Chapter 1336
Simon's Advice
Chapter 1336 Simon's Advice
Iligo, Baghdad Green Zone, Coalition Provisional Headquarters.
Local time: 00:15.
The echoes of the encrypted call ending seemed to still linger in Major General Duke's ears.
He made his decision in just thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds is enough for Duke to complete an initial threat assessment.
The information provided by Torhan has a disturbing "truthfulness".
The details were incredibly specific: down to the ambush location, the exact model of the "Russian-made 'Kornet' anti-tank missile," and even the number of assault teams that Barzani planned to use to impersonate Abuyu Brigade soldiers.
This level of detail suggests either a genuine leak of a top-secret plan or a meticulously crafted, perfect lie.
Combined with the seemingly isolated yet subtly related "abnormal signs" reported by military intelligence over the past 72 hours, the likelihood of the former is rapidly increasing.
These "anomalies" included the unconventional border mobilization of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the Kold's "Freedom Fighters" (Peshmerga), with dubious justifications; the temporary redeployment of some personnel from Massoud's core guard forces for "special training," at a sensitive time; inexplicable fluctuations in communication traffic in and around Erbil; and even the US military's own signals intelligence (SIGINT) intercepting some unusually highly encrypted fragments of communications originating from Barzani's inner circle.
These fragments, taken individually, might be explainable, but pieced together, especially after the crucial piece of the puzzle presented by Torhan, a coup d'état quickly became clear in Duke's mind.
He turned around and pressed the internal communication button hard with his finger.
"Captain Miller, Colonel Anderson, to my office immediately. Top priority. Repeat, top priority."
Commands are transmitted instantly over an encrypted intranet.
00: 18.
The heavy, explosion-proof door of the office slid open, and two figures rushed in one after the other.
"Sir?" Miller gasped for breath, his voice slightly hurried from running.
Duke didn't waste a single second on small talk or explanations.
"Miller, try to contact Chairman Massoud immediately."
His orders were swift and decisive.
"Use all our registered emergency contact channels to contact him, including his office direct encrypted landline, personal encrypted satellite phone, private mobile phone, and the chief of staff's hotline. If all direct lines are unreachable or unanswered, immediately contact his chief secretary Najib, his bodyguard Lieutenant Colonel Jalal, and if necessary, even try to contact his youngest son, Bahar. Within ten minutes, I want to hear Masoud Barzani himself, sober and in a secure environment. Understand?"
"Understood, sir!"
Miller touched her heel to the ground, turned around, and sprinted back to her workbench outside the door.
Duke's gaze then turned to Anderson, who had already connected his tablet to the office's main display system, and data began to scroll across the screen like a waterfall.
"Frank, retrieve the records of any unusual movements of all Kold forces over the past 72 hours—focusing on those directly controlled by Barzani. Cross-reference them with satellite imagery, signals intelligence, and human intelligence reports. Priority targets: the 3rd Infantry Brigade, the Erbil Guard Battalion, the Kold Regional Government (KRG) Communications Battalion, and any changes in the movements of Massoud's private guard."
Anderson's fingers had already become a blur on the virtual keyboard of the tablet.
"Retrieving it, sir. In fact... the Comprehensive Analysis Department marked several 'items of concern' in their briefing yesterday afternoon local time."
He pulled up summaries of several documents marked "confidential".
"The 3rd Infantry Brigade moved toward Zahu under the pretext of 'countering potential infiltration threats on the Turkish border.' However, according to our intelligence, the Turkish-Kuzmanian border has been unusually quiet recently, with no signs of large-scale troop buildup or cross-border operations by the Turkish side. This threat assessment... lacks support."
He swiped the screen to bring up another set of satellite images for comparison.
"About two platoons of the guard battalion left their regular barracks yesterday evening and went to an abandoned chemical plant 50 kilometers west of the city to conduct so-called 'advanced training in urban counter-terrorism and VIP protection.' However, the infrastructure at the site is severely damaged and it is not suitable for conducting such high-level training, not to mention that VIP protection drills are usually conducted in simulated official residences or government buildings."
Duke had already walked up to the electronic map station.
The three-dimensional topographic map is suspended in the air, with mountains, rivers, roads, and towns presented in different colors and with varying levels of precision.
His fingers moved and magnified in the air.
"Highway 1, northwest of Kirkuk... Marked approximately 20 kilometers from the Erbil-Kirkuk section. Set the topographic map to maximum resolution to show terrain details."
The map responded to his commands, rapidly scaling and rendering.
A winding two-lane highway appeared before everyone's eyes, like a gray ribbon wrapped around the ochre-colored hills.
The image is so clear that you can even see the traces of road repairs.
The road enters a relatively open valley here, but on both sides are limestone ridges ranging from fifty to one hundred meters in height. The vegetation consists mainly of low shrubs and drought-resistant grasses, which are too sparse to provide effective cover.
