Chapter 101: Chapter 13, Episode 8: Far Far Away Lake Shari
The Peugeot P4 Jeep tank sped forward through the ravines while spouting dust. Six Sovamag trucks created by Oberon followed behind it. Ten people could ride in the Sovamag. Inside, it held food, water, and weapons. Colonel Philip had sent 51 men as the Badger rescue team.
The Peugeot P4 military Jeep was the vehicle used by the French military since 1980. It held two passengers and was designed with half of the vehicle covered and the other half open. It was created with the motive to be able to transport sensitive equipment and ammunition safely.
However, it eventually disappeared because it wasn’t able to fulfill any of the needed requirements fully. Since it could hold only two passengers, it wasn’t good for the transport of soldiers. Because of its split compartments, it was inefficient for storage and couldn’t hold a machine gun. It was no wonder the Legion Etranger team had abandoned the Peugeot P4 and resorted to using a regular pickup truck.
The Peugeot P4 Jeep would eventually be a model several years later for the Benz G class. The original model quietly disappeared after multiple design failures on the French side.
The destination Pieff had in mind was 37 miles north of Chicha, where he had last communicated with the Legion Etranger team. Communication had been disconnected after that. For obvious reasons, his destination was the point of their last contact.
“What the hell happened to this country?” screamed Pieff. The northwest road to Shara from Kanem Province had disappeared, and they were still 105 miles away from Shara. In the 93 miles they had covered, five of their vehicles had to be left behind due to the state of the roads.
“Commander, this isn’t erosion. This was destroyed by human hands.”
“What?! The intentionally blocked the roads?”
Pieff felt like a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head at Lieutenant Henry’s report. His war instincts were on full alert.
“Everyone, out, get out. Hide.”
The 50 soldiers riding in the Sovamag jumped out of the vehicle like grasshoppers. The members of the elite Deuxieme Rep didn’t take more than five seconds to exit the vehicles.
Whee whoo—
This was the sound of an airplane at short range. Lieutenant Henry used all his strength to get out of the Sovamag that he had been using for cover.
With a bang, the RPG7 bomb whizzed past the Sovamag and crashed into an area ten miles away. Rations and ammunition had all been stored in the Sovamag. Lieutenant Henry rolled on the ground due to the blast.
“Damn it, Henry!” Pieff screamed. The scene of Henry being attacked was stuck in his memory in slow motion.
Pieff stopped Sergeant Centienne from running toward him. “Don’t rush. It’s an enemy trap.”
“We have to save Henry.”
“Their target isn’t Lieutenant Henry; it’s the Sovamag.” Pieff’s heart grew cold.
If the truck was destroyed, they would be in big trouble. With the roads closed and no Sovamag to keep them undercover, the Jeeps and five trucks in the middle would end up like rats in a cage.
“Shooting team, aim at the RPGs.” Feeling rushed, Pieff screamed out his orders, completely forgetting about his headset. The command was unnecessary. The four platoon sniper teams spread out like a fan. Meanwhile, the heavy weaponry and shooting teams escaped to find cover.
Puh puh puh— “Whoa, Allah, Allah!”
The sharp sounds of the AK and the dull ringing of machine guns started to echo. Clouds of rocks and sand rose up, and the sounds of the enemy’s screams started to become louder.
The Deuxieme Rep started to shoot after figuring out the location of their targets.
Sergeant Centienne dragged Pieff and ran in between the rocks. Regaining his calm, Pieff pulled out his headset from his inside pocket and put it on. The moment he put it on, he heard Henry’s voice.
– Commander, Commander!
– Oh! Henry, are you okay?
– No problem. It’s just a scratch. I thought you had gotten hit, Commander.
Pieff smiled bitterly. He felt pathetic for not having thought of the headset earlier.
– Their skills sure are shoddy. What are the shooters doing?
– They’re looking for a shooting point. We’re heading there.
After receiving a response from them, a loud explosion from a 2.3-inch grenade rang. After finding the position of the target through three shots, they started to fling bombs at them.
– Alpha, Bravo left-right bypass maneuvers.
