Chapter 119: Without a Trace

  Dorofeyev's words made Belgrade shudder, he knew what it meant, to prevent the guerrillas inside from mixing with Afghan civilians and running out, they would carry out a massacre of all Afghans, not one could be spared! At the same time, this was also to vent Dorofeyev's anger, to make amends for those dead soldiers.

  This is not a mountainous area, this is a city! If Dorofeyev's orders are carried out, it will cause the urban residents who originally stood on the side of the government to thoroughly turn to the guerrillas, and the consequences would be severe.

  Dorofeev's eyes had reddened.

  The order was passed down and became that any Afghan who resisted had to be shot, Belgrade has done its best.

  Street fighting is the most brutal kind of combat, where even the capture of a single courtyard can result in the loss of numerous soldiers' lives. A sniper alone could cause hundreds of casualties, and now they had lost air support.

  The base in Bagram suffered heavy losses and temporarily has no ability to support here. They will completely rely on their own flesh and blood, attacking upwards.

  Countless Soviet soldiers, fully armed and carrying their AK-74 rifles, crossed the isolation zone established a few days ago, preparing for the most brutal battle.

  Quietly, the ground was all muddy water, yesterday's heavy rain made the entire city muddy and impassable. Most of the houses here had stone blocks on the lower half and mud on the upper half. Under the flushing of the rainwater, everywhere was filled with thin mud. After walking a few steps, the military boots were covered in mud. Extremely heavy, they had to stop. Using bayonets to scrape off the mud from their boots, they had just walked two steps easily when they were again covered in mud!

  The soldiers cursed in their hearts, such an environment made it extremely difficult for them to act, completely inferior to those barefoot Afghans who were agile. Once the shooting started, they, being inconvenient to move, faced great threats.

  Damn it, why did they have to launch an attack at this time! And we still have to rescue the people in the hospital who are being held hostage by the enemy! This is simply a mission impossible!

  The soldiers slowly pushed forward, and the outer courtyards were empty. The civilians inside had already come out two days ago.

  Five or six hours had passed and it was already afternoon when they finally pushed forward to the center, that small hospital building!

  All around were empty, only saw a small number of Afghan civilians, either old men or children, they were very well-behaved and harmless. So the Soviet soldiers did not open fire on them.

  The afternoon sun was a bit dazzling, and the soldiers gazed at that hospital, waiting for the final order.

  Dorofeyev's command post had been moved to a civilian house, heavily guarded on all sides. He would not make the same mistake again as the regimental commander, commanding an entire regiment. Yet he couldn't even protect himself!

  "We have been advancing smoothly without a single shot being fired." Belgrade is also very puzzled. What's going on? Until now, there hasn't been any gunfire!

  The guerrilla's advantage was only left with those civilian houses, using the civilian houses to fight a street battle, could make them desperate, and now, they actually voluntarily gave up the outer civilian houses, hiding in the hospital building?

  Now, the hospital building has been thoroughly surrounded. Those guerrillas will no longer be able to escape. As long as we launch a charge and are willing to pay the price in blood, even if it means sacrificing an entire company, we can wipe out those guerrillas!

  Dorofeev was also puzzled, the guerrillas opposite him were incomprehensible, what were they up to? However, no matter what choice they made, the final outcome would be certain! Now being surrounded in the building, there is even nowhere to escape!

  "We are calling on the building, in three minutes we will attack. If they release our people and surrender, we guarantee their safety," Dorofeyev said.

  Ensure their safety? These evil guerrilla fighters have Soviet blood on their hands, and if they lay down their arms and surrender, the consequences will definitely be execution!

  Belgrade faithfully conveyed Dorofeyev's order: "The battle has reached its final moment."

  "Those inside, listen up! As long as you put down your weapons and surrender, we will guarantee your safety. If you continue to resist stubbornly, we will thoroughly eliminate you!" A fearless Soviet platoon commander stood out and shouted loudly towards the inside.

  There is still no movement inside.

  These obstinate rebels! The Soviet platoon commander looked at his watch, three minutes of time were ticking away bit by bit, with no response inside.

  "Up!" the Soviet platoon commander shouted, leading his men in a dash, running with practiced irregular routes to avoid being targeted by enemy snipers. The open space in front of the building was the most dangerous place.

  Inside, there was still no movement. He ran to the entrance of the building in one breath, and the soldiers behind him followed closely. The squad leader lifted a foot and kicked open the door, and then the soldiers on both sides rushed in.

