Chapter 102: Alliance Order

  "Hello, Mr. Nikubardin," Muhammad said: "Please follow me."

  They had just walked out for over 20 meters, now Muhammad brought Nikubdin to a stone in front of the cave. The stone was relatively flat and could be used as a table.

  Both sides sat on the ground, a guerrilla fighter carried a teapot and poured tea for Nikoubtin and others.

  "The conditions are simple." Muhammad said: "Please don't mind."

  There were no tea bowls, and in front of each person was a large flower basin. The flower basin in front of Nikubentu was still intact, while the flower basins in front of Masood and Duranni had cracks.

  Nikubou picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp: "We are for the great holy war, having this bowl of hot tea is already very good, really thirst-quenching."

  Muhammad looked at Durrani sitting beside him, while across from them were Nigub and Masood, whose relationship seemed to be still good.

  "Mr. Mohammad, you led a dozen men and dared to storm the Soviet temporary command center, and even killed the Soviet division commander. The alliance is very satisfied, we are proud of you!" Nikhubtin said: "The Soviets suffered such a heavy blow that they had to withdraw from the Panjshir Valley. You drove out several thousand Soviet soldiers."

  "God willing, we will drive out all invaders," Muhammad said. "We will be victorious."

  "Right!" Nikubutin put down the flower bowl, his eyes were full of determination: "Muhammad, I came this time not only to celebrate with you on behalf of the alliance, but also to convey an order from the alliance."

  Convey the orders of the Alliance? Muhammad's eyes narrowed instantly, with a cold light flashing inside.

  Although the guerrilla forces here are all affiliated with the alliance, the alliance is loose and its main function is to provide logistical supplies to various guerrilla forces, while training soldiers in the refugee camp in Peshawar. The guerrilla forces that have been replenished on the front lines will not be interfered by the alliance, even the leader of the alliance is rotated among the leaders of each organization.

  Now, the alliance wants to give orders? This is an unfriendly signal, and Muhammad was instantly filled with vigilance.

  "Our guerrilla forces in the north are all united, this time we will fight together, our goal is Jalalabad!" Nikhubtin said: "The Soviets have just suffered a defeat, even the division commander was killed, now it's the perfect opportunity for us to liberate Jalalabad! We want to plant the flag of our alliance in Jalalabad! Mr. Muhammad, you are highly respected and have strong command abilities, so the alliance has decided to appoint you as the commander-in-chief of this operation, our more than 2,000 guerrilla fighters will be fully under your command."

  Liberate Jalalabad? "No way!" Muhammad said firmly at once.

  Nikubutin's face had an inexplicable fervor when he was speaking, but now, upon hearing Muhammad say no, it was as if cold water had been poured over his head: "Mr. Muhammad, are you going to defy the Alliance's orders?"

  "Sorry," said Mohammad. "I don't think now is the time to liberate Jalalabad. If we go and attack Jalalabad now, it will waste our precious force there, that's foolish!"

  "Jalalabad has only a thousand Soviet troops, we have two thousand, all of them are crack guerrilla fighters. Can't we take Jalalabad?" Nikhubuddin stood up: "Mr. Muhammad, you are exaggerating the power of the Soviets! Don't you see that if we liberate Jalalabad, the route from Peshawar to Jalalabad will be opened, our strength will swell rapidly and we will become the liberators of Afghanistan!"

  "I won't do it like this," Muhammad said, standing up. "I ask you to inform the alliance that this action is unwise and will greatly reduce the strength of our guerrilla forces!"

  "Mr. Muhammad! You are a coward!" Nikubdin shouted loudly as he watched Muhammad turn and walk away.

  Coward? Muhammad's mouth corner twitched with a cold smile, he found that he was good at fighting, but when it came to playing tricks, he could never compare to those high and mighty guys. He didn't have the talent for being garrulous, nor did he want to engage in verbal sparring.

  "Bang!" A crisp sound came from behind, and the most intact large flower basin was thrown to the ground by Nikubuddin. He was also very angry at Muhammad's non-cooperation.

  The arrival of Nikubdin thoroughly disrupted Muhamed's plans and made him realize the insignificance of his own strength. The entire northern mountainous region had more than 2,000 guerrilla fighters, and his was just one of them.

  What about Masud? What is his attitude? Just look at how close he is with Nikubdin, and Muhammad can guess that the two of them have already discussed it beforehand. They also don't seem to realize that they will express their opposition so firmly.

  Sitting on a slope facing west, against the setting sun, Muhammad's mood was terrible.

