998: Chapter 983: The First Battle Approaches 998: Chapter 983: The First Battle Approaches Everything was ready, but the first operation was delayed in its commencement.
In Gao Yang’s conception, the first operation was extremely important, because he hoped to achieve significant success in their first outing.
A formidable small squad, specializing in night-time assaults on IS, the members of IS would certainly realize someone was targeting their high-ranking individuals, and in such a case, it wouldn’t take many attacks for Badadi to necessarily have to go into deeper hiding.
Therefore, the first strike had to be the operation most likely to locate Badadi, even though the chances of definitely capturing and dealing a heavy blow to Badadi were actually not high.
Considering how many years America spent looking for Osama, with the resources at Gao Yang’s disposal, the likelihood of eliminating Badadi in one fell swoop was really not high.
Yet, an unlikely chance still requires effort directed toward that end, and Gao Yang hoped to at least have a higher certainty, the greater the certainty, the better.
Thus, in the initial period, Gao Yang simply held back from acting.
He continued to drill his men again and again, while striving to identify the most probable hiding place of Badadi from a deluge of intelligence reports.
With the addition of Yake, sifting through intelligence became much simpler.
Yake was able to select useful and valuable information from the multitude of confusing reports and was able to analyze and judge based on past cases.
Although mainly conjecture, it was a lot more reliable than their previous method of poring over pictures, trying to pick out Caucasian faces to locate the Iron Madonna’s whereabouts and thus deduce Badadi’s hiding place.
The situation in Damascus was very complicated.
After a period of intense attacks by the rebel army, their recent attacks had gradually weakened, and the front line had been increasingly fragmented by the government forces, no longer forming a complete front line as before.
But the government forces also lacked the strength to completely eliminate the rebel army, let alone expel them from the Damascus area, resulting in a very dispersed battlefront, ending up with many separate combat zones.
The circumstances were chaotic, and finding the potential hiding spot of Badadi among the many areas active with rebels was challenging enough, let alone the possibility that Badadi might have already left Damascus by then.
It was also very possible that the Iron Madonna had left Damascus, and the likelihood of the Iron Madonna being with Badadi was even slimmer—but before Yake joined, Gao Yang had no choice but to rely on these leads.
On the tenth day after arriving in Damascus, Gao Yang, along with Yake and Number Thirteen, were sitting at the table, looking over the newly arrived intelligence.
These reports included text, photos, and blurry videos shot on smartphones.
In short, all intelligence concerning IS, after arriving at the Military Intelligence Bureau, would be forwarded to Gao Yang.
The lengthy wait was agonizing for Gao Yang, and even more so for the Syrians, as Gao Yang’s team was consuming a considerable amount of resources.
Most importantly, people like Dani and Farouk needed to produce some results soon to report to their superiors.
Fortunately, although antsy, after Dani discreetly reminded Gao Yang once, he hadn’t urged him much after that.
Despite growing impatient, Dani understood that some matters couldn’t be rushed, so he still had the motivation to keep waiting.
The few were reviewing new intelligence; Dani was there, and so was Farouk.
However, after being rejected by Gao Yang several times regarding their strong suggestions to act, their interest in deciphering the intelligence with Gao Yang had waned, and they just sat beside the conference table, listlessly looking over reports that seemed no different than usual.
Farouk nonchalantly set aside a very brief written report, which the yet-to-see Yake picked up.
However, after a glance, Yake sprang into action as if injected with an adrenaline shot, shouting loudly, “Give me all of yesterday’s reports from Adra, everything, fast, fast!”
It had been five or six days, and it was the first time Yake raised his voice.
Gao Yang was startled but a thrill ran through him following the initial shock.
He immediately went to the cabinet where the intelligence was kept, sorted by date and location, and placed a stack of documents and photos in front of Yake.
Everyone stood up, but no one dared to utter a word; they all just watched Yake.
Yake quickly found several documents he had personally categorized and numbered among the intelligence Gao Yang laid down.
After looking at them and then at a few photos, he slammed his pencil down onto the table and shouted, “They’re going to attack!
They’re amassing troops!”
After his declaration, Yake picked up the pencil again, turned to the map on the wall, and drew a small circle, then a slightly larger circle, and slapped the map, his face alight with excitement, “An attack!
A large-scale attack!”
Dani, looking puzzled, said, “How can you tell?
We haven’t received any reports of the enemy reinforcing.”
Yake looked somewhat frenzied as he forcefully pointed at four locations on the map, exclaiming, “Starting last Saturday, the intensity of fight at these four points suddenly decreased.
The government forces were able to advance their lines without increasing troops, which means if the government forces haven’t added troops, then the rebel army has reduced theirs.
Four days ago, in a stalled corner of Homs, an elite unit of IS suddenly ceased their offensive, disappeared overnight.
The day before yesterday!
The combat area in Adra District was here, and yesterday, it moved here!
And today, the fighting took place here.
Do you see what I am seeing?”
Farouk spoke in a grave tone, “The battles became a bit more fierce, but their controlled territories haven’t expanded.”
