Chapter 14: First Contact
Sandra and the caterpillar also woke up, and in the darkness, they brought a few of their tribesmen with weapons and a few backpacks.
"You can go out to reconnoitre, but you need to stay at a safe distance, the situation is unknown, and you are not allowed to fight hard!" The caterpillar handed over the backpack and gun to Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao, and said.
"How can there be equipment here?" Lin Tao asked puzzled.
"I'll talk about it later!" Sandra didn't care about explaining, and hurriedly advised, "Before dawn, go down the mountain in concealment, don't be exposed!" There is a radio in the backpack, if you are out of the communication range and the situation is urgent, you can use the radio to warn you, and I will quickly arrange for the army in the canyon to go up the mountain to support nearby! ”
Yu Songyuan has already understood that this Torham must be one of the ISI's hidden bases.
He took his backpack and said to the caterpillar and Shandra, "We will not go back here, you will withdraw to the news agency during the day and wait for us." Don't arrange support, this operation is only a scene survey and reconnaissance, and there will be no fight with them. As he spoke, he ordered the squad, "Battle formation, move quickly!" ”
The Brothers quickly vanished into the night.
Everything at the scene of the attack has been calm, but the caterpillar and Sandra can no longer sleep. After dawn, they left Tolham in two cars. Noor. Elder Khan was not at ease, so he personally took two bodyguards and rode them all the way to the town of Landkut.
As they passed by the scene of the attack at night, a group of Army soldiers had just arrived, and they did not stop. On the road in the canyon, six or seven dromedary camels, seventy or eighty Chinese mules, and dozens of resistance fighters or "mujahideen" were all killed or blown up. The smell of blood was suffocating, and the scene was like hell and horrific.
The brother team did not go to the scene of the attack, Yu Songyuan had another purpose. Since there was an attack in the canyon, there must be an article on the mountain. Because, judging by the sound of the explosion, it was certainly not Speznatz's doing. But if there is no connection with Spetsnaz, who will go and attack the camel caravan?
In the darkness, they crossed the small river beach at the bottom of the canyon and followed the small valley of Kantanj, a tributary of the river channel at the bottom of the canyon, to the depths of the Khyber Mountains on the west side of the canyon.
Lin Zhumin is a sharp soldier, after Liu Guodong is broken, Yu Songyuan and Lin Tao walked in the center, the four of them are fifty or sixty meters apart, and when the day is almost dawn, they have already reached the source of the Kantanjie River Valley, and the peaks of the mountains on both sides are getting higher and higher. The shrubs on both sides of the puddle are dense, vines and willows are thick, and a few clumps of reeds and reeds are fluttering. Except for a few small animals, it is inaccessible.
After a short break and replenishment of food, the team began to climb the mountain in seclusion.
This is one of the larger peaks in the Khyber Mountains, and the mountain is steep. The elevation of the valley at the bottom of the mountain is about 800 meters, and when you reach the top of the mountain, the altitude is nearly 2,000 meters. By noon, they had quietly climbed to the top. Hide under a large rock beneath a large abandoned bunker and wait for the night to come.
From here, you can clearly see the valley of the Cao La River to the west of the summit and the busy Khyber Pass Gorge to the east of the summit. All that remains of the bunker is a white stone foundation, and it is in ruins that are about to disappear. Liu Guodong checked it, and there was no sign of anyone moving inside in the short term. At that time, the British must have built it as an observation post.
The setting sun is obscured by thick clouds, and twilight begins to fill. Looking to the north, the border mountain in the distance is two or three thousand meters high, like a high wall, black and swarthy across the border between the two countries, forming a "T-shape" with the Khyber Mountain. It was getting darker, and after a short rest, the team followed the ridge and searched southward.
According to information provided by ISI and MLH, two squads of Spetsnaz are hidden in the Khyber Mountains, where ravines and caves are plentiful, and the Halal Army regularly drags nets to search without success. There was an attack overnight, and Spatesnaz's squad must still be hiding somewhere in the mountains.
"Boss, this is where the attack happened at night, is it lurking here?" Lin Zhumin asked in the headset.
"Stay hidden and continue your movement south to the middle of the canyon."
The team continued to move forward, and at night, on the mountain beams, the cold wind blew by, and the temperature was around freezing. After crossing mountain after mountain, in the second half of the night, we reached about the middle of the canyon, and within the canyon was the town of Landkut. The terrain here is complex, and on the hill in the canyon, there is the Ali Mosque, or the Holy Mausoleum. On the high point of the hill above the shrine, there is an abandoned fortress.
Although the light is dim, you can still see it in the narrowest part of the Khyber Pass Gorge, which is steep and rugged, with a deep gorge below, and a flat plateau next to the riverbed in the middle of the canyon where the town is located.
"Boss, I don't feel like it's peaceful here, is it an ambush here?" Lin Tao suggested.
"No, let's continue a few kilometers south, lurking!" Yu Songyuan ordered. Next to the small town of Landkut in the canyon, there is an army checkpoint, and no matter how powerful Sbetnznaz is, he will not directly confront the army no matter how powerful he is, deep and lurking in the territory of others.
After continuing southward for a few kilometers, the team lurked at the top of a slightly flat mountain. At this time, it was already the second half of the night, and I vaguely heard the jingling of camel bells in the canyon. "Inexplicably, it has been repeatedly attacked at night, and the weishenme camel team still has to act at night?" Lin Zhumin complained.
"There are a lot of eyeliner during the day, and these caravans want to cross the border at night." Liu Guodong explained.
