I work as a mercenary in northern Myanmar.

Chapter 585: Attack and Save
6 hours later, inside the temporary combat command room.

All core members of the Dongfeng Corps in Syria have arrived in Damascus, and after a short rest, they quickly gathered together to begin discussing the next stage of combat missions.

Most of them did not know what the operation against Raqqa meant to the Dongfeng Corps, but no one showed any dissatisfaction.

Obviously, after experiencing high-intensity battles, obedience to orders has been strengthened once again and is deeply engraved in their bones.

This also made Chen Chen's command easier - he did not need to do complicated pre-war mobilization, but only needed to explain the situation and indicate the target, and the team would rush to the front line at his command.

Standing in front of the map, Chen Chen pointed to the location of Laka with a laser pen, and then said:
"The French troops have begun to withdraw. According to intelligence from the front, at least 20 vehicles of various types left Raqqa within one day, including four tanks for escort and two helicopters."

“Coupled with the loss of support capabilities from the 181st Tactical Aviation Squadron after the destruction of Gillis Airport, Raqqa’s defenses have been weakened and the operational window has been completely exposed.”

"Of course, the weakening I mentioned is also relative."

"At present, Turkey still has an entire armored battalion deployed in Raqqa, and the 2nd Army Aviation Regiment is still providing fire support to the ground forces."

"The Syrian government forces are still not qualified to confront them head-on."

"So, we have to think of other ways for them."

"Please note that the method I am talking about must be limited to the scope permitted by our own rules."

"They say they can take the risk and bear the pressure, but we can't afford to play with them."

"We need to avoid overly extreme tactics as much as possible. Do you understand me?"

"clear."

Yang Shu, who was sitting in the front row, nodded first and said jokingly:
"So the plan of burning the entire city with white phosphorus bombs or driving all residents out of the city with poison gas bombs has been ruled out in advance, right?"

". We can't say it's completely ruled out."

Chen Chen waved his hand and replied:
"If there is a way to control the burning range of white phosphorus bombs and the spread of poison gas, it is still possible to use them on a small scale."

"However, the biggest problem with this strategy is that it is not us who are executing it, but the Syrian government forces."

“So it’s hard for us to have fine-grained control over their execution process—we have to leave room for error.”

"I understand. It's not easy."

Yang Shu sighed, and the look in his eyes when he looked at Chen Chen revealed an unexpressible helplessness.

He was one of the few people in the Dongfeng Corps who had heard the term "sealing off territory and splitting up the land", and after seeing that near future, it goes without saying how complicated his feelings were.

The extreme excitement, anticipation, almost crazy desire, and the high self-esteem of "getting what he wanted" even made him feel uneasy.
-
However, such emotions quickly cooled down after Chen Chen finished briefing on the situation in Raqqa. He soon realized that the bright future was not something that everyone could see.

Perhaps, many people will die in this final battle.

Perhaps, their names can only be buried in the sands of Syria, and no matter how long it takes from now on, they will never be remembered again.

This cold fact forced him to be more cautious, because at this moment, he was no longer an ordinary mercenary.

He is the team leader, a brother to many team members, and even, in many cases, the spiritual pillar of these team members.

The relationship between him and those team members has long gone beyond the boundaries of "colleagues" and is more than just "comrades-in-arms."

He must be responsible for his brothers, or to put it more directly, he must try his best to keep his brothers alive.
Thinking of this, Yang Shu frowned, and after a brief pause, he continued:

“I think this line of thinking is not necessarily correct.”

"Whether in terms of equipment, numbers or tactics, the Syrian government forces have no advantage over the Turkish army."

"If we want to rely on them to play a major role, there are too many uncontrollable factors."

"At the end of the day, we are fighting this battle for ourselves, and we should maximize our role on the battlefield."

"If the situation allows, we should even try to achieve victory in this battle without any support from the Syrian government forces."

“That sounds difficult.”

"It's actually not that simple at all." Li Bang, who was sitting next to him, interrupted. Yang Shu spread his hands and continued:
"None of the battles we've fought before were easy, but we always win, don't we?"

"Objectively speaking, we have already lost a game in Raqqa."

“So we have to win it back.”

Yang Shu's tone remained firm. After a brief pause, he continued:
"My thinking remains the same - what we are best at is not special operations, but distributed operations on a limited scale."

"This method of warfare can maximize our advantages in equipment and technology, and also avoid the problem of insufficient ability to destroy the enemy, which is most likely to occur in special operations."

“So my advice is that just because we want to win the battle for Raqqa, it doesn’t mean we have to go into Raqqa.”

"Let me start with a question - if Turkey wants to hold on to Raqqa, what are the elements they must control?"

"Note that I am not talking about 'geographical' factors, but something more general."

"Logistics, public opinion, support from decision-makers, diplomatic factors, etc."

Before Yang Shu finished speaking, Chen Chen answered directly.

He already understood Yang Shu's meaning - attack while you have to rescue, which sometimes does not necessarily happen on the physical level.

If our combat operations can destroy one of the elements of the Turkish army's existence, then the battle will be considered a victory.

"That's right!"

Yang Shu's eyes lit up and he continued:

"As for logistical support, the Syrian government forces have proven through their actions that it is not feasible."

"Public opinion is transmitted too slowly, and we have no way to influence it diplomatically."

"That means that the only people we can disrupt are the Turkish decision-makers."

"Perhaps, we still have to find a way to carry out a decapitation operation, or..."

“There’s another direction.”

Chen Chen interrupted Yang Shu again, but this time, he already had a complete plan in mind.

"Yang Shu is right. We don't necessarily need to fight on the front lines. All we have to do is destroy the elements that maintain the other side's military presence."

"Beheading is not feasible. Beheading Turkey's decision-makers is not that simple. The political risks behind it are too great and may even lead to more serious retaliation."

"But there is one point that they must maintain and stick to."

“The bottom line of maintaining stability.”

"The Turks will never accept a war on their own soil, but the Syrians don't really care if they put their nails in Raqqa."

"After all, it's pointless to try to pull this nail out now that things have come to this point."

"So, why are we fighting them in Raqqa?"

"Mobilize all forces to the troops, unite with the Kurds, and attack them from the long border!"

"We don't need to cut off their supply lines. As long as the fighting exists, the Turks will face heavy pressure to maintain stability."

“This is what we want.”

“Once the top decision-makers start to waver because of this harassment, then the recovery of Raqqa will be just around the corner.”

"Yes, the reason why the attack on Gillis was so effective was based on this 'principle'."

"What we need to do next is to continue in this correct direction and use mobile warfare to continue fighting."

(End of this chapter)