Chapter 62 Commencing Operation

0500 HRS, January 6, 1923.

At a safe house near the town of Toukola, Rolan and the platoon leaders are having a discussion about the rules of engagement for their operation.

The number of agents who were vetted under strict measures is 50, including Rolan.

“Report to me your findings,” Rolan ordered.

The intelligence officer nodded, bringing out a bird-eye view photograph of the depot and setting it down on the table.

“The depot has two main entrance gates from the front and the rear. The place is guarded by ten lightly armed men patrolling at random intervals. There are two buildings: Building A and B. Building A is the main building of the depot and is likely where the Black Hand is hiding, and Building B is the storage depot, nothing significant. The only roads that lead to the depot are roads A, B, and C,” the intelligence officer responsible for this detail recited.

“How sure are we that the info that you’ve gathered is correct? Are you sure that this is the Black Hand’s hideout?” Rolan asked, wanting to make sure that this is the correct place. This is something that they cannot be mistaken for.

“Well, sir. I can assure you that our information is reliable.” The intelligence officer said. “In fact, we kidnapped one of their men four hours ago and interrogated him.

“How? This is Black Hand we’re talking about, they are zealous over their cause, they’ll never sell off their accomplices,” Rolan questioned, the memory of Gabriel’s interrogation surfaced in his mind. Despite getting beaten heavily and tortured, Gabriel didn’t answer any of the interrogator’s questions. Not until His Majesty, Alexander came with his magic and managed to extract the info they desperately needed via unconventional means.

But the man in front of him is telling him that they’d kidnapped one and asked the guy nicely? Did they expect him to believe that?

“We have our own ways of getting things out of people, you don’t need to worry sir,” the officer assured him.

Rolan looked at the expression written on the man’s face. He was nervous but there was no indication that he was lying. Well, if that’s what they say, then so be it.

“Very well,” Rolan acknowledged, nodding. “Then before we proceed to the plan, you omitted one important detail that we need to take into account…their numbers, how many are within the vicinity? “

The officer rubbed his head, “That is something we are not certain of, sir. But we estimated that it’ll be around 20 or 30. We based it according to how many people are getting in and out of the compound.”

“Is that so…then we can take them on, assuming that they aren’t trained. How are we going to play this out?”

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs has assigned 50 units for this operation. We’ll divide it into 5 groups. Team Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo. Team Alpha and Bravo will enter the compound through the two main entrances of the compound and converge in Building A after eliminating the patrols, while Charlie, Delta, and Echo will position themselves along with the endpoints of the three main roads that lead to the compound. If things go south, they can also act as a support group.

Charlie, Delta, and Echo will detach one sniper unit that will take a position in three strategic vantage points to provide cover and secure Alpha and Bravo exit once the operation is completed. And once the operation is complete, the leader of the Alpha, which is you, Sir Rolan, will launch a red flare, signifying the completion of the mission.” The officer concluded, glancing at the operators to see if they had a question.

“That’s a good plan but what are the rules of engagement?” Rolan asked.

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs wants, if possible, to take the suspect alive for questioning. But if they fire on you, feel free to shoot back,” the officer answered.

“So basically, kill or capture,” Rolan uttered.

The officer nodded. “Now for the weapons, since it’s going to be an infiltration mission, you will be provided with an appropriate gun for this operation,”

The officer motioned his hand, signaling two men behind to bring over the wooden weapon’s crate. They nodded in acknowledgment and began carrying it over to them and then placing it on the table.

Rolan watched with interest as the two men opened the crate and unloaded the weapon. The men handed the rifle to the intelligence officer and showed it to Rolan.

“This is an MP35, submachine gun developed from the Deutschland Empire. Alpha and Bravo will be the ones using this. As for Charlie, Delta, and Echo, they’ll be equipped with standard Mosin Nagant bolt-action rifles. Now if anyone has a question before we proceed, this is your chance now.”

No one raised their hands, indicating that everything was clear to them. The officer nodded.

