Lebanon. Located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in southwest Asia, it borders Syria to the east and north, Israel to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. It is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country.
Lebanon used to be very wealthy and peaceful. Although the territory was filled with various religious beliefs, religious conflicts rarely occurred. All parties could negotiate peacefully and jointly resolve national affairs.
The capital, Beirut, even once had the title of "Switzerland of the Middle East". It is an important hub for economy, commerce, transportation and tourism in the Middle East. Its prosperity is the envy of many countries.
But everything was disrupted by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Syrian crisis...
The influx of a large number of refugees broke the balance here, and the civil war broke out and lasted for 15 years. Coupled with the occasional war with its neighbor Israel, the former "Little Paris in the Middle East" completely became history...
Chaos and poverty are now synonymous with Lebanon.
"Attache Zhang, thank you for your hard work."
The next morning, on the way to the "Blue Line" area, which is the 121-kilometer-long temporary border zone between the two countries established by the United Nations after Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon in 2000, Zhong Rong said with a smile.
"Reporter Zhong is very polite."
Zhang Liang shook his head slightly and complained, but since it was a task, he had to complete it...
"Let's see, we have to live together for a few days. Don't call Attaché Zhang or Reporter Zhong. I see that you are not older than me, so I will just call you Xiao Zhang. You can just call me Brother Zhong."
Zhong Rong felt that the two sides were a little alienated. Since they were both Chinese, it was better to get closer in this strange place.
Moreover, calling him this way would not reveal Zhang Liang's identity. He knew that this kind of person cared more about this.
"Okay, you are older, you have the final say."
Zhang Liang shrugged, but kept observing the situation around the road. Although he had never been here, he had heard about its name for a long time...
Mainly because he was unsure, because these two people wanted to interview him, and he was a military attaché, so the superiors only prepared a self-defense pistol for him, which was quietly inserted into the holster under his arm. The P226 painted in desert color...
As a special tactical pistol with high reliability and low failure rate, the P226 is indeed a good gun. Its 9 mm caliber and 15-round ammunition capacity are enough to cope with close firefights in most situations.
But a pistol is a pistol, and the effective shooting distance of 50 meters is completely useless in regular combat...
"Don't be nervous, we haven't entered the "blue line zone" yet and it's still safe for now."
Kong Bailing, who was holding a camera, smiled and said that it was not the first time for him and Lao Zhong to come to the war zone. They had a good mentality, which also saved someone a lot of trouble.
"I'm used to it, you don't have to worry about me"
Zhang Liang waved his hand. When he was in the secret army, the instructor once warned him not to let down his guard, because the enemy will not say hello to you before attacking...
Zhong Rong actually thinks that Zhang Liang is quite good. In a place like this, you can sleep with one eye open.
In less than an hour, the car had arrived at the nearest town to the "Blue Line Zone".
Because reporters from various countries often come here, they quickly found a hotel with relatively good security and environment, which can be regarded as the hometown of reporters near the Lebanese-Israeli border...
"Zhong, long time no see"
As soon as the three people put away their luggage, a white man came over to "visit".
"John, you're here too"
Zhong Rong turned his head to look, with a smile on his face, and raised his hand to say hello.
This is a foreign correspondent from the British Reuters, similar to him, who specializes in war zones. The two of them often bump into each other.
"You guys came a little late this year"
John leaned against the door and Zhang Liang nodded.
"There is no way, there are too many tasks and not enough people."
Zhong Rong smiled bitterly, and John deeply agreed upon hearing this.
Reporting in war zones like them is a hard job. Not only are the conditions very difficult in all aspects, but they are also in danger of losing their lives at any time. Not many people are willing to come...
No matter how high the salary is, life flower is of no use...
"Okay, I won't disturb you anymore. Let's have a drink together when you have time."
John knew that Zhong Rong and the others had just arrived and they should be in a hurry to take pictures, so he greeted a few people and left.
"Lao Kong, is there any problem with the equipment? If not, we will set off."
“Totally OK”
"Then let's go, Xiao Zhang, please excuse me."
Zhang Liang nodded when he heard this, and just like that, the three people who had just arrived had no time to rest and hurriedly walked out of the hotel carrying the equipment.
The town they are in is called Alma Shaab. It is the town closest to the Lebanese-Israeli border and a place where conflicts between the two sides often break out. It is only a few kilometers away from the "Blue Line".
"Hello everyone, I am Zhong Rong, a reporter from the main station's military channel. My current location is the Lebanese-Israeli border area where there was a firefight a few days ago..."
Not far after leaving the hotel, Zhong and Rong quickly got into the mood, while Zhang Liang stood vigilantly and paid attention to the surroundings.
“The people most harmed by war are always civilians.”
Looking at the collapsed houses and the fearful and numb faces around him, Zhang Liang sighed.
If you have a choice, who wants to live in such dire straits...
But the whole of Lebanon is now in a state of extremely chaotic security. Where else can they go?
"Xiao Zhang, let's move closer"
After Zhong Rong waited for Kong Bailing to put down the camera, he shouted to Zhang Liang.
"coming"
Gradually, the three of them got closer and closer to the "Blue Line", which starts from Tripoli in northern Lebanon, extends eastward along the Mediterranean coast, passes through Beirut in Lebanon and Haifa in Israel, and finally reaches the temporary border of Eilat in southern Israel. Wire.
Just as several people were about to enter the "blue line area", several violent gunshots came from not far behind them.
Da da da,
"Take cover!"
Zhang Liang quickly stepped forward and pulled the two of them behind an abandoned wall, staring at the direction of the gunfire.
"It's Hezbollah"
Zhong Rong whispered as he looked at the armed pickup trucks driving into the distance and the men in the cars who were staring at them with guns and firing at the sky from time to time.
As a Shia Islamic political and military organization established by the Lebanese people with the help of Iran in 1982 to resist Israel's occupation of the southern part of the country, Hezbollah is also one of the largest political parties in the country.
Since its birth, the armed conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has never stopped. Even if it is designated as a "terrorist organization" by Western countries led by the United States, they often put pressure on the Lebanese government to require the organization to disarm, but they have always failed. was rejected by Hezbollah.
It can be said that Hezbollah is now a "guerrilla force" with the most practical combat experience in the world. They were all trained in Israel...
Kong Bailing had secretly turned on the camera and pointed it at the cars. Zhang Liang was a little speechless when he saw it.
This big brother is really dedicated...
Fortunately, the other party was just passing by. After a while, several armed pickup trucks with heavy machine guns disappeared from the sight of several people.
"Should be patrolling"
Zhang Liang let out a breath and released his right hand from the holster.
In a place like this, don't show your weapons easily, otherwise the nervous patrols on both sides will probably give you a slap...
"What you just saw is the real situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border..."
Glancing at Zhong Rong, who started talking endlessly again, Zhang Liang's mouth twitched...
I accompanied the two "good brothers" all afternoon and photographed the ceremony under the watchful eyes of the sentries on the "Blue Line" tower. By the way, I boldly interviewed one of the soldiers. After being satisfied, the two of them took someone back to the hotel. .
"I'm not suitable to be a nanny!"
After the two of them went to exchange real-time news with other colleagues, Zhang Liang depressedly lit a cigarette and looked out the window sadly...
