strikes.
But at this mont, lacking clear instructions from the highest commander, facing this unprecedented scale of enemy forces alone, Jiang Feng felt unprecedented pressure.
In the past, he would have asked Song Heping what to do.
Now, there's no one to consult.
He himself is the highest commander of the actions.
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