The ridge runs parallel to the road, creating a commanding firing position.
A perfect ambush site and concealment for heavy weapons.
"A typical roadside ambush and 'kill zone' setup."
Anderson pointed to the location on the map and said, "The straight section of the road is about 400 meters long. Once the convoy enters, it will be unable to turn around or escape quickly. The high points on both sides provide a wide field of fire with no blind spots. The riverbed can conceal the attackers and also hide anti-armor weapons. Once inside this pocket... unless there is overwhelming air support or advance warning, the survival probability of a standard convoy is extremely low."
00: 23.
Miller pushed the door open and came in again.
"Sir, all direct lines are down. Chairman Masood's encrypted landline is showing 'line fault,' and both satellite phones are unanswered or display 'out of service area.' His personal mobile phone is forwarded directly to voicemail. Chief of Staff Najib answered the phone, but..."
She paused and then said:
"His tone was very formulaic. He insisted that Chairman Massoud had gone to bed to rest and recuperate for his inspection of the Kirkuk front the next morning, and strictly ordered that he not be disturbed. I conveyed an urgent message that was a matter of life and death, but he refused to wake the chairman and suggested that we contact him again after we were in the office at 8:00 a.m. local time."
"fart!"
Duke sneered and cursed.
"It's 12:23 AM Erbil time! 'Going to bed'? At a time when relations between the Khord Autonomous Region and Baghdad are tense and the Kirkuk conflict is on the verge of erupting, would he really 'go to bed' at this hour? Keep fighting! By every possible means! Tell that chief of staff that this is not a request, this is a warning! If anything happens to Massoud, he will be held responsible!"
"Yes, sir!" Miller turned to leave.
“Wait,” Duke called after her, “who was the last person to call? What were the details?”
Miller stopped, his brow furrowed, trying to recall the details: "About two minutes ago, I connected to Lieutenant Colonel Jalal, the head of Massoud's bodyguard, via satellite phone through the backup emergency channel we share with Kold's intelligence agency. It was him who answered, and I recognized his voice... But it was strange."
"What's weird?"
"His tone was so calm, sir. It was almost as if he were reading a prepared statement. He said, 'Major General Duke, the Chairman is resting for an important engagement and has given clear instructions not to disturb him before eight o'clock. For any matters, please contact the Chief of Staff during office hours tomorrow.' I emphasized that the matter was extremely urgent and concerned the Chairman's personal safety, and begged him to wake the Chairman or have him call back. His reply was: 'Orders are absolute. I will convey your concerns. Good night, Major General.' Then he cut off the communication."
Miller paused, "And the background noise... it's too quiet. Normally, Massoud is heading to Kirkuk tomorrow, so his security command center should be staffed, with radio communications, equipment beeps, and people talking in hushed tones. But I didn't hear anything..."
Duke's eyes sharpened.
All the clues seem to point to two possibilities—
Jalal may have defected or been taken into custody.
The claim that the "Chairman is retiring" is most likely a pretext. Barzani's men may have already taken over or monitored the core communication nodes of Massoud's residence in some way.
All incoming and outgoing communications are filtered, monitored, and even tampered with.
Massoud himself may have unknowingly fallen into an invisible house arrest, completely unaware of the assassination plots being made against him.
Frank,
Duke turned to Anderson, his voice regaining its composure.
"Is it feasible for us to immediately use military means to intervene and stop this assassination?"
Anderson had anticipated this problem; he had already accessed the relevant deployment charts and risk assessment models on his tablet.
“Theoretically feasible, sir. We do have a Delta Force special operations unit in Bakhtar, but it would take them at least six to eight hours to assemble, receive the appropriate equipment, develop a detailed operational plan, and infiltrate by land or air into an unfamiliar ambush area more than 100 kilometers from Erbil. This doesn’t even include the time required to obtain formal permission from the central government of Iligo.”
He looked up and stared directly at Duke:
"More importantly, General, the political and strategic risks of directly deploying U.S. special forces to intervene in the internal political disputes in the Kurdistan region are catastrophic. This seriously violates the fundamental principles of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) regarding respect for Iligo's sovereignty and non-interference in its internal affairs. We cannot do this without explicit authorization from the Pentagon and the White House."
Duke remained silent.
He knew Anderson was telling the truth.
"So, Frank, your suggestion is that we sit here, drink coffee, watch Masood die, and then draft a well-written, clean-cut report saying, 'We discovered signs, but were unable to take effective action due to policy, procedural, and sovereign constraints'?"
He looked up at the digital clock on the wall.
Time silently ticked to 00:28.
Every tick of the second hand seemed to be tolling a death knell for Massoud.
Just then, Captain Miller cautiously spoke up.
"Sir, perhaps... perhaps we don't need to get involved ourselves. Maybe we can find a 'third party'."
Duke and Anderson both turned their gazes toward her.
"What third party?" Duke asked, a renewed glint of inquiry in his eyes.
