Chapter 74

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In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

Originally, the bomb was supposed to explode between 100 and 50 meters above the ground, scattering the liquid it contained over the entire village. If it landed directly on someone's skin, that person would die within a few seconds. If it landed on the ground, it would quickly evaporate into the air, and anyone who inhaled the gas would soon die from poisoning.

Judging by the color of the liquid, it was likely the most common **, but it was not impossible that the Soviets were using more advanced chemical bombs.

Muhammad had planned to start breathing again after running out of the yard, but when he saw Ramal, he immediately shouted.

Chemical bomb! Upon hearing this, Ramal immediately stopped and turned to run out.

Behind him, several Tajik young men had already run out. Ramal shouted, "Quick, notify everyone in the village to leave immediately, there's a chemical bomb here!"

Fortunately, the chemical bomb did not explode. The villagers, trembling with fear, were hiding in their homes. Hearing the shouts on the street, they all ran out and followed, fleeing the village.

Muhammad also called out to the villagers, leading them out of the village. However, he saw a girl walking against the flow of people, heading into the village.

The girl was looking around, and when she saw a familiar face, she called out.

"Lilith, are you crazy? There's a chemical bomb here!" Muhammad shouted at Lilith, truly angry. How could this girl be so disobedient?

"Muhammad, I was worried about you." Ignoring Muhammad's anger, Lilith threw herself into his arms. "I knew about the chemical bomb. When I saw the villagers running out, I didn't see you. I was very afraid. You are so brave, always rushing to the front."

Muhammad held Lilith, who was genuinely worried about him, with no trace of insincerity. She truly loved him.

Lilith lay on Muhammad's chest, listening to his heartbeat and smelling the manly scent on him, making her heart beat wildly.

This was the feeling of love.

Suddenly, she felt Muhammad's body go limp and fall onto her.

"Muhammad! Muhammad!" Lilith shouted, trying to support Muhammad's body. She saw his pupils starting to constrict...

When Muhammad woke up again, he was back in the cave at the base, with a fire burning, making the cave warm.

Opening his eyes, the first thing Muhammad saw was Lilith's familiar face. Seeing him awake, Lilith's face was filled with joy.

"Muhammad, you're finally awake!" Lilith said, throwing herself into his arms. "I thought you..."

"I was poisoned," Muhammad said, recalling the situation. He had seen the yellow liquid, which was already evaporating. He had inhaled some of it, but it had not affected him immediately. The poison had entered his bloodstream through his lungs and then spread throughout his body.

When Muhammad was moving intensely, the spread of the poison worsened. Under the medical conditions in Afghanistan, it was a miracle that he survived.

"Did you save me?" Muhammad asked Lilith.

"Not exactly. Fortunately, the supplies we received included some medicines. I found scopolamine and pralidoxime, which saved your life," Lilith said. "Muhammad, during the two days you were unconscious, I was terrified every day. If you had gone to another world, my life would have lost its meaning. I love you, I really can't lose you."

Muhammad had been poisoned by ** gas. Scopolamine, an anticholinergic drug, mainly controls muscarinic symptoms and central nervous system symptoms. Pralidoxime, a cholinesterase reactivator, restores the function of inhibited cholinesterase. These two drugs are highly effective in treating poisoning. Without them, with the backward medical conditions in the mountainous area and the few barefoot doctors, Muhammad would not have survived.

Thinking about the situation, Muhammad was still a bit frightened. He asked Lilith, "What about the villagers? Did anyone get poisoned?"

"Fortunately, we evacuated the villagers in time, so no one else was harmed. Only that old man couldn't be saved," Lilith said.

The old man had also been exposed to the evaporated poison, and his resistance was very weak, leading to his unfortunate death.

"What about the other villages?" Muhammad asked. He remembered that the MiG-23BN had four bombs, and only one had exploded. Where did the other three go?

"Only Chardam village was hit by the bombs. The surrounding villages were not affected," Lilith said. "The plane flew back after dropping the bombs."

It flew back? Muhammad was surprised. The Soviets had used chemical bombs to attack Afghan villages, but why did they suddenly change their minds? They dropped only one of the four bombs and left?

