Chapter 1358
Reversal
Chapter 1358 Reversal
Time passed second by second, each second feeling like being fried in a scalding pan of oil.
The bunker was unusually quiet, with only the heavy or irregular breathing of the people and the occasional low-voiced reports from the observation post over the radio.
"Enemy vehicles have stopped advancing... Artillery units are setting up... Dust can be seen rising from the cannons..."
Little Masood leaned against the cold stone wall, and could clearly hear the frantic pounding of his heart in his chest.
He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing, but the bloody images of the previous battle flashed uncontrollably through his mind.
He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Song Heping.
Song Heping leaned against the opposite wall, his eyes slightly closed, as if he were resting.
coming.
The first sound was an extremely sharp whistling sound!
Approaching rapidly from afar, at an extremely fast speed, the volume amplified dramatically!
Not just once.
It was the combined whistling sound of a dozen or even dozens of shells simultaneously tearing through the sky.
"Artillery fire—!!!"
The last scream from the observation post came through the landline, only to be completely drowned out by the deafening explosion!
The first wave of shells landed.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
It wasn't just one sound, but a continuous, endless expanse!
It felt like ten thousand thunderclaps exploding overhead at the same time!
The entire shelter.
No, it was as if the entire mountain where Nasul Fortress was located was being slammed by an enormous fist, shaking and trembling violently and wildly!
The ceiling and walls groaned, the reinforced logs creaked painfully, and dust and small pebbles rained down like a storm, instantly filling the shelter with smoke.
Little Masoud felt as if his internal organs had been displaced by the terrifying vibrations. His eardrums felt like they had been pierced by needles, followed by a sharp pain and a continuous buzzing in his ears. All the sounds in the outside world became blurred.
He clutched his head tightly, curled up in the corner, and opened his mouth wide, following Song Heping's earlier advice to prevent his eardrums from rupturing.
Even so, the shockwave from the explosion, transmitted through the solid, still made his chest feel tight and his throat feel a metallic taste.
The ground beneath my feet was no longer a solid support, but rather like a deck in a storm, shaking violently under continuous and intense impacts.
More than ten seconds later.
The second and third waves of shells followed in quick succession.
This time, it's not just a 122mm howitzer.
The 152mm howitzer's even more muffled explosions, with their destructive power increasing exponentially, joined the barrage!
"Boom——!!!"
"Bang—!!!"
The different explosions were mixed together, and the intervals between them were indistinguishable.
The dust on the top of the shelter fell even faster, and several larger pieces of cement even hit the ground and shattered.
A piercing electrical static came from the landline receiver, then fell completely silent.
The power line was likely destroyed by an explosion.
Masood was having difficulty breathing.
Each violent explosion felt like a heavy hammer slamming into his heart.
He glanced at the communications soldier beside him, whose face was deathly pale, whose fingers were digging into the ground, and whose body was trembling uncontrollably.
A young staff officer huddled up, letting out suppressed sobs.
Only Song Heping remained in that posture against the wall, as quiet as an old monk in meditation.
The shelling seemed endless.
It's not just auditory and tactile torture.
Even when buried deep underground, the vibrations transmitted through rocks and soil are enough to create the illusion of ruptured internal organs.
Each time a heavy artillery shell hit the mountaintop, the explosion brought not only a loud bang and tremor, but also streams of scorching air that seeped in through the ventilation openings and gaps, carrying a strong stench of nitroglycerin and the pungent smell of burning explosives.
Time has lost its meaning.
Every second was stretched out by the explosion into an eternity of pain.
I do not know how long it has been--
It might be five minutes, it might be ten minutes, it might feel like an eternity.
The density and intensity of the shelling appeared to have reached their peak before gradually decreasing.
But this is not the end.
The explosions began to become less frequent, but the location of each explosion seemed to be...
Closer?
Moreover, the sound was more muffled, not the violent explosion that erupted on the mountaintop, but rather a sound of soil being deeply torn apart.
“They’re extending their fire…covering the hillside and the reverse slope…” Song Heping suddenly spoke up: “They’re looking for our cover and exit.”
Sure enough, several particularly muffled, as if they were exploding deep underground, came from the bunker, and the shaking became even more intense.
A loud crash came from above, and a large piece of plaster mixed with broken bricks peeled off and landed on the radio table.
The shelling continued for what seemed like an eternity before finally stopping.
