Murphy's chosen right-side hill was lush and green—one of the few dense forests in Afghanistan.
Its advantage was better concealment; its drawback was the potential for sentries.
Not just for those with counter-reconnaissance awareness—even a common bandit leader whose home terrain was mostly bald or rocky hills would feel uneasy if this patch of forest could hide a bunch of people.
It wasn't like a regular army would deploy long-term sentries here; instead, they'd arrange some "idle people" to casually pass by every now and then.
A shepherd fit perfectly as that kind of "idle person."
Long Zhan's chosen left-side hill was different. Unlike the first observation post, the best spot at the summit was a large slab of shale, with nothing but weeds growing—making long-term concealment very difficult.
Nor was it densely vegetated like the right hill, which instinctively gave a sense of danger.
Its typical desert terrain meant sparse vegetation—trees spaced several meters apart, accompanied by shrubs. With a little concealment effort, it still offered decent cover.
Its flaws were not obvious, and its merits were minimal.
Very mediocre.
Murphy personally preferred the dense forest on the right, but DEVGRU operated from the bottom up—no dictatorship here.
Putting down his spotting scope, he said, "Both hills have their advantages. Since Long Zhan objects, let's decide the old-fashioned way—raise your hand if you agree with my plan."
Murphy raised his hand, and so did sniper observer Matt.
"Raise your hand if you agree with Long Zhan."
This time, Long Zhan and Dietz raised their hands.
Dietz did not abstain; clearly, Long Zhan's argument convinced him more.
Two to two. A tie.
No choice. Murphy pressed the radio button to explain the situation and asked Marcus, still on observation and alert duty, to vote.
Marcus was silent for a moment before saying gravely, "Better to be cautious. I choose Long Zhan's observation point."
"OK!"
Murphy wasn't upset his choice was rejected. He immediately ordered, "Stay alert. We're moving to the new observation point."
The trees around the Kataku village were short, mostly under 10 meters.
And sparse.
With limited cover, Murphy's team moving in broad daylight risked exposure—something they ideally shouldn't do.
But to get a better observation angle and complete this reconnaissance mission, the risk had to be taken.
Long Zhan's five-man team moved cautiously, favoring denser trees, and after over half an hour, reached the left hilltop area.
Perfectly illustrating the saying "the horse dies running toward the mountain."
The left hilltop, as Long Zhan said, offered excellent views of Kataku village nestled in a valley surrounded by several mountains.
Murphy stood by a pile of rocks, scanning the village with the naked eye.
Then he began issuing a series of commands.
"Marcus, stay close to me. Long Zhan, watch our rear. Danny (Dietz), report the new observation point to command. Matt, do a 360-degree recon."
With Murphy's orders, the five-man team spread out near the hilltop.
Each took their post and role.
Everyone focused ahead, assisting Matt in precisely locating Shahe; Long Zhan was alone watching the rear—a seemingly easy task but actually more stressful.
This observation point wasn't very high—only about 200 meters above the mountain village below—and the summit wasn't sharp.
It was more like a trapezoid shape, as if the top had been sliced off horizontally.
The mid-mountain became the summit.
With a larger summit area, the defense perimeter was bigger, and the area to watch was wider. Long Zhan had to stay more alert.
One lapse in concentration and someone could sneak past his sight and approach Murphy and the others.
If armed militants got that close, it would be a big problem.
Long Zhan carried an unusually heavy load and had marched overnight for more than eight hours. His body was far below normal condition.
Yet he couldn't relax for even a second—he had to be even more focused than Murphy's group.
To ensure the mission's success and his own survival, Long Zhan needed better sightlines.
At this relatively low elevation summit, the only way to improve his view was one:
Climb a tree.
While Murphy and the others rested, drinking water and eating to replenish energy, observing the village with high-powered scopes, Long Zhan picked a crooked-neck tree and started a dramatic "gorilla climb."
No denying it:
Climbing trees was a bit too much for Long Zhan's build.
Not that he couldn't climb it, but there were too few trees that could bear his weight—even though he had dropped his tactical pack at the base.
This crooked-neck tree, with a base diameter over 30 centimeters, was fairly stable at first.
But the trunk grew thinner higher up. When Long Zhan reached about three meters, the tree began to sway with his movements.
To avoid falling, he dared not climb too high.
He finally stopped at a fork about four meters high.
The sparse trees on this hilltop, combined with that four-meter height, gave Long Zhan a clear view of at least a hundred meters with no obvious cover.
"Finally, a bit of rest."
Feeling he was in position, Long Zhan sat against the fork, took a sip from his hydration tube, opened a chocolate bar, and began observing.
Long Zhan's rear observation was now in place, fully protecting the team's rear.
Matt had chosen a bush beside a rock pile, using the shrubbery as cover to monitor every adult male exiting Kataku.
Murphy and Marcus also observed the village while replenishing food and water.
So far, the four were working smoothly.
Only Dietz, responsible for reporting, was running into trouble.