At the U.S. military base in Basra, Colonel Mike is distressed because there is no news about Lieutenant Thomson. Officials at all levels in Basra Province and the commanders of several combat battalions and police battalions have been called by him several times. They have arrested many Shiites. But in the end nothing was found, although CIA intelligence agents provided some information that Lieutenant Thomson might be hiding in the Chinese company building.
But after careful consideration, Colonel Mike believed that this was worthless intelligence. Everyone knew that it was the Chinese who did it, but they suffered from the lack of any evidence. General Petraeus was fooled last time and is now receiving military training. What about the court trial?
He was worried that this was another Chinese conspiracy, so he did not believe the intelligence provided by CIA intelligence agents at all, and the intelligence network within the military was also very sparse. Since the new president formulated the evacuation plan, most people in the Defense Intelligence Agency also Following the evacuation, only CIA personnel were active in this area.
"I'll give you a week. If you don't have any clues within a week, don't blame us for not helping you in the next parliamentary election." At the meeting, Colonel Mike gave an ultimatum. He was helpless and was forced by the pressure of domestic public opinion in the United States. .
Governor Chiram of Basra Province and Lieutenant General Kud, the top commander of Basra's security forces, looked embarrassed. If it were not for the help of Americans to deal with the Shia armed Badr Brigade, I am afraid they would not be so humble. Recently, in Basra city There are always some pilgrimage incidents, which make the top officials of their government panic. Even the security forces have soldiers to perform such ceremonies.
Although they knew it was the Shia people who were behind the scenes, they arrested so many people, but it was of no use at all.
"A week is too short. Our people have helped you arrest so many Shiite chiefs these days, which has long aroused dissatisfaction among the Shiites. The power of the Shiites in Basra is very strong and is causing conflicts. , it will be difficult to end it then." Chiram worried.
Kuder also followed up and said: "People in several combat camps of the security forces are also panicked, and there are also Shiite soldiers among them. If this continues, we may not even be able to control the army."
"You are now telling me that you cannot control the situation, but if my people are killed in Iraq, who will be responsible?" Colonel Mike said coldly, "If we withdraw from Iraq, you will wait for the Shias to take over. No matter what method you use, you must find Lieutenant Thomson for me."
After the meeting, Kud and Chiram left the US military base. Their faces were ugly along the way, but they would rather surrender to the Americans than let the Shiites take power.
"We will negotiate with the Chinese ambassador and put pressure on them to hand over the people." Kurd said coldly, "If they don't hand over the people, we will not let them extract oil."
"This is a good idea." Chilam nodded, "It is much easier to offend the Chinese than the Americans. At least the Chinese will not send troops to our place, but the Americans can do it at any time."
After the two reached an agreement, they returned to Basra. It was already night when they arrived in the city. The city, which was supposed to be dark, was now lit up everywhere. In the car, they saw many people lighting candles and queuing up to the mosque. Over there, people were mumbling something, as if they were praying for something.
Situations like this have become commonplace for them in the past few days. They don't care about prophets coming or dreams. After all, this is people's belief. But yesterday's kind of gathering would not be held at night, but today is different. For Basra's For the people, candles are very precious things. Because the power supply has not been restored in Basra, they can only rely on candles for lighting at night.
Chilam immediately asked his assistant to inquire about the situation. A few minutes later, the assistant returned to the car and told Chilam and Kud: "The people on the street said that the Prophet will come to Basra tonight and will lead the troops guarding the Prophet. army, drive away foreign enemies, and save lives.”
The two frowned, and Kud immediately prepared to call the headquarters. He must stop such behavior. Once someone takes advantage of it, it will cause riots in the whole city.
But the assistant told him: "There are not only Shia people, but also us Sunni people. Both parties are praying, and even the police and soldiers are participating. The entire Basra is now waiting for the prophet to come. If security forces are used If we suppress it, it will cause a big commotion."
"Yes, Kurds, we cannot suppress them now, but should support them. This must be Assad's trick, but no matter what, as long as today passes and no prophet comes, the people will not believe in the second time. Now the main thing is It is to maintain law and order in the city and not to cause any commotion." Chiram warned.
Qud put down the phone, and then the two went their separate ways, one going to the security forces headquarters in Basra and the other to the provincial government building.
But as soon as the two separated, they heard an explosion, which came from outside the central area of Basra. At that time, the two of them felt a thump in their hearts. Kud immediately rushed back to the headquarters, but the chief of staff told him that Basra Airport is also the security force. The air force base was attacked by militants on a large scale.
"Large scale." Kud was stunned, "How many people are there on a large scale?"
