Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 215: Set off, Venus Moon!

At 5:10 in the evening, the sun had just set in the west and had not yet completely gone down.

South of Kandahar, Gamshah.

In a Lexus SUV traveling from north to south, Song Heping opened a map on the dashboard in front of him, and in his hand was a civilian version of the satellite GPS, constantly comparing the surrounding conditions.

Song Heping is definitely no stranger to understanding and using images.

However, in a completely unfamiliar country like Afghanistan, the two drove across a large plateau basin area, heading to a dangerous area in the world with the most serious opium cultivation and the highest production. The feeling was like driving across the African savannah without a guide.

The difference is that in the wilds of Africa, only animals can kill you, but here, only humans can kill you.

Song Heping shifted his gaze from the map to the car window. On the right, he could see a river slowly extending southward. In the afterglow of the sunset, the water surface shimmered with a charming golden color.

This river is the famous Helmand River in Afghanistan.

It is said that the birth of human civilization must be related to rivers.

Because all tribes choose to "live near water", water is the only basis of life, and only water can nourish life.

The Helmand River runs through the entire Helmand Province from south to north, nourishing this province located in a plateau basin with fertile soil and abundant products. It is the main source of food for Afghanistan.

But the war destroyed everything. In order to survive, most people here now grow poppies instead of food crops.

The reason is simple, because growing this thing makes more money than growing crops.

Song Heping had read the analysis data previously provided by ISA. Helmand Province alone accounted for 90% of Afghanistan's poppy production. If this province had once had its own brilliance in ancient times, it has now lost its soul and gradually become dim.

"take it easy!"

Mist, who was driving, turned to look at Song Heping in the passenger seat and said with a grin, "I've looked at the map. We're still over 80 kilometers from Hannihin. We'll probably arrive in two hours. As long as we can see the river—"

He pointed out the window toward the Helmand River.

"Just follow it and you'll get to Hannihin! Hannihin is right on the river."

He's right.

Song Heping felt that he was indeed a little unnecessarily nervous.

Everything had been arranged long ago. All the necessary calls had been made and all the necessary people had been contacted.

Before leaving, Song Heping had a video call with the cook and Ferrari, and told them that if he could not return from this mission, he would give all his money to his younger brother or sister who would come to handle his funeral.

In addition, he also transferred $50 to his sister's account in one lump sum.

Of course, this is just a small amount of money for Yu Songheping now, but he cannot transfer all 20 million US dollars to his sister or brother at once, as that will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Now there was only one thing he had to do - come back alive.

So he put away his GPS and the map and simply took the opportunity to appreciate the scenery here.

There is actually no scenery here, but it can also be said that there is scenery everywhere.

The land was vast and desolate, and the sky was like a huge gray curtain, hanging low, as if it would fall at any moment.

The dry soil cracked into cracks, like scars on the earth, silently telling the vicissitudes of time.

The cold wind whistled past, sweeping up yellow sand and dust, mercilessly blowing across every inch of land.

The rolling mountains in the distance are like sleeping beasts, lying there quietly for thousands of years, witnessing the suffering of this land.

Occasionally, a few eagles circle in the sky, their sharp eyes overlooking the vast land.

Their cries echoed in the empty wilderness, adding a sense of desolation and loneliness.

"Mister, how often do you guys usually get to go back for vacation after deployment?"

Song Heping suddenly thought of this interesting question.

"Usually three to four months, sometimes as long as ten months on a bad day. Because we're special forces, our overseas missions are short, but frequent and recurring. It's not so much deployments as it is going wherever there's a call, and then we're right back. I was here before I went to Iriguchi, and now, after completing the Mosul mission, I've been transferred here again..."

Perhaps this question resonated with Mist, and he began to sigh, "That's why the divorce rate among people like us is so high. My predecessor once told me that it's impossible for a Navy SEAL's wife to have both a top special forces husband and an excellent husband."

"Oh..." Song Heping recalled his past experiences and sighed from the bottom of his heart. "We Chinese have a very similar old saying, which is about the dilemma of being both loyal and filial."

Mist asked, "Why are you asking about this all of a sudden?"

Song Heping said, "Maybe I've been in places like Yiligo for too long. Now I'm in Afghanistan, and all I see is war and desolation. I feel so depressed, I feel like I'm going crazy."

Mist said: "So most people who come out of war have psychological problems. You have to learn to adjust."

Song Heping was silent for a moment and then said, "So you choose to find your psychological balance with a woman?"

"Ah."

This time it was Mister's turn to be frugal with words.

In fact, he really wanted to talk to Song Heping about his love history over the years, the women he had been with, and how having relationships with women had caused him a lot of trouble in his military career, but he still enjoyed it.

He was unwilling to be loyal. For a Navy SEAL, being loyal would bring trouble to himself, because the divorce rate among his colleagues in the same unit was as high as 90%. After all, no one wanted to marry a man who was deployed all year round and couldn't even tell where he was going.

Mist felt that he was not capable of playing this kind of affectionate game, so he would rather seek short-term pleasure with call girls, strippers, or drunkards he had only met for a few hours in the bar, rather than have a passionate and long-lasting so-called love with an innocent woman.

