Forty hours passed quickly.
Countdown: 00:00:00
In the command center, as the red numbers on the electronic countdown board hit zero, the world fell into an eerie silence.
Song Heping stood at the central command platform, his right hand on the encryption communicator's transmit button, while the second hand on the military watch on his left wrist pointed exactly to the scheduled time.
"Operation Thunder Sweep, commence."
His voice was calm.
The general offensive order was immediately transmitted via military satellite channels to every command division, every combat vehicle, and every infantry platoon of the assault units.
East line, 12 kilometers east of Tikrit.
Samir stood next to the command vehicle, gazing at the distant sky.
The sky at 6 a.m. was still a dark blue, but the eastern horizon had begun to turn white.
He picked up the field binoculars, aiming them at Tikrit twelve kilometers away.
The city's skyline was like a row of jagged teeth in the dawn.