"I don't know. The report from the base said that there are a lot of people, and there are sounds of attacks everywhere. They all wear white turbans, and they are said to be the escort of the prophet. In order to welcome the arrival of the prophet, they will disperse all collusion with foreign enemies. Armed." The chief of staff looked very ugly.
"Connect me to the air force base." Kurd's expression changed. He simply did not believe that there were so many militants. Even the Badr Brigade did not dare to easily attack the security force's air base. Although there were no fighter jets inside, all There are some light reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters, but they are not easily conquered.
"The line has been disconnected. The last message sent by the commander was that it was violently attacked and requested for quick support," the staff officer said.
"Ask for assistance from the US military. This may be a comprehensive counterattack by the Badr Brigade and the Shiites. In addition, the 9th Tank Battalion will be dispatched to the air base quickly. We cannot lose the airport." Kurd immediately ordered.
Then the 9th Tank Battalion stationed in Basra quickly headed to the air force base. At the same time, at the US military base, Colonel Mike also received a request for help.
"Damn it, how dare the Badr Brigade attack the airport of the security forces so wildly." Of course Colonel Mike would not immediately send troops for reinforcements. He always felt that there was some conspiracy here, even though his base was far away from the air force base of the security forces. Not far.
"Maybe it's because we have arrested too many Shiite people recently, which has aroused Badr's anger. Now they are preparing to attack the air base to fight back against us." the staff analyzed.
"That's it." Colonel Mike rubbed his chin and began to think deeply, "Tell Coud to let him solve the problem on his own. The Badr Brigade can really fight, but there are only a few thousand people. He has a tank battalion and an infantry battalion in Basra. The total number of people is more than 3,000, and they are still fully armed. If they can’t even handle a sneak attack by the Badr Brigade, what’s the use of him.”
"We really don't support it," the staff officer asked again.
"No support." Colonel Mike shook his head, "I always feel that the Badr Brigade has other intentions."
At the same time, in the base in the Basra Mountains, Canglong was deploying everything. This unfinished base finally started its first operation.
"According to your order, I sent all Shia capable people to the air base to conduct harassment. As expected, the Kurds responded and sent Basra's tank battalion." Badr reported.
"Is there any movement from the Americans?" Canglong asked.
"Not yet. The Kurds should ask for help, but the Americans seem unwilling to support the air base," Badr said.
"It seems that our attack strength is not enough." Canglong's face was heavy. After speaking, he looked at Snow Leopard and said, "Let Bai Wuchang fly the J-7 to attack, and all the bombs will be dropped at the air force base. In addition, tell Xiami that the anti-tank team can Action, do everything possible to delay the progress of the tank battalion."
"Yes." Snow Leopard took the order and left.
"Is this possible?" Balder was a little skeptical.
"Our purpose is to draw the US military out of the base to support the air base, so that we can dispatch elite troops to siege the Qatar prison with all our strength." Canglong smiled and said, "By the way, have you caught the reporter from Qatar's Al Jazeera TV station?"
"He has been caught. He will definitely see our attack on the prison, but why are we arresting reporters and telling the world that the attack was carried out by the Badr Brigade?" Badr said strangely.
"Haha, aren't all the elite troops wearing the uniforms of Saddam's Republican Guard?" Canglong said with a smile, "So what this reporter saw was the resurgent Republican Guard, not our Badr Brigade, which the whole world is looking for. It should also be to find the remnants of Saddam’s Baath Party, as long as we achieve our goal, and what I want to show him is not to attack the prison, but some things in the prison.”
Badr nodded: "Then why is it called "Ghost Action"?"
"You will know soon." Canglong smiled.
After Bai Wuchang made several adjustments, he slowly drove the aircraft out of the hangar and ran towards the hole. After radio guidance and several attempts, Bai Wuchang successfully drove the aircraft out. base, and soared into the sky.
"Keep flying at a low altitude and don't let the American radar catch it. After arriving at the air force base and completing the mission, you can have fun as you like." Canglong kept in touch with Bai Wuchang in the command room.
"You don't need to teach me, you are still responsible for giving instructions." Bai Wuchang looked unconcerned.
"You'd better not go wrong and delay my business. I only ask you." Canglong warned, and then turned off the radio contact.
"Xia Mi, are you ready over there?" Cang Long called to Xiami who was ambushing outside Basra. This team concentrated all the anti-tank firepower of the entire Badr Brigade.
"Okay, the security force's tank battalion is approaching." Xiami replied.
"You don't have to wait for my order, just fire freely. It can delay for a while, but if you really can't delay, leave your things and retreat immediately." Canglong said calmly.
"Isn't there just twenty T72s? I guarantee that they will all be paralyzed here and none of them will be able to go to the airport." Xiami said confidently.