Miller carefully organized his thoughts: "I think we could contact the CIA. They definitely have a covert operations team here, and their operational authority and flexibility are greater than ours. Perhaps they can help us solve our current problem..."
As he listened, Duke's eyes suddenly lit up.
That's right!
CIA!
Eastern Time, Langley, Virginia, CIA Headquarters.
Local time: 16:28.
The tranquility of the director's office was broken by a low, persistent vibration.
Simon looked up from an assessment report on the competitive landscape of quantum computing in the Asia-Pacific region, glanced at the phone screen, and frowned slightly.
"Major General Duke, it's past midnight on your end. Calling from Baghdad at this hour, you're probably not looking for me to have virtual coffee."
"Director Simon, the situation is urgent. I need the CIA's assistance to intervene in a crisis that is brewing."
Duke skipped all the pleasantries and got straight to the point.
"We have just received a highly credible piece of urgent intelligence. It is alleged that General Barzani, the supreme commander of the Kold armed forces, is planning a coup within the next few hours, targeting his uncle, Massoud, the chairman of the Kold Autonomous Region. The method is to orchestrate an ambush disguised as an 'Abuyu Brigade rebel attack' on Massoud's way to Kirkuk, with the intention of eliminating Massoud and framing the Abuyu Brigade, paving the way for him to seize supreme power in the autonomous region."
"Our assessment,"
Duke continued, “If the coup succeeds and Massoud is killed, the Kolde region will inevitably descend into a large-scale civil war. Barzani’s radical approach will disrupt the existing fragile balance, encourage Turkey and Persia to become more deeply involved in the situation in northwestern Iligo, and provide room for the resurgence of the 1515 extremist group, ultimately dismantling the security architecture we have built in northern Iligo over the past few years.”
He paused for half a second before stating the core purpose of the call:
"Time is of the essence; there are only a few hours left to salvage the situation. Our military cannot intervene directly to stop this assassination without clear instructions from Baghdad and Washington. I need to know if the CIA has any secret assets in Erbil that can be used urgently to thwart this coup plot and ensure Massoud's safety?"
Simon fell into a brief silence on the other end of the phone.
He quickly retrieved the latest deployment summary of CIA manpower and operational resources in northern Iligor, particularly the Kolde area, from his computer, while weighing the credibility of Duke's intelligence against the seriousness of the situation.
Simon responded after about seven or eight seconds.
"Major General Duke, the situation is indeed tricky. Regarding your request for operational support..."
He paused slightly, as if considering his words.
"Based on my current information, our bureau has no more than six permanent and rapidly deployable operatives in Erbil and its surrounding areas. Their primary mission is intelligence gathering, not elite operatives capable of carrying out high-intensity direct operations, let alone confronting a heavily armed ambush force. Even if I were to commit them all, the chances of success would be extremely low."
Simon stood up, took the cordless phone, and walked to the water dispenser in the corner of the office to pour himself half a glass of ice water.
"Therefore, it is not feasible to directly send our personnel to carry out armed intervention."
Hearing that Simon was also unable to help, Duke frowned slightly: "You mean..."
Simon took a sip of ice water and said, "Song Heping. You can try contacting him. Don't forget, this guy's military operations capabilities are even better than your Delta Force."
He walked back to his desk, but instead of sitting down, he leaned against the edge, his tone shifting to an analytical, guiding one:
"It would be highly beneficial for the overall interests of the United States if Song Heping took action. If he succeeds, we would welcome it, as regional stability will be maintained. If he fails, or if the action triggers an unexpected chain reaction, the responsibility lies with him. After all, he is the owner of a PMC company, and who can say anything about that?"
A typical Langley mindset.
“I understand your analysis, Director Simon.”
Duke's response was cautious and pragmatic: "Intervening through Song Heping's channel does bypass the main obstacles we face. But the key is, how do we ensure that he will take action and that the action will be successful? We lack a formal collaborative relationship with him, let alone a chain of command."
“So this requires skillful contact and negotiation, Major General Duke.” Simon’s tone was as if he were assigning a special task. “I suggest you establish contact with him as soon as possible, in a personal and informal manner. Use a secure private line, avoiding official records. Explain the stakes to him, emphasizing the direct threat that Massoud’s death poses to his interests in Kirkuk.”
Simon's fingers tapped lightly on the smooth mahogany table surface unconsciously.
"The entire contact and any actions that may follow must maintain 'denial'—that's the most important thing, understand?"
"Deniability".
It means that if something goes wrong, they can easily shift the blame.
Duke digested Simon's suggestion on the other end of the phone, weighing the pros and cons and risks.
“I understand, Director Simon,” Duke replied. “I will contact Song Heping immediately and have a good talk with him. Thank you for your analysis and advice.”
"Good luck, Major General. Hopefully, the next time we speak, it will be good news," Simon said, ending the call.
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(End of this chapter)