Chapter 78: Pan Jie Xi Valley

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  With the arrival of December, the entire Afghan mountainous region has seen a further drop in temperature, with nighttime temperatures plummeting to as low as minus 40 degrees. Under such circumstances, no one would dare launch an attack, not even the native Afghans, who at this time are willing to stay indoors and quietly endure the winter.

  Since the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan's normal life has been disrupted, and many lands have been deserted. This winter is very difficult for the Afghan people to get through.

  In the mountainous areas north of Jalalabad, in villages around the base of the guerrilla forces led by Mohammad, villagers were given food, not only in Pashtun villages but also Tajik villages.

  With these grains, they survived this long cold winter and were extremely grateful to Muhammad.

  Their response was also heartfelt, and many young men from the village came forward to join Muhammad's guerrilla forces.

  For these young men, Muhammad did not accept all of them. They were strong laborers who joined the guerrilla troops, which meant that their families lost their labor force. Muhammad only accepted some of them, so Muhammad's guerrilla troops had expanded to 150 people, a large-scale guerrilla force.

  Such a team, with more people than the usual Soviet transportation team, can catch the Soviets off guard and win quickly if they receive intelligence in advance and set up an ambush midway.

  This winter, Muhammad didn't idle away completely. Braving the severe cold, he continued to train his troops and from time to time, he would sneak up on Soviet outposts. As a result, several Soviet outposts within 100 kilometers of their base were all taken down by Muhammad.

  Muhammad Morsi's tactics were very tough, not shooting cold guns, nor pretending to be government troops, but directly using rocket artillery to bombard.

  The 107mm multi-tube rocket launcher can be assembled into a whole, and can also be disassembled during marches, with each person carrying no more than twenty-five kilograms, allowing for long-distance trekking.

  Taking advantage of this winter, Muhammad eliminated the Soviet outpost in the north of Jalalabad, the whole guerrilla base, and the situation was very good.

  The countryside surrounds the city, this was Chairman Mao's tactic at first, and in modern-day Afghanistan, the situation is also like this. Soon, the mountains will all be the domain of guerrilla forces, while the Soviets can only hide in the big cities.

  At the same time, Mohammad also knew that there was still a long way to go ahead, this was only the third year of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, and the Soviets had yet to realize what a massive whirlpool they were getting into.

  Among the towering peaks, a river winds its way through, with high peaks accumulating snow all year round. The mountain slopes are difficult for people to traverse, and only in the middle of the valley is there a transportation artery.

  Here, in the Panjshir Valley, is Afghanistan's most dangerous and important valley. It lies south of the Hindu Kush mountain range, stretching from north to south for over 100 kilometers, with a width of only 5 kilometers at its narrowest point. It is about 80 kilometers south of Kabul. It controls the traffic between Kabul and the northeastern provinces as well as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The entrance to the valley is more than 20 kilometers south of Bagram Air Base.

  The Soviet troops stationed in Afghanistan, now numbering tens of thousands, would require a huge amount of food supplies. If all the supplies were to be transported by air, even if all the transport planes of the Soviet Union were mobilized and flew day and night without stop, they still could not complete the enormous military supply task. Therefore, most of the Soviet supplies are transported through the northern land route.

  By land, it is necessary to go through this most treacherous Panjshir Valley, which is the only transportation route.

  Unfortunately, since the Soviet people came here, Panjshir Valley has not been peaceful. On the high mountains on both sides of the valley, there are many caves where guerrillas come and go, wandering around this area, constantly blowing up Soviet military vehicles, and then escaping when Soviet troops react.

  And what's more, the most troublesome thing for the Soviets now is that the guerrilla troops there have developed into an armed force of hundreds of people!

  As spring warms up, the Panj River opens up, with ice blocks floating on its waters, making a gurgling sound as it flows downstream. On the mountain slopes, various trees start to sprout, displaying a tender green hue, and the entire valley once again becomes full of life.

  Under a fruit tree, an Afghan man is standing there, wearing an olive green universal field jacket and work uniform trousers. Inside the jacket is a Western-style shirt and that symbolic "Panjshir style" scarf, which is known as soon as you see it. The young man is now wearing military boots of the Afghan army, with a belt tied around his waist, on which a pistol is attached. On his back, he carries an AKS-74 assault rifle, under the barrel of which is also equipped with a BG-15 40mm caliber grenade launcher.

