The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

A mountain base.

This is a guerrilla force, and there are 378 guerrillas here.

The transportation here is very bad. You can only walk or use donkeys, mules and horses as transportation.

In Afghanistan, donkeys, mules and horses are important strategic resources, or tools of war.

Because the transportation in Afghanistan is so bad, there are no roads in many places, and cars cannot go through. Even tanks and armored vehicles cannot pass through many places.

Donkeys, mules and horses are the most important means of transportation.

Four-fifths of Afghanistan's territory is plateau. Due to years of war, there are almost no decent roads, and there are rugged mountain roads and dangerous valleys everywhere.

In Afghanistan, donkeys have been the most important means of transportation for thousands of years. Donkeys always accompany people in their daily lives and soldiers in their marches and battles.

The small Afghan donkey has long been recognized as the best donkey in the world because of its ability to carry heavy loads, withstand high temperatures and have strong endurance.

Afghanistan is known as the 'graveyard of empires'. Over the past 170 years, the weak Afghanistan has been able to repel powerful invaders, and the tiny donkey has played an indispensable role in this.

The first to taste the "graveyard of empires" was the British Empire. In order to compete with Tsarist Russia for this strategic location in Central Asia, Britain sent troops to Afghanistan three times from 1839 to 1919, and each time it suffered heavy casualties and ended in failure. The well-equipped British army was defeated by the primitive Afghan army and civilians. One important reason was that the British army could not adapt to the terrain and climate of the mountainous country. They had no way to deal with the opponents who rode donkeys and fought guerrilla warfare in the mountains.

The second country to suffer was the Soviet Union. By the 70s, the Soviet Union had basically controlled Afghanistan's economic lifeline and military and political power, and played its rulers in the palm of its hand. However, the Soviet Union, with its expanding ambitions, was still not satisfied and wanted to occupy Afghanistan, open up a channel to the warm waters, and realize the Tsar's dream of asking Russian soldiers to "wash their boots in the Indian Ocean." Unfortunately, the Soviets could not avoid repeating the mistakes of the British army: in mountain warfare, mechanization was useless.

There is an exaggerated description: 10 tanks are not as good as a donkey.

An old Soviet soldier who fought in Afghanistan once said: An Afghan resistance fighter with only a donkey is more powerful than a Soviet tank with three soldiers.

The third country to enter the "graveyard of empires" is the current United States. In 2001, the United States launched the war in Afghanistan. Learning from the experience of Britain and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and with the setbacks, the United States has long attached great importance to the "donkey war". In the Sierra Mountains of the Nevada Mountains in the United States, which has a similar terrain to Afghanistan, a "donkey riding school" was established to teach soldiers the key skills of fighting in Afghanistan: how to ride a donkey.

A National Army Strategic Delivery Center was established in Afghanistan, where at least 20 donkeys received the US military's devilish training and were able to understand bilingual commands.

But it was no use. After all, Americans were outsiders, and it was inevitable that they would not be able to adapt to the local climate and water. They were far inferior to the Afghans who had lived here for thousands of years.

At this time, sixteen donkeys and ten mules were moving on the mountain road towards the guerrilla base.

Each donkey carried four boxes of grenades, and each mule carried two boxes of bullets, as well as other daily necessities.

After arriving at the base, the guerrillas moved quickly.

There were a total of sixty-four boxes of grenades, all of which were wooden-handled grenades, with 30 grenades in each box, for a total of 1920 grenades, enough for the guerrillas to fight a major war.

There are twenty-two boxes of bullets, each box contains 1440 rounds of bullets, for a total of 31680 rounds.

As for daily necessities, they are enough to sustain the base guerrillas for two or three weeks.

This Afghan donkey is only 1.3 meters tall, but can carry up to 80 kilograms. Whether it is carrying food and supplies or carrying weapons and ammunition, it can always walk on mountain trails at an altitude of more than 3000 meters as if it were flat ground.

In the mountain warfare in Afghanistan, donkeys play a role that cannot be replaced by any mechanized equipment.

Especially in the winter, a donkey plays a very important role in fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan. As early as the beginning of the Afghan war, all private donkeys were confiscated to prevent them from aiding the enemy.

It is also with the help of these donkeys that the guerrillas can transport supplies smoothly.

As for this kind of mule, it can be called a "battlefield beast". Although it is only 1.5 meters tall, it can carry a load of up to 200 kilograms.

The United States suffered heavy losses on the battlefield in Afghanistan and is also learning. After all, in Afghanistan, donkeys and mules are more useful for transportation than mechanized equipment.

The United States purchased a large number of donkeys and mules in Afghanistan, but couldn't buy many. Then it went to the international market to purchase, causing the prices of donkeys and mules to soar. The price of a donkey soared to US$2500 to US$3500, and the price of a mule soared to US$3500 to US$5000.

In 2002 alone, the United States imported 20 donkeys and 20 mules from China.

In 2003, the United States imported another 15 donkeys and 15 mules from China.

After the guerrillas moved their things, the donkeys and mules left the base.

The guerrilla commander here distributed the grenades and bullets. Each person was equipped with 4 grenades and 100 rounds of bullets. The insufficient ones were replenished, and the rest were hidden.

In the evening, the guerrillas were having dinner, and the base's radio was reporting that a guerrilla base had eliminated a squadron of invading US Navy SEALs.

Although not so many people were actually killed, that's how propaganda warfare works, to minimize one's own casualties and exaggerate the other side's casualties.

"Victory will belong to Afghanistan! Long live the great Afghan people!" The announcer's voice was full of determination and passion.

After hearing this, the others couldn't help but get excited.

After all, this kind of great victory is so inspiring!

This further strengthened the guerrillas' confidence in victory.

Compared with the excitement and excitement of the Afghan guerrillas, the coalition forces were unhappy.

Although they were advancing rapidly after the restart of the war and seemed to be about to wipe out the Afghan guerrillas, they actually knew that when they arrived at the city, the guerrillas would not engage in direct combat with the coalition forces. At most, they would engage in street fighting, or lay mines and ambushes on the march.

However, as the coalition forces enhanced their space and aerial reconnaissance, it became less easy for the guerrillas to launch ambushes.

And unlike before, the coalition forces now send out scouts to conduct thorough reconnaissance of the front.

This also caused the coalition forces' losses to be mainly concentrated in street fighting, ambushes of transport convoys or attacks on patrol teams.

The special patrols were attacked in so many different ways that it was almost impossible to guard against them.

At first, young Afghans would suddenly charge at the patrol with grenades and explosive packs, and die together with the patrol soldiers. Later, the patrol strengthened its response to this method, and Afghan women would hook up with patrol soldiers to have fun, and then take the opportunity to kill the patrol soldiers. Later, it might be white-haired old men who attacked the patrol.

By now, the guerrillas were using 'donkey bombs' to attack patrols, which were shattered in the explosions.

In the eyes of the coalition forces, the guerrillas are truly insane and beyond the reach of justice! (End of this chapter)