Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 105 Flowers Bloom Along the Avenues of Garnum
In the dyehouse east of Ghanam, Omar was stirring a boiling vat of dye with a long wooden stick. The deep blue dye, made from indigo, alum, and pomegranate peel, tumbled in the heat and emitted a slightly pungent smell.

Omar looked at the color in the jar and added another spoonful of madder root.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from the entrance of the dye shop. Omar didn't even need to turn around to know that it was Nur, the boy from next door, who had been sent by his parents a few months ago to learn the craft from him.

“Jamira from 17th Street asked us to dye a piece of cloth blue!” Nur laughed. “Now it seems like people from several streets have placed orders with us!”

Omar's lips unconsciously curled up. In the past two days, the dye shop had received orders like snowflakes, and they were all blue.

That was the color of the flag of the Shuangzhi Northern Expeditionary Force, which city dwellers now commonly refer to as "Amir Blue".

"Did you see the general in person?" Omar asked.

Nur nodded.

"Oh."

Seeing that his apprentice didn't respond, Omar couldn't help but ask after a moment of silence, "Does that general really look like everyone says?"

Omar heard many rumors about Major General Amir from those who had returned from the war. Some said that the general was the reincarnation of Zu Karnain, with curved horns on his head, amber eyes, and twice the height of an average person; others said that he had amazing strength and could lift a tent pillar weighing a thousand pounds with one hand.
“I went to the square when the general was inspecting the area that day,” Nur said. “That prince was much thinner than the heroes in the murals, and he didn’t have any gold armor.”

He gestured, "He was just wearing an ordinary military uniform, but he was quite handsome."

Omar sounded somewhat disappointed. "Isn't there anything else special about it?"

“Uh,” Nur recalled, “there were some, but I’m not quite sure how to describe them.”

The other workers in the dye house also quietly pricked up their ears. Nur gestured to Major General Amir's movements: "When he raised his hand, the whole street seemed to be on fire. All fear and cowardice disappeared. It was as if everyone's heart was taken away by him."

One of the workers interjected, "Isn't what you're describing witchcraft?"

“How can this be called witchcraft?” Nur frowned. “I didn’t feel controlled at all, that’s all.”

Another worker countered, "Now the guerrillas are saying that Major General Amir is an apostle of God, and some even say he is the archangel Gabriel. In any case, he can't possibly be associated with witchcraft."

Nur nodded: "Yes! That must be the authority that God bestowed upon him!"

As Omar listened to the conversation between the workers and the young people, his thoughts drifted away.

He couldn't remember the last time there was a change of government in this city. Ten years ago, the Ba'ath Party overthrew the Qassem military government.
But for ordinary people like him, it was just one period of hardship turning into another.

At least in his memory, when the Ba'ath Party troops marched into Ghana, there wasn't a situation like now, where every household was vying to embroider army flags.

Moreover, it was the military flag of another country.

"Add another half spoonful of sulfur." ​​Omar pulled the cloth over and pressed it into the most concentrated dye vat. The cloth spread out in the dye solution. "This way it will be more resistant to sunlight and less likely to fade."

Suddenly, the sound of orderly footsteps came from outside the courtyard wall. The workers all looked in the direction of the sound. It was the Northern Expeditionary Force soldiers on patrol.

Behind them followed a group of children banging drums and gongs; along the road they walked, small flowers were blooming in the cracks of the stones. ————

Ghanam Headquarters.

Lu Lin watched as Ibrahim led a group of clerks to approve documents, the sound of stamps clicking incessantly. He then leaned over and asked, "What are you approving?"

Ibrahim glanced at him: "Compare the roll call to the front lines, compile the list of bodies to be disposed of, do you want to take a look?"

Masr had previously made a fool of himself when the 21st Armored Division was counted twice for various reasons (cheating during roll call, double counting of medical evacuations, etc.). It was only after the prisoner exchange that it was discovered that there were a group of shadow soldiers.

Lu Lin took the stack of light papers and said, "I want specific numbers."

Ibrahim: "I thought you wouldn't ask that question."

"To be honest, the losses were quite heavy. According to the current statistics, 1176 people were killed in action and 2421 were seriously wounded or disabled. The armored forces were more than half wiped out. Except for the air defense brigade, most of the artillery positions ran out of ammunition. But our sacrifices gave us the strategic initiative."

On the bright side, our soldiers have also been tempered; these veterans, baptized in two wars, will become the backbone of our future force.

He comforted his young general, saying, "This is war."

Lu Lin silently flipped through the list. After a long period of training and living together day and night, he remembered many soldiers in the unit clearly. For example, Hassan Al-Maktoum of the Hammerhead Battalion was a young man who would draw cartoon patterns on the cannon barrels, and Nabil Obeid, the machine gunner of the infantry battalion, had the longest beard in the entire unit.
He was both afraid of seeing those familiar names on the list and felt he had to etch the name of every fallen soldier into his mind.

Lu Lin suddenly cursed, "Damn it, it's all Al-Iraq's fault!"

If those people hadn't betrayed Garnum, he wouldn't have lost so many of his soldiers.

He'll settle this score properly once the war is over.

Ibrahim changed the subject: "The Kurds have retreated."

Lu Lin was not surprised to hear this: "They should retreat. After all, the Socratic front has been breached by us, and there is no point in continuing to hold back the Al-Iraq government forces in Baghdad."

The two men were tacitly aware of the situation that was about to unfold, and the circumstances between Shuangzhi and Al-Irag would become very delicate.

In the original strategic plan for the first phase of the "Yom Kippur War," only Al-Iraq among the Arab countries failed to achieve its objectives, while even Masr completed the "Badr" plan and successfully seized the Suez Canal.

If they were to go to aid the Surya front, Al-Irag would have to travel west via Highway 53 in Ghanam.

But neither the people of Shuangzhi nor the people of Ghanam wanted to see government troops set foot on this land again.

“Kozonie and the others will send someone to talk to you,” Ibrahim said.

“Let them talk to the Shuangzhi royal family if they want to,” Lu Lin gently placed the list back on the table. “I’m just a general who obeys orders.”

(End of this chapter)