Chapter 29 Islamic Jihadists
The two men walked north one after the other. Without a map, a compass, or a satellite positioning system, Zhao Ziyang could only rely on his own experience to grope his way deeper.
As for the little wild cat following behind, it hummed a little tune, jumped back and forth to look at the scenery, and took out an apple from time to time to take a bite. Occasionally, when it was in a good mood, it climbed up a big tree in three or two steps and stepped on the branches to rush forward.
Of course, this is not Qinggong, but she has a very clear grasp of the flexibility of each branch, and can use the rebound force to send herself to another branch. It seems simple, but it is actually very difficult. This skill alone must be trained from childhood to develop.
"Zhao Ziyang, I saved your life. How do you think you can repay me?" The little wild cat caught up with Zhao Ziyang and made a request to him while chewing an apple.
"A gentleman should not use favors to repay favors." Zhao Ziyang, who was searching for traces on the forest floor, had no time to pay attention to her and just threw out these words.
"Hehe... I'm not a gentleman, I'm a little woman." The little wild cat grinned and said with a look of desire: "Why don't you let me join your mercenary group, and that will be my way of repaying a favor. It is not a virtue for a gentleman not to repay a favor."
"No." Zhao Ziyang rejected the little wildcat's request, feeling disappointed : Join? I don't know if there are any lurkers yet...
A sense of loss. Zhao Ziyang was sure that this was a sense of loss, just like suddenly losing his home.
The vampire-like Pandora, the most noisy Blade, the honest Omo, the perverted Mandragora, the serious Scytheman... these faces flashed before Zhao Ziyang's eyes one after another, including Swart who had always been at odds with him.
It was as if these people had occupied his heart inadvertently, and his subconscious mind had acknowledged that they were comrades-in-arms who could block bullets for each other on the battlefield.
"If..." Zhao Ziyang stopped and said to the little wildcat with a bitter mouth: "If possible, I will recommend it to the leader."
The regiment commander Black Hawk, the calm and arrogant leader, might be tortured by the US military. Zhao Ziyang respected Black Hawk from the bottom of his heart. His demeanor was very similar to that of the captain who died in the battle. He was definitely an excellent commander.
The most important thing is the faith of the leader Black Hawk, which makes Zhao Ziyang admire him. But he never thought that he would be betrayed by his former brother in life and death, and betrayed so thoroughly, which is a deep sorrow.
“Great!” The little wild cat jumped up happily, and after doing two somersaults in the air, he stood in front of Zhao Ziyang with a flushed face and said, “Don’t lie to me, don’t go back on your word, or I’ll go to your house and make a scene!”
Hearing this, Zhao Ziyang shook his head, glanced at the little wild cat without saying a word, and seemed to understand something in his heart.
"Ouch, my tooth hurts..." The little wild cat threw away the apple in his hand, covered his mouth, frowned his pretty eyebrows and showed a look of pain.
Of course eating too many apples will cause toothache, everyone knows this.
"Don't move!" Zhao Ziyang said in a low voice, squatted down and picked up a 7.62mm rifle shell from the ground.
The shell was gleaming with a golden glow, with fresh grease on the shell and a strong smell of gunpowder inside. It could be determined that it was a shell from an AK rifle, and it had been fired not long ago.
"Of course I won't move, look." The little wild cat raised his hands, made a bitter face and pouted at Zhao Ziyang, asking him to look around in the distance.
A group of fully armed Taliban soldiers suddenly appeared about a hundred meters away. These soldiers wore ethnic long-distance running clothes, covered their faces with turbans, and aimed AK-47 rifles at the two men.
In addition, two Taliban soldiers were carrying individual rocket launchers and pointing them at them, shouting at them.
Zhao Ziyang can roughly understand the Afghan language and can speak it a little. He once learned the official Afghan Persian language in the Northwest Special Forces in order to meet the needs of some unconventional missions on the China-Afghanistan border.
"Put your hands up!" A Taliban militant commanded Zhao Ziyang.
As he shouted, he raised the AK rifle in his hand towards Zhao Ziyang, showing off the power in his hands.
"Don't shoot, I'm a mercenary." Zhao Ziyang raised his hands high above his head and turned them over to indicate that he had no weapons.
With a "crash", a group of Taliban militants surrounded Zhao Ziyang and the little wild cat, and dozens of rifles were pointed at various parts of their bodies.
With a "bang", a Taliban militant poked Zhao Ziyang's knee with the barrel of a gun, forcing him to kneel on the ground.
As his knees went weak, Zhao Ziyang stood up straight, his back straight, his head held high, and his face full of arrogance.
Make him kneel down? Apart from Zhao Ziyang's parents, no one could make him bend his knees.
