Chapter 111: Shoot Him!

  "Our situation is very bad now." The principal's office, temporarily used as a command center by Muhammad, was where Masood came to sit in the comfortable swivel chair, and Muhammad said to him.

  "These are my reasons." Masood said: "It was I who did not anticipate that this was a Soviet trap, the guerrillas suffered heavy losses, it is all my responsibility. Originally, I should have killed myself to atone for my sin, but please allow me to survive now, I want to kill more Soviets on the battlefield, I want to die with honor on the battlefield."

  Masood's voice was very low, he knew he had made an unforgivable mistake.

  "This is not the time to investigate whose fault it is," Muhamed said. "We are now trapped here, we can hold out for a few more days, but ultimately, we have to get out."

  "Didn't we have those captives?" Masood asked, and when he saw the captives in the hospital hall, he knew Muhammad's plan to use these captives to blackmail the Soviets.

  "These captives can fool the Soviets for a few days," Muhammad said. "When the Soviets lose their patience, these pawns will no longer be pawns, Masood, do you have any good ideas?"

  Masood shook his head, then nodded firmly: "Mr. Mohammad, I am willing to lead the Panjshir guerrilla team as the vanguard, open a way for our remaining guerrilla teams to retreat to the mountains, even if we sacrifice ourselves, we must complete the task!"

  Muhammad shook his head: "If we could withdraw, we wouldn't have taken the risk of attacking the city this morning. Alright, take your men and go with Fahim to defend our defense zone, I'll divide the area around the hospital into four zones. You and Fahim will guard one side, be sure to listen to Fahim's orders, don't make any more mistakes, it concerns the life and death of our remaining 500 people."

  Muhammad spoke solemnly, and Masud replied without any hesitation: "Good. I will guard it well and not let a single Soviet pass!"

  As Massoud left, Mohammad breathed a sigh of relief. Massoud was one of the few leaders in the guerrilla forces who had a strong will and was always on the front line against the Soviets, and he was very intelligent. The Panjshir guerrilla force led by him was also famous far and wide. At first, Mohammad fought with Massoud, but it was just a cooperative relationship. Moreover, the guerrilla fighters under Massoud's command seemed to have a sense of superiority over Mohammad's guerrilla forces.

  Now, this sense of superiority has completely disappeared. Masood repeatedly made mistakes, resulting in significant losses for the guerrilla forces. This man knows his wrongs and now allows Fahim to command Masood without any objection, which shows that he is fully obedient to Mohammad.

  Conquering Masud, he also conquered the northern minority tribes other than Pashtuns, this time the raiding party. There were many other ethnic groups of raiders, through this battle, Muhammad gained the highest reputation and subdued Masud, which was very helpful for subsequent battles.

  Unfortunately, this time the cost was too high, it was at the expense of sacrificing half of the guerrilla troops, which is a huge loss for the entire anti-Soviet force!

  More importantly, now, how can this guerrilla force be brought back intact from Jalalabad, even Mohammad has no idea.

  "Bang." Just then, the outer door was pushed open.

  "Where's Masood?" someone burst in to ask, the AK-74 rifle on his back rattling loudly as if ready to be pulled around and fired at any moment.

  "Osama, you're a well-educated person from a prestigious family, how come I have to teach you something as simple as knocking on the door when entering?" Muhammad said to the man who rushed in.

  "Sorry, Mr. Muhammad," Osama said: "What about that Masood?"

  All the talk before was unimportant; Osama held Masud tight.

  "What do you want?" Muhammad asked Osama.

  "I'll shoot him in front of all the guerrillas, this son of a bitch! If it weren't for him, how would we have lost half of our guerrilla force?! Outside Jalalabad city, there are still so many corpses lying there, all because of Masood!"

  Osama was extremely angry and when he struck, Osama was absolutely ruthless.

  "I've already told him to follow Fahim's orders and defend the sector, Osama. You need to get back to your sector too. The Soviets could attack at any moment and we'll be fighting house-to-house. It will be a brutal battle," Muhammad said.

  "I don't care about any battle," Osama said: "That Masood must be held accountable for this failed action!"

  "Osama, are you going to disobey my orders?" Muhammad's tone became a bit more serious.

  "Of course not!" Osama said: "I am very loyal to you."

