Jebad Base.
The Major in command led the command team to establish a forward command center here, codenamed Spartan.
Murphy's squad was pushing through the forest overnight, while the command center remained brightly lit through the night.
As Murphy's squad pressed deeper forward, passing through each predetermined waypoint one by one, feedback communications were relayed back to the command center one after another.
"Calling Apollo 2-2, Spartan O-1 has reached Budweiser. Do you copy?"
"Apollo 2-2, Spartan O-1 has arrived at Miller."
"Apollo 2-2, this is Spartan O-1, now at Corona."
"Calling Apollo 2-2, Spartan O-1... hiss... xi... zzzz..."
The communications from the first three waypoints were clear. Apart from the travel time exceeding the planned schedule, everything else proceeded smoothly.
The reporting at the fourth waypoint was not as smooth as the previous three.
The first transmission suffered severe interference; the command center couldn't hear clearly at all.
After the command center requested repeats three times, Dietz finally completed an accurate report for the fourth waypoint — Helix.
Since communication was ultimately successful, it caused no significant impact on the mission.
The mission was not aborted.
Operations continued.
In fact, communication problems were a common occurrence in U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, something everyone was long accustomed to.
When a certain error goes uncorrected for a long time and becomes routine, it no longer draws attention.
By the time Long Zhan and his team rushed from Helix to the first observation point, the sun had already appeared over the eastern valley, completely driving away the darkness.
A new day had dawned.
After marching all night, Murphy's squad finally arrived at their final destination.
Standing atop a rocky summit with sparse vegetation, Long Zhan could see with the naked eye into a distant mountain hollow, spotting the village of Kataku 1.5 kilometers away.
"Smoother than expected!"
Long Zhan smiled quietly to himself, then turned to retrieve a high-precision military map. Using surveying tools along with GPS positioning, he double-checked to confirm the location was absolutely correct.
He then turned to Dietz and said, "I've conducted verification and cross-checked; this is definitely the first observation point. You can contact base."
"OK!"
Dietz was in a better position and didn't need to move elsewhere.
He set down the communications gear, unfolded the signal booster antenna, tuned the frequency, and called out: "Spartan Base, this is Spartan O-1, radio check."
This time, the calling target had changed—from Apollo 2-2 last night to the forward operations center.
The reason for this change was that Murphy's squad had reached their final position and needed to coordinate with the command center.
As Murphy's squad moved deeper into the forest, signal quality deteriorated increasingly.
At the fourth waypoint report, there was already static noise on the comms; now at the final observation point, the interference was even worse.
The first call went unanswered for nearly half a minute.
The second call was also met with silence.
Only on the third call was there a response, but the voice in the earpiece was intermittent and unclear; neither Dietz nor base could hear clearly.
Dietz had to keep repeating to base that the squad had arrived at the first observation point.
They only needed to be heard clearly and completely once.
While radio comms struggled, observers Marcus and Matt encountered another thorny problem.
"Murphy, this observation point is crap; half the village is blocked from view."
Matt had a good rapport with Murphy, so their banter was informal, ignoring the usual formalities with commanders.
Murphy picked up his high-powered binoculars and looked over. Due to the angle, indeed only half the village was visible.
"Damn it!"
He couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Although the other half of the village was blocked by trees and terrain due to the line of sight, Murphy's squad could still conduct observation here.
However, lacking full visibility of the village might mean they couldn't accurately monitor Shah.
If Shah himself couldn't be spotted, direct action wouldn't be possible.
"This angle just won't work. We need to figure out a way around it."
Murphy realized the situation was problematic and, as commander, began considering what method to employ to solve this difficulty.
Meanwhile, after persistent calling, Dietz finally completed his report to Spartan Base.
"Sir, although comms with Spartan O-1 were occasionally interrupted, we have confirmed reports that they have reached the first observation point."
The communications officer liaising with Murphy's squad reported this to the Major.
"All right, folks."
The Major, who hadn't slept all night, rubbed his face and stood up to approach the mission board.
Crossing off the final waypoint—Schlitz Malt—he told the dozens of soldiers waiting inside the room, "The recon squad has reached the designated position. Bravo Team, come with me back to Bagram. The rest, enjoy yourselves while you can. Good night."
With that, the Major quietly headed toward the door.
Perhaps due to sleeplessness slowing his thought process, or simply because he hadn't given it any thought, the Major didn't believe there was any problem with the mission or any need to revise the plan.
Sean, Frank, and the others serving as Bravo Team's reserves also didn't sense anything unusual.
They rose and followed the Major out, preparing to return to Bagram Air Base for some well-earned rest. Sean curiously asked, "When we wake up, shouldn't they be back by then?"
"Wake up? No no no no!"
Frank waved his fingers teasingly at Sean, "They'll be back soon enough. When they do, they'll kick your butt out of bed and shout, 'Hey rookie, time to get up and change your diaper.'"
Sean: "…"
Several quick reaction force commanders also stood and left the command center. The recon mission would take some time to complete—enough time for them to get some sleep.
As the large group gradually filed out, the forward operations command center instantly grew quiet, leaving only a few communications officers on duty.
Above the main door, the clock read 6:45 a.m.