It didn't stop abruptly, but rather receded gradually like the tide.
The last few sporadic explosions echoed through the valley until they completely disappeared.
Dead silence.
A deathly silence, even more eerie and unsettling than the one during the shelling, descended.
The tinnitus sounded particularly sharp.
Dust settled slowly under the dim light.
Everyone remained curled up or stiff, as if they hadn't yet recovered from that hellish world.
Song Heping was the first to move.
He dusted himself off, walked to the backup radio, and began tuning the frequency to call the various observation posts and Major Faisal.
Masood tried to loosen his grip on his head and move his almost stiff neck and shoulders.
He felt pain in every bone in his body, and his ears were still ringing; his hearing was severely impaired.
He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but found his throat so dry that he couldn't make a decent sound.
"Observation post 'Eagle Eye-1' reporting..."
The backup radio crackled with a hoarse, indistinct voice; the signal was extremely unstable. "Shelling...stop...the mountaintop...completely destroyed...numerous fortifications ruined...lots of smoke and dust...very low visibility..."
"Observation post 'Groundhog-3' reports... See down the mountain... Enemy infantry are assembling... Tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are moving forward... Large scale... At least regimental level..."
Song Heping's face darkened, and he shouted into the microphone at the top of his lungs:
"Major Faisal! Faisal! Hearing the reply! All personnel, return to your battle positions immediately! Repeat, return to battle positions immediately! A large-scale enemy infantry charge is about to begin!"
A few seconds later, Major Faisal's voice finally came through the radio: "Roger! Organizing personnel to leave the bunker! Damn it... the situation outside is terrible..."
Song Heping put down the microphone, looked at Xiao Masude and the others, and gave a brief order: "Go up. Prepare for the worst."
As they climbed back up the stairs to the middle command post, the sight before them sank their hearts to the bottom.
Looking out through the remaining observation port, the once familiar mountaintop position of Nasul Fortress has completely changed.
vegetation?
It had long since disappeared, and along with the topsoil, it had been turned upside down, revealing the jagged, grayish-white rocks underneath.
The once clearly marked firing points, trenches, and foxholes are now just a blurry, repeatedly cultivated ruin.
Several particularly conspicuous concrete machine gun emplacements were directly hit, reduced to nothing more than a pile of twisted steel bars and broken cement blocks; the people and weapons inside were clearly doomed.
The thick smoke and dust had not completely dissipated, hanging low over the mountaintops, reducing visibility to less than fifty meters.
The air was filled with the smell of sulfur, burnt organic matter, and death.
Down the mountain, through the gradually dissipating dust, one could see a dark mass of rebel infantry lines, already launching their attack under the cover of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles!
This time it was no longer a probing attack at the platoon or company level, but a full-scale, multi-wave, battalion-level general offensive aimed at overwhelming the defense line in one fell swoop!
The surviving soldiers of the "Storm" battalion were staggering out of the various bunker exits. Many of them were covered in dust and dirt, some were injured, and some still had the bewilderment and fear in their eyes after the shelling.
Upon seeing the scene before them, they all gasped in shock. Some of the new recruits instinctively stepped back, but were quickly pushed forward by the veterans, who cursed them.
Amid the shouts of officers and sergeants, everyone returned to their positions, which were not yet completely destroyed.
After the recent barrage of artillery fire, many positions on the defensive line were now empty, or left only as a scene of devastation and dark red bloodstains.
Major Faisal's voice roared over the radio, filled with urgency and anger:
"All troops, to position! Repeat! All troops, to position! No matter how many men are left! No matter what weapons you have! Push forward! They're coming!!!"
The real purgatory has only just begun.
Down the mountain, the rebel offensive, after heavy artillery had plowed the ground, surged toward the ruined Sull Fortress with the force to crush everything in its path.
Under the command of their officers, the rebel soldiers of the First Brigade launched a full-scale attack.
"Right flank, position number five, has fallen! Repeat, position number five has fallen!"
"The left wing needs support! They have too many of them!"
"Anti-tank missile team, take out that tank that's attacking head-on with high-explosive shells! Quickly!"
The radio was filled with a cacophony of calls, screams, and explosions.
Song Heping quickly issued orders in the command post, dispatching reserves to fill the gap and ordering mortars to fire at the rebels' follow-up echelons.
But the pressure was too great, and the rebels' superior manpower and ammunition became fully apparent after more than two hours of fighting.
