"Sniper," Qusay said. "Take out the guy on the tank first. The rest of you, prepare for battle. Note: leave a survivor."
In front of and below the Chieftain Tank's turret, a bearded Iranian soldier was stomping hard on the gas pedal, but the tracks were just spinning in place. Sweat rolled down his face, and his back was completely soaked.
Crack! A bullet flew from somewhere unknown, striking him in the forehead and taking off the top of his skull.
White brain matter and red liquid splashed everywhere. He didn't make a sound and collapsed at his post.
The tank engine ceased its roar, as if it too sensed that its master's life had ended.
"Sniper! Take cover!" the squad leader of the transport unit shouted, raising his gun.
Crack! Another gunshot rang out, and the squad leader fell to the ground, a large hole appearing in his chest.
Everyone fell into a panic. They were only second-line transport soldiers whose main task was logistics; their combat effectiveness was very poor.
If they were elite troops, they would have determined the direction of the bullet after the first shot, taken cover quickly, and then sought an opportunity to locate and eliminate the sniper.
If there had been a gunner inside the tank, they could have used the Chieftain Tank's powerful firepower to fire a high-explosive shell, which would have been enough to level any threatening position.
Success only belongs to those who are prepared; victory only belongs to the strong.
People were being killed one after another, and they fell into even greater panic. One soldier actually stood up and ran toward where the sniper was hidden.
Crack! A bullet pierced his chest. He spun around weakly, trying to grab onto something, but found nothing and collapsed to the ground.
"Who speaks Iranian?" Qusay asked. "Shout to them: lay down your weapons and you won't be killed."
Looking at this group of people with no will to fight, Qusay knew that capturing them would be far too easy.
Hades said, "I do."
During the battle just now, his hands had been itching to use an anti-tank missile to take out that Chieftain Tank—that would have been a great achievement—but the captain hadn't given the word, so he had to hold back.
Now, hearing the order to take prisoners, he volunteered.
"Hey, put down your weapons and surrender! allah is above; Iraqi soldiers do not fight Muslims who have laid down their arms," Hades said in Iranian.
These words were truly effective. They didn't have much sense of honor as warriors to begin with, and now, under sudden attack with their squad leader dead, their morale had collapsed. If they continued like this, death was inevitable. Since there was a hope of survival, they didn't care if surrendering was dishonorable.
One after another, they laid down their weapons and stood in the open ground.
"We surrender, we surrender!" they shouted, terrified that the other side would fire again.
The two squads rushed out and quickly surrounded them.
Marwan, following from behind, also caught up. He was immediately interested when he saw the fuel tanks on the trucks gleaming in the sunlight.
"Quick, get our fuel drums," Marwan said as he jumped off the vehicle.
He ran swiftly to the front of a fuel tank and opened the valve.
His expression changed from joy to shock, and then to anger. He grabbed a prisoner and asked loudly, "What kind of soldiers are you? How can a fuel truck have no fuel?"
The Iranian was shaken until he was dizzy and could only say in Iranian, "Officer, what are you saying? I don't understand."
"Marwan, let him go. You're going to kill him," Qusay said.
Marwan released the prisoner. "Captain, how about we siphon the fuel from the trucks' fuel tanks for our armored vehicles? We're about to run out of fuel."
"Why do we have to use the armored vehicles?" Qusay said. "Wouldn't it be more convenient to use these off-road trucks?"
Upon hearing this, Marwan suddenly realized.
Does a fuel truck necessarily have to have fuel? If it were driving in from outside the swamp, it would certainly have fuel, but since they were driving back, it was naturally empty.
"Interrogate these prisoners," Qusay said. "Hades, bring one out and ask some questions."
When interrogating prisoners, they must be separated and questioned one by one; otherwise, for fear of future retaliation, no one would dare speak the truth.
A young man who looked relatively honest was the first to be brought out.
Marwan pulled out his knife and poked it against the youth's chest. If he saw the slightest hint of dishonesty, he would poke a hole in him.
The youth was terrified and repeatedly said in Iranian, "Officer, spare my life! Officer, spare my life! I'll answer whatever you ask."
Hades translated the man's response. Qusay and Marwan both felt relieved; looking at this terrified Iranian youth, it was unlikely he could hide anything.
