Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1315 is just a show.
Just as Ahmed was deploying his offensive plan, 120 kilometers away, in Baiji's underground command center, Song Heping was staring at the flashing dots on the electronic map.

The map clearly shows a route extending from the border of Syria to Titrick, with twenty-seven red markers along the way—each a stop, a hidden warehouse, and a transit point for Ahmed's supply convoy over the past four weeks.

“He thought we didn’t know,” Song Heping said softly, his finger tracing the western shore of Lake Selsar. “He thought the waterways and the darkness of night could cover everything up.”

Jiang Feng stood beside him, holding the latest monitoring report in his hand: "In the past seventy-two hours, three more supply teams have passed through this route, transporting an estimated two hundred tons of supplies."

"What is Ahmed's total troop strength now?" Song Heping asked, his eyes still fixed on the map.

"It is estimated to be over 20,000. Most of them are combat personnel, with a smaller number being support personnel and newly recruited soldiers."

Song Heping nodded, his face showing no surprise.

This number is exactly in line with his prediction.

"Sergeant, I don't understand." Jiang Feng finally voiced the question that had been nagging at him for so long: "Since we knew about his supply lines, why didn't we just cut them off? Why did we let him receive so many reinforcements?"

Song Heping turned around and walked to the sand table.

The sand table accurately recreates the terrain of northwestern Iligo, with small flags of different colors planted at the locations of the four cities of Tuz, Fahat, Hurmatu, and Titrick.

"What do you think is the most important thing for a commander in directing a war?" he asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Troop strength? Equipment? Intelligence?" Jiang Feng asked tentatively.

“These are factors that determine success or failure, but there is something even more important.” Song Heping shook his head: “That is the right to choose.”

He picked up the small black flags representing Ahmed's troops and planted them one by one on the sand table.

“Amad now has 23,000 men, which seems like a lot. But he has few options – he must attack, he must win to explain himself to Raqqa headquarters and to himself. He needs a victory to wash away the defeat of Baiji before.”

"So he chose Hurmatu, the seemingly softest persimmon."

Song Heping then picked up the small blue flag that represented his side.

“But I am different. We don’t have as many troops as they do, but we have more options. We can defend Baiji, we can attack Tuz or Fehat, we can reinforce Hurmatur, and we can even… go straight for Titrick.”

His finger pointed at Titrick: "But I don't choose those. I choose to give up Tuz and Fehat, and I choose to let Ahmed attack Hurmatu."

"Why?" Jiang Feng asked, puzzled. "If Hurmatu is lost, our plans in the northwest will be disrupted. Although Thunder Defense is useless, at least they are on our side on the 1515 issue. If they collapse, the pressure will fall on us."

Song Heping smiled.

"That's the crux of the matter. I ask you, what is the American attitude toward us right now?"

Jiang Feng thought for a moment: "They haven't given a clear answer since the negotiations. Duke says they need to 'go through procedures,' and the Pentagon and the State Department are stalling. They want to use us against 1515, but they're also afraid we'll get out of control if we grow too powerful."

“Accurate.” Song Heping nodded. “So we need to give the Americans a little…motivation. A little motivation to speed up their decision-making.”

He walked to the electronic map and pulled up Hurmatu's defense deployment map.

"Thunder Defense has an 800-man force in Hurmatu, plus 500 Ilig government troops and 200 Kold militiamen, for a total of only a pitiful 1,500 men. With Ahmed's forces and their heavy weapons, taking the city within three days is not a problem."

"And then?" Jiang Feng asked. "If Hurmatu is lost, will the Americans get worried?"

“They’re not just anxious,” Song Heping sneered. “They’ll panic. If Hurmatu is captured, it means it will be connected to Titrick and Ozam. Hurmatu is also close to Erbil, so the Kords will withdraw troops from other fronts to defend, and the entire northern anti-terrorism front may collapse in a chain reaction.”

He paused, then continued, "At this time, the only one who can stabilize the situation is us. We have a force capable of fighting tough battles, are familiar with the tactics of 1515, and control Ahmed's lifeline."

Song Heping pointed to the Sersar Lake supply line.

"We're not cutting off this supply line now because the time isn't right. Let Ahmed obtain enough resources, let him confidently attack Hurmatu, let him send out his main forces. Then..."

He made a gesture of bringing his hands together in the air.

"Then we'll cut off his supply lines, leaving his frontline troops without a source of water. At the same time, we'll wait in ambush, and when his attack on Hurmatu is at its most intense, we'll stab him in the back." Jiang Feng's eyes lit up: "Ambush the enemy's reinforcements, but target the attacking force!"