– Cavalli, target the machine gun.
– Yes, sir.
The recoilless rifle shooter, Cavalli, was already aiming at his registered targets.
Whee— Bang!
Hit by the bomb, the machine gun and the person behind it both went flying into the air.
Having hit the machine gun shooter with one shot, Cavalli quickly scanned the area for his next target.
– Got the RPG.
– Got the machine gun.
Whee— Bang!
Before the report was even finished, another RPG flew and hit the Sovamag.
– What, what is that?
Lieutenant Henry’s eyes grew big.
The bomb that penetrated the truck’s engine shot straight through it and sprang back out. The fiery red flames were heading toward Henry. All the color on his face drained.
“Those damned punks, using such a brutish way to shoot through a truck!”
With those last words, Henry’s body was ripped to pieces. Henry, who had avoided being hit by the RPG, ended up dead by a missile. This was definitely war.
Thwack— The brute that had shot out the RPG soon had a hole in his forehead. Once the sniper team started to move, FROLINAT could no longer use their strength against them.
Due to the onslaught of bullets from the opposing side, they were unable to hold their necks out and eventually were wiped out. Their ambush was quickly quieted by Cavalli. The FROLINAT ambush team didn’t gain much before they were systematically taken care of.
The suddenly started battle didn’t last more than five minutes. It was a battle that showed the strength of the Deuxieme Rep.
“Centienne, report the damages.”
“Lieutenant Henry has been killed.”
“What, Henry’s dead? The guy who told me ‘no problem’ five minutes ago is dead?!” Pieff was distraught. The skills and weapons used for the ambush were nothing special. He was just surprised by their unexpected attack. The Deuxieme Rep hadn’t been sitting around waiting for it.
He had thought that he had cleaned them out completely, but his liaison officer was dead. The Deuxieme Rep’s best gunman had lost his life against untrained guerrilla troops. It was a truth he didn’t want to admit.
“Was he shot down?”
“He was in the middle of the RPG blast.”
“Huh, that damned scum!”
Pieff was at a loss for words. It wasn’t even tanks but humans. Whether it was the man who shot the missile or the man who was hit by it, in his 17 years in the military, he had never seen or heard of such a thing. He was consoled by the fact that at least he must have died without pain.
“Other than one who destroyed the Sovamag, we didn’t have any additional losses. Ten enemies killed, capture the weapons!”
“Forget it. There’s no point writing up that trash of a report.”
Pieff covered Liason Officer Centienne’s mouth and scanned his surroundings with angry eyes.
“Damn, what is this? How could we be this unlucky?”
“Commander, this is getting serious.” Valboir, the head sniper stepped up.
“Everything in the war is taking a turn for the worst.
“We were attacked before we even got exact communications from the intelligence agency. We won’t be able to handle going into Bodele.
“Ten members of the Legion Etranger team are wreaking havoc around Sahel.
“We don’t have Black Mamba,” he finished.
“Hm!” A sigh escaped from Pieff’s mouth. “Valboir, my babies are being killed. I’ve received orders from the captain. No, even if I hadn’t, we would still head north. Let’s go save our babies.”
“Oui!” Valboir responded, but he felt uneasy about it.
Commander Pieff was from headquarters. He had worked in Algeria for the last three years, but he had no field experience. He had been greedy on his first field mission and caused his entire team to be destroyed before.
A war tactic devised based on drunken courage, attachment, anger, or other similar emotions had at least a 50 percent chance of failing. A cowardly leader was much better than a reckless one. Valboir’s heart felt suffocated.
Pieff ground his teeth as he remembered Lieutenant Henry.
After the rescue team distributed the food and weapons into the trucks, they started to move.
For two days, the rescue team crossed over Kanem Province.
They passed through Nedeli and arrived at El Mezir in Ulda Harmarl, which was northwest of Bodele and northeast of Djourab Erg.
Once they entered El Mezir, their nightmares began.
The ruined badlands, the endless sand dunes, the dirty swamps, the dried-up forests without a single green leaf, the incessant flies and mosquitoes, and the ongoing dust storms. Pieff shuddered in disgust. If it wasn’t to rescue the Legion Etranger team, they would have immediately turned the Jeeps around.