"Which unit are you from?"
"Transport Company, Fourth Battalion, Fifty-Second Brigade, Thirty-Second Armored Division of the Iranian Revolutionary Army."
"Where is your main force?"
"At a base twenty miles from here."
"Are all the troops currently at the base?"
"The main force has already moved out and is engaged with the Thirty-Fifth Brigade at the front. There are only a few stay-behind troops."
"Do you have any reinforcements?"
"I'm not sure about that."
Qusay asked a question, Hades translated it, and the prisoner answered.
Listening to Hades' translation of the prisoner's words, they gradually began to feel that the timing this time was chosen perfectly!
The Thirty-Fifth Brigade was already engaged with the enemy's armored units, and the battle between the two sides was raging. If they stabbed them in the back and destroyed the base where the fuel and ammunition were stored, all those units still in combat would suffer a crushing defeat due to lack of fuel.
If the enemy hadn't moved out, it certainly wouldn't have been easy for them to successfully raid such a large base. Even if they did, the enemy could just transport more in. But now that the two sides were already engaged, the number of soldiers left behind was greatly reduced. If they blew up the base here, the enemy's combat vehicles wouldn't be able to replenish fuel in time—this was the best opportunity.
Let the Iranians weep for their reckless actions! Qusay's eyes gleamed.
He aimed his gaze at the tank stuck in the swamp. If they could get this Chieftain Tank out, they would be even more certain of success.
"Hades, interrogate a few more prisoners to see if their answers are the same. Marwan, Wahrih, let's figure out how to get the Chieftain Tank out," Qusay said.
The Chieftain Tank was a heavy beast of over fifty tons. Relying solely on two off-road trucks wouldn't work at all, and even with the Type 63 Tank pulling as well, it likely wouldn't be easy.
However, as long as they added shovels, it would be possible!
These Iranians were also quite lazy. In fact, if you want to tow a tank out of a swamp, using only traction is absolutely not enough. You must clear away all the mud in front of the tracks so that the resistance to the tank's forward movement is greatly reduced, and then fill the area under the tracks with things like dry grass and branches to increase traction. That is the correct method.
Self-recovery and mutual recovery of armored vehicles is also a very deep science; acting recklessly with brute force is absolutely out of the question.
Of course, they didn't have to do this work themselves. Qusay had Hades command the prisoners to start clearing the mud below.
Soon, the area under the tracks was cleared, and then many dry branches were found and stuffed under the tracks.
Finally, Qusay had the armored vehicle drive over as well. Two off-road trucks and one armored vehicle—three vehicles in total—towed the tank together. Combined with the tank's own power, the heavy Chieftain Tank finally struggled out of the mud pit.
Seeing this, the prisoners felt even more defiant. If they had known they could get the tank out like this, why had they bothered so much earlier? If they had gotten the tank out sooner, they wouldn't have been captured here.
Marwan threw the bodies from the Chieftain Tank into the pit from before, and the other bodies that had been shot dead were also thrown in.
"Captain, how do we handle these prisoners?" Marwan asked.
Qusay was in a dilemma. Bringing these prisoners along would certainly make movement inconvenient, but releasing them would be even more dangerous. If even one of them ran back, they would leak their whereabouts. Or should they just... Qusay shook his head. Executing prisoners was a violation of the Geneva Convention. If he did such a thing, how would he be any different from a cold-blooded devil?
"Tie them up first. When we've completed the mission, we'll come back and take them away," Qusay said.
"Yes," Marwan replied, showing a smile that was hard to detect.
The prisoners were stripped of their outer clothing, and Qusay had his soldiers change into the Iranian military uniforms. This way, from the outside, it was impossible to tell that this was a substituted group of Iraqi soldiers.
With the two off-road trucks in front and the Chieftain Tank behind—since there weren't enough Iranian uniforms—the special forces members who hadn't changed clothes all hunkered down and hid in the truck beds.
A few special forces members who knew how to operate a tank sat inside the Chieftain Tank. Marwan climbed in from the front to drive it personally.
Watching the two off-road trucks ahead drive away, Marwan started the tank and then shifted directly into reverse, backing over the prisoners who were tied together behind him.