  Their footsteps came to a halt.

  In the hall on the first floor, their fellow countrymen were lying on the ground, tied up with ropes and gagged. They looked like they had been there for over ten hours, some of them had even fainted. Those who were still awake stared at them with pleading eyes, "Brother, why have you only just arrived?"

  They first untied the rags stuffed in their mouths, and then they took big gulps of air. Next, they untied the ropes binding them, and the first thing they did was to grab the field rations from the soldiers who had entered, and wolf them down.

  These days they haven't eaten their fill, especially now, being tied up for over ten hours, their stomachs are growling with hunger.

  There was only one female doctor, although she was tied up, her back was leaning against the corner of the wall, and there was a mattress from the hospital bed underneath her, it wasn't very uncomfortable, her mouth wasn't gagged, she could speak, but she remained silent.

  "Irena, Irena is here!" a Soviet soldier exclaimed excitedly. Before the attack, they had all seen her picture and their superiors had stressed that they must protect Irena's safety at all costs. Now, seeing Irena right in front of them, they were overjoyed.

  Irena's face didn't have a smile of relief, she just quietly gazed out the window at the blue sky and white clouds, what great weather!

  Ilyana was soon taken to the command center and looked at the tall officer in front of her, looking at the epaulets on his shoulders, he should be a division commander.

  Dorofeev gazed at Elena, a beautiful woman who had captivated Dorofeev's heart. These past few days, in the partisan detachment, he didn't know if she...

  "Ilyena, I'm so glad to see you. Your father has called several times to ask about your safety. Now that I've seen you, I can finally rest easy. Our soldiers have saved you," Dorofeyev said.

  "Yes, what would you write in the report? Fought with guerrillas, countless casualties, and rescued me from their control?" Elena said calmly.

  Dorofeyev's face changed instantly, this woman is really tactless! If it weren't for her father's face, he would have launched an attack three days ago, all because of her!

  Dorofeyev's hand clenched into a fist and then relaxed again. "Where are the guerrillas? Where are they?"

  "They left last night," Irina said. "Last night when the rain was pouring down, they tied us all up and then left."

  Did they escape? Even if it was raining, the cordon was extremely tight. How could they possibly break through the cordon and get away? How is that possible?

  Having found nothing in front, Dorofeev ordered to dig three feet into the ground, thinking that the guerrillas were definitely hiding in some underground hole.

  Irena's face was filled with disappointment as she walked away. The man had really left, and it was unknown when they would meet again.

  When Elena was almost raped by a young Afghan boy, while the surrounding militiamen were accomplices, Muhammad saved her and then gave orders not to commit any acts of disrespect against these medical personnel.

  Irena was taken away by Muhammad and became his woman. At that time, Irena was still a little afraid, if this man wanted to insult her, she would rather commit suicide.

  However, this man did not humiliate her, but instead had her treat several wounded guerrilla fighters and even gave her some freedom. She became curious and followed him as he entered the homes of civilians, encouraging them to follow the Soviets out of the encirclement. She watched as he inspected the defenses of the guerrilla fighters, even helping one of them clear a gun jam. As she saw the guerrilla fighters look at him with adoring eyes, Elena gradually felt a special emotion in her heart. It was only then that she realized this man had her follow him because she was too beautiful - a beautiful Soviet woman among Afghan guerrillas was very dangerous, and with him by her side, none of the guerrilla fighters dared to make any other moves towards her.

  She even began to depend on this man, unfortunately, just a few days later, the man left, thinking of this, she felt a sense of loss.

  "How did they go? Where have they gone?" Dorofeev asked, and in his hurry he grasped Irina's arm with his hand, his fingers digging into her flesh.

  "How would I know?" Elena said "We're all tied up, how would we know, let go of your hands!"

  Dorofeev released his grip, his recent actions somewhat out of control. He took two steps back, gazing at the muddy road outside and the swollen Kabul River in the distance. He muttered to himself, "How did the guerrillas get away? Did they grow wings and fly?"

  Dorofeyev still didn't know how the guerrillas had managed to escape, the isolation zone was already dug out, and they were tightly surrounded on all sides. How could the guerrillas have run away? It's impossible!

  "Damn, almost got killed by the Soviets!" Wet and bedraggled, Muhammad climbed up onto the shore, gazing at the surrounding hills and the exhausted guerrilla fighters trudging up behind him, and couldn't help but utter a curse from his past life.