Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1267 Bakdadi's Fury
Deep underground in a war-torn concrete building in a small town in Raqqa province, Silja.

The former government office building is now riddled with holes, its walls covered with countless bullet holes and black soot marks, as if silently telling the story of the fierce fighting that once took place here.

More than five meters underground, in a reinforced room, a rudimentary generator hummed continuously, providing unstable power to basic communication equipment.

In 1515, the face of the leader Baghdadi, covered with a thick beard, was extremely distorted with anger and anxiety, and his eyes were so dark that they could kill a bull.

"...The news has been repeatedly confirmed. After resting and resupplying in Hurmatu for more than ten days, Song Heping and his infidel mercenaries, along with Samir's 'Liberation Forces' militia, have begun a large-scale southward march. Their vanguard reconnaissance units are less than 100 kilometers away from Titrick."

A staff member in a long robe reported in a somber tone.

His finger was pointing precisely at a densely marked operational map of northern Iligor spread out on a simple wooden table.

The news was like a boulder thrown into a stagnant pool, instantly creating ripples of suppressed panic in the room.

"They tasted success in Hurmatu, and now they want to swallow Titrick whole? Their appetite is too big!"

"Song Heping certainly understands Tetrick's value!"

"We must stop them! At all costs! Titrick must not fall into their hands!"

"Shut up, everyone!"

Baghdadi slammed his hand on the rough wooden table and turned his gaze to the aide who had given the report earlier.

The room fell silent, save for the annoying, monotonous roar of the generator.

He growled, "Get to the point! What does losing Tetrik mean for us? The consequences!"

The strategist with the sinister look in his eyes took a deep breath of the stale air, as if to bolster his courage. He slammed his finger heavily on the dot "Titrick" on the map, then forcefully drew a line connecting Celia and the northern region of Iligor:
“Leader, Titrick is an irreplaceable choke point between our Iligor military group and the headquarters region of Celia! It controls at least three key highways and an important river valley passage. If... I mean if Song Heping successfully takes it, it will be tantamount to driving a huge wedge between the two main war zones of Iligor, completely separating our originally united forces!”

His finger then moved to the vast area between Ozam and Titrick on the map:
“Please look here. We have amassed over 30,000 loyal and brave warriors in the vast area around Ozam, Sinjar, and Titrick! Once Titrick falls, our brothers in the east, facing Ozam, will be completely cut off from reinforcements, weapons, ammunition, and logistical support from the west! They will become an isolated and helpless army, trapped in a desperate situation!”

Another, slightly older staff member who had served in the old Iraqi army immediately added to the situation, his tone even more stern:
“Emir, the situation may be worse than that. If Song Heping successfully captures Titrick and forms a strategic alliance with the Abuyu Brigade in the Mosul region to the northwest, they will be able to establish a solid barrier in northwestern Ilig. From now on, it will be extremely difficult for us to send reinforcements from the Celia headquarters into the northern Ilig war zone, almost like a pipe dream! At that time, the tens of thousands of brothers trapped in the direction of Ozam will have no other way to survive except to desperately break out to the south towards the vast desert area in the direction of Bakda!”

The sinister advisor who had spoken earlier immediately chimed in, his voice even carrying a barely perceptible hint of fear:

"Break out to the south? Enter that vast, extremely open desert? There are almost no complex terrains there to hide in or rely on! The American warplanes will bomb us like tireless vultures, 24 hours a day! Once our people leave the towns and mountains and are exposed to the open desert, it will be a... a complete one-sided massacre!"

Baghdadi stared intently at "Titrick" on the map, a map that seemed to hold the fate of tens of thousands of his men in its hands.

“So…” Baghdadi gritted his teeth and made up his mind: “Titrick, absolutely, absolutely cannot be lost!”

"Yes, leader! We must hold on! At all costs!"

The older aide immediately echoed his sentiments, and promptly offered his own plan:

"I believe the most urgent task is to immediately order the commander of the theater of operations in the Ozam direction to dispatch at least 10,000 experienced and relatively well-equipped elite soldiers to reinforce Titrick as quickly as possible! At the same time, all scattered brother units in the vicinity of Titrick should be ordered to abandon their current positions and regroup entirely within Titrick city. In this way, our garrison strength in Titrick can easily exceed 30,000 in a short period of time!"

He carefully observed Baghdadi's expression, and seeing that the leader showed no sign of opposition, he continued his analysis:

"According to the intelligence we have, Song Heping currently has no more than 8,000 troops at his disposal. Moreover, reliable sources indicate that his core mercenaries, who are truly capable of fighting, consist of only about two battalions, while the rest are Samir's motley militia."

"Titerik is not a small border town like Hurmatu; it's a city of considerable size with a vast urban area, intricate streets and dense buildings. Even if Song Heping's mercenaries are individually highly skilled and manage to break through our outer defenses, as long as we are determined to drag them into brutal and time-consuming urban warfare, layering them down, their fatal weakness of severely insufficient total forces will eventually be exposed, leading to a complete collapse!"

He paused deliberately, lowered his voice even further, and spoke with a clear provocation and a hint of hope:

"Moreover, according to intelligence we recently obtained through special channels, there seems to be a rift between the Americans and Song Heping, the mercenary leader, and their relationship is deteriorating rapidly. The Hurmatur region, which Song Heping had just painstakingly conquered, was forcibly taken over by another military contractor called 'Thunder Defense' appointed by the Americans, and the 'Musicians' were unceremoniously driven out."

At this point, a sinister smile appeared on his face:

"I strongly suspect that Song Heping's hasty southward advance to attack the heavily defended Titrick was likely a reluctant move forced upon him by immense pressure from the Americans. This move by the Americans is extremely ruthless; they clearly intend to use our strength to weaken or even completely eliminate Song Heping's increasingly uncontrollable armed force! Therefore, we can be fairly certain that even if Song Heping is engaged in a fierce battle in the siege of Titrick, and even faces the danger of total annihilation, the Americans and the allied command they lead will most likely choose to stand by and watch, or even secretly be happy to see it happen, hoping we will eliminate this trouble for them!"

These words precisely ignited Baghdadi's deepest hopes.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. He had long hated Song Heping, the "Eastern devil" who had repeatedly thwarted his grand plans, and was determined to get rid of him as soon as possible.

"Well said!"

Baghdadi issued a firm order: "Immediately use all means of communication to contact the highest commanders of Ozam and Titrick! Execute this plan! Reinforcements must arrive at the fastest speed possible, at all costs! Tell Az Omar, who is holding Titrick, to hold his ground and his men to the death! No matter what, turn Titrick into a graveyard for Song Heping and his mercenaries!"

He paced anxiously back and forth in the cramped basement a few times, then suddenly stopped:
"Furthermore, immediately issue the highest bounty on all warriors in my name! The bounty is five million US dollars! Cash! Whoever it is, no matter what method they use—sniping, demolition, ambush, or even mutual destruction—as long as they can reliably kill Song Heping and completely eliminate this thorn in our side, this huge bounty will immediately belong to them! I want Song Heping and every one of his men to clearly understand the terrible price they will pay for opposing God's most loyal and fearless warriors!"

The order was quickly transmitted to the 1515 command post in the Titrick region via a rapidly encrypted communication network.

A bloody battle surrounding this strategically important city has begun, and a heavy prelude has been set in motion.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)