Kurdish Control Zone, US Army Frontline Command Center.
Almost at the same time Song Heping powered down and dismantled the satellite phone, a signal intelligence (SIGINT) analyst at the command center, fixated on his terminal screen, snapped to attention with a voice slightly elevated in excitement:
"Sir! 'Wind Listener-1' urgent report! A brief satellite phone beacon captured! Location, northern edge of Mannier Valley District, grid coordinates 8-1-2-1! Duration extremely short, about 2-3 seconds, beacon disappeared! Unable to perform a second location fix!"
Major James swiftly lifted his head from the electronic sand table, a thrill flashing in his eyes, like a hunter finally finding the prey's exact trail.
He strode quickly to the large screen and observed the continuously flashing red signal marker, newly updated by the system, precisely imprinted on the contour line at the northern edge of Mannier Valley.
"As expected... losing patience, are we? Trying to find a bypass route from the north? Or... deliberately releasing smoke to test our response?"
James chuckled coldly, took a sip of water to collect his thoughts, and said:
"Whatever these Russian Moles are plotting, since they're daring to poke their heads out, they shouldn't think of pulling back! This time, we're going to press them down for good!"
He immediately grabbed the encrypted communication handset direct to the "Razor" squad, pressed the transmit button, his voice transmitted clear and cold through the encrypted channel to Captain Langsen in the distant mountains:
"Langsen, latest intelligence! Target at the northern edge of Mannier Valley, grid 8-1-2-1 zone, brief satellite phone beacon detected, signature confirmed to match! Existence confirmed! They are likely trying to find a breakthrough route from the north or establishing an emergency communication node."
"I order you to immediately abandon the original search route and proceed full speed to engage at the coordinate area! 'Grim Reaper' drone will prioritize adjusting the patrol path to ensure real-time reconnaissance and standby firepower coverage in your airspace! Find them, lock them! I repeat, do not let them disappear from your sight again! Over."
"Command, 'Razor' received. Coordinates 8-1-2-1, redirecting immediately, engaging at full speed."
In the communicator, Captain Langsen's voice was equally excited.
"We'll nail them down firmly. 'Razor' out, communication ended."
At the northern edge of Mannier Valley, beneath a severely eroded, crack-filled, shadow-laden ridge.
Song Heping placed the dismantled satellite phone parts into different tactical pouches.
He lifted his head, nodded to the silent Hunter beside him like a rock.
"The signal has been sent, the 'invitation' delivered. With American technology and response speed, they should've taken the bait and are rushing over here."
Song Heping's voice was low, almost like a whisper, "We should move, lead them."
"OK."
The Hunter swiftly checked the SV-98 sniper rifle in his hand, equipped with a long silencer and advanced night vision scope, chambering a subsonic bullet silently.
Then, he rose and slipped into the darker, more complex terrain of the northern forest like a ghost.
Song Heping took a deep breath, glanced one last time towards the direction of Petrovsky's ambush, then turned, tightened his gear, and, with equally agile and stealthy movements, followed the Hunter, their figures soon swallowed by jagged rocks and swiftly descending night shadows.
Behind them, kilometers southeast, Major Petrovsky was already commanding the SSO team, operating like a wound-up precision combat machine, efficiently and silently.
In the team, the demolition expert "Thunder God" muttered steps only he knew while deftly setting the final tripwires for a few POM-2 "Larva" directional mines, cleverly in grass, gravel, and tire tracks of a narrow passage.
Next to him, the assault operator Nikola struggled to place a heavy directional fragmentation mine behind a naturally formed rock recess on the cliffside, with the mine's densely packed pre-formed steel balls coldly aimed at the death passage below.
Sniper "Cold Blade" Dmitry and machine gunner "Iron Hammer" Volkov used rocks and bushes for cover, setting up extremely concealed side-fire and reverse-fire points, readying their general-purpose machine gun and sniper rifle.
All gun barrels, like the tongues of a viper, coldly and precisely aimed at the east, at the area where the 1515 Armed were about to surge like a tide.
The air was suffused with a heavy odor of death.
Everyone's heartbeats accelerated, a sign both of fatigue and of adrenaline starting to flow before a great battle.
Half an hour later.
At the northern edge of Mannier Valley, inside a natural cave eroded by wind and rain.
Song Heping let out a light breath, removing his backpack, leaning against the cold rock wall.
Even with the endurance of him and the Hunter, the intense cross-country sprint for kilometers made their muscles burn, lungs working like bellows.
Sweat soaked his underclothes, sticking uncomfortably to his skin, but at this moment, with the cave's cold air pricking, it instead brought a touch of alertness.
This cave location was excellent, with the entrance concealed by hardy thorns and an abrupt boulder, highly hidden.
The inside space wasn't large, but enough to accommodate two people and provide good cover.
Most importantly, the cave opening faced southwest, perfectly overlooking the winding valley below—a route US Special Operations Teams and Kurdish auxiliary forces must pass through.