As soon as the words fell, a violent explosion occurred in the canyon, and the camel team was attacked. "Boss, do you want to go down the mountain to support?" Lin Tao asked.
"No, be hidden!"
The team lurked in the mountains, and after about an hour, there were lights of cars in the canyon and drove towards the attack. "There are eight or nine unidentified people, as if they were tribal forces, climbing to the top of the mountain." Lin Zhumin issued a warning signal.
Yu Songyuan had already seen clearly from the night vision binoculars. This is the man who attacked the camel caravan in the canyon, and some of them even carried guns. Judging from their posture and formation, it is clear that this is by no means a well-trained Spessnaz. The attack had just taken place in the canyon, and the army had already supported the attack, so what were they doing climbing to the top of the mountain in the middle of the night?
"Watch and don't be alarmed!"
"Understood!" Lin Zhumin replied.
Yu Songyuan looked at his watch, and it was about half past three in the night. The group walked wildly, whispering something excitedly, and after crossing the top of the mountain, they disappeared into a flat col. Lin Zhumin and Lin Tao had already followed the movement, and Yu Songyuan and Liu Guodong also followed the movement.
The altitude here is more than 2,000 meters, it is a small col in the top of the mountain, the terrain is a little flat, and it is a good helicopter landing field. These people had disappeared into a cave, and Yu Songyuan understood their purpose. The mountains here are undulating, criss-crossed, and the area is vast. On both sides of the ridge, there are many river valleys, and the terrain is very complex. If the army were to search the mountains on a large scale to find these few people, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"This must be one of the secret landing grounds in Spetsnaz, and these people may be local tribal forces related to Spetsnaz." Lin Tao suggested in the headset, "I suggest notifying the ISI or the Army to lay an ambush here." ”
"Second child, do you want to let these people go? They had just attacked a caravan. Lin Zhumin asked dissatisfiedly in the headset.
Liu Guodong built a cover position on a large hill not far away, and he did not participate in the discussion, but concentrated on observing the movements around him to provide security cover for the team.
"Gordon attention, is the surrounding area clean?" Yu Songyuan asked.
"Not very clean, someone is watching here. If you want to attack this gang, you must fight quickly, and within half an hour, evacuate quickly! Liu Guodong replied calmly.
Yu Songyuan gritted his teeth and made up his mind. "Lin Tao and Zhumin pay attention, find the cave where they are hiding, and kill them. Attention Gordon, provide cover! ”
"Understood!" Lin Tao replied.
"Our position is on the low side, and the hill opposite is too threatening. Move fast! Liu Guodong whispered.
Lin Tao and Lin Zhumin began to search for the alternative landing site at the top of the mountain, and there was a small platform in the col that could only allow the helicopter to stop. Around the col, there are more than a dozen caves of all sizes. One of the distinctive features of the mountains of the West Asian Plateau is the large number of caves. Lin Tao and Lin Zhumin searched the cave among the rocks, and Yu Songyuan was under a large rock in the mountain col, providing them with fire support and cover according to their guns.
"Boss, I've found it, the sentry has been killed." Lin Tao reported.
Yu Song approached them from a distance, only to see that the sentry had already wiped his neck by Lin Zhumin. Between the two boulders, there is a huge triangular opening. Sneaking up on the entrance of the cave, I saw a glimmer of light inside. The wind was howling outside, and the temperature was low. There is a bonfire inside, and it seems that these people should be the tribal forces stationed in the canyon, and they are familiar with this place.
"Attack quickly and try to catch you alive!" Yu Songyuan ordered the stragglers to be quickly eliminated.
Lin Tao and Lin Zhumin alternately covered and controlled both sides of the cave. Yu Songyuan was directly opposite the cave, with his back to the opposite hill, and established a position. If the cave is connected to other caves, he must make sure that he can kill anyone who rushes out of the other caves in time.
Lin Zhumin sneaked into the cave and was not discovered by the other party. He could hear the people sitting by the campfire, still resting, talking about the night's attack in Pashto and Urdu. It turned out that after the entrance to this cave, a small turn was made. He rolled a defensive grenade over it, and the grenade exploded with a thud, and a wail soon came from inside.
Just after the explosion, gunshots rang out inside, and the wounded, who were not killed, were rained down by several submachine guns. Lin Tao then rolled a grenade in, and after another explosion on the ground, the two rushed in, the fire had been extinguished, and thick smoke billowed from the cave. Under the flashlight, four or five men dressed in local tribal costumes had been killed.
Sure enough, it was connected to the other caves, and the blood stains continued to extend deeper into the caves. Lin Tao was just about to search inside, when suddenly a grenade was thrown, and the two quickly hidden. After a bang, Lin Zhumin took cover, Lin Tao rushed over, and quickly rolled a grenade into it.
After another explosion on the ground, Lin Zhumin rushed over again. The inside of the cave is like a passageway, connected to another larger cave. The aisle was blocked by two Type 56 submachine guns, and the bullets hit the wall of the cave, sending a splash of sparks. Lin Zhumin fired a grenade, and after an explosion on the ground, the gunfire inside was mute.
They rushed over, only to see two tribal militants, already killed. At this time, gunshots rang out outside the cave, they had already arrived at the entrance of the cave, and they were just about to come out to support, when the voices of Yu Songyuan and Liu Guodong sounded at the same time, "All hidden!" "Don't move!"
They hurriedly clung to the entrance of the cave, not daring to act rashly.