  At this time, he was gazing at the narrow path in the distance, where a team of people slowly walked over, with the leader being robust and having piercing eyes.

  "Welcome, my friends." The Afghan called out to the approaching figure, extending his right hand. "I am Masud. You must be the Muhammad who has been making the Soviets howl."

  Muhammad's hand, along with Masood's, clasped together, he stared into his eyes, extremely sincere: "Under the guidance of Allah, we Afghan guerrillas must unite to thoroughly drive out the Soviets!"

  Ahmad Shah Massoud, Mohammad in his heart recalling the understanding of later generations, was a famous Afghan combat hero from a prominent Panjshir family. Massoud's father was a retired general of the former Afghanistan, a military family. He studied at the French Lycee in Kabul and graduated from the Engineering Department of Kabul University, during which he engaged in anti-Daoud government activities and was forced to flee to Pakistan.

  The Soviet Union then launched the invasion of Afghanistan. Massoud returned to his home in Panjshir and led a guerrilla resistance against the Soviet-backed government, earning him the nickname "Lion of Panjshir" after years of fighting.

  Just over a decade after the end of the war, Afghanistan's civil war reignited and Massoud's Northern Alliance was driven out of Kabul by the Taliban and back into the mountains.

  Masood was later assassinated by al-Qaeda before the 9/11 attacks.

  At that time, the Afghan civil war was an important reason, because there were many factions in Afghanistan, and each guerrilla force fought for itself. When the Soviets left, they became warlords and fought hard for their own interests.

  Masood was unable to control the situation in Kabul, which was due to Masood's own limitations. Because Masood is not a Pashtun, who accounts for the majority of Afghanistan's population, but a Tajik. On Masood's body, there are deep marks of the Tajik people. So when the guerrilla forces from all over the country entered Kabul together and overthrew the pro-Soviet regime, they immediately split due to their respective ethnic issues.

  Muhammad won't let such a thing happen again, in the war, we should solve the contradictions between different ethnic groups, and make people of all ethnic groups understand that unity will bring victory, Afghanistan is an integral nation!

  So, Muhammad, despite the hardship of mountain roads, personally came to greet this neighbor.

  At that time, Masood had not yet gained the fame of the Lion of Panjshir, but his guerrilla force was already a power of five or six hundred men, far surpassing Mohammad.

  Masood agreed to meet with Mohammad, apart from the rich military achievements of the guerrilla forces led by Mohammad, including the destruction of an airport in northern Jalalabad, more importantly, it was Mohammad's attitude towards Tajiks.

  Mohammad led a guerrilla band of Pashtuns, but he saved Ramayel Tajik and in the most difficult winter, Mohammad shared the grain he received with Tajik villages. The Tajiks in those villages were grateful to Mohammad, and Masood's impression of Mohammad became especially good.

  Merely mentioning that Mohammad risked his life to rescue Tajik villagers, but was himself hit by Soviet poison gas, made Massoud very admiring of Mohammad.

  However, Masoud was highly vigilant about Muhammad's intentions.

  "Mr. Masood, last winter, thanks to Mr. Mohammad's distribution of food for our villagers to spend the winter, he is a friend of Tajik people." Ramayel said behind Mohammad to Masood.

  Masud nodded: "Mr. Muhammad, you are a friend of our Tajik people." Masud said, adding another sentence: "Eternal friends."

  "Mr. Masood, we are all friends, anyone who stands on the road of resistance against the Soviet Union is a friend, and we have come together for our common goal." Mohammad said: "Unity is the fundamental way for our Afghan guerrilla to drive out the Soviet Union."

  Upon hearing Muhammad's words, Masood seemed to be in deep thought. He had just said that Muhammad was a friend of their Tajik faction, which now seemed somewhat narrow-minded.

  Just then a big-bearded man behind Massoud spoke up, "Mr. Mohammad, judging from your tone, have you come to take us Panjshir guerrillas under your command?"

  The tone of the sentence was extremely unfriendly. Muhammad looked up to see a rather ordinary-looking Afghan guerrilla, wearing loose-fitting clothes and a headscarf, with leggings wrapped around his legs, barefoot, with a string of bullet pouches hanging from his body, and an old-fashioned Enfield rifle slung over his back, very crude, probably a locally-made copy in Afghanistan.

  "Fahim, don't be rude to our guest!" Masood heard someone behind him say, and couldn't help but speak out in anger.