The next day at noon, in the mountainous area of northwest Ba Country.

A bird gently landed on a clump of "grass," looking around briefly before suddenly feeling the "grass" under its feet move slightly, causing it to quickly flap its wings and fly away.

Beneath the "grass," through a crevice, one could see a pair of bright eyes intently staring at a distant village.

This is Dobagagel Ridge.

The continuous mountain range, like the backbone of the earth, carries ancient history and nature's secrets.

Adjacent to Afghan, it serves as an ideal haven for many armed factions, each village supporting a different faction.

According to the location provided by Hou Saini, this is where Curtis is hiding.

Over the past 10-plus hours, ISA's analysis department has continually analyzed and verified the intelligence provided by Hou Saini, and after cross-referencing various information from their database, determined that Hou Saini's information is highly credible.

This small village called Lea has a total of 100 households, with around six hundred people, which does not make it a large village by scale.

Previously, the US Army requested the Ba Military to strike and eliminate members of the Ata Organization who had sneaked over from Afghan and were hiding in the northwestern mountainous area, and Lea Village was on the list provided.

However, every time the military came here, everything was peaceful, and after checking, they found nothing.

Secrecy of information is the most critical aspect of joint counterterrorism.

The Americans accused the Ba Intelligence Bureau and military of having internal spies, while Ba claimed the American's intelligence was inaccurate, insisting there were no terrorists in Lea Village, only law-abiding citizens.

Under the scorching sun, Song Heping felt his stomach growling and had to take out an energy bar from his pocket, tearing open the package and chewing vigorously.

Willi, lying beside a bush below, kept tapping his military mobile phone with a stylus, and after a while, he put down the phone, turned to Song Heping, and said, "Song, our intelligence analysis department has double-checked, and the information that Curtis is hiding in Lea Village is very credible."

"How credible?"

Song Heping finished his energy bar, tidied up the wrapper, and then resumed positioning the M24 sniper rifle in front of him.

"90% credible," Willi said. "Over the past three years, we've received over sixty pieces of intelligence about Lea Village. Most describe a messenger of Laden living here, and its proximity to Afghan, being less than seven kilometers away, makes it convenient and safe for Curtis to move here. Also, if our previous intelligence is accurate, and that messenger is indeed here, it's likely that Curtis is trying to establish contact with Laden through him."

"A messenger?"

"Yes. Ever since we deployed troops here, Laden vanished. There's been talk that he was living in a cave, but clearly, our intelligence suggests he's not in Afghan but has come to Ba Country to evade our tracking. He's using the most primitive method of messengers for maintaining contact with the outside world, which all points to the likely accuracy of the intelligence about Curtis being here."

"Mm... understood."

Song Heping didn't take his eyes off the scope, his view slowly moving from one end of the village to the other inside the scope.

He has been doing this for a solid hour.

With his continuous observation, he had already deeply etched the topography of the entire village in his mind.

"Now we face a troublesome problem," he said. "Willi, despite the village being small and manageable at a glance, we have been here for over an hour, and besides civilians, we haven't spotted a single armed person."

Willi said, "Many families here have guns inside their homes, ready to be armed immediately if needed. That's why you don't see any guns."

"That's exactly the problem…" Song Heping put down his sniper rifle and rubbed his eyes. Since yesterday, he had slept less than two hours; most people would have collapsed by now.

Fortunately, the rations he carried included coffee for staying alert. Chewing it directly also served the purpose.

"Just the two of us going into the village to search definitely won't work, but if we continue to observe from here, who knows how many days we might have to wait to luckily spot Curtis coming out for air. If he doesn't come out, just waiting here blindly won't solve anything..."

"What do you plan to do?" Willi asked.

Song Heping said, "If you were to let your Special Forces handle this, what would you do?"

"Us?"

Willi laughed: "Are you testing me?"

Song Heping nodded: "Sort of."

"First, we use satellite surveillance for long-term tracking. Once we spot the target, we immediately dispatch Special Forces to enter from the border at low altitude, then storm into the houses in the village to search and eliminate the target," Willi explained.

"Long-term surveillance? I'd like to keep under surveillance long-term. It's not hard to kill a person, but confirming the target isn't something that can be done in a moment," Song Heping raised his hand to show Willi his watch: "We have less than twelve hours."

Willi said, "Then we would just call for a bombing."

Song Heping pointed at Lea Village in front: "You can't even confirm which house he's in, how would you bomb?"

Willi said, "So the problem comes back to time."

Perhaps feeling embarrassed that he couldn't answer the question, Willi counter-asked Song Heping, "Then what do you plan to do?"

