Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 90 Martyrs

Major General Cohen's joy at learning that the Air Force was coming to his aid was short-lived, as he was soon given some disheartening news.

The air force returned empty-handed, losing several valuable fighter jets in the process; the rest they had to rely on themselves.

"Didn't these guys say our air force was invincible?" Major General Cohen yelled, "Now they've turned into rats and slunk away!"

Chief of Staff: "Now is not the time to complain, Major General. What we should be considering now is how to stop the Shuangzhi army from continuing its advance."

Major General Cohen frowned and returned to the map.

Zion deployed three lines of defense in Garam. The first infantry trench was breached by the armored forces of the two nations, and the second anti-tank position was destroyed by artillery fire and air support from the opposite side. Now only one armored line of defense remains, still fighting tenaciously.

As for their dynamic armored formations, they failed to break through the enemy's defenses and were forced to retreat.

At this moment, the communications soldier came to report: "Shuangzhi's artillery has begun saturation bombardment of us, and the counter-battery radar is no longer effective!"

Major General Cohen sighed: "Tell me all the bad news at once."

"Uh," the communications soldier scratched his helmet, "it's gone."

At this moment, Major Ted of the 23rd Armored Battalion saluted and said, "Your Excellency, allow me to lead my troops in a charge. I guarantee I can destroy Shuangzhi's armored formation!"

Major General Cohen glanced at him; the David Medal on the man's chest gleamed.

"Do you think this is a medieval clash of knights?"

Major General Cohen bluntly stated, "Now, not only do we have anti-tank missiles, but the enemy also has them! If you continue to use the same tactic of overwhelming force as before, you will only turn an entire battalion of tanks into burning scrap metal!"

Major Ted proudly declared, "Let courage and glory bear witness to us!"

Major General Cohen looked at him like he was an idiot.

Chief of Staff: "Perhaps we have another way to effectively contain the enemy's artillery."

Major General Cohen immediately looked at him: "What's the plan?"

"We can keep one-third of our forces in the city to hold them back, while our main force moves to the southeast hilly area, forcing the Desert Eagle to fight us in urban warfare."

The chief of staff analyzed, "The city is full of civilians. Shuangzhi's troops will definitely not dare to use heavy firepower to cover us anymore. If they want to defeat us completely, they can only choose to enter the city and fight us to the death."

Although we are at a disadvantage in offensive and defensive battles, we still have the advantage in casualty ratio!

Our soldiers are elite troops who have undergone years of training, while most of Shuangzhi's soldiers are new recruits participating in war for the first time. Our armored forces are also superior.

If it were a street fighting contest, our chances of winning would be very high!

Major General Cohen was taken aback: "Isn't this telling me to retreat?"

“It’s not a retreat,” the chief of staff corrected. “We are simply using the city as a buffer zone to strangle those dual-wielding armored forces. Our main force can use the terrain to establish a mobile defensive perimeter, so that we can attack or retreat as needed and regain the initiative in the battle!”

Major General Cohen hesitated: "But will Amir obediently fight us in urban warfare? What if he starts indiscriminate bombing without regard for civilians?"

The chief of staff assured him, "You can basically rest assured about that. I have investigated this Major General Amir. He is the son of Defense Minister Shuangzhi and is quite well-known in the United States."

Moreover, I heard that when he was in Nukoshir, Arab refugees volunteered to form a suicide squad for him. A man like him would never do something like bombing civilians!

Major General Cohen was relieved after hearing this: "Then let's do as you say! Immediately withdraw the troops into the city, quickly seize advantageous terrain, and construct counter-attack fortifications!"

After saying that, he turned to Major Ted: "Did you all hear that? You and your tank battalion have a better stage to perform! You're going to fight the Twins in the streets of Garnam! And then wipe them out completely!"

"Yes, sir!" Major Ted saluted and turned to leave.

"How is the situation with the guerrillas in the city?" Major General Cohen asked again.

"The clearing operation is still ongoing," the chief of staff said. "Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin's special armored battalion is clearing out the stubborn elements in the western part of the city."

"Tell him to hurry up." Major General Cohen frowned. "I don't want to have to deal with these rats after the troops have retreated back to the city!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Have you made contact with the guerrillas in Ghanam?" Lu Lin asked. "Yes," Ibrahim said. "They said they would concentrate their efforts in the southeast industrial area to open up a passage and prepare for our armored forces to enter the city."

Lu Lin nodded, and then they heard cheers over the radio.

"The Zionian armored forces have begun to retreat!" Ibrahim exclaimed in surprise.

Lu Lin switched to the eagle's perspective and saw that Zion's armored forces were indeed retreating into the city in an orderly manner.

He was a little confused for a moment, having thought that Zion's resistance would be more intense.

"Have the engineers do a good job of mine clearance. The more unusual the enemy's behavior, the less we should let our guard down." Lu Lin sensed something was wrong, so he instructed, "The Zionians have a very strong fighting spirit and rarely retreat on their own initiative. I wonder what they're up to."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin stood beside the armored command vehicle, wiping dust off the lenses of his binoculars with white gloves.

The roar of a flamethrower tank engine could be heard in the distance, followed by a continuous blast of steam for fifteen seconds.

Smoke began to rise from the adobe buildings a few dozen meters away, and thirty seconds later, flames shot out of the windows.

Benjamin drew an "X" in his notebook. Today, his special armored battalion consumed four thousand liters of gasoline and burned down several buildings marked as guerrilla strongholds. But sometimes, even a job you like can get boring after a while.

He unbuttoned the top button of his collar and took a deep breath.

“Keep formation.” He glanced at his watch. “We need to clear the southeastern two blocks before sunset.”

"Yes!"

Tank tracks rolled over still-smoking furniture wreckage, and the acrid smell of burning rubber filled the streets.

Benjamin suddenly raised his hand to signal the car to stop. A charred corpse lay face down on the street, its right hand curled up, still gripping a gun.

The lieutenant colonel took off his military cap and jumped off the armored vehicle.

The adjutant was about to offer a reminder when he was stopped by a look from Benjamin.

Benjamin, his military boots covered in white ash, crushed a charred bullet casing. He crouched down and used his pen to part the carbonized tissue on the corpse's left shoulder, revealing dark red muscle.

Benjamin was a cultural enthusiast who enjoyed studying local customs while on missions. In the Hadith of Bukhari in Gallam, there is a saying that the blood of martyrs has a musky smell.

This piqued his curiosity. Shouldn't guerrillas be considered martyrs?

He bent down and sniffed the corpse.

The result is the smell of burnt grease.

Benjamin was somewhat disappointed. He had originally thought that these hadith records would have some basis, such as the idea that the smell of "musk" originated from religious dietary culture.
We really should trust modern medicine.

The corpse's right hand suddenly shot up, and Benjamin felt his collar being grabbed.

The guerrilla fighter on the ground had his eyelids burned off, but he was grinning wildly.

"(Say goodbye to your God!)"

Benjamin quickly broke free of his restraints, but at the same time he also saw the hand grenade that the partisan had hidden on his waist.

The other side pulled the pin on the grenade.

The shockwave from the explosion overturned the antenna of the armored vehicle five meters away. Benjamin felt a chill in his abdomen first, followed by the burning pain of burning on his uniform.

He looked down and saw that his uniform was tattered and torn, and then blood slowly seeped out.

Then he smelled the scent of iron and blood, along with a metallic sweetness in his throat.

"So, it's the scent of musk."

Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin's eyes lost their light, and he stopped breathing completely.

(End of this chapter)