Chapter 197 Bagram Air Base

"Whoever rules Central Asia controls the world island (Eurasia). Whoever controls the world island will control the whole world!" This is a narrative made by the famous British geopolitical scientist McKind at the beginning of the last century.

Whether it is Iraq or Afghanistan, the geographical center of the world, the United States is showing the world that they are moving towards the goal of controlling the world.

The Bagram Air Base is located in Parwan Province in eastern Afghanistan, 47 kilometers from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and 700 kilometers from the western border of China.

As early as the 1980s, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Bagram base was the base of the main aircraft stationed by the Soviet Union. There is a 3,000-meter runway that can take off and drop large transport aircraft and bombers. After the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan, the Northern Alliance seized the base from the Taliban, but later, it was gradually seized control of the base by the United States.

Since December 2001, the United States has consciously built the Bagram base as the main U.S. air base in Afghanistan. At that time, some soldiers were stationed here from the 10th Mountain Division and the 82nd Airborne Division. While expanding the base, the U.S. military also shipped a large number of helicopters, such as the H-47 Chinogan medium transport helicopter, the AH-64 Apache helicopter, the AH-1 Cobra helicopter and the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

After more than two years of expansion, the Bagram Air Force Base currently has an infantry brigade of the 10th Mountain Division and an umbrella infantry battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division stationed here to guard the security of the base. In addition, at Bagram Air Force Base, there is a flight squadron composed of F-15E, F-16C/D and A-10 attack aircraft. Although there are no aircraft other than the U.S. military over Afghanistan, the complex terrain of Afghanistan makes the U.S. Army unable to eliminate the cross-country guerrillas, and the fighters and attack aircraft of this squadron are used to deal a fatal blow to the core of some guerrillas at critical times.

Charles is a pilot flying an F-16 fighter. He shot down a Mirage III fighter of the Iraqi Air Force in an F-16 on the Iraqi battlefield last year. Although the F-16 and the Phantom III are not rivals at the same level, in today's peaceful era, how many of millions of pilots around the world have the opportunity to shoot down an enemy aircraft in the sky?

Because of his achievements in Iraq, Charles was promoted from second lieutenant to lieutenant and became the captain of the F-16 fighter tactical detachment. Now his eight F-16 fighters are stationed at Bagram Air Force Base.

Although Charles is very happy to be promoted and promoted, since the transition was stationed in Bagram, the blood of fighting in Charles's genes has gradually cooled down. The sky here is carrying two auxiliary fuel tanks, and you don't want to see even a mosquito with a threatening surname. Of course, what we are talking about here is the airspace of Afghanistan, such as the surrounding airspace of Iran, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, and even China. Every time Charles is on routinely on patrol, he can't help but want to take a plane to the airspace of other countries. However, Charles has never practiced these ideas. He knows that around Afghanistan, except for Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan, which are closely related to the U.S. military, Iran or China are hostile to the U.S. military. If they rashly 'enter' the airspace of other countries, they are afraid that they will cause unnecessary disputes.

Today, after taking a shower, Charles is going to the bar called 'Hometown' in the base for a drink. As soldiers, they are usually very bored in the base. When there is no vacation, these soldiers like to go to bars for a drink at night, brag and fart with other comrades-in-arms, and kill time.

Just as Charles tidied up his military uniform and picked up his hat and was ready to go out. Suddenly, a sad and harsh alarm sounded in the base.

What's going on? This is not an air defense alert, but a combat alert. Did the Afghan guerrillas come? Charles opened the door with a puzzled face and walked out. He didn't realize that his tactical team would take up later. Because for more than three months in Afghanistan, the air force has been of little use, and most of the time, helicopter squadrons have been used to solve problems.

Soon, Charles and another lieutenant officer, David, received an order from Major General Freeman, the commander of the base, to send them to the headquarters.

In the office hall of the headquarters, both Charles and David felt a tense atmosphere. Some staff officers who usually have a good relationship come and go in a hurry with information documents. They don't seem to notice the two of them, not to mention greeting them with a smile, not to mention as usual.

The two looked at each other and didn't know what had happened.

Soon, General Freeman's adjutant came to the two and said with a serious face, "Come with me!"

The three of them entered General Freeman's office and saw the general standing on a wall map, holding a pair of magnifying glasses and observing a little.

After Charles and the two reported, they both secretly looked at the place where the general observed: Kandahar!

General Freeman turned his head, looked at the two with a blank face, nodded and said, "I just received a call for help from Camp 402 in Kandahar. It is being attacked by a group of Taliban militants. From Lieutenant Colonel Tony, I learned that the Taliban took out all the elite militants this time. The machine walking camp is very dangerous. I can't keep it!"

After saying that, the general looked at the two people's faces with sharp eyes and ordered, "So now, we must give full support to the machine walking camp. I ordered..."

Charles and David were in good health and looked at the old man in front of them.

