1023: Chapter 1008 Butterfly Effect 1023: Chapter 1008 Butterfly Effect PS: For an exclusive story behind “War of Mercenaries,” and to share more of your thoughts on the novel, follow the QiDian Chinese Network official account (add friends on WeChat – add public account – enter “qdread”) and quietly tell me!
The plane had run out of fuel midway, so the Air Force sent out a refuel truck while the Army dispatched a battalion as escort.
By the time the grand troop found Gao Yang and his team’s helicopters parked in the wilderness, it was already midnight.
Fuel was added to the plane, and by the time they returned to the airport, it was 2 a.m.
Gao Yang was originally full of fury, returning once again without success.
In his view, this was a half-baked, failed operation; capturing Walid was the only worthwhile achievement, even though Hamshami had escaped.
Four fighter jets could not intercept a single car, as the buildings in Meskenay were many, and once the car hid in the alleys, the jets were powerless.
Without the capture of Walid, it would’ve been a complete failure.
Of course, the Syrians did not see it as a failed operation.
They viewed it as another great victory, having captured a major IS figure and striking a heavy blow to the Victory Front.
Though it was unfortunate they couldn’t eliminate Hamshami, one couldn’t be too greedy.
In past conflicts, the former government military and Victory Front had never achieved any notable victories against IS.
Back at the airport, they proceeded to interrogate Walid, but Gao Yang had already learned a lot during their wait midway.
Upon arriving at the airport and learning about the current situation of IS, Gao Yang’s anger subsided somewhat.
His first operation leading his troops resulted in taking down a Rebel Army headquarters, which was a joint command center involving four factions, including the Victory Front, as they were discussing a campaign-level offensive.
The rank of those discussing was indeed not low.
Then, on the second night’s operation, they first captured two individuals, which counted as one operation, followed immediately by another operation where the top military commander of the Victory Front was buried in the rubble, along with a group of his subordinates.
Although there were no official ranks or clear titles, the loss for the Victory Front was substantial, as many capable commanders were buried.
The Victory Front suffered significant losses twice in a row, and it always happened on IS’s territory, yet whenever they were attacked, it was always the Victory Front that took the fall.
In reality, IS was also unlucky, but their military commander, Abach, was captured alive.
Thus, no body of Abach was found in the attacked headquarters, and that was all.
IS remained unscathed, but the Victory Front, having lost high-ranking elite members, left its people wondering.
Hence, some of the survivors who believed they had been betrayed started fighting with IS members, and such conflict was hardly surprising.
The Victory Front also had presence in Damascus, but their main battlefield was in Homs.
Moreover, those who couldn’t hold back from clashing with IS weren’t a large force.
IS members were no pushovers, and the result was predictable—the people of the Victory Front were at a disadvantage, and the small faction that went to war with IS was wiped out.
Having hit the child, the father appears; Damascus wasn’t the main battlefield for the Victory Front, but taking down Damascus would mean winning the civil war.
As one of the main Rebel Armies in Syria, the Victory Front had a significant presence in Damascus.
With their small unit beaten and their top commander trapped, the large forces were quick to step forward and escalate the fight.
The large-scale clash between the two organizations wasn’t just about to erupt—it had already sporadically begun.
It was only the presence of the government military that prevented the Victory Front and IS from completely breaking into battle.
The Rebel Army’s territory in Damascus was fragmented; to start a fight, they first had to get through the areas guarded by the government military, otherwise it wouldn’t just be some sporadic skirmishes—a full-blown clash would be the ultimate outcome.
The Victory Front and IS were allies, and honestly, IS could not afford to provoke the Victory Front.
A formal battle would benefit no one, so Badadi had to defuse the situation and decided to go negotiate in the territory controlled by the Victory Front to show sincerity.
However, Badadi chickened out, perhaps fearing the Victory Front might turn against him or perhaps truly feeling unwell.
As a result, he didn’t go, and let Walid go to negotiate with the Victory Front instead.
Gao Yang was IS’s nemesis.
Badadi failing to show up was one thing, but they also had to deal with the unpunctual Walid.
Hamshami, who had just been promoted to the highest military commander of the Victory Front, waited for over an hour and didn’t see Walid.
So, Hamshami decided not to negotiate anymore and planned to withdraw.
Actually, even if Walid was late, it shouldn’t have been a big problem.
Being late is not really an issue in the Middle East; at most, he could just find Hamshami, not even needing to apologize, and then change the venue and continue the talks.
Unfortunately, it might be said that Gao Yang was the nemesis destined for IS.
If Gao Yang hadn’t received the message and hadn’t rushed over with a large fleet of aircraft and troops to bombard Hamshami, the Victory Front and IS might have been able to clear up the misunderstanding and shake hands.
Hamshami had set out for the meeting and told the other party the location, only to find out that the person he was meeting didn’t show.
Furious and ready to leave, he was bombarded indiscriminately, enduring a barrage of bombs.
After experiencing the onslaught, almost all of his long-serving subordinates were gone, reduced to pieces.
One could only imagine what Hamshami must have thought.
Anyone with a bit of sense would think they had fallen into a trap.
Although that wasn’t the truth, Hamshami firmly believed it to be so.
He was just lucky enough to escape from the trap.
Hamshami’s escape wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
While Gao Yang’s helicopters were still halfway there, the Victory Front and IS had already completely turned against each other, and formal fighting had begun.
Minor skirmishes turned into major battles.
The Victory Front desperately moved troops, preferring to give up their controlled areas just to fight IS.
The government military was overjoyed as the mediators within the Rebel Army ran back and forth trying to resolve the dispute between the Victory Front and IS.
Suddenly, the Rebels in Damascus were thrown into complete disarray.
Although they didn’t completely collapse, the Rebels who had been on the offensive, saw their advantage completely disintegrated within a short span of two to three days.
To launch an offensive was still possible, but first, they had to end the infighting and sort out the chaotic fights between the different organizations.
Gao Yang was intent on killing Badadi, so Badadi’s failure to show up infuriated him.
However, one needed to look on the bright side.
Although he hadn’t killed Badadi, he had caused IS a lot of trouble, causing them to lose people and territory, which felt quite satisfying.
Interests were, after all, not fully aligned.
Gao Yang’s aim was revenge; he was only focused on IS and Badadi, while Syria had to fight all the Rebel Armies.
Thus, Gao Yang didn’t see this as a particularly good outcome, but for the government military, there couldn’t have been a better result.
This was coincidental, or rather, this was the Butterfly Effect.
Mercenaries were certainly minor figures, but the actions some took for revenge stirred the war situation of a whole country, leading the country’s battle dynamics and future towards a direction unpredictable by anyone.
The Butterfly Effect was now apparent.
Who could guess what the final outcome might be?
Perhaps, the actions of Gao Yang and his team might affect not just the nation of Syria, but stir the entire world as well.