Although Muhammad was surprised, this was still good news. If the Soviets had really used chemical bombs, the only option would have been to ask the Americans for gas masks for every villager. There were no other good solutions.

Using chemical bombs to attack Soviet bases would escalate the conflict to an uncontrollable level. Who knew if the Soviets, in their anger, would use nuclear weapons to bomb the strongest resistance areas in Afghanistan?

The Soviets were capable of using nuclear weapons. Fighting a rogue superpower was fraught with danger.

Muhammad sighed with relief. "Call Ramal."

The village that had been attacked by the chemical bomb needed to be thoroughly decontaminated before it could be re-inhabited. Muhammad's special training included chemical warfare.

Hearing Muhammad's words, Lilith's body trembled, and her expression changed.

"What's wrong?" Muhammad immediately sensed something was amiss. What had happened while he was unconscious?

"Ramal left," Lilith said.

Left? Ramal, who had just said he would join Muhammad's team to fight the Soviets, had left? Where did he go?

Before Muhammad could ask, Lilith continued, "After you were poisoned, Ramal said he would take revenge for you. Some of the guerrillas also wanted to go, but Khwaja stopped them, and an argument broke out. After that, Ramal took a dozen Tajik young men and left with two of our guerrillas."

Khwaja was right. Before Muhammad woke up, their task was to wait, not to seek revenge. Ramal was not wrong either; after being attacked by the Soviets with chemical bombs, not retaliating would be too weak.

However, this was not the right time for a fight. Muhammad asked, "Who else went?"

"Osama and Durrani," Lilith said. "Osama wanted to take the rocket launcher, but Khwaja stopped him. They almost came to blows. Later, Osama took a dozen rockets and said he would go to Bagram to bomb the Soviet airbase."

"Nonsense!" Muhammad sat up abruptly from the bed. "Call Khwaja, and gather the riders immediately."

After the front-line airfield in Jalalabad was destroyed, the Soviets could only launch aircraft from Bagram. The plane that attacked must have come from there.

Unlike the airfield in Jalalabad, Bagram was the most important Soviet airbase and the headquarters of the 108th Division of the 40th Army. There were over 5,000 Soviet troops. With just a few people and a dozen rockets, Osama and the others would not only fail to destroy the airbase but would also be captured.

The mountainous area was difficult to traverse, and it would take five to six days to reach Bagram. They could catch up with them before they made a mistake.

"Sir, your body is still weak," Lilith said. "You need to rest."

"Khwaja!" Muhammad stood up from the bed, feeling a bit unsteady. He held onto the bed frame and walked out step by step.

"Sir!" Lilith stomped her foot and followed, supporting Muhammad.

The sunlight outside was blinding. Muhammad saw Khwaja standing outside, along with the guerrillas, clearly waiting for him to wake up.

"May God be with you, you're finally awake," Khwaja said, forcing a smile. He was very upset after arguing with Osama.

"Khwaja, you did the right thing," Muhammad said. "The essence of guerrilla warfare is to strike at the weakest points of a powerful enemy, gradually wearing them down, not to engage in direct confrontation."

"But..." Khwaja wanted to say that Osama had accused him of lacking the courage to avenge the instructor!

"Khwaja, I trust you. Each of our guerrillas is strong and brave. The path to Afghanistan's independence and liberation is long and winding. Only by uniting can we achieve the final victory," Muhammad said. "Now, our task is to bring Osama and Ramal back."

Khwaja felt a surge of gratitude. He, too, wanted to avenge Muhammad. The Soviets had used chemical bombs, which was utterly ruthless!

However, Khwaja knew that preserving this fighting force was not easy. Going to Bagram would be suicide and would not avenge the instructor.

Now that the instructor was awake and did not blame or doubt him, such an instructor was worth following for life!

Muhammad put on a helmet over his headscarf, mounted his horse, and was about to leave when he saw Lilith rushing out.

"Sir, put on this vest," Lilith said to Muhammad.

Muhammad took it. The vest was well-made, with sturdy stitching and two plates inserted in the front and back. It felt similar to modern equipment.

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