Inside the joint command center.
A dozen senior officers were wearing headphones and sitting in the room monitoring the battlefield situation.
General Garrison sat in the back seat, holding a large cigar in his mouth, taking in everything.
The color images of the battlefield on the screen were transmitted in real time from cameras on the Orion patrol aircraft and reconnaissance helicopters outside.
Five or six radio frequencies buzzed nearby, and there was not even a moment of silence.
Images of a convoy of three Humvees transporting seriously injured people departing and returning appeared on the home screen, and no casualty reports appeared on the speakers.
Everything seemed to be going well.
Garrison and his staff may have a more comprehensive understanding of the battlefield intelligence of the current operation than any commander in history.
An HVT arrest operation involved more than 100 people, and nearly 40 vehicles and aircraft in total.
Even looking at the history of U.S. special operations, this is an extremely rare scale.
You must know that when the super terrorist La Mou was captured, only two special silenced Black Hawk helicopters were dispatched, and the number of people involved in direct action was even less than the last number.
However.
Despite having such a large-scale surveillance system, all Garrison and others can do is watch and listen, and cannot make any changes to the main line of the operation.
Just like shooting an arrow, you can only wait for it to fly until it hits the target and ends the mission.
What if the shot misses or is shot down, something goes wrong.
The only thing General Garrison could do was to call the other side of the city, where the United Nations peacekeeping forces were located at the United Nations Field Headquarters.
There are three regular companies of the US 10th Mountain Division stationed there, as well as regular peacekeeping forces such as truck loading troops from Pakistan, Malaysia, Italy and other countries.
Fortunately, so far, it seems that this is not necessary.
Because although the fighting was very fierce and the entire Mogadishu had turned into a hornet's nest, except for one ranger being injured, the entire mission went relatively smoothly.
It has been nearly an hour since the fighting broke out in the city, and other warlords and peacekeeping forces from various countries have also received relevant intelligence information.
The headquarters of Pakistan, Italy and other countries have begun to pay attention to the battlefield through drones.
In the eyes of warlords and peacekeeping forces from various countries, breaking into Aidid's "Black Sea" area in broad daylight is a radical adventure and tantamount to throwing yourself into a trap.
The area near Bakhara Market is the absolute center of Habojid's power, with thousands of armed militiamen.
This is no longer the previous May. There are 30,000 US Marine Corps troops stationed in Mogadishu. Each army has absolute say here. Even if Aidid is given 10,000 courage, he will not dare to move.
Ever since the Marines and United Nations troops left, things have begun to change here.
Even the Pakistani peacekeeping force, which has dozens of tanks and a large number of armed armored vehicles, has been reluctant to approach that area since then.
Because they knew that in the center of the city, Aidid's armed forces were terrifying and could launch a violent attack in a short time.
General Garrison was actually very aware of the dangers of breaking into it during the day.
Nor is he willing to see U.S. peacekeepers suffer large-scale casualties in Somalia, as he recorded in a memo a few weeks ago:
[If we enter the vicinity of Bakara Bakara, there is no doubt that we can win the battle, but we may lose the entire war because of it. 】
But under pressure from politicians in Washington, Garrison took the risk and took action.
And the timing of action also portends danger.
You must know that Garrison's task force is actually better at using night vision equipment to launch unequal operations at night.
The helicopter pilots who participated in this operation were all carefully selected from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
They call themselves "Night Stalkers" and are good at flying in complete darkness.
With the advantages of night vision equipment, even in the dark night without moonlight, they can fly freely like daylight and accurately place troops at designated locations.
As the T1 level special forces of the Air Force, their skills are astounding and their courage is jaw-dropping.
Night is their world!
In addition to these, operating at night has another benefit.
Many Somalis in Mogadishu, especially young people who drive lightly armed pickup trucks on patrol, are particularly addicted to "khat".
It is a plant that looks like watercress and has mild medicinal properties but can stimulate the nerves.
To put it bluntly, it is an exciting "reading product"!
Somalis start chewing this stuff at noon, and by two or three in the afternoon the effects of the drug begin to take effect, and they become extremely excited and restless, eager to vent their anger.
Somalis at the climax of the day will be "brave" because their brains are stimulated.
Once it gets dark, the situation is exactly the opposite.
Those Somalis who have chewed "khat" will become exhausted and collapse into a ball of mud after an afternoon of drug excitement.
If the action is launched at night at this time, the difficulty will be reduced by at least half.
The withered Yin Junzi was worse than a dog. In front of the rangers and Delta who had undergone professional military training, he was no different from crushing a piece of tofu.
The results of it……
"Operation Erin" chose the worst time, broke into the worst place in Mogadishu, and started working with a group of drugged people.
It's like choosing the highest difficulty level.
Of course, I have to say it back.
This is only the most ideal situation, and reality and ideals are often incompatible.
If Garrison could become the commander of the Rangers, would he not know these military common senses? Don’t you know how to take advantage of these favorable conditions?
of course not!
This opportunity to capture Aidid's two senior staff members in one fell swoop is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you miss it, you don't know how long you will have to wait for the next time.
The combat conditions were indeed better at night, but Aidid's staff members who were in the meeting probably all went back to their homes.
If you go there then, you will only get nothing.
Garrison had launched three arrest operations at night before, and the process was smooth and smooth without any trouble.
But the result was also very "silky", so slippery that nothing was caught.
These actions are enough to prove that Aidid and his right-hand man are very good at hiding, and the places they appear during the day are never the same as at night.
Garrison is 100% sure...
The same is true for this operation. Once the opportunity is missed during the day, it will only be in vain at night.
As a top-level armed force with soldiers who move faster, are stronger, more agile, and more experienced than any other country in the world, they can order this force to raid Mogadishu in just a few minutes. The overall commander of any building.
Garrison felt that he had enough capital to take a small risk and carry out this arrest operation.
As a representative of the image of the American military, Garrison has been in the military for nearly thirty years and has traveled all over the world. He also participated in Operation Phoenix as a Green Beret. Garrison is one of the least-known important senior officers in the United States.
I also believe that with his carefully designed action plan, this arrest operation will be successful.
Garrison was full of confidence in his actions and believed that even if there was a small problem, it would never affect the final success.
On the other side of Mogadishu, Somalis also have their thoughts and actions.
