Chapter 519: Side Story 4. The Wheat Grain of Syria (5)

Side Story 4. The Wheat Grain of Syria (5)

Al-Syria closely monitored the movements of the Korean government and Kang Jin-hoo via the internet and broadcast news.

At Muhammad's question, Khalid al-Din, who was in charge of negotiations, said.

"What is the negotiation team's reaction?"

"They say they are still talking with Kang Jin-hoo."

"They're still stalling for time."

"They'll come to their senses when they see blood."

If hostages die one by one, they will suffer severe criticism from the public. During the Pond Church incident, when negotiations did not go well, the Taliban killed two people and eventually received a ransom from the Korean government. Tomorrow is the promised third day.

"Execute the pastor at daybreak."

"Understood."

Even if they kill all the hostages, they have nothing to lose. Of course, they will pay the money before that happens.

Muhammad stroked his beard and laughed.

An unimaginably large sum of money was about to roll in at once. With that money, he could rearm and gather soldiers to increase his influence.

Syria is a country where the government's administrative power is limited. Some areas are divided and ruled by rebels, Kurdish militia, and IS.

Muhammad dreamed of integrating other factions to create a huge force like IS.

But suddenly, all the lights in the building went out. The interior was completely plunged into darkness.

"What?"

"It seems to be a power outage."

As he tried to grasp the situation via radio with a flashlight on, he couldn't hear well because of the static.

At that moment, a scream suddenly rang out from outside.

"It's a raid!"

"The enemy attacked!"

Everyone reflexively picked up the rifles and weapons they had left nearby.

"What's going on?"

At Hussein's shout, a cry came from the radio.

"It's the government forces... No, it seems to be the Korean army!"

"That's ridiculous! There was no talk of Korean troops entering Syria!"

Muhammad shouted.

"Bring the hostages first! Kill those who resist!"

Just in case such a situation arose, he had split the hostages into two groups.

Khalid gave instructions over the radio. But no answer came back.

"What? Why isn't it connecting? Where did these bastards go?"

They didn't know, but the soldiers guarding the hostages were killed by Mukhabarat agents, and the hostages were evacuating to a safe place.

Meanwhile, the sound of gunfire grew closer. A firefight broke out in the pitch darkness.

"Kill them all!"

"Show them the power of Islamic warriors!"

"Only by dying in battle can you go to Allah's side!"

"Allah is great!"

The regular army and the terrorist group were incomparable in terms of armament and equipment.

The other side wore bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, and used semi-automatic rifles with scopes. On the other hand, the terrorists only had weapons they had looted, captured, or bought on the black market.

Since they were bound to be overwhelmed in firepower if they clashed head-on with the regular army, ambush and terrorism were their main attack methods. But now, they were the ones being ambushed.

One advantage was that this was their base. If they fought using the terrain well, they could utilize the home ground advantage.

But somehow, the opponent moved as if they knew the surroundings like the back of their hand.

The soldiers shouted with terrified expressions.

"It's Spetsnaz!"

"No way!"

"The Korean army and the Russian army are moving together!"

"Secure an escape route!"

While everyone was confused by the unexpected ambush, a missile flew from somewhere and hit the building.

BOOM! KA-BOOM!

"It's a fighter jet!"

Flames soared along with screams. Thanks to the flames, Muhammad could see the incoming Su-34 squadron.

'Russia even launched its air force?'

Unlike the petty Syrian government forces, Russia's Spetsnaz is notorious even among terrorist groups. That's why Al-Syria also tried to be careful not to provoke Russia.

'Why on earth is Russia...?'

At that moment, a thought crossed his mind.

"S-surely Kang Jin-hoo..."

Before the thought could finish, a missile flew towards the building.

***

Operation Umayyad Cradle.

An operation to rescue the hostages held by Al-Syria, Korean special forces entered the base, and Spetsnaz supported from behind.