“F*ck, where the hell is the red gorge?” Commander Pieff glared menacingly at the native who was driving.
“We’ll arrive at Uldi Harmarl in 40 minutes.”
“Step on it. Whether the engines explode or not, just step on it. We’ll have to start searching there first. Ugh, freaking flies!”
Swish— Swish— Pieff rolled up the war map and swung at the meddlesome flies that were inside the vehicle. Even the flies were driving him insane.
Pieff had made a big mistake.
The Bodélé lowlands were FROLINAT’s home ground. Within the Kanem and Boruku Provinces, FROLINAT were everywhere, like a pack of dogs. Pieff had jumped into the net that he had forced the Legion Etranger team to enter in hopes of defeating Kanma. He was like a crab walking into a trap.
Puh puh puh— “Ack!”
“Eck!”
Without warning, gunshots suddenly rang out. The three men riding in the leading Sovamag fell, spouting blood. Without even a moment to get out of the vehicle, bullets showered from 165 feet away on the right side. The M60 that had been stored in the Sovamag was obliterated.
“Check it! Get on the ground,” Pieff screamed.
Three soldiers approached from all sides in a zigzag pattern. The soldier who checked the trap on the ground announced, “Three suspected guerrilla targets, eliminated.”
When Pieff saw the trap with his own eyes, he was on the verge of insanity before he was just barely able to come back to his senses. The dug-up hole in the ground was covered with a top made with interweaved twigs and reeds. Inside the hole were two young children and a man with a dirty beard who had been reduced to rags. Surprisingly, the two children had metal chains attached to their ankles.
“The damage?”
“Team Three sniper Lapparent and Poer are dead due to injury to the thorax, gunman Tieri suffered a gun wound to his side.”
“How could such a sh*tty thing happen?!”
Pieff was lost for words. The hole ambush wasn’t an attack tactic but a diversion tactic. The surprise attack could cause damage but would lead to more harm to the attacking team once a counterattack was initiated. Unless they were intending to commit suicide, it wasn’t a plausible attack.
He had heard that FROLINAT was evil, but he had never imagined they would do something this cruel. Not only had he lost his aide, but he lost another three men in an instant. Anger exploded out the top of Pieff’s head. This was why the lead recon was useless.
The enemy had let the leading vehicle pass and targeted the middle, which meant there had been no time to prepare defenses. Pieff was lost in deep contemplation.
The rescue team cheered as they arrived at the red gorge.
After four days, they had finally found water. Luckily, it was clear flowing water from a stream. It was the place that Burimer had fished in using his Dragonov. The mercenaries who had sand in their throats, eyes, ears, and noses rejoiced.
Four of his comrades had died, but death was a part of being a mercenary.
The dead were buried in the hearts of the living, and they had the right to rejoice in their survival.
On the second day, Sergeant Centienne showed up with an expression of abject fear on his face. “We’re in trouble. Last night, seven were killed.”
Pieff stood there, blinking. His numb brain was unable to comprehend the Liaison Officer’s words.
“Commander, I think you should go see it for yourself.” Sergeant Valboir’s voice was dark.
“Seven men!” Pieff bolted up as his body was hit with the reality of it.
“Muhammad, Brown, Tieri, Asus, Mubay, Ranobi, Huntai… How could this be?!” Pieff’s mind went blank.
Each of the dead men was slashed below the chin with a sharp knife. It had slit through each of their vocal cords and esophagus.
“Jerero assassins!”
Pieff swallowed a moan. Their skills were incredible. It was the work of the brutal Mount Tibesti assassins of whom he had heard rumors. They were a clan of people who hunted in the harsh conditions of the Tibesti Mountains.
Other than in certain areas, the plateaus of the Tibesti Mountains were completely barren. There weren’t even a lot of animals that lived there. Honed by nature, the clan had become accustomed to stealth and definitive attacks. Their honed hunting skills were being used for assassinations.
Still, there was something suspicious. How had the other comrades not realized this was happening?
“They used something strange.”
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