He is a seasoned member of the special forces, and even when he falls in love, he can't help but develop some occupational diseases associated with making military combat plans. Actions that are too dangerous and involve too much gambling are irrational.

It quickly became dark.

Song Heping took out his weapons - in order to be more suitable for the identity of this mission, he gave up all his original equipment and brought nothing with him this time. Nicky still prepared the familiar AK set for the two of them. The pistol was more convenient, so he chose a Beretta 92F that he had used before. The reason for using this kind of gun was that it could be bought everywhere here and it was not uncommon.

If you show up here with an MK18 assault rifle equipped with a silencer and night vision goggles, it's like writing on your forehead - I am a US military member.

Just like when he was on guard in the car in Irigo, Song Heping attached the AKM assault rifle to the back of the car door, loaded the bullet, took out the pistol, checked it and turned on the safety.

He checked the GPS again. This time, they were less than 20 kilometers from Hannihin. Once there, they would find a place to stay in a local village called Jabad, as agreed, and someone from the Revolutionary Brigade would pick them up. This seemingly unreliable, primitive, and even somewhat ridiculous method of meeting someone was simply absurd to the uninitiated.

However, Song Heping and Mist both knew that this was a master.

With the US military's military technology, it is entirely possible to monitor electronic signals in this area, and even use electronic reconnaissance aircraft to intercept and decipher the signal content. Therefore, using mobile phones to communicate here is an extremely stupid thing.

In places like Afghanistan, whether it is resistance organizations or terrorist organizations, their organizational structures are very strange. Many times they choose to adopt the most primitive means of communication, and communication between the leader and the organizations below must rely on messengers.

These are experiences gained through lessons learned through blood and tears. When the Afghan War just broke out, the US military sent the Green Berets to infiltrate the Northern Alliance forces. They not only provided follow-up contact but also provided electronic reconnaissance and intelligence support. This led to the student military regime's retreat. Less than a month after the war started, the front line collapsed and was squeezed into the mountains.

Song Heping knew very well that if outsiders like him and Mist arrived in an unfamiliar village in southern Afghanistan to seek shelter, the news would be passed on to the ears of the head of the revolutionary brigade armed forces deployed nearby by the village's spies in a very short time, and then naturally someone would come to their door.

Don't worry about this at all.

What we are most worried about now is whether there will be thieves who suddenly appear in this desolate and dangerous Golden Crescent area to rob people.

It would be a real shame if I didn't die at the hands of the revolutionary brigade and the student army, but died at the hands of these scattered armed personnel.

Maybe they were just too lucky.

They didn't meet a single living person along the way.

This made both of them feel incredible.

"Damn it, are all the people here dead?"

Mist looked around while staring at the bumpy road ahead.

Here, even lights are hard to see.

"Maybe it's because of the war. People don't dare go out at night," Song Heping said. "Who knows when you will launch bombings and attacks?"

Mist was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly.

He had to admit that what Song Heping said was true.

"I feel like I'm almost there."

Mist began to slow down.

Song Heping took out the GPS, turned on the flashlight, and compared it.

"Yeah, we're there. This is a civilian GPS, so the signal is a bit problematic, but based on the map and the time, we're almost there."

"Where is the village?"

Mist had a headache.

Find a village in the dark and desolate plateau.

There were no night vision goggles, no military GPS, no communication equipment to contact the command center to obtain satellite positioning information...

It was like two people were stuffed into an empty room with no light, and they could only grope their way around on their own.

"This road goes south. Drive slowly. The village is right next to the road. I doubt there's a single light there."

Sometimes, after receiving rigorous map reading training in special forces, soldiers can imprint the map in their minds in unfamiliar environments, and have a rough idea of ​​the target's approximate direction and the location of the markers.

The car was swaying and driving alone on the empty plateau, like a small boat in the raging sea.

Except for the areas illuminated by the lights, the rest of the car was as dark as ink, and it was impossible to see what was connected.

It’s really inconvenient without night vision goggles!
Finally, Song Heping saw an orange-red light appear in front of him on the right.

"and many more!"

He pointed in the direction of the light.

"Laomi, look over there, is that a light?!"

“It’s the light!”

When Mist saw it, he also became excited.

He stepped on the accelerator, increased the speed, and drove towards the light.

Soon, a small village in the darkness appeared under the high beams.

There were houses scattered on the hillside, sheep in the sheepfold in front of the houses, and then I heard dogs barking.

"Wang Wang Wang! Wang Wang Wang!"

Song Heping was startled when he heard the dog barking.

"Be careful, turn off the lights, and drive into the woods over there! Let's get out of the car!"

Mist seemed to realize the danger as well. He immediately turned off the lights, then, relying on the direction he remembered, swerved the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator, rushing towards the woods on the side of the road.

Turning on your headlights in the dark does allow you to see what's ahead, but it also allows others to see you. If someone hiding in the dark shoots at your car, both of you will die.

This car is not bulletproof.

Sure enough, not long after we drove out, two gunshots were heard in the distance.

bang bang——

Song Heping was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)