The Russian Air Force bombed buildings without hostages with precision strikes. (The help of Mukhabarat agents was kept secret.)

As the leader Muhammad died and the tide turned against them, Al-Syria's soldiers began to flee.

The Syrian government forces, which had surrounded the area and were waiting, began to annihilate them. Some managed to escape, but most threw down their weapons and surrendered.

When the operation ended successfully and the embargo was lifted, President Heo Chang-min personally held a press conference, and media outlets around the world poured out breaking news.

[(Breaking News) Operation Umayyad Cradle! Joint Attack on Al-Syria Base by Korean, Russian, and Syrian Government Forces!]

[Two Korean Soldiers Reportedly Seriously Injured]

[All Hostages Rescued Safely!]

[President Heo Chang-min Expresses Gratitude to All Members Who Carried Out the Rescue Operation...]

The New World Church mission team moved to Lebanon under military escort. After completing simple checkups and treatment there, they boarded a plane to Korea.

The two seriously injured unit members were first moved to Riyadh for initial emergency surgery. Crown Prince Sulaiman announced that he would provide treatment at the royal hospital and provide a royal private jet to transport them to Korea as soon as they recovered.

The people cheered at the completely unexpected good news.

- Oh! Rescue operation! Al-Syria annihilated!!

- The joint operation with the Russian army was awesome!

- Totally satisfying~ They staged a hostage situation and got annihilated. This is what insiljot is.

- We have to crush them like this so they never mess with Koreans again!

- Terrorists are people too. Is it normal for us to massacre poor Syrian citizens who had no choice but to become terrorists and rejoice? They are also precious children of God. We must love and forgive them.

- What kind of nonsense is this?

- Brother Vysotsky said. 'To forgive the terrorists is up to God, but to send them to him is up to me.'

- They did the jihad they liked so much to their heart's content, so they probably have no regrets.

- Russian support and Saudi support! This is a victory for Korean diplomacy!!

- Somehow I feel like Kang Jin-hoo did it all.

- Did they get screwed for asking Kang Jin-hoo for money?

***

The New World Church mission team appeared at the Incheon Airport arrival hall.

The moment they appeared, camera shutters went off ceaselessly. Everyone lowered their heads deeply, and three were in wheelchairs.

Pastor Bae Han-il, who led the mission team, spoke as a representative.

"Thanks to Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon and God's grace, we were able to return to Korea safely. We sincerely thank the people who prayed for us."

But surprisingly, some people were holding duty-free shop shopping bags in their hands. They had shopped at the duty-free shop while the plane was transiting!

Seeing that, the people couldn't hide their shock.

- LOL Duty-free shopping, for real?

- We poured in tax money, deployed special forces, and two people were seriously injured during the rescue, but they went duty-free shopping?

- Hahaha! This is truly heaven above heaven! Beyond imagination!!

- Today I saw a true new world.

- Awesome~ I was moved by their mentality~

- F*** Duty-free shopping ㅜㅜ If someone wrote this in a novel, the author would be criticized for lack of plausibility.

- I pay my respects to the soldiers who risked their lives to carry out the operation to save those kids!

- Just watching gives me cancer. ㅜㅜ

- It would have been better if they had just died in Syria~

- Everyone be careful. New World Church requests deletion of posts criticizing the mission team and sues.

- Argh! I have a lot to say, but I'll hold back because I don't have money.

***

The next day.

President Heo Chang-min said at the cabinet meeting.

"Based on the principle of no negotiation with terrorism, the government will strictly punish criminal acts that harm our citizens. With the dedication of our soldiers and the help of neighboring countries, we succeeded in rescuing all the hostages safely, but in the process, two soldiers suffered life-threatening injuries, and the people's tax money was used. Severe punishment must follow along with bitter reflection to ensure such things never happen again."

As soon as the President's remarks were released to the media, Seoul District Prosecutor Ahn Seong-nam announced.

"The prosecution plans to apply for arrest warrants for all mission team members without exception as soon as their checkups and treatment at the hospital are finished. Also, we will thoroughly investigate and punish the New World Church for any illegal activities in church operations, including the dispatch of this mission team."

The prosecution immediately obtained a warrant, conducted a search and seizure of the New World Church, and seized church assets.

Lawsuits for damages against individual mission team members also proceeded. The government announced that it would review all applicable legal provisions to recover costs used for the rescue, such as the negotiation team's local stay expenses, local hospital expenses, and plane ticket prices.

Those who were judged to have no health problems were arrested one after another.

Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon shouted in anger.

"This is religious oppression! It's a plot by Kang Jin-hoo and this regime to kill our church! Does it make sense to charge a fee because a firefighter put out a fire?"

But the public's reaction was cold.

- F*** Where is your conscience?

- You are now witnessing a pastor talking nonsense with zero conscience!!

- Two people were shot and fell, if he had a conscience, shouldn't he not say things like that?

- Firefighters don't charge for putting out fires, but don't they sue arsonists for damages? In this case, they started the fire.

- If you went where you were told not to go, it's natural to pay the price.

- Send every single one of them to jail~

- Even so, maximum 1 year in prison.

- The law is what it is, so it can't be helped, but they must be given the maximum legal sentence. That way, the same thing won't happen again.

- Really, this must be collected down to the last penny!

- My cancer seems to be healing a bit seeing them getting arrested!

- For once, Heo Chang-min is doing well! Excellent!

***

The mission team members who were kidnapped in Syria were all arrested and investigated under the Passport Act clause that punishes those who visit travel-banned countries.

The prosecution and the court maintained a stance of strict punishment according to principles to prevent recurrence in the future.

Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon held a 'Prayer Meeting for the Release of All Mission Team Members'.

"The Heo Chang-min government colluded with Kang Jin-hoo to put our good church members in prison. According to the Bible, King Herod rejected the birth of Jesus and killed 20,000 children to kill Jesus. Today's King Herod is Heo Chang-min! When the country was in difficulty, it was the military that set the country right through 5.16 and 12.12. Such a proud military must never stand on the side of injustice. The military must take the lead and arrest President Heo Chang-min quickly. To rescue our brothers and sisters, I am recruiting those who will become martyrs by taking live bullets from the Blue House security guards, those who will give their lives! In a week, we will hold a launching ceremony for the martyr squad to enter the Blue House. Those who will heroically take the live bullets of the security guards and die on the spot, please raise your hands now. If only the pastors' wives over 60 charge forward first and become martyrs, it's all over."

While he was preaching excitedly like that, the police and prosecution raided the place.

The prosecutor presented a warrant.

"This is an arrest warrant. We are arresting you for embezzlement of church funds, violation of the Donation Collection Act, incitement of insurrection, instigation of illegal acts, violation of the Assembly and Demonstration Act, etc."

Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon was flustered. He could understand if it was the mission team that broke the law and went to Syria, but he never imagined a warrant would be issued for him.

As the police approached, he glared and shouted.

"Listen well! Without the church, you have to live in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea! I love going to jail. I'm a person who wants to be martyred without ever coming out of prison! The moment you arrest me, it's a death sentence for Heo Chang-min and Kang Jin-hoo, a death sentence. Since I'm being nice, you guys act like this! What, arrest? You're talking nonsense! I live holding God's throne. Even God can't move if I say 'freeze'."

But despite various threats, he could not avoid arrest.

The arrested Pastor Bang Jeong-hoon was detained as various charges were recognized, and he was sentenced to 3 years in prison in the first trial. Also, the mission team members were sentenced to 6 months to 1 year in prison respectively for violating the Passport Act.

As the news of Al-Syria's collapse became known, the frightened Somali pirates released the two Koreans they had been detaining unconditionally, and they returned safely to the arms of their families after 8 months.