Biting his teeth, Yake said with excitement, “They haven’t advanced, but they’ve intensified their defenses.
Also, did you notice?
They haven’t made any gains, but today they launched small-scale assaults at three junctions in Adra District, only to quickly retreat.
They’re conducting recon by fire.”
Yake returned to the table and with an air of strategic command said, “They’re performing recon by fire, searching for the main direction of the offensive.
I’ve analyzed the characteristics of IS’s previous large-scale attacks—they rally their forces and break through at a single point!”
After finishing his explanation, Yake turned to Gao Yang and said with deliberate emphasis, “Every time before a large-scale operation, Badadi personally makes an appearance!”
Yake was right.
Badadi had arrived before IS could receive and utilize the chemical weapons; otherwise, Gao Yang and his team wouldn’t have encountered Badadi.
Everyone’s breathing grew heavy and Dani blurted out, “When are they going to attack?”
Yake lowered his head and contemplated for a moment before saying, “It won’t be long, tomorrow, at the latest.
Based on previous patterns, the scale will be at least three thousand men.”
After finishing his words, Yake immediately waved his hand and commanded, “Deploy reconnaissance drones!
Focus on Adra District immediately, now!”
Dani wiped the sweat from his brow and said gravely, “I need to report this up the chain and strengthen the defenses in the Attala district.”
Gilanor spoke with the same gravity, “I’ll report up and deploy scouts for targeted reconnaissance over the Attala district.”
Yake looked at his watch and said, “IS essentially has no night combat capabilities, same as the government forces.
It’s best if you move your troops after dark.
It’s six-thirty in the evening now; if the planes take off quickly, you’ll have an hour to conduct reconnaissance.
Be quick but also careful—I need clear photos to try and find Badadi’s hideout, but I don’t want massive aerial reconnaissance to put the enemy on high alert.”
The Attala district is in the northeastern suburbs of Damascus.
The place isn’t very big, but that’s relative.
The Attala district is small but home to tens of thousands of people, and countless buildings make it a labyrinth.
For Gao Yang and his team of just over twenty people, unless they could accurately locate Badadi’s hideout, stepping into such a place would be futile.
A decapitation operation requires knowing precisely where the enemy’s head is.
Gao Yang made up his mind; the first battle would be tonight.
He immediately stood up and into the radio said, “Get ready for combat; this is not a drill, repeat, not a drill!”
Gilanor hurriedly ran out, and as Dani and Farouk were also about to rush off, Gao Yang grabbed Dani and said in a grave tone, “Whether you believe Shadow’s assessment or not, I want to remind you that if you’re going to move troops in defense against a possible attack, wait until nightfall before you do anything.
Don’t let the Rebel Army notice; we’re going to act tonight—don’t let them become more vigilant.”
Dani nodded and responded, “You don’t need to teach me, I know.
Besides, the troops won’t deploy directly to the front lines; the enemy won’t detect them, don’t worry.”
After he finished speaking, Dani and Farouk left as well.
It wasn’t long before Gilanor ran back, gasping for breath, “The reconnaissance drones have taken off.
I’ve instructed that during the reconnaissance process, try not to let the Rebel Army notice.
Also, the photos will be directly sent here.”
Gao Yang nodded, then turned to Yake and asked, “Do you have any more suggestions?”
Yake, looking at the photos, said somberly, “Aerial bombardment, assault teams go in.
Finish the battle before the enemy has a chance to react and withdraw.
If you’re going into the fray, I suggest you join the assault team.
The enemy is massing their forces; they will not be few.
The one you’re after is Badadi, the utmost priority in protection.
A token resistance is meaningless.
If the rapid assault is successful, it is a success.
But if the assault fails or even is too slow, none of you will come out alive.”
After finishing, Yake looked at Gao Yang with a smile and said, “Such a battle needs sizable forces ready to intervene at any moment to be even remotely safe.
But the Syrian army?
Forget it.
You’re better off relying on yourselves rather than having delusional hopes.”
Gao Yang shrugged and said, “Alright then, the assault team it is.
Like a gambler, we pick a building and strike it with all our might.
If we catch the big fish, it’s a catch.
If not, it’s not, and that will determine the success or the failure.”
After speaking, Gao Yang thought for a moment and said, “The enemy’s combat power is actually limited.
I think a window of five to eight minutes is safe.
After all, we have three helicopters overhead for cover.”
Yake frowned and said, “Five to eight minutes?
That will need to be decided after the latest intelligence arrives and we’ve reviewed the types of buildings.
But, I think that time is a bit too long, don’t you?”
Gao Yang gave a wry smile, “I’ve fought them.
I know roughly how long their response time is.
Besides, I want to end the battle quickly.
But considering the current situation and the addition of non-regular personnel, I think five minutes is already pushing it.”
Yake shrugged and said, “Okay, I’ll plan the route later.
No matter the type of building, I’ll plan the entry and exit route based on a five-minute timeline.”
Gao Yang nodded and said with a smile, “Great, I’ll leave it to you.
I’m going to get ready and ensure I can deploy at any moment, then come back here.”
(To be continued.
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