“Not only that.” Song Heping’s smile became subtle. “We also want the Americans to see the whole process with their own eyes. To see how Ahmed easily crushed Thunder Defense, proving that the Americans’ proxies are no match for us. To see how we turned the tide of the battle at a critical moment, proving our worth. To see how we precisely cut off 1515’s supply line, proving our control over the situation.”

He walked to the window and looked north, towards Hurmatu.

“This battle is not a simple military confrontation, Jiang Feng. It’s a performance, and the audience is Washington, Tehran, Baghdad, and Erbil. And we want to convey several messages through this performance: to tell the Americans—without us, the Northwest will collapse; to tell the Persians—we have the capability to deal with 1515; to tell the Kurds—we can be allies, not threats; and to tell Baghdad—Samir’s armed forces are of very high value and have sufficient value for incorporation, provided that the conditions are right.”

"And what about Ahmed?" Jiang Feng asked. "What role does he play in this game?"

Song Heping was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "He is like a monkey under my Five Finger Mountain. No matter how he jumps around, thinking he has turned the world upside down, in fact, every move he makes is under my control. What he thinks is a secret supply line, I am monitoring; what he thinks is a weak defense, I did on purpose; what he thinks is victory in sight, is a trap I set."

The command center was completely silent.

Jiang Feng finally understood the complex layers of this game—military action was just the surface; beneath it lay intricate political calculations, power balances, and strategic deception.

"Order."

Song Heping's voice broke the silence.

"Sergeant, you speak!"

Jiang Feng stands at attention.

"First, the covert surveillance team will continue to monitor the Sersar Lake supply line without any interference. Record all convoy information, especially the transport routes of heavy equipment."

"Second, inform Samir to have his troops conduct small-scale harassment in the direction of Fahiat, making a show of trying to retake the town, but without actually fighting. The aim is to tie down 1515's reserves and draw them there."

"Third, order the Persian Holy City Brigade to secretly move two thousand men to the desert area northeast of Tuz town to lie in ambush. Once the order is received, immediately launch a feint attack on Tuz. The attack should be fierce to make the enemy believe that this is the main direction of attack."

"Fourth, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 'Musicians' will assemble and follow me to area 4, southeast of Hurmatu, to set up an ambush. We will wait there for Ahmed's main attacking force."

"Fifth..." Song Heping paused, "notify our contacts in Erbil and Baghdad to start spreading the word that 1515 is about to launch a large-scale attack on Hurmatu and that Thunder Defense may not be able to hold out."

Jiang Feng quickly took notes, then asked, "What about the garrison at Hurmatu? Should we notify them in advance to strengthen their defenses?"

Song Heping shook his head: "No. Let them panic, let them call for help, let General Duke receive an emergency call in the middle of the night. If the pressure isn't high enough, the bureaucrats in Washington won't speed things up."

An intelligence officer hesitated, "But boss, if Hurmatu is captured quickly, we might not have enough time..."

“I know what I’m doing,” Song Heping interrupted him. “Amad’s troops need time to assemble, time to advance, and even more time to besiege the city, not to mention the American air power assisting in the defense. From the time the order is given until the walls of Hurmatu are breached, it will take at least five days. And we will take action on the third day.”

He looked at the people in the command center.

"Remember, the objective of this battle is not to annihilate Ahmed's main force—although we would like to if the opportunity arises. The main objective is to prove our worth to the Americans, force Washington to agree to the conditions for formalizing Samir's troops, and incidentally demoralize 1515, thereby consolidating our dominance in the Northwest."

Jiang Feng nodded repeatedly.

The complex plan gradually became clear in his mind—this was not a simple skirmish, but a carefully orchestrated multi-act play, where each character had a predetermined role and each step had a deeper purpose.

"Any more questions?" Song Heping asked.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Feng spoke up: "Old squad leader, what if... what if the Americans see through our intentions? What if they realize that we are using 1515 to put pressure on them?"

Song Heping laughed: "Duke isn't stupid; of course he'll see through it. But so what? Just watch Hurmatu fall into 1515's hands? Threaten Erbil? What a joke! At worst, we can hold Baiji and Mosul, and then continue cooperating with the Persians through the border. What about the Kurds in Erbil? Will they also side with the Persians? Not only would they themselves refuse, but Washington wouldn't want to see that situation either. Ultimately, he needs us to stabilize northwest Iligo; we need his political support and equipment aid. This is an open strategy, not a conspiracy. We give him a way out, and he gives us what he wants—a win-win situation."

He tidied up the documents on the table.

“Politics, Jiang Feng, has never been about who deceived whom, but about finding a point of convergence of interests in mutual calculation. We and the Americans are looking for that point right now.”

　Second update!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)