Chapter 1452 - 1205: Legend

"They must have dug tunnels in the city!"

Song Heping blurted out.

If he's not mistaken, the underground of Daguge City has surely been hollowed out by the 1515 armed forces!

They've constructed an intricate network of tunnels!

The bombing on the surface seemed to destroy buildings but was unlikely to harm the living forces hiding in the tunnels.

In fact, these tunnel exits might be scattered throughout the entire city, allowing them to appear out of nowhere anywhere, launching lethal flank attacks and stabs on exposed attacking troops!

This makes a lot of sense.

After all, the reason they could hold out for so long in the Northwest Region against repeated US airstrikes without being wiped out must have been thanks to the city and the tunnels!

That's right!

This is tricky!

Beads of sweat formed on Song Heping's forehead.

Unexpectedly, the tactics that East University excelled at during the War of Resistance Against Japan were now being copied by KB members in the Middle East to deal with him!

"Damn it!"

Song Heping rarely swore.

But at this moment, he couldn't help it.

If this continues, the two "Musician" mercenary camps that advanced the fastest and deepest into the city will not become the sharp knives penetrating the enemy's heart but will instead be isolated, caught in a quagmire of tunnel warfare, and eventually become the units suffering the heaviest losses!

Every step they take could be devoured by firepower from below and all around.

This can't continue!

Song Heping made a decisive call and grabbed the transmitter again: "'Musician' First Battalion, Second Battalion! This is Chief Commander Song Heping! Order your troops to immediately halt! Use your current positions to establish a circular defensive stronghold! Hold firm and wait for orders! Repeat, stop advancing, and defend in place!"

The command instantly brought silence to the command post.

Everyone understood what this order meant.

"Old Squad Leader!"

Jiang Feng abruptly turned his head, his face full of shock and confusion, "Stop advancing? Let them get a foothold in the city? We'll be back to square one! Once they've fully organized their defenses and established a complete firepower network, fully utilizing the tunnel network, the cost we'll have to pay…"

"You think I don't know that!?"

Song Heping interrupted him, his gaze never leaving the screen: "You think there's another way? Look at the current situation map! The mercenary camps pushed too far, like a lone knife. No matter how sharp the tip, without protection on the sides, they're sitting ducks! The 1515 knows this city better than us, and they have tunnels! Forcing a push isn't an advance; it's suicide!"

He pointed at the two blue arrows deeply entrenched in the red zones on the screen: "Damn it, those are my two elite battalions transferred from my company in Africa! We must preserve them, not let them get wasted in a meaningless charge!"

Jiang Feng opened his mouth, looking at the flashing signs of engagement around the mercenary camps on the screen, and the temporarily stabilized blue arrows that had halted their advance, but ultimately swallowed his words.

He understood Song Heping was right; charging further had no meaning.

"Then… what do we do now? Just encircle them? Time isn't on our side."

Song Heping didn't respond immediately.

He slowly sat back in his chair, intertwining his fingers under his chin, his deep gaze fixed on the screen depicting the city of Daguge, which seemed to open its jaws wide.

The only sounds in the command post were radio static and the distant explosions transmitted by drone footage.

The gunfire in the city remained intense, but the offensive momentum from the mercenary camps under "Musician" defense had halted.

Countless tactical plans, enemy and friendly dispositions, and equipment lists rapidly flashed through Song Heping's mind, searching for that leverage point that could pry open this city of death.

A minute later, Song Heping stood up.

"Want to be a turtle in its shell?"

He stared at the screen, a cold smile on his lips: "Dream on."

He turned to the officer responsible for liaising with the local Kurd forces and said, "Do you have some female soldiers who enjoy beheading extremists?"

The Kurdish officer was taken aback.

For a moment, he didn't understand why the commander suddenly asked such a question.

But he quickly realized what Song Heping was referring to.

Over the past two years, as the 1515 Armed continually encroached on the Kurdish Control Zone, the retreating Kurd forces found themselves outmatched and could only come up with some desperate measures—

Sending women to behead 1515 extremists.

In the eyes of outsiders, this command might seem cruel.

Sending women to behead—it's politically incorrect in the so-called "civilized" world, even conflicting with moral views.

But for those 1515 extremists who believe that dying will lead them to Heaven to enjoy the pleasures of 72…virgins (don't blame me for writing this, I have no choice), being killed by a Kurdish woman means they cannot enter Heaven.

Therefore, they fear women and are extremely enraged by things that undermine their ascent to "Heaven."

