Chapter 1495 - 1229: I Remain Steadfast

The next afternoon, Baghdad, Green Zone command center.

Colonel Kote stared at the near-stationary signal of the "Musician" defense main force on the screen, his brows furrowed tightly.

A whole night plus half a day had passed, and Song Heping's forces, apart from establishing fortifications five kilometers outside of Hulmatu and conducting some low-intensity reconnaissance activities, showed no signs of launching a major offensive.

This was too unusual!

Logically, whether to fulfill his promises or seize the so-called "opportunity," Song Heping should launch an attack as soon as possible while troop morale was still high.

Delay would only improve the defenders' fortifications and gradually erode the attackers' morale.

"What is he waiting for?"

Kote couldn't help but mutter to himself.

He retrieved intelligence from various channels and analyzed Song Heping's troop deployments, finding that his main force indeed remained in place, but some unit signals seemed to have vanished outside the monitoring range. However, this was quite common on such a level of battlefield, possibly due to electronic silence or entering a signal blind spot.

The intense doubt and feeling of being kept in the dark eventually got the better of Kote, and he ordered the communications officer to connect to Song Heping's tactical communication channel.

"Song! This is Kote!"

On the radio, Kote's voice carried obvious dissatisfaction, as if a superior questioning a subordinate.

"Why are your troops still stagnating outside Hulmatu? According to our intelligence, the enemy's defenses are strengthening every minute, with reinforcements from various places converging on Hulmatu! Delay will only make your task more difficult! I hope you can provide an explanation and immediately launch an attack!"

Soon, Song Heping's voice, with a hint of lazy mockery, came back: "Yo, Colonel Kote. What, now even the US Army needs to tell mercenaries when to get up and fight? As far as I remember, I'm still the overall commander of 'Furnace Operation,' right?"

Kote choked, his temper flaring up: "Song! I'm not joking with you! You've taken the money, accepted the mission, now you must fulfill your duties! Holding your position now is wasting valuable time and consuming everyone's patience!"

"Fulfill my duties?"

Song Heping laughed indifferently: "Colonel Kote, can I ask what my mission's core objective is? To capture Hulmatu? No, that is a means, not an end. The real objective is to pin down and attract most of the 1515 forces in the northwest, alleviating the pressures on the government army in Ozham, and the Kurd Armed in Agra, breaking the entire northwest's stalemate. So tell me, hasn't the pressure in the Ozham direction greatly eased? Hasn't the Kurd infantry division surrounded in Agra also reestablished contact with the outside world, with pressure suddenly reduced?"

Kote opened his mouth to refute, but found that what Song Heping said was factual.

Due to 1515 frantically dispatching troops from Ozham and even Mosul to reinforce Hulmatu, other battlefronts indeed experienced a significant relief.

He could not deny this.

"This..."

Kote was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Isn't it clear then?"

Song Heping's tone was filled with banter.

"Do you Americans play Go? Understand what the art of war is all about? Do you think warfare is just mindlessly charging with a gun? Or like you guys, always calling for air strikes at the drop of a hat, bombing indiscriminately?! No wonder you were beaten so embarrassingly by my grandparent's generation with such advanced weapons on the Peninsula back then."

"My strategic objectives have been initially achieved. As for when and how to take down Hulmatu, that's my business in tactical deployment. How to fight, I have my own arrangements, seems unnecessary to report everything to you, Colonel. Or do you have some 'valuable' guidance on our Eastern commanding art?"

The underlying message in this was all too plain — I don't trust you Americans, and if you can't understand my methods, stop blabbering.

Kote's face turned pale with anger, yet he couldn't gain the upper hand on reason. He could only suppress his fury and said stiffly, "I hope you know what you're doing! If your delay causes the operation to fail, you'll bear full responsibility!"

"No need for concern."

Song Heping responded blandly, then ended the call.

"Fuck!"

Kote slammed his headset on the console, his chest feeling like it was about to explode.

Song Heping was like a slippery eel, not only impossible to control but also utterly unpredictable in his next moves.

More importantly, he even ridiculed the US Army's habit of calling for air support...

Does he not need the US Army's air support now?

The news that Song Heping was leisurely "basking in the sun" outside Hulmatu quickly spread within his own troops.

In the main force's positions, soldiers hid in the freshly dug foxholes or tents, avoiding the increasingly intense sunlight, whispering among themselves.

"What's going on? Didn't they say they're here to attack Hulmatu? The money's been spent, so why are they not moving once they arrive?"

"Is he scared? I heard there are over ten thousand of those 1515 lunatics in the city now, along with lots of anti-tank missiles and mortars..."

"Is the commander waiting for something? Waiting for the American's air support? Or waiting for a better opportunity?"

"Who knows... Just waiting around like this, it makes you feel uneasy. Rather fight with real swords and guns!"

Especially the temporarily reinforced local militia units, where restlessness was palpable, and several leaders even found Samir, subtly expressing doubts about standing still and concerns about morale.