At 9:47 a.m., a 30-meter-wide gap was torn open in the left flank defense.
More than a platoon of rebel soldiers poured in, engaging the defenders in fierce hand-to-hand combat and close-quarters fighting.
"C Company, follow me! Block the gap on the left flank!"
Major Faisal personally led the last reserve force into the fray.
Inside the command post, Masoud watched all of this unfold, his teeth grinding together.
Several times he wanted to grab the rifle next to him and rush out, but remembering Song Heping's conditions, he forced himself to stay where he was.
"Mr. Song, we can't hold on much longer!"
A captain, his face covered in blood, rushed into the command post. His arm, hastily bandaged, was still bleeding. "The breach on the left flank is widening, and the right flank is almost broken through too! Our casualties have exceeded a third, and our ammunition..."
His words were interrupted by the sudden burst of intense gunfire.
The sound did not come from the foot of the mountain, but from the far east, from the rear and flank of the main rebel force!
Moreover, it was interspersed with the unique roar of mortars and rockets firing simultaneously!
Song Heping rushed to the communications station: "What's going on?!"
The communications soldier quickly adjusted the frequency, and a few seconds later, he looked up, his face filled with unbelievable ecstasy:
"It's the Abuyu Brigade! General Abuyu's troops have arrived! They are attacking the rearguard and flanks of the main rebel force! Drone footage shows that the rebel logistics convoys and artillery positions are under heavy attack!"
Almost simultaneously, a muffled rumble like rolling thunder came from the northern horizon.
It wasn't just one or two sounds, but a continuous, deep rumble, like a roar coming from the depths of the earth.
Artillery fire!
A massive salvo of heavy artillery!
The piercing whistling of countless shells tearing through the sky grew louder as they approached, then, in the area where the main rebel force was most concentrated—
Huge fireballs exploded in an open area about three kilometers east of Nassul Fortress.
Shells of various calibers rained down like hailstones.
The flames from the explosion stretched into one, and plumes of smoke shot into the sky, almost obscuring the eastern sky.
Even from this distance, the garrison at Nasul Fortress could clearly feel the earth trembling and the fierce winds brought by the shockwave.
It's Samir's "Liberation Forces" artillery battalion!
Finally waited!
The iron gate in the north and the wolf pack in the south completed their encirclement at this moment, and they snapped at each other simultaneously!
Inside a makeshift field command vehicle behind the main rebel force.
Barzani slumped into a folding chair, as if his spine had been removed.
On the tactical tablet screen in front of him, the red icons representing his own troops were being squeezed and cut off by blue arrows coming from the north and southeast.
The icons symbolizing logistics nodes and artillery positions turned gray and disappeared one by one.
The radio was broadcasting only bad news:
"General! Our rear is under attack from the main force of the Abuyu Brigade! Our 14th Transport Company has been completely wiped out! The 3rd Artillery Company's position has been covered by rockets!"
"Large-scale artillery fire detected to the north! The impact area is within the assembly zone of our 2nd Regiment! Casualties are heavy!"
"The 1st Armored Brigade reports that the defenders of Nasul Fortress are putting up an exceptionally tough fight. The vanguard has suffered more than half its casualties but has still failed to break through!"
"Colonel Mustafa of the 2nd Mechanized Brigade... He, along with the brigade headquarters and some units, announced a withdrawal from combat and is sending negotiators towards the government forces!"
The last piece of news was like the final straw, breaking Barzani's spirits.
Betrayed by everyone...
He suddenly grabbed the tablet and slammed it to the ground.
Plastic and glass shards were scattered everywhere.
"Traitors! They're all traitors!"
He roared hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot and bulging, looking like a madman, "Ali is a traitor! Mustafa is a traitor! Everyone has betrayed me!"
Inside the command vehicle, several core officers looked at each other, their eyes filled with fear and despair.
Kadir spoke up, reminding us, "General, perhaps we should consider..."
"What are you considering? Surrender?!" Barzani suddenly drew his CZ75 pistol from his waist, pointing the muzzle at his loyal confidant. "Do you even want to betray me?!"
Kadir's face turned ashen, and he retreated repeatedly: "No, General, I mean perhaps we should concentrate our forces and choose a direction to break through..."
"Break through? Where can we break through?!"
Barzani brandished his pistol, spitting as he spoke.
