Chapter 86

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As the cherry blossoms danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

The guerrillas quickly flashed past Muhammad and his companions, and in the end, the original people remained. Muhammad led his ten warriors, as well as Faisal and a fighter from the Panjshir guerrillas. They faced thousands of Soviet soldiers.

The pass here was easy to defend but hard to attack. When the Soviets discovered that Muhammad and his companions had seized the pass, they immediately changed their tactics.

Several infantry fighting vehicles rumbled over, their gun barrels raised, aiming at the pass.

"Take cover!" Muhammad shouted. He had no heavy weapons and could only watch as the infantry fighting vehicles easily approached. Then, with a deafening roar, several shells flew over.

73mm shells exploded at the pass, flames and shrapnel flying everywhere.

The bombardment lasted for two minutes, with each infantry fighting vehicle firing four rounds. The pass was plowed like a field.

"Charge!" the Soviet commander shouted. Under such bombardment, no one could survive. The previous round of artillery fire should have eliminated everyone.

The guerrillas had escaped from their encirclement! The Soviets were very angry and knew they had to seize the pass. If they followed, the guerrillas wouldn't get far!

After the artillery fire, countless Soviet soldiers gathered from both sides of the hill and the opposite flat ground, heading towards the pass. They held their rifles, running and vigilantly watching the front.

1000 meters, 500 meters, 300 meters... The pass remained quiet, seemingly indicating that the guerrillas left to die had been completely eliminated.

Just as they approached 150 meters from the pass, suddenly, several heads emerged from the ruins of the artillery fire, followed by gunshots.

"Ratta-tat-tat." Muhammad's RPK light machine gun spewed fire, the 75-round drum making a whirring sound as bullets rained down on the dense Soviet troops. Almost every shot hit its mark.

The Soviet soldiers charging forward fell in large numbers. The rest quickly lay down and engaged the guerrillas at the pass. In the end, they left dozens of bodies and retreated.

"Damn, that was satisfying," Muhammad muttered to himself, watching the Soviets retreat.

Faisal, standing beside him, was already looking at Muhammad with admiration. When the Soviet armored vehicles started moving, Muhammad ordered a retreat, hiding in a cave behind the pass. After the bombardment, they quietly climbed back up. There were no casualties, and they only opened fire when the Soviets were 150 meters away, causing significant Soviet casualties.

Now, seeing the Soviets retreat, Muhammad immediately ordered a retreat. The Soviets were about to start another bombardment.

The Soviet troops had high combat skills; their shells rarely missed. If they advanced another 20 meters, they could completely eliminate Muhammad's group.

"It's almost dawn," Faisal said, looking at the peak where the east was beginning to turn white, a sign of the approaching day.

"Let's finish this round and then retreat," Muhammad said.

After the deafening artillery fire, Faisal, holding his rifle, was about to charge out as before.

"No, there's another round!" Muhammad shouted.

Faisal stopped abruptly, waiting for a minute. He heard another round of artillery fire. If he had gone out just then, he would have been hit by the shells. No one could survive the bombardment at the pass.

"Sir Muhammad, how did you know?" Faisal asked, hearing the next round of artillery fire.

"Guess," Muhammad said casually.

The Soviets weren't fools; they wouldn't use the same tactic twice. There must be a follow-up plan.

Seeing Muhammad's calm demeanor, Faisal was thoroughly impressed and asked, "Sir Muhammad, when do we retreat?"

"After this round, it will be dawn. If we don't run then, we won't get away," Muhammad said.

Saying that, Muhammad picked up his gun and rushed out of the cave.

When Muhammad's head appeared from behind the rocks, his face changed. The Soviets had excellent coordination between infantry and artillery. The Soviet infantry, risking being hit by their own artillery, reached the edge of the pass. As soon as the artillery fire ended, they appeared at the pass.

Only 30 meters away from Muhammad!

Both sides almost simultaneously discovered each other and pulled the triggers.

"Ratta-tat-tat..." Bullets rained down on each other. The Soviet soldiers in front of Muhammad fell in large numbers, and he himself was pushed back.

