Chapter 1859 - 1396: Who's Afraid of Whom in This World!

"This takes time, and it might not succeed," Ryan said.

"It's fine, as long as we apply pressure."

Lemont checked his watch, 11 p.m.

"Samir is not a fool; he knows the cost of confronting the Americans. When the pressure is great enough, he will make the 'right' choice."

Ryan started drafting the encrypted telegram.

Lemont went to the window, watching the searchlights outside the base cutting through the night sky.

The beams formed cones of light that illuminated the open ground outside the perimeter wall.

Too quiet, he thought again.

Mosul, even in the deep of night, should have some sounds.

For instance...

The barking of stray dogs, distant gunfire, the roar of generators.

But tonight, it was eerily silent.

"Increase alertness." He spoke into the radio, "All sentries to double shifts, snipers in position. Tell the pilots to keep the helicopters in a ready-to-launch state."

Orders were relayed.

The sound of soldiers running echoed in the base, engines of armored vehicles roared to life, along with the clang of metal as weapons were checked.

Lemont returned to his room but found no sleep.

He opened his encrypted laptop and pulled up the file on Song Heping.

The file spanned 274 pages, documenting the activities of this East University alumnus around the world over the years.

From grocer to mercenary, to owner of a private military company.

Every step taken steadily, every transition seizing the right moment.

This person isn't simple, not just a mercenary leader, but more like a strategist.

Lemont recalled what Director Simon had told him before he came here: "Do not provoke that guy! He's one of the smartest people I've seen on this land. If he were an American, he'd at least be a lieutenant general by now."

At that time, Lemont thought it was an exaggeration.

Now, he wasn't so sure.

At 1 a.m., Ryan knocked and entered: "The Treasury has approved the freezing application. Samir's three overseas accounts, totaling 18.7 million US Dollars, are all frozen. Additionally, the embassy has sent a formal note to the Illigo Ministry of Defense."

"What's the reaction?"

"The Illigo Defense Minister expressed anger at our actions but agreed to 'investigate.' According to the efficiency of the Illigo bureaucratic system, the investigation will take at least a week. But the key is the signal; at least we have shown our stance."

Lemont nodded, "Good. Now we need to wait for Samir's reaction. If he's smart, he'll contact us tomorrow morning about 'cooperation.'"

He paused, then asked, "Is there anything unusual around the base surveillance?"

"Drone patrols are normal, ground sensors haven't triggered, and the reconnaissance team reports everything is calm." Ryan hesitated for a moment, "But there's one thing: the Tenth Division's troop movements are more frequent than usual. They have assembled about a battalion of forces in the eastern part of the city, supposedly for a night exercise."

"Night exercise..." Lemont frowned, "When did it start?"

"Around 8 p.m. It's still ongoing."

Lemont walked to the surveillance screens.

Infrared images showed, in the abandoned industrial area on the east side of the city, indeed, there were a large number of heat signatures.

Vehicles, personnel, equipment. The scale was approximately a mechanized infantry battalion.

"Exercise content?"

"Supposedly a city assault drill targeting ISIS remnants," Ryan said, "But it's strange: they deployed tanks. Anti-terror exercises generally don't require tanks."

Lemont's heart sank.

He retrieved records of the Tenth Division's night exercises from the past three months.

Upon comparison, he found: tonight's exercise was larger in scale, heavier in equipment, and the assembly area was only five kilometers from the US Military Base.

Too close.

"Notify all units to enter level three alert," Lemont ordered, "Also, send out a squad to observe their exercise closely. Do not expose, just observe."

"If they ask..."

"Say we are concerned about the training of our allies, want to learn from their experience," Lemont said casually, but his eyes were serious, "I want to know what Samir is really doing."

The squad set off at 1:20 a.m., two armored Hummers, eight Delta Force Soldiers.

They turned off the headlights and used night vision to drive in the dark.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at an observation point 800 meters from the exercise area.

The team leader reported via encrypted radio, "We see at least twelve armored vehicles, four tanks, and a large number of infantry. They are setting up defensive positions, not offensive formations. Also... they've deployed anti-tank missiles, pointing west."

"West?" Lemont exclaimed, "Which direction is our base?"

"Due west," Ryan said, his face starting to pale.

Lemont was silent for five seconds.

Then he said, "Have the squad withdraw immediately. Immediately withdraw."

"But they haven't..."

"Immediately!" Lemont almost shouted, "That's an order!"

The order went out. But it was already too late.

As the observation squad was preparing to withdraw, four Illigo BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles flanked them, cutting off their retreat.

In quickly, a group of Illigo soldiers emerged from the shadows, their guns aimed at the Hummers.

"Drop your weapons, get out of the vehicle!" An Arabic command rang out from the loudspeaker, "You have illegally entered the exercise area of the Illigo army!"

The squad leader tried to explain, but the other side wouldn't listen.

More Illigo soldiers encircled them, outnumbering them by at least ten times.

The turrets of several tanks slowly rotated, their 125mm smoothbore guns aimed at the Hummers.