after an hour.
The eight members of Murphy's team plus the foreign aid Long Zhan, everyone from the intelligence team and the operations center, plus all commanders above the squad level of the quick reaction force.
A total of 70 or 80 people from each operational unit gathered in the big tent in the combat center.
Before the official start of the action briefing, several videos were played on a projector, as well as photos and relevant personal information of the action targets.
Let everyone involved in the action have a general understanding of the goal of the action.
Then we get to the point.
An intelligence expert held a laser pointer, cast a red dot on the bearded man in a turban on the screen, and began to introduce the mission objectives to everyone.
"Ahmed Shah, extremely dangerous man, senior Taliban commander.
The previous attack on the Marine Corps in eastern Afghanistan was a good thing he led his men. Our mission this time is to detect, confirm and kill Ahmed Shah.
Shah had undergone some unknown ritual, and the absence of earlobes was his most striking feature. This would be the best basis for judgment when wearing a turban makes it impossible to judge. "
The picture on the projection screen was transformed into another high-definition image taken by a drone.
"Tariq, Shah's most effective assistant, he performs all the main operations on Shah's behalf. He is our second target."
The intelligence expert stepped aside and was replaced by a major commander to designate the operational personnel.
"Before dispatching the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) to strike against Saudi Arabia, we need to send a reconnaissance team to find and determine the location of Shah.
The list of the reconnaissance team has been determined, and the following people will be responsible for the reconnaissance mission.
Captain Murphy was responsible for overall command, Sergeant Marcus served as medical officer and logistics, Sergeant Matthew was responsible for sniper observation, radio communications were handed over to Sergeant Dietz, and Sergeant Gibran was responsible for fire cover and second observer. "
After hearing the list announced by the chief commander, the selected people Murphy, Marcus and others looked at each other, very calm and without any disturbance.
There is no joy of being selected, nor fear and nervousness about the difficulty of the task.
Long Zhan's mood was the same as that of Murphy's team. The preparations had been done and negative emotions would only affect the judgment in action.
The remaining Frank, Sean and others who were not selected became reserve personnel who could only stay at the base.
Veterans like Frank are not bad, there will be substitutes and main players in every operation. This time the substitute is not him, next time he may be the current main force.
They have long been accustomed to normal military deployments.
Only Sean, who had just joined the special forces and was full of motivation and fully expected to show off his talents in this mission, had regrets and unwillingness on his face.
Unwilling to enter the first battle of the special forces, he ended up sitting in the base watching the show.
This is like entering the NBA finals with the team. Everyone else is fighting for the championship ring on the court, but I can only sit on the bench and watch.
This is so frustrating.
However, no matter how unwilling Sean was, he could only sulk on his own.
Because he was still a newbie in special operations, it was still early for him to take part in actual operations.
"Now let me explain the route."
The operational personnel list was finalized, and the major commander cut the screen to a satellite map.
"Our mission needs to be as concealed as possible. The reconnaissance team cannot take a helicopter to reach the destination directly and can only land on the western periphery of Asadabad village.
Then we hiked up from the back of the mountain, bypassing the villages along the way in a hidden way, and finally arrived at the village of Kadaku where Shah was hiding.
I estimate it will take 3 to 4 hours. There are some nasty shale rocks there and it will be very difficult to walk. Remember to tie your shoelaces tightly.
By the way, I would like to remind those who participated in the operation that the enemies you face are not just militants.
A few weeks ago, Marine Troop 8 was patrolling that area, and a member of Marine Corps Team 8 was bitten by a rattlesnake and nearly lost his life there.
What you may not expect is that there are a lot of low poison oak trees along the way.
It won't have much impact if the body is stabbed, but you must be careful about your lifeblood, that thing can't block the poison. "
The major commander made a cold joke and said to the other officer: "Akers, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Let me introduce the action process."
Akers came to the task board on the left and introduced to everyone: "The mountain slope in this area is very steep, the wireless communication signal is very limited, and there is a high probability that communication problems will occur.
In order to ensure communication during the mission, the action team will be equipped with a satellite phone, which will be used and kept by Commander Murphy.
Communication satellites will fly over the operation area every two hours.
This means that you will have a satellite communication window every two hours. If you miss it more than twice, you will have to figure out your own solution.
Of course, you don’t need to be nervous.
Satellite communications are just an option, and if there's nothing wrong with wireless communications, a satellite phone is just a useless hunk of plastic garbage. "
In order to prevent the atmosphere from being too depressing, Akers also used a more humorous metaphor before continuing the introduction.
"Next is the action route of the reconnaissance team. In order to avoid being exposed during the encounter, you need to follow the set route.
You must reply every time you pass a point so that the command center can determine your location.
There are 4 waypoints in total. Budweiser is the code name of the first waypoint, the second is Miller, the third is Corona, and the fourth is Heineken.
Next is Hidden Observation Point No. 1, codenamed Schlitz Malt. If Shah is confirmed here, the codename for the follow-up operation will be Rick James. "
The names of these waypoints and observation points are listed on a whiteboard one by one from top to bottom.
At first glance, it seems a bit confusing. There are so many code names, and I don’t know what the purpose of these things is.
It's actually pretty easy to understand.