“Very well, we shall commence the operation at 0600 HRS, may God bless us all. Huzzah!”

“Huzzah!” everyone echoed in unison.

…

0550 HRS, January 6, 1923

It’s dark as hell out here, and that’s putting it mildly. Rolan and his units walked covertly under the canopy of trees, trying to find some sort of concealment. They moved slowly towards the depot, where they found two guards dressed in black robes standing on either side of the gate.

Rolan raised his hand, signaling his unit to stop and crouch behind the tree line. Rolan also signaled his men to remain quiet and wait till he gave the signal.

This clandestine operation involves perfect timing and coordination of other teams, especially the Bravo teams. Since there’s no way for them to communicate, everything has to be in order.

At 0600 HRS, they’ll storm from both sides. Rolan looked at his wristwatch, it was 0558 HRS, two minutes before the operation commenced.

He glanced behind himself, looking at his team members. They all seemed relaxed as they waited. Rolan knew that the others must have been tense, given the task they were undertaking, but he couldn’t blame them. They would be entering unknown territory, with unknown threats, and an unknown amount of militia under the Black Hand.

After all, they’ll be raiding one of the most wanted terrorist groups in the world. So there’s that.

Then two minutes later, a gunshot echoed through the woods and Rolan saw the guard on the right and left fall dead. Rolan immediately got up, and ran towards the gate along with his units, when two more shots sounded from afar.

The shot came from the snipers from other units. With that, the operation commenced.

“Shoot the lock!” Rolan shouted, pointing to the gate in front of them. One of the troops in his team did as instructed and shot at the lock with his MP35. Within seconds, the lock shattered and flew across the ground.

They continued advancing quickly, entering inside the vicinity of Black Hand’s hideout.

The gunshots rouse the guards from their slumber and armed themselves to meet the intruders.

The moment the two forces met in an open area of the depot, Rolan’s eyes widened in surprise. They were expecting a small amount of militia…Now that they are on the field, they saw 30 of them.

The soldiers and the militia aimed their weapons at one another…Rolan shouted.

“Get to cover and open fire!!!”

The soldiers pulled the trigger, starting the mayhem. The sound of gunfire filled the air, bullets striking against the ground and ricocheting in the air.

Rolan jumped to cover, firing his submachine gun in the direction of the shooters. His actions were quick and precise; no mistakes were allowed as he took out three enemy combatants from their positions swiftly.

His units under him were trained for this purpose and have shown him that they are capable of handling this situation. They got themselves covered and returned fire from their protected spots. All around them, there was chaos.

Two minutes later the gunfire died down, leaving the area silent again.

With all their ammunition spent, Rolan lowered his weapon and inserted another mag. The other nine operators did the same.

“Okay let’s storm Building A, as planned,” Rolan said, rallying everyone together.

At the entrance of Building A, Rolan motioned one of his men to breach the door. The one who received the order obliged and kicked the door open.

One by one, everyone entered building A, their weapons aimed in a different directions. From the other end of Building A, they met up with the Bravo team.

“Sir!” The squad leader of team Bravo addressed Rolan.

“Do you have any casualties?” Rolan asked.

“None sir, but we made contact with the enemy and dropped them down.”

“Good looks like floor 1 is secure. There are three floors in this building, we’ll sweep the floor together, look for the enemy and capture them if possible. If they fight back, follow the rules of engagement,”

“Huzzah!”

…

Meanwhile, in the third floor of Building A.

“My Shepherd…the enemy has breached the building,” one of his men notified, and a hint of panic filled his tone.

Shepherd bit his nail in infuriation. “How did they find us here?! We have a mole in the Ministry of Internal Affairs…there’s no way he won’t alert me on this…Argh…thousands of Rubles wasted.”

“My shepherd…what should we do?”

The Shepherd calmed himself down. “What else? We’ll fight back…Fortify our position and get me the Maxim!”

“Yes…my shepherd.”

Both ends of Shepherd’s lips curled into a menacing smile and whispered. “Karim…you may have fun down there…”