"To the west are Samir's artillery and defenses! To the southeast are those madmen from 1515 and the Persians! To the northwest are Nasr Fortress and Erbil! To the south... and to the southeast... is that wild dog Abuyu! We are completely surrounded! We are completely finished!"
He staggered to the door of the command vehicle and pushed it open.
The scene outside was even more despairing.
The once orderly field camp was now in complete chaos.
Smoke plumes were still rising from the shelling area to the north, and the sounds of explosions could still be faintly heard.
Intense gunfire erupted from the southeast, indicating that the Abuyu Brigade's flanking forces were clearly closing in.
Soldiers ran blindly between camps, and officers shouted themselves hoarse, but the chain of command had clearly broken down.
Several trucks tried to turn around and escape, but they collided and blocked the road.
Even more deadly, those damned drones reappeared in the sky.
They flew lower, and the leaflets they dropped fluttered in the wind.
Barzani could even make out the contents of the top image—an enlarged photograph of Colonel Ali lying in a pool of blood, with the words written beside him in Corinthian:
"Look at the man you serve! He killed the cautious general, and now he'll send you all to your graves!"
How did they get this photo?!
The mole!
There's a mole in our team!
Barzani's face turned as white as snow.
At this moment, the last vestige of morale in the army he controlled was crumbling like an avalanche.
He witnessed a group of soldiers throwing down their weapons and walking towards the government forces with their hands raised.
The officer tried to stop them, but was pushed aside by the other soldiers.
It’s over.
It's all over.
Barzani slowly turned around and walked back into the command vehicle.
His movements were slow, as if his feet were filled with lead.
The officers inside the car were all looking at him, waiting for the final order, or rather, waiting for the final order.
But Barzani did not issue any orders.
He sat back in his chair, placed the pistol on his lap, and carefully wiped the gun with a cloth.
He was very focused on his movements.
After cleaning the gun, he checked the magazine.
full.
Then, he looked up and his gaze swept over everyone in the car.
That gaze was strange; it lacked madness and rage, and only held a bottomless weariness and emptiness.
"You..." he began, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible, "...run for your lives. Take as many as you can."
"General?!" Kadir exclaimed.
Barzani waved his hand and didn't look at them again.
He picked up his pistol, stood up, and stepped out of the command vehicle again.
This time, he didn't look at the chaotic camp, the scattered soldiers, or the drones in the sky.
He walked blankly toward a relatively intact military jeep at the edge of the camp, opened the door, and got in.
The car started, drove out of the camp, and headed north along a small road.
It wasn't heading to the front lines, nor to the rear, but rather to a small hill far from the battlefield.
The vehicle stopped at the top of the hill. From here, one could overlook the entire battlefield—
To the north, the smoke billowed from the Samir forces' artillery barrage; to the east, the dust stirred up by the Abuyu Brigade's incursions; to the west, the immovable outline of the Nasr Fortress; and to the south, the vast desert.
Barzani turned off the engine and got out of the car.
The mountain breeze in the early morning ruffled his gray hair.
He pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, lit it, and took a deep drag.
Smoke rose in front of me, blurring my vision.
He thought of himself many years ago.
I was very young at that time, and my military rank was only lieutenant.
At that time, Massoud was already the leader of the rebels.
Massoud patted him on the shoulder and said, "Barzani, the future of Kolde needs young people like you."
When did that yearning for the future turn into a desire for power?
Since when did the vow to protect one's people turn into a scheme to seize profits?
Since when did the intimacy of blood relatives become an obstacle that needs to be removed?
The cigarette burned to the very end, scalding my fingers.
Barzani flicked the cigarette butt out the window, watching indifferently as it arced through the air before landing on the ground, sending sparks flying.
Then, he raised the CZ75 and pressed the cold muzzle against his right temple.
He taught this move to many new recruits—
Even in dire straits, retain your last shred of dignity.
But he never imagined that one day he would need it himself.
There were no last words.
For the losers, history will not give them a chance to speak.
boom--
The gunshots rang out on the hill, but they were not loud and were quickly drowned out by the noise of the battlefield.
Barzani swayed, fell forward, and crashed heavily into the dust.
Blood gushed from the bullet hole in his temple, quickly soaking the dry earth.
His eyes were still open, gazing at the sky above Kolde, but the light within them had been completely extinguished.
This once powerful high-ranking military officer ultimately ended his life in the most traditional way, thus ending his ambitions as well.
First update.
(End of this chapter)