  Mohammad certainly also knew Osama's meaning, with this failed battle, let Masood be responsible for his own actions, and get rid of Masood, then got rid of the stumbling block of Masood. In the entire north, no one's prestige could surpass Mohammad's.

  Osama is completely out of loyalty to Muhamed, helping Muhamed.

  However, Mohammad did not agree with such behavior. To make people believe, it is not necessarily to take violent means. No matter how many mistakes Masood made, he was still a brave warrior who firmly resisted the Soviets. Killing him would be less effective than leaving him on the battlefield to kill Soviets.

  "Get back to your defensive area!" Muhammad said: "This is a military order, if such a situation happens again, I will shoot you on the grounds of desertion in the face of the enemy!"

  Osama rolled his eyes, apparently not taking Muhammad's words to heart: "I believe you won't, Commander. No one is more determined to fight than I am. Since you've already made up your mind about Masood, then I was overthinking."

  After finishing speaking, Osama turned around and walked away.

  "Halt!" Muhammad shouted.

  Osama immediately stopped in his tracks, had the instructor changed his mind? In fact, with just one stray bullet, the problem could be solved, and if there was an order from the instructor, he could take care of it without anyone knowing.

  "Osama, remember that the road to liberating Afghanistan is full of hardships and difficulties. What we need to do is unite with anyone who can be united, only then can we ultimately achieve victory. If we cannot do this, then we will not succeed, even if we drive out the Soviets, all of Afghanistan will still be plagued by warlords and endless fighting, we must unite!" Muhammad said.

  Osama's body shook, and what Captain Muhammad saw was not just the current battle, but also the situation in Afghanistan after the Soviets were driven out. He was far-sighted, far beyond what he could see on the surface.

  Watching Osama walk out, Muhammad let out a sigh of relief. This guy was unruly, if he didn't make it clear himself, who knows when Osama would secretly go and shoot cold guns.

  Now, still to be dealt with is how to get rid of the current disadvantage. In front of Muhammad, there was a map of Jalalabad, which was torn from the wall of the principal's office. It was so clear that it could just allow Muhammad to deploy at ease.

  Main intersections were mined to prevent Soviet armored units from entering, and the streets here are not very spacious. As long as one tank or infantry fighting vehicle was blown up, the intersection would be blocked.

  Centered on the hospital, advance 200 meters and divide into four defensive areas, east, west, south, and north. Each direction has about a hundred guerrilla members. This way of fighting in alleys allows for both advancement and retreat. If the Soviet forces launch an attack rashly, they will suffer some casualties.

  At the same time, in order to prevent the Soviet Union's IL-2 attack, there are some militia members carrying Stinger missiles on the periphery. As long as they can shoot down one or two Soviet IL-2s, they will definitely not dare to get close again. If they keep a distance, they will also worry about misinjury.

  This is an inevitable arrangement, and there is no better solution.

  What's next? When we've exhausted our ammunition and supplies, should we perish together with the Soviets? That won't do! We must think of a way to escape like a cicada shedding its shell!

  Muhammad looked out of the window, and before he knew it, it was already noon.

  Masood walked on the street, and around him were scattered guerrilla fighters. Just yesterday they were all radiant and full of energy, but today they were all gloomy and disheveled, each one carrying anger.

  Heavy casualties.

  An ordinary army, with one-tenth of its men lost, will be severely shaken in morale. If more than one-fifth are lost, the army can no longer take to the field. If half are lost, and if it is still desired to fight on, then only one type of man remains - the desperate! The soldier who has steeled himself for death!

  The current guerrilla fighters are like this, in the battle at dawn today, they lost half of their men, and each guerrilla team suffered significant casualties. In their grief and indignation, they only hope to kill more Soviets and avenge their comrades!

  When they saw Masood, their eyes were filled with anger and another emotion, that fiery gaze made Masood very uncomfortable.

  "It's him! Gather 'round, we're here to send him off to death!"

  "That's right! I heard that the commander of the Jalalabad guerrilla force, who saved us today, Mr. Muhammad, strongly opposed coming to attack Jalalabad!"

  "How come he didn't die under the Soviet guns!"

  "That's right! He is virtually killing our guerrilla force!"

  One word, one phrase, started as a whisper, now the voice grew louder and clearer, reaching Masud's ears, he had turned from being the high-handed planner and commander of the entire operation to a criminal.

  Masood hung his head and said nothing.

  "Shoot him!" A voice suddenly shouted loudly.

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