The night gradually darkened, and Qusay's armored vehicle continued its search.
There was only enough fuel left for one day. They would keep half for the return trip, and if they still couldn't find the enemy's tracks, they would have to go back empty-handed this time.
That damned uncle, Ibrahim, if he had just given me a Hind helicopter, I would have found their nest long ago. Why am I wandering around aimlessly like a blind cat running into a dead mouse now?
The moon hung high in the sky, seemingly watching them scurry around the swamp like flies.
The moon is brightest in one's hometown. Qusay had been here for half a month, and he was still recalling the situation in his motherland. Unfortunately, all of that was far behind him now. He was currently a glorious Iraq soldier protecting allah.
Qusay looked up through the turret at the sky. The night was so serene, as if telling him that the true meaning of life lay in struggle and dedication.
Suddenly, Qusay's expression changed drastically. That familiar moon was becoming increasingly dim.
Thick dark clouds obscured the bright moonlight, covering the Susangerd Swamp.
Moisture enveloping the clouds—this was the precursor to heavy rain!
"Quick, notify the other two armored vehicles to gather up ahead, and hurry back!"
Searching for the enemy was important, but his own life was also important. The heavy rain was imminent. If he couldn't get out of the swamp by then, he might never be able to leave.
"Crack!" A bright bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, and the rumbling sound struck Qusay's heart.
"Quick, full speed ahead!" Qusay said, jumping down from the turret and sealing the hatch tightly.
The next moment, the sound of heavy raindrops pelting the armored vehicle's steel plating was loud and distinct.
Holy crap, I didn't expect the rain in this Two Rivers Basin to be no less intense than the downpours in Southern China.
If a flash flood were to break out, I'd be stuck here for good.
"Faster, drive faster!" In this swamp area, there was nowhere to hide from the rain. The only way was to quickly get out of the marshland. But alas, how could that be easy? They had been traveling in the swamp for two days and were already deep inside.
Qusay didn't know that there was one person who hated the current weather even more than he did.
"Those so-called Meteorological Experts dare to blaspheme allah like this? Couldn't they predict such a heavy downpour?" Rajavi roared.
At this moment, all his armored forces had reached the final assembly point. They were ready to launch an attack tomorrow, yet such a massive blunder occurred today.
Why did this heavy rain suddenly start without any warning at this exact moment? Rajavi was furious. After the rain started, how could his armored forces launch a surprise attack and penetrate from the north? Now, they couldn't even leave the swamp, nor could they go back.
If they hadn't already reached this high ground, his armored forces might have been completely ruined in this damned swamp because of the downpour.
How could this not make him hate those Meteorological Experts who had sworn there would be no heavy rain recently? How could those old men with long beards lie so blatantly?
Rajavi had actually blamed them wrongly; he didn't know the difficulty of weather forecasting.
A butterfly flapping its wings in Asia might cause a tornado in the Pacific Ocean. A tiny difference in the initial state will lead to a massive change in the result—this is the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect illustrates one point: weather forecasting inherently involves a great degree of uncertainty, and even using supercomputers for simulation and calculation can only produce rough forecasts.
The Meteorological Experts missed the mark this time, resulting in Rajavi's armored division being trapped in a desperate situation.
The world is chaotic. Qusay, this butterfly, flapping his wings, caused the Middle East region to deviate from its original historical trajectory.
After the rain, the swamp would become extremely muddy within a few days. In that case, maneuvering within the marshland would become quite difficult. For the armored division, this place was their death trap for the next few days.
The only fortunate thing was that the supply convoy had already temporarily stored fuel, ammunition, and food here. They would go back to transport the second batch of supplies later. They could spend these most difficult days here without logistical threats.
Once the weather cleared and the swamp dried up again, they could move out once more.
Compared to Rajavi's armored division, Qusay's trouble was considerably greater.
The armored vehicle's headlights were on, but the dazzling beams could not illuminate more than twenty meters. The rain near the headlights had already evaporated into steam. Now, concealing their tracks was secondary; escaping the swamp was the greatest fortune in the face of nature.
In the misty rain, the Type 63 Armored Vehicle was moving with difficulty.
Although it had relatively wide tracks, it already seemed somewhat powerless in the increasingly slippery swamp. Peering through the front observation port, Selad, who was driving the armored vehicle, maneuvered cautiously, trying hard to distinguish the easier paths from those concealing danger.
allah protect us! Selad said in his heart.