  "Your Honor." A voice came from behind him.

  Muhammad turned his head and saw Durrani, Khwaja, Osama and others all came to his side.

  These people are all confidants of Muhammad. After Muhammad came here, they followed Muhammad and went through thick and thin together.

  "Sit down," Muhammad said.

  "Your Excellency, Commander, why are you so opposed to this joint operation by the coalition forces to capture Jalalabad?" Durrani finally asked after a pause.

  "In the ancient East, last century, a war that lasted for decades was waged," Muhammad said. "At that time, the rebels who represented the interests of the broad peasant class fought against the army representing the old forces of national monopoly capitalism. They waged guerrilla warfare and opened up revolutionary bases, growing stronger with each battle."

  Muhammad said quietly, that war in the last century, established its own ancestral country, this history, all nationals will remember.

  The army of the monopoly class launched several encirclements, one after another, but were all repelled by them. Muhammad continued: "When the fifth encirclement took place, someone was sent from above who thought he knew a lot about military affairs and insisted on changing our original guerrilla tactics to engage in a head-on battle with the enemy's superior forces. As a result, after more than a year of fighting, our troops were almost wiped out, but the enemy's encirclement was not smashed. In the end, they were forced to embark on the Long March of over 10,000 kilometers."

  Li De, who was sent by the Communist International, did not take into account the actual situation of the country at that time, and his arbitrary and rigid actions ultimately led to huge losses for the Red Army.

  And now, the situation is so similar! This Nikubutin is simply a replica of Li De!

  Muhammad said quietly, finished speaking, looked around at the people, seemingly understanding and yet not.

  These men are very brave when it comes to fighting, but when it comes to thinking things through, especially on a large scale, it's just too difficult for them. Muhhamad continued to explain: "Now the Soviets have air superiority and an advantage in heavy weapons. The fundamental reason our guerrilla force exists is these mountains. Their heavy weapons can't be used effectively here, and their air superiority is neutralized. As long as we can run fast enough with our two legs, we can strike at the Soviet army while also protecting ourselves effectively."

  Recalling the ambush battles of the past, they all reacted instantly like this.

  Osama reacted the fastest: "If we attack Jalalabad, on the outskirts of the city, the Soviets can hold off the attacking guerrillas with fortifications and support them with bombing by female deer, causing heavy casualties to the guerrillas. Moreover, it is still dozens of kilometers away from the mountainous area, and the guerrilla fighters who launched the attack are likely to be unable to return alive!"

  Mohammad gazed quietly into the distance, Jalalabad was less than a hundred kilometers from Kabul, when the guerrillas began to encircle, the Soviet mechanized troops in Kabul could quickly rush over and set up another encirclement on the periphery, so that once the battle was fought, all the guerrilla forces in the north would be destroyed.

  What are those people in the alliance thinking? Are they interested in killing their own team? Do they want to be the commander-in-chief themselves? Isn't this going to make them infamous for eternity?

  When the time comes, if the action fails, all the responsibility will be pushed onto one's own body.

  "We must stop the alliance from doing this!" Osama said: "They can't be reckless!"

  "Stop? Muhammad looked at the setting sun in the west and said: "How can we stop it? Do you want to have internal strife?"

  No way, Muhamed is still far from interfering with the Union's internal affairs, what he says has no effect on that Nikoubin guy.

  "Let's go," Muhammad said: "Have the warriors make preparations, we rest for a day, and then return to our own camp."

  He came here to help Massoud resist the Soviet siege of Panjshir, but now that the fighting is over, Mohammad has no reason to stay and would have to guard against Massoud's possible treachery, such as putting him under house arrest or absorbing his guerrilla force.

  Osama gritted his teeth and said nothing.

  "Go back and rest." Muhammad said again. The people around him finally stood up, followed Muhammad, and walked back.

  There were too many people coming, and the few caves they had were not enough to occupy. Most of the guerrilla fighters could only sleep outside, and this kind of life was something they had already gotten used to.

  Muhammad returned to the cave and had not yet rested when he heard a familiar voice.

  "Fahim, you need more rest." Muhammad said without turning his head.

  "Mr. Muhammad, how did you know it was me?" Fahim asked in a very strange tone, Mr. Muhammad didn't turn around but knew he had arrived.

  "Speak up, what is it?" Muhammad turned his head back and looked at Fahim.

  Although Muhammad and Fahim had formed a deep friendship in their past battles, with the return of Masoud and the differences over combat missions, Muhammad knew that Fahim would inevitably turn to Masoud again, he was Masoud's man.