Chapter 1858 - 1396: Who's Afraid of Whom in This World! (Part 2)

He didn't finish speaking, just snorted coldly, but the meaning was clear.

Over the next three hours, the four of them drafted a detailed plan in Samir's office.

The location of troop assembly, movement routes, and blockade points were marked on the map.

Communication plans, identification signals, and contingency plans.

Every detail was scrutinized thoroughly.

"Operation time?" Samir asked at last.

Song Heping glanced at his watch.

"It's nine o'clock in the evening now. The troops need time to assemble and maneuver. By eight o'clock tomorrow night, deployment will be complete, and we'll surround before midnight. The final ultimatum will be issued at dawn."

"What if they sense it before we complete the encirclement?" Abu You raised the most dangerous possibility.

"Then it will be a tough battle," Song Heping admitted frankly. "But even then, we still have a numerical advantage. The key is speed, we must control the situation before they can call for backup."

After the plan was decided, Abu You and Jiang Feng went to rest, needing to conserve energy for tomorrow's operation.

Samir began secretly mobilizing the troops, using "night drills" as an excuse to order each battalion to move to predefined assembly points east of Mosul City.

Song Heping was alone in the office, standing by the window gazing at the lights of the military camp.

A dozen years ago, when he came to Iligo, he was just a shopkeeper looking to make money.

Now, he is commanding an army against the strongest country in the world.

Fate is truly an ironic playwright.

Since the Americans want to confront me, I'll confront them first.

The battle drums of East Wind Lake thunder!

In this world, WHO fears WHO!

Time quickly passed to five o'clock the next afternoon.

Throughout the day, the troop deployment east of Mosul City proceeded orderly under the guise of "anti-terror exercises."

Samir's Tenth Division deployed three mechanized infantry battalions, a tank battalion, and an artillery battalion, totaling about two thousand eight hundred men.

Abu You's forces also secretly arrived from Kirkuk, with two infantry battalions of about one thousand two hundred men hidden in the abandoned factory area east of the city.

The total force reached four thousand men, thirty times the size of the US Military Base garrison.

Song Heping was at the front command post of the Tenth Division, inside a modified armored command vehicle parked in a warehouse three kilometers from the US Military Base.

The vehicle's communication system connected him with the commanders of various units; the large screen showed real-time footage relayed by drones.

"Team A is in position."

"Team B is in position."

"Tank unit has arrived at the predetermined location."

Reports from various units came through the communication channel.

Song Heping watched the screen as the four thousand strong force tightened like a giant net, silently closing in.

The main street on the east side was already blocked by obstacles, the bridge on the west was equipped with anti-tank missiles, and snipers controlled the high points on the north and south sides.

The US Military Base was like a lone piece on a chessboard completely surrounded.

"They still haven't noticed?" Samir was somewhat incredulous.

"The outer patrol just returned to base for a shift change. In terms of scale and density, they increased intensity," Jiang Feng said. "But it's still a routine rotation, nothing unusual. It's likely they won't expect us to surround them."

Song Heping checked the time, six twenty in the evening.

The sunset painted Mosul's sky blood red, and the shadows of buildings stretched long.

The evening prayer just ended for the Green Religion, the call to prayer echoed mournfully from mosques throughout the city.

"Begin the second phase," he ordered.

The order was communicated down.

Four columns, composed of armored vehicles and tanks, approached the US Military Base from different directions, slow but resolute and unstoppable.

Each column had a clear mission.

Seal off a direction, establish a defense line, prepare to counter possible breakout attempts.

Meanwhile, officials of the Illigo Government in Mosul City received calls from Samir:

"The Tenth Division is conducting an emergency safety operation, citizens are advised to stay indoors and refrain from going out."

The notification lacked details, but in this war-torn city, people had already learned not to ask too many questions.

Joint Action Team Base, briefing room.

Lemont paced in the room, the rhythmic sound of his leather shoes on the concrete floor echoing.

Three days, a full seventy-two hours, Song Heping seemed to vanish into thin air. All surveillance footage, all informant reports, all technical reconnaissance methods, failed to locate him.

This isn't right.

Something is very wrong.

A mercenary leader, in a place like Mosul, how could he completely evade the American intelligence network?

Unless...

"Someone is definitely aiding him," Lemont suddenly stopped. "And it's not just anyone helping him, it involves organized, resourceful assistance."

Ryan looked up from his laptop: "Samir?"

"Or Abu You, or both," Lemont moved to the map, pointing at the location of the Tenth Division's camp. "If Song Heping is actually here, we've got trouble. We cannot assault a regular Iligo military encampment."

"But we can apply pressure," Ryan said. "I've looked into Samir's financial situation. The Tenth Division's funding comes from three sources: regular allocations from the Illigo Ministry of Defense, subsidies from Mosul's local government, and... some external channels."

He pulled up a document: "These external channels are quite covert, likely oil-related, transferred through banks in the United Arab Emirates and Liben. But I've contacted the Ministry of Finance, they can temporarily freeze these accounts. Without funds, Samir's troops can't last a month."

Lemont nodded: "Do it. Do it now. And also, contact Baghdad, have the embassy put pressure on the Illigo Ministry of Defense, claim that Samir might be harboring terrorists and demand suspension of his allocations."