"You'd better treat me with courtesy, otherwise I can't guarantee that Omar will not chop off your heads." Zhao Ziyang warned the Taliban militant coldly, put down his hands, pressed his chest against the gun barrel, and took a step forward.
Omar is a nearly godlike leader of the Taliban militants. No one dares to disobey him. Omar first joined the jihad against Russian aggression as a rocket launcher. He was extremely brave in battle and once set a glorious record of destroying four Russian tanks in a battle. He was wounded four times and lost his right eye in a battle. He was later promoted to deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Army and was called the one-eyed general.
After the Soviet withdrawal, Afghanistan fell into a warlord melee. Omar was unwilling to be mediocre, so he recruited students from Islamic schools in the refugee camps in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and formed the Taliban, an Afghan armed faction with only 800 people at the beginning.
Taliban means "religious students" in Arabic. The Taliban shouted slogans such as eradicating warlords, rebuilding the country, opposing corruption and restoring business, which won the hearts of the people. Many commanders in southern Afghanistan joined his army and gradually developed the Taliban into the largest armed faction in the country.
In March 1996, more than 1,500 Pashtun mullahs from all over Afghanistan gathered in Kandahar for a two-week consultative meeting, unanimously electing Omar as the "emir," meaning leader of the faithful. A grand religious ceremony was held on April 4, establishing Omar's supreme leadership position in the Taliban movement.
Omar was chosen as leader not because of his political or military talents, but because of his piety and faith in Islam.
In September of the same year, the Taliban captured Kabul and quickly occupied 90 percent of the country's land, establishing the Taliban regime. Omar became the supreme leader who combined political power and spiritual leadership, and he made all decisions.
Later, because he refused to hand over the most wanted criminal in the United States, his father-in-law Osama bin Laden, he was invaded by the US military and forced to abandon the town and enter the mountains, where he continued to lead the Taliban in a pious jihad using the favorable terrain of the mountains.
His power is supreme and he is also a saint in the hearts of the Taliban.
"Do you know our holy Caliph Omar?" A Taliban leader asked Zhao Ziyang suspiciously. When he called Omar, he made an Islamic pious gesture to show his sacred respect for Omar.
"Not only do I know him, I also know that you are dealing with an encirclement by the U.S. military." Zhao Ziyang faced the gun confidently, glanced at the little wildcat who was also under gunfire, and said, "You are waging a holy war, and we are waging a war of faith. Maybe you have heard of the lurker mercenary who has been helping you. I am him."
"Nonsense!" The Taliban leader shouted angrily, "The Lurkers are our closest allies. They are extremely powerful. You are Japanese, how can you be a Lurker?"
"Bah!" Zhao Ziyang spat heavily, straightened his back even more, and said proudly: "I am Chinese!"
When hearing the word "Chinese", the Taliban leader's facial expression immediately eased a lot. Their enemy is the United States, China is their friend to some extent, and the Chinese government is friendly, at least they think so.
Seeing the other person's expression, Zhao Ziyang laughed heartily. He tore off the soldier badge on his neck and showed it to the other person, then strode forward with the little wild cat.
"Lead the way, otherwise we will be delayed in our sniping of the Norwegian reinforcements. I'm afraid you can't bear this responsibility."
Zhao Ziyang's incomparable arrogance confused the Taliban leader. He had only heard of the Lurkers, but he didn't recognize the Lurkers' soldier badges. Besides, the Lurkers only accepted the mission and carried it out, and never met them.
As he won battle after battle, he, as the leader, knew a little bit, but that was all he knew.
Jihad is extremely important. The Taliban leader led Zhao Ziyang and the little wild cat towards the base, but he kept his gun pointed at the two of them without any relaxation.
"Hey, Zhao Ziyang, you're such a man, how about we become sworn brothers?" The little wild cat proposed to Zhao Ziyang in a low voice, looking eager to try.
"Shh..." Zhao Ziyang said to her in a mysterious voice, "I lied to them. If a fight breaks out, run as far away as you can. Don't come to Afghanistan for fun in the future."
Hearing this, the little wild cat suddenly showed a look of anger. She pinched Zhao Ziyang fiercely and said angrily: "You want to trick me away? Don't even think about it. I will rely on you!"
"Hahahaha..." Zhao Ziyang burst into laughter, which confused the Taliban militants.
In fact, no one knew how painful Zhao Ziyang was feeling at this moment. It was originally just a task with low difficulty, but the task had now completely gotten out of control.
The entire lurker group was completely dispersed and fell into a huge crisis of being wiped out. How could they continue the mission?
For now, we can only take one step at a time. After entering the base, we will immediately try to contact Seth to confirm our identity while looking for other lurking mercenaries.
The mission could not be carried out unless the leader was rescued. They could throw away their credibility, but they would not throw away any of their comrades.
