This godforsaken place called Dry Sand River is actually a misnomer.
It's not a raging river but a massive dried-up gorge carved out by wind and sand erosion over the ages.
The riverbed, several hundred meters wide, is filled with loose quicksand and heavily weathered jagged rocks, creating numerous natural depressions, gullies, and rolling dunes.
Once wheels and tracks sink into the soft sand, speeds drop drastically, and even the strongest mobility is severely compromised.
The two sides of the gorge are flanked by wind-eroded earth cliffs, ranging from ten to twenty meters high. Not perilously steep, but they offer excellent concealment and elevated shooting positions.
The cliff walls are pocked with wind-eroded holes and cracks, making natural shooting ports and hiding spots for soldiers.
This kind of terrain is very common in the Middle East.
Whenever Song Heping arrives at a location, he looks at the map first.
He checks the terrain surrounding his location clearly.
It's almost a habit.
Evidently, it's a good habit.
This terrain is a natural fortress born for blocking battles, and it's the death trap Song Heping carefully chose for arming 1515.
The time pressure is suffocating.
After arriving at Dry Sand River from the camp, Song Heping gave Samir and the Suicide Squad less than 15 minutes.
This amount of time, to set up a defense line capable of halting three thousand enemy soldiers across such a vast area, is practically a drop in the bucket.
"Samir! Get the people to unload all the explosives, shells, and rocket warheads from the vehicles! Especially those spare warheads for the 107 rockets!"
Song Heping jumped off the armed pickup, speaking faster than a machine gun.
"Naxin, your men, bring the engineers and follow me! Everyone else, as units, immediately construct simple shooting bunkers! The machine gun groups pick crossfire positions first! Anti-tank teams search for high ground to control the gorge entrances and main paths! Quick! We don't have a minute to waste!"
The orders were carried out like an avalanche.
The entire Suicide Squad became a machine in sudden high-speed operation.
The militia roared, running in the scorching sand.
Heavy ammo boxes were dragged from the trucks and pried open.
Bundles of TNT blocks, crates of mortar shells, spare warheads for the 107 rockets, and even whole barrels of gasoline were quickly gathered.
Song Heping led Naxin's team and several selected engineers, weaving through the narrowest section at the gorge entrance.
"Here!"
Song Heping pointed to an area where the earth cliffs were relatively steep on both sides and the riverbed narrowed.
"This is the throat! Concentrate the explosives and bury them here! Bury them deep! Cover and camouflage with stones and sand! Set the detonation point at the top of the cliff, remote detonation! Move fast!"
He instructed while personally moving a heavy stone.
"Those wind-eroded caves there!"
He pointed again to several larger depressions inside the entrance.
"Stuff them with shells! Make them into delay or remotely controlled trap mines! Once the entrance explodes, these will be the 'surprises' for the following enemies!"
"Understood!"
The engineers, their faces covered in sweat, worked with extraordinary speed.
Using bayonets and entrenching tools, they dug frantically in the soft sand, burying crates of explosives, and connecting long detonation wires.
This time in the weapons support provided by Avanti, there was quite a bit of explosives and shells.
Song Heping instructed that, besides the necessary bullets, every vehicle's load was to be allocated to explosives and shells.
The scorching sun of the day heated the fire, and the sand seemed to be ablaze. Sweat dripped into the sand and disappeared in less than two seconds.
While Song Heping was setting the explosives, Samir was directing his men setting up the attack positions.
Brand new PKM general-purpose machine guns were set up in shallow pits, with their barrels aimed at predetermined fire sectors, and sandbags hurriedly piled up.
The hefty DShK heavy machine guns were moved onto relatively sturdy cliff platforms, their long barrels overlooking the entire river valley.
Several simple but powerful 107mm rocket launchers were carefully pushed into deep sand nests, with their black artillery barrels aimed at the gorge entrance, as the artillery lieutenant nervously calculated firing parameters using a simple rangefinder and compass.
The most valuable Konkurs anti-tank missile launchers were personally handled by Samir,
deployed behind cliff cover on the southern bank where the view was excellent, covering the entrance and the open ground in front.
Song Heping moved among various key points, constantly adjusting deployments: "Move this machine gun position forward ten meters! The fire sector will be better! Mind the elevation angle!"
"Disperse the anti-tank teams! Don't crowd together! Otherwise, you'll all be taken out in one go!"
"The rocket launcher position is too far forward! Move it back behind that large sand dune! Attention to camouflage!"
He strategically positioned the limited manpower and firepower resources in the most lethal locations.
Sweat soaked the back of his camouflage uniform, yet he seemed unaware, with only the death trap about to take shape in his mind.
In just fifteen minutes, an ambush position formed based on terrain, centered on explosives, and layered with light and heavy firepower.
The cost was that everyone was nearly exhausted, their fingers blistered by the rough sand and rocks, lips chapped.