Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1241 The counterattack begins

A few minutes later, Song Heping dialed the encrypted line to the U.S. military command center in Bakda from the command post.

"Colonel Kurt,"

Song Heping's voice was deliberately tinged with a tone that was a mixture of "heavy", "confused" and even a bit "shocked".

“I just received a report that is… shocking and baffling. One of my patrols ran into a group of unidentified armed men in that godforsaken place west of Hurmatur.”

On the other end of the phone, Kurt's breathing became noticeably heavier. After a few seconds of silence, a voice as cold as ice shards came through: "Song, what exactly do you want to say?"

"Sigh, they've exchanged fire."

Song Heping sighed "helplessly," "The situation was urgent, and my soldiers had no choice but to take action in self-defense. As for the result... it wasn't very good; the other side suffered some casualties. Also... we captured a few alive."

He paused deliberately before "cautiously" dropping the bombshell that sent Kurt's blood pressure soaring:

“After our initial… well, ‘interrogation’, these captured men claimed to be… members of the U.S. Delta Force and the Iraqi ISOF… but after checking, I found that three of them are indeed Americans, so I think this is a big misunderstanding and I called you to verify the truth.”

He could clearly hear Kurt's breathing suddenly stop on the other end of the phone, followed by a series of gurgling sounds like a broken bellows.

Song Heping gave Kurt no time to react, immediately firing off his prepared questions in rapid succession:

"Colonel! This is extremely strange! If they are 'friendly forces' ordered to carry out a mission in my Hurmatu region, why didn't anyone notify me beforehand?! My command didn't receive a single word of relevant information! As you know, those lunatics from 1515 have been rampant lately, carrying out terrorist attacks everywhere, making my troops extremely vigilant and on high alert! Didn't your US special forces conduct a situation assessment before operating here, and didn't you think you should have notified me to avoid misunderstandings?"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, even displaying a hint of resentment at being "betrayed":

"If I had known it was allied special forces coming here on a mission, I would have provided whatever support they needed! But now it's turned out like this... Colonel, tell me, who is responsible for this heartbreaking 'misunderstanding'?! I expect you, and the Pentagon, to give me, and my brothers who are worried sick about 'accidentally injuring friendly forces,' a clear and unambiguous explanation! I just want to ask, why would one of the most elite special forces teams in the US military sneak into my territory without even informing me, their supreme commander?! What are they doing here?! What is their mission objective?!"

Song Heping practically roared out these last few questions, each word like a hammer blow striking Kurt's heart.

In particular, the question "What exactly is the mission objective?" hit the nail on the head and delivered a fatal blow!
How could Kurt possibly answer that?

Could he possibly say, "Oh, they're going to locate you and then call in a B-52 to blow you up?"

There was a long, dead silence on the other end of the phone.

All that could be heard was Kurt's frighteningly heavy breathing. Song Heping could even imagine the other man's face turning ashen and his frustrated expression with nowhere to vent his anger.

Song Heping sneered inwardly; he knew he had it in the bag.

He pinpointed the two most inexplicable flaws in the US military operation: the operation was not communicated to allies, and the mission's purpose was entirely illicit.

Colonel Kurt was now in a classic case of swallowing a bitter pill, unable to express his suffering. His chest felt incredibly tight, and a surge of anger was coursing through his internal organs, yet he dared not utter a single fart.

Acknowledge the mission?

That would mean turning against each other.

Moreover, if this were made public, the US military would be morally untenable.

deny?

How do you explain the presence of Delta Force there?
All the anger, frustration, and shame could only be mixed with blood and saliva and swallowed back down his throat.

"Didn't you check who they were before you took action?" Kurt retorted, his neck stiff. "Don't you have night vision equipment? Can't you even tell friend from foe? Song, you did this on purpose, didn't you!"

Song Heping sneered, "Colonel, in this tense situation, at this critical juncture, a special forces unit that appeared in my core defense zone without prior notice, and my soldiers mistook them for infiltrating terrorists and attacked them. Doesn't that logic make sense?! My troops do have night vision equipment, but not everyone has it, and it's all old and broken stuff with very low resolution. How about... to avoid misunderstandings, you provide another 10,000 individual night vision goggles?"

These words left Colonel Kurt speechless once again.

"Song..."

After a long pause, Kurt finally spoke again: "This matter... the situation... is very complicated. I... I need to report to higher command immediately... about... about the captured personnel..."

"Don't worry, Colonel!"

Song Heping immediately adopted a "reasonable" tone, his voice sounding incredibly "sincere".

"Although this is purely a regrettable misunderstanding, I have always upheld the highest standards of humanitarianism! Moreover, these are friendly forces, right?! We will do our utmost to treat and care for the wounded. At the same time, we earnestly hope that you can provide us with a formal explanation and statement as soon as possible regarding this 'unannounced friendly force action.' After all, this concerns the future prospects of our cooperation, wouldn't you agree?"