"Sir Muhammad!" Faisal shouted, following Muhammad and firing at the Soviet soldiers in front.

This was a suicidal tactic. Both sides would pull the triggers simultaneously, hearing the bullets hit their bodies and feeling the pain.

As the first few Soviet soldiers fell, the rest began to seek cover, giving the guerrillas a chance to regain the initiative.

"Boom!" A hand grenade was thrown, and several Soviet soldiers screamed as shrapnel hit them. Then, more intense gunfire followed.

The lead Soviet reconnaissance soldiers were mostly eliminated, and the rest retreated.

"Sir Muhammad!" Faisal shouted to Muhammad on the ground. Several bullets had hit Muhammad, and he might have already been in another world.

Hearing Faisal's shout, Muhammad slowly sat up, picking up his machine gun again.

"You're okay? That's great!" Faisal was very surprised and excited.

"I'm fine," Muhammad shouted. The bullets had hit his chest, making a clinking sound. He knew they were stopped by the homemade bulletproof plates. The impact was so strong that it knocked him back and made his internal organs ache.

It was a close call. The Soviet soldiers were quick, and all the bullets hit Muhammad's chest. If they had hit his arms, he would have been wounded.

The firefight continued for several minutes, and the Soviets retreated again.

"We can't wait any longer; we must retreat immediately," Muhammad said. The Soviets had already figured out their tactics. The next round of artillery fire would cover the cave, leaving them no chance to counterattack.

They had already held off the Soviets for over half an hour. Masud's guerrillas and the remaining fighters should have run far away.

"Alright, let's retreat," Faisal agreed.

"Bring the rockets up," Muhammad said.

When their guerrillas had charged into the encirclement and escaped with Masud's guerrillas, they left the rockets in the cave. Now, they needed to move quickly, and the heavy rockets would slow them down.

Before leaving, they couldn't let these rockets go to waste; they had to leave them for the Soviets!

Two guerrillas were injured, and the rest quickly moved the rockets out, a total of 18.

There was no time to aim. As soon as the rockets were placed, Muhammad saw the armored vehicles moving up again, raising their gun barrels.

Damn, not even a moment's respite! Muhammad only attached the fuse to one rocket, and before he could fire it, he saw a flash from the gun barrel.

"Whoosh." Muhammad quickly connected the wire to the battery, and a bright flame shot out as the rocket flew forward.

Then, Muhammad threw away his RPK machine gun and ran back as fast as he could.

Which was faster, his feet or the shells? Of course, his feet were faster!

"Boom!" The 73mm shell landed where Muhammad had just been. The Soviets had clearly spotted him with infrared lights, but by then, Muhammad had already crossed the winding pass and hidden behind a large rock.

The shell exploded, and the intense heat enveloped the rockets, which felt as if their tails were being scorched.

"Boom!" Almost simultaneously, the 107mm rocket flew to the opposite side, piercing the bottom of an infantry fighting vehicle. With a loud explosion, the rocket's shrapnel penetrated the vehicle's armor, and the intense shockwave lifted the vehicle.

One infantry fighting vehicle was lost, and the crew inside screamed. Fortunately, it didn't catch fire or explode.

"Boom, boom!" The other infantry fighting vehicles continued to fire at the pass.

The 107mm rockets remained silent, feeling the shrapnel and heat. Suddenly, the tail of one rocket emitted a puff of smoke, followed by a flame.

The 107mm rocket was ignited!

"Whoosh!" As the tail ignited, the rocket began to fly forward, whistling as it moved through the air.

Then, another one...

The remaining rockets, one by one, flew towards the opposite side, trailing flames in the dawn, creating a spectacular sight.

Impossible! How could the Afghan guerrillas still launch rockets after the artillery bombardment? So many rockets would require a multi-barrel rocket launcher! How did they bring such a launcher here?

The Soviet soldiers, facing the incoming rockets, opened their eyes wide, completely disbelieving. The mountain road was too rugged; even their tanks couldn't move up, only the infantry fighting vehicles could. How did the Afghan guerrillas bring a rocket launcher here?

As they were amazed, the rockets exploded around them. (To be continued)