"You two teams immediately rushed to Kandahar for air support for the flight camp. The base will then send the airborne battalion to Kandahar. In order to ensure that there is no mistake, especially that the aircraft camp cannot be destroyed by the Taliban, you don't have to worry about defending the aircraft battalion after arriving in Kandahar!"

Freeman's last two sentences were deliberately added. Both Charles and David understand the meaning. With a condensation in his heart, he nodded and said. Got it!"

After another salute, the two hurried out. They are going to give orders to the pilot. The two must also join in this support in person.

Twenty minutes later, eight F-16 fighters and four A-10 attack aircraft took off from Bagram Air Force Base. After skillfully forming a formation in the sky, they flew to the southeast.

Although at night, modern aircraft have basically achieved all-weather combat. Under GPS navigation, as long as it is not the harsh terrain and climate of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, most areas can carry out combat missions 24 hours a day.

It has been more than 20 minutes since I received the help message from Kandahar to the plane's departure. It takes about half an hour from Bagram Air Force Base to Kandahar. After all, the A-10 attack aircraft itself is a subsonic aircraft, and it can't fly as fast as during the day when it flies at night. Because the aircraft should often adjust the flight altitude and direction under the guidance of the satellite.

... In the southeastern suburb of Kandahar, the war here has been going on for more than an hour. The number of casualties of the U.S. soldiers defending in the camp is increasing, almost catching up with the soldiers lost by the U.S. troops in Afghanistan for more than two years.

What shocked all the U.S. troops was that the militants in front of them were fearless. But it is not recklessly rushing forward with a gun, but gradually eclipsing the position of the U.S. military with simple tactical cooperation. What makes the U.S. military even more tremble is that there are more and more Taliban militants around the camp, from more than 1,000 people at the beginning to at least more than 2,500 people at the moment.

Lieutenant Colonel Tony held a cigar and went back and forth in the information center.

"Who can tell me where these Taliban forces came from? Is it a mouse hole? Tony, who was irritable, could no longer keep a gentlemanly smile and roared at a group of staff officers in the war room with a gloomy face.

All the staff officers were silent and motionless with their heads down. The current situation is something that no one has expected. At the beginning, the strength of the Taliban was very strong, reaching 30,000 people. But in more than two years, under the joint attack of the U.S. Army and the Northern Alliance, most of the militants either died in battle or surrendered, and some of them were hidden. Some Taliban militants even left Afghanistan and fled to other countries.

Although there are armed conflicts in Afghanistan every day, all U.S. troops think that large-scale armed conflicts will never happen again in Afghanistan, just like Iraq. In the future, like Iraq, the ** of terrorist attacks will come. Therefore, U.S. military commanders and soldiers focus on preventing suicide attacks on the U.S. military by Taliban or other guerrillas and terrorist organizations, and rarely prepare large-scale offensive drills.

Only then were the Taliban caught off guard. Originally, with the strength of the 402 machine-walking battalion, more than 1,000 Taliban armed forces must not force the machine-walking battalion to the point of surrender. But in the afternoon of the machine step battalion, the soldiers of the first machine step company went out to chase the guerrillas. The soldiers who stayed in the camp did not prevent a surprise attack and were taken the lead by the Taliban. Some of the heavy equipment was destroyed in the first rocket attack. Moreover, the heroism and tactical cultivation of the Taliban militants this time are not farmers with rifles, but a group of regularly trained soldiers. In this way, the Taliban forces gradually gained the upper hand in the war. With the passage of time, the casualties of the U.S. military have increased, and the morale of the American soldiers has become increasingly low. Especially after the Delta Special Forces were surrounded and unable to support, even some low-level officers were full of pessimism.

In Afghanistan, more than 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed everywhere. There are about 2,500 other NATO troops. Previously, it was written that 90,000 people in the U.S. military were mistaken by my younger brother. That's the number after 2007!) But the nearest American [***] team from Kandahar is more than 100 kilometers away. It will take more than ten hours to support here. Because Afghanistan's domestic transportation network is underdeveloped, there are only a few national highways. In China, these national highways can be compared with some provincial highways at most, and the highways and railways are less than one meter, which makes it impossible for the U.S. military, which has been pursuing heavy troops, to provide land support in a short time. The last hope is in the Air Force. But this kind of melee in the city, the air force does not play a big role. You can only suppress the other party for a short time. But the Air Force can't fight 24 hours a day. Bagram Air Base is about 300 kilometers from Kandahar. The combat radius of ordinary fighters is 1,000 kilometers, that is to say, the supporting air force can only suppress the opponent in Kandahar for half an hour to return. Most importantly, there are only four attack aircraft and no bombers in Bagram Air Base. The suppression of the ground is not fierce, and even the number of fighters and attack aircraft requires only one squadron.

These contents are known to the senior officers of the machine walking battalion.

"Report to the battalion commander, Bagram Air Force Base call back: air support has departed and will arrive in half an hour. The paratrooper infantry battalion is ready and will arrive in 45 minutes!" An intelligence officer walked into the combat room and shouted with a document with a happy face.

(to be continued)