He deliberately emphasized the word "cooperation," making it suggestive.

The call ended in this extremely eerie atmosphere.

Song Heping slowly put down the satellite phone, exhaled a long, pleasant breath, and a smile like that of a hunter who had successfully captured a powerful prey appeared on his face.

He knew that this brilliant counterattack was executed flawlessly!
He successfully turned the knife that the Americans were trying to use to assassinate him into a weapon against his own neck, turning a crisis that could have wiped him out into a valuable bargaining chip in his own hands!

"Next, we'll see whether those suit-wearing gentlemen at the Pentagon choose to throw caution to the wind and risk everything, or whether they'll have to swallow their pride and sit down with me, the 'chef' they look down on, to have a proper talk about the new menu prices."

Song Heping walked to the window, looked at the horizon of Hurmatu gradually being illuminated by the morning light, and murmured to himself.

The hot, blood- and tear-stained evidence in his hand was his greatest source of confidence at that moment.

Of course, this is not the end of the story.

I reckon the Pentagon will make me return the prisoners first, and then take drastic measures against me. None of those old bastards in the Pentagon are any good.

It seems we need to provide them with some "insurance".

He summoned Jiang Feng and instructed him:
"These next few days are probably the most dangerous for us. If this isn't handled properly, the Americans might target us. Now, you need to do the following immediately: First, split the command post into three groups: Group A with me, Group B with you, and Group C with Samir. According to the planned evacuation, leave the command post one hour later and move to the backup node! Then, order the mercenary battalion's electronic warfare company to create false signals to create electronic deception, so that the Americans can't detect my exact location."

Song Heping's orders were concise and clear.

The so-called backup node was a mobile command post that Song Heping had Samir secretly build a few days ago using abandoned mines and natural caves near Hurmatu in the Northwest River District.

These locations were not only well-hidden, but also had rudimentary but reliable wired communication connections with each other, and even short tunnels were dug for emergency evacuation.

Meanwhile, the electronic warfare unit began to get busy.

They quickly set up high-powered fake radio transmitters at several pre-selected locations in and around Hurmatu town to simulate the communication signal characteristics of the command post.

"Prepare more 'feasts' for the Americans' satellites and drones."

Song Heping sneered, "Let them bomb it, let's see how many expensive JDAMs they have to waste."

Just as the command post began to physically disperse, Song Heping left the command post and went to the temporary command node.

This is a reinforced basement, located in the basement of a building on the outskirts of the city. It was a temporarily requisitioned site, and even the soldiers of the "Liberation Forces" were unaware of its purpose.

He turned on a specially modified laptop that was not connected to the command center's internal network and connected to an independent satellite link.

An encrypted communication interface popped up on the screen, and he quickly entered commands.

Soon, a separate dialog box popped up on the screen.

"God! You're insane! You wiped out an entire Delta Force squad?! The military will never let you get away with this, you'd better run!"

Before Song Heping could speak, the other party preemptively questioned him.

"Run away?"

Song Heping countered, "You're afraid that your secrets will be automatically exposed if something happens to me, right?"

There was silence on the other side.

That's right.

On the other end of the network was CIA Director Simon.

"FUCK!"

Simon seemed to dislike this questioning, but he had to admit it was true.

So, he could only type in a swear word.

Song Heping added, "If the military intends to behead me, you can notify me beforehand."

The meaning behind these words is quite clear.

This is a questioning of Simon's "loyalty" to him.

Sure enough, Simon panicked and immediately retorted, "I only just found out that you wiped out a small US special forces team in Hurmatu. God be my witness, the Pentagon didn't consult me ​​beforehand. Song, you need to know, our relationship with the Pentagon has never been good!"

He offered a lengthy explanation for himself.

Song Heping knew this was not an excuse.

This is a fact.

The military leaders in the army were indeed not very fond of spy organizations like the CIA.

"Don't be nervous, my old friend."

Song Heping eased the tension: "I was just joking."

Simon didn't say anything.

Across the internet, Song Heping seemed to see him breathe a sigh of relief in front of the screen.

“I have some things on hand, which I will pass on to you now. You can say that I deliberately spread them on the internet and they were intercepted by your people. I want you to use these things to give those old guys in the Pentagon a warning at the appropriate time, to let them know what I have to offer. I don’t like bloodshed, but if someone is willing to gamble their high position and salary with me, the mercenary leader, then I welcome it.”

"What is it?" Simon asked warily.

"It's nothing, just some interrogation transcripts and some PFD files. They're very interesting. You'll understand what they are once you get them."

Song Heping said, "If you want me to live, then you know what to do. I don't need to teach you, Director, how to operate to achieve the best results."

　Asking for a monthly ticket! Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)