Damn it, shit.
Deetz had already raised the antenna as high as possible, painstakingly tuning through all the channels, but the radio only fed back electrical static noise. Frustrated, he kept cursing nonstop.
The situation before his eyes made him realize the harsh reality he had to face.
Without Apollo 2-2 serving as the communication relay, this radio he carried was very likely just a useless ornament.
On the radio side, there was still no contact with base, but the observation team had made new progress.
"I see no fewer than twenty armed militants—this is a damn army," Marcus leaned backward, pulling his rifle and body into the bushes.
In this posture, observation was very concealed, and it wouldn't be tiring even over a long period.
"Look over there, the open ground outside the third building on the left."
Murphy was leaning at the foot of an earthen slope, speaking as he looked through his high-powered binoculars: "The fourth man from the left, wearing a dark red scarf, a male—he has no earlobes."
The mission briefing had explicitly described that lacking earlobes was Shah's most distinctive feature.
"Oh?"
Marcus suddenly perked up—finding the target so quickly revitalized him.
His sniper scope couldn't see that clearly, so he quickly stood and took a few steps over to Murphy, accepting the binoculars and looking through them.
A gray headscarf wrapped around his head, wearing a long black robe, his face covered with a thick full beard.
The ear exposed by the scarf showed only the upper rim of the ear; the entire earlobe was missing, very obvious.
"Wow, holy crap, is that our Rick James? This guy's a real character."
Having just arrived at this observation point for less than five minutes and already locating their mission target, Marcus's mood instantly turned great.
Murphy was also in good spirits and teased, "Can you take him out?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately. After four or five seconds, he put down the binoculars and muttered, "We don't have authorization."
"I'm asking, man, can you even hit him?" Murphy pressed again.
"Wang Defa, are you serious? Buddy, I'm over 1,400 meters out. I'm no American sniper—why don't you try?" Marcus shot back.
"I can't either, just wanted to ask," Murphy said, laughing.
Marcus: "…"
After the little teasing, Murphy pressed the squad radio button and said, "Deetz, I've confirmed the target—Shah. You can notify command."
"Great! I'm contacting command now."
Deetz's frustration from fumbling with the radio was eased by the quick identification of the target. He stood, ready to move positions and continue contacting.
"OK, keep trying."
Murphy said, then patted Marcus on the shoulder: "You keep watching Shah."
He then used the squad radio to check on the others' progress.
"Matt, you doing good? Comfortable?"
"Getting by. Just you stole the big fish, so I'm a little unhappy."
Matt, the squad's sniper spotter, was a bit annoyed he hadn't spotted Shah first—Murphy got there before him.
"Thanks to our outside help, Mr. Long Zhan, the position he picked is pretty good."
Murphy praised Long Zhan generously, then called him on the radio: "Long Zhan, after we finish this mission and get back, drinks are on me."
"No drinking, no return—otherwise, no interest," Long Zhan laughed over the radio.
"As you wish."
Murphy agreed immediately, adding, "We're counting on your back."
Arriving smoothly at the destination and quickly confirming the mission target had lifted the whole squad's spirits.
After some squad chatter, Murphy felt time was about right and asked again, "Danny, any contact on your end?"
"No," Deetz replied.
"Danny, keep trying. The next satellite comm window's less than an hour away. If we still can't get through then, I'll use the satellite phone." Murphy's smile vanished.
Finding the target but unable to contact base was truly maddening.
"Shit!"
Marcus's good mood was shattered. He frowned and said to Murphy, "I spotted people watching the hill from the village. We can't contact base now, staying here too long will expose us."
"That's a problem!"
Murphy nodded, then after a moment's silence said, "Only Matt stays on surveillance. The rest of us fall back twenty-five yards into the trees to rest in turns. How's that sound?"
After a whole night on the move, the squad indeed needed some rest—even just ten or twenty minutes of shut-eye.
"I think that's good."
"OK, then it's settled."
Murphy pressed the radio and ordered: "Matt, keep watching. Deetz, fall back behind the observation point and try to restore comms."
He then packed up his binoculars, lifted his rifle, and beckoned Marcus to follow, retreating about twenty meters.
Marcus found a low tree, lay down and slipped under the canopy, using it as cover.
Murphy, about five meters to Marcus's left, did the same.
Pulling out a pack of military rations, they began eating and chatting.
After this mission, Murphy was to marry his girlfriend, who had requested an Arabian white horse as a wedding gift.
Murphy didn't know much about Arabian white horses and took advantage of the downtime to ask Marcus.
They discussed where such horses could be purchased and how expensive they were.
Matt, the professional sniper spotter, took advantage of this time to get busy, carefully noting every detail about the village with paper and pen.
He drew a detailed map of the village, recorded how many armed personnel were present, and so on.
At this moment—
Although the comms problem prevented timely contact with base and dampened everyone's mood a little, no one was overly anxious.
Because even if they could contact base now, the quick reaction force wouldn't move out until nightfall.
This meant the recon squad had to hold here until the QRF team arrived.
And every two hours there was a satellite comm window—enough time from now until nightfall to reconnect with base.
Based on previous reconnaissance missions, nothing unexpected was likely to happen during this remaining time.
Even Long Zhan, who knew about Operation Red Wing in advance and had relocated his observation point for this mission, didn't expect any shepherds to show up.