Suddenly, he saw two beams of light on the side. He strained to see clearly, and it was the No. 02 Armored Vehicle, the other squad led by Wahrih.
"Vehicle 02, I see you," Selad shouted over the radio.
A voice filled with heavy static interference replied: "allah protect us, we finally found you." Wahrih's nervous tension finally eased. If anything happened to His Excellency Qusay here, Wahrih would bear enormous responsibility, as he was the Guard personally selected by His Excellency Qusay, and this was his duty.
Vehicle 02 changed direction, preparing to travel alongside Vehicle 01.
Suddenly, the roaring sound inside the armored vehicle noticeably increased, and the experienced soldiers' faces instantly turned pale.
This was the sound of the tracks spinning freely, meaning the armored vehicle was stuck!
"Quick, try putting it in reverse."
The Driver engaged reverse gear, but the armored vehicle still didn't move. Instead, the special team members inside felt the vehicle body starting to tilt.
"Vehicle 02, did something happen to you?" Selad saw that the other vehicle's light beam was pointing toward the sky, clearly indicating the armored vehicle was stuck.
"Yes, we ran into trouble. We are currently trying to fix it," Wahrih said.
Selad wanted to turn around and go help, but Qusay stopped him in time: "Don't go over there. Since they are stuck, that spot must be problematic. We need to go check it out first. If we rush over and get stuck too, what then?"
Selad's face flushed. In his eagerness just now, he had genuinely forgotten such an important matter. He needed to get down and check first, otherwise, if his vehicle got stuck too, they would be completely finished.
"I'll go." Hades volunteered.
It was pouring rain outside; going out meant getting soaked to the bone. However, for Special Forces, they had to be able to adapt to this kind of weather.
"You all stay put. Hades and I will go down," Qusay said, opening the rear hatch and jumping out first.
The large raindrops hit his body, and Qusay instantly shivered. Although he had long been accustomed to this weather in his previous life, Qusay's body had not yet been trained by him. He wondered if this vessel could withstand the downpour.
Qusay didn't hesitate and ran toward the stuck vehicle at top speed.
Hades jumped down after him, glancing at his companions with disdain in his eyes.
Half of Vehicle 02's track was deeply embedded in the mud and water, and the vehicle body's tilt angle already exceeded thirty degrees. Wahrih had gotten out with all his team members and was desperately pushing the vehicle body, trying to free the armored vehicle from danger.
Muddy water splashed all over them, only to be washed away by the heavy rain, leaving them all utterly exhausted.
Qusay stumbled while running, scraping his knee. Ignoring the injury, he ran to the side of the armored vehicle, feeling extremely disheartened.
This armored vehicle was probably beyond saving.
"Quick, take all the equipment out of the armored vehicle and get into my vehicle," Qusay said.
"No, we can definitely get the armored vehicle out of danger." Wahrih said, only to suddenly realize that the person standing in front of him was His Excellency Qusay.
"Report..." Wahrih tried to say more, but Qusay interrupted him: "Listen to my order. Immediately take your equipment and transfer to my armored vehicle."
"What about this vehicle then?" Wahrih asked.
"Abandon it here," Qusay said. "Execute the order quickly!"
"Yes!" Wahrih shouted loudly. "Second Squad, attention! Transfer all equipment to Vehicle 01. Move out immediately!"
After speaking, he ran into the armored vehicle and retrieved his equipment.
As a commander, one must be decisive. Normally, this armored vehicle could be towed out by two tanks. Now, under this heavy rain, using only another armored vehicle of the same model would be difficult and time-consuming. The longer they delayed, the greater the danger.
"Report, I failed to complete the mission. Please discipline me, Captain," the armored vehicle's Driver said as he finally jumped out.
"Discipline nothing! Get running to Vehicle 01 right now," Qusay said. In this kind of weather, encountering this situation was absolutely not the Driver's fault. This was war. Even training in peacetime had accidents, let alone now.
Vehicle 01, packed full, started driving back again. Qusay began to worry about Marwan's squad. They had made contact via radio initially, but now, perhaps due to interference, they had lost contact with his Vehicle 03.
Just before leaving Vehicle 02, Qusay had the Driver take all the remaining fuel inside the vehicle, and finally, he set a Hand Grenade on the rear door. As soon as the door was pulled open, the armored vehicle would explode.
If the armored vehicle hadn't sunk by tomorrow and was discovered by the Iranians, then they would get a taste of the grenade.