Chapter 14: Hatred

  The 2001 Afghanistan war was a retaliatory war by the US military in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Led by the United States, the coalition forces launched an offensive against al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Afghanistan on October 7, 2011, rapidly occupying towns and driving their opponents into the mountains.

  However, the Taliban forces that entered the mountains did not stop fighting. Realizing the tactical mistake, they immediately relied on the mountains to fight, forming a Soviet-Afghan War-like tactical form, which also made the US military helpless.

  In the war, the number of US military deaths on the battlefield continued to rise, gradually triggering domestic public opposition. Finally, under the pressure of public opinion, the US government began to withdraw from the Afghan battlefield step by step, extricating itself from the quagmire situation.

  But the US government still did not give up on attacking the largest southern armed forces, this time requiring Norwegian troops to increase their strength in the battlefield, just to free up hands to launch a devastating blow against the Taliban forces in the south, and thus win the last major victory to shift domestic public attention, a grand farewell to the Afghan war.

  Afghanistan, Gereshk.

  Girishk is a small town in southern Afghanistan with a population of about 30,000 people, located 100 kilometers west of Kandahar. The Helmand River originates from the mountainous terrain, and it is an oasis on the route from Kandahar to Herat. To its north lies a complex terrain of mountains and forests, while to its south lies the Balochistan Desert bordering Pakistan and Iran.

  The city is under the control of US military, but also a city where Taliban is active. In fact, all cities in Afghanistan that can be connected by highways are occupied by the US coalition forces, forcing the Taliban into the mountains, cutting off their food and water supply lines, trying to force them out through this blockade.

  Zha Zi Yang and An Qi Er walk on the streets of Ghurian, wearing US military ACU digital camouflage combat uniforms, experiencing the Afghan style that has been through war.

  The small town seems to have moved away from the smoke and fire, the shops on both sides of the not-too-wide streets are open, and the vendors' calls are rising and falling. Pedestrians are also walking in twos and threes, occasionally haggling with vendors over prices.

  The only signs of war are the Humvees with mounted machine guns driving by, maintaining order in the area. The locals have grown accustomed to this scene and are no longer surprised by the presence of American troops.

  Similarly, the US military was also accustomed to Zhao Ziyang and Angie wearing ACU uniforms, as all sorts of mercenaries appeared here every day.

  "There's hardly any war damage here." Zhao Ziyang pointed at the buildings on the street and the Muslims in their attire, saying to Angel.

  He thinks this is one of the better areas in Afghanistan, at least there are no ruins of buildings that have been heavily bombed. People still live relatively comfortably, otherwise such a prosperous scene would not appear.

  "This place has been devastated by war." Angel said indifferently to Zhao Ziyang: "War destroys the hearts of these people, making them lose their struggle for freedom and become slaves of other countries."

  Zhao Ziyang nodded after scanning the people on the street.

  He acknowledged Angel's words, these people have indeed lost their hearts to fight for freedom and become slaves. The United States is an aggressor, if the people of a country cannot unite to resist the aggressor, then no matter how much peace and tranquility are just illusions.

  They must establish their own democratic regime, the puppet regime manipulated by the aggressor will never have any guarantee. But in the eyes of these people, they are filled with numbness and cruelty, kneeling down to beg for a comfortable living environment, losing their thoughts, leaving only a walking corpse.

  "But the people think very simply, as long as they have food to eat and clothes to wear, it doesn't matter who is the country's leader, their demands are very simple." Zhao Ziyang sighed, but in his heart, he felt a kind of sorrow for the Afghan people.

  This is similar to when Chinese people watched Japanese kill Chinese during the war of resistance against Japan, it seems that the awakening of any nation requires a lot of time to complete, is it stupidity or nature?

  "Simple?" Angel shook her head and said to Zhao Ziyang: "Do you know why suicide attackers carry out suicide attacks?"

  "For faith?" Zhao Ziyang asked.

  As soon as the words came out, Angel looked at him with a silly expression, making Zhao Ziyang feel somewhat embarrassed, knowing that he had asked a foolish question.

  "Do you think they might be fighting for their beliefs?" Angelica disdainfully pointed at the people on the road and said to Zhao Ziyang, "Hatred, only hatred can make them forget their lives to avenge, just like you."

  Zhao Ziyang fell silent. He indeed walked onto the path of a mercenary due to hatred, perhaps An Qi'er was right.

  Seeing Zhao Ziyang frowning and falling silent, An Qi'er directly pulled Zhao Ziyang to the main road and crawled into a hillside on the right side of the highway, quietly staying there. Zhao Ziyang didn't speak, quietly lying on one side of An Qi'er, he knew that An Qi'er was teaching him again.

  Before long, a dilapidated pickup truck drove over, and three people with their faces covered jumped out to start digging the hard cement road with shovels.

  After digging a nearly eighty-centimeter-deep pit, three people moved a small coal gas tank from the car and buried it in the pit. They quickly covered up the coal gas tank, leaving only a mobile phone antenna exposed on the surface.

  "A homemade bomb, using a mobile phone's electric current to detonate the detonator, which in turn sets off the gas tank, powerful enough to flip over a US military Hummer." Zhao Ziyang said quietly to An Qi'er, he already knew what the other side was going to do.

  "No, that's not the goal." Angel shook her head and pointed to the two people who didn't follow the car, saying to Zhao Ziyang: "Do you see what they're holding in their hands?"

  Two masked men, one holding an AK-47 rifle, quickly ran towards the residential area on the opposite mountain slope and drilled into the deepest part.

  "Are they going to ambush after blowing up US military vehicles?" Zhao Ziyang asked in puzzlement.

  Anqi shook her head, pulled out a pair of binoculars and handed them to Zhao Ziyang, pointing to the attic at the highest point of the residential area on the opposite mountain slope.

  Zhao Ziyang, holding the binoculars and looking up, could easily see the two masked men who had just buried the bombs through the binoculars. Only one of them had thrown away his rifle and replaced it with a digital camera, which was nervously facing the main road.

  Zhao Ziyang seemed to understand, but hadn't completely grasped it. Seeing An Qi'er didn't want to continue speaking, he could only patiently wait.

  Time ticked by minute by minute, second by second. The bomb buried beside the highway remained quietly in place, without any mishap, waiting for the American convoy to pass by.

  During the waiting time, Zhao Ziyang discovered that the two people on the opposite attic were smoking heavily. Their smoking movements and frequency completely betrayed their tense inner hearts.

  "These two men are members of the Taliban." Angel said to Zhao Ziyang, but immediately corrected herself: "No, they don't count as real members of the Taliban, just hired by the Taliban, but usually also belong to the Taliban."

  Zhao Ziyang nodded, and when he looked at the two Taliban members again, he found that they had fallen into a state of extreme tension: one person held the camera with both hands, stretching towards the road, while the other held a mobile phone, ready to make a call.

  A distant rumble of a car engine, the unmistakable sound of Hummer. Now all they had to do was wait for the Humvee to reach the spot where the bomb was buried, and the Taliban fighter holding the phone would dial the number that would detonate the explosives packed into the gas cylinder. A weak electric current would be generated, instantly igniting the blasting cap, and the force of the exploding propane tank would flip the Hummer over.

  In the distance, three armored vehicles loaded with soldiers were driving from west to east, and since there was a military base in the east, they had completed their patrol mission and were returning to the base.

  Three heavy machine guns were mounted on the roof of the vehicle by three soldiers, who were leisurely patrolling back and forth, seemingly very familiar with the area. They didn't believe anyone would dare to attack them. After all, this was their conquered territory, where no civilians dared to resist, and they never traveled alone. The Taliban forces also did not dare to engage in a head-on battle with three military vehicles fully loaded with soldiers.

  The first military vehicle whizzed by, with soldiers inside laughing loudly, seemingly discussing something delightful.

  The Taliban in the attic quickly dialed the phone number and watched the military vehicle on the highway with a mix of tension and anticipation.

  The second military vehicle drove by safely as well.

  At this time, the Taliban member holding a camera on the balcony had both hands shaking, it was unclear whether he was excited or agitated.

  The military vehicle following closely behind drove to the edge of the road where the bomb was buried, and Zhao Ziyang could clearly see a US soldier in the passenger seat take out a photo and kiss it, his face filled with longing and satisfaction.

  That kind of thought and satisfaction is not the love between men and women, but the deep affection between father and son. This can be clearly seen from the face of this American soldier...

  "Boom!"

  A deafening explosion suddenly erupted, a black-red flame burst out of the ground, and the Hummer car that was driving to the front of the bomb was heavily overturned. Broken stones and steel plates from gas cylinders flew fiercely in all directions under the force of the explosion.

  A steel shard sliced through the neck of a U.S. Marine in the passenger seat, separating his head from his body, with blood shooting out of the cut. The smile on his face hadn't even solidified before his head was flung out of the vehicle.

  As the military vehicle was overturned by the bomb, the machine gunner on the roof was heavily pressed under the vehicle, his entire chest cavity almost crushed, blood flowing non-stop from his mouth, his upper body emitting weak convulsions, the light of life in his eyes rapidly fading away.

  "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" A lucky-to-be-alive U.S. soldier shouted, quickly raising his gun to blindly fire at the opposite hillside.

  At the same time, US soldiers from the two military vehicles in front stopped and jumped off to rush over, quickly forming a defensive tactical formation, rescuing the wounded, calling the base, and firing shots.

  The entire highway was in disarray, while two Taliban on the distant rooftop licked their lips, excitedly and nervously watching the US soldiers who were hit by the bomb, raising their rifles to shoot at the US military.

  "Bang bang bang......" "Bang bang bang......"

  Heavy gunfire erupted, and well-trained US troops immediately spotted the two Taliban fighters on the balcony, opening fire.

  The two Taliban fighters seemed to have lost heart for the fight and after firing off a few wild bursts from the balcony, they disappeared.

  "Sir! Four dead, two seriously injured!" a US soldier rescuing the wounded reported to the squad leader.

  The captain looked at the fallen comrades, kicked the car door hard with one foot, pulled out the walkie-talkie and shouted loudly: "Encountered Taliban attack, four deaths and two injuries, requesting clearance, requesting clearance!"

  "May I come in! May I come in!"

  The permitted captain looked at his comrades lying in the blood and gnashed his teeth, letting out a loud roar: "Kill them all! Kill them all!"

  "Gogogo!" A dozen or so US soldiers shouted loudly, holding their guns and charging towards the residential area on the hillside, starting a clearing operation.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat..." "Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

  US soldiers entering residential areas began house-to-house clearing operations, killing them all with hand grenades and rifles.

  Gunfire, explosions and screams filled the air as they slaughtered civilians!

  At the same time, two Taliban fighters circled around to the west side of the road and continued filming the US soldiers' massacre of civilians.

  Their goal was not to kill a few American soldiers but to enrage the Americans into killing their own people and then film everything for their own use.