Song Heping gazed at the village ahead for a while before speaking softly, "Stir up the grass to catch the rabbits."

"What?" Willi did not understand.

Song Heping explained, "If a rabbit is hiding in the bushes and you don't know its exact position, the best method is to beat the bushes with a stick. Startled, the rabbit will naturally run out."

"You mean to alarm the people here?" Willi said in surprise. "Once alarmed, we're done for."

"There are many ways to alarm..."

Song Heping glanced at Willi with disdain.

When it comes to cunning strategies, these Americans really aren't up to much.

"I remember you said earlier that Lea Village was already on your priority list, and there have been several joint counter-terrorism operations with the Ba Military, but nothing suspicious was found in the village, right?"

"Correct." Willie nodded: "We turned it over three times, found nothing, and it was very clean, not a trace of suspicion."

Song Heping countered: "Have you ever thought about why this situation arose?"

"There's a mole." Willie said, "There are many in Ba Country who sympathize with these militants, present in both their military and intelligence bureaus, as soon as counter-terrorism is mentioned, the retreat happens before it even starts."

"Yes, the retreat."

At this point, Song Heping's gaze became meaningful.

"Do you understand now?"

"You mean to..."

Willie had a vague idea in his mind, but it wasn't clear, he was at a loss for words.

Song Heping said: "I mean to startle them, contact the forward command now, tell General Miles that I need him to call the Ba Military within three hours, proposing to conduct a joint counter-terrorism operation in two days, it must be insisted on."

Willie was stunned, and after a while, suddenly gave a thumbs up: "That's a smart move!"

After saying that, he took out his military phone and started contacting the forward command.

Ten minutes later, Willie put down the phone and said to Song Heping: "General Miles has already contacted the Pentagon, and we should expect results soon."

Song Heping said, "I hope those officials in the Pentagon realize the current situation and handle this urgently; I really don't want to stay here too long."

Willie said, "Don't worry, it's General Miles himself asking the Pentagon, as long as the Pentagon agrees, he can immediately represent us to contact the Ba Military and Intelligence Bureau here, and I reckon we should be able to get things done this afternoon."

"I hope so," Song Heping said. "Not to underestimate your US Army, but sometimes you guys are really slow, I have dealt with your military personnel and I know exactly how you operate."

He thought Willie would rebut, but instead, he nodded.

"I agree with your view."

Maybe this struck a chord in Willie, a look of sorrow suddenly appeared on his face.

"Song, you know what? I hate those bureaucrats."

"Oh?" Song Heping was curious: "Why?"

Willie said: "For a traitor like Curtis, a twelve-man ODA squad only had three members return alive. Was it worth it for such a guy? The old men on Congress Hill even want to make him a hero, they are insane! I've seen enough! After this operation, I'm applying to retire from active duty."

"You want to discharge?" Song Heping was genuinely surprised, but seeing Willie's expression, it seemed he wasn't joking.

"Yeah. That's what I'm thinking, but I reckon my superiors won't approve an immediate discharge, but I can leave the combat position first. I'm tired of this job, I don't want to cover for those old men anymore."

"What will you do then?"

"Maybe go to the logistics department, stay there for a few years, finish up the contract period and then go back home."

"Where's your hometown?"

"Florida."

"Ah, Florida doesn't foster idle people, you'd better find something to do. Have you thought about what you want to do after discharging?"

"Not really thought about it, maybe get a commentator job at a TV station, that way I can condemn those old men in Congress Hill, probably will be quite satisfying."

"Special Forces becoming a commentator?"

"Why not?"

The two chatted intermittently as time trickled away.

Until it was almost dark, and the sun was setting down the mountainside, still, there was no movement in the village.

Song Heping urged Willie several times to ask about the progress.

Willie repeatedly inquired with the higher-ups, receiving responses that it was in progress, asking him to be patient.

"FUCK!"

Eventually, Willie finally cursed out loud.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

He cursed several times in succession, almost smashing his phone in frustration.

Just as he was about to continue his rant against the bureaucratic bosses, suddenly Song Heping's hand reached over, covering his mouth.

"Shush!"

Willie quickly shut his mouth and followed the direction indicated by Song Heping, frowning immediately.

A teenager herding a flock of sheep was rushing towards their hiding spot.

There were no obstacles between them, providing a clear line of sight, and it was too late to leave their position now.

Song Heping gave Willie a look, and slowly put away his gun, hiding it in the bushes next to him.

Willie quickly used the hood of his ghillie suit to completely cover himself, camouflaging within the pile of grass.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com