This is something Song Heping heard and hasn't personally witnessed.

Yet at this point, he thinks it's time to make good use of this legend.

"Commander… what do you mean by…"

"I'm asking you, if a 1515 armed member is beheaded by a Kurdish woman, according to their beliefs, do they lose the qualification to enter the so-called Heaven?"

Song Heping pursued the question.

He had to ascertain whether this legend was true.

Otherwise, it was useless.

"Yes..."

The Kurd liaison officer nodded with difficulty.

He still didn't understand why the commander asked this question.

He even suspected that the commander before him, with eyes as sharp as knives, might take this opportunity to make trouble for him.

"There's such a claim... It's because of their extreme teachings..."

"Relax, I don't eat people." Song Heping softened his tone, "Go contact the Abu You Brigade, have them get some Kurd women from the logistics department, and make sure they bring the sharpest machetes."

Saying this, he turned to Jiang Feng: "Immediately contact the frontline combat units, gather those 'Holy Warriors' we captured before, select a batch that are lightly injured and can still scream, and bring them to that open land west of the city. Execute them publicly in front of the 1515 Armed in the city, from a distance, so snipers can't reach, then have our people shout in the city with loudspeakers, let them know the Kurd women have taken action, the bigger the commotion, the better."

An hour later, on a relatively flat wasteland west of Daguk City.

Dozens of captured 1515 Armed members, mostly injured and in tattered clothes, were forcibly made to kneel with their hands tied behind.

Their faces were covered with dirty beards, eyes mixed with fear, numbness, and a trace of remaining fanaticism.

Surrounding them were Kurd women, dressed in traditional black robes, headscarves tightly wrapped.

Their eyes were filled with blazing anger—a lot of their husbands, sons, brothers had been brutally killed by 1515's butcher knives.

A handful of armed members from the Abu You Brigade stood guard on the perimeter, looking indifferent.

No trial, no lengthy accusations.

With a slight nod from an elderly Kurd leading the group, the women raised their machetes, a bit clumsy but incredibly resolute…

Crack—

Crack—

Crack—

A strange sound was heard.

Like chopping pig bones with a cleaver on a cutting board.

The kneeling captives toppled over like felled wheat, blood quickly soaking the yellow soil beneath.

Those who were beheaded with one strike at least had a quick death.

Some of the 1515 who weren't killed with one strike suffered greatly.

A few took seven or eight chops, their necks still not severed, bodies twitching, struggling…

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood.

Blood flowed everywhere, like streams in the desert…

The dying wails, the long-suppressed cries of vengeance from the women, mixed together, carried by the wind, clearly reached Daguk City not far away.

The drone lens fixated on the movements inside the city.

At first, there was a deathly silence, as if the whole city was stunned.

The 1515 Armed members who were originally hiding in houses were the first to lose their composure.

Their positions had the clearest view of the beheading scenes outside the city.

Especially since several loudspeakers had been set up inside the city at some point, someone was mocking the captured 1515 extremists with utmost sarcasm—

"You'll never ascend to Heaven! We're going to besiege you! Once you faint from hunger, we'll drag you out one by one from the tunnels and have the Kurd women sever your necks. Then, your blood won't be pure, and your souls will be eternally trapped in endless Hell..."

Who was responsible for the broadcast, Song Heping didn't know.

But he had to admit, the instigating and sarcastic tone made even him, a non-believer, want to rush up and slap the person a few times.

Let alone those 1515 members…

Sure enough, shortly after, a strange scene unfolded in the drone's footage—

A large number of 1515 armed personnel poured out of different buildings in the city, like ants rushing out of a crushed anthill, the leader pointing towards outside the city, shouting something hoarsely.

In just ten minutes, more people burst out from the hiding buildings, gathering on the streets, emotions running high.

The content from the loudspeakers and those extremely insulting remarks, along with the news of their comrades being beheaded by Kurd women outside the city, greatly stimulated that nerve soaked in extreme doctrine.

To these fanatics, being executed in such a humiliating way by "heretics," especially by women whom they viewed as inferior, was a disgrace more unbearable than death itself!

"Allahu Akbar!!"

"They slaughtered our brothers!"

"We can't let them desecrate the martyrs' bodies!"

"Revenge! Kill all these Kafir! Charge out of the city!"

Religious fanaticism and deliberately provoked anger spread like wildfire among the city's defenders, quickly drowning out the rational voices of commanders urging to hold the line.

Inside the command post.

"Hunter" whispered next to